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Destiny Review 6/29-7/6

panurse

By panurse,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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panurse

panurse

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This is the review for our 20th Anniversary cruise on the Destiny from 6/29 to 7/6. First off Destiny might be an older ship but she is in great shape. I must say there is a lot of copper stuff on the walls, but it shined like it was new. I had read there a lot of Spanish speaking passengers and its true, but we cruised from San Juan, I expected it, not a bother to me.

 

This is the first cruise that we didn’t fly in the day before. We had a late day wedding on Saturday that we weren’t willing to miss. So I was nervous until we arrived at the ship.

 

Our flight on Sunday was smooth. We arrived earlier than expected at San Juan. We didn’t use the carnival transfer because we stayed an extra day at the end of our cruise. We got in a long line for Taxi’s, but it only took about 10 minutes to be our way. Our taxi driver was in quite a hurry, he did everything except drive up on the sidewalk. He even whipped around and did a U turn right in front of the ship in heavy traffic, he didn’t even hesitate. There were tires squealing and I don’t know how we didn’t get hit…..I have been in taxi’s in San Juan before, but NEVER had I been so scared. From the time we got in the taxi (2:00pm) to the time we got on the ship was ½ hour, and that included a stop at the liquor store at the port to gets some banana rum (which I never did open) and a few samples of liquor. Embarking was VERY quick. I had filled out all the documents online and we decided to use cash for our sign and sail instead of a credit card. We headed right to our room, met our room steward, Dumrong and headed to the pursers desk to put money on our sign and sail and check that our onboard credit of $196 was showing (from a price drop in the week before we cruised). We had our first of MANY drinks and explored the ship. We didn’t have a problem finding our way around because we had been on the Victory twice and they are very similar. Muster drill as at 9:30pm and as I had read it was in English and Spanish, but it really didn’t take that long. We sailed on schedule around 10pm. We were supposed to meet our roll call after the muster drill on lido, we made a couple trips around and couldn’t find them, so we headed off to bed. (I had a few too many foo foo drinks).

 

Monday: St. Thomas, we had been there before so we decided to use the day as an “at sea day” since our itinerary didn’t have any. We got up early, went to the dining room for breakfast, then went shopping at the port. When we returned we ate and went to the lido deck to enjoy some foo foo drinks. This is when we met Iketut, the man who kept my glass full for the rest of our cruise. He was amazing and got extra tips often. I have to mention, it sounds like I’m a real lush, but at home I don’t drink often. There was a comedy show with Al Romero that night, I found him quite funny.

 

Tuesday: Dominica, We had booked privately with Antours for river tubing. There were only 7 of us on the tour. It was amazing to say the least. We started out with a tour of the island with several stops along the way for pix. Our guide was Henry Ford and was a wealth of knowledge. We went to Emerald Falls, it was a short hike, but for those of you who are not sure, you go down down down to a beautiful set of falls then back up, up, up, up. (I’m a big person and coming back up was a little tough, didn’t kill me, but I felt it but certainly glad I did it). DH went in the water and said it wasn’t cold, it was refreshing. We stopped at Mr. Nice for some amazing fruit. We tried several different fruits and some real yummy coconut desert dish. We then went tubing, it was so much fun. They suited us up with helmets and life jackets and we had 6 young men to keep us moving and safe. The water was rough in several spots and I even got dumped in the rapids once. (dragged across some rocks and got several bruises, but it was sooooo much fun, I would do it again in a second). We had a break part way through tubing and went swimming in a deeper area. When we were done, we had some great papaya rum punch and headed back to the ship in plenty of time. It was formal night and the captains party. We didn’t get there in the beginning of the party because we stopped to have some pics taken, but we were there in time to have a couple whiskey sours. We were took advantage of the change in dress code mainly because of the changes in luggage with the airlines. I wore a black dress and DH wore black dress slacks with a short sleeved white shirt and tie. I saw all kinds of attire including black jeans and capri’s. I did notice there wasn’t as many gowns and tuxedo’s as in the past. We were tired from the day and didn’t make it to the show or late night comedy.

 

Wednesday: Barbados, We booked an excursion through carnival because it was something we really wanted to do and couldn’t book on our own. We did the party boat and snorkeling on the Harbour Master. This didn’t leave until 12:30pm so we had the morning to enjoy our 20th Anniversary. I was pleasantly surprised with a diamond anniversary ring. The Harbour Master is a short bus transfer from the dock. This is a 3 story boat with a 70 foot slide on the side. They took us to a beach that was empty and the ramp on the boat goes right out to the beach. We chose not to snorkel because DH isn’t fond of it. There were quite a few that stayed on the boat and drank rum punch and went down the slide. DH had the time of his life. He would go down the slide, climb the stairs to the top level of the boat, drink a glass of rum punch and go down the slide again. On the way back from the beach we did a lot of partying and dancing, they made sure to include everyone. It was a great time. There were a lot of families on the excursion. The past guest party was nice, they were very generous with the appetizers and drinks. There was a juggler and comedian that night. The juggler, Manuel Zuniga, was very good and funny. The comedian, Anthony Acosta, was okay.

 

Thursday: St. Lucia, We booked Herod’s Land and Sea Safari. We had to have 10 people in order to do the tour. I posted on our roll call and port of call and we ended up with 2 vans full. This tour is WELL worth the money. We were in the van with Dixon. We toured the country, stopping several times to take pix. Dixon was a wealth of information, and had answers for all the questions. We stopped to get creole bread which was very good. We went to sulfur springs to see the volcano. We stopped at Cold Falls and DH took a dip and then walked in the beautiful gardens. We swam ( and some snorkeled) on a quiet beach between the pitons (the water was very refreshing). We had an amazing buffet of creole food. Near the end of the tour we loaded onto boats and toured the outside of the island including the bat caves. The views were breathtaking. The boats took us right back to the port by the stores with a very short walk back to the ship. Herod and Dixon did an exceptional job with this tour and I will do it again when I get a chance to return to St. Lucia. We made it to the Love & Marriage Show, which is always a good laugh, but couldn’t make it to the Destiny Super Stars (talent show). I heard there was quite a bit of talent.

 

Friday: Antigua, We have been to Antigua before so we decided to sleep in and enjoy a nice breakfast in the dining room then just shopped near the dock. We went into the area where all the vendors are set up in a very close area. No one was really pushy. It was very crowded and hot. Everyone asked if they could help you with something but I was never really uncomfortable. The prices for shirts and handmade jewelry was very reasonable. We went back to the ship, ate and I decided to read and enjoy the sun in a deck chair on Lido deck. There were a lot of chairs available. I chose the quieter area on the back of the lido near the small pool. I ended up falling asleep and getting a little too much sun because of those darn foo foo drinks . It was the second formal night, I wore a skirt and shirt and DH wore a white shirt, tie, and black pants. Again we didn’t feel out of place, I saw all kinds of different clothing, not as much formal wear as I have seen in the past. After dinner we went to the casino and DH won $340, enough to help cover my losses for the week plus some extra for onboard shopping. We made it to the show, Nightclub Express. It was ok, some parts were better than others. I heard several people say how much they enjoyed it. This was the night for the Grand Gala Buffet, I couldn’t stay awake that late.

 

Saturday, St. Kitts, We had planned a island tour through the tour store but they didn’t have enough people to go on it. We chose to shop at the port. There weren’t a ton of shops but they are actively building more. We did spend $15 to take pictures with a money and her baby. We returned to the ship and just enjoyed the lido deck and read my book. We did go to the debarkation talk, but only to see if we won the raffle for a free cruise and we didn’t  So, I guess I’ll have to fork out the money myself. After dinner we went to the magic and illusion show of Rand Woodbury which we enjoyed. We went back to our room and got our packing done and bags set our just a midnight.

 

Sunday, debarkation at San Juan. At the debarkation talk they told us we didn’t have to be out of our rooms until 9am. In the past they had wanted us our by 7:30 so this was nice. We were spending an extra night in San Juan so we didn’t do the express checkout to the airport. We were in #16 of 32. We went to eat on the lido deck for breakfast at about 8:45 and took our time. We then wandered down by the casino and café on the way and sat and sat and sat. At about 11am our number was called to go to the Palladium lounge and we were off the ship by 11:20. It took about 15 minutes to go through customs then got help with our luggage and had a taxi within 15 minutes. This was the latest we had to wait to get off a ship in our 8 cruises. I don’t know how long it took to get the rest of the people off since we were ½ thru. In the past I have been on the ship by 11am.

 

Just a few other notes. We ate in the Universal Dining Room in the early seating. Our waiter was Nestor who anticipated our every need. I drink a lot of iced tea and after the first night, I got it without asking. His assistant was Apatchaya, she had the most infectious smile I have ever seen. Every time I saw her, I would smile. She was very efficient and would make a great waiter. Several days we ate breakfast in the dining room and just one time we had a waiter that wasn’t real good. I don’t remember his name but he had a rough time keeping orders straight. I was out of water for 20 minutes and he was no were to be found. Several waiters from the surrounding tables did pitch in to help him when they saw him struggling. The dining room wasn’t open for lunch because every day was a port day, I did miss that. As far as the new menu, I really miss the beef wellington, but I found something I liked every night and DH had 2 main dishes on a couple of occasions. We did tip the maitre’d. This is the first cruise that we saw the maitre’d every night. He was very interactive every night. I did witness them turning away a man on the last night because he had a muscle shirt on and it was resort casual attire. We didn’t cruise with our children this time, so I did take advantage of using the cell phone on board, although I really don’t want to get the bill, but having the option for them to be able to reach me if needed did allow me to relax more. (I always had it on vibrate to not disturb other cruisers).

 

Post cruise we stayed one night at the Intercontinental Resort because we would save $600 in airfare. This resort it absolutely beautiful. It is right along the beach. I would definitely stay there again. They have a swim up bar, but the drinks were VERY pricey. Let’s just say I could have had 3 foo foo drinks for the price of one of theirs. We walked across the street from the resort to do some shopping and was a bit uncomfortable when you have to push a buzzer to get into the small shops, but just stayed more alert after that.

 

Our flight home wasn’t as smooth. We had shopped too much and had to pay an extra $50 in luggage fees. (I did a lot of guilt shopping for our children). Our flight from Philadelpia to Buffalo was delayed 3 times. I was starting to get nervous because I was really missing the kids. I would have rather been stuck in San Juan. Eventually we made it home and are working on planning a family cruise for possibly December when our oldest will be home from college on break, depending on the price of airline tickets.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

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imlulu

imlulu

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Glad you had a wonderful cruise and anniversary!

 

Rand the magician was on the Victory a couple of days before you saw him. We also saw him in 06 on the Victory. I find that kind of surreal.:D

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lisarobin22

lisarobin22

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Awesome review! Our Destiny trip leaves on 7/27. We are doing the same river tubing with Antours in Dominica...my boyfriend is so excited about it, but I am really scared. Did the tour guides help you out of the water when you fell in?

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panurse

panurse

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The guys were there before I realized I had been dumped. I never felt like I was at risk. We wore helmets and life jackets. The guys were there to help all the time. I would do it a thousand times.

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Purdue

Purdue

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Thanks for your review, loved hearing about your many adventures as we leave on Destiny on Sun. 8/17-24....we have never been on a cruise before so this all sounds so much fun...am re-thinking my formal attire. We are also going tubing in dominica=can't wait! Jill

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