Carnival
Destiny
Southern Caribbean

Laura
Age: 28
Occupation: Engineer
Number of Cruises: 1
Date of Cruise: December 23rd, 2007



Went on the 2007 Christmas cruise with my husband’s family (6 people total).  It was our first cruise as well as the first time for his sister and husband, but the 5th or 6th for his parents. 

Getting on the ship:  Efficient and quick.  Like others mentioned, there was a duty free shop as you entered the boat and you can bring booze onto the boat from here if it fits in your carry on luggage.  We bought a couple small bottles of rum, but we did not have time to finish them. 

Room:  We got a balcony room on the 8th floor.  It was bigger than we expected and clean.  We were especially pleased with the balcony.  It was big enough to relax in the 2 chairs and small table.  Also we were next door to his sister and husband so we were able to take the partition down and we doubled the size of the balcony.  His parents were one floor up with a balcony, and the room was only slightly bigger.  My only complaint about the room was the AC was effective, but VERY loud. 

Ship:  Although the décor was kind of outdated, the ship was in good shape and clean.  There were 4 hot tubs, and 3 pools (one was an adult pool).  I thought the pools were very small, but maybe that is the norm for a cruise ship.  For so many passengers, the ship never seemed too crowed, except for certain times during our “fun” day at sea. 

Food:  The dinners were very good - almost too fancy for us.  By the end I just wanted a cheeseburger.  But there was several options each night and it was fun trying things you would not usually try.  The lunch buffet food was average buffet food.  Breakfast was OK, but the omelets you can get made were good.  In addition they had a New York Deli, and an Asian Food booth that were open in the afternoons.  They both had good food.  They also had a sushi bar each night.  I’m not a sushi expert, but I though it tasted good. 

Service:  Everyone was very friendly and went out of the way to please you.  Our rooms were cleaned twice a day, with mints and towel animals at night.  My only complaint is that there were WAY to many people around to take your picture.  You could not get off the ship, or go to dinner without being asked to have your picture taken. 

Entertainment:  We did not go to many shows and what we saw was just OK.  My husbands parents said they were not impressed with the quality of the shows.  Maybe we just got the “B” group b/c it was Christmas week.  There was a Casino onboard, which had a lot of slot machines, Roulette, blackjack, Craps and a couple other common table games.  They had 3 dollar and 5 dollar min bets. There were several small bars, throughout the bar. 

Ports:  We went to St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua.  I don’t do well in the sun and heat, so each day all I was interested in doing was going to a beach and go snorkeling.  The best snorkeling was at St. Thomas and Dominica.  The only excursions I went on was the champagne snorkeling tour at Dominica, and the Escape to magical Marigot Bay in St. Lucia.  The Dominica excursion was very good, clear waters and we saw a lot.  The St. Lucia excursion took us to a beautiful beach, but there was no snorkeling, and the swimming area was not very good.  Others in our group went on an ATV excursion in Dominica, horseback riding in St. Lucia, and Deep Sea Fishing in St. Lucia, they all seamed to enjoy them.

In general, I felt safe at all the ports, but I did feel extremely annoyed at each port because almost as soon as you step off the port, you are harassed by cab drivers to get them to go with you. 

Getting off the ship:  We booked a tour and were among the first people to leave the boat.  It seems like they had this process well organized and did it as efficiently as they could.  You had to be out of your room by 9am, so if you don’t have an early flight, and can do so, I recommend booking a tour.  We took the Bacardi tour.  The Distillery tour was horrible, you did not even get to go in the distillery, just a visitor’s center.  But it was still better than sitting on the boat. 
               











 

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