Rich Bigg

Age: 58
Occupation: Engineer
Number of Cruises: 7
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Destiny
Sailing Date: August 1st, 2004
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean

This was our 7th cruise, on 5 different lines – including two on Carnival. This cruise will be our last on Carnival. There was no one issue that brought this about, just a lot of little things that all added up to a less than satisfactory experience.

First the good stuff: The itinerary was a good one. The islands were interesting and well worth visiting.

St. Thomas is St. Thomas – almost every Caribbean cruise stops there.

Dominica was wild. We took the Treetop Tram tour, which was amazing. A Boston company put a 1 mile gondola ride in the middle of the rain forest, without causing any noticeable destruction of the forest. They actually installed the 19 pylons by positioning them by helicopter. There was also a great nature walk, including a suspension bridge over a 300 foot gorge – shades of Indiana Jones! The guide was a local man who had to study for 6 months on the botany and biology of the rain forest. He rattled off those Latin plant names as if they were the names of his children!

Barbados has some great beaches. We took the Malibu Rum distillery tour and beach visit. The tour was interesting, but you cannot go into the distillery itself. The guide goes through the out buildings, then explains the details using a model of the still. To my mind, the highlight was a video showing some Malibu rum commercials. They were so funny they can’t be described. (Imagine a Navy Seal-like training camp for island fishermen, run by an old island fisherman with a most wonderful accent.) The distillery has its own beach, so after the tour we sat under a young coconut palm, and took a dip in the warm water.

Aruba is a beautiful island. I would seriously consider retiring there. The island and the people are prosperous. In some ways, it reminded me of Bermuda (another of my possible retirement islands). We took the butterfly farm and aloe factory tour, which was both entertaining and informative. We met our waitress leaving the ship, and she was walking over to a beach she knew of that was less than a mile from the ship.

Other good things: The spa and health club were very good. Both my wife and I used the facilities, and were very pleased.

The Vegas-style shows in the Palladium theatre were excellent. Very imaginative, and the cast was energetic, talented, and good looking, too.

The Jazz trio in the Onyx Bar were good, and if you pay attention to their playing and clap after a solo, they’ll ask you for requests and discuss the music with you as they play.

Our room steward, Greg, was excellent. Our dining room waiters were personable and tried hard, but were inconsistent in service. On our first night in the dining room, they forgot our coffee, and they finally told us to leave so the second sitting could come in. After that, some nights coffee came before dessert, sometimes long after.

Now for the Not-So-Good. As I said, there was nothing specific to put your finger on, just a lot of annoyances – kind of like being pecked to death by parakeets.

The elevators were constantly failing. We were trapped in one for a while. There was an older couple also in the elevator who were so upset they were starting to hyperventilate. Even when they worked, the doors opened and closed very slowly, with a lot of metal scraping sounds. My wife has a bad back, so we had to use the elevators, but I never used them when I was alone.

The air conditioning was spotty. Two nights, the lido dining room was like an oven. The AC in the stateroom halls and elevator areas were on and off. The stateroom AC was OK, however.

The ship photographers were all over the place, blocking stairways, setting up in narrow corridors, and generally making it difficult to travel on the public decks.

At our first night at dinner, our waiter said to let him know if we were having an anniversary or birthday or any special occasion, and he would bring us a small cake. Then the second shoe dropped – only $7.99 for the small one, and $11.99 for the large one! I’ve never been on a cruise, or in a restaurant, where they charged for the cupcake and candle for your birthday.

At one meal I asked for both the lobster and the prime rib. Our waiter informed us that there was a new policy on that – I could get one meal, and after I finished that (he had to actually remove the plate) he would bring the second plate. Not exactly Surf and Turf.

The shore excursions were all marked up approximately 100%. The rain forest tour in Dominica cost $99. The same tour on the dock was $54. The Malibu rum tour cost $33 on ship. Do it yourself for $8 taxi and $10 admission.

Breakfast in the dining room was indifferent, at best. I went 0 for 3 in getting pineapple juice – once I got grapefruit juice (after my meal), once I got orange, and the third never showed up.

On Debarkation morning, three of the four coffee machines in the lido dining room were out of coffee. I told the officer in charge, and he didn’t even bother to reply.

Finally, the food was generally one step up from diner food. It was good, and it would keep you alive, but it was not great. There were a few highs (the tiger prawns and the beef were good) and lows (the fish was less than fresh, most of their dessert pastry was so-so). The food in the Lido restaurant was the same every day, except for an outside section that had a different nationality’s cuisine every day.

For a first time cruiser, with little to compare with, this would have been a good cruise. Compared with our cruises on Holland America Lines, Celebrity, or the Norwegian Dawn (our last cruise), it was definitely below par.

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