Carnival Destiny--Shore Excursion Quotas?

[E. Lee DeGolyer 3rd]

I am going to embark on the Carnival Destiny at Aruba instead of San Juan on the 14th. I'm going to be taking at least a couple of Carnival shore excursions. Does anyone know if there's a quota system for the more-popular or rapidly-filled shore excursions--so many spaces for folks who board at Aruba, so many spaces for folks who board at San Juan, so many spaces for folks who board at Barbados? Or is it first come, first serve?

 

Since I'm hoping to dive at St. Thomas and Dominica, I am understandably concerned that I'll either miss out on diving at one site or the other by a thundering herd that boarded at Barbados, or that I'll be put on a waiting list to await the pleasure of folks who board at San Juan.

 

If anyone knows the answer, please port to the board.

 

Thanks!

 

PS Yes, I am ruthless enough to register for my St. Thomas and Dominica island dive excursions on-line if possible or at the first available opportunity.

[dtchem1]

All of the excursions are first come first served, and you can not register on-line, so I think you may be SOL. There are lots of dive centers in St Thomas. Check out http://www.sawyerdive@islands.vi or http://www.blueislanddivers.com

[pungo3]

That's a very good question and I don't know the answer. I'm replying so your request will stay near the top of the page. I can tell you I was on the Destiny a few weeks ago. DH & I waited until the last minute to decide what excursions we wanted to take (usually the night before) and there was still space available. I don't know if they had held space for those who boarded at non-San Juan ports or not. If you are lucky, Carnival will have their new system working where you can book excursions on line. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. If not, I hope someone knows the answer to this question.:)

[derf5585]

Here is what happened to me. We came aboard and were filling out the excursion form on the cabin TV. One tour we wanted was not listed and we figured it was sold out. I went to the shore desk and they said there was a problem with the computer and it wasn't sold out after all.

[Nautical but Nice]

I was just on the Destiny a couple weeks ago with Pungo3 - Hi Kay! From what I have always experienced, excursions were sold on a first come first serve basis. So, I think you should be OK booking your excursions, since you are boarding in Aruba on Friday. The vast majority of the Destiny's passengers board the ship on Sunday in San Juan. So, in your case, you will be boarding at the end of the cruise for those who boarded the Sunday prior, and you will have a 2 day jump on those boarding the Sunday after you. Most of the Sunday folks will be booking their excursions for STT on Sunday night, since it is the first port of call on Monday. Tuesday is Dominica, so I would imagine most would be booking Dominica at the same time as STT. As long as you book before Sunday, you should pretty much have a guaranteed spot.

 

Christine

[steveaaaa]

Don't worry about missing out.The number of divers is very little on a ship. I did this cruise this past August and we dove quite an bit. We even dove when we got off our plane in San Juan. We did a nice critter dive in San Juan,In St Thomas we dove at Coki beach and it was real cheap as we have our own gear.I think we paid $6 for tanks.In Dominica, call Souffier (sp) divers or email them and by pass the ships tour (cheaper too).They are the tour provider for CCL but they will book privately,yet you ride the same bus as the ships excursion.We night dived in Barbados on a wreck.

Steve