DESTINY Review 4-1 thru 4-8 (long)

[WalS]

PRE CRUISE

Arrived on Thursday morning around 11am to the Embassy Suites in Isla Verde. Flight was great, non stop from Philly, American. The hotel is within 1 mile of the airport. Isla Verde beach is about a block and a half away. The main drag, Isla Verde Ave or the Main Ave as the locals call it is a block away. There were many fast food restaruants, drug stores, supermarkets (Local) within walking distance of this hotel. We rented a car at the Holiday Inn right outside the main entrance of the ES. We rented a full size car, Ford Taurus, for $54 a day, not to bad at all.

Thursday- Weather was cloudy pretty much all day, no problem. We hung aroung the pool and ordered lunch, expensive, $80 for chicken fingers, salads, hamburger and some cokes. We had a view of the pool area from our room, and the highway right behind the pool. We could also see EL Yunque off in the distance. Embassy Suites did the best they could with the property they own there. The pool area was nice, my girls, 6 and 10 really liked it. There were palm trees, waterfalls, a hot tub, massage tent and bar all around the pool. The pool was a pretty good size with a shallow end for young kids. They also had a separate kiddie pool. Right behind the pool was a huge wall that separated the property from the highway or overpass. The overpass had some grafitti on it, kind of unsightly. The main reason we choose the ES is because we had 5 to our party. I would have had to book two rooms any where else. With taxes my room came to around 375 a night, not bad for 5, considering you got cooked to order breakfast and free cocktails nightly. With that said, if you have a party of 4 or less, you may want to consider a hotel on the beach, like the El San Juan. We hung out at the El San Juan on two occasions and it was really nice, I would have stayed there if there were only 4 of us. The good part about staying in Isla Verde for an exteded period of time is that everything you need is right there. We went to a little grocery store and bought beers, water, snacks, etc and saved a lot of money. I also went to a Walgreens and bought more film and mini dvd's for my video camera. We eat dinner one night at a place called Lupi's, right on Isla Verde ave near the El San Juan. It had a fun, family type atmosphere to it. Apparently an Ex New York Yankee owns it. The margaritas were great, the food was good, overall just a fun night.

Another good thing about San Juan is all of the Taxi's have set pricing. You know prior to getting in the cab what the cost will be. Here are some of the cost.

Airport to Isla Verde area- $10, plus around $3 to $7 more for your luggage. This is for the cab, not per person. We had seven bags (not carry ons) and our total was $14.50.

Airport to port Old San Juan ( where Destiny sails)-$20 plus bags, $24.50 for us (about a 20 minute ride).

The beaches at Isla Verde were clean, ok overall. The ocean, Atlantic, was like Fl Lauderdale, blue out a little bit, a little murky closer to the beach. There was a little algae also, this didn't bother me but my wife and girls didn't care for it.

Friday- We rented the car I mentioned above and headed out to El Yunque rain forest. The ride took us about 45 minutes. It was overcast again so this was a great day to spend in the rain forest. The directions they gave us at the dollar rental car were fine.

The rain forest was pretty cool. We went to the main entrance, Portal I think it was called. We watched an educational short movie and bought rain ponchos at the gift shop. The admission to the portal was $3 for adult, $1.50 for children. It started raining (imagine that) and we walked around a little bit. We than got back into car and continued up into the rain forest. We visited Koki Falls?. It was right there on the main driving road in the rain forest. We walked up on some big rocks and took pictures. After that, we drove up to the lookout tower and viewed the rain forest as well as the beach off in the distance. It was a pretty sight, recommend it if you havent already been there.

After the rain forest we drove down to Luquillo beach area. The beach looked really nice but it started raining so we didn't spend time there to enjoy it. We then drove back to Isla Verde. Overall it was a really good time. We saved a lot of money by renting the car. You could get a tour to El Yunque but it will cost you from $40 to $65 per person. I spent $10 on gas and $54 on the car.

Saturday- The sun finally came out and we went to the beach. We got the base tan we were hoping for prior to the cruise.

Sunday- After breakfast we chilled out for a little while and then took a cab to the Destiny. It was a sunny day again.

Embarkation-

Got to the ship around 11:45. We had priority boarding due to the cat 12 suite we booked. Walked right up to the common area, handed our luggage over, went to the duty free liquor store and purchased a few bottles of liquor, put it in our carry ons and went upstairs to a waiting room. At 12:30 they let us board the ship. We were the first to get on, along with folks in wheel chairs. We headed up to the lido, did lunch, met people, had some cocktails. They said our room would be ready at 2:30 and it was. Our luggage showed up about 30-45 minutes later.

Cabin

We were in a category 12 penthouse suite, room 7206. The room was just big enough for the five of us. They gave us a cot which I told them to take away, we could do without it. My mother in law and one daughter sleep in the double bed, my wife and I along with my six year old sleep in the King Size, no problems, plenty of room. They was a lot of marble, glass and mirrors in the room. It was decorated tactfully, we truly enjoyed it. Our balcony had four chairs and a table. I asked for a 5th chair and they brought it within minutes. The bathroom area was really nice. It had a changing or vanity area, a good size closet, then the bathroom itself. I never felt cramped the entire time. Everything worked, the air conditioning, lights, tv,etc. Our tub and shower also worked fine. The only thing that could have been better is having a dvd player instead of a VCR player. VCR's are achaic and almost obsolete, maybe they should throw them overboard and start an artificial reef. Would definately recommend this cat 12 to anyone.

ST THOMAS

Since we visited last year and went to Megans Bay, our game plan was to hit Coki and Saphire beaches. We did not do an excursion, we did our own thing this day. If you have never been to St Thomas, just a quick fact for you, cab fares our expensive (relatively). I guess I should say more expensive than most islands. We took a cab from the port to Coki beach to start our day. The cab fare was $9 per person, $45 one way for my family. The plan was to hang out at Coki for a few hours, than hit Saphire. WHen we first got to Coki beach I though I wasn't going to like it. You pull up to shacks, tents, people selling stuff,etc. When you get passed that, the beach comes into view and it is a beautiful sight. We absolutely enjoyed it there. Our daughters got their hair braided by a lady named Cynthia (who is from Dominica no doubt). The braiding cost $120 for the both of them, complete hair, ($100 plus $20 tip). Our daughters look forward to this every year, we have had good luck and bad luck with the braids on other vacations. It is now eight days after the fact and they are still holding up, looking really good. If you are interested in getting you hair braided, this would be the place to have it done.

We rented chairs for $5, snorkels and fins for $5 and had a blast the rest of the day. They give you milk bones to feed the fish while snorkling, it was fantastic. The have a reef at each end of the beach. There were so many fish it was amazing. The weather was perfect, sunny and hot. We had lunch and beers there. We enjoyed it so much that we never made it to Saphire beach. Next time we will hit that.

On the way back to the ship our cab ran out of gas on a hill. That was an experience. The cabby was a nice guy, I was riding in the front with him. He walked up a few blocks and got some gas in a can and brought it back. The whole fiasco only took about twenty extra minutes. Apparently the gas gauge was broke.

Came back town and shopped a little bit before boarding again. All in all, a great day in St Thomas. Recommend COKI BEACH.

DOMINICA

We did the Rain Forest and Emerald Pool tour. We toured a good bit of the island before heading to the rain forest. Our driver was very informative and loved his country, it was obvious. We made about 3 stops before we got to the rain forest area. There were many tourist at this stop, almost too many. Apparently there were about 3-4 cruise ships in port that day. We only had about 45 minutes to make it down to the pool and falls to swim and be back. By the time we finally got to the falls we only had about two minutes to swim before we had to head back. THis was a little frustrating, we should have had more time.

If I had it to do over again I would have just rented a cab and headed up to the falls and used as much time as I needed. Overall the excursion was good, but a little more time was needed. Dominica was neat, we liked it.

Barbados

THis was the only overcast day on the cruise, no sun, not until late in the afternoon. Once again we had no excursion set up. Our plan this day was to go to the BOAT YARD beach club and hang out. Unfortunately, I made my first and only mistake of the vacation. Since it was overcast and not really a "beach day" I got cheap and decided not to go to the Boat Yard and pay $15 per person to enter. I asked a cabbie what beach he recommended and he told us he would take us to BLUE MONKEY BEACH. It was free, they had jet skis, a restaurant, etc.. I was in, lets go. What a mistake. After driving another party around the congested city we finally headed out to Blue Monkey. When we got there we walked through a restaurant area,(not nice at all) and walked onto the beach. I immediately wanted to head back. It was crowded, rocky, noisy with construction going on, dirty,(bottles, including broken bottles on the beach itself), natives getting high right there in front of your kids, it was bad. The kids didn't want to go swimming because there were rocks in the sand. My six year old got her ankles cut up going into the surf. In fact, hardly anyone was swimming, it was just to rocky. I rented a wave runner for $50 a half hour. That was fun. As soon as we were finished riding the wave runner, we left. By this time it was about 2pm and we decided to head back to the ship.

I know Barbados is a nice island, I have friends that love it there. Unfortunately I choose the wrong beach on maybe the wrong day. I talked with other passengers that went out to the Boat Yard and they loved it. Here is my advice.....STAY AWAY FROM BLUE MONKEY BEACH, trust me. Don't be cheap, head to the Boat Yard or take an excursion.

ST LUCIA

Awesome. Great weather, great day. We did the Caribbean Pirate SHip excursion. This was probably one of our best excursions ever. You boarded right off of the Destiny and headed out to Pigeon Bay, beautiful ride. They fired canons, let the kids steer the ship, drank pleny of rum punch, had a treasure hunt, swam on the beach, what more could you want. The location was really nice, there was a Sandals resort there along with other resorts in the same cove area. I highly recommend this tour for families.

ANTIGUA

The unexpected suprise of our trip. We will be going back to spend our next vacation on this island. They say there is 356 beaches on this island, we hit one of them, didn't want to leave. Here is how our day went.

Our plan once again, take a cab to both Dickenson Bay and Runaway Beach. I did some research online and decided this was a good plan. THe cab fare was cheap, 3 bucks a persone one way. It took about 15 minutes to get to Dickenson Bay. Wow, feel in love with the place as soon as we saw it. The pretiest beach and water I think I have ever seen. Maybe it was this day, but I doubt it. We rode horses, rented wave runners, chairs, umbrellas, had lunch, met some cool people. Natives were friendly, not pushy. We found a little convenient store in the parking lot area that sold beer, cokes, bottled water etc...THere was also a restaurant there that was pretty nice. A Sandals resort shared the beach, along with two other properties, condos and a hotel. We meet a family staying at the hotel near the restaurant and they just loved the place. We got a brochure from the place and we will be going back there. I can't put the words down to describe beautiful this place was. Highly recommend Dickenson Bay. We never made it to Runaway, next time.

SHIP ITSELF

I liked it. It was clean, didn't show the age that I read on some reviews. The overall physical appearance was fine I thought. The food was ok to good overall in both the dining room and buffet areas. On the sea day the buffet was a mad house, to crowded. One morning all of the food at the buffet was cold for some reason, cold eggs is no fun. That was just one morning, the others were fine. We did order a lot of room service in the for breakfast and that was simple but good. The Happy Valley Chinese section was pretty good. I was not disapointed with anything pretaining to the ship.

My favorite spots for a drink- the atrium bar where you could get pints on Heiniken on draft. I also like the ONYX bar, quiet and out of the way.

The pool area was fun, the reggae band was really good.

The overall entertainment was typical of any cruise I have been on. The magician was ok, dancers looked good, singers were ok, nothing jumped out at me.

DISEMBARKING

Our flight didn't leave until after 5pm so we waited until the very end to leave that ship. We were literally the last ones off at around 12:15, this was our own decision.

 

Summary

Overall we loved this cruise vacation. I would do the same cruise over again. If you have the chance to cruise Destiny this year I would recommend it. Great ports of call for the money.

 

Any questions feel free to ask....

[Ashleezmom]

Wals - thanks for the great review. We will be staying at Embassy Suites post cruise in June and you gave us great info for San Juan!

[bandtaxi]

We were on the same cruise and had an equally wonderful trip. We went to Magen's Bay in St. Thomas, hiked to Middleham falls in Dominica, had a private jeep tour in Barbados (love Bathsheba beach area), 4x4 adventure in St. Lucia and just walked around in Antigua - enjoyed singing from churches on Good Friday and then back to the ship (we were really tired from the port heavy cruise).

[Tinkerbell647]

Thank you very much for taking the time out to write this detailed and long review. It was very helpful.

 

I am looking forward to the destiny more and more each day.

 

I am getting married in St. Thomas right on Magens Bay so we are counting down the days.

 

AGAIN, THANK YOU!!! Im glad you had a great time.

[CruisinMama27]

Thanks for the long review. I love it when someone takes the time to write a detailed review. Thanks again. 3 weeks and 4 days until it's my turn for San juan and Destiny!!!! Can't wait:D

[MzOhioLady]

Thanks for writing the review. Can't wait until its my turn in September.

[big_duck]

Dang I wish I hadn't read this. We were supposed to do the Caribbean Pirate excursion the week we went, but it was cancelled. :(

 

 

Glad your had a great time though.

[Glama]

I am getting married in St. Thomas right on Magens Bay so we are counting down the days

 

Oh my gosh, you are getting married at Magens?? How absolutely beautiful!!!! It's my fav beach in the world. I hope you have a wonderful day and a beautiful wedding. Enjoy your cruise and your honeymoon.

Great review by the OP, glad you had a great time!

[PelicanBill]

Awesome review, thank you!

[LiLBxQt]

We were on the same cruise and had an equally wonderful trip. We went to Magen's Bay in St. Thomas, hiked to Middleham falls in Dominica, had a private jeep tour in Barbados (love Bathsheba beach area), 4x4 adventure in St. Lucia and just walked around in Antigua - enjoyed singing from churches on Good Friday and then back to the ship (we were really tired from the port heavy cruise).

 

I am also planning on hiking to middleham... Just wondering how strenuous the hike was, how you enjoyed it, how the terrain was along the way, etc

 

TIA!!!

[caribbeanchickie]

WOW, Fantastic review. Love the details and suggestions on what to do in each port.

I now know what we are doing in St. Lucia & Antigua.

 

Only 159 days before I am on Destiny. :D

[ShedQueen77]

Thank you so much for the review. I'm patiently (OK, I lied. I'm NOT patient at all! :D) waiting for our turn to sail her December 30.

 

Thank you for the great Antigua beach suggestion. We chose Antigua as our "beach bum" day and that helps us narrow our choices a lot!

 

We're getting married in Barbados, but no where near the Blue Monkey Beach. We're going to Foul Bay across the island. Hopefully we don't encounter the same thing there. I'm sorry to hear about your experience. That's awful!

 

Would the Pirate Ship excursion in St. Lucia be fun for older kids? Like around 30, 35, 28, and 25? It sounds like a lot of fun, but I don't want to be the old fart on board. My fiance at 35 might have to be though! :D

[luv2cruise777l]

Thanks for the detailed review. We are sailing on the Destiny June 24 and it helps alot to hear other peoples experiences. I can't wait!:)

[bandtaxi]

We are in our late 40s and relatively active. It was a pretty strenuous hike for us. There were people along who had no problems. The hike has quite a bit of uphill climbing. There is a pathway and the uphill has 'steps' in the ground (logs, tree roots, rocks, etc). It took us more than 45 minutes to get there (the signs say 45 minutes). The falls is beautiful. . .the plants, etc along the way are pretty. If you like to hike you will enjoy this. If you are mainly going to see the waterfall and expecting a walk this is probably not the excursion for you. Also on footwear. . . . we wore Tevas. They were fine. Athletic or hiking shoes would work also, but we got our feet wet several times.

[nkcruiser]

We are looking at going on that cruise in Jan., are any of the ports tendered?

[big_duck]

We are looking at going on that cruise in Jan., are any of the ports tendered?

 

Can't speak for the Dominican Republic, but none of the other ports are tender ports.

[tootiesmom]

we're going on the Destiny in June and also have a late afternoon flight back home. Since you were last leaving the ship, did they let you stay in your cabin that whole time or did you have to leave it very early and just hang around somewhere?

 

thanks,

tootiesmom

[big_duck]

we're going on the Destiny in June and also have a late afternoon flight back home. Since you were last leaving the ship, did they let you stay in your cabin that whole time or did you have to leave it very early and just hang around somewhere?

 

thanks,

tootiesmom

 

They want you out of the cabin by 9-9:30.

[WalS]

we're going on the Destiny in June and also have a late afternoon flight back home. Since you were last leaving the ship, did they let you stay in your cabin that whole time or did you have to leave it very early and just hang around somewhere?

 

thanks,

tootiesmom

We had to be out of the cabin by 10am. We actually left at about 10:15am, no problems. We then hung out near the casino until the lines went away.

[WalS]

We are looking at going on that cruise in Jan., are any of the ports tendered?

No ports are tendered. It is Dominica, not the Dominican Republic, two totally different countries. Dominica is actually the Commonwealth of Dominica.

[newt98]

how was the spring break crowd? mostly college, or high school/middle school? rowdy or unnoticable?

[WalS]

Thank you so much for the review. I'm patiently (OK, I lied. I'm NOT patient at all! :D) waiting for our turn to sail her December 30.

 

Thank you for the great Antigua beach suggestion. We chose Antigua as our "beach bum" day and that helps us narrow our choices a lot!

 

We're getting married in Barbados, but no where near the Blue Monkey Beach. We're going to Foul Bay across the island. Hopefully we don't encounter the same thing there. I'm sorry to hear about your experience. That's awful!

 

Would the Pirate Ship excursion in St. Lucia be fun for older kids? Like around 30, 35, 28, and 25? It sounds like a lot of fun, but I don't want to be the old fart on board. My fiance at 35 might have to be though! :D

There were actually two young couples in their 20's on the excursion. One of the guys enjoyed it more than the 10 year olds I think. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much without the kids, the rum punch was excellent though.

[Ashleezmom]

No ports are tendered. It is Dominica, not the Dominican Republic, two totally different countries. Dominica is actually the Commonwealth of Dominica.

 

It will be the new ports of which the Dominican Republic is one beginning in Jan. when the OP said they would be sailing

[WalS]

It will be the new ports of which the Dominican Republic is one beginning in Jan. when the OP said they would be sailing

Ok, sorry about that. I have no idea if they port or tender in the DR.

[Ashleezmom]

Ok, sorry about that. I have no idea if they port or tender in the DR.

 

I dont know either, I do know though that they will be spending the night there....fun fun