Destiny REVIEW 4/11/09 Western Caribbean

[mh15]

Here is a review for the Carnival Destiny Western Caribbean (Grand Cayman & Ocho Rios) sailing April 11, 2009.

We were a family of 4 – myself and husband-30 & 29, and our two boys – 6 & 9.

Embarkation – We drive to the port since we live in South Florida. With the exception of parking at the port the embarkation process was very smooth. We arrived at the port at about 11:30 and waited in line for about 45 minutes to park. The port had ONE open terminal to get into the parking lot (covering 4 ships). The parking charge is $20 per day and for this lot, it is paid when parking. Once we parked, we grabbed our luggage and were on the ship about 40 minutes later. By this time, the lines were long, but moved quickly.

Day 1 – Once we were on board, we grabbed two chairs by the pool and grabbed lunch from the grill. Each day the grill had burgers, hotdogs, chicken fingers, nachos, and fries. There were also other selections in the Lido restaurant. After we ate lunch, we lounged by the pool until the boat drill. It rained briefly, but we stayed out anyway. After the boat drill, we all showered and napped. We enjoy the later dinner time so that we can nap before dinner which allows us to stay up a bit later. We went to dinner in the dining room-food and service was exceptional! After dinner we dropped the kids off for the late night babysitting and went to the Welcome Aboard show @10:30. The show itself was OK, but the “preshow” with the cruise director and selected audience members was HILARIOUS!! After the show, we picked the kids up and took them for a late night food run on lido deck.

Day 2 – Fun Day at Sea – We started with breakfast in the dining room, which is much better than breakfast from the buffet! Then we headed up to lido deck. The ONLY way to get a chair on lido deck is to save one. I hate to say it, but it’s true. We didn’t save a chair on either of our Sea Days and were out by 9AM, and there were lots of chairs full of stuff (bags, shoes, towels), but no bodies. There were no empty chairs. Someone who saw me looking for a chair with the kiddos in tow, got up and said I could have theirs which is how we got a chair on the first Sea Day. We hung out here all day long. There was music and games near the pool we were at which made for a fun afternoon. The pool was full, mostly with the kids and the hot tubs were also full of kids. We stayed here until about 3:30, then headed for our room for our nap. After dinner in the dining room, we went to a comedy show (not the adult one), and enjoyed it. The comedian was Hank McGauley.

Day 3 – Grand Cayman – We booked a private excursion through Native Way. WAY cheaper than Carnival and MUCH better! The tendering process was so easy! No long lines at all and we got off not long after anchoring. Once we got off of the tender, we met out tour operator right off of the pier. For our tour, we boarded a boat for Sting Ray city, snorkeling, and then Rum Point Beach. It was a FANTASTIC day!! Grand Cayman is beautiful! We then tendered back to the boat about 30 minutes before the last tender and grabbed a chair out by the pool where we stayed until it was time for our nap! We had dinner in the dining room and then went to the juggler/comedy show. The juggler was GREAT and we wished we had brought the kids with us (they were at Camp) and the comedian was pretty good too. Just before the show began there was an underage “kid” who was completely wasted and heckling the cruise director. He didn’t get the fact that he should probably shut his mouth and security was called in to take him out. Everyone cheered when we was carted off.

Day 4 – Ocho Rios – CULTURAL EXPERIENCE! I had read plenty about Ocho Rios, so I was prepared about what to expect, but it was still an experience! The port in Ocho Rios is fenced in and they have security opening and closing the fence to allow only certain busses and taxis through. There were taxi drivers on the outside of the fence yelling for people to come out and use their services because “It’s cheaper on the outside!” No one that we saw left the fence to go with them, but they were VERY persistent. We had booked a private excursion to go to the Falls and White Water tubing. We had a GREAT day! The Falls were a little more “dangerous” then I had envisioned for my 6 year old. At one point he fell and my husband caught him. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt and wanted to continue the climb. The people in the Straw market were no more aggressive and maybe even less so than the ones in Nassau. After our excursion was over, our tour operator dropped us off at Margaritaville for shopping. We had a 5 minute walk back to the pier and my husband was offered “smokes” in that short walk! While you definitely don’t feel as safe in Jamaica as you do in Grand Cayman, it wasn’t as bad as I had envisioned. We got back on the boat and grabbed a few chairs near the pool, got lunch from the grill and hung out on lido deck until about 4:00. We again had dinner in the dining room and went to a show where 6 fellow cruisers were the “stars” for the night. It was an enjoyable show.

 

Day 5 – Fun Day at Sea – Again, we didn’t “save” chairs and couldn’t find one at 9:30 in the morning. I spoke with an officer and he basically told me he wouldn’t enforce the 30 minute rule that was posted in the Capers everyday. After complaining a little, he agreed to put two chairs out for me near the pool-which was surrounded by chairs again, full of stuff. So, problem was solved and we had chairs for the day! We hung out here all day and had lunch at the grill and the deli this time. The deli turkey wrap wasn’t bad. After dinner, we took the kids for some treats before we headed back to the room to get our luggage ready to put outside the door.

Debarkation – We did not do self assist. We’ve done it before, but with the kids it’s just too difficult. We had zone 29, so we were not called to get off the boat until a little after 9:00. Knowing this would be the case, we headed for breakfast in the dining room about 8:00 and took our time there. Then we waited on deck 5 to be called. Once we were off the ship, we had our luggage, went through customs (easiest EVER), and were in our car in less than 10 minutes!

A few other things......

Camp Carnival – We used this in the evenings. The counselor to kid ratio was VERY high. I am sure it is because it was Easter weekend. We always cruise during our school’s spring break, but there were way more kids on this cruise than any other we have taken. My kids enjoyed the activities and the counselors were friendly.

Gym – My husband and I used the gym. LOTS of treadmills, not so many weight machines or ellipticals. The equipment was all in great shape. Gym was very busy on Sea Day mornings and afternoons.

Dining Room – Food was GREAT!! Steak, prime rib, short ribs, chateaubriand, lasagna, warm chocolate melting cake, apple pie, and fruit plate was all wonderful!! We only ate the buffet for lunch because of convenience. The dining room food (including breakfast) is better than the buffet.

Kids – As I said earlier, we cruise each year during spring break. This was our first spring break at Easter weekend and there were unruly kids EVERYWHERE. The main concern was the 12-16 crowd who were out of control - Vulgar language, smoking, and just plain poor behavior with no parental supervision. This is the only time we have ever experienced this.

Room – We had an inside room on the Empress Deck. We like the location of our room, especially once we figured out how to get around the ship! The room setup was a bit odd – we had bunks for the kiddos, but the TV was below the bunks rather than wall mounted. The room had plenty of storage for all 4 of us, and the shower was a little bigger than our other Carnival cruises.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise!!

[beach410]

Thank you for your review. I hate the Miami port because of the parking situation. It took my DH about an hour to get back to the terminal after he dropped us off with the luggage by the time he found a parking spot and hiked it back, he didnt want to wait for the shuttle.

 

Do you have any pictures of the ship?

[paradise4me]

Thanks for the nice review. When you were talking about the pool were you talking about the slides? Did your kids use them?

[mh15]

I will check my pictures out to see if there are any worth posting (without kids in them!)

 

The end of the slide is near one of the 2 pools on lido kids are allowed to use. We did not sit near this one, we sat near the "lower" one. Lido deck is set up like stadium seating, so you climb a few stairs to get to the other pool. My kids did use the slide. It is quite a hike to get to the slide, so we went with them or made them stay together. At times the line was long, but my kids really enjoyed the slide. They didn't do it over and over, but rather several times in a day. I think this might have been because of the climb.

[mom2girls]

Thanks for the review! I cruised during Spring Break this year, and I must say there were more kids on the ship this cruise then any other cruise I've taken. And, I always cruise during school breaks since I am a teacher.