Just off the Destiny this morning!

[sunshine4us3]

Hi all, we JUST got off the Destiny about 9 hours ago. I am going to follow with my review in a little while, I am still listing slightly. I will also scan in the capers for those interested. If you guys have any specific questions, put them here and I will check again a little later.

[2PinaColadas]

What cabin were you in? What upgrades did you notice? What night was "elegant" night? Hope you had a great time.

[sunshine4us3]

We were in a cat 11 7128, elegant night was the 2nd sea day, I was in the pursers line shortly after we set sail and I heard people asking for upgrades and being told that the ship was full, so no upgrades.

[veryhotred]

So how was the cruise? Any problems/complaints? We sail on 1-3-09. How was the food? See, I have no specific questions, I just want to hear about it all..lol..:rolleyes:

[JerseyHorseLover]

Awesome... My sister and I will be on the Destiny on the 25th.. YES, scan in those capers!!

[sunshine4us3]

Embarkation- We had priority embarkation due to being in a suite, it was phenomenal. We got to the terminal, gave our bags to the porter, got escorted through security and were in the VIP lounge in about 4 minutes. They gave us our sign and sail cards, checked us in, and we were on the ship in a matter of 10 minutes. Cabins weren't ready, as usual, we went to the Lido deck, ate lunch and went to the top to look at Miami. The skyline was great from the top of the Destiny.

 

Food- Dining room staff was great, Anastasia was our waitress and she was awesome. The food was also pretty great, I tried different things, lamb, chateubriand, steak, lobster. It was all good, I wasn't jumping up and down in my seat but it was good and I did not leave disappointed. The food on Lido was actually really good. There were several times at lunch, well, around 2:30 when we got back from the shore, that I was shocked at how good some of the food was.

 

The ship in general- The ship seemed to be in great shape, and believe me, if you could see it, we saw it. The outer areas, the ones that are exposed to the most sea water are slightly rusty, but there was a crew painting the outside while we were in port at Grand Turk. Other than that, there were no major flaws. All of the elevators were working, there was no odor on any decks. There were no areas taped off that were under construction. Everything was beautiful and in working order. The day we got on the ship we noticed big packages sitting on the Lido deck by the very back of the ship, later that night we realized they were new deck chairs. Brand new, all of them there are no old chairs anywhere on the deck.

 

Cabin- As I already said, cat 11 suite, number 7128 to be exact, we had cabin steward Adi, he was great. The cabin was not as big as I was thinking it would be, I had the chance to see a cat 12 and it wasn't as big as I thought it would be either. We did however have regular interior cabins across the hall from us and realized how lucky we were to have the big space and big balcony. Okay, when you open the door you can see a mirror on the left and the bar on the right. The bar on the right has all of your glassware and mirrors to make it look bigger, under the glassware is a cabinet that holds the safe, which worked fine. In the next cabinet there is the fridge which Carnival had packed full of liquor and sodas of their own which we promptly removed and put in a drawer. We put our own sodas which we brought onto the ship in the fridge, and it worked great. The TV is a flat screen which sits up high on a shelf above the cabinet that holds the fridge, great picture, great sound. We had 2 closets, both of which stayed closed on their own with no tape or adjusting. They were more than big enough for all 4 of our suitcases and clothes. There was a nice size dresser against one wall with 4 drawers which also had ample space. We had a king size bed which was comfy and there was a couch made into a twin bed which my 7 year old slept in and she was also very comfy. There was one big window, one smaller window and the balcony door. The balcony itself was 1/3 bigger than a regular balcony. This is scientific because they have glass panels, and ours had 3 panels other regular balconies had 2. On the balcony there were 3 chairs and a table and there was still space to walk around out there.

 

More to come when I can focus on the screen.

[Fam Vaca]

Thank you so much for your information. We sail on the Destiny on 6-6-09. Can't wait. How was the entertainment?

 

Can't wait to hear more of your review;)

[veryhotred]

Embarkation- We had priority embarkation due to being in a suite, it was phenomenal. We got to the terminal, gave our bags to the porter, got escorted through security and were in the VIP lounge in about 4 minutes. They gave us our sign and sail cards, checked us in, and we were on the ship in a matter of 10 minutes. Cabins weren't ready, as usual, we went to the Lido deck, ate lunch and went to the top to look at Miami. The skyline was great from the top of the Destiny.

 

Food- Dining room staff was great, Anastasia was our waitress and she was awesome. The food was also pretty great, I tried different things, lamb, chateubriand, steak, lobster. It was all good, I wasn't jumping up and down in my seat but it was good and I did not leave disappointed. The food on Lido was actually really good. There were several times at lunch, well, around 2:30 when we got back from the shore, that I was shocked at how good some of the food was.

 

The ship in general- The ship seemed to be in great shape, and believe me, if you could see it, we saw it. The outer areas, the ones that are exposed to the most sea water are slightly rusty, but there was a crew painting the outside while we were in port at Grand Turk. Other than that, there were no major flaws. All of the elevators were working, there was no odor on any decks. There were no areas taped off that were under construction. Everything was beautiful and in working order. The day we got on the ship we noticed big packages sitting on the Lido deck by the very back of the ship, later that night we realized they were new deck chairs. Brand new, all of them there are no old chairs anywhere on the deck.

 

Cabin- As I already said, cat 11 suite, number 7128 to be exact, we had cabin steward Adi, he was great. The cabin was not as big as I was thinking it would be, I had the chance to see a cat 12 and it wasn't as big as I thought it would be either. We did however have regular interior cabins across the hall from us and realized how lucky we were to have the big space and big balcony. Okay, when you open the door you can see a mirror on the left and the bar on the right. The bar on the right has all of your glassware and mirrors to make it look bigger, under the glassware is a cabinet that holds the safe, which worked fine. In the next cabinet there is the fridge which Carnival had packed full of liquor and sodas of their own which we promptly removed and put in a drawer. We put our own sodas which we brought onto the ship in the fridge, and it worked great. The TV is a flat screen which sits up high on a shelf above the cabinet that holds the fridge, great picture, great sound. We had 2 closets, both of which stayed closed on their own with no tape or adjusting. They were more than big enough for all 4 of our suitcases and clothes. There was a nice size dresser against one wall with 4 drawers which also had ample space. We had a king size bed which was comfy and there was a couch made into a twin bed which my 7 year old slept in and she was also very comfy. There was one big window, one smaller window and the balcony door. The balcony itself was 1/3 bigger than a regular balcony. This is scientific because they have glass panels, and ours had 3 panels other regular balconies had 2. On the balcony there were 3 chairs and a table and there was still space to walk around out there.

 

More to come when I can focus on the screen.

 

 

great, thanks, but more more more pls..lol

[Bran8778]

Wow,

 

This review has me so excited to get on that ship!!!

 

My wife and I will also be in a Cat 11 cabin, and have had one before, but the reviews about the check in portion have been so bad over the past few weeks.

 

I would love to hear some more!!

 

Hi VERYHOTRED!! :D See you soon!!! Stop over at the ROLL CALL and say hello :) We MISS YOU :(

[sunshine4us3]

Here is some more, I know you guys have waited patiently.

 

More on the ship- As said before, I found absolutely no flaws. All elevators working properly, and with hardly no wait. The ship is rather clean, I stood in the atrium waiting on my husband and watched housekeeping polishing and sweeping constantly. It really was nice. There are some Christmas decorations up, a tree, some garland. The seaside theater was great, we watched Speed Racer up there one night, it was lovely sitting underneath the stars watching a movie, the screen is great, the sound is great, they have popcorn for sale at the lido bar. There weren't too many people up there, we had our pick of deck chairs.

 

Now the ports

 

Nassau, Bahamas-

We chose to go on our own to Atlantis. We booked a hotel room online through Comfort Inn and Suites. We got off the ship, went through the cruise center, got a taxi, which was kind of expensive in my opinion, is cost 15 for 3 of us, plus a tip, and we had to pay the toll for the bridge which was $1. So, all in all, it took about 30 minutes to get from the ship to the hotel. The Comfort inn had it all figured out. They checked us in and checked us out all in about 3 minutes. We got our tickets, took them to the towel hut and got our wrist bands. We went to the Dig, saw the manta ray. We went down the lazy river, swam in about 3 different pools. We went to the Atlantis beach access, is was beyond gorgeous. We ate, which was expensive I know but it was a pretty good pita wrap:). We went all the way around the towers themselves. All in all, it was a great excursion. My 7 year old was enthralled with the Dig, so were we honestly. I wouldn't miss it. That is where the manta ray is also. We spent around 5 hours at Atlantis and got another taxi ride from the Atlantis back to the ship. All in all, I would go back to Atlantis as there is no where near enough time to do everything there in 5 ir 6 hours, and the price wasn't all that bad going through comfort inn. Elegant night was this night, most people were dressed up, I think I saw 2 tuxedos, and the rest were a mixture of some men in suits, like my husband and some men in dress shirts with the sleeves rolled up. Women wore simple black dresses, and a few were in true ball gowns, and the ones in those gowns looked kind of out of place. More people were dressed conservatively than extravagant. It was enjoyable though.

 

Half Moon Cay- let me tell you, I think this is one of the prettiest beaches I have ever seen. The water was gorgeous, the sand was beautiful. The whole day was great. We were working on getting our 7 year old used to snorkeling and preparing her for Grand Turk, and this was a great place for that. We didn't book anything here, we just got off the ship, well, we were tendered off the ship and then we walked down the stone path until we were away from the larger groups of people, grabbed a few beach chairs and chilled right there. I know several people paid for the cabanas which are 225 a person, and they did not appear worth it to me. There was plently of shade on the actual beach and it was no where near hot enough to need air conditioning. I felt as though we made the right choice, we stayed on the beach until about 2 then we got back on the ship. Waiting on the tender did not take long, and getting back on the ship was pretty easy. Up to Lido for some food, then to the pool. It was a really great day.

 

Grand Turk- I didn't know what to think about Grand Turk. We got there an hour late due to rough seas the night before and we left HMC about an hour late due to too many people waiting till the last minute trying to get themselves tendered back onto the ship. We arrived at 11Am and no one got off the ship until 1140-1200 noon. We were told we would stay an hour later because of the late arrival. Let me tell you, from the top of the ship and our balcony, you could tell that these island had been basically destroyed by the hurricanes. There were areas washed out, lots of buildings that still didn't have finished roofs, it just looked like an area in progress from a distance. We didn't book anything here either, we had intentions of just going to the cruise center that is right on the pier as you get off the ship and snorkeling there, and that is exactly what we did. We went through the Dufry cruise center, saw all the stuff they had for sale, and walked out into the sunshine. Now, there is a hut that you can rent all the snorkel stuff from, and we did that, it wasn't too expensive, masks, vests and fins for 3 was about $40. We went down the beach and found some chairs and got in the water. It was lovely, the water at Nasssau and HMC was pretty cold, not so cold you didn't get in, but it took some getting used to. This water at Grand Turk didn't take much to get used to, and we snorkeled for abround 3 hours, had enough, went to the pool at the cruise center which is free to use, stayed there for another hour or so and the did some shopping. No one is pushy here, no one shoving things in your face, very peaceful and laid back. we got some great souvineirs from this port. I would like to go back here in a year and see what progress the island has made, I bet it would be totally different.

 

Fun day at Sea- We got up, went to the pool. Ate breakfast, chilled on the lido deck. We played mini golf on the top of the ship, the captain had mercy on us and slowed the ship way down after we left Grand Turk and honestly I barely felt it the rest of the trip so there wasn't much wind up on the mini golf deck. We took our daughter to the build a bear thingy. She got a tattoo on the lido deck, airbrush of course:) Ate lunch on the lido deck, I went to the casino where I proceeded to lose about 40 bucks in the slots after about an hour and a half. My husband and daughter went to the arcade which wasn't all that great. Had about 10 games and they all cost $1 for about 30 seconds of play time. Not great, they burned through $20 in about 45 minutes. We went to the Christmas show they had in the afternoon, they sang and danced and had the camp carnival kids sing which was really cute, and my daughter said she was glad she wasn't up there on stage. We went to dinner which was great and everyone seemed to be a little more dressed up this night, I guess because they wanted to wear their best for the last night of the cruise, it was great food, great times.

 

I will scan in the Capers when I get a minute. I hope everyone has as much fun as we did, I will go over debark in a while.

[sunshine4us3]

BTW, I have a few pictures of our cabin and balcony I will post when I get my camera and SD card straightened out. I know I searched high and low of pics of a cat 11 on the destiny and couldn't find any.

[afcj1]

Thanks for finishing up. I'm doing this itinerary in September and now I'm convinced that I picked a trip that I'll enjoy. I look forward to reading the capers.

Thanks for sharing:)

[Jeans*Fanatic]

Thanks so much for the review!!! Looking forward to seeing the capers! :D

[sunshine4us3]

here is the caper from the day of embarkation.

[sunshine4us3]

once again from the first embarkation day.

[myamifin]

Thanks for the review - this is getting me more excited, as we'll be on her in a couple of weeks with Bran and VeryHotRed.

 

Thanks for the Capers.

[veryhotred]

Wow,

 

This review has me so excited to get on that ship!!!

 

My wife and I will also be in a Cat 11 cabin, and have had one before, but the reviews about the check in portion have been so bad over the past few weeks.

 

I would love to hear some more!!

 

Hi VERYHOTRED!! :D See you soon!!! Stop over at the ROLL CALL and say hello :) We MISS YOU :(

 

Hi Bran!!! I am getting SO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dutch Diver]

here is the caper from the day of embarkation.

 

Thanks for posting these capers. Maybe it's just me, but they are quite small (177px × 280px). Is there any way you can post larger sized images?

[myamifin]

Thanks for posting these capers. Maybe it's just me, but they are quite small (177px × 280px). Is there any way you can post larger sized images?

 

Not just you - they are small, and even saving them and enlarging on the computer distorts them so you can't read them.

 

Any chance of posting them in larger image, or a link to the images?

[alphakitty]

Thanks for the review! We'll be sailing on Destiny in 49 days. With this weather we've had....it can't come fast enough!

 

If you post the pic of the Capers to a host site like Webshots, you can then post full sized photos here. or a link to the Webshots page. That might help. :)

[Bran8778]

Did you see alot of guys in suit's on Elegant Night?? I really don't want to bring a suit with me! :)

[myamifin]

Did you see alot of guys in suit's on Elegant Night?? I really don't want to bring a suit with me! :)

 

Hey Bran - I think the Buckeye's shirt will work :D

 

For me - I'm thinking of just bringing dress pants, shirt and tie - That's about as elegant as I want to be - I'm on vacation!

[Bran8778]

Hey Bran - I think the Buckeye's shirt will work :D

 

For me - I'm thinking of just bringing dress pants, shirt and tie - That's about as elegant as I want to be - I'm on vacation!

 

Good Call !! Shirt and Tie !!! No Suit :) Now, I can pack just a small suitcase :)

[eoconnor]

Thanks, we sail in 54 days. Doing Jamacia and Grand Cayman.

[mouche]

Thanks for the wonderful review, can't wait to sail on the Destiny Mar 14th 2009.