Carnival Destiny Review; B2B 20th Anniversary Cruise

[PaulMedik]

Twenty years ago DW Karen and I took our first cruise for our honeymoon. We were married on October 7 1989 and set sail aboard Premier Cruiseline's StarShip Majestic on October 8. We did not have a clue about what to expect nor when to expect it. Our cruise was part of a honeymoon vacation packaged booked through AAA that included airfare, cruise, rental vehicle for the duration, and Disney accomodations and tickets. We adjusted part of our honeymoon time by skipping the last few days of Disney and getting a room in Clearwater Beach at the Flamingo Hotel. Disney was nice, but after our cruise experience we wanted more beach time.

 

Our twentieth anniversary cruise began unlike any cruise we have been on since we had children fifteen years ago. We left our three boys at home and we flew in on the day we were to sail! I would guess that a majority of cruisers do just what we did every single time they sail, but for us it was an unnatural experience. We always sail in at least a day early and usually a few days early.

 

While we were somewhat apprehensive about flying in the day we set sail, we were most anxious about how our sons would do without us to assist them. We hired two live in baby sitters to be available to them day and night and to get them to the various functions they were obligated for while we were gone; school, ball games, dances, parties with friends, etc. Our two older sons were left in the exclusive care of the live in girls while our youngest had our lifelong baby sitter to watch after him for most of the time. (our boys are 15, 12, and 9) We stocked them up with food, snacks, and cash for each of them as well as spending money for the baby sitters. It turns out we over stocked them with snacks because we still have well over half of the items filling our shelves now.

 

This was our first ever trip any where for longer than a day without one of us being with our sons. Many times over the past few months I considered and we discussed booking at least our youngest to go with us. In fact our last discussion was the day before we left. Our plan was to be available 24 / 7 to our sons via text message and via cell phone for emergencies. I am curious to receive our cell phone bill because our definition of emergency was not well defined because we received calls requesting everything from 'where are my clothes,' to 'will you call and order take out pizza for us?' Even though we received many calls, we were especially relieved to have received no true emergency calls.

 

Our cruise began with us loading up Karen's vehicle with our two check in bags and two carry on bags along with my laptop case and Karen's carry everywhere bag. We had arranged for Karen's vehicle to be detailed while we were gone and the gentleman performing the detail offered to drive us to the airport in Karen's vehicle and keep it while we were gone. I highly recommend that EVERYONE find someone to detail their vehicle while they are gone and have them either take you to the airport or pick it up at the airport while you are gone. We saved the price of detailing by not having a parking bill. We flew out of Charleston which is about thirty minutes from our home. We arrived at the airport two hours before our flight which seemed like a good idea for people wishing to avoid any delays. As it turned out, we spent an hour and fifty minutes setting and waiting because checkin and security at Charleston is beyond fast.

 

While we waited we surfed the net and ate a hearty breakfast consisting of sausage and egg bisquits;

 

 

After we boarded our flight to Atlanta I checked the current weather / temps for Charleston;

 

 

We then spent forty five minutes setting on the ground in our plane while waiting for Atlanta to catch up on their flight schedules. The wait wasn't too bad because by the time we actually started to taxi for take off, we could see past the end our the plane's wing. (When we arrived at the airport the fog was so heavy we could not see the airport!) ;

 

 

Our on board meal was light, but free;

 

 

Our flight to Atlanta was uneventful and our flight from Atlanta to Miami was on time. Along the way we flew over Clearwater Beach and I realized it just as the motor was about to block the view so I missed getting a picture of our favorite beach. I did get a picture of the area where Tampa Bay empties into the gulf that may be of interest to some;

 

[jerseygirl79]

Twenty years ago DW Karen and I took our first cruise for our honeymoon. We were married on October 7 1989 and set sail aboard Premier Cruiseline's StarShip Majestic on October 8.

I can't believe 1989 was 20 years ago!!!

 

We left our three boys at home and we flew in on the day we were to sail! I would guess that a majority of cruisers do just what we did every single time they sail, but for us it was an unnatural experience. We always sail in at least a day early and usually a few days early.

 

I usually fly in the day of embarkation, however, I think in the future I'll try coming in a day earlier.

 

While we were somewhat apprehensive about flying in the day we set sail, we were most anxious about how our sons would do without us to assist them. We hired two live in baby sitters to be available to them day and night and to get them to the various functions they were obligated for while we were gone; school, ball games, dances, parties with friends, etc. Our two older sons were left in the exclusive care of the live in girls while our youngest had our lifelong baby sitter to watch after him for most of the time. (our boys are 15, 12, and 9) We stocked them up with food, snacks, and cash for each of them as well as spending money for the baby sitters. It turns out we over stocked them with snacks because we still have well over half of the items filling our shelves now.

 

Can I be your babysitter next time? :D spending money and snacks!!! woo hoo!!!

 

we received calls requesting everything from 'where are my clothes,' to 'will you call and order take out pizza for us?' Even though we received many calls, we were especially relieved to have received no true emergency calls.

 

hahahahah....kids are too funny, but to them, those were urgent issues, LOL

 

Welcome home and congratulations on 20 years!!!!

[Just Kroozen]

Really enjoying your review so far. Thanks for including the pictures. We are on the Destiny in 38 days!

[kerrytens]

And so it begins ... Paul's review!! I'm so excited to read on about your trip and the Destiny. :D

 

Miriam

[WAcruisers]

Paul.........congratulations on 20 years! You write awesome reviews and I can't wait to read some more! I understand about the kids and the cell phone for emergency's! It made me laugh (my son would do this for the pizza too!). Love the pictures........keep it coming. I just got off of her on September 26th!

[tiggerman101]

I loved your other reviews so I am looking forward to this one. Congrats on the 20 years!

[KenMo]

Yay!!! Another PaulMedik review!!

 

Congratulations on your 20th!!

[Capette]

Don't forget the part about the two great Canadians that you met! It took us over 20 hrs to get home. We left Destiny at 7am and didn't arrive at our doorstep 'til 4:30 am the next morning. Northwest sucks huge but that will come in our review shortly lol.

[bsdmhutch]

 

We then spent forty five minutes setting on the ground in our plane while waiting for Atlanta to catch up on their flight schedules. The wait wasn't too bad because by the time we actually started to taxi for take off, we could see past the end our the plane's wing. (When we arrived at the airport the fog was so heavy we could not see the airport!) ;

 

 

 

When we lived in Gallipolis, OH, I dropped DH several times in Charleston and fog. Charleston's airport being on top of the mountain there makes for some interesting landing too.

 

Congratulations on 20 years. We did a B2B on the Destiny last year with the S&Sers as part of our 20 year celebration!

[fofita01]

YAY! I'm so excited that your review of the Destiny has begun! It's going to be hard juggling finishing MY OWN review, reading Mark's Pride review (Falkor) and your review... LOL :eek: :D

 

Congratulations on celebrating 20 years!

[PaulMedik]

Welcome home and congratulations on 20 years!!!!

 

 

jerseygirl79,

 

Thank you. I think I have Karen talked in to either B2B2B2B2B2B 4 / 5 day or a B2B2B Eastern / Western / Eastern seven day cruise for our thirtieth. I am hoping to move that up to our twenty fifth......

 

Really enjoying your review so far. Thanks for including the pictures. We are on the Destiny in 38 days!

 

Just Kroozen,

 

Destiny is a fine ship. Your 38 days will be gone before you know it.

 

And so it begins ... Paul's review!! I'm so excited to read on about your trip and the Destiny.

 

Miriam

 

Miriam,

 

I have uploaded most of the pics, but I am still uploading to three of the albums so webshots is a bit sluggish for me so it will be slow going for a while.

 

Paul.........congratulations on 20 years! You write awesome reviews and I can't wait to read some more! I understand about the kids and the cell phone for emergency's! It made me laugh (my son would do this for the pizza too!). Love the pictures........keep it coming. I just got off of her on September 26th!

 

WAcruisers,

 

Thank you. We weren't sure what to expect, but the unexpected that did come up was a pleasant relief from calls of the dreaded type.

 

I loved your other reviews so I am looking forward to this one. Congrats on the 20 years!

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

Our scheduled arrival time in Miami was 11:38AM which is the time that we are normally already on board the ship. After out initial delay on the ground in Charleston we made up that lost time prior to arrival in Atlanta and arrived in Miami slightly ahead of schedule. Waiting for our luggage put us back on schedule though;

 

 

After we retrieved our luggage we met a VIP tour taxi fellow who had a van ready to take us to the port. We verified that they were ready to leave and that we wouldn't be setting around waiting for more passengers. He said he had four people ready to go and that we could make a stop on the way in at a convenience store. His price was $10 per person and proved to be a great decision because we met four hillarious women on a girls outing. They were lifelong friends from several areas of the country who met up in Miami for the cruise. We saw them several times throughout the cruise and had a great time talking with them. After we stopped for carryon drinks we soon saw our ship;

 

 

I can never resist getting funnel pics when it first comes in to view;

 

 

Our new friends made quick friends with the porter and quizzed him about porters and what porters are supposed to do with their luggage;

 

 

They soon had the porter acting as our personal photographer;

 

 

We are normally on board and eating lunch by this time while lines on the pier can be seen from the ship. Where were all the lines? ;

 

[Nunu]

Paul, what made you decide on a B2B? Just curious.

[JRock59]

Looking foward to more as we're B2B in February! :)

[PaulMedik]

Yay!!! Another PaulMedik review!!

 

Congratulations on your 20th!!

 

 

Thank you.

 

 

Don't forget the part about the two great Canadians that you met! It took us over 20 hrs to get home. We left Destiny at 7am and didn't arrive at our doorstep 'til 4:30 am the next morning. Northwest sucks huge but that will come in our review shortly lol.

 

Liz,

 

We really enjoyed meeting you and Steve. Stay tuned for many pics of the two of you; The Half Moon Cay pics turned out GREAT! I'm sure you will get a kick out of them.

 

We made it home the next day just before noon, but we spent the day in Miami soaking up some more sun.

 

 

When we lived in Gallipolis, OH, I dropped DH several times in Charleston and fog. Charleston's airport being on top of the mountain there makes for some interesting landing too.

 

Congratulations on 20 years. We did a B2B on the Destiny last year with the S&Sers as part of our 20 year celebration!

 

bsdmhutch,

 

Thank you.

 

I flew out of Charleston for Critical Care Air back the nineties. Sometimes I swear air bubbles were visible the fog was so thick! Interesting landing is an understatement; several landings were made without seeing any ground at all! If not for IFR, we never would have made it and I am not a fan of IFR.

 

 

After we arrived at the port and found no lines we expect to see some inside. We saw no lines inside either! We went to the VIP boarding area and had to delay the employees there in order to take a picture;

 

 

After presenting my credit card and receiving our S&S cards we received one last form to complete. The first area of the form was about children under the age of 18 and I had to slash through that area which seemed odd. The next area of the form required me to lie to avoid seeing the ships doctor immediately upon boarding; the form asks if I or anyone close to me has been in contact with a confirmed H1N1 infected person. I lost count of how many H1N1 infected persons I had been in close contact with. I don't even check anymore to see if they are H1N1 infected after I test them in triage. I prefer not to lie, but in this case it would have been pointless to answer truthfully because I know I have tested more people than the people who would be testing me had tested so why bother? It was nice to see that steps are being taken to protect the cruise population, but health care providers need an exemptive statement so we aren't forced to lie. I did struggle with the answer, but I looked at Karen and she said just choose No, so I did. Sometimes it makes sense to listen to your wife!

 

Anyhow, here's the form that forced me to lie (and forced me to take a picture at the desk in VIP boarding which is also a taboo thing) ;

 

 

After completing our boarding info we got our embarkation photo taken;

 

 

I had heard a lot about the new quick check in kiosks in Miami and hoped to try them out. VIP doesn't have them so I was relegated to just getting a pic of them as we passed by above them;

 

 

I stopped and got a zoomed pic, but I had to blur it because private info is visible of those who were using the kiosks. At first glance the kiosks look like slot machines for the waiting area;

 

 

 

Once we boarded the ship we realized then that we were back on board a Carnival ship! It was bustling with laughter and excitement as new cruisers around us saw the atrium for the first time;

 

 

[MrsKnuts2]

Thank you for taking the time to write a very detailed review :D

[PaulMedik]

YAY! I'm so excited that your review of the Destiny has begun! It's going to be hard juggling finishing MY OWN review, reading Mark's Pride review (Falkor) and your review... LOL

 

Congratulations on celebrating 20 years!

 

 

fofita01,

 

Thank you.

 

Paul, what made you decide on a B2B? Just curious.

 

 

Nunu,

 

B2B are perfect in that you get an extra two days; disembarkation day on the first one is like a day at sea because you have no rush nor feeling of having to get off the ship soon. Embarkation the second time is a full extra day because you don't have to get up early to get off the ship and you have the ship to yourself for a while then no rush to eat and explore.

 

Our first B2B was two seven day cruises last summer on Liberty and we are now hooked on them.

 

One thing we were looking for on this trip was a ship that visited Half Moon Cay and Nassau. Half Moon Cay is our favorite port and Nassau has an excursion to the island we went to on our very first cruise. We initially planned to do Imagination then Destiny, but then we thought it over and opted for the relaxation of not having to change ships.

 

We had time to do a few more Bs because Karen is off for another week and I am off until the 24th of October, but we couldn't leave our boys home for that long without us.

 

 

Looking foward to more as we're B2B in February!

 

JRock59,

 

You are sure to enjoy B2B! They are perfect IMHO.

 

 

 

 

Destiny was the first ship I recall that has a funnel in the lobby;

 

 

 

We next made our way up to Lido for our customary first pic on deck picture;

 

 

We made our way to the deck above the Lido buffet area and found our normal table location that we always choose. I noticed there were six dinning staff members working that deck which normally only has one. A pic of the buffet area didn't show quite so many staff members working;

 

 

I planned to stay with our carry on items while Karen got her food. When we first arrived there I commented to Karen that the guy down there sure looks a lot like Gerry Cahill;

 

 

After Karen left the fellow who looked like Gerry Cahill and his party walked by me and I got a better look at him. I was very sure that was who he was. When I looked over the rail and saw Karen getting her food, I made note of how many Carnval employees were now on Lido and where they were so I yelled down to her that I was positive it was him;

 

 

So Karen did what every good wife does. She said 'excuse me, my husband thinks he knows you.' He stopped and asked her who her husband was and she told him and he asked her if the tray of food she was carrying was for him. She said he could have it if he liked. As I approached them they were laughing and I thought I had guessed wrong. As it turned out, I had guessed right and it was Gerry Cahill. From our discussion I gathered that he never gets recognized when visiting the ships. His staff seemed to get a real kick out of it and he seemed to as well. I had watched the video and pics that John Heald had posted on his blog of Gerry going down the slides on Carnival Dream and we discussed the slides and John Heald. I remember commenting to my sons when we watched the videos that Carnival's CEO seemd to be genuinely enjoying himself and after meeting him I have concluded that he wasn't just appearing to be having a good time. After we talked for a while one of his staff members suggested a picture. I said sure, but only if you use my camera;

 

 

You will notice that his shirt is very similar to the shirts the wait staff wears on Lido. I'm not sure whether that was by design or by chance, but if any of you ever see him on board, be sure and stop him and say hello. I am sure you will find him to be as interesting as I did. He said he gets around quite a bit.

[PaulMedik]

Thank you for taking the time to write a very detailed review

 

 

Dottie,

 

Thank you. I try to be brief, but it's just not in me.

 

 

 

The Lido buffet lines were long so I opted for pizza and took advantage of a crew members offer to get a pic of us;

 

 

The picture was bleached out by sun, but it did remind me of the Ruben I got from the Lido Deli before going for pizza;

 

 

While we were eating Karen received texts from the boys and had to tell them what we were eating. They know our routine and knew we would be eating;

 

 

After we ate we made our way to our room and dropped off out belongs then headed to the 'Safety Briefing' which replaced the muster drill. Notice the lack of life jackets? ;

 

 

After the safety briefing we met Johnny our steward for the first cruise. Johnny did a great job and had a great personality to go along with it;

 

 

I can't believe I didn't get pics of our suite. I always get a lot of room pics, but a mid ship empress deck suite is not what we like so I guess I subconsciously avoided taking the normal pics of it.

 

Sailaway was next so we headed up on deck to take in the sights and sounds. Destiny pulls into the pier facing in so we had to go go the end of the channel to turn around before leaving. Those of you who have sailed from Miami will recognize that this is not a normal view during sailaway;

 

[baybye]

Paul and Karen, Happy 20th Anniversary!!!!:p:p:p

 

Love your reviews :D:D:D

 

Beverly

[TakeMeAway1001]

Welcome back and Happy Anniversary~ I am so happy you started your review before I leave, it will help me pass the time and I always love your reviews. I do have to say it's weird to not see the boys in it :)

 

Thanks Paul for taking the time to post a review~

[DGP1111]

Yippeeee!!

I always enjoy these. :D

[falkcor]

Thank you. I try to be brief, but it's just not in me.

 

amen, brother, amen. you're speaking my language there... :cool:

 

LOL, anyhow, paul, i've been looking forward to your review... i've enjoyed your past reviews, and am particularly pleased since this one was a B2B on my other favorite ship... :D

 

i can't pick, so i decided they're tied, for now ;)

 

I remember commenting to my sons when we watched the videos that Carnival's CEO seemd to be genuinely enjoying himself and after meeting him I have concluded that he wasn't just appearing to be having a good time.

 

btw, very cool :)

 

i'll be on the lookout for him next time!

[boaterette]

Happy Anniversary. I enjoy your reviews. Thank you for posting them.

[DarthGrady]

Hey Paul, congrats on the anniversary, and thanks for posting the review with the pictures!

 

We are cruising on Destiny in January, so I will be following along intently.:)

[rmlow]

Pual,

You mentioned that a Empress Deck mid ship suite was not to your liking. I was curious why, just personal preference? or is there something else?

 

My wife & I are taking the exact same B2B on the Destiny in March. We also have an empress deck suite, room 7215 to be exact

 

Thanks for the great review looking froward to the rest.

[PaulMedik]

Paul and Karen, Happy 20th Anniversary!!!!

 

Love your reviews

 

Beverly

 

 

Beverly,

 

Thank you.

 

 

Welcome back and Happy Anniversary~ I am so happy you started your review before I leave, it will help me pass the time and I always love your reviews. I do have to say it's weird to not see the boys in it

 

Thanks Paul for taking the time to post a review~

 

TakeMeAway1001,

 

It was weird to be so many familiar places without having the boys along!

 

Yippeeee!!

I always enjoy these. :D

 

Don,

 

Thank you. I do enjoy remembering everything as well!