Carnival Destiny September 3rd Quick Review.

[countrygirlcruiser1234]

Just wanted to make some quick notes on what I thought of the cruise.

 

Embarktion was quick and easy, not to much waiting in line.

Lunch on the Lido was hot and ready.

Pools on Lido were small but the we still enjoyed them.

No CHOGS. YAY!

We got to our rooms right at 1:30, luggage was there by 3pm.

We enjoyed some DOD's while the kids went down the slide.

Dinner in the MDR was hot and wonderful every night. Waiters were completely on top of everything, if you wanted more of something they brought it right to you.

Our room steward was Blessing, he is was absent the 1st day but after that wonderful.

I was part of the 5am coffee club on the smoking side of the lido, for some reason my body just doesnt want to sleep on vacation, it wants to enjoy every second, here is my biggest complaint..drinks and coffee locations. The coffee machine was broken on the outside lido deck everyday. you had to go inside, after i had my coffee and read my book for awhile i would take tea down to my DH, there was never ice available in the mornings. out of 6 drink stations only 1 had ice and the one that had ice didnt have tea. It wasnt that it was a huge issue, just annoying.

 

GRAND TURK...FUN FUN FUN at the beach and Margaritaville. If you watched the flowrider and saw a guy in Corona trunks butt..that was my DH. Got buzzed hung out and wondered back to the ship!

 

Half Moon Cay...was beautiful. We stayed down the beach near the kids toys. It was a hot one, the snorkling was ok, lots of fish but no shells.

 

Nassua Bahamas....I was a little disappointed in the shopping here...every booth in the straw market had the exact same stuff..so we took a ferry over to Atlantis and gambled for awhile.

 

Debarktion was slow but not bad, we had zone 12 and we enjoyed some extra time on the ship.

We stayed at the Laquinta Airport east hotel before the cruise so we got free parking for the entire cruise, shuttle to the port on the morning of the cruise. Transportation back to the hotel was $10 per person. There were 11 of us, so we decided to pay to have 2 get picked up and taken back to the hotel to get the cars and then come back and pick us and the luggage up. So the two debarked with self assist people and we waited for our zone. It worked out perfectly, they pulled up as we went thru customs.

 

The Destiny is older and there are places in need of repair, but this did not affect our vacation! We had a wonderful time.

 

Please post any questions, I will answer them as best as I can.

[cruzmax]

Thanks for the review - will be onboard in 2 days!!

[camper49]

How was your stay at La Quinta?? This will be our first time in Miami and will be staying at La Quinta. We have always parked at the port. Were you able to get to the ship early?

[countrygirlcruiser1234]

the halls smelled a little musty but not bad, the pool was clean. we got the 10am shuttle to the port so we arrived at about 10:20am and were on board by 11am.

[BarJen]

thx for the info, glad you had a good time :)

 

 

Barry

[Bibble]

Just wanted to make some quick notes on what I thought of the cruise.

 

Embarktion was quick and easy, not to much waiting in line.

Lunch on the Lido was hot and ready.

Pools on Lido were small but the we still enjoyed them.

No CHOGS. YAY!

We got to our rooms right at 1:30, luggage was there by 3pm.

We enjoyed some DOD's while the kids went down the slide.

Dinner in the MDR was hot and wonderful every night. Waiters were completely on top of everything, if you wanted more of something they brought it right to you.

Our room steward was Blessing, he is was absent the 1st day but after that wonderful.

I was part of the 5am coffee club on the smoking side of the lido, for some reason my body just doesnt want to sleep on vacation, it wants to enjoy every second, here is my biggest complaint..drinks and coffee locations. The coffee machine was broken on the outside lido deck everyday. you had to go inside, after i had my coffee and read my book for awhile i would take tea down to my DH, there was never ice available in the mornings. out of 6 drink stations only 1 had ice and the one that had ice didnt have tea. It wasnt that it was a huge issue, just annoying.

 

GRAND TURK...FUN FUN FUN at the beach and Margaritaville. If you watched the flowrider and saw a guy in Corona trunks butt..that was my DH. Got buzzed hung out and wondered back to the ship!

 

Half Moon Cay...was beautiful. We stayed down the beach near the kids toys. It was a hot one, the snorkling was ok, lots of fish but no shells.

 

Nassua Bahamas....I was a little disappointed in the shopping here...every booth in the straw market had the exact same stuff..so we took a ferry over to Atlantis and gambled for awhile.

 

Debarktion was slow but not bad, we had zone 12 and we enjoyed some extra time on the ship.

We stayed at the Laquinta Airport east hotel before the cruise so we got free parking for the entire cruise, shuttle to the port on the morning of the cruise. Transportation back to the hotel was $10 per person. There were 11 of us, so we decided to pay to have 2 get picked up and taken back to the hotel to get the cars and then come back and pick us and the luggage up. So the two debarked with self assist people and we waited for our zone. It worked out perfectly, they pulled up as we went thru customs.

 

The Destiny is older and there are places in need of repair, but this did not affect our vacation! We had a wonderful time.

 

Please post any questions, I will answer them as best as I can.

 

We too were on that cruise, and you worded everything almost exactly the way I would! (except the flowrider)

 

We did the strawmarket (knew what we were getting into), but then we also went "down the alley" to find the "designer handbags" LOL! An hour in Senor Frog's, then back on the ship.

 

We got on at 11:00 (zone 1) and off in Zone 12 also :) We probably passed each other at some point!!

 

Glad you liked it too!

[skphotography99]

Thanks for the quick review! Are you planning on doing a longer review with pictures any time soon? I know that I personally would LOVE to see pictures of the Destiny. My mom and I will be sailing on her in January and we can't wait!

[countrygirlcruiser1234]

Im still thinking of doing a full review...I will let you know when I get all my pictures sorted!

[DeloreanGirl]

We'll be taking our first Carnival cruise with friends on Destiny in January. I have a few questions, actually:

 

1.) How much is a soda card?

2.) What night was your formal night?

3.) Did you see any souvenir model ships in the gift store?

4.) How much was the internet package if you used it?

 

Thanks! :D

[Tonab]

Love hearing about the Destiny, sail 2 weeks from tomorrow!

Why transportation serice did you use back to your car or was it through the hotel? We haven't planned how we are making our way back to the airport yet....maybe because that means vacation is over :rolleyes:

[thill79]

how did you book the La Quinta Airport East and can I ask how much you paid? We are traveling in November and I keep hearing everyone talk about this hotel. I go to their website but it says STAYGO is not available at the hotel. Did you call??? Thanks so much!

[countrygirlcruiser1234]

We'll be taking our first Carnival cruise with friends on Destiny in January. I have a few questions, actually:

 

1.) How much is a soda card?

2.) What night was your formal night?

3.) Did you see any souvenir model ships in the gift store?

4.) How much was the internet package if you used it?

 

Thanks! :D

1.) The soda card was $37.38 for the 5 day cruise.

2.) The only full day at sea was formal night. which was Tuesday.

3.) No there were no souvenir model ships in the gift shop.

4.) I didnt use it so I have no idea, sorry

[countrygirlcruiser1234]

how did you book the La Quinta Airport East and can I ask how much you paid? We are traveling in November and I keep hearing everyone talk about this hotel. I go to their website but it says STAYGO is not available at the hotel. Did you call??? Thanks so much!

 

We called to book the Laquinta Airport East. You sign up for the park and cruise when you check into the hotel, the morning you leave you set up for the shuttle to pick you back up at the port to bring you to your car at the hotel at $10pp. We paid $55 a night but I get a discount through my job.

[Escape23]

Soda card was around $38.00 although I didn't use it, drank alot of water. Bottled water was $2.59 each. Bottles are available for purchase on the ship, or bring your own for ice and water from the self serve ice and water dispensers.

 

Formal night was the Captains dinner on Sunday our first Sea Day.

 

There were ornaments in the gift shop that were replicas of the ship, similar to a Christmas ornament. Wait until the last day and they are 1/2 price.

 

Internet was $3.95 to activate an account then $.75 cents per minute. I used the ship desktop computers which were very, very slow. I tried to log on to my gmail account and was not able to access it. Received an error notice that the internet site I was trying to connect to was unavailable. The best thing to do is take your laptop, tablet, I-phone or Kindle-Fire on the days in port and most places/restaurants have free Wi-Fi. Personally, I enjoyed not being "attached" to email or internet.