Darlene Martinez

Age: 42
Occupation: Accounting Manager
Number of Cruises: 5
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Holiday
Sailing Date: August 25th, 2001
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean

We traveled roundtrip from San Juan and visited St. Thomas, Tortola/Virgin Gorda, Dominica, Martinique, Barbados, and St. Kitts. There were 9 people in our party - 7 adults, one in her 60's, 5 in their 40's and one in his 30's. The 2 boys were 11 and 15.

First I'd like to discuss our experiences at the various ports and then discuss our ship experience. We boarded in San Juan on Saturday very early. Embarkation was not supposed to be started until 2:30, but they let us on the ship at 11:30. This was a very welcome surprise. It made us feel that we had a whole extra day. We unfortunately did not tour San Juan on the first or last day. This was probably a big mistake. The pier is located in Old San Juan with El Morro clearly visible from the ship.

Sunday in St. Thomas - we visited Magens Bay in the morning. A truly beautiful beach, waters are calm and as clean as could be. There couldn't have been more than 50 people there in the early morning hours. We wanted to shop in Charlotte Amalie in the afternoon, but learned after returning to the ship that the town closes at 1 PM on Sunday. All travelers should save beach time for the afternoon! We learned the hard way. There was no advance warning about this onboard the ship.

Monday we visited Tortola. We took the ferry from town (short walk) to visit the baths at Virgin Gorda. The rock formations are quite interesting to see and you can climb through a cave to a beautiful beach. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to see Tortola at all. It was a short day.

Tuesday in Dominica - we took a ship-sponsored tour to the Emerald Pool and Trafalgar Falls. Dominica is not an island known for beaches. It's one big tropical rain Forest, very lush and mountainous. I highly recommend visiting these sights. This island is a natural wonder. People were so friendly here.

Wed in Martinique - Maybe this could be a nice place, if the people weren't so nasty. We visited a beach where we were told that cruise passengers were not allowed to sit anywhere except on the sand in the sun. We couldn't even pay for shade. The people selling drinks were screaming at us. Some cruise passengers told us that rocks were thrown at them at the beach they visited. How charming!

Thursday in Barbados - This is the most beautiful island I've ever been to. Be sure to take an island tour and visit Gun Hill Station. There's an old man there that will tell you the history of his much-loved island. We will visit here again. One day is not enough.

Friday at St. Kitts - my husband and I wanted to spend most of the day on the ship. Too much touring for the week. We walked through the small town and did a little shopping. Other people in our party visited Turtle Beach, which they said was very nice. They heard there were green monkeys on the beach, but only saw the monkeys during the drive.

Summary - liked Barbados and Dominica the most.

And now for the Carnival Holiday. Last year we cruised on The Carnival Destiny, a very new, huge ship. It's difficult not to compare the 2, so I will do so. The Holiday is older and smaller. It's certainly not as beautiful, but I didn't mind the smaller size. There were too many people on the Destiny, crowds everywhere. On the Holiday, we always got a good seat at show time, even at the last minute. We always got on and off the Holiday quickly, no gridlock. Food on the Holiday was always good, all the time. Even buffet meals on the Lido deck were fantastic. Try the fresh pasta cooked in front of you at lunchtime in the Wharf. Pizza is great. The Destiny food was hit or miss. I was very pleased with the Holiday food. The cruise director on the Holiday, Josh, and all his staff were wonderful. Josh seems to genuinely love his job. In contrast, the Destiny's cruise director seemed to be just going through the motions. Very disorganized activities on the Destiny. Holiday's activities started on time. As far as kids programs go, the Holiday had very limited teen activities. Destiny was much more kid-friendly. Little kids on the Holiday looked real happy, especially when enjoying the pool slide. In summary, if you prefer a huge, beautiful ship with very good plumbing travel on the Destiny. If you want a more intimate feel with much better food and don't look too closely at the worn carpeting, choose the Holiday. We had a wonderful time, but don't expect to relax. It's really too many ports for 7 days. I would have liked 2 days at sea.  

Darlene

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