LONG! Carnival Destiny Review & Photos ~ 6-14-10 ~ 5 days to Grand Turk, HMC & Nassau

[cuted126]

Your pics are so beautiful!!

[Frequent Floater]

Thanks Miss L for checking out CW for me. So much detail as usual. Your beach should be the Leah Beach now. Might have some real human company now that WE know about it. Glad you found Jacks and spent some time there? Any photos?? This is where the group plans to hang for the day so if ou join us it will be a bit more rowdy =)

Looking forward to anymore you add.

I know you are under the gun to get ready for the next get away, have every bit as much fun.

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Thanks Miss L for checking out CW for me. So much detail as usual. Your beach should be the Leah Beach now. Might have some real human company now that WE know about it. Glad you found Jacks and spent some time there? Any photos?? This is where the group plans to hang for the day so if ou join us it will be a bit more rowdy =)

Looking forward to anymore you add.

I know you are under the gun to get ready for the next get away, have every bit as much fun.

Hi, Miss R... my Miracle cruise buddy! The next post will have a shot of Jack's Shack taken from the ship during sail-away. We didn't take any photos while we there, unfortunately... too busy enjoying the Mosquito Bites and Cajun Chicken! I'll try to explain the place in as much detail when I post that photo. Working on more of the review now! :D

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Your pics are so beautiful!!

 

Thank you! Seeing them again makes me wish we were still there!!!

And thanks to all of you for the positive comments! This review is taking WAY MORE time and effort than I originally anticipated. Guess I shouldn't be so long-winded! LOL! Your encouragement is keeping me motivated to continue! Ready for more?

[Froufie]

Love your 'secret' beach (okay not so secret anymore). Do you think one could get a cab to take you there (if you don't want to do the golf cart thing?). Would they know where 'sunset cabana' restaurant is? and/or beach access for the national park area?

 

Also planning to visit Jack's Shack so waiting patiently for more of your review!:D

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Love your 'secret' beach (okay not so secret anymore). Do you think one could get a cab to take you there (if you don't want to do the golf cart thing?). Would they know where 'sunset cabana' restaurant is? and/or beach access for the national park area?

 

Also planning to visit Jack's Shack so waiting patiently for more of your review!:D

 

Hi again, Froufie! Yes, I am sure that a taxi will gladly take you to the beach. Not sure what the rates are but I assume very reasonable, as the island is only 7 miles long! The entire West side of the island is included in the National Park, and there are Beach Access signs every few blocks. Next visit, we plan to explore as many of those access roads as possible. Who knows how many other secret beaches are just waiting to be found! :)

Governor's Beach is also a good choice for a day at the beach. They have full facilities with food & restrooms. The entire beach is lined with cedar trees... plenty of shade and a gorgeous, long strip of beach. Although it will be more crowded than our secret beach, it will be WAY LESS crowded than Margaritaville. Taxis hang out in the parking lot at GB, so it will also be easy to get back to the ship. Plus, you could could probably walk to Jack's Shack from GB... and then stumble back to the ship! I'll see if I have a photo of GB to post in the next installment!

[Froufie]

Thanks for the info - I like the 'beach' that you found given the facilities and restaurant so close by! But I will definitely be visiting Jack's Shack - I hear the beach there is very nice along with some 'facilities' and availabiity of umbrellas/loungers!

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Sail-away gave me the opportunity to take a ton of great photos of GT. Below are a few shots of Jack's Shack. And, here is a link to their web-site: http://www.jacksshack.tc/Home.php . We highly recommend the Jerk Chicken... Yum! There were no seafood entrees available (mentioned online) when we were there, but the crowd was extremely light that day. The other choices were hot dogs, hamburger, chips and fries. And of course, their bar menu featuring imaginative rum concoctions.

 

JS is the flat-top building, just to the right of the house with the red roof. Notice their 2 dive boats anchored out front. Remember the cell tower located in front of the Post Office? You can see it in the distance!

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a close-up of the dive boats, and Zodiac boats parked on the beach. Carnival charges $126-132 for dive trips and $90 for "aqua" boat snorkeling tours. Not sure how much JS charges when you buy direct... potentially a good savings. Notice the crumpled silo (or water tower?)... must be a hurricane remnant!

 

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned, JS is the flat-roofed building. There is a wood deck facing the beach that runs the width of the building, with several umbrella tables and a small gazebo bar area with 6 or so bar stools. In the photo below, most of the blue and white striped loungers have already been removed from the beach and stacked to the far left. (The time is now 2:30 pm.) The bright yellow objects on the right are paddle boats. The dive shop is located in the white shack under the Dive Flag.

 

 

 

 

 

In the photo below, you can see some of the gazebo bar's roof. There are about 10 umbrella tables on the deck, each with seating for four. Notice some of the umbrellas have already been closed. Looks like there are still a couple of patrons... maybe they arrived on the private boats anchored out front? Lucky ducks!

 

 

 

 

 

See the sailboat and catamaran in the lower left corner of the photo below? There is another sailboat anchored to the right, just out of camera range. The man on board was taking pictures of us, as we were taking pictures of him! LOL!

 

 

 

 

 

I snapped the photo below before we re-boarded. Can you spot the Dive Flag? Jack's Shack is just a short walk down the beach from the Cruise Center. See the line of cedar trees in the distance? I'll tell you more about those, next!

 

 

 

 

UP NEXT: more of Grand Turk!

 

 

[makeup face]

I have been waiting for you to continue....Thank You:D:D Love your pictures!!

[noleswin]

I am still loving your review. We sail Monday. Hoping for more info by then. By the way, are you a preschool teacher or children's book author??

[CruiseVacationQueen]

In the last post, I mentioned a row of cedar trees just up the beach from Jack's Shack. Those trees line the beautiful Governor's Beach, another great place to spend a day! Carnival offers an excursion to GB for $60 that also includes a tour of the island, but you can get to GB on your own! You can't walk up the beach to get to GB, because there is a fenced-off area just north of JS housing several large fuel tanks. But you can walk up the beach to Jack's Shack, and then walk up the road a bit to get to GB. If that sounds like too much exercise, a taxi can get you there in a jiffy!

 

We have never spent the day at GB, but we have been there twice to look around. GB has full facilities with food, showers & restrooms. I believe you can also rent snorkeling gear there. GB is part of the National Park and the trees offer tons of shade and give the beach a very secluded atmosphere! And, much less crowded and commercial that Margaritaville! To give you a perspective of the lay of the land... see the large, two-story white building in the middle of the photo? That building is on Waterloo Road, across the street from GB. The replica of John Glenn's space capsule is just to the right of the white building. So, if you don't mind walking (and you bring a bottle of water to drink!) you can see several sights on foot in GT.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a wider shot of the beach. The sand is powdery soft... and look at that water!!! Very inviting! We hear the weather is perfect almost every day... it certainly is today!

 

 

 

 

 

We will definitely have to check out the far left end of GB one day... looks like a nice walk on the beach!

 

 

 

 

As we are sailing away, I take several photos of our secret beach. We notice the same car returning to the restaurant, picking the young lady up and then leaving. Now, we begin to wonder if the guy riding the horse let the lady know she had customers? Glad she opened up to serve us cold drinks... that's dedicated service! LOL! Wish I had tipped her the other $10 as well, for her trouble. Bye, bye... Secret Beach. See you next March, if not sooner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I snapped the photo of the sign below while we were at the secret beach. (A few moments before the doggies greeted me under the cedar tree!) Just like the Beach Access signs all up and down Beach Road, this is a new addition post-hurricane.

 

 

 

 

 

After taking tons of photos during sail-away, we head back to the aft pool area to check out the Taste of Nations buffet. Today's offering: Cajun! A recurring theme today... LOL! There are spicy chicken wings, gumbo, fritters, fish, rice and more. Our dinner-mates show up back here a few minutes later. Ha! Another piece of advice we gave them yesterday! They, like us, can hardly believe how quiet this "secret buffet" line is! There are a lot of first-time passengers on this cruise, and we guess that most don't even realize the aft pool area is back here. Great for those of us who do! We fill our bellies and head down to the cabin for showers and an afternoon nap! Love the cool, white sheets and soft, comfy bed! We all crash out for a couple of hours and then get dressed for dinner.

 

Our table-mates are already seated when we arrive at dinner. Our waiters already have my bottle of water ready at the table. Not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but I am now strictly drinking bottled water at dinner ($3.95 for still or $4.75 for sparkling) and avoiding the ship's tap water altogether. The ship's water is de-salinated and is safe to drink, but my DR discovered it's the reason my feet & ankles swell up so badly on cruises (I drink a LOT of water). The de-sal process removes enough salt to make the water taste palatable, but the water is still HIGH in salt! So, if you have trouble with swollen feet or are on a sodium-restricted diet, buy the bottled water. My DR gave me diuretic pills to take just in case, but I don't even need them. It isn't the food that is full of salt (as we previously thought!)... but the WATER! Ha! Something I think is healthy was making me miserable on previous cruises! Dinner is great, as usual... good conversation with our dinner-mates and servers. Check out the glorious sunset... what a treat!

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we take DS up to Circle C for the Teen Chill, followed by American Idol Karaoke. DH & I head down to the main show lounge and easily find good seats. Tonight's show is one of the best-ever entertainer shows we've seen on a cruise ship. (And, we don't realize that two acts are booked tonight!) First up is comedian Eddie Capone. His act starts a little slow, and we aren't sure if we like him. But after he warms up a bit, he is hilarious! He delivers line after funny line and our sides start hurting from laughing so hard. The house lights go up and a band comes out on stage behind him, but Mr. Capone keeps going. I am starting to wonder why the band is just sitting there behind him, when I notice CD Brent now standing on the side of the stage. We finally figure out that Mr. Capone has gone way over his allotted time and there is more to the show! After a few more laughs, Mr. Capone wraps it up and Brent introduces Mowtown singer Jerome Dabney. Well, I guess Mr. Dabney wants to top Mr. Capone, because he sings his heart out! He also has a comedic style and gives us a very entertaining show. When the show is finally over, we are exhausted from laughing and clapping for almost 2 hours straight. Great show tonight, for sure! We pick DS up from Camp Carnival just before 10:30 pm. The Mega-Deck Party starts now and the Mexican Buffet starts at 11:30 pm, but we are too pooped to attend. Besides, tomorrow is our day at Half Moon Cay, and we want to get up and off the ship early!

 

 

UP NEXT: our day at Half Moon Cay! Yay!

 

 

[CruiseVacationQueen]

I am still loving your review. We sail Monday. Hoping for more info by then. By the way, are you a preschool teacher or children's book author??

 

Wow! Can I go with, as your tour guide? I will be happy to sleep on the floor! LOL! Nope, not a teacher or author... just a mom! :)

[CruiseVacationQueen]

I have been waiting for you to continue....Thank You:D:D Love your pictures!!

 

You are very welcome... and Thank You! :D

[Indiansbaseball]

Loving this review !! My daughter Jessica is so excited to meet your son :)

 

My feet swell terribly while cruising.... hummm...will try bottled water this time and see what happens.

 

I guess I must be the only one not impressed with Jack's Shack.... while there back in March... it seemed chaotic and poorly run. The offerings were Johnsonville brats..hotdogs.. and yummy looking chicken...but the wait for the food was way too long. The bar tender was nice though..

 

See you on the Miracle...oh yeah...I am a Buckeye too ;)

[oncruisecontrol]

Your photos of Grand Turk are just breathtaking. Thanks for posting.

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Loving this review !! My daughter Jessica is so excited to meet your son :)

 

My feet swell terribly while cruising.... hummm...will try bottled water this time and see what happens.

 

I guess I must be the only one not impressed with Jack's Shack.... while there back in March... it seemed chaotic and poorly run. The offerings were Johnsonville brats..hotdogs.. and yummy looking chicken...but the wait for the food was way too long. The bar tender was nice though..

 

See you on the Miracle...oh yeah...I am a Buckeye too ;)

 

Hi, Miracle cruise buddy! Cruise after cruise I suffered with huge ankles by the 2nd or 3rd day and we couldn't figure out why, other than high salt in the food. I eat pretty healthy (lots of salads and veggies) even on cruises, so I was always perplexed about it. The swelling would get so bad on cruises, that I stopped packing all my cute, strappy sandals and bought a pair of big-sized black flip flops to wear to dinner instead. Real cute on Elegant Night... LOL!

 

I actually discovered the little tid-bit at home. Our water softener went haywire and we noticed our tap water tasted real salty, even though it passes through a filter. About 2 days later my feet swelled up into big ballons. A light went off in my head and I made an appt to see the DR. She did a little research, and viola! De-Sal water is very high in sodium. Who knew? Glad to know, now! The $4-a-bottle-water at dinner tasted really good because my ankles stay bony all week! LOL!

 

FYI ~ I also learned that most cruise lines (and restaurants!) soak all their salad veggies (including lettuce!) in MSG-laced water to keep them bright & fresh longer. As you know, MSG is: mono-SODIUM-glutamate! Ha! So, I also now avoid all "day-glo colored" lettuce and veggies at salad bars... they make look fresh, but they've been "juiced" with salt! LOL!

 

Can't wait till we return to GT on the Miralce! :D

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Your photos of Grand Turk are just breathtaking. Thanks for posting.

 

Thank you... and you are very welcome! Will post more of the review real soon... and sharing lots of pictures of Half Moon Cay!!! :)

[SCOOP]

This is the best review. We are taking this same cruise in 19 days!! Plus I just upgraded today to a balcony from an inside for just $105 per person!! Keep checking those prices everyone!! Thanks for all the time you put into this!!

[Sarah@Sea]

I have read that some have been able to drive the carts closer to the ship to drop off others before returning them, and someone actually said there was a van that dropped them off at the ship. I have a medical condition with my legs which causes them to swell...and heat makes it worse...and I will now NOT drink the water onboard!!! THANK YOU....so typically a day at the beach leaves me in some achy pain and I was worried about the walk back to the ship...so I'm wondering if BF might be able to drop me off then return the cart???? The walk back always seems longer....whether the ship, Disney...where ever...that is one reason I picked a cabin close to the elevator...nothing worse than being "so close" but have to walk down a long hallway. :(

[CruiseVacationQueen]

I have read that some have been able to drive the carts closer to the ship to drop off others before returning them, and someone actually said there was a van that dropped them off at the ship. I have a medical condition with my legs which causes them to swell...and heat makes it worse...and I will now NOT drink the water onboard!!! THANK YOU....so typically a day at the beach leaves me in some achy pain and I was worried about the walk back to the ship...so I'm wondering if BF might be able to drop me off then return the cart???? The walk back always seems longer....whether the ship, Disney...where ever...that is one reason I picked a cabin close to the elevator...nothing worse than being "so close" but have to walk down a long hallway. :(

 

 

Hi, Sarah! The golf carts are supposedly "not allowed" inside the gates of the Cruise Center, but I feel confident that the guard would let BF drop you off before returning the cart. GT is very tourist-friendly... everyone really goes out of their way to please, so I would be really surprised if they declined your request!

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Wake up! Wake up! Today we're at Half Moon Cay!!!! Yay!

 

Normally I am NOT a morning person, but the itinerary on this cruise has changed ALL THAT! I am the first to wake up AGAIN! My DH is loving this, because he usually has to drag me out of bed! LOL!

 

We get up around 7 am and shower... put on our suits... shellac our skin with sun block... load our back-pack with bottled water, a change of clothes & sunscreen... gather our beach towels... and head out the door to breakfast, all before 7:45 am! We leave our Towel Buddies in charge of watching for the first glimpse of HMC... see them in the window, keeping a look-out?

 

 

 

 

 

 

We do breakfast as usual, at the buffet in the aft pool. The area back here is still a "secret"... no crowd again today! The other bonus about eating breakfast in the aft area is that the bacon is not policed! I feel so powerful wielding those tongs and taking as much bacon as I please! LOL! We finish breakfast around 8:30 am... we're not due in HMC until 9:30 am. Let's go to the verandah at the front of the ship to watch our arrival! As we make our way to the front of the ship, I am wondering about the "smell". I am very pleased report that all the forward hallways smell fresh and clean! We step out onto the open verandah on Deck 7... and look what we see!!!

 

 

 

 

 

We watch our arrival at HMC from the front deck for about 10 minutes. We're getting closer and closer! The weather is gorgeous and the water is calm. Can't wait to get my toes in that sand! We're now almost there! We head down to the cabin to grab our bags. Our Towel Buddies can't keep their eyes off the beautiful HMC!

 

 

 

 

 

Forget waiting for announcements, today! We want to spend as much time in our cabana as possible. We leave our cabin and take the forward stairs down to deck one and step into the elevator hallway area. Christy, from the Entertainment Staff, is standing in front of the stairs leading down to deck 0, which are roped-off. Christy is speaking to another passenger and I overhear her say that we will arrive shortly. (Yay!) There is another crew member down here also, standing by a table with bottles of water and underwater cameras for sale. We stand behind the 5 or so people already here, happy that we came down early.

 

Standing in line is not my favorite activity, but it does afford me the time to people-watch, which I really enjoy. Five minutes pass. Then ten. Still not time to board the tenders going ashore. Our line is steadily growing, and I am fully engrossed in watching the facial reaction of each new person who steps into the area. Almost everyone cringes when they see the line (I would too, because it's now wrapped around the corner and spilling into the cabin hallway!). I find it very interesting how some of the passengers conform to the expected behavior (getting in line), while several others hang around the front of the line, trying to "blend in". Christy is doing a great job in managing the large herd of (really impatient!) people, continually instructing the passengers to go to the back of the line. I am further amazed by a group of 6 middle-aged adults who refuse to comply and continue to "hang out" beside us. They are speaking English to each other, so it's clear that they can understand Christy's announcements.

 

After several more minutes of waiting, Christy (finally!) announces that we are cleared to tender. Upon hearing this, the "selfish group of 6" surge forward and nearly trample DS as he approaches the stairs. Incredible!!! Thankfully, DS is able to step to the side and let them pass without harm. DH is obviously PO'ed, but (thankfully!) manages to bite his tongue! I congratulate DS & DH for being the "bigger people", and then comment loudly that "THEY SURE MUST BE IN A BIG HURRY TO NEARLY KNOCK A KID DOWN THE STAIRS!" My breath is wasted, though, because the "selfish 6" don't even acknowledge my childish drivel. So, we can now add "child tramplers" to the Official CC List of Unsightly Cruise Behaviors: chair hogs, buffet-line-cutters, seat-savers, & MDR-dress-code offenders! LOL! In all seriousness, we try our best to ignore or forget unsightly behavior as much as possible... especially on large ships! Thanks for listening to me vent... I am ready to move on now! LOL!

 

We make it safely downstairs, hear the familiar "bong" from the security kiosk when our cards are scanned, and step aboard the waiting tender. Here's a shot of DH & DS happily seated on the tender in the bright morning sunlight!

 

 

 

 

 

In just a few minutes, the tender is full with a couple hundred of very excited passengers! We pull away from the side of the ship and I catch this photo of the bow framed by the clear sky & fluffy clouds!

 

 

 

 

 

The beach looks so clean and pristine with all the lounge chairs lined up in neat rows. The island staff has done a great job getting everything ready for a fabulous day of fun! I use the zoom lens to capture several pictures of our home-for-the-day... cabana #11 is the third from the left! Yay! We're almost home!

 

 

 

 

UP NEXT: arriving on HMC!

 

 

[Sarah@Sea]

I've read others say that on Destiny you had to meet in the theater and get a ticket or something and go to the tender when your number is called? I know you had a cabana and people with excursions and/or cabanas get priority tender. But it seemed on your cruise anyone could be in line...as there was a line and not waiting in the theater????

[CruiseVacationQueen]

I've read others say that on Destiny you had to meet in the theater and get a ticket or something and go to the tender when your number is called? I know you had a cabana and people with excursions and/or cabanas get priority tender. But it seemed on your cruise anyone could be in line...as there was a line and not waiting in the theater????

 

You are correct... thanks for reminding me about that important detail! Christy instructed the passengers without shore excursions to report to the main theater to get a tender ticket. Which also reminds me that in our past experience (but possibly on HAL), those who rented a cabana were instructed to meet in one of the small lounges & were escorted to the first tender as a group. When we booked the cabana on Destiny, I asked about this but the shore excursion clerk looked at me kind of puzzled and said there was no special meeting place. We woke up early enough to make the first tender on our own, so we didn't inquire about it again.

[Froufie]

But if you are 'platinum' you also get to go to the front of the line! :D:D

[kenrod]

So glad to see you back CruiseVacationQueen! You were missed. They say that good things come to those who wait. Well, we waited, and your pictorial is a good thing.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do your narrative.