Destiny - 7/04/04 - My Review (very long!)

[gowolfpack]

Part 1:

 

Sail Date: Sunday, July 4

 

I’m going to try to write this review/recap in an order that makes some sense. I trust you all will let me know if I succeed.

 

July 3, 2004 – Raleigh-Durham to San Juan

We actually flew into San Juan from Raleigh-Durham early Saturday morning, July 3. No problems at the airport in SJ, coming or going. We left RDU at 6:50 am and arrived at SJU at 11:30am. Airport was easy to navigate and we quickly found a cab to take us to our hotel – cab cost $15 plus tip total. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Condado that night – neither the Wyndham nor the Hilton Caribe were available so we used one of DH’s free hotel nights from all his traveling. Hotel was a pleasant surprise and was within walking distance to restaurants, beach, etc. I expected a dump but it was actually fairly nice – not the Hilton, but it was certainly suitable for the evening. I would recommend if a hotel right at the pier (for convenience) is not available. Anyway, after throwing our bags in the room, we headed out to grab some lunch (found a Subway) and then went to the “beach”. There was maybe 25 feet of brown beach and then lots of rocks and a dilapidated pier………not the beautiful white sandy beaches I had envisioned. So, after a 2 minute walk on the beach (end to end), we decided to catch the bus (25 cents) and head to the forts and Old San Juan. We actually got off the bus probably ½ mile from the first fort because we wanted to walk the area (not a bad walk at all). It was very hot but a beautiful day for exploring. We ended up tooling around both forts and I would swear we must have walked every square inch of Old San Juan because my feet were killing me when we returned to the hotel later that night. Old San Juan was just lovely. Very quaint – cobblestone roads, beautiful architecture, gorgeous buildings, etc. Some areas were more attractive than others, but overall, Old San Juan is just delightful. We went into some of the shops along the way and tried to take in as many sights as we could. We wandered in the old cathedral there on Christo Street to find a big catholic wedding taking place. We were among several tourists who actually stayed and watched the wedding and then celebrated with the couple as they left for their reception. All very nice people. I have nothing but good things to say about old San Juan; however, the rest of San Juan is a dump. Very dirty and not a place I would want to spend a lot of time.

 

July 4, 2004 – Embarkation

We checked out of the hotel around 11am and hailed a cab to the pier. This was the biggest ripoff because the cabs charge flat rates and it was $16 plus tip to take us literally on a 5 minute cab ride in traffic! But, what choice did we have? So, we paid it and got out. We were third in line by 11:30 at the latest. The entire embarkation process were very easy for us because we were so early. We were 2nd on the ship and by 12:30pm, had dropped off our carry-ons and were headed to the pool deck for some lunch. By 1:30pm, we were off the ship and heading back into old San Juan for some more sightseeing and taking part in the 4th of July festival they had going on. By the time we were leaving the ship, the line to get on was a mile long and seemed to be filled with complainers about the heat and how long the wait was. We just smiled and kept on going, thankful that we had gotten there early. We got back to the ship around 5:15pm or so, just in time to get ready for dinner. They were doing open seating dinner this night and we got to the dining room around 6:20 or so, only to find that they were closed and not allowing anyone else to be seated. We had to wait until the second seating at 7:30pm. We completely misunderstood what “open seating” means, but it was all good. We just went to one of the bars and had a couple of drinks before dinner. After dinner, we went to muster, which was fairly painless. The worst thing about it was that we had a number of people who were dragging and taking forever to get to the muster station. It could have taken less time had people followed instructions. It was a little warm but we were outside in the Caribbean, so no big deal. After muster, we went to explore the ship and then to the sailaway party on deck. The crew did a tribute to the USA which was great except for several of the passengers who decided to use that time to boo our country. We went to bed after the deck party to rest up for the rest of our week.

 

July 5, 2004 – St. Thomas

Gorgeous! Waking up to see the Harbour in Charlotte Amalie was amazing! We booked a daysail with Pam & Brian on the Fantasy and had a blast. We took a taxi down to the American Harbour at Red Hook and left on the Fantasy at 9:30am. We love to sail and snorkel and wanted to do so without 45 other people so this was perfect for us. Six is the maximum that Pam & Brian take at one time and there was a family of 4 sailing with us. We sailed for a good 2 ½ hours or so all around St. Thomas and then over to Caneel Bay in St. John where we anchored. They provided snorkeling gear and we were given another 2 ½ - 3 hours to snorkel, lay on the beach, explore, etc. It was fantastic. If anyone is considering a daysail, I highly recommend this couple. Email me and I can give you information. We returned to the ship around 4:15. This was the first formal night. I ordered the prime rib and dh ordered the prime rib and the lobster tail. The prime rib was mediocre but dh enjoyed the lobster. I’ll give a review of the food as a whole later in the review. This was the first time meeting our table mates and it was interesting, to say the least. We were at a table for 8, and 2 couples were already there when we arrived. We sat across from a nice couple about our age (mid-30s) who were quite chatty the entire week. We sat beside a couple who didn’t speak the entire night, other than to introduce themselves when we forced them to. We thought perhaps they didn’t speak English, but they did. They were just very unfriendly and anti-social. The other couple at our table didn’t come to dinner that night. So, we spent the entire evening talking to the one couple across from us. When the anti-socials finished eating, they got up and left, without even saying goodbye to the rest of us. Oh well – it was their loss! Lol After dinner, we went to the first big Vegas-like revue. I forget the name of it but it was pretty good. As a dancer and costume designer myself, I particularly enjoyed it from that aspect. The costumes were great. After the show, we made a small contribution to the casino, checked out a couple of bars, including the piano bar (which was disappointingly empty). We hit the pizza bar and then went back to the cabin.

[gowolfpack]

Part 2:

 

July 6, 2004 – Dominica

The ship was a little late pulling into port this morning and we actually arrived around 9:30 rather than 9am. We had booked a tour with Reyno Tours on our own so we made our way through the mob (literal) of tour/taxi drivers begging for passengers. We found Reyno without much trouble and thought we were ready to head out immediately. The only negative thing I can say about this operation is that he didn’t have others booked for the tour and he insisted that we find at least 6 other people (and preferably 8) to go on the tour with us. That took a little time but we were able to find 8 other people to go on the tour. Reyno didn’t actually guide the tour himself, but his driver and guide in our van were great! We were quoted $30pp for a 3 ½ - 4 hour tour, but because we ended up with the 10 people, we ended up only having to pay $25 pp for a roughly 6 hour tour. This tour was worth every penny. We went through the rain forest to Trafalgar Falls and then to the Emerald Pool. Both were absolutely breathtaking. Our guide didn’t want to take the time for us to climb down into the falls but did give us a lot of time to swim in the Emerald Pool. There is a waterfall that falls into the Epool, too. I recommend wearing water shoes in the Epool because there are a lot of rocks on the bottom. I was glad I had mine. It wasn’t terribly deep – I’m 5’3” – there was only one spot that was over my head. The thing nobody really warned us about is the fact that the water is literally freezing cold! It wasn’t bad once we were in and our bodies adjusted, but that water was a JOLT initially! We also stopped by Mr. Nice’s fruit stand and we really enjoyed that. He has all kinds of fresh fruit – coconuts, watermelon, pineapple, etc. – and you eat until you are full (or you run out of time). If you are happy with what you eat, then you can leave a donation, but it is certainly not “required.” Most of our group were very generous. After w e left the fruit stand, we drove along the coast a little and got back to the ship around 4:00 or so. I do wish I had known that the fruit stand would be our only real opportunity to eat anything; we would have taken chips or something. There is a snack shack of some sort at the Emerald Pool but I’m not sure what it was they were selling – it didn’t look appetizing and besides, we didn’t want to waste time and not get to swim in the pool.

 

Once we got back to the ship, we headed straight to the pizza bar and then to the cabin for a quick nap. Unfortunately, our quick nap turned into a full-fledged sleep. Not sure how we managed to turn the alarm clock off without even waking up, but we did. My dh woke up around 10:30pm and went upstairs to get something to eat. He said he tried to wake me up, but evidently was unsuccessful. I woke up Wednesday morning around 5:30am. Sorry I don’t have anything to report about Tuesday night. We slept through everything.

 

Wednesday, July 7, 2004 – Barbados

 

We decided to take our only ship excursion in Barbados. We chose the coast-to-coast tour because we thought it would be a great opportunity to see a good bit of the country of Barbados and take minimal time doing so. It was a 3 hour tour (ended up more like 3 ½ hours) and we actually really enjoyed it, even though it was in one of those cattlecar buses! Barbados is beautiful, especially the Bathsheba area. We got back to the ship around lunchtime and planned to eat lunch and then head out to the Boatyard. When we got back to the ship, I discovered I was missing one of my compact flashcards – one with 100 pictures I had taken on our 3 hour tour that morning! J So, we had to go back to the terminal and hope our bus was still there. It was and I frantically searched the bus area while my dh frantically searched the terminal area where we were. The bus driver finally took our seat completely out, and it fell on the floor. So pictures were salvaged, we tipped the driver (again) and we were merrily on our way to the ship again to eat lunch. We ate, changed into our beach clothes, and headed to the boatyard. What a blast! Very relaxing!! We enjoyed all the watersports there except for the parasailing. DH finally talked me into it but because it was late in the afternoon, they couldn’t take us because of the lack of wind. After dark, the bar became WILD! We stayed there until about 9pm and headed back to the ship. We ate dinner in the buffet area with some friends we made and then headed down to the comedy show. This was very disappointing – the comedian was so not funny! I don’t think I laughed once the entire show, and I normally love comedy shows. The juggler Manny Zuniga was okay – nothing to write home about but better than Gene Merola. After the show, we went up to the deck party for a little while and then to casino to make another contribution. A trip to the pizza bar and we were ready to turn in.

 

Thursday, July 8, 2004 – Day at Sea

 

We slept in a little (7:30am J), went to the buffet for breakfast and then to the pool to snag some deck chairs. We were able to get a couple on the 2nd level right in front of the band. I didn’t see an extraordinary amount of chair saving, but since I had my chair, I didn’t really care. Dh and I spent a lot of time on the waterslide which was a hoot, and nobody seemed to mind that we weren’t in our chair round the clock. Dh got a lot of nap time in by the pool, and I actually read an entire book that day. We basically did nothing but lay at the pool and play on the waterslide all day. Very relaxing. The cruise director had a survivor contest going on but it seemed more of a distraction than anything. Not a lot of people watching. We enjoyed the band although their repertoire was somewhat limited. Second formal night and everyone was finally at our table for dinner. The anti-social couple came dressed in shorts and such, while the rest of us were in true formal wear. Really irritated me but I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything more from them. Still not talking to the table – unsure why they didn’t just request a table for two. Anyway, we had a great time without them. We took a lot of formal pictures (again) and then made an even greater contribution to the casino (YES! We were quite generous to the casino this vacation, unfortunately.) Karaoke was going on right outside the casino where the blackjack tables were, and boy, were there some bad singers!!! It got to the point where it was just painful to listen to some of those people. That just added to the misery of what was going on at the blackjack table!! L We ended up in the piano bar and to our pleasant surprise, it was hopping! FINALLY! I don’t remember who the pianist was but he was pretty good – and the groups/couples who were in there were just great fun! We ended up shutting the bar down and literally being run out of the place!

 

Friday, July 9, 2004 – Aruba

 

We had contracted the full day tour through ABC but during the week started to regret it. We wanted a morning tour and then to be able to spend the afternoon at the beach. So, we blew off our tour (prepaid so I’m sure ABC didn’t care), got off the ship, rented a jeep for $80 and set out on our own. We were so glad we did. It was really easy to get around in Aruba, but be warned, they don’t have any street signs with the names of the roads. That made reading the map a little interesting at times. We went at our own pace and visited the California Lighthouse, the wishing rock garden where we even built our own little wishing rock formation, the Alto Vista Chapel and the Natural Bridge. We enjoyed going at our own pace and being able to stop along the coast when we felt like stopping. Aruba is very hot and very windy, so be sure to take sunscreen and chapstick with you. The coast side of Aruba was very pretty – the desert side, not so much. But I had never been to a desert, so I still thought it was cool. We wanted to grab a really quick lunch so we stopped at TacoH(b)ell and then headed out to the beach. We went to Eagle beach because we wanted watersports and we really enjoyed our time there. We were there about 5 hours that just flew by because it was so relaxing. Beach was beautiful and I was glad to find a beach where sunbathing topless was common (I hate strap marks made by tan lines!) We went back to the ship, dressed for dinner and then hit the buffet. After a quick meal, we headed over to Carlos & Charlie’s to meet some friends. We got there around 7 or so and got a table that was actually right in front of the stage area. It didn’t take long for that place to start rocking! Loads of fun – wish we had more time. We left there around 10:10pm to go back to the ship. We went to the deck party and I think there might have been another 10 people up there. We left and went to one of the bars and hung out there for a while.

 

Saturday, July 10, 2004 – Day at Sea

 

See sea day #1 – this was a complete repeat of that day. Lol The waterslide was broken so we didn’t do that. The hairy chest contest was awful and the ice carving demonstration wasn’t much better. But the sun was good, the drinks were better and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We went to the final show after dinner and it was pretty good. Entertaining enough. We went back to the piano bar and it was completely dead. The pianist wasn’t anywhere to be found, although the cd’s you could buy were certainly front and center! lol

[gowolfpack]

Part 3:

 

Sunday, July 11, 2004 – Debarkation

 

Hurry up and wait was the name of the game on that day. But nothing out of the ordinary. I thought everyone pretty much followed directions from start to finish. We were the last color called but were off the ship by 10:30am or so. Really not a bad process. No complaints here. We then hailed a cab over to the Hilton Caribe where we were spending the night. Hotel was beautiful. Pool area was stunning although the beach left much to be desired. Just not really a pretty beach area in Puerto Rico I guess, but not a big deal. I rented a mat and floated in the pool literally all day. We ordered room service for dinner and just sat out on the balcony and enjoyed each other’s company. Everything there was overpriced, but no more than at any other Hilton or large chain hotel. We really enjoyed our stay there and I would stay there again should we sail out of SJ in the future.

 

 

So those are the basic details of our trip. Now I’ll tell you the good, the bad and the ugly about the ship/activities/etc. First, let me say that we are normally Royal Caribbean cruisers but we have an open mind and are willing to try most anything at least once. I went into this cruise with the intention of not comparing it to RCL until we returned. I still like the overall experience on RCL better than my experience on this particular carnival ship, but we wouldn’t hesitate to sail Carnival (or Destiny) again. I hope that makes sense to you all who may be reading this.

 

The ship: While the décor was a little more gaudy than I am accustomed to, it was certainly not offensive. We did not notice any stains on the carpet, etc. but I really don’t look for things like that. The only spot on the ship that I thought was offensive was the disco, and it truly WAS offensive. So much purple, it just hurt my eyes (literally!) – even in the daytime when we first toured the ship and poked our heads in. The décor in there was just obnoxious. Overall, I thought the ship was fairly nice. No complaints there. I guess my only real complaint as far as the ship goes was initially boarding using the gangway and the appearance of the terminal. I’m used to nice, carpeted terminals and entering into the atrium area. Boarding on the gangway in San Juan was less than impressive (to be kind) and the terminal was nothing more than a concrete slab warehouse. First impression was not real great, but we weren’t going to allow that to alter our opinion of the cruise or of Carnival, generally-speaking.

 

The food: was looking forward to the food because of the reputation for being better than RCL. We have never been displeased with the food on RCL, but wouldn’t write home about it either. We were disappointed with the food on this particular cruise. The breakfast buffet was sort of bland and we just were not impressed with the dinner entrees. DH did, however, really like the soup he had one night – I want to say it was broccoli or potato – and the lobster he had on formal nights. The bread was really good and the desserts were divine. Those really were better than on RCL. DH really liked the pizza but I did not – took much salt or garlic or something. But I’m not a big pizza eater anyway, so that wasn’t a big deal.

 

The service: Overall, we were not pleased at all with the level of service we received on this cruise. Other than our room steward, Diego, who was PHENOMENAL and was well tipped over and above the standard rate, the service was basically the pits. I’ll start with the dining room service: let me say our drink waitress at dinner was great – she would always make a point to speak or whatever anytime she saw us on the ship and she always remembered our drink preferences for dinner. Our waiter, on the other hand, was a stuffed shirt, literally. I don’t even know his name, he made such a good impression on us. He had no personality (not that I expect him to be a trained seal, but pleasant at least would be nice), was slow as molasses, and was not in the least bit accommodating! We were always one of the last tables to leave the dining room and it wasn’t because our table was full of slow eaters and big conversationalists – the waiter was just slow bringing our food. That’s tolerable, but the thing that I just could not overlook was how unaccommodating he was. The first night I wanted some fresh fruit and specifically requested some watermelon and some pineapple. I was told “NO, we don’t have that,” and he asked me to choose something else. I told him to just bring me whatever fruit they had that wasn’t cantelope or honeydew. What did he bring? Cantelope, grapes and kiwi. I hate both cantelope & kiwi so I ate the grapes and let him take the rest back. Now, I know you’re going to get mad because I’m going to compare again, but on RCL, I have always asked the first night for watermelon and/or pineapple and they have made a point to not only go get it for me that night, but to have it on hand ready to go all subsequent nights (I order fruit every meal). That was a little disconcerting. But the thing that really bugged us about this particular waiter was the fact that he turned into Mr. Personality on the last night (tip night)! My Lord, you would have thought he was part of the family at our table (although I still didn’t get any watermelon or pineapple!)! That was a complete turnoff. I don’t recall seeing the headwaiter the entire week and the maitre’d only came to our table once during the week (according to our speaking tablemates). But you better believe he was there on tip night!

 

While I’m talking about dinner, let me interject here that I found the floor shows put on by the waiters on the formal nights to be tacky and tasteless. I normally enjoy the waiters singing and such, although it is disruptive to dinner. But this was my first experience where the waitstaff was (literally) table dancing. I have seen less bumping and grinding in the disco! I’m not a prude by any stretch of the imagination, but I just think that was totally inappropriate for a dinner setting. On RCL, we are used to the singing and such and to violinists walking table to table playing nice dinner music, etc. This was just too much.

 

Other service issues: We had the cabin from hell. When we first arrived on the ship on Sunday, we had no running water in our cabin. None. Not one drop. So we had to call about that. And our safe wouldn’t work. The Einstein’s who were in our cabin before us decided to leave the safe locked while it was open so we couldn’t reactivate it to use it. We had to call about that. When we returned to get ready for dinner, the water in the toilet and the sink were working but not in the shower. Not a drop of water would come out of the shower. We literally had to stand in the shower and use a glass and the water from the sink to rinse off. That was loads of fun. We had to call about that. They finally got the shower “working” and it was nothing more than a dribble from 5 or 6 of the holes in the shower head. That was as good as it got the entire week but we had other issues with our cabin so we just dealt with that one. Called two more times about the safe on Sunday, to no avail. We couldn’t get anyone to come reset it for us. Very frustrating. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, we woke up in St. Thomas to find that we had no air conditioning in our cabin. It was only 6am and it was sweltering in there. Had to call about that and about the safe again. Came back from St. Thomas and the a/c was working but still no safe. No time to call again until late that night – decided to wait until morning. Tuesday morning we call about safe again. They send someone to reset it and he can’t. He tells us the maintenance crew will have to come and completely change the lock on the safe and that he will have it taken care of that morning. We go off on our tour, come back, still no safe. I call the purser’s desk for the 6th and final time as I had lost all patience. After quite a stern conversation with the purser on duty, they finally sent someone who could reset the safe (it didn’t need to be completely re-keyed after all). So, for those of you not keeping track, that’s 6 phone calls and 3 days to get the safe fixed. We were finally able to lock up our passports, jewelry, cash, etc. Thursday, the bathroom light won’t work so we literally have to take a shower in the dark (even with the door open it’s dark in those bathrooms). Had to call about that. Lol By this time in the week, we have received a bottle of champagne and some drink coupons for our troubles. Friday, the a/c goes out again and we have to call again. They come fix the a/c again, and we receive a 20% off coupon for our next cruise. On Saturday, one of the lights above our bed is out. We know the purser was sick of hearing from cabin 8-266 so we just left that light for the next passengers in that cabin to complain about. After about the third day, it really became humorous and our speaking tablemates couldn’t wait for dinner each night to find out more of the cabin drama! Lol

 

The activities: I was disappointed in the amount and diversity of activities on sea day. Maybe my expectations were a little out of whack, but I just didn’t think there was a lot going on. I was quite content lounging by the pool so this really wasn’t a big deal.

[gowolfpack]

Part 4:

 

The passengers: For the most part, the passengers were fine. I thought a pretty good mix of people from all backgrounds, ethnicities, etc. There were a lot of Puerto Ricans on board and, towards the end of the week, they were beginning to be a little obnoxious and wear on my nerves. I come from a military family and am very proud to be an American. The constant put-downs of our country by some of them became almost unbearable and really just grated on my nerves. There were some rude people on the ship, but that’s to be expected anywhere. Overall, I felt like the passengers were a pretty good bunch. I don’t recall seeing any unruly kids (although there were a couple of elevator-riders a couple of times), any overly drunk and boisterous passengers, etc. I did see some not comply with the dress code in the dining room, which I think is tacky and shows a lack of respect, but those people were definitely in the minority. Overall, not at all the “trailer trash” that some RCL’ers claim sail Carnival.

 

The photos: Honestly, this was the most irritating thing about the cruise. It was just too much. I know there were no less than 15 (and think that’s being conservative) photographers/photography stations on the ship at any given time. You couldn’t walk 5 feet without running into one of them. I know they have a job to do but this was beyond overkill. We couldn’t get up and down the staircases between the 3rd and 5th floors of the atrium because they had them all blocked off taking pictures. We could hardly get to the casino or some of the bars because of those photography stations. By the end of the week, I was ready to throw the photographers and their equipment overboard! I guess that’s just one of my little pet peeves, but moderation really isn’t a bad thing!

 

Overall, we had a great time on this vacation. Some minor irritations, but absolutely nothing that would keep us from sailing Carnival again. In fact, we’ve already looked at a repeat of this cruise for early 2005. On a scale of 1-10, I would give this vacation a solid 7.5! Had we had a different cabin, it probably would have been even higher.

[CCLNCLRCICRUISER]

gowolfpack

 

Great Review! I love when people take the time to write a detailed review, covering both the good and bad aspects of the cruise. Sounds like you truly had the room from hell :D Hopfully, I wont end up with the "Fruit Nazi" waiter. Fruit is usually my dessert of choice.

 

Im also planning to head over to the terminal around 11:30-12, Im curious what time did the line actually start moving? I have heard rumors that they were planning to have people begin entering the ship via the atrium in the near future.

But, I heard that back in April, so maybe is it just that--a rumor.

 

 

So when are you panning on using that 20% off coupon? :) I will wear my :cool: when entering the Disco!!

 

 

 

Thanks again for the review. Im a huge Tarheel fan! So it not easy to compliment someone from the "Pack" :)

[gowolfpack]

gowolfpack

 

Im a huge Tarheel fan!

 

Carolina Fever (blech!) IS a curable disease, you know! haha

 

I guess the line started moving around 12:15 - it really wasn't a long wait and it moved pretty quickly. Getting there early was definitely worth it!!

 

As for the coupon, actually we're looking at an early 2005 cruise. First choice is Adventure of the Seas itinerary that visits a couple of different islands, but if that doesn't work out, we'd happily cruise Destiny again.

 

Fruit Nazi - perfect name for our guy! That's the one thing that I just can't get over about the entire cruise!

[LINANRIC]

GREAT REVIEW!!!!!!!!

Just what I was waiting for..

 

I sail her in Sept. :)

 

Your Review was awesome and straight on...........

[lovetodive2]

Thanks for the great review. It's great to get everyones

view on how they saw things. I am so ready to go again.

I really enjoyed my June 13th sail off.

 

Tina

[sls]

GOWOLFPACK,

 

Reyno tours - when you said "we" had to find additional passengers. Do you mean you actually had to go find people to go on the tour with you? Don't think I will be using them if I have to do their job of filling up the van.

 

sls

[luvsunandfun]

GoWolf-Thanks for the great review. I was hoping you'd write one. I had to giggle when you mentioned the ABC tours in Aruba (I just got my VISA with the charges for our tour) I've been thinking about canceling and just renting a jeep. Did you have any problems renting a jeep?

[Hawaii697]

Thanks for sharing a very detailed and fair review. You also answered one of my questions that I posted a while back (open seating the night we are in SJU). Can't wait to sail her next summer.

 

Smooth sailin' all . . .

[gowolfpack]

GOWOLFPACK,

 

Reyno tours - when you said "we" had to find additional passengers. Do you mean you actually had to go find people to go on the tour with you? Don't think I will be using them if I have to do their job of filling up the van.

 

sls

 

Yes, unfortunately I mean "we" - dh and me. Actually, I mean "I" because dh just tagged along and let me do all the actual work! lol Honestly, we probably didn't *have* to do the work, but we were ready to go and it just made it easier to do it ourselves. It took about 10 minutes to find 8 other people - I wasn't about to let our tour get cancelled. At any rate, it really was a great tour and I highly recommend Reyno's outfit.

[gowolfpack]

GoWolf-Thanks for the great review. I was hoping you'd write one. I had to giggle when you mentioned the ABC tours in Aruba (I just got my VISA with the charges for our tour) I've been thinking about canceling and just renting a jeep. Did you have any problems renting a jeep?

 

We had no problems renting a jeep. We just walked off the ship, across the street and they were right there. It was $80 for a "real" jeep and $60 for the little Tracker jeep thing. Insurance was another $20 - we went ahead and got that because we didn't want any problems after we turned the jeep back in. Be sure to have cash - they take your CC# when you rent the jeep but then expect to be paid in cash. They didn't tell us that until we returned the jeep and then wanted to charge some ungodly 5% or so to keep the charge on our cc. We pitched a small, quiet fit about that since we had not been informed, and they let it go.

 

We didn't see the ABC outfit when we got off the ship so we were just total no-shows for our tour. I guess they didn't care since they made their money upfront and I never heard anything from them. I hate to business from them, but I highly recommend doing Aruba on your own (unless you feel you must have the history of the island and the attractions you visit).

[Hawaii697]

Gowolfpack, one quick question. Can you tell me what time the 1st open seating began while in SJU? Thanks.

[gowolfpack]

Gowolfpack, one quick question. Can you tell me what time the 1st open seating began while in SJU? Thanks.

 

I want to say the first one was 6pm and the 2nd was 7:30pm. If you want the exact times, I'll see if I still have my papers from that day (if we even got papers that day. i don't remember).

[CCLNCLRCICRUISER]

Gowolfpack, one quick question. Can you tell me what time the 1st open seating began while in SJU? Thanks.

Hawaii

 

Here are the Capers for the first day. Open Seating 5:30 and 7:45 unless it recently changed.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/159004777/159035764UphiCl

Wolfpack

very funny! How fresh was the fruit on the lido deck?

[bencruzN]

DH & I just left NC last week, stayed a week. Beautiful! The 5 min. cab ride cost you $15?!!! Was that the only trans from the hotel to pier? WOW, that's worst than here in LV. Does the line to embark go outside in the heat? Your reveiw is great, I will be reading it again and again. Thanks

[gowolfpack]

Fresh fruit was good up on lido deck. Never lacking up there. Which was even more aggravating about our dinner server. I'm sure it was inconvenient for him to have to round up what I wanted, but I've never had a server just say "no!" before. Oh well - I trust it was just him and not the attitude of Carnival as a whole.

 

Yes, the cab ride was $15. No other transportation from the hotel. And the cab ride from pier to the Hilton (which was less than a 5 minute ride) was another $15 + tips. Taxi service evidently runs on a flat rate.

 

Line to embark was outside in the heat but the area where people were waiting was at least under some sort of shaded cover. They did have water/lemonade station set up though, so those who had to wait wouldn't thirst to death.

[betsy7060]

Great review wolfpack!!!!Thanks

[dms_cruisers04]

Thanks for another great review gowolfpack! :)

Sorry to hear about your cabin problems. Air conditioning on the Destiny has been a recurring complaint. And apparently the safe problem is too, we had the same type problem on the Sensation last September.

About your waiter, the "Fruit Nazi" (that is just too funny Jeff!), maybe he just ran into the anti-social couple early. lol

 

Glad to hear that overall you had a good cruise. Hope our upcoming one is just as good. :D

[gowolfpack]

I like the "Fruit Nazi" title as well! I'll have to remember that one for my scrapbook! lol

 

You know, looking back, we probably should have requested a table switch after that first night with the anti-socials, but the couple across from us was just delightful and we figured at some point maybe the anti-socials would open up a little. Again, hindsight - we should have just changed. But oh well - it was a great cruise overall! I'm ready to go again! :)

[skigirl]

Gowolfpack - If you return to Puerto Rico try a hotel on Isla Verde Beach in San Juan - it's quite pretty, white sand, clear water and all. The Wyndham El San Juan, the Intercontinental or there is a Courtyard that gets pretty good reviews. We have teens so stay at the Embassy Suites, which is about a 2 block walk from the beach.

 

Your Destiny review brought back great memories - you should try the RCCL AOS SOuthern Caribbean too.

[Hawaii697]

Hawaii

 

Here are the Capers for the first day. Open Seating 5:30 and 7:45 unless it recently changed.

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/159004777/159035764UphiCl

 

 

Wolfpack

 

very funny! How fresh was the fruit on the lido deck?

Thanks Wolfpack and October!

[gowolfpack]

Thanks Skigirl. I know there are some pretty beaches in Puerto Rico - I've seen pictures. We just couldn't find one in Old San Juan/Condado area, that's for sure. But where we were was fine - especially at the Hilton. The pool was just lovely and quite relaxing. And it was large enough (and multi-leveled) that they allowed floating mats. So I literally floated for about 6 hours in the pool and was quite content!

 

As for the AoS, we have already checked into that. This cruise won't be our last to the Southern Carribbean!

[Love-to-ride]

Gowolfpack, Great review!! A couple of ?'s What car rental did you use in Aruba ?? and how late can you keep it? Have heard that you must have your rental back by 5 pm.