Destiny Review 09/10 - 09/17

[Loves_Dogs]

Hey Serene..

 

First..HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Hope it was enjoyable.

 

Not going to rehash your review, but nice to see I wasn't alone in seeing things as "not fantastic" I was never trashed for my posts, but I got the general feeling people didn't understand where I was coming from..Thanks for taking the time and effort. It is sure to help people make a more informed choice. One I wish we had made! I didn't see any scrapes in the glass or graffiti, but that is just awful...If I wanted that, I could just ride my subways!

I take several "mini vacations" during the year, but only once a year do we take a full week off. I was dissapointed that i spent my time and money on the Destiny. Of course, there are many more vacations, and hopfully cruises ahead!

Marc

 

I felt the same way when I posted after my Destiny cruise. Not 'trashed' but just had the feeling that people thought I was being picky or a complainer. One of the things I posted was about the awful service in the dining room, to which someone made a comment about "it's funny how I never seem to get any of this bad service", well, glad you have such good luck. I didn't. I just posted my experience as honestly as I could. Still had a good cruise, just not AS good as the previous 2.

[mginsb8256]

A room that never cooled off and cubes of cheese in my milk pitcher for coffee in the dining room.. I'd have to say this wasn't one of my top cruises either! or does this make me a complainer?

[onetimeposter]

Before I took a cruise on the Destiny, I read both bad reviews and good reviews. I decided to ignore the bad ones. I think it is just human nature when you already have a cruise planned to want the believe the good things you hear.

[Darcy03231]

Thanks for the review. I was on the Destiny the week before you. I guess we lucked out with our waitstaff. They were excellent. I have to agree about the food. I was disappointed. It certainly wasn't up to Carnival's usual standards. Our cabin steward mentioned that she had twice as many rooms as she usually did. She did have a helper and they did a wonderful job. I thought that maybe someone was ill but its starting to sound more like they are understaffed.

[DianeB1]

We were just on RCCL- Serenade of the Seas in Jan out of PR. I thought the food was lousy except for the Specialty Restaurants 20 dollars extra per person. We don't go on a Cruise to pig out, but I guess when they are serving 2000+ people, how high are your expectations anyway. I felt on Celebrity Constellation last year and Also on HAL the food was wonderful but the entertainment was lacking and everything shut down early. Oh Well, I got such a good deal on air, Cruise and Hotels, I'll just have to rough it for 10 days! As long as the boat doesn't sink, I will make do , meet new friends, have some drinks and just have a good time. Diane

[DiverDownAZ]

We are going in 2 weeks. Hoping everything goes good

[Loves_Dogs]

We are going in 2 weeks. Hoping everything goes good

 

Hey DiverDown-

Even though this was our least favorite cruise, remember, we still a great vacation. Don't worry, you will have a wonderful time.

 

Are you doing any diving on this cruise? We dove in Barbados and St Thomas, it was awesome!

[serene56]

Because the Destiny is a port intensive cruise== you will still have a great time since the majority of the time you will be off the ship.

ANy plans to stay on the ship while in port will still be a crowded ship as a lot of people didnt get off. (which surprised me)

My expectations for dining is rather laid back- I didnt want for food-probably ate more then what I should have but having sailed 9 times in the past -its just not what I became accustomed to.

I wondered if their menu was the same as the new ones.

I took a copy with me from the new menu on the Liberty-- on the destiny-- day 4 is now served on St Thomas. I was looking forward to the crab cocktail- they have grilled vegetables in its place. ALso choc decadence which is my favorite was on the dessert menu-- they took it off the new menu.

[wwakla]

Bummer :(

 

Happy belated Birthday.

 

Was the aft pool that bad? We loved hanging at this pool on the Pride.

 

Well I really hope these kids for the most part are in school when we go.

[Seagall]

I am totally freaking out about this cruise. I leave 10/22 on the miracle and have read mostly good reviews. I am booked for the Destiny 2/18 with the family. I am a little worried that it will be a nightmare. Has anyone had a good experience?

 

Seagall :)

[jckvpa0]

Happy Birthday & thanks for taking the time to write a very informative review .

[serene56]

I am totally freaking out about this cruise. I leave 10/22 on the miracle and have read mostly good reviews. I am booked for the Destiny 2/18 with the family. I am a little worried that it will be a nightmare. Has anyone had a good experience?

 

Seagall :)

 

Come February-- the port of Aruba is dropped and 2 ports are added making only one sea day. Because you are aware of ongoing problems it shouldnt come to a shock. You are going to be off the ship more then you are on it so I belive you will fare a bit better. Although the ship for us was disappointing it was no where near a nightmare. We still ahd a great time.

You will have a complete different experience if you go on the Destiny and expect what you did on the Miracle-- two totally different cruises all together.

[Seagall]

Thanks Serene,

My husband and I are on the miracle and we are taking our 2 teenage sones in february. I thought maybe we should switch to a windstar cruise. I guess you are right, if I know what to expect then maybe I will be pleasantly surprised that it won't be as bad as all that.. We are definatley foodies but are willing to over come that for great ports. That is why we choose this cruise.

 

Any tips would be greatly appreciated to make our cruise better!!

 

Thanks

SG

[serene56]

Any tips would be greatly appreciated to make our cruise better!!hanksSG

 

go with an opened mind.= dont pay attention to the locals and you will have a great time. Try at least one milkshake during the week.

the Shows were good... Lof of them youi wont get to since you have an early port day the next morning.

 

If the ship clears at 8am-- wait til 8:10 to get off the ship--

lots of people will be milling around the steps to get off-- wait til that clears before heading out.

[rvrgirl]

I posted another thread in regards to booking on the Destiny and the fact of poor reveiws. I am afraid that even a price of $399 will not keep me on this ship. We will be cancelling.

 

Let us know what ship you end up choosing.

[Sue L]

I posted another thread in regards to booking on the Destiny and the fact of poor reveiws. I am afraid that even a price of $399 will not keep me on this ship. We will be cancelling.

 

 

A wise move, you might want to look in Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan, I just went on her sister ship the Explorer and loved it. Destiny is the reason we switched lines and believe me it was the best move we ever made.

 

 

Sue

[Fun~N~Sun]

When I came back from my trip on the Destiny in June and posted here my thoughts about the cruise, which were alot like yours I got blasted. We only ate in the dining room one night because of the slow service, food was not that good, was barely warm, and for them wanting this too be a formal experience I thought all of the singing and hoopla was ridiculous. The activities on board were poorly timed with dining times so this was another reason to skip the dining room. Before cruising I read these boards top to bottom and anything else I could get my hands on. Somehow or another I missed until after the cruise that there was breakfast and lunch in the dining room also. Everystaff member we ran into was great and very friendly we had no problem there. Had a problem with our credit card and the prusers desk went above and beyond the call to help us get this straightened out with the CC company. It took over an hour on the phone and Carnival did not charge us. The people on the ship however were the problem. Like you said, they were rude, loud, unfriendly, and obnoxious. We tried repeatedly to talk to different people and they acted like they did not want to be bothered so we kept to ourselves. I too have said repeately here that the number of kids on the ship in no way complies with the rules that Carnival has. There were so many teenagers it was incredible. I don't mind kids and I had my 19 year old son with us and 22 year old daughter. I agree about never sailing from SJ again. I wish I had read that before we made out date with Destiny but again, that is one of those things I did not read until after the fact. I agree to about the a/c. My husband has very bad asthma and this was a big concern to us. It was very uncomfortable at times. By the end of the cruise our bath room smelled like a sani-pot.

[chelledun]

Our Destiny cruise for March in part because of bad reviews but primarily because we wanted to see Aruba. Thanks so much for your review. We are going on the Crown Princess instead, even though it will be $150 more pp.

[wwakla]

I wonder if anyone from Carnival ever reads these boards to see how they are fairing:confused:

 

Unfortunately even if you complained you still have the others who don't and I think the clientel from Puerto Rico are out numbering those from elsewhere who are complaining.

 

I wonder if they ever do a ratio of who comes from outside PR to those from. I would be curious.

 

I am going with an open mind. I just really hope the other two couples we are cruising with don't throw me over board because of these problems.:eek: They are brand new to cruising:o

[Shannon12]

Our Destiny cruise for March in part because of bad reviews but primarily because we wanted to see Aruba. Thanks so much for your review. We are going on the Crown Princess instead, even though it will be $150 more pp.

 

We chose RCI also due to wanting to visit Aruba and reviews.

[serene56]

dOES rci GIVE A CHEAPER PRICE TO THE LOCALS WHEN THE ship is not sold out?

 

I was wondering how does the San Juan sailing hold for Royal for the same route.

 

The Adventure was alomst 700 more for the same week that we sailed

 

Butlike I said- we spent more time off the ship then on so it really was ok.

[Cruising89143]

dOES rci GIVE A CHEAPER PRICE TO THE LOCALS WHEN THE ship is not sold out?

 

I was wondering how does the San Juan sailing hold for Royal for the same route.

 

The Adventure was alomst 700 more for the same week that we sailed

 

Butlike I said- we spent more time off the ship then on so it really was ok.

 

It is my understanding that ALL of the cruise lines with ships based in SJ lower their prices to the locals when the need arises to fill the ship. I have seen the same complaints on other lines such as RCI, Celebrity and Princess.

 

I read several reviews of this sailing on another cruise site and they all matched your review. None were really happy with the condition of the ship and stated no more sailing out of SJ.

[serene56]

See, thats what I thought--so am comfortable I didnt spend the extra 700 dollars to sail Royals adventure of the seas. Plus we were the only ship in ports EVERY day so that was special.

[Fun~N~Sun]

It is my understanding that the locals can cruise for as little as $299 for the week if the ship is not sold out 7 days in advance. That having been said, does that give them the right to be rude, loud, obnoxious, etc. to those other passengers who have flown in to PR to sail. I have said it repeatedly here. I was expecting a cruise to the Southern Caribbean. What we got was a LATINO cruise to the Southern Caribbean. Everything was centered around them and they had to be the center of attention. Like one of the posters said previously they were loud in the dining room, buffet, lido deck, hallways, and rooms. They have no respect for anyone expect "their own". I am not a prejudice person by far; my best friend is married to an African American, my niece is dating a man from Nicaragua, I worked for a physician from Pakistan for many years and part of why I like to travel is to learn about different cultures (the people from Dominica were WONDERFUL!). All music, activities, night clubs, etc were geared toward the PR population on the ship. The one time on the Lido deck there was some music other than Salsa WW III almost broke out. I was truly disappointed with the atmosphere on the ship and by the end was definitely ready to come home. Again, we went with no expectations except to have a good time and we did, our onboard experience just wasn't as much fun or as relaxing as we had hoped. By the end of the cruise their was tension between the PR's and the rest of the passengers.

[Keys2Heaven]

My DW and I cruised for the first time last year on the Miracle. So many of the things that attracted us to cruising seem to be missing on the Destiny. But, of course, we chose this cruise because we are going as a family (of four) and were interested in the intenerary and price that the Destiny offers. Tommorow is final payment day and if I knew of another cruise we liked, we'd switch. However, Aruba and Barbados are two ports we very much want to see. I sure hate to lower my expectations, especially with regards to dining room service, but we'll try to think optimistically.

 

Passengers on the Miracle seemed sparse and even on formal nights it wasn't bad. And the room stewards and dining room wait staff on the Miracle were fabulous. We would have booked this ship again, but didn't like two of the ports, Costa Maya and Cozumel. We are booked in an OV room on the Riveria deck to minimize rocking (not sure how girls will do with motion) and the AC problem (cold air sinks!!!). I hope that the noise level remains quiet as another poster stated when they stayed on this deck. I have no problem helping to enforce this. :)

 

It's really too bad about bad manners. However, my experience when on vacation is that EVERYONE thinks that THEY are the most important people on the ship! Stepping off an elevator seems elementary and I would do this in a heartbeat. Maybe those of us with good manners just need to be a bit more vocal without being confrontational. Think it would help?

 

I'm glad you had a great time in port and even more thankful for a candid review. More people should take time to write reviews like this. I got a very real sense of how the ship operates and you weren't overtly critical or downright negative about every little thing. Good for you!

 

And I second what another poster said about sailing out of Miami to the Southern Carribean. I would do this in a heartbeat if Carnival offered it.