My Review of Destiny- sailed 3/2 to 3/9/08

[shanna349]

Hello all! We are back from our cruise and quite depressed. We did NOT want to come home! Gorgeous beaches, blue skies, paradise! Who would want to come home to rain, snow and icky weather after a week of that!?!

 

So my review begins with the ship, of course. I was amazed at the size of it. We were on the Destiny for 7 nights and sailed around the Southern Caribbean. Ports of call on the itinerary were San Juan PR, St. Thomas USVI, Dominica, Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten. With so many ports of call, we felt like we were only just getting a handle on where our cabin was located at on the last day. Not much time to explore the ship, and by the end of each day after the walking and snorkeling, we were too tired to go to the shows and dress up for formal dining. We mostly took the buffet option, skipping lunch on most days and eating an early dinner before heading up onto the deck for port leaves and sunsets.

 

Embarkation was easy. No worries there. Bags were delivered to our door upon our arrival.

 

First thing I noticed about the ship is its age. She's holding well, I agree with other reviews, but many areas were shut down for renovation at the most inconvenient times, it seemed. Half of the deck was closed for the first two days at sea for renovations. At most times only one of the two spa whirlpools on the forward deck was open and it usually contained a large Puerto Rican family with lots of kids in it for hours upon hours. They refused to share and seemed to take pride in watching people walk up with their towels, only to walk away as soon as they realized it was full. I hate rude people like that. Also we were a bit frustrated that "deck swabbing time" was always promptly at 6pm every day. That was the busiest time of the day, with the boat leaving port, people getting pre-dinner drinks and conversing, people watching the sunset, and it seemed like we were being shooed away every evening during the most relaxing time.

Next was the fact that we heard Christmas music being played in some areas of the ship- couldn't figure that one out! Other than that, the live band that played on the deck was fabulous, even allowing a cruiser to pluck his guitar for a song or two to change up the beat for us. We got a little tired of the same Caribbean music after a few days. :p

 

Our cabins were on the 8th floor, Veranda, just under the Lido deck. The noisy chairs were often a nuisance to be heard, but seemed to quiet down at 2am or so. The balconies in the stateroom were plenty spacious for a boat and were always kept clean by the staff. No complaints about the room, itself. Our shower, however was a bit scary. Rusted tiles made me thankful for my tetanus shot I had early this year! But the shower was strong, the water was nicely soft. I loved what it did to my hair! There could have been more storage space in the shower for little bottles of toiletries, but we survived well enough.

 

The stabilizers must have been out of service because we are STILL rocking and swaying 2 days after being home! Seriously, though- we felt it- BAD. At one point during the final formal night, the ship tilted so bad, people grabbed wall, tables, railings, and each other to keep from falling down. It was funny to see sober people walk around like they were drunk were seven days. No one could walk a straight line on the Promenade while at sea, and we rocked like babies in our beds in the cabin at night. And we were only going 5-6 knots, mild breeze with 2 foot waves!! Were we supposed to feel that?!! I don't have much knowledge of sailing big cruise ships, but my research tells me- I don't think so! Fortunately DH and I are not prone to sea sickness but witnessed plenty of people with dramamine patches behind their ears this week. Poor guys!

 

Finally, the service. Overall, I was mildly disappointed. More so on the fact that my DH had gone to formalities and secretly ordered and paid for our room to be decorated with streamers and stuff as a surprise for me after our return to the ship after being wed in Barbados. He received a receipt with a time the room would be decorated. We returned to the ship two hours after that designated time, and he was acting funny. No decorations, but I wasn't supposed to know about it. He took me back out onto the deck to wait a little while longer and we returned to our room- five hours after the time quoted- still no decorations. After I demanded to know what was going on, he had to spill the beans and spoil the surprise before going to complain to Formalities- who told him the decorating guy in charge overslept. Big bummer for my DH. We received a refund and got the decorations for free, but little too late for the surprise. He made up for it by ensuring they sent us champagne and chocolate covered strawberries for our turn-down that night.

We reported our balcony light being burnt out, and our stateroom chair completely broken upon arrival to the cabin. A man showed up that night, said, "yep, it's broken!", took our chair and never returned a new one nor changed the lightbulb.

 

We never met our stateroom steward until the last night. I know they are supposed to be non-intrusive, but after two nights coming back to the cabin with a turned-down bed and no towel animals, I was getting antsy! Come to find out, our steward did not speak English, so we couldn't get our requests across to her without her smiling and giggling and walking away. Awkward and uninviting, if you ask me.

 

One night, we went to the Purser's desk to pay down our bill with cash we had won from the casino, and ask a few questions, and the only purser there was a lady from Thailand- who spoke horrible English and had such a soft voice that our questions were unanswered. We had to wait until the next day to take care of our business. WHY would you put a non-english speaking staff member at one of the most important places on the ship?

 

 

The drink and bar services were outstanding- of course, they got our tips automatically, but we removed our 70 dollar-per-person tips from our bill and trashed the M'aitre D tipping envelope as soon as it appeared in our room. We opted for the buffet instead of formal dining because service was so slow and drinks went unfilled. I think it was because our server was given too many tables to handle because we watched him run around like a chicken with his head cut off the one and only night we chose to dine.

 

Disembarking was easier than I read or heard it would be. By the way, if the cruise director tells you in your disembarking meeting that you have to fill out two separate customs claims forms if you have different last names, she's wrong! If you live in the same household you can use the same form, as we were informed by customs at the port gate.

 

Overall, we enjoyed our experience and the ship was kept very clean, but we were not impressed with the service. It felt to us like we were in a self-served hotel back home.

 

Not one staff member stood out to us and we don't remember any of their names. If it wasn't for the awesome people we met who were cruising on the ship, we would have had a crappy time aboard. But our new friends kept us upbeat and positive, laughing with us as we laughed at the laughable.

 

We will choose a different ship, and a different cruise line next year, for sure, however.

 

Ports of call reviews to come soon. That's a different story in itself- a fantastic adventure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kurbanfan]

We opted out of the Destiny and sailed on the Crown Princess to the Southern Caribbean and sooo glad we did. One of best cruises to date.

How was your wedding in Barbados and where did you tie the knot:confused:

[shanna349]

We opted out of the Destiny and sailed on the Crown Princess to the Southern Caribbean and sooo glad we did. One of best cruises to date.

How was your wedding in Barbados and where did you tie the knot:confused:

 

Our wedding was fabulous! I'm going to post a picture link in my signature in a few moments. My pictures look like something from Bride magazine! I arranged for this wedding on my own through searching google and used a company called "Cupid's Way, Corp, Weddings..Beyond Your Imagination". The beach was Good Shepherd. Very beautiful place. Not very busy, either. We dined at Tides restaurant afterwards- a five star place that will get a return from us on every anniversary, for sure!

[addicted to cruising]

I was so hoping your review was going to be good...I love this ship and sailed it many years ago. As of late I keep seeing bad reviews. Really think folks should address this with Carnival via a call or letter to corp.

This ship has so much potential and the itenerary has always been awesome. I really would have been ticked if I were sailing on a ship that was being renovated during my cruise. Its one thing to do some painting and minor work but to close off areas is unacceptable.

I hope you will reconsider Carnival, they truely are a great line for the money

[shanna349]

I was so hoping your review was going to be good...I love this ship and sailed it many years ago. As of late I keep seeing bad reviews. Really think folks should address this with Carnival via a call or letter to corp.

This ship has so much potential and the itenerary has always been awesome. I really would have been ticked if I were sailing on a ship that was being renovated during my cruise. Its one thing to do some painting and minor work but to close off areas is unacceptable.

I hope you will reconsider Carnival, they truely are a great line for the money

 

I think it would be good to compare Carnival with other cruise lines, but to each his own. Oh believe me, those little comment cards they pass out at the end were full of stuff!

We still had a good time regardless. Like I said before, the passengers and ports of call make this a good cruise- definitely not the ship!

[SocrRiss18]

its amazing how different people can have such different experiences on the same ship. We were on it last week also, but apparently we lucked out in comparison to you. Sorry you had a bad experience.

 

its soooooo funny you mention that lady at the pursers desk. we had issues with her as well. on the 3rd night I purchased something in the store with my card (no problem), then went right to the little coffee shop to get a drink no more than 1 minute later. when i gave them my card they said it was not valid, as my card had been deactivated. I went to the pursers desk, waited in line, and got up there and she couldnt explain why it happened. she said it meant i never game them a credit card. Obviously before boarding the ship you have to give a credit card number, so this made no sense. Seeing as the card was under my parents name, i had to go track them down, bring them up to the pursers desk, and wait in line once again. again, for 10 minutes we went back and forth with her just constantly repeating "you didnt give a credit card." We tried explaining both rooms were on the same credit card, and 3 of the 5 cards total worked. and she wouldnt believe us when we said the other 2 worked. It was very frustrating not to get a simple question answered. We did infact ask to speak to someone else, and instead of politely saying that no one else was available, she laughed and said "no, you speak to me." Anyways... it wasnt a big deal or anything, but just thought id share that with you.

 

One question... not to be argumentative or anything... but you said you removed the tips? i know u didnt eat in the dining room, and werent ecstatic about your steward... but did you not think the lido staff and busboys, as well as the people that clean your room deserved tips? We never tip the maitre d' but were pleasantly surprised with this one. He came to our table every night and talked with us for 5 minutes or so. He gave us recommendations on activities and such.

 

Anyways, sorry you had a bad experience. I wouldnt let this prevent you from cruising Carnival again though. File a complain with the cruiseline, and see if you can get OBC towards a future cruise on one of their newer ships. Good Luck!

[shanna349]

One question... not to be argumentative or anything... but you said you removed the tips? i know u didnt eat in the dining room, and werent ecstatic about your steward... but did you not think the lido staff and busboys, as well as the people that clean your room deserved tips? We never tip the maitre d' but were pleasantly surprised with this one. He came to our table every night and talked with us for 5 minutes or so. He gave us recommendations on activities and such.

 

Anyways, sorry you had a bad experience. I wouldnt let this prevent you from cruising Carnival again though. File a complain with the cruiseline, and see if you can get OBC towards a future cruise on one of their newer ships. Good Luck!

 

This was a decision we battled with for a couple of days on the ship, but decided after careful research, that we did not feel that we should tip. A tip should never be something automatically given, in our opinions. Nothing special was done for us, and when we requested something special it fell through. The 70 dollar tip is divided into three parts: $24.50 for your steward, $38.50 for your dining room server (which we did not utilize), and $7.00 for the F&B Team.

When you go to a hotel, you don't tip the person who comes and cleans your room unless they did something special for you, or if you were wow'd by the service. I know some people lucked out with awesome stewards- in that case, we would have been more than happy to tip. We still aren't sure who our steward was and weren't wow'd by anything that they did.

 

We also discussed filing a complaint, but we aren't sure if we want to do Carnival in the near future. Again, we didn't have a horrible time, we just weren't wow'd by anything we experienced on the ship, and sadly, our friends' stories of their awesome cruises with Carnival did not nearly match up to our experience. Yeah, I know sh*t happens and I consider us fairly laid back people, not pushy or expectant of hand-and-foot service but we seriously were not impressed at all.

[Handsome58]

Removing a tip.............that is part of those people's salary...the cruise line pays them pennies........be upset...do not cruise with that line again...........but removing the tip ...is small and petty...and you seemed proud to have done that. So sad.:(

[shanna349]

Removing a tip.............that is part of those people's salary...the cruise line pays them pennies........be upset...do not cruise with that line again...........but removing the tip ...is small and petty...and you seemed proud to have done that. So sad.:(

 

 

thanks, troll.

 

I do not feel bad. I'm sad to say we were not impressed with our service. You are highly mistaken by thinking I'm proud to remove tips. Try reading the entire forum before stepping in with your obtrusive and offending comments.

[Handsome58]

When one sinks to name calling......a nerve must have been struck. Call me troll. I was speaking from the heart, not trying to start something....just saying as someone who once ago [25 years ago] worked a service job that depended on tips. Not paying tips does not hurt the cruise line one bit. They get theirs up front. It only hurts the service people. If that makes me a Troll in your eyes then I guess I am one.

[shanna349]

When one sinks to name calling......a nerve must have been struck. Call me troll. I was speaking from the heart, not trying to start something....just saying as someone who once ago [25 years ago] worked a service job that depended on tips. Not paying tips does not hurt the cruise line one bit. They get theirs up front. It only hurts the service people. If that makes me a Troll in your eyes then I guess I am one.

 

I wasn't trying to HURT the cruise line. What is your problem? Do you get off stepping into forums, picking one small detail out of a review and commenting on it to tick people off? It was my decision, I'm done with it. That's called trolling.

[telli01]

It's funny because we were on the same sailing and had a great time! I always saw both whirlpools open and the one in the back and most of the time there were only one or two people in them. The renovations that were going on were actually a small portion (I would say where 2 chairs would have been, on 3 tiers), they were replacing old wood, I'm all for it! Make it better! Our service was great too, again I guess it's all in what you're looking for, each person sees everything in a different manner.

[shanna349]

It's funny because we were on the same sailing and had a great time! I always saw both whirlpools open and the one in the back and most of the time there were only one or two people in them. The renovations that were going on were actually a small portion (I would say where 2 chairs would have been, on 3 tiers), they were replacing old wood, I'm all for it! Make it better! Our service was great too, again I guess it's all in what you're looking for, each person sees everything in a different manner.

 

Look in my pictures. Proof this was a common sight for us on the deck at 6pm.

 

In the first one, the entire right side, closed. The second one is of the whirlpool ON, yet shut down and the other one completely crowded.

 

http://web.mac.com/shanna349/Site/the_caribbean/Pages/san_juan.html#14

 

http://web.mac.com/shanna349/Site/the_caribbean/Pages/stkitts.html#313

[Kurbanfan]

Shanna your wedding photos are beautiful!! Thanks for sharing!

And I might add barbados is one of our favorite ports!

[shanna349]

Shanna you wedding photos are beautiful!! Thanks for sharing!

And I might add barbados is one of our favorite ports!

 

Thank you so much for the positive feedback! We absolutely LOVED Barbados, too and we definitely plan on staying a week for every anniversary just on that island. So much to see, so little time it seems. Again, thank you- we had an absolutely fantastic time in our ports of call.

[Handsome58]

Those are great pictures........my wife and I got married on the Fantasy in 2002.

[shanna349]

Those are great pictures........my wife and I got married on the Fantasy in 2002.

 

Do you have any pictures to share if you don't mind? I just love looking at ship and beach weddings!

[Handsome58]

CLICK HERE TO VIEW YOUR ALBUM OF PICTURES.

Let me know if it works

[ruskatab]

its amazing how different people can have such different experiences on the same ship. We were on it last week also, but apparently we lucked out in comparison to you. Sorry you had a bad experience.

 

its soooooo funny you mention that lady at the pursers desk. we had issues with her as well. on the 3rd night I purchased something in the store with my card (no problem), then went right to the little coffee shop to get a drink no more than 1 minute later. when i gave them my card they said it was not valid, as my card had been deactivated. I went to the pursers desk, waited in line, and got up there and she couldnt explain why it happened. she said it meant i never game them a credit card. Obviously before boarding the ship you have to give a credit card number, so this made no sense. Seeing as the card was under my parents name, i had to go track them down, bring them up to the pursers desk, and wait in line once again. again, for 10 minutes we went back and forth with her just constantly repeating "you didnt give a credit card." We tried explaining both rooms were on the same credit card, and 3 of the 5 cards total worked. and she wouldnt believe us when we said the other 2 worked. It was very frustrating not to get a simple question answered. We did infact ask to speak to someone else, and instead of politely saying that no one else was available, she laughed and said "no, you speak to me." Anyways... it wasnt a big deal or anything, but just thought id share that with you.

 

One question... not to be argumentative or anything... but you said you removed the tips? i know u didnt eat in the dining room, and werent ecstatic about your steward... but did you not think the lido staff and busboys, as well as the people that clean your room deserved tips? We never tip the maitre d' but were pleasantly surprised with this one. He came to our table every night and talked with us for 5 minutes or so. He gave us recommendations on activities and such.

 

Anyways, sorry you had a bad experience. I wouldnt let this prevent you from cruising Carnival again though. File a complain with the cruiseline, and see if you can get OBC towards a future cruise on one of their newer ships. Good Luck!

 

 

Why didnt you tip the maitre d' if he came to your table every night and offered suggestions on activities? I would think that with the suggestions and stopping by every night he should of gotten a little something for the time he took with yall. Just my opinion I guess.

[Kurbanfan]

CLICK HERE TO VIEW YOUR ALBUM OF PICTURES.

 

 

Let me know if it works

 

I love ship weddings. My son was married on a RCCL ship and we had a blast. You guys make a great looking couple!!

Thanks for sharing!

[Handsome58]

Thank You for those kind words............

[shanna349]

CLICK HERE TO VIEW YOUR ALBUM OF PICTURES.

 

 

Let me know if it works

 

BEAUTIFUL! Looks like you guys had an awesome time! Thank you so much for sharing those

[Handsome58]

Yes we had a ball.....it was 30-something of us............we have been addicted to cruising ever since...............can not wait for August.......

[ShedQueen77]

Why didnt you tip the maitre d' if he came to your table every night and offered suggestions on activities? I would think that with the suggestions and stopping by every night he should of gotten a little something for the time he took with yall. Just my opinion I guess.

 

Ha... Franc (Frank, whatever) the maitre'd. When we were on Destiny, we never spoke to or saw him once until tip night. Needless to say, he got nothing from us. Maybe he got a verbal spanking after the comments we left on our cards about his blatant "tip me" routine! lol

 

Shanna, I love your pics!! I'm so sorry that you didn't get to have the good experience on Destiny like we did. We're going to try Carnival again in January and hope it works out well. You got your beautiful wedding just like me anyway! lol :D I'm glad to see that Lisa and the Barbados wedding lived up to how much I bragged it up to you, or you'd probably think I was a huge liar! :)

[shanna349]

 

Shanna, I love your pics!! I'm so sorry that you didn't get to have the good experience on Destiny like we did. We're going to try Carnival again in January and hope it works out well. You got your beautiful wedding just like me anyway! lol :D I'm glad to see that Lisa and the Barbados wedding lived up to how much I bragged it up to you, or you'd probably think I was a huge liar! :)

 

Haha! Lisa lived up to and far exceeded your compliments. She was fantastic- a busy woman, though- she had to rush off during our signing. But we had a completely awesome time at our wedding, and at the other ports of call for that fact- couldn't have been more perfect in Barbados. I guess we just weren't as lucky as others in stateroom staff, servers, etc on the boat... oh well! I have been reading reviews of other ships and comparing them to a lot of Destiny reviews since my return, both good and not-so-good and if we ever do try Carnival again, it won't be Destiny (unless perhaps she gets new staff after her renovation)

 

What boat are you guys going on in January and what's your itinerary? Despite our vessel experience we are not letting it get us down- we are ready to go cruising again already!