Destiny 11/22 western caribbean review

[valancy1]

Some last bits...

 

The last sea day I wanted to play this one particular penny slot. I'd played it the day before and won $20. Someone was playing it (drat) so I sat down next to this person.

 

I was playing and all of a sudden it started going off. I played 5 per line rather than the maximum 10 (so I would have longer play time) and the thing stopped on this incredible sequence... 7, DOUBLE, 7, DOUBLE, and the last one was ALMOST on the last 7 (I know, I know, "close" only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades!).

 

I won $45!!! It would have been $90 had I played the 10 per line thingy. And if that 7 had flipped, I would have won a HUGE prize--I think $450. Seeing as I've never won in a slot machine before (usually play just for fun), I was thrilled with the $45. <G> So we came home ahead from where we started which is a good thing.

 

Now some more pictures...

 

We can't forget our Towel friends, now, can we??

 

 

 

 

 

[valancy1]

Here are some more of the "little details" of the ship (I enjoy looking at this minutae; you may not. Sorry if you don't!)

 

 

 

 

I'd be interested if you can find these and say where they are on the ship...

 

 

 

 

[valancy1]

 

Our beloved Old Glory... all flags on this trip were so pretty--the wind kept 'em flappin'! LOL

 

 

Sunset on our last sea day...

 

 

After we got back to Miami, let me tell you that debarkation was the fastest we'd ever seen or heard of!

 

They told us in the debarkation talk (yes, we go!) that we should NOT wait in the Lido dining room with luggage and all that stuff clogging up the works, but we sure saw it. They said they would begin the debarkation process at 7:30 and they weren't kidding.

 

They were on Zone 14 by 8:15! We were in Miami Beach getting our rental car by 9:00 a.m. having had breakfast and everything. When we got to the customs area after getting off the ship, there were NO LINES. The customs officers were waiting at the end of the queues, taking our customs slips, looking at it for a nano second and saying "Have a good day!". Boom, shakalaka we were outta there!

 

Here are some other noteworthy points (at least I would want to know if I had an upcoming cruise):

 

They did not offer the "Where Next" campaign on this sailing (this is where you buy the $100 off coupon and get up to a $200 OBC and $100 off your next cruise in the next 5 years).

 

The lines were LONG for the sushi bar if you like that sort of thing. <shudder>

 

The piano bar was not as packed as what Falkcor experienced on his earlier sailing. The guy doing the piano bar (Apollo Bar) was Vincent. He had people interracting with him and such, but I think in my experience Lorraine on Liberty had more action going than Vincent did.

 

The decor is sort of like 2001: A Space Odyssey. We liked it. I appreciate each theme for the theme it is. It's something to explore and enjoy.

 

There is lots of seating on the Promenade to sit back and watch either the water or people. They have seating facing the windows and away from the windows.

 

The ship was CLEAN. It did NOT smell in my very humble opinion. EVER. Nothing was leaking and it was NOT the bucket of bolts some have made it out to be. When the storms finished, it was the exact same ride as we had on Liberty in September.

 

There are oodles of opportunities to get your photographs done. If this is important to you, I will tell you the photographers were doing some really fun things with people willing to try. They had one family lay on the floor, kids all around dad like they were watching tv (sorta) and then the wife got on the dad's back. It was playful and casual and really fun. Another one had two girlfriends (they were teens) lay on the floor (there were mats on the floor) and they were doing some sort of fun pose. We missed formal night and nothing else we brought was really appropriate for photos, but the photographers were doing more than the "stand here and smile" type of thing.

 

They had tea on sea days.

 

Bingo cards are good for the entire session you're playing. So if you play 7-game bingo, you don't have to buy a different card for each of the 7 games.

 

They had a $1199 bingo jackpot. They also had bingo for a free cruise.

 

They gave away a cruise for the comment cards (or maybe it was that that person was a semi-finalist... now I don't remember this exactly).

 

They didn't have "Carnival Legends" as one of the entertainment nights, but rather they had Showcase of Stars where people got up and sang a song (not pretended to be a particular performer). There was a woman there named "Bobbi" who brought down the house when she sang Wind Beneath My Wings. Turns out she's a music teacher, but she definitely knew how to color a song. Another girl, Mariah, sang Your Song and she sounded like Tori Amos or one of those types. And she was only 16!!

 

The Spa was up and running and offering really good specials.

 

They did hold, but didn't promote very well the "Walk for the Cure". For those that don't know, WFTC is a casual, non-competitive 1-mile walk benefitting the Susan G. Koman Foundation for breast cancer research. You donate $10 and get a pink bracelet (think LIVE STRONG (yellow)) and a t-shirt and get to walk on the track on the last sea day. It was being promoted all the time on Liberty; on this ship, not so much.

 

While there were exponentially more children on the ship than on our September cruise, they were, for the most part, not obnoxious. We didn't experience running up and down the halls and such, although, I did see someone in line ahead of me in the Lido deck get approached by a fellow companion with personal "stuff" in her arms and she said she took it from some kids that were coming out of her room! So make sure your stateroom door is shut well. We had to pull ours shut; it didn't do it on its own.

 

The typical stuff was there--kids in the adult whirlpools (CARNIVAL SHOULD ENFORCE THIS RULE OR NOT HAVE IT), chair hogs around the pool areas on the nice days (one stupid sandal on a chair, one hairbrush, stupid stuff like that)--again, another rule Carnival should enforce.

 

The lines on Lido were LONG! We didn't have that experience on Liberty. Don't know if it was just the time of year, the times of day we tried to eat on this trip or what, but the lines were incredible. When we chose to eat in the dining room for lunch we were seated immediately.

 

On the Grand Cayman night, they had a bathrobe deck party. Dress up in your bathrobe after 9:30 and go have fun until late o'clock. They had a Mexican late-night buffet that night as well. We saw the bathrobes way before 9:30 and one whole side of the piano bar was filled with bathrobe-clad folks before going on up to the party.

 

I think that's it. I enjoyed our cruise and if, once again, the itinerary and price worked out that we sailed Destiny again, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment.

 

If I didn't cover something specific, let me know here and I'll answer the questions. I still have all my capers as well so I can answer that sort of thing, too.

 

For those of you with upcoming cruises on Destiny, I think you'll have a wonderful time!

[valancy1]

Thanks for the review' date=' Debra. We leave 1/31 and looks like we are going to have a BLAST! Of course, I can't dance, but will have to try to learn the slide & shuffle before then. My son got married in Oct, and they did both of them during the reception, but as I am a clutz and had on long gown & heals, I didn't even try!

 

Sorry about your sea-sickness. That is a big 'ole bummer! I'll be sure to pack the dramamine![/quote']

 

Girlsonly,

 

I'm a total klutz, too, but it was so fun. Sailaway is one of my favorite parts of the cruise. EVERYONE is happy to be there and my experience has been that no matter who you are, you're all friends that day. They'll teach you. Just watch the person's feet in front of you... LOL.

[Jimmylisa]

Girlsonly,

 

I'm a total klutz, too, but it was so fun. Sailaway is one of my favorite parts of the cruise. EVERYONE is happy to be there and my experience has been that no matter who you are, you're all friends that day. They'll teach you. Just watch the person's feet in front of you... LOL.

 

Thanks Debra for the great review on your trip. I have on cruise booked for the Bahamas for Sept 2009, I am looking to book this same cruise with my sister for April 2010 thru her book club. You have really excited me about this one, looking forward to seening more. Lisa:D

[nealthedeal]

I have seen so many bad reviews about this ship I have always avoided her! So you are saying she is FINE! :)

[valancy1]

Thanks Debra for the great review on your trip. I have on cruise booked for the Bahamas for Sept 2009, I am looking to book this same cruise with my sister for April 2010 thru her book club. You have really excited me about this one, looking forward to seening more. Lisa:D

 

Lisa,

 

My husband is a born-and-bred Hoosier!

[valancy1]

I have seen so many bad reviews about this ship I have always avoided her! So you are saying she is FINE! :)

 

I showed my pictures so people could see it is NOT bad at all. I think, to be fair, that the dry dock Destiny went through recently might have improved things; however, we had NO problems (other than weather and that is not the ship's fault nor that of Carnival).

 

I would sail her again if the itinerary was what we were looking for without hesitation.

[veryhotred]

Veryhotred,

 

Keep watching... I have a few more pics to post and such. I even was downing ginger tablets and they didn't work. I got some meds from the purser's desk (they did not deliver them via room service--my husband was the room service! LOL) and I am very sensitive to meds so I was thankfully "out" for quite some time. People had those patches behind their ears (don't know where they get those) and way after the fact, I remembered reading about those wristbands that work on pressure points (again, don't know where to get them).

 

I hope you don't have the winds and I know you're going to enjoy your cruise. Some of the ladies that helped me dance at the beginning of the cruise--well, we saw them in the elevator at debarkation and this was their first Carnival cruise and they said they had a blast and would absolutely cruise it again--even with the weather as it was. They loved it.

 

After the seasick part, I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. I hope you'll come back and post a review after you've sailed her. :)

 

When I took a RC cruise they sold the wrist band things in one of the shops onboard...I always ask the front desk for their meds and they seem to work well with me and didn't make me so sleepy like Dramamine. I think it was Bonine that I took. Now that I know the first few days or so can be bad I think I will take Bonine right away, JUST in case :) Thank you soo much for the great info, pics, etc...

 

 

Our beloved Old Glory... all flags on this trip were so pretty--the wind kept 'em flappin'! LOL

 

 

Sunset on our last sea day...

 

 

After we got back to Miami, let me tell you that debarkation was the fastest we'd ever seen or heard of!

 

They told us in the debarkation talk (yes, we go!) that we should NOT wait in the Lido dining room with luggage and all that stuff clogging up the works, but we sure saw it. They said they would begin the debarkation process at 7:30 and they weren't kidding.

 

They were on Zone 14 by 8:15! We were in Miami Beach getting our rental car by 9:00 a.m. having had breakfast and everything. When we got to the customs area after getting off the ship, there were NO LINES. The customs officers were waiting at the end of the queues, taking our customs slips, looking at it for a nano second and saying "Have a good day!". Boom, shakalaka we were outta there!

 

Here are some other noteworthy points (at least I would want to know if I had an upcoming cruise):

 

They did not offer the "Where Next" campaign on this sailing (this is where you buy the $100 off coupon and get up to a $200 OBC and $100 off your next cruise in the next 5 years).

 

The lines were LONG for the sushi bar if you like that sort of thing. <shudder>

 

The piano bar was not as packed as what Falkcor experienced on his earlier sailing. The guy doing the piano bar (Apollo Bar) was Vincent. He had people interracting with him and such, but I think in my experience Lorraine on Liberty had more action going than Vincent did.

 

The decor is sort of like 2001: A Space Odyssey. We liked it. I appreciate each theme for the theme it is. It's something to explore and enjoy.

 

There is lots of seating on the Promenade to sit back and watch either the water or people. They have seating facing the windows and away from the windows.

 

The ship was CLEAN. It did NOT smell in my very humble opinion. EVER. Nothing was leaking and it was NOT the bucket of bolts some have made it out to be. When the storms finished, it was the exact same ride as we had on Liberty in September.

 

There are oodles of opportunities to get your photographs done. If this is important to you, I will tell you the photographers were doing some really fun things with people willing to try. They had one family lay on the floor, kids all around dad like they were watching tv (sorta) and then the wife got on the dad's back. It was playful and casual and really fun. Another one had two girlfriends (they were teens) lay on the floor (there were mats on the floor) and they were doing some sort of fun pose. We missed formal night and nothing else we brought was really appropriate for photos, but the photographers were doing more than the "stand here and smile" type of thing.

 

They had tea on sea days.

 

Bingo cards are good for the entire session you're playing. So if you play 7-game bingo, you don't have to buy a different card for each of the 7 games.

 

They had a $1199 bingo jackpot. They also had bingo for a free cruise.

 

They gave away a cruise for the comment cards (or maybe it was that that person was a semi-finalist... now I don't remember this exactly).

 

They didn't have "Carnival Legends" as one of the entertainment nights, but rather they had Showcase of Stars where people got up and sang a song (not pretended to be a particular performer). There was a woman there named "Bobbi" who brought down the house when she sang Wind Beneath My Wings. Turns out she's a music teacher, but she definitely knew how to color a song. Another girl, Mariah, sang Your Song and she sounded like Tori Amos or one of those types. And she was only 16!!

 

The Spa was up and running and offering really good specials.

 

They did hold, but didn't promote very well the "Walk for the Cure". For those that don't know, WFTC is a casual, non-competitive 1-mile walk benefitting the Susan G. Koman Foundation for breast cancer research. You donate $10 and get a pink bracelet (think LIVE STRONG (yellow)) and a t-shirt and get to walk on the track on the last sea day. It was being promoted all the time on Liberty; on this ship, not so much.

 

While there were exponentially more children on the ship than on our September cruise, they were, for the most part, not obnoxious. We didn't experience running up and down the halls and such, although, I did see someone in line ahead of me in the Lido deck get approached by a fellow companion with personal "stuff" in her arms and she said she took it from some kids that were coming out of her room! So make sure your stateroom door is shut well. We had to pull ours shut; it didn't do it on its own.

 

The typical stuff was there--kids in the adult whirlpools (CARNIVAL SHOULD ENFORCE THIS RULE OR NOT HAVE IT), chair hogs around the pool areas on the nice days (one stupid sandal on a chair, one hairbrush, stupid stuff like that)--again, another rule Carnival should enforce.

 

The lines on Lido were LONG! We didn't have that experience on Liberty. Don't know if it was just the time of year, the times of day we tried to eat on this trip or what, but the lines were incredible. When we chose to eat in the dining room for lunch we were seated immediately.

 

On the Grand Cayman night, they had a bathrobe deck party. Dress up in your bathrobe after 9:30 and go have fun until late o'clock. They had a Mexican late-night buffet that night as well. We saw the bathrobes way before 9:30 and one whole side of the piano bar was filled with bathrobe-clad folks before going on up to the party.

 

I think that's it. I enjoyed our cruise and if, once again, the itinerary and price worked out that we sailed Destiny again, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment.

 

If I didn't cover something specific, let me know here and I'll answer the questions. I still have all my capers as well so I can answer that sort of thing, too.

 

For those of you with upcoming cruises on Destiny, I think you'll have a wonderful time!

 

I sure hope we have a great time!!! I know we are looking forward to it and your review has me more excited. :rolleyes: The only thing is that we are staying on the spa deck and with the rockin' rollin you did, oh boy, if we do that, we sure are going to feel it up there!!!

[RAVI360]

Great review.....awwww man now i can't wait for my cruise in july

[tw67]

Thank you so much for posting! We go next Saturday, and are getting excited! It was nice to see a happy review!! I loved the pictures of the ship!

 

I am so sorry you had bad weather! But you are right, I would rather have 60 degree weather than the 30's we had here last week!!

 

Thanks again!

 

Terry

[valancy1]

I sure hope we have a great time!!! I know we are looking forward to it and your review has me more excited. :rolleyes: The only thing is that we are staying on the spa deck and with the rockin' rollin you did, oh boy, if we do that, we sure are going to feel it up there!!!

 

To me, when I was so sick, I once (even in the rain) went up on the Lido to get away from the rockin' and rollin' down below. Most people said they do better LOWER during a rough sea than above; for me, it was opposite.

 

The Spa deck is nice and private; you're going to LOVE IT.

 

Just do everything you can without feeling like you need a vacation when you're finished!

 

HAVE FUN! I know you will. :)

[valancy1]

Great review.....awwww man now i can't wait for my cruise in july

 

Ravi,

 

We're neighbors--I live on the Eastern Shore!

[valancy1]

Thank you so much for posting! We go next Saturday, and are getting excited! It was nice to see a happy review!! I loved the pictures of the ship!

 

I am so sorry you had bad weather! But you are right, I would rather have 60 degree weather than the 30's we had here last week!!

 

Thanks again!

 

Terry

 

You're going to have so much fun, I know it. Play Bingo with Leslie (the Assistant CD)... it's so much fun with her!!

[tw67]

You're going to have so much fun, I know it. Play Bingo with Leslie (the Assistant CD)... it's so much fun with her!!

 

I love Bingo!! My Imagination cruise last year had Jorge as the CD, so I know what I am getting there!!

 

I just need to start packing !!!!

 

Terry

[KenMo]

Debra.....did you check out the website??? If so, what'd ya think???

[falkcor]

[quote name='valancy1']
The piano bar was not as packed as what Falkcor experienced on his earlier sailing. The guy doing the piano bar (Apollo Bar) was Vincent. He had people interracting with him and such, but I think in my experience Lorraine on [I]Liberty[/I] had more action going than Vincent did.
[/quote]

Welcome back! It's been fun following your review as you did mine - and kinda comparing perspectives. I kinda fell outta the groove there at the end but posted the last set of capers when I realized you were leaving... the next day!

I think Martin was the prime reason the piano bar was packed every night... Glad to see you had a great time, nonetheless! :cool:

Destiny's still a great fun ship.

[valancy1]

[quote name='KenMo']Debra.....did you check out the website??? If so, what'd ya think???[/quote]

Mona????

If you e-mailed me something I did not get it. I have nothing in my junk folder, either. :confused:

Can you resend??

Debra

[KenMo]

I'll try again. I'll send to both addresses this time.....sorry!!

[Joanna-N-KY]

I totally agree with Deb. I was scared from the reviews, but this was a great cruise! Great ship, great service, great food, fun, fun, fun! Carnival can't control the weather. I was sad to miss Jamaica, I am one who loves this port, but I am thankful that Carnival was more concerned about our safety! I can't think of much else to add to Deb's review, except, we used Captain Marvin's in the Caymans and it was a great experience! The ladies in reservatinos were great help.. can't say enough good things about them! Don't hesitate to sail on Destiny!
We left 11 degrees in Ky and returned to about 45.... I miss the sunshine, I miss my room steward, I miss the food, I miss my servers, I miss Jorge (sorry Deb, I LAUVED HIM), wish I were going again SOON! To all of you sailing in the near future...happy sails!

[veryhotred]

[quote name='valancy1']To me, when I was so sick, I once (even in the rain) went up on the Lido to get away from the rockin' and rollin' down below. Most people said they do better LOWER during a rough sea than above; for me, it was opposite.

[COLOR=Red]The Spa deck is nice and private; you're going to LOVE IT.
[/COLOR]
Just do everything you can without feeling like you need a vacation when you're finished!

HAVE FUN! I know you will. :)[/quote]

Oh yay!!! I am looking forward to that...I have never stayed on the Spa Deck...or had a balcony for that matter :p

[valancy1]

[quote name='Joanna-N-KY']I totally agree with Deb. I was scared from the reviews, but this was a great cruise! Great ship, great service, great food, fun, fun, fun! Carnival can't control the weather. I was sad to miss Jamaica, I am one who loves this port, but I am thankful that Carnival was more concerned about our safety! I can't think of much else to add to Deb's review, except, we used Captain Marvin's in the Caymans and it was a great experience! The ladies in reservatinos were great help.. can't say enough good things about them! Don't hesitate to sail on Destiny!
We left 11 degrees in Ky and returned to about 45.... I miss the sunshine, I miss my room steward, I miss the food, I miss my servers, I miss Jorge (sorry Deb, I LAUVED HIM), wish I were going again SOON! To all of you sailing in the near future...happy sails![/quote]

Joanna,

Re: Jorge... I have to say that when he was on stage he was truly and rip-roaringly FUNNY! I *loved* when someone was late and he would question as to why they were late and stuff. HE IS FUNNY!

All I'm saying is comparing him to Steve Knicely, he left all the grunt work to his asst CD whereas Steve did everything--gruntwork or not.

My cruise experience isn't based on the performance of the CD by any stretch, but I did want to mention it in my review because some might find it helpful. :)

He's a funny guy, no doubt!

[KenMo]

Debra....did you get it???

[valancy1]

[quote name='KenMo']Debra....did you get it???[/quote]

No... I sent you an e-mail today, did you get it? Try my "junk" e-mail: [EMAIL="valancy1@yahoo.com"]valancy1@yahoo.com[/EMAIL] (I don't give out my real e-mail on forums, but I think you have it...???)

Debra

[Vilya]

Thanks so much for this review! I'm going on my first-ever cruise on 1-3-09, on the Destiny, so any information I can get is welcome. I can't wait!! :)