Destiny Tropical Transatlantic Review Part 3 - Entertainment

[Bella36]

Well, here goes with the final part of my review, on the fabulous entertainment and a few general observations on other aspects of the cruise.

 

The cruise director was Stephen Guy. He had been drafted in just for this first Caribbean cruise, as I understand he is one of Thomson's most experienced cruise directors. He told us how the Entertainment Team had been handpicked as "the best of the best" from the hundreds of entertainment crew who had applied, because nearly everyone working for Thomson had wanted to be part of Destiny's return to Caribbean shores after 7 years away. Therefore, as he said many times, he got the best entertainment team possible.

In my opinion, he was correct. I thought that the whole team was fabulous, and the standard of singing, dancing, scenery, costumes, plays and shows was top notch. It is said many times of cruise ship entertainment and not always accurately, that "it was as good as the West End" - but in this case I think it really WAS as good, if not better, than many West End shows I have seen.

Stephen Guy has now returned to the UK (I think he will be on Spirit soon) and the post of cruise director has been taken up by the equally talented "Keef" Maynard, who was acting as Assistant Cruise Director on the Tropical Transatlantic cruise.

Keef organised the very entertaining Transatlantic Trivia Challenge, a daily progressive quiz, held during the long 6 day Atlantic crossing. I really enjoyed this time, and Keef made it funny, as well as intellectually challenging. He was also excellent in the play, a six handed farce, which all the passengers seemed to enjoy very much. It must have been very hard work for the cast to remember all their lines, as well as doing the excellent nightly shows. They also did a very good "Murder Mystery", held at midnight and with lots of audience participation involved.:eek: Very enjoyable, and different from the norm.

The big production shows, held in the Can Can Lounge, were quite simply breathtaking. The ones with the amazing Can Can routine, the Andrew Lloyd Webber show, and Lots of Latino stood out for me and we also enjoyed the other assistant cruise directors Gavin Murray's own singing show. He has a marvellous voice. I must compliment all the Entertainment Team, as they each have their own strengths and talent and there wasn't a "dud" amongst them! They were all exceptionally good.

 

Now for the headline entertainment and guest lecturers, some of whom were nowhere near as good as Destiny's own Entertainment Team.

 

Ernie Walker gave several talks on folk dancing, old British folklore etc, which were well attended. I sat through 20 mins of one talk on Morris Dancing and was very bored - but it is not my kind of thing at all, so I shouldn't really judge him.

 

Maggie Stredder "the girl with the glasses" (who?) gave talks on her long time in showbusiness, working with the likes of Benny Hill, Cliff Richard, Des O'Connor etc. My mum quite enjoyed these talks, as they were patently for her generation, but I am afraid that I did not! Thomson, please note that some of your cruisers are younger than others! We would appreciate some talks on events/themes after circa 1960!!!

 

There was also a comedian who did two shows, but I am afraid I have forgotten his name. This is because he was less than memorable! His jokes were very old and predictable and mainly relied on him being from Yorkshire! I was not alone in my view on him - most people I spoke to said they had seen much better comedy acts on other Thomson ships.

 

Maurice Grumbleweed - I was thinking "Oh my God - not a Grumbleweed please!" when he was advertised, but actually he was very good! It isn't my style of comedy, but his jokes were funny and he is a talented man. The audience loved him, and there wasn't a seat to be had for his second "adult" set, which was actually very mild in content, but nonetheless very funny.

 

Other acts:-

Dan Darling and his Lovely Chaps. A "jazz" band, and they were OK but not outstanding.

 

Sunrise Trio. Very pleasant easy listening/light classics, with a good female vocalist. Usually playing in The Clipper Bar at night.

 

Top Men Band. OK for a while, but got boring after an hour.

 

Bill in Blake's Bar. Pleasant pianist very suitable for the "quiet bar" onboard.

 

DJ/Karaoke in Oklahoma Bar - we never went, but others said they had a great time.

 

There were also daily quizzes, bingo, ice carving and salsa dancing lessons. The deck parties were a bit noisy and crowded for us, so we only stayed for a short time, but most people seemed to be having a lot of fun. There was a steel drummer one night, which gave a Caribbean flavour to the deck party.

 

 

One of the highlights of the cruise entertainment was the show put on for us by the very talented waiters/bar stewards. They were all excellent, but especially "Elvis Parsley", Danny and Anderson. They received a standing ovation at the end! Do not miss this show!

 

We also had a nice carol service at midnight, but I suspect that this was to mollify the many people who were complaining that there were no Christmas decorations onboard. Most of felt that this was very miserly of Thomson, as it was so close to Christmas, and eventually they did put up a few tinsel garlands etc - but it was all rather disappointing really.:( I hope that they did put up more decorations for the new people arriving for the cruise on 21st Dec.

 

During the cruise we had 2 "formal nights", the Captain's Cocktail Party and the Venetian Masquerade. I was looking forward to these evenings, as I do like to wear my "posh frocks"!

As I have only ever cruised with P&O before, and their formals are indeed very formal - I was not sure what to expect of a Thomson "formal night".

I would say there were about 30% wearing DJ's and formal dresses, about 50% wearing ordinary suit/tie and smart dresses and the other 20% were in open necked shirts and skirts/trousers with maybe a bit of glitter for the ladies! A lot of people had clearly made an effort to dress up, but also there were quite a few who had made no effort at all. We did see some wearing shorts and T shirts! No doubt they will say that it is their holiday, so they can wear what they want, but I think that dressing up is all part of what makes a cruise a "special holiday" and speaking personally, we really enjoy it. I am not one of those people who winge about it though, and it certainly wouldn't spoil my cruise - I just know that we look better than they do! Indeed, our lovely and charming Captain Psarrakis told me that one of my dresses was "beautiful, like seafoam". It was a beaded seagreen/turquoise floaty dress.:D I bet he tells all the ladies something nice about their appearance, as he is a real charmer!

For the Venetian Masquerade, there had been classes throughout the previous few days to make your mask. There were some absolutely stunning bejewelled and feathered masks made by several ladies and on the Venetian Masquerade night there was a competition to find the best mask, which was judged by the Captain. A young lady sitting near us was the winner, her mask was a beautiful black and gold typical Venetian Carnival mask, which matched her black and gold dress. She looked amazing.

 

The shops generally have a very limited range of items for sale and are quite expensive. A small packet of Strepsils costs over £4! I believe there are some good buys on alcohol/cigarettes in the Duty Free shop though. A few people told me that the prices were better than in the Duty Free Shops on land.

 

The Library. A haven for me during that very long Atlantic crossing. It has quite a fair selection of books really and the passengers leave the books they have brought with them, once read, so the selection should get even better.

 

The Spa/Hairdressers. I didn't use this, but others told me it was expensive.

 

The Medical Centre. Fortunately, we didn't have to use this either, and anyway, as a doctor, I had a fully equipped first aid kit with me, but many other passengers were very complimentary about the excellent service provided by the Ships Doctor, saying that she gave them a more thorough physical examination than their own GP had time to do. Of course, it was expensive but they will be able to claim most of the fees back from their insurance anyway.

 

The Gym. Quite well equipped for a small ship, but it seemed mainly used by the Dancers! I never saw many passengers in there, just the same few regulars.

 

 

Well I hope these three reviews that I have written have been of some value to those going on a Destiny Caribbean cruise soon. Destiny does have some negatives in my view, mainly the small size of the ship, (as I said before, we are used to, and much prefer larger ships, but I know others like the small ship feel), the tired and dated decor of the small cabins and some public areas, and the food variety/quality, but she also has some tremendous positives, especially the simply outstanding staff/crew and entertainment team onboard and of course, the beautiful Caribbean islands you will be visiting. I really do hope all of you going on Destiny in the next few months in the Caribbean, enjoy your cruise and it will be lovely to read some of your reviews also!:)

 

If there are any specific questions, on points I have missed, please do not hesitate to ask, and I will do my best to help.

Happy Cruising!:D

[steelerannie]

Thanks for another well written, well informed review. We are going on the Destiny in January 2010. I hope Elvis will be onboard again. We've been on his table twice on the Spirit along with a waiter called Bert - who was also excellent.

 

Ann

[jenny wren]

Very good, comprehensive reviews thanks...the Destiny is the only Thomson ship we haven't tried.

 

We were lucky enough to have two weeks on the Calypso earlier this year with Stephen Guy for the first week and Keef Maynard for the second week as Cruise directors and they both did a wonderful job with the constraints of the small stage area and put on excellent shows and plays. We have also cruised Princess, P & O , and Costa and Thomson entertainment shows beat the lot!!!

[capasamari]

Steven Guy is actually staying on Destiny over Christmas/New Year to oversee the entertainment, but Keef Maynard has taken over as Cruise Director and the ship will be in safe hands with him and the rest of the outstanding team. My mum-in-law particularly liked Steven's cabaret show and he very kindly gave my husband an autographed copy of his CD for her (last one!).

 

We went one afternoon on a backstage tour of the show team's dressing rooms, props rooms and stage. They showed us all the costumes, they are beautifully made, some of them are very heavy, in particular the Moulin Rouge dresses. Likewise the girls' headdresses, how they balance these on their heads and dance on a rocking stage is amazing! The girls' boots and shoes are custom made, their red leather Moulin Rouge boots are beautifully soft and cost £400 a pair. The stage technician showed us how they do the scenery changes and showed us the different lighting effects, two of the waiters come up after dinner and help with the spotlights.

 

The other ship tour we went on was the Bridge tour conducted by Lisa (social and welfare hostess). This was very interesting and informative, seeing all the charts and maps and instruments. Lisa told us loads about the ships' safety features and the crews' safety training. Every single member of crew, whatever their job, has to be able to jump off the ship into the sea in an emergency and if they don't maintain their safety at sea qualification they can't work onboard.

 

The comedian whose name Bella forgot was Barry Cheese. Maurice Grumbleweed was very entertaining and funny.

 

I actually didn't mind the lack of Christmas decorations, I was in "beach holiday" mode and if anything it always seems strange to see Christmas trees and so on when the weather is so hot!

 

The dress code we felt was well adhered to. We also really like to dress up and before we went I was wondering if I was going to look like the fairy on the tree, but not at all; on the "casual" nights the majority of people had really gone to town and it gave the ship a glitzy air, and on "formal" nights there were plenty of people dressed up to the nines which always gives a buzzy atmosphere to the evening. After all the staff dress up and you are going for a fabulous meal and great entertainment so to my mind it is an appropriate way for the passengers to join in.

 

The ships' photographers took some wonderful pictures: an 8x10 print cost £14.95 but if you had 4 you only paid for 3, so effectively they cost £11.25 each. They also produce a DVD of the cruise which is £20 with an album of 30 photos. The DVD could be previewed on the in-cabin TV.

 

My mum and mum-in-law visited the hairdresser for formal night, a wash and blow dry was £25, and mini-manicure (to re-do nail varnish) was £12. They were pleased with the service, and their hair "lasted" several days.

 

Paul used the gym most days, using the treadmill and rowing machine and finishing off in the swimming pool. I prefer to do several laps of the prom deck as I like the fresh air.

 

We all really enjoyed the friendly, open-door atmosphere on Destiny. Staff were always ready to chat and it was good to see them in the disco and at the deck parties dancing with each other and the passengers.

 

We were always happy to see Georgi the DJ in the disco as he was our lifeboat leader (no. 4). If he was still on board we knew we were safe !!! Incidentally the lifeboat drill on the first sea day was the best we have ever attended: everyone had to put warm clothes on and their lifejackets, then assemble at their lifeboat station on Prom Deck. We all had to line up, tallest at the back so all could see, all names were checked and anyone missing was chased up. A comprehensive description of "when and how" regarding emergency procedures was explained, we were on deck a good half an hour and it really gave you the chance to think about it! Georgi had a very authoritative manner and inspired confidence. Seems a strange thing to say we enjoyed it, but we have been on other ships where you just sit indoors in a lounge, put your lifejacket on and no-one takes it seriously.

 

I hope those of you who are soon to join Destiny in the Caribbean have as good a time as we all did!

[GM0NJl]

Thanks again Bella and I see that the entertainers were up to if not better than Thomsons good record.

I am looking forward to my cruise on 15 March, back aboard a Thomson Ship, my last cruise was Trensatlantic with Ocean Village.

The bit I am looking forward to the most is the Carribean Islands, some of the best friendliest places in the world ( in my opinion).

 

Ron:)

[EH1]

Your reviews have been great have cetainly kept me amused while holed up in bed with flu ! :(Not sure I 'll be able to do as well in April but I'll try ! no doubt be back on contact with you when i can think of some questions when my fuzzy brain clears off for another lemsip no wonder they say us Scots can party been my ne'eday tipple for a week:D

cheers

[Bella36]

Thanks EH1, glad you enjoyed them.

Happy New Year to you anyway, and I hope you feel better soon!:)

[Swerve]

May I also add my thanks Bella for your very fair review, much better than I could have done !

I could imagine you sitting somewhere quiet writing your notes, headphones on listening to your favorite music and maybe even doing a bit of sketching :)

I can confirm that the Oceans Beauty and Spa was expensive but the luxury pedicure & foot spa and hairdresser was worth every penny my wife tells me :(

Hope you all have fantastic Caribbean cruises :D

[Bella36]

Why Swerve - how poetic you are! Especially for a "scarlets" supporter!:D

 

I am so sorry to destroy your illusions of me sitting quietly, writing my Destiny reviews while peacefully listening to opera (or perhaps a steel band??) - but I actually composed them during my short breaks, taken on three chaotic, busy "on call" days/nights at work, just grabbing a few minutes here and there, as I could! LOL! Now I think I need another cruise!:)

 

I am so glad you enjoyed the reviews, but we would all love to hear some of your thoughts on the cruise too, when you have a minute.

 

Oh, don't you wish you were back in that Caribbean sunshine though? It is just a bit chilly in Cardiff right now, isn't it?:eek:

 

Happy New Year to you and "Mrs Swerve".

[flemtagg]

Thankyou for all the information Bella you have been a great help, I have also loooked at yours and Kruisenseekers info on jabs ect and as i we also are up to date with the main jabs ,i wont worry about anything else will just enjoy the cruise ,once again many thanks to you and kruise you both have an abundance of information,