Family and Friends 1st Time on the Destiny ... Really long

[dms_cruisers04]

The background info: We were a group of 17, ranging in age from 4, my daughter, to 63, my Mom. Really, we were split between late 20’s to late 30’s and then late 40’s to Mom. In reflecting on that, we were “split” the entire cruise. Inside cabins versus ocean view. Early seating dinner versus late. Beach excursions versus Island tours. Other than sea days, we didn’t see much of each other.

[U]Saturday, Sept. 11 – Heading to San Juan[/U]
My cousin from Orlando flew in on Friday, and I received a call from her around 5pm. She was very pleased about the hotel and the rooms we were assigned. She would meet us when we arrived Sat. afternoon.
The rest of us got a late start on Saturday morning, which with this group was expected. I naturally started stressing and rushing everybody, which was, in hindsight, unfortunate. We were on the road by 7:20am and arrived at CVG for our 9:10am flight at 8:15am. Even if we had left at 7:30am, we would have been fine. I dropped everyone off for curbside check-in to a surprisingly empty terminal. In talking with the American Airlines rep that checked us in, we “must have the plane to yourselves” because there were only 24 seats filled. The week prior, the flight was almost full. Impending hurricane weather will do that to a flight bound for Miami.
We got checked in, I parked the car and the rest of the group headed for the security check. Upon returning to the airport, I walked into the terminal, up to security and found myself to be the only person in line. This was the point I felt bad about rushing everybody.
The flight left a little late, but was uneventful, although the landing left a little to be desired. We couldn’t have landed any harder. Grabbed a quick snack and boarded our flight for San Juan. Another uneventful flight and hard landing. Must be an AA thing.

SJU is now a nice airport. They have a conveyor belt for luggage and everything. Though it did still take an hour to wait and gather all of the luggage. Waited in the taxi line and got the three vans we needed to get to the hotel. 15 people plus a weeks + of luggage needs a lot of room.

Arrived at the Wyndham Condado Plaza in short order. My van was $20.50, 5 people plus luggage. My cousin paid $14.50 on Friday for her and her husband and luggage.
I have to say, although the Wyndham Condado is not close to the shopping in Old San Juan, it is a very nice hotel. We had signed up for Wyndham By Request membership (it’s free and you get perks) prior to booking and because of that we were assigned rooms that faced the ocean. WOW! What a view. If you stay here, sign-up and get a King-room. The bed faces the balcony and thus overlooks the ocean.
They have a great pool, which came in handy after the cruise (more on that later), with a swim-up bar, water volleyball and a small slide. Lots of lounge chairs and beach access with a shower.

Walked across the street to Tony Roma’s for dinner. I’m thinking the whole time, 17 people – this is going to take forever. But what amazing service. About a 10 minute wait for them to push some tables together and we were being asked for our drink order. Dinner was good and afterward I took DD to the pool while some of the group went to the casino or to just look around. DW won $50.

[U]Sunday, Sept.12 – Ready to embark[/U]
In the morning I walked down to the Café, which is actually next door to the hotel, and got some coffee. Everyone was up and taking in the view of the Destiny. At the end of the halls, facing the pool side of the hotel, there is a balcony with an elevator that takes you to the pool level. From that balcony you can see the Destiny when she’s in port. What a sight. Even from that far off, you can tell she’s a BIG ship.
We gathered everything up, got a couple of vans and headed for the port. Arrived right around 11:30am, and man was it hot! Even just standing in line we were sweating. We were in the gates and under the awning, but not in the actual terminal, so we were out of the sun. Thankfully they do bring out ice water.
Once inside it was cool and very comfortable. The Bacardi-man was giving samples just inside the door, though they had too much orange juice in them. Dropped off our luggage and went through security to stand in line and wait to get checked in. Pictures are before you get in line, which I think is a good idea, because the line is a little slow, though not bad. Fun Pass does expedite the check in process, though the non-Fun Pass line is much shorter.
Ø Funniest moment so far, my cousin’s friend Vikki, who has cruised before, is suddenly way ahead of everyone, on her way to get her Sail and Sign photo and board. The rest of us are either at check in or still in line. I make a comment to her about leaving the rest of us just to get aboard and we laugh, only to find out she skipped the check in desk and just got in the boarding line. We all had a good chuckle waiting for her to go back and get her S&S cards.
Once everybody was onboard, I had anticipated seeing our first-timer’s ooo’s and ahh’s about the Destiny. I have to say I, too, was in that group. Wow! What a BIG vessel. From looking down into the Atrium from the Lido deck and then the size of the S&S restaurant itself, I was surprised at how large she actually felt.
After a great lunch (the food was much better than on our Sensation cruise last year), we decided to drop our stuff off at our cabins and tour the ship. We were told upon boarding, our cabins would not be ready til 1:30, so we ate first. Since half of our cabins were on Lido deck, we all decided to stop there first (these were the inside staterooms). I’ve been sworn to secrecy by my wife as to why we liked these rooms so much, but suffice it to say, our room was more than comfortable for the three of us. Everyone was very impressed and, unfortunately, that led to HUGE disappointment when we went downstairs to the rest of the rooms on the Empress deck.
If anyone has booked any of the only 6, 6B ocean view rooms on Empress deck – change your room! We understood that there was a deck outside of the windows, so no direct oceanview, but we were never told how small these rooms were. In looking at any of the photos Carnival supplies, put the bed beneath the window, remove the sofa and then cut the cabin in half. I have always stayed in an inside cabin and I can honestly say, these rooms were smaller then anything I’ve ever stayed in. Huge, huge disappointed cruisers. But after a brief discussion and decision about not wanting to end up on a lower deck, that part of the group decided to stick it out and see how it would go. By the end of the week they found the cabins to be sufficient, as they weren’t there often, but also that they were too far forward, which did require a bit of walking, and that they would all definitely get oceanview cabins either port or starboard next time.

Disaster diverted, we toured the ship. Wow again! The Destiny has a much larger feel. All the venues are larger. The casino is bigger. The Promenade doesn’t seem any bigger, which led to some long lines for photo-ops throughout the week and to much congestion between the Atrium elevators and rest of the Promenade due people shopping. Always head toward the port side to get around easier. The only two things that seemed smaller, by a large degree, were the Atrium and the pool area. The Atrium bar is a wonderful addition, with the player piano or musicians at different times, but because of the layout, is very tall but not large. The pool area seems the same. Because of the tiered deck layout, the deck area itself seems small. I think too, because of the pool being between the stage and the buffet, it seems closed in. Not bad, just noticeable.

We decided not to venture back off into San Juan, so DW took DD to the pool and we had some drinks. The other Mike in our group had already hooked up with Ram and he met the rest of us then. Talk about great service. Even when we were just walking by on deck, he always had a hi and a handshake for us. It’s hard to decide how much of an extra tip to extend for service like we had, it always seems not enough, but I think we did okay.
Sunday is open seating and dinner was at 5:30 for early seating. Dinner was delicious. Salmon appetizer, Tilapia for entrée, Chocolate Decadence for dessert and I at least ordered a Cappuccino, although it never came. After dinner DW went to the shopping talk for St. Thomas and we checked out the Demo Expo setup in the Casino. Don’t bother, very boring.
Afterward we took DD to the Camp Carnival sign-up and then to the Family Party. There were few children there, but they did still play games and DD won her first ‘Ship on a Stick’ for the dance contest. To say the least she was very excited. And being the overly proud daddy I am, I was just as excited that she had.
We finished in time to head back to our cabins and grab our life-vests for the boat drill. We headed down and got a nice spot toward the front with a little breeze, and then DD decides she needs to potty. So I take her and upon returning we end up in another line, at the back. It was unbearably HOT and even before we finished, I took DD’s jacket off to help cool her off. Luckily it didn’t take long and then it was off to the Sail Away Party.
Great fun! Music was good and the rum punches were good too. Grabbed a late night snack and then it was off to bed.

[dms_cruisers04]

[U]Monday, Sept. 13 – St. Thomas [/U]
We docked at Havensight and not Charlotte Amalie, but the views of St. Thomas were still wonderful.
Grabbed some breakfast and then headed off to Coki Beach. Ride was fun. We’re getting DD ready for her first trip to Cedar Point Amusement Park, so this helped. Coki was nice. I think we were too close to the Coral World side of the beach, so we got a lot of solicitations, but nothing overbearing. People gotta make money. The water was great, and the sun was hot! Don’t forget your sunscreen. Snorkeling was good, lots of fish, which we weren’t sure we’d see due to all the bad weather this year. Bud Lights were only $2 and other then the short rain shower, it was a really nice day. Headed back and got lunch, took a walk over to Paradise Point from the Havensight shopping plaza. The view was okay, but I think the sun had taken it’s toll on us and the heat coming off everyone just made everyone hot and a little cranky.
We reboarded just about at 4:30, grabbed some drinks, can’t miss those drinks of the day, and then started getting ready for dinner. Formal night, not to mention DD’s “Coketail Party” at CC. They had setup drinks and appetizers for the kids, it was a really nice touch. Dinner was good. Lobster, which was okay this time. Salmon was better. Yeah, I got both. Don’t miss the Ragout of Wild Mushroom (anyone that’s had that before, they are making pizza with it too, had quite a few slices of that throughout the week) and of course Pumpkin Soup. Trust me, if you haven’t already, you have to try it. My friend got the chilled Strawberry Soup, and it was good too.

Okay, second complaint of the cruise. The Captain’s Cocktail Party (read: free drinks (lol)) is held from 7:00 til 8:30, which means you arrive late or have to leave early. And it’s not in the Palladium, just the different lounges onboard. So, no dancing on stage and little or no music. After last call, we headed over to the Palladium for the show. It was okay. I know I almost nodded off a few times. Some parts are just a little boring. When the show was over we headed to the Downbeat lounge for Karaoke. That is the best entertainment on board. Unfortunately so, for the whole week. After karaoke, we stopped in the Point After Disco – side note: this is the only place I really noticed that had any kind of over-bearing purple décor, the whole place is purple, everything, but you never notice it when the lights are low and the music is pumping – anyway, there was a lot of Latin music that evening. We turned in at 1am.

[U]Tuesday, Sept. 14 – Dominica[/U]
Woke up to rain. Of course, as everyone joked, it is an island with a rainforest. Snorkeling excursions were cancelled, so we decided to try the Rainforest and Emerald Pool excursion @ 1:30. Tip: If you wake to a very rainy morning and have this tour booked, change to a later one if possible. The Island Tour half of my group had this booked for the morning, and got drenched. We did some shopping, very little actually, til 1:00. DD got one of the pecking hens toys and some “jewelry”. Other then every other taxi driver and the ladies selling handmade flowers to get the children new schoolbooks, we weren’t really solicited much.
Our tour left about 1:40. The views were interesting, although seeing the poverty level was a little depressing. There were a few stops on the way, the view from Morne Bruce, above the port area, was similar to Paradise Point on St. Thomas. The botanical garden was nothing more than a drive-by of some flowering bushes and a banyan tree. If you haven’t seen one before it might be interesting. The Springfield Guest House had okay scenery, but the rum punch was good. After finally arriving at the rainforest we opted to not wait for the guide and made our way down to the Emerald Pool. Saw a beautiful crab nestled in the rocks by the edge of the pool. There was a guy and girl with us in our van. He got in the Pool. Said the water wasn’t bad, about 75 degrees. Made our way back up and grabbed some snacks, then rode back to the ship.
I admit it. I guess I’m somewhat of a scenery snob. Compared to what I’ve seen in Hawaii and Yosemite, Dominica just doesn’t do it for me. It was an interesting way to see the island, but we all agreed, it was kind of a waste of 3 ½ hours. We did not see Trafalgar Falls on this tour, so perhaps that would have changed our opinion.
Got back to our cabin to find a demagnetized S&S card. So back down to the Purser’s desk for a new card and then a quick change for dinner. Another good dinner, although we missed the show and dessert for the Past Cruisers Party. Third complaint. Another during the middle of when everything else is going on event. Whoever is planning these things needs a better date book.
My night with DD. There wasn’t anyone in CC that she wanted to stay with, there were few kids all week and quite a few of those did not speak English. So we went shopping and DD got a Carnival Barbie (as she is calling it) and some snacks. We ended up back in our cabin and played Barbie and watched some TV til she, and I, fell asleep. DW was out late with the group, both at the casino and the disco. The music, apparently, was good that night because they all did a lot of dancing.

[U]Wednesday, Sept. 15 – Barbados[/U]
Slow start this morning, we figured we had all day. Got some breakfast and then it was off to the Boatyard. Grabbed a taxi, which took a little longer then we expected, but the ride was painless, although the driver insisted on charging DD full price even though she rode over on DW’s lap. Whatever.
$12 to get in, DD was less, and $8 back in tokens. Beautiful beach. Soft sand, clear blue water, plenty of room. We picked a spot, got some loungers and one of the guys setup some umbrellas for us. If you go, get there early and get an umbrella. Again, the sun is hot, so don’t forget the sunscreen. We played in the water, on the trampoline and the “iceberg”. They have kayaks and jet skis, the jet skis are extra, $10 for 15 minutes I believe. Be careful of the jet ski guys down the beach toward the Lobster Shack. They are not affiliated with the Boatyard and were charging $40+ for ½ hour rides. We met a couple that got taken for about $60 and ended up arguing with these guys all day because they kept warning people about them.
You can see the Destiny from the Boatyard, we noticed. We had not been there too long, when the clouds started rolling in. They looked as if they would blow past, but we did get rain. Heavy rain. Not for long, but also not as heavy as what they got at the port. At one point, we couldn’t see the ship anymore. We were so glad so decided to come to the beach.
Snorkeling is non-existent right at the Boatyard. There is no coral. Late in the day we walked down the beach toward the Hilton and the little yellow lifeguard shack. One of the guys from the Boatyard mentioned there was good snorkeling down that way. DW, both BIL’s and my brother went in and didn’t see much. When my brother came back we noticed him dancing around when he got in the shallow water. He said he saw a crab in the water by him. Then he turned around to point where everyone else was looking and we notice his trunks were covered. I think we counted 7 as we helped remove them. I took DD back toward the Boatyard while DW and her brothers tried asking about a better snorkeling spot. There were more fish further down the beach from where they were, but still not as good as St. Thomas.
If was about 3:00, so we grabbed some more to drink and got some potato wedges and some wings. Watch out for the hot mustard sauce, it is HOT! But the food was real good. Everyone decided we were cooked enough and we had wanted to do some shopping, so we headed back and grabbed something to eat at the buffet and then headed out to shop. Since we had missed the shopping talk the day before, we were not aware that everything closes at 6pm. Everything. I was glad my sister had picked up the shirt she wanted before we went to dinner, otherwise she would have missed out.
So it was back onboard and everyone kind of did their own thing til the Tropical Deck Party for sail away. We had a blast. Great music, did a little dancing onboard, someone said we were on the travel log video, although I didn’t see it. Lots of Mexican Mamas from Ram til the party died out. DD had fallen asleep in my lap, so she missed out on the Mexican buffet @ 11:30pm, which was really good. DW took her back to the room and my brother, sister and I ventured out down to the Disco til late. Geez, did I drink a lot that night.

[U]Thursday, Sept. 16 – Day at Sea[/U]
I woke to a slight hangover. Nothing serious. But I was tired most of the morning. So I slept a lot. DW tried the casino, which wasn’t paying. She took DD to the pool again, and some schmuck stole one of our towels. How lazy do you have to be when you can’t walk 30 feet from where DW had the towels to the towel cart and get one for yourself? I took care of the missing towel with the towel lady and we went back in to change for the Family Scavenger Hunt. It was actually a lot of fun, especially since we got to spend time together as a family.
Of course we got a lot of weird stares walking back to the Disco in mismatched shoes and DD with her shirt on backward.
Second formal night, so we started getting ready for dinner early. Another good meal. After dinner we went to the show. DD loved Couchy. The show was much better this time. After the show we took DD to CC for awhile and we tried to find something to do.

[dms_cruisers04]

Another complaint. It seems all the entertainment takes place either during dinner or much later in the evening. The only venue that has good entertainment at good times is the Criterion Lounge where Toda La Banda plays. And even then, it helps to speak Spanish, otherwise you feel a little lost. For some reason the Disco is open only to teens til 10:45pm, even when there are not teens there.
We decided we would just do some pictures, pick up DD and then see the Gala Buffet and turn in early. It was going to be an early day in Aruba since we had Jolly Pirates scheduled.

Friday, Sept. 17 – Aruba
The plan all along was to go snorkeling via the Jolly Pirates tours in Aruba. So everyone is up at 7:00am, we get something to eat and meet our whole group on the dock at 8:30am. We grab two taxis and head to Moomba beach. We arrive to find ourselves the only ones there. My cousin, who had made all the arrangements, asks the guy at the bar about JP and gets a nervous/confused look. He says they had problems and she should talk to Carla, he would call them for us. So my cousin jokingly asks ‘What kind of problems, did it sink?’ And the poor guy says, yeah. So for the next few minutes, we all stand around stunned. My cousin talks to Carla and finds out that on Sunday, when we were leaving PR, the boat caught fire and sank. She had been trying to reach us via Carnival all week to let us. Thanks Carnival. Part of the group decided they would take up Carla on her offer that ABC will honor our tickets and they go to catch the Red Hook (I think) catamaran.
My brother and sister mention, again, that Ram suggested a hotel to go to that had a day pass and offered a ton of amenities. But they couldn’t remember where. And I couldn’t remember what anyone on here had said. It was either the lack of coffee, the annoyingly cranky people I was with or the shock of not getting to do the one thing I really was looking forward to doing.
So it’s decided that we will head back to the ship, get the info from Ram and maybe head there. Somewhere in the meantime someone finds info on DePalm Island. Same amenities as, what we found out was Allegro (which of course turned on the light bulb in my head as soon as I saw the name), and supposedly $10 cheaper, but wasn’t. An island, in Aruba, how bad could it be? So we get an expensive taxi ride to a bad beach that has a view of the distillery. I was not scoring points with my family on this one. So, we head over on the ferry, hoping it won’t be that bad. Ends up, there is no real beach, most of the amenities, aside from snorkeling, are extra and there isn’t much view. The drinks were free, though small and the food was average. The snorkeling was phenomenal. Which helped to alleviate most of the disappointment of the day. My sister left and went to Allegro. She said it was really nice and we probably should have just gone there for the day. Oh well, live and learn. We gathered everyone up at 3pm., headed back to the ship to do some shopping. Nothing special here either. DW did get some new earrings. Back on board for dinner and then to find out that the rest of our group that had wanted to go to Carlos N’ Charlie’s, now didn’t. Wish they would have let us know sooner. Oh well, again. Some of us walked over and it was mobbed. My brother, sister, my friend and I went in for at least one drink. $5 to get in and $10 to fill the yard glass. We didn’t stay long, partly because it was time to be back and partly because it was hotter inside, than outside.
No pajama party. I was bummed. Then again, there weren’t many people out for the sail away either. We tried the disco again, but the music being played wasn’t very good. And DD paged us to come pick her up, so we just turned in, I guess it was about 12:15am.

Saturday, Sept.18 – Day at Sea
Slept in, got DD some Fruit Loops and then dropped her off at CC for some morning activities. Went to breakfast in the dining room. Eggs Benedict were pretty good. Pretty much bummed around the rest of the day. A little casino, tried Bingo and then went to our group party. That was fun. Everyone was together and we found a nice lady to take pictures for us. Then off to dinner and more bumming around.

Sunday, Sept. 19 – Back to San Juan
Immigration wasn’t too bad and being on the Lido deck got us off the boat pretty quickly. Although, had we been feeling better, we probably would have just stayed onboard til last call.
Got another couple of cabs and headed back to the Wyndham Condado. We knew we probably wouldn’t be able to get into our rooms right away, which was fine. We all grabbed some coffee and drinks and after catching our breath, decided to head over to the pool. Always keep your swimsuit handy while on vacation.
The pool was great. Cool and relaxing. We played on the water slide and then played a few games of volleyball. One game for free Pina Coladas. Woohoo!! Had lunch at the outside, the burgers were good. Checked into our rooms and relaxed awhile.
Just when we were getting ready to leave for dinner, the other half of the group called, that were staying at the Wyndham in Old San Juan. They had no TV and no air, though the casino was operational. Many of the stores in OSJ were without power also, due to the storm earlier in the week. We were told quite a bit of the island was still without power. So they joined us for dinner. The Italian restaurant at the Wyndham (sorry, don’t remember the name) was good and reasonably priced. The red Sangria was tasty.
After dinner we watched the Bengals game from the bar, since there was no TV for part of the group staying at WOSJ.

Monday, Sept. 20 – Back home
Up, quick snack, back to the airport. Long flight to Chicago. Luckily we got to see Miracle and Shrek 2, so the time passed quickly. Long layover in Chicago. Had dinner at Chili’s, another good burger, which was even better with the cold Sam Adams I had. Quick jaunt back to Cincy and then finally home.

Overall, the cruise was good and everyone had a good time. There were a few things that I feel could have been better, like the entertainment and the times that things are scheduled, but ultimately, it was a good vacation. Would I cruise on the Destiny again, unlikely. Though I wouldn’t hesitate to spend time in Barbados, St. Thomas and perhaps Aruba again. Maybe during a year with better weather patterns.

[mchoelting]

Mike, thanks for the review. I am sorry I didn't get a chance to meet all of you. We also enjoyed the islands. As for cruising the destiny, we probably wouldn't. We did have a good time at the ports, and got drenched on the trip to the pool and falls, but as you mentioned we were in the rainforest. Glad you had a good time.

[betsy7060]

Great review Mike!!! I have a question about the vans at the airport in San Juan. I have a group of 18 traveling down for the 10/24 sailing. Did you have to get in the "taxis line" to get that rate for the van. Thanks a bunch:)

[dms_cruisers04]

Yeah, the taxi line is the only way to actually get a taxi. The taxi is a flat rate based on where you're going and then $.50 each for first three pieces and $1 each for the rest. We had 5 people and about 12 or 13 pieces of luggage including carry-ons.
Depending on where you're staying, check with the hotel and see if they have a shuttle. I saw a few this visit, which was new to me. Wyndham Condado didn't.

[betsy7060]

Thanks Mike

[countercast]

Just a great review. Felt it was accurate from your perspective and informative with the right attitude. Thanks!

[Jim Conner]

We are scheduled for the Destiny Jan 2006 and are already apprehensive about the amount of baggage allowed. When we travel by land on our other cruises we do not have to worry.

Can you advise is there any allowance for extra bags are or they just as restrictive as CONUS travel.

[MrPete]

Thanks Mike. Your review took me back.

Where is Havensight?

[BIG DADDY ONE]

Jim, they are just as restrictive and the $ per exta bag is the same about $75 each way per bag

[dms_cruisers04]

Jim, looks like David covered the luggage question. I did notice that American had a higher weight allowance for the San Juan flight. A suggestion though, on Thursday there is a laundry special. $15 for everything you can fit in the laundry bag. We had it done and had plenty of clean clothes for the rest of the cruise. Also, it is very casual onboard. 2 formal nights, 1 night of "business casual" and the other 4 evenings are casual, shorts allowed. So packing was real light for us this time.

Peter, Havensight is really just a "block" away. The SuperShopper mentioned we'd be docking at Havensight, and I was kinda bummed. But when we got back from Coki and took the tram around the corner to the Havensight shopping center (which we later walked back from, maybe 3 minutes) and then walked a couple blocks, maybe 4 or 5, to Paradise Point, which is apparently across from where the ships dock at Charlotte Amalie, I realized there really isn't any difference as to where you dock.