Jason Jobe

Age: 34
Occupation: Self Employed
Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Destiny
Sailing Date: May 30, 2004
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean

Itinerary: Carnival Destiny sailing RT from San Juan on a 7 day southern Caribbean cruise with stops in St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados and Aruba. I’m 34 and was traveling with a friend. It was my fourth cruise on Carnival and his second and it rained- a lot!

Embarkation: Pretty smooth. I was really impressed, as this was the easiest boarding I’ve had. I did do the fast pass online before hand. There was a bit of a wait to enter the terminal but once inside you could just walk up to the counter and then onto the ship. It took no more than twenty minutes. The fastpass was pretty new then and I really have to give Carnival a hand on this one because it seems to work- even in the pouring rain.

Cabin: I was a little disappointed in the cabin. Ok, scratch that- I was a lot disappointed in the cabin. I had booked a Cat. 11 suite and really expected it to be in better repair than it was. I had booked the same room on the Conquest and was very impressed with the quality- on the Destiny however I felt as though I were in a run down motel room in the part of town where you rent by the hour. We boarded at 5 p.m. and the room had been “cleaned” and remade. However, there were numerous burned out light bulbs (which were not changed till the end of the voyage), garbage in the trash can, and the bottom of the tub had some sort of black “stuff” in it that looked to have fallen off the wall, along with several of the tiles from the wall. There were great gaping holes in the tile work and the black “stuff” I’m sure was some manner of mold. It looked to have been an ongoing problem as there were far more holes in the wall then there were tiles in the tub. Beyond that the television worked only sporadically and then with a great deal of static. On the lesser side and honestly I would normally overlook this if it weren’t for the other things, the coffee table was broken and would no longer raise to dining height and the furniture was ripped and stained. Now, don’t get me wrong- this did not ruin my trip but I felt a little like a fool for booking what should have been some of the nicest accommodations on the ship and receiving what I did. I think the light bulbs were a perfect example- I mean why weren’t they replaced before we even boarded when the room was made up and failing that why did it take several days? This was a suite after all, what were the regular rooms like?

Dining: Food wise the dining was as good as I’ve had on other Carnival ships. I won’t waste time complaining about the buffet. I’ve always said- It’s a buffet! What do people expect? I think it was as good as any buffet and great for a quick lunch. Pizza was good and the room service was quite prompt. The food in the dining room was the same as on all Carnival ships and it met my expectations. However, I was very disappointed that I was seated with the 5:30pm (that’s normally 4:30pm my time) seating when I had requested 8:30pm. I repeated my request upon boarding but was refused a second time. That’s not really the worst of it though. I was seated at a table for ten people (which I did request and normally quite enjoy) and was the only one there (with the exception of my friend who did not eat in the dining room) that could speak English. No one else could speak even broken English and they looked as uncomfortable with my sitting there silently as I felt at being there. A time of day I normally look forward to instead became awkward. I can’t imagine, given that we were sailing out of Puerto Rico, why Carnival simply didn’t ask what language each passenger spoke and seat them accordingly. I’m sure my table mates would have prefered this as much as I. I spent every night sitting at a table for ten completely silent at 5:30 in the evening eating with eight other people who looked ill at ease talking when there should have been no reason for them to be. Now, I suppose I could have just eaten buffet all week but I see no reason why when I’m not terribly fond of it. It was just very disappointing and I would think easily fixable.

Entertainment: I enjoyed the production shows and casino as much as always. There are more than enough clubs with a wide variety of music as well. Carnival usually has very good evening entertainment and this was no exception. The performers around the ship were very enjoyable. During the day there was not much to do. I have never really noticed this before as I usually lounge around the pool and read and drink and eat and drink and nap and drink and drink- Well, you get the picture. The weather on this trip was extremely rainy however so that was out. In the absence of that I was surprised that inside basically you had only the casino and the art auction (I swore off the art auction long before- what a joke). I did spend a lot of time at the black jack table but I wondered what people who weren’t inclined to gamble did. As I said, before this cruise its never been something I’ve thought about as I’ve always been happy just lying around in the sun and of course I don’t blame Carnival for the weather. I do wonder though why there’s not much of a back up plan for daytime activities and if that’s what people talk about when they claim to have been bored on their cruise. You would think that would be something the company would look into but… well, at least they hadn’t by this cruise.

Staff: The staff was fairly friendly. I think I’ve had better but there was nothing overly bad- the staff on the Conquest was exceptional however. One thing that was a thorn in my side was the room attendant’s insistence that I leave the room to make it up. I’m a rather late riser on vacation- especially during bad weather when there’s no reason to get up and my roommate mostly wanted to spend time in the room as he just wanted to sit out on the balcony and watch the rain and read. Well, needless to say the room didn’t get made up on a couple of days because we hadn’t vacated by the time the attendant got off work. Now let me make it clear that I don’t expect them to work twenty four hours a day. However when it’s pouring rain outside and there’s nothing to do around the ship where am I supposed to go so he can make up the room? I even told him several times that it would be fine for him to come in, perform his duties and then leave but to no avail. His reply was that I would have to leave and if I hadn’t vacated within thirty minutes or an hour or whatever the deadline was that day he was going off duty I would have to wait until the evening- assuming of course I planned on leaving the room to eat dinner otherwise it wouldn’t be done at all. Frankly I was a little put off by that attitude. Now, surprisingly, even this didn’t ruin my vacation. I still had a good time but I just kept thinking that I had a suite and was living with the same unmade bed and dirty dishes on the coffee table that I could have had at home.

Ports of Call: Great! Loved them all, even in the pouring rain I loved them. The locals were all friendly and I just had a great time. There’s a wonderful restaurant in St. Thomas and another in Barbados (Crane Beach) that I would visit the islands again just to eat at. All the ports were easily walked which was good as I was not in the mood for tours on this trip. As I mentioned above- I wanted to get up late and take everything leisurely. I didn’t want the pressure of meeting tour groups (I have taken tours on other cruises though and they were all good). Dominica was the poorest of the four islands of course but I didn’t feel unsafe or anything. There was little to do around the city however- I mention this because I think you should take a tour at this island. I believe the interior was very beautiful. It appeared so from the ship but I think it would be hard to explore without taking a tour. I didn’t see any rental cars nearby and I’m not sure the roads would be in the best condition. By the way, if you can plan on spending an extra day in Old San Juan. I was very impressed by the city and the people! It really felt like I was in Europe and the people everywhere were universally friendly! I stayed at the Wyndham across the street from the ship and loved it- even in the rain. There were great restaurants and shopping all around. Eat at the restaurant in the mall attached to the hotel- they have a plantain dish that’s fantastic and be sure and get it spicy!

Disembarkation: It was standard. I know what to expect so I’m not one of the people standing around the rim of the atrium looking at my watch. Customs is a hassle but that’s just the way it is and it’s not that big a deal. I wasn’t in a rush as I was flying out the next day and so was able to just lounge around the buffet area eating breakfast, drinking coffee and relaxing instead of panicking about my flight.

Overview: I had a good time even considering the problems listed above. However the issues presented here are something I still think about. I’m planning another cruise for February and I’m afraid I’m going to have to look elsewhere than Carnival. Not because I didn’t have a good time but because I think it could have been a great deal better with a little effort from Carnival- especially in regard to the room and dining situation. Currently I’m looking at Princess due to their personal choice dining options and positive reviews from past guests. Of course Princess is owned by Carnival and people are concerned about Carnival rubbing off on it but I’ll risk it. Even in the rain.

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