Destiny 11/22 western caribbean review

Hi everyone!

Just back from Destiny today... Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I'm in a hotel; we leave tomorrow at early o'clock for home and after I arrive home, I will post a full review.

For anyone concerned about Destiny (and based on many negative comments I'd heard before traveling on her, I admit I was!), PLEASE DO NOT BE CONCERNED! We had an excellent experience in nearly every way.

I will say that we had two ports on our itinerary: Jamaica and Grand Cayman. We didn't make Jamaica due to gale-force winds. Many people were disappointed as they'd never been and were so looking forward to it. Grand Cayman was lovely like always :)

The weather the first 2.5 days was not fun. I was "horizontal" with sea sickness for 1.5 days. Once we got "around the bend" on the east side of Cuba, things calmed way down and I was able to get my bearings again. I guess so many people were sick with the ship's rocking that the cruise director even made mention of people looking "less green" than they were the previous day. The problem for this was gale-force winds hitting the ship from the side, not from behind or in front. We were being tossed about like the S.S. Minnow! (NOTE: Weather is certainly not Carnival's fault and boy, I surely appreciate the Captain's decisions not to try to make specific ports in hurricane season if the ports are in the path of a hurricane!)

The ship was nice! Clean! Staff friendly! And most importantly, NO FOUL ODORS ANYWHERE!

So if you have questions, feel free to post. When I get home, I'll download my pictures and give you all the details here.

I'll talk more tomorrow!

Welcome back, Debra!!

Glad to hear you had a good time!! (Sorry about the sea sickness.....that would suck.)

Can't wait for the full review!!

Day One

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Friday around noon. Thanks to CC, I found out about SAS Transportation and we shuttled to our hotel (Miami Hilton) for $15 each. They were wonderful. I highly recommend them.

NOTE: On another thread re: this topic someone said that SAS does not originate "trips" in Miami. I asked the driver about this and he said they absolutely DO. They do not automatically have a shuttle motoring around the Port, though, and you need to arrange it with them ahead of time, but they most certainly will pick you up at the Port and take you to either MIA or FLL. They were great and we will definitely use them again.

We got to the hotel. I like Hilton because I travel 100% for my job and get my vacation rooms for free with Hilton, but there is something up with that hotel! We went 2x and this is the only hotel I've ever had to wait for my room--both times. As a Diamond member that normally doesn't happen. However, we went to our room and got a view on the 21st floor.

Since I posted pics in my Liberty review in September, I won't post room pics again. The rooms are spacious, nicely appointed, comfortable and the view cannot be beat.

We went and hung out by the pool:

We went to South Beach (on the C and/or K bus ($2.00 each way pp)--we picked it up at the Omni station literally a block away) for dinner. We were charmed by Espanola Way, which is a mall-type avenue with loads of restaurants on it. Al fresco dining was the name of the game that night, and based on recommendations from the concierge, we stopped at Hosteria Romana which was Italian. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was so much fun! They treat you like family when you go there and they all sing songs in Italian. If you are looking for something to do besides going to Bubba Gumps over and over again, you might want to try this adventure--going to South Beach. It was a fun treat. He gave us several recommendations, so we have several from which to choose next time. Hosteria Romana's website is: http://www.hosteriaromana.com/home2_eng.swf

Time for bed so we can look for ships in the morning (our lovely view didn't render anything but The World docked out there the night before our sailing, if my memory serves me correctly).

DAY TWO--EMBARKATION DAY!

You know that Disney World commercial where the two little kids are speculating about all the wonder of their upcoming trip to DW and their mother tells them to go to sleep... the little boy says, "I'M TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP!" ???

That's us. :) Well, sorta. LOL

I woke up at 6:00 and "chop chop"'d my hubby to get up and get moving. The first thing I do is open the drapes to see which ships were there, and there was Liberty of the Seas, Norwegian Jewel, and Destiny. YAY!! Oh, wait, another ship was coming as well. We sat and waited patiently as she made her way up the canal.

It was our beloved LIBERTY!!! It was fun to watch her turn around in the canal and glide into her "parking space".

Barry got up and got his walk in...

We finished getting ready, went up to the executive lounge and had our free breakfast, and then headed downstairs to get a taxi. This was about 9:30.

Taxis are always at the Hilton on the ready. From the Hilton to the port for the 2 of us (they charge a premium for the 2nd, 3rd, etc. person) it was $10.00 plus tip. If you go early, make sure you have change for a $20 because the cabbies just don't have it at that hour of the morning. Ask us how we know.

Anyway, we got to the port, found a porter (no Porter 150 to be seen!) and he tagged our bags, and off we went to get into the terminal.

NOTE: For those of you who are cruising for the first time, make sure you print your Fun Pass. You won't need it at the check-in counter, but you DO need it to get into the terminal!

We got upstairs to the check-in area. There were only about 10 people or so in the waiting area. The lady there gave my my loading "tag" and it was a SIX! I was like, "WHAT?" I said, "You must be joking--there's no one here and I have to wait until "6" is called?" The lady said, "That's all I have, ma'am," so I went over by the escalator to try and smooth out my ruffled feathers. What was the point of going in early to not be able to board in order? (Note--I'm a Virgo; I blame my need for order and fairness on this! LOL). Then what really got me going was I saw people come in an hour after me who got a NUMBER ONE! I laugh about it now, but at the time I did NOT understand this AT ALL.

The only reason I mention this is because I find it newsworthy for those who've not cruised before, and perhaps for those of you who have, and race over there thinking "first come, first served"... I guess it doesn't always apply.

We talked with some other people waiting, and then, at the magic time of 11:30, they started boarding! (Last time on Liberty, it was well past 12:30 because people were not leaving the ship!) We were excited and couldn't wait to see what the ship offered.

I do have to say that I had some trepidation. So many people had talked about a smell on Destiny and complaints of different things, so I didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised.

As we were boarding, I got a snap of the dock and Liberty right behind us.

The atrium on Destiny:

They already had Christmas decorations up. I don't know that I got a lot of photos of them, but they were there...

At promptly 1:30, they opened the doors and we could get to our room. This was our first OV and our first time on Riviera:

That white square thing that has a vacuum cleaner hose is the hair dryer! LOL. It worked fairly well, though. When on Liberty we had a regular one, so these "vacuum"s are not the ONLY hair dryers there are.

I'll include a picture of the shower, too, as it was TWICE the size of Liberty's; not sure if this is because it is an OV room or if it is ship-specific... anyone?

We went to the dining room to see about our table. We had a room toward the fore of the ship. Wouldn't you know our dining room was in the aft?! Oh well... more walking to burn off food consumed <G>. I only wanted to make sure we could see the center of the dining room for the singing and dancing. Some on CC don't like this part and could care less about it. I LOVE IT and wanted to see it. Last cruise, we were stuck off to the side and couldn't see (or hear) much of that part, but this time we were on the upper level of the dining room, right at the edge and could see everything. It was great.

Now time to go and explore!

LIDO DECK & SAILAWAY

Let me tell ya... the winds were something else that day. You'll see in the pictures of the people dancing that many were in jeans and sweatshirts. It was chilly (though not cold). We (Barry and I) were happy because we left 30-degree weather for 60-degree weather, so we didn't care. But there were people there bundled up!

Sailaway was fun--this occurred well after the lifevest drill. (Editorial: Again, based on my need for orderliness, this drives me crazy when people aren't even paying attention (no matter how many times they have cruised) and are being loud and obnoxious--preventing OTHERS from hearing the instructions. Can't people just BE QUIET for 15 minutes?! Sheesh.) Anyway, once Sailaway started, it was fun...they did the typical Electric Slide, the Cupid Shuffle and so on. I have NEVER done these before (guess I don't go to weddings and such), and some of the gals up on Panorama took me under their wings and so I muddled through. It was fun to do and watch everyone having a good time. This was about the time I had my first Fun Ship Special. YUM. It's my favorite drink on the cruise and I had it several times over the course of the cruise.

Editorial: On our last cruise, our Cruise Director, Steve Knicely, was the one that did the Sailaway party and it was a blast--real lively, lots of video, people all laughing, dancing, drinking, having a great time. On Destiny, the CD was Jorge, and it should have REALLY been his Assistant Leslie because she did all the grunt work. We only saw Jorge on stage yucking it up (and I admit he was funny), but he did only the "glory" work. Steve Knicely came on the PA every morning and said good morning, gave us a run-down of what was happening that day, wished us a good day and so on. We never got that on this cruise. The only announcements I heard him give were the "important" ones. Leslie did all the rest. She was da bomb and lots of fun. So if you cruise on Destiny, look for her. She's great.

AROUND THE SHIP

One of the clubs:

The Casino:

Inside the Palladium Lounge:

On the Promenade:

EDITORIAL: If you like looking at details of the ship, you'll notice that the overriding "theme" is CIRCLES! There are circles everywhere in different ways...

LIDO DECK & SAILAWAY

 

 

I notice from your two photos, that Destiny now has da Big Screen

with MegaWatt speakers at its sides.

When we were on Destiny back in May 2007, it didn't have a screen.

This feature must've been added when she went on dry-dock recently.

_____________________________________

We were just on Victory(early Nov. 2008)

and she has da Big Screen as can be seen here...

Carnival VICTORY's Big Screen(much the same!)

I notice from your two photos, that Destiny now has da Big Screen

with MegaWatt speakers at its sides.

When we were on Destiny back in May 2007, it didn't have a screen.

This feature must've been added when she went on dry-dock recently.

Yes, I think it was. They showed the typical videos during the day and such. There were movies under the stars, too.

I didn't take a lot of food pictures like on Liberty, but did take a few... I'd heard the menu was the same Carnival-wide. I was pleased to see some offerings I didn't see on our Liberty cruise. So I took pictures of a couple offerings and will show them here. We also had wonderful dinner companions, and Bev allowed me to take a picture of her duck "starter".

Delberth was our waiter and at the first night, he knew our names, knew we liked butter pecan ice cream... :)

There was only one show and unfortunately, we were too tired to make it. We woke up when it was 1/2 over. LOL. I had such big plans to go to the Piano Bar and such. We just ran out of steam.

DAY AT SEA

This day was a "rock & roll" day. What was on our first cruise, something to anticipate and have fun was on this particular cruise one that couldn't have ended quick enough. Skies were gray and we were getting liquid sunshine. Ok, check that: we were getting pummeled with rain. Torrential rain as I remember and wind that liked to blow the hair off my head!

The ship was being buffeted by gale-force winds from the side. I believe this is what caused me to be seasick. I usually do not have this problem, but whew, it got me good this time. We went from the east side of Cuba toward Ocho Rios. Winds were out of the north/northeast. It was just not a fun day. I thought it would be better down on Riviera, but it was rocking and rolling pretty bad. I have discovered that looking DOWN at the water is better than looking OUT at the water, for me at least.

Barry went to formal night alone. It was the first time room service was ordered and I couldn't even eat it. He had lobster and shrimp. Later in the cruise, Jorge (CD) mentioned how many people were "green" from the prior day's storms, so I know I wasn't the only one. I was just waiting for us to make that "bend" around to the southern side of Cuba to hopefully gain calmer seas.

I wish I had more to report on this day. He said the food and especially the entertainment that night were wonderful.

HI JAMAICA! BYE JAMAICA!

Due to high winds and waves, this is what we saw of Jamaica:

And we waved g'bye as we sailed on past:

Jorge made an announcement that we were going to feel the ship list a bit. Yeah, it was like 45 degrees! LOL. It was funny to watch the swimming pools. The weather simply wasn't conducive to docking at the port.

We would come across people in and about the ship who said they booked this cruise to go to Jamaica. Barry said there were alot of people in Jamaica disappointed that we didn't dock, either.

The captain signed a letter apologizing for not making the port and they were slipped under our doors. We got the $20 pp OBC for reimbursement for the port charges. Barry and I went to the casino and had fun for the afternoon betting our "free" money. I actually won a little bit.

I was anxious to get to Grand Cayman, though. We were going snorkeling and visitiing the stingrays again!

GRAND CAYMAN DAY!!

FINALLY some sunshine! We woke up and peeked out our window and this is what we saw:

Barry went for a walk and told me there were FIVE ships in port. We hurried up to the Lido and took a look around... there were 3 Carnival ships, NCL Jewel and Ruby Princess

The other Carnival ship was Valor

We hurried to get to the tender so we could meet up with Soto's. Before we left on our cruise, Kerry had written of a change in pick-up location. We printed this out and brought it with us on the ship. As we were getting on the tender, I remembered we didn't have that paper. My husband said, "JUST GET ON THE TENDER!" Ok. Fine. He told me he read it last night.

We get there and waited an hour where he said we were "supposed" to be. Finally he went to the information booth where they kindly called Soto's and Kerry said they waited for us at the OPPOSITE PLACE (ahem) and they were already on their way out to sea. THANKS BARRY! LOL.

So we tendered back to the ship, I read the paper we should have gone back to get (up one floor, I might add, LOL) and saw it was not where my husband insisted we wait. I didn't have to say "I told you so". :rolleyes:

We changed clothes and headed back to the island.

More ship pictures

Valor and Destiny in the background

We walked around town. I guess missing Soto's ended up being a good thing because I came home with a pair of DIAMOND EARRINGS. Seeing as I've never had a pair before, this was quite an event. So fun all around.

Next I will show some pics as we got back on the ship and took pics of the island.

More jewels for you!!!! Yay for Barry!!!

You're a lucky girl!

More jewels for you!!!! Yay for Barry!!!

 

You're a lucky girl!

Thanks Mona!!! (I think you're the only one reading this. LOL)

We got such a great deal on them; it was hard to pass up. I almost think it was a mistake because the gemologist who has to look at stones to sign the appraisal had a funny look on his face and said, "Hmm, we don't usually sell this quality diamond for this price, so good for you!" (And I bet he was thinking someone made a mistake on the price tag! Hee hee.)

GRAND CAYMAN

Barry really likes it here and would love to come back for a long weekend or something to just enjoy the island. We leave Grand Cayman always wishing we had more time...

We tried to get to Margaritaville and the lines were just too too long. There were 5 ships in port, so it was a bit crowded there. The people at Senor Frog's and Margaritaville all looked like they were having a complete blast, though; as we were leaving Margaritaville, they were all bellowing out the "secret verse" to Garth Brooks' Friends in Low Places and having a ball...

OTHER "STUFF AROUND THE SHIP"

Looking UP at the glass elevators:

Universe Dining Room:

We enjoyed our dinner companions and LOVED our head waiter. I loved the location. I just prefer late seating after having now tried both. It works more in line with how my hubby and I normally dine and we always felt rushed. With late dining, everything for us flowed better--the entertainment didn't seem like such a long wait, we didn't feel tired by the time entertainment got there, etc.

We got our invites to our first "past guest" party:

And went. It was fun to go and see the film and experience it all. Would we go every time? Not sure. But it was fun to see Freddy and such... (sorry, this pic is a bit wonky):

We went to a couple art auctions. I won a free work of art and had to pay to have it shipped, but that's all I spent on art this time. Lucky me, though, I got another Krasnyansky! I wasn't fond of the auctioneer. I saw $$ in his eyes when he looked at people, and that wasn't the case on Liberty. His wife, though, was absolutely darling. They had two containers of art waiting for them in Miami and had no room--they were practically giving away art work at the prices they were offering.

WHAT????

That PGP invitation didn't say "And Guest"????

I haven't seen one of those either, but some swear their invitation says "And Guest".

Oh well...

BTW...I found a place to rent on GC. It's at Rum Point Beach. VERY reasonable. I'll see if I can find the website again and email you.

WHAT????

 

That PGP invitation didn't say "And Guest"????

 

I haven't seen one of those either, but some swear their invitation says "And Guest".

 

Oh well...

 

BTW...I found a place to rent on GC. It's at Rum Point Beach. VERY reasonable. I'll see if I can find the website again and email you.

PLEASE! If we can swing it, I would love to surprise him--he'd love it.

NO my invite did NOT say "AND GUEST"

In fact, during the presentation, both Jorge and John Heald mentioned something about it--that if someone was here and they never cruised before, they were at the wrong party! They did it in a funny way, but you knew they meant it!

LOVE the review and pics....wow!!! Thank you for sharing....We are sailing on the Destiny 1-3-09 and I have never been on the Destiny. Your pics are wonderful!!!! :) Boy, your first day or so sounds green ..lol.. I will be like you if ours turns out that way too.

LOVE the review and pics....wow!!! Thank you for sharing....We are sailing on the Destiny 1-3-09 and I have never been on the Destiny. Your pics are wonderful!!!! :) Boy, your first day or so sounds green ..lol.. I will be like you if ours turns out that way too.

Veryhotred,

Keep watching... I have a few more pics to post and such. I even was downing ginger tablets and they didn't work. I got some meds from the purser's desk (they did not deliver them via room service--my husband was the room service! LOL) and I am very sensitive to meds so I was thankfully "out" for quite some time. People had those patches behind their ears (don't know where they get those) and way after the fact, I remembered reading about those wristbands that work on pressure points (again, don't know where to get them).

I hope you don't have the winds and I know you're going to enjoy your cruise. Some of the ladies that helped me dance at the beginning of the cruise--well, we saw them in the elevator at debarkation and this was their first Carnival cruise and they said they had a blast and would absolutely cruise it again--even with the weather as it was. They loved it.

After the seasick part, I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. I hope you'll come back and post a review after you've sailed her. :)

Thanks for the review, Debra. We leave 1/31 and looks like we are going to have a BLAST! Of course, I can't dance, but will have to try to learn the slide & shuffle before then. My son got married in Oct, and they did both of them during the reception, but as I am a clutz and had on long gown & heals, I didn't even try!

Sorry about your sea-sickness. That is a big 'ole bummer! I'll be sure to pack the dramamine!

Great review and pics. DH and I will be on her Monday and we can't wait. We're doing the Nassau, Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk version. We're hoping the weather is decent as we did the Inspiration Dec. 05 and the weather was pretty bad and had to cancel our excursion in Grand Caymen. I'm going to be positive and will have a fabulous time no matter what.

Thanks for the pix and review, Debra. We leave on Destiny on Christmas day for the Key West and Coz itinerary. You didn't miss much by missing Ocho Rios- I'd never even get off there again. We love Cayman too- looking forward to going there on Valor in July.