7-22-10 Destiny review!!

After months of planning, reading and excitement, our 10 year anniversary cruise was FINALLY here!!!

We left South Carolina the morning before at 6 am and starting driving down. Since we didn't have our 2 kids with us, we stopped when we wanted to and it was VERY nice. However, the trip did start off a little bad for me. My beloved Nikon D60 just completely stopped working. It just died! So, on the way down I had DH stop so I could buy a new camera. I ended up just getting a Canon Powershot since I didn't want to spend over $300 on a camera right as we were going on vacation. I was disappointed with the camera as it takes horrible pictures in low light situations even with the flash up. Anyways, back to the review!

We stopped in Daytona Beach since DH wanted to visit the Harley Davidson shop there. Even though I screamed, "Look! A Gucci outlet!" Harley seemed cooler to him. :p

Alissa - Thanks a BUNCH for posting pics I can actually see!! YAY! Great Review so far. Keep it coming girl! :)

We opted to stop and stay in Fort Lauderdale and then get up and drive the 30 minutes or so to Miami. I'm SO glad we did! I booked the Hyatt Place Dania Beach for $79 through Priceline. While checking in, the staff member said he did not have a reservation for us but since I had my Priceline printout, he honored it and we made our way up to our room.

This is a new hotel and it is beautiful! It is right by the interstate but we didn't hear a thing while sleeping. There are plenty of places to eat nearby, including a Dave and Busters. We were going to eat and play there but it was PACKED!!

We got up the next morning, had a quick breakfast and we were on our way!

We got to the port around 10am, dropped off our luggage and parked. We went right through security, checked in, got our S&S cards and then waited for our zone to be called to board the ship. It was SO simple and being first time cruisers, I was happy. Everyone was extremely nice and helpful.

I promise folks, I'm getting to the acutal review. I just have everything fresh in my mind and I LOVE retelling the entire story!!:p

We were able to start boarding around 11am and then headed up to the Lido deck for lunch. The lines were a tad bit long but no big deal.

After lunch, we headed out to the deck to see the incredible view of Miami. I was just in awe of how sprawling the city is. I'm a small town girl and our biggest city in the state is Columbia. It has NOTHING on Miami!

The doors opened at 1:30 on the dot and we were able to check out our cabin. We had balcony cabin #9198 and we LOVED the location! Even though we were thisclose to the outside Lido area, we didn't hear a whole lot of noise while in our cabin.

After checking out our cabin, we decided to explore the ship! Being our first cruise, we had nothing to compare it to but she is beautiful! She is extremely clean and we saw nothing broken or run down looking at all.

We found our dining room, which took a lot of effort. We had to go down a few floors, walk to the back of the ship and then go up a floor. It was confusing, but we got the hang of things by the end of the cruise. Go figure!:p

Great job so far! :)

Loving this review so far. I think the pics came out great!!!

At 4pm, we were on the Lido deck getting a drink when we heard the horn blow signaling sail off. I can't even describe the excitement I felt in that moment! I can't wait to experience that at least once a year!!:p

I have to admit, I felt a little queasy while watching us sail away. I was walking one way and the ship was going the opposite way and I think it just messed with me a bit. Other than that, I was fine the entire trip.

We went back to our cabin and our luggage had already been delivered. We got unpacked and headed to the photo gallery to look for our Embarkation picture. We explored the ship a bit more and then went back to get ready for dinner.

Our server, David from Peru was outstanding! He went above and beyond and made us feel very special. DH and I both had the ribs and they were incredible! DH loved the chocolate melting cake but I thought it was too sweet. But, I don't have a big sweet tooth so I guess my opinion doesn't count! I did try the cheescake and it was very, very good.

After dinner, we headed to the casino to try our luck. We stayed for maybe an hour and left after giving Carnival $100.:p

We heard an announcement that tropical wave Bonnie had now became tropical storm Bonnie and we would not be docking at Key West the next day. Brent, the cruise director, said we would receive something in our stateroom that evening with itinerary changes. I was disappointed but what can ya do?

So, our intinerary was just flip flopped. Instead of Key West, we would have a sea day and would be in Key West the last day. This would put us in Cozumel from 7am-4pm instead of 1pm-10pm. This wasn't a big deal but we had made excursion reservations through Island Marketing and Wild Tours. We quickly went down to the internet cafe and emailed the company asking if we could switch times. Good gravy, the charges for internet are sky high! Oh, and also they were only charging 99 cents to use the phone in the stateroom. Pretty good deal!

Cruising on the Destiny on 9/20/10 for our honeymoon... I am so ready to go!!! keep the review and the pictures coming.. :D

So, Friday was a sea day. We had ordered room service breakfast the night before and asked it be delivered between 8am-9am. It was there at 8:02. How's that for service? We then headed up to the Lido deck to chill out by the pool. I had heard of these mythical chair hogs and now I know of their existance. We were on deck by 10am and we were lucky to find 2 chairs on the 2nd level. It wasn't crowded, but almost all the chairs were taken.:cool:

We had lunch at the buffet and then roamed around the ship stopping in various places. Since it was sea day, tonight would be formal night. We got ready and headed down to the Universe dining room at 8pm for our 8:15 seating. I'm not sure what exactly was going on but they had closed the doors and it was packed from wall to wall outside with people waiting to get in. And boy was it HOT!!! Finally, around 8:25 the doors opened.

I ordered the lobster and DH ordered prime rib. Apparently, this was unnacceptable to our server and he brought DH the prime rib AND the lobster.:p

We then made our rounds for formal portraits. The lines were not too long at all. I only got irritated once during portraits. The photographer was VERY rude and I couldn't understand how he was asking us to pose. He then said, "How hard is it to do what I ask?" I almost flipped out but I kept my cool and got it over with.

We changed and then went back to the casino to make another donation to Carnival. :p

COZUMEL!!!

Oh, I love Cozumel. DH and I both agreed that we would definitely be back and do more things on the island.

We had made reservations with Wild Tours to do the Xrail to Jade Caverns tour. Thankfully, they allowed us to change times since our itinerary changed. I was a little skepitcal about booking with an outside company, especially it being our first cruise, but it was a wonderful experience.

We docked in Puerto Maya around 6:30 and were off the ship by 7:15. We needed to take a cab to Margaritaville to meet up with our guide by 8:30. It was only DH and I plus a family of 4 doing the 8:30 tour. A guide met us and sent us on our way to the Wild Tours office. It took about 25 minutes to get there, passing by all of the beaches like Nochi and Mr.Sancho's.

We met Roberto, our guide and he explained what we would be doing and how to drive the Xrail. Then, we were on our way! We knew we would be getting muddy, so we wore old clothes and I'm SO glad we did. We got filthy!! On our way to the caverns, one of the Xrails broke down and the guide had to call for another one to be driven out. We were stopped, in the jungle, for about 15 minutes. The guide had walked back around the bend to wait for the other vehicle. DH and I were just talking about if Cozumel had snakes or not. Not even 5 minutes later, guess what? We see a snake crossing the road right in front of us. :eek:

Of course, I freaked out!! The snake heard this and took off the other way. It made me nervous but we are in the jungle of Cozumel after all!! When Roberto came back with the other vehicle, I told him what I had seen and he laughed. He said the snakes on the island won't hurt me, they eat mice and frogs. He said they have constrictors though and they might squeeze me. I loved Roberto!!

It took about 45 minutes to get to Jade Cavern. We were SO muddy!! When we got there, I was just blown away. It is the most beautiful place I had ever seen and I highly recommend everyone visit it. Roberto sat us down and told us a little bit about the Mayans and the history of the caverns. He gave us lifejackets and said we could take a dip if we liked. I was a little skeptical about it since I'm a big baby and don't like swimming in things where creatures possibly live. But, I did it.

We jumped in and floated along while he pointed out different things about the cavern. There were literally thousands of bats hanging and flying above us and baby tilapia swimming with us. He pointed out another part of the cave that we could get to but we would have to go under water for a second to get under the entrance since the tide was up. He said it would be pitch black dark since the sun wasn't above that part yet. I sucked it up and did it and so glad I did. Roberto never let go of my life jacket and directed me in and out. One person that was in our group had a waterproof camera so when she would snap a picture we could see the inside for a split second. Breathtaking doesn't even cover it!

After that, we got back into the Xrails and began our journey back. We stopped at another small cave that the Mayans used as a hurricane shelter on the way back.

Again, I HIGHLY recommend this tour! Be warned though, it is a very muddy and BUMPY ride. So, if you have back or neck problems, it probably isn't for you.

Here are a few more pictures of the caverns..

It looks like a snake is coming down out of the top to have a drink

Since our excursion took up most of our day in port, we hurried back on the ship to quickly shower and change so that we could do a little shopping. You should have seen the looks we got walking back to the ship muddy and nasty! Some asked what we had done and wanted to hear about it, others looked at us like we were trash and shouldn't be allowed back on the ship. We didn't care, we had a blast and were just giddy! Nobody was going to bring us down!

After changing, we went back out to the plaza and did some shopping. It was HOT!! I mean, sweltering hot. We're used to the heat and humidity in SC, but this was so different. We were back on the ship by 3:15 watching the longest line I've ever seen form down below. I'm glad we got back on when we did because I would have melted standing in the line to get back on.

We were exhausted from our day so we didn't go to the dining room for dinner. We grabbed a bite from the buffet, went to the casino and then went to the Palladium lounge for the "Love and marriage" show. It was hilarious! We had such a great day.

Fabulous review so far!! I can't wait for the rest!:)

:DGreat Job, I love the review. Keep the posts coming!

We were in Cozumel in April 09 and loved it!!! There was a group of 10 of us and we didnt do an excursion .. we caught a cab to Mr. Sanchos Beach and had a wonderful time... it was so much fun!!! the beach had a bar, restaurant, swimming pool, you could get massages, and rent jet skis, parasail.. it was great!!! Sounds like you all had a great time there as well!!! When we cruise in Sept on the Destiny we are going to Grand Turk, Half moon cay and Nassau... I can hardly wait!!!

Great review so far! I love reading such a great review, with pictures, especially from a 1st timer. :) Can't wait for more!

Thank-you; can't wait for the rest!

The next morning, we got up around 6am to get ready for the day. We booked the Behind the Fun tour as soon as we boarded since we knew it booked fast. Thanks CruiseCritic for that info!!

We had breakfast and headed to the Down Beat Lounge to meet up with the tour guide. It was only 9 of us in the tour so it was very small. The tour lasted about 3.5 hours and we really enjoyed it. We got to meet the captain and he gave us a tour of the bridge. We visited the laundry area, backstage of the Palladium Lounge, engine control room, kitchen, staff dining room, pantry, liquor and wine pantry and a few other places. When we returned to our room afterward, there were chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us from the chef of the MDR. What a nice treat!!

We gathered our things and headed off the ship to explore Key West. The heat index was around 115 and It was soooo HOT!!! We walked along Duval Street for a while and decided to try and find a bar on the beach somewhere. We flagged down a bicycle buggy thing and asked him where we should go. He took us to a really cool place near the southernmost point. We sat at the bar and had a really great time! I'm glad we got there when we did because after about 30 minutes of being there, a storm came up and it rained for a good while.

The bartender made sure I always had a full glass of rumrunner and by the end of our day, I was nice and loaded. We met an awesome couple from Amsterdam and we cut up with them for hours. I was really sad to have to get in the cab and leave! Since it rained, everybody had gotten back on the ship so we walked straight in, no standing in line.

We got our showers and started getting ready for dinner as soon as we got back. After my shower, my drinks started catching up with me and I told DH there was no way I was able to go to dinner. He grabbed us some food from the buffet but I didn't eat. Finally, I was able to um...make myself feel better:p and we started packing up our things. We turned in for the night after a fantastic day.

The bar we hung out in

Our friends from the Netherlands! All of us..drunk as a skunk!

Goodbye Key West!

Debarkation day...so sad!!

I really wasn't ready to leave, 4 days is really too short of a cruise!! Anyway, we got up, had breakfast and waited for our zone to be called. We were off the ship, got our luggage and through customs by 8:15am. It was such an easy process and Miami really has their junk together. I'd can't wait to sail from Miami again.

Final thoughts about our 1st cruise ever and with Carnival-

Embarkation and Debarkation were a breeze. The ship was clean, staff friendly and we felt that we definitely got our money worth. There were only a few disappointments but they definitely didn't ruin our trip at all. Number one was the food. MDR was absolutely fantastic-no complaints what so ever. But, the food on the Lido deck was dediocre at best.

We had heard from friends who have cruised before that the food is out of this world fantastic. You could go to the buffet anytime day or night and have a fantastic selection to choose from. This wasn't the case. We found that the chinese buffet and the sushi bar were only open for a few hours and the deli was just okay. The main buffet left a lot to be desired and DH was disappointed that there weren't any seafood selections other than breaded shrimp and fish. He was hoping for some peel and eat shrimp or something like that. DH is a total foodie, so I can understand his disappointment.

The other thing, and again, trivial-some of the clientale. I know it was a short caribbean cruise and that usually brings in the party crowd and what not. I like to drink and have a great time, but not make a complete ass of myself, ya know?

Also, I guess I just always try to make sure my kids are polite and well behaved and I couldn't believe how some people would let their kids act. We were having a late lunch in the Sun and Sea restaurant and this couple were letting their kids do this stomp stomp clap thing and it went on for 15 minutes-right behind us. Finally, we got up and moved to the other side of the restaurant. A few other people did the same thing so I knew it wasn't just us being picky. My opinion is that yes, everyone pays money to cruise but please have consideration for other guests. Common courtesy, right?

Again, it didn't ruin our trip but we probably won't sail on Destiny again, at least not for a short cruise.We will try another Carnival ship since the value can't be beat and there was plenty of things to do. I'll do a bit of research on the different ships very soon since we want to take the kids during Spring Break of '11. I'm officially a cruiser!!

Thanks for reading my review, I hope I didn't bore you all to tears!:p

Oh, I forgot to mention the water pressure in the shower. Phenomenal!

Great review and pictures! I was also on this cruise! The service, food, and entertainment was excellent. People were having fun, but it wasn't such a party crowd or people being too drunk. At the muster drill, an announcement was made that we wouldn't be stopping at Key West, and at night we received a letter with the change of itinerary. My camera also broke, and I had to purchase one at the gift shop. I found an Olympus with 12.3 mega pixels for $99.

Carolinagirl82, On spring break you'll really see a lot of college students out of control even on the 7 day cruises. I thought that this was a great crowd on the Destiny.

Great review Carolinagirl!! We sail on Aug 5th with our 2 daughters - same itenirary. We are loyal Carnival cruisers and have done the short and long cruises. You will always see a few rude and out of control guests on any cruise, but we have never come away without a wonderful time and great memories. Have fun next Spring and enjoy the cruising life!!!

the party crowd is typical on the 3 and 4 day cruises. The longer you go, it seems there are less and less of them on any line. Thanks for the review. We are looking to book this in feb.