Destiny Review 6/24-7/1

[kabuka]

Background: I am a 38 single female, traveling with my college friend a 33 single female. This is my 7th cruise, 3rd on Carnival and her 4th cruise all on Carnival. We booked our own flights since we were travelling from different locations (CA and NC), but we both ended up on American Airlines. Not much to say about the flights, hey, it’s a flight to and from vacation so it never is fast enough! ;)

Friday, June 22 – San Juan: Arrived at around 2:00pm and took a taxi to the hotel, Coral Princess Inn. This boutique hotel is quite cute with lots of greenery, and personality. We were in one of the penthouses, so we had balconies out to the spa area. The hotel is about two short blocks from Condado Beach and the Marriott Hotel and Casino. Just be aware that San Juan is relatively expensive. Had great food at the Yerba Buena in Condado.

Saturday, June 23 – San Juan: Bacardi factory and shopping. Although the tour is not much of a tour anymore, apparently after 9-11 they closed the factory to tours so you will just walk through a museum type building, the 2 free drinks are worth the short side trip from Old San Juan.

Sunday, June 24 – San Juan – Embarkation: Checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to the port ($20 for 2 people and 4 bags). We arrived a little before noon and walked right in to the port and turned over our bags. We walked upstairs, checked in using our pre-printed sail and sign info, passport, etc. We had our cards in hand in less than 10 minutes and were back on the streets of Old San Juan. We walked through San Cristobal fort and enjoyed Old San Juan through the humidity, of course. At about 2:00pm we decided to board the ship for lunch on the Lido deck. Again this went very smoothly and actually our bags were waiting by our cabin door when we were done eating. I know it was because we dropped off our bags early.

The ship was nice. I haven’t been on a ship this large, so I was concerned about people. Yes, it did seem crowded, especially on the sea day, but it wasn’t horrible. The common areas are well appointed and decorated nicely. Not as glitzy as some ships. The only complaint we had as far as décor was the pink in the room. We were in 8104 and in particular the tiles in the bathroom really need work. There are a large number that are loose or cracked, and some of the grout could have used some bleach. Oh and the ‘80’s pink pleather couch can go too. Other than that, everything looked good to me. By-the-way, I loved waving to the Officers in the bridge from our balcony every morning. I am sure they get tired of it, but heck, I am only there for a week.

The first real complaint was a distinct sewer smell in the hallway by the port side forward stairwell. I am glad our room wasn’t right in that vicinity, but we did have to hold our breath as we walked to our room each day. :eek:

Monday, June 25 – St. Thomas: We decided to just walk St. Thomas on our own since I had been there 3 times before. We took the SkyCab up to take in the view of the bay and town. I know it was overly expensive ($18 per person), but the views were great and the breeze was a nice change from the humidity. We shopped a bit and walked to Blackbeard’s Castle. About that, I only walked halfway there because it is a long walk up the 99+ steps just to get to the driveway of the Castle/hotel. We went back to the ship and had a detox wrap and full body massages. Hmmm. . . so needed after all the walking and tequila from the first night on board.

Tuesday, June 26 – Dominica: Today we did the river tubing tour through Carnival. We went on the first tour at 10:30 which made the weather perfect. This tour was so much fun! The tour company that runs the river tubing is very organized and took great care to make sure everyone was safe and floating happily down the river. If anything, I would have liked the river tubing to last longer.

Wednesday, June 27 – Barbados: What can I say about Silver Moon Tours that hasn’t already been said. This was probably my favorite day. Tim and the rest of the crew on the awesome catamaran kept us all (the rowdy group from our roll call) in beautiful weather, water and drinks. The Kabuli beer is great and of course the rum punch was tasty. I would recommend this tour to anyone. Oh, I don’t think it was the greatest snorkeling of this trip, the water was a bit cloudy and there weren’t that many fish, but we did swim with the turtles which was amazing.

Thursday, June 28 – St. Lucia: We did Cosol’s tour. I don’t want to say too much about this tour here, but suffice-it-to-say it was a long 6 hours. We were not in Cosol’s van or Yellowbird’s van as we requested. The driver we had didn’t say more than 10 sentences the whole day, but did find the time to sweet talk his girlfriend while driving on the mountain roads. The times we were in Cosol’s presence, I got the sense he loves his job and sharing his island. I suspect Cosol’s tour is well worth it if you are lucky enough to be in his van. The island is full of spectacular beauty including the many flowers and trees, Pitons and beaches. I think I had the best bananas in my life!

Friday, June 29 – Antigua: We went on Eli’s Eco-Tour. Unfortunately, we started the day with rain – oh well. Like a typical Caribbean storm, it was gone in a flash. JD was a great navigator, and shared a wealth of information about the tourism, history and nature of Antigua. We saw stingrays, huge star fish, parrot fish, tons of coral reefs, and many more sea worthy things. I did enjoy the tour, but preferred Silver Moon in Barbados mostly for the overall atmosphere (and the great group from cruise critic).

Saturday, June 30 – At Sea: Relax and pack. Thinking about it now, only 2 days later, I can’t even tell you what I did but read on my balcony and eat. I did spend some time in the casino after finally finding a winning machine – Whoo Hoo.

More about the ship and staff. . . we had some difficulty in the dining room (table assignments and such), but our maitre d’, Fernando Martins, was wonderful. I think this is the first cruise that I even knew the name of the Maitre d’. He made a point of checking on us each day. His announcements every night were hilarious, and the singing and dancing wait staff kept us hooting and hollering. I was really impressed with the Backstreet Boys showing up for a performance in our dining room, and I believe Batman and Michael Jackson made appearances as well. Don’t ask, just wait for the show. Who needs the Palladium!

Steve the Cruise Director seemed a bit long winded. I think he needs to remember that whatever he says is going to be translated into Spanish, making the announcement double in length. Absolutely crucial during the muster drill – way too long by the way. In the humidity of San Juan, there were a number of older passengers withering.

The “towel n*z*” (as we unaffectionately called her) was probably the least charming staff on the ship. Can I blame her? I am not sure. I wish she would turn that stare on all those that “save” chairs on the deck and then don’t actually use them for 4 hours. Some of us would have liked to enjoy the sun before it got too hot. Again, a small thing that really didn’t affect the great vacation.

Dining room wait staff was good. It seemed there just wasn’t enough. Our cabin steward, too, seemed a bit over worked, having trouble remembering the water and diet coke we requested. I am not sure if there was a short staff or if Carnival just doesn’t provide the staff that other cruise lines, but I felt bad that the staff seemed haggard. The staff clearly works hard for the passengers, and we completely appreciated it. It was strange and funny that Carnival wants its employees to call passengers by name, so the waiters try hard to pronounce your name when delivering charge slips. Sometimes there is a bit of a problem simply because they don’t know whether to use your first name or a more formal address.

For those concerned, the air conditioning worked just fine. In fact, I was under my comforter every night (and I am always too hot for comforters).

Debarkation was the worst. I don’t understand Carnival’s policy. I know they blamed everything on the Port Customs, but I am not sure how accurate that is. The early debarkation started at 7:45am (we were in port by 5:00am). The actual debarkation didn’t start until 9:20am when they called the first color group. What was happening between 7:45 and 9:00 is a mystery to me. Other cruise lines can get half a ship disembarked in that time. My color still wasn’t called at 11:45, but I did “sneak” in to the Palladium so I could make my 2:00 flight. It is a shame to have such an experience at the end of a great vacation, but that’s how it goes. Expect to be perturbed because you will probably be tired and just ready to go. The farther away from the experience, the more you forget the unpleasantness and remember only the fun and sun.

[SouthernCaribbean]

Thanks for the review.

[JXR]

Thanks for your review.

 

I will be on the Destiny in November and was wondering how long the River Tubing was?

 

Thanks,

 

Joanne

[ArizonaTracie]

Thanks for your input...we leave on the Destiny this Sunday...can't wait!! I know there is good and bad in any situation, I will just make the best of things that may not be "ideal" As the saying goes...a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work!!!

[shargurl]

Thanks for the review, we'll be sailing NEXT YEAR:eek: :(

[Flip2cruise]

Appreciate the review.

[Taleci]

Thanks for the review! We go in September and are so excited!

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for the review, kabuka!

[kabuka]

Thanks for your input...we leave on the Destiny this Sunday...can't wait!! I know there is good and bad in any situation, I will just make the best of things that may not be "ideal" As the saying goes...a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work!!!

 

ABSOLUTELY!

[kabuka]

Thanks for your review.

 

I will be on the Destiny in November and was wondering how long the River Tubing was?

 

Thanks,

 

Joanne

 

The entire tour was probably only 3 - 3 1/2 hours which included 45 minutes of driving time. Like I said the river tubing wasn't long enough, but was so much fun, and the rain forest is beautiful.

[luv2cruise777l]

Hi Lorraine,

 

Nice review! How was your trip home? Are you having cruise withdrawals yet?? We came home on Monday so I'm still trying to catch up on things around here. You and Sondra were alot of fun!!!! Hope we can sail again with you girls in the future.:)

 

Sherrie

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Thanks for the review. I sail the Destiny on Aug. 5th.

[kabuka]

The review was getting long so I just wrapped it up, but didn't mention the food. I wouldn't say it was spectacular, but there were definitely good items on the menu. The prime rib was good both nights I had it. And, I am sure I don't need to mention the Chocolate Melting Cake. The Bitter and Blanc dessert got a winning nod from my travel buddy. I don't eat lobster, but I was told it was dry, like it had been sitting (we were at the second seating). I really liked the mushroom soup, too (very rich though). Because of all the islands, I feel like I didn't eat that much on the ship. We never had lunch (except on the one sea day) on the ship, and breakfast was quick since we wanted to get out on the islands early before it got too hot.

 

Hmmm... I am sure I will think of more, most likely after I download the pictures, and finish unpacking.

 

I wish all those scheduled on the Destiny a smooth sail and wonderful trip. It will go by so fast. :p

[Flip2cruise]

 

I wish all those scheduled on the Destiny a smooth sail and wonderful trip. It will go by so fast. :p

:) My time is getting close.

[kiraryker]

Thanks!! A few questions: How were the people dressed at dinner?? (really dressy or not) And did you have a balcony room? if so how was it??

 

Thanks

[Ashleezmom]

Hey Lorraine!! Hope all is well and thanks for the review! Hahaha you are cute doing your review all quick! Well I just finished mine too finally. And I downloaded 600+ pictures so i'll send you some if you want. Get over to our Bermuda board and jump on it girl! It would be soooo much fun. Talk to you soon...

[kabuka]

Thanks!! A few questions: How were the people dressed at dinner?? (really dressy or not) And did you have a balcony room? if so how was it??

 

Thanks

 

It was probably the most casual cruise I have ever been on. Of course there were plenty that got really dressed up for formal night especially to have pictures taken (there are photographers everywhere), but the majority of people were in what I would consider semi-formal dress. You should feel comfortable with whatever you want to wear. Super formal long dress or a semi-formal tea length dress, or even dressy pants (that is what I wore).

 

Yes we did have a balcony, my first. It was right behind the bridge and I loved waving at the officers. I am not sure how they felt about it. I know when I waved at the Captain he smiled sheepishly and basically ran off. He is fairly new, I think only a month or so on Destiny, so maybe he didn't realize we would be able to see him, and that there are crazy people who do such things. Who knows.

 

I loved being able to go out in the morning and enjoy the sunrise, the sloshing of the water, and read. My travel partner sleeps in later than I, so it worked out well.

[kiraryker]

Kaubka - Thanks for the reply!!! I am just too excited about this cruise (our first cruise and our first vacation in 17yrs without our kidlets)!!

[kiraryker]

Oh one more question: How many formal nights do they have on the destiny?

[mjmiller]

Two formal nights. Folks generally are more dressy for the first formal night than the second; that may help you decide when to wear which outfit. Of course some folks wear their "skinnier" outfit the first formal night, assuming they will have an extra couple pounds on their body by the second formal night. lol

[SpyderGT]

Thanks for the review, I will be sailing on the destiny in Oct. :)

[kiraryker]

Of course some folks wear their "skinnier" outfit the first formal night, assuming they will have an extra couple pounds on their body by the second formal night. lol

 

:eek::eek:Boy that will be my situation!!!! That is also a great tip for first time cruisers -

 

Thanks

[CruiseCentric]

Great Review