Awesome Destiny week/tips on self excursions

[beachfollower]

Just came back from a Carnival Destiny southern Caribbean cruise and had an awesome time. Found great info on these message boards and wanted to return the favor. We travelled with 11 people.

 

San Juan Flew in one day early and stayed at the Howard Johnson's Isla Verde for a night @ $132 with AAA. It's not fancy, but fit our needs with access just across the street (walkway between condo buildings) to beautiful Isla Verde beach. Restaurant in the hotel was good downstairs and the rooftop restaurant had great views for breakfast and was very good. Received 2.50 off our breakfast because we didn't take advantage of the free Continental bkfst. They allowed us to group our luggage together in one room and check out late at 2:00 which allowed our late arrivals to enjoy the beach also.

 

Embarkation: Took a van (6 people/$30 total) from Isla Verde to ship pier. Arrived around 2:30....no lines, no waiting. Bought some rum at the shop while boarding to mix with lemonade and iced tea on the ship!

 

Carnival reviews: Lido buffet was the usual fair with some long lines depending on the day. We

 

packed cereals and fruit for lunch off the boat daily. Dinners were VERY good with good variety and "alternatives" to pick from in addition. Enjoyed our late dinner 8:00, to enable some to exercise back on the ship after a day's excursion, enjoy the ship leaving port every night and seeing the sunset without rushing to get dressed early.

Our teenage girls (15/16) were disappointed that their wasn't much nitely for them despite the Club o2. They enjoyed the first night late fun poolside with dancing and expected that nightly.

The work out gym was terribly warm and the walk/run track was very small....not going around the entire ship.

Pool layout was great with tiered chair placement and defined walking pathways to keep poolside organized. The slide closed nightly at 5:00 which was is a bummer for full day excursion days and it wasn't running on Sea Day. Grab/claim a chair early on Sea Day.....Upper deck is usually available.

Entertainment: The cruise dancers were very good and the juggler was good but the rest was usual fair. Having the late dinner made us tired for the 10:30 shows.

 

St. Thomas Grabbed a taxi van from the pier and headed to Magen's bay with a stop for shopping at the end of the day. 11 people ($16 pp round trip) Beautiful crescent beach and crowds weren't bad due to only 1 ship being in port.

 

Dominica Pre arranged a day with Beno but ended up with his friend Joseph.....not sure why he changed us after booking with him several months in advance. Joseph was very good, tho, and probably easier to understand than Beno. We had 11 people in the van so the drop side seats had to be used and weren't too comfortable. Not sure if Beno's van would have been newer and more comfortable. They don't use microphones so if you want to hear the tour....sit up close to the front!

$40 pp for 11 people. (11:00- 4:00 because the ship docked late) Went to Emerald Pool before the crowds (wear your suit so you can jump in the pool), Trafalgar falls, Mr. Nice fruit stand (free but you tip him) and Morne Bruce look out. Drove thru the botanical area and was supposed to hit the Champagne beach but the surf was too rough. Great day but a lot of driving on Very hilly roads! Very lush island.

 

Barbados Our FAVORITE day! Booked with Stephen Tryhane and his Thriller boat tour for turtle/snorkel on our own and had the boat to ourselves. ($50 pp) We took a $3 each van taxi to Bridgetown to meet up with his speedboat at the Waterfront cafe area. He had a young man (Matthew) that assisted for the day and they both were great. Had refreshments on board with the BEST rum punch drinks at the end of the excursion. His speedboat gets you out to the turtles before all the other groups...we saw and swam with the turtles on our own. Went to two other snorkel sites with the last having some sunken wrecks to snorkel above and through. Chose to stay at the last stop (Boatyard Beach) to have more time on the island. Beautiful white soft sand.....local bar at the beach had great music going for background. Took a taxi van back to the pier from there for $3 pp. You can reach Stephen at Thriller-ocean-tours@caribsurf.com.

 

St. Lucia Another FAVORITE day! Booked with Mystic Man Tours for a coastal motor boat ride down the coast to Soufriere area. They met us directly at the pier. ($45 pp) We stopped at beautiful Anse Chastenet for the best snorkeling, stopped along the island's "bat cave" (crack in the hillside), rode through the Soufriere harbor area (we chose not to get dropped off in town to walk around....if we had to pay by credit card, we would have had to stop and handle that transaction in their office in town....carrying cash/traveller's check saved us that stop.) We then went to the beach between the Piton mountains (Jalousie Beach) for a couple hours of more snorkeling and relaxing on the beach in a beautiful scenic spot. We then went to Anse Cochen for more snorkeling and then a slow tour throught Marigot Bay. We had the entire boat to ourselves and they served us refreshments as well. They can be reached at aimablec@candw.lc. We had the Mystic man 2 boat.

 

Antigua Caught a taxi van at the pier and chose Turner's beach to spend the day. ($16 pp round trip with the van picking us up at a designated time) As usual, we brought our own lunch along so the steep prices at the beachside cafe wasn't an issue. We got there early enough to claim some thatched umbrella areas. Chairs could be rented for $5. The beach was very scenic and nice. Not built up or noisy with watersports. Our girls did want a banana boat ride and guys on the beach were able to summon a banana boat ride from someone working a few beaches up. $15 per person.

 

Debarkation/San Juan Very organized with great video to watch while you are waiting. We arranged with the Purser's to have an early debarkation to take advantage of another self tour we organized. We met Frank at the pier with his very comfortable black van with a "microphone" and he took us on a riding tour through Old San Juan because our group of 8 didn't want to walk through the area ($25 pp). His tour was interesting and Old Town was much nicer than we anticipatied with colored buildings and cobbled streets. Since we had a late flight (3:00pm), he then took us to Isla Verde beach again for 2.5 hours to enjoy our last day in the islands at a sunny beach instead of an airport!

 

Thank you to all who gave us these ideas to plan on our own. The boat tours were perfect (having the boat and decisions on our own) and we saved alot of money compared to the ship excursions that are crowded and limited on timing.

Hope this has helped someone plan their Destiny week!

[beachfollower]

You can reach Frank in San Juan attrans2003@yahoo.com He is very proud of his island and a pleasure to ride with. Lyn

[BettyB2]

Thanks for the review and all the helpful information - this is one ship I truly want to cruise on since they have such a great itinerary and with JetBlue flying there directly from Rochester at reasonable prices, I look forward to cruising this itinerary in the next year or two.

 

again, thanks for taking the time to post

[feistytigger]

thanks! great info!

[MzOhioLady]

Thanks for the review. Can't wait until my cruise on the Destiny 9/16/07

[Fun~N~Sun]

Loved the tour with Beno in Dominica. There was just my family of four and one other couple. We really enjoyed it. He was not difficult to understand at all.

 

Had a great time at the Boatyard in Barbados! We spent the entire day there and had a blast!

[emelvee]

Thanks for the info! We're on Destiny 6/17/07 - picked for the itinerary.