Destiny 3/31-3/4

[Gr101997]

Before I start, I want to say the trip was a great one. Although I have some complaints about things, the 4 days were great and my wife and I had a blast. Out of the 4 cruises we have been on, this was the most lively and party like and we really enjoyed that change of pace. I dont know if I have ever stayed up drinking til 1:30 on a cruise ship once let alone an entire sailing. This was also the most crowded Ive ever seen a ship. We were told every room was sold out. (and have proof to it as well...)

 

We landed in Mia around 9:15 and figured we would be stuck in the airport til noon but our transfer was there. Thank god we got that ahead of time. I heard them try to charge someone 60$ a head to get to the port. Got to the terminal around 1015, waited a little after the check in process took all of 3 minutes and then were on board around 1130ish. So easy. Couldnt get to our room until 130 so had lunch and walked around.

 

Had a late seating for dinner which we always enjoy. Sat with a young couple who were great to talk to each night. Food was ok. Wasnt very impressed with the selections or the food itself. The shrimp cocktail ship were sad looking. Our last two cruises were on Princess and their food is phenomenal. I just kind of assumed since it was the same company, that it would be the same. Not even close. Our head waiter was very good but the other guy was terrible. Spoke no english, never understood what we said to him, never brought the right things. When we ordered the 3 bottle of wine package, he brought us one bottle, charged us for it and then didnt know what we were talking about when I tried to explain it. He told me the 69$ thing was for 3 glasses. Whatever, Im on vacation so I dont really care.

 

Key West was good but I think they are dropping the ball on this itinerary. We got to Key West at 7am on the first day. I didnt see many people leave the ship until after 9 and we had to be at the shuttle by 1:15. Really not much time. They should reverse everything and go to Cozumel first, have day one be a sea day and then spend 7-2 in Cozumel and then 2-10 day in Key West. (we did hear that they do it because they get a cut from Fat Tuesdays , which was a massive party, at the pier so take that for whats its worth). Would have loved to see the sun set ceremony and spend more time downtown. We both felt like you couldnt really enjoy the day as much as you could have. FYI, thats port is a pain in the ass to get back on the ship. It took an hour to get from the trolly stop back to the boat. The lines and the back up of DHS agents checking everyones IDs was a pain. Its the fricken US still and its the hardest port to get through. Lines became a very big part of this trip though so we got used to it.

Cozumel was fun too. Did the "catamaran" to Paradise Island (or whatever the place is called). Made it back around 730 so we could go to dinner which was like walking into a morgue. Half the place was empty and people kept strolling in late. One couple walked in at 915 and threw a fit when they wouldnt seat them. Youre an hour late, have some common sense.

The last sea day was hot. Ive never cooked like that in the sun before. I dont know if it was because 90% of the ship felt like younger partying types who were always at the pools drinking but finding a spot to lay out on the decks was a disaster. We went out around 10am and walked around twice until finally I got motivated and moved a whole pile of chairs over to make just enough room for 2. They really need to come up with a fair way to stop the chair hogging. 50% of the seats just had a towel on them. Didnt really go in the pools because the salt water ones really dont refresh me and kind skeve me out.

 

Lines. Wow. Forget eating at the buffet from 11-2. The wait was at least 20 minutes. Breakfast too. On the final sea day we went down to Universe dining room and sat. Im convinced sitting down and ordering took the same time as it would have waiting at the buffet. Food was much better too. The comedy club also had a line to get in. Went to two of the shows. The guys were funny. One time the opening guy did an impression of Donald Duck having an orgasm. That might have been funny in 1994 when I first heard it. In 2011, its a horrible joke. I wanted to boo. A family was sitting next to us during the dirty show. Girls couldnt have been more then 18 and heres this comic talking about wild sexual things and their sitting with their parents. The father was howling with laughter. I felt so uncomfortable for them.

 

We had a balcony room on port side Veranda. Was sitting out reading when we left Key West and there were about 50 dolphins swimming along with the ship. I tried taking pics but we were so high up and they were going so fast it was hard. Thats the first time I ever saw that. Really cool. Steward was great. Had an animal every night in a very creative way each time. The room itself was not very good. First night I plug in my razor and the thing falls out of the wall and has a loose frayed wire. The TV was broken and had a yellow hue to it making it impossible to watch for more then 5 minutes without feeling sick. Lights over the bed were broken and would fall off the wall. I know youre on a cruise so TV should be an after thought but I enjoy having a little downtime between the day and dinner and even before going to bed. The channels were horrible. There are like 5 cruise info channels playing the same thing on a 10 minute loop. The fun ship video channel (which I must confess I love watching) was more about commercials for teeth whitening and for Carnival cruise lines. Hello! We are already on the ship. You dont need to sell us. They showed "sailaway", "the welcome show" and eventually the deck party. Nothing else. Very disapointing.

 

Noonan is a great cruise director too. Very funny. He was perfect for this crowd.

 

And If I ever hear the electric slide, the cha cha or that other dance again, it will be too soon.

 

Oh, the way we found out about it being sold out. In Cozumel at dinner, 2 random guys sit at a table across from them. We over hear them say they missed their ship and carnival let them on to bring them home. Turned out that they were on the Conquest (could be wrong, there were 3 carnival ships in port), got lost on Cozumel and missed their boat. Since it turned out we left 2 people in Key West, they let them use that room.

 

Anyways despite anything I didnt like, Wife and I did have a great time. Dont know if I would go with Carnival again though. There were plenty of things I liked but I felt like people were a lot ruder and had less class and respect for other people then other ships ive been on. For example, in the casino we were playing a slot machine that had a no smoking sign on it. Girl comes over and just lights it up. Ask her to put it out and she gives a rude look and tells me I can walk away if I dont like it. In the dining room people would walk in with backwards caps on, sandals with socks, cut off shirts. Its just classless IMO to do that when the rules clearly state a dress code. Waiting on a 15 min breakfast line a group of girls just come over and join with their friends in front of us like its no big deal. Not trying to be a snob but thats just how I felt.

 

Any questions, feel free to ask and ill answer them as best I can.

[KenMo]

Last time we cruised on Destiny, we had a cabin that was falling apart as well.

 

Light fixture over the bed fell off, switchplate by the door fell off, safe was broken, etc.

 

This was my least favorite cruise, but still had a good time.

 

I keep going back to Carnival because I know my experience on Destiny is not the norm. My first cruise on Destiny was probably the best...or close to it.

[Gr101997]

 

I keep going back to Carnival because I know my experience on Destiny is not the norm. My first cruise on Destiny was probably the best...or close to it.

 

I agree. Im sure you run into rude inconsiderate people on every line. I guess im still a little pissy over how rude some of the people were. I still cant get over someone coming into "cruise elegant" night wearing sandals with socks and mesh shorts.

[swimmom32]

We didnt encounter anything you did on the Destiny...We had anytime dining and for Elegant night was never an issue everyone looked very nice and even I WORE Fancy/Dressy Flip Flops with a nice pants outfit...Our room was much nicer than we expected..and we never encountered anyone being Rude...

[lovestocruisesue]

We were on Destiny on the cruise right before yours (3/26 - 3/31). We had a great time. The lines were long, but not terrible. We've waited just as long on Disney before. Overall I thought the ship was pretty well maintained for its age. One weird thing though, my son was using the pull down bed in the cabin and one morning the whole ceiling above it fell! Fortunately he was already out of bed at the time. Maintenance came quickly and took care of it, but had he been sleeping there, he would have been hurt. The ship did have propulsion problems which made us one hour late to Grandy Cayman, however, they allowed us to stay one hour later which was appreciated. All of the staff we encountered were wonderful. Overall, we had a really good time.:)