**Join Our New CC Group Cruise**Southern Caribbean**Carnival Destiny 6/18/06**

Have you always wanted to cruise the Southern Caribbean, including the beautiful island of Aruba? Have you always wanted to sail with one of the cruise critic groups, but can’t cruise during the school year? Have you been frustrated because you need to sail on a ship that will allow 5 people in a stateroom? Have you already sailed the Southern itinerary and fell in love with it (as I did) and can’t wait to sail it again? Well I just might have the perfect cruise for you!!!

Join us as we Discover our Destiny onboard the Carnival Destiny on June 18, 2006. This group is open to singles, couples, families, and people of all ages. Our group pricing is great, especially for a cruise that is at the beginning of the summer cruising season. Plus you can put down an initial deposit of just $25 per person (double guaranteed bookings only – triples, quads, singles and suites require full deposit), but you must act soon - the $25 deposit offer is only available until June 10th!

If you've never tried cruising with a group, group cruising adds a whole new dimension to an already fantastic vacation! It's like cruising with a whole bunch of FRIENDS! Join the group for fun and laughter or relax on your own but still enjoy the benefit of great pricing and amenities that come with booking with a group! Your level of involvement with the group is completely up to you – can do to as much or as little with the group as you’d like.

The Destiny is scheduled to be refurbished in September, so she should be in great shape for our cruise. And you have plenty of time to watch for an airfare deal to San Juan.

So why wait? This is the perfect family vacation, with fantastic pricing and one of the best itineraries out there.

Here is the itinerary:

Sunday: Depart from San Juan 10:00pm

Monday: St. Thomas 7:00am - 5:00pm

Tuesday: Dominica 9:00am - 6:00pm

Wednesday: Barbados 7:00am - 10:00pm

Thursday: Fun Day at Sea

Friday: Aruba 8:00am - 11:00pm

Saturday: Fun Day at Sea

Sunday: Return to San Juan 7:00am

Here is the great pricing that Cruise Critic got for this group:

Group pricing:

Inside (Cat 4A): $ 835 pp

Oceanview (cat 6A): $ 959 pp

Balcony (Cat 8A): $ 1085 pp

Mini Suite (cat 11): $ 1569 pp

Penthouse Suite (Cat 12): $ 2089 pp

Single (cat 4A): $ 1489 pp

Rates are based on double occupancy and include port charges and gov’t fees.

3rd/4th passenger rates are subject to change….currently the rates are as follows…

Inside (Cat 4A): $ 619 pp

Oceanview (Cat 6A): $ 645 pp

Balcony and Suites (Cat 8A, 11 and 12): $ 675 pp

Amenities

$100 per cabin on-board credit

Cocktail Party

*Note: some group amenities may be based on a minimum number of full paying passengers.

Deposit Info

Initial Deposit due by 6/10/05: $ 25 pp for double occupancy non-suite guarantees; $ 250 pp for all cabin assignments including single, triple, quads or suites.

Full deposit of $ 250 pp is due by 12/16/05

Final payment date is 3/3/06.

And remember, you can cancel at any time up to 76 days prior to the cruise date with no penalty. So even if you aren’t 100% sure that you’ll be able to go, you can still put down your initial deposit of $25pp to lock in on these group rates and have the option to cancel up to 76 days prior to the cruise and get a full refund.

Feel free to e-mail me at debwinters@comcast.net if you have any questions. I hope you can join us!!!

Once you are booked, please post your name here so I can add you onto the list! I hope we have a great turnout for this cruise – it’s going to be so much fun!!!

Found it

Good job Fred!!! What kind of cabin will you and Barbara be booking? I'm a firm believer in the theory that once you get a balcony, you never go back - so we're booking 8A guarantees.

Good job Fred!!! What kind of cabin will you and Barbara be booking? I'm a firm believer in the theory that once you get a balcony, you never go back - so we're booking 8A guarantees.

8A. I have a cabin in the very back on the Triumph. I'll see if Derfette and I like it and maybe get the same cabin on the Destiny.

How do you guys do dinner? Do you switch tables every night or sit at the same table every night. We might be alone with no extended family for the first time in ages and would hate to be with the table mates from Hell. We had that once on the Sensation and that was more than enough to last me a lifetime.

Bill

Hey Deb - are you at work today?? ;) :D

Bill - Carnival will usually try to sit all of the group members at the same tables or in the same area, but we don't usually switch tables every night - it makes it too confusing for the wait staff. It just depends on how many people from the group choose the same dinner time. I'm going to request the 6:15 - 2nd early seating. What seating do you usually request?

Terri - No, I'm not at work today. I'm home sick with a terrible cold, and my daughter has a stomach bug. :(

We usually get early dinner. Somehow every time we request early we get the 5:45pm time. Actually we have never had late dining in 12 cruises.

Hope you and your DD are feeling better real soon. :)

Bill

Bill - now they let you pick which early seating you prefer - 5:45 or 6:15. I requested the 6:15 on the Valor, so we'll see what I end up with.

Oh no Deb!! A co-worker last week had the stomach bug!!!!! I hope she feels better! I thought you were at work and did this nice post! I was gonna say- working real hard Deb??!!! lol!! Hope you feel better!

I wouldn't dare spend important work time on here promoting my newest group cruise, now would I??? :p

correction on that 1 day 2 cat upgrade sale. It's this Thursday not Wednesday. I just got the actual email myself. Sorry.

Bill

Bill - I got the e-mail too (in fact, I think I got 3 of them :rolleyes: ). Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the sale opens up on Wednesday for pasts guests, so you should be ok on either day.

Here is where you can find the most recent cruise critic member reviews of the Destiny. http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=2

Here is where you can find the most recent cruise critic member reviews of the Destiny. http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=2

Glad to see someone planning a group cruise on my favorite ship :)

If you want the latest info on the ship check out the Destiny Past, Present and Future thread. You will find dozens of reviews, the longest gap might be 2 weeks were someone didnt write and post a review there.

Link

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=44544&page=1&pp=40

Trust me, I will definitely be studying up on the Destiny thread. ;) I am thrilled to be sailing on the Destiny. I cruised on her in April 2002, and can't wait to do the southern itinerary again.

Snowball

My wife and I might be interested in doing this cruise. We are still waiting for pricing on the 4/1/06 liberty cruise so I will let you know then.

snoball, who do we call about getting our spot? My hubby and I are interested in this cruise :)

Just keep watching this thread. I'm waiting for Laura to e-mail me back with the t/a information so we can start booking. If I don't hear from her by lunch time tomorrow I'll shoot her another e-mail. As soon as we get the t/a info then we're good to go and can officially get booked! :)

Hi all.... SouthernCaribbean beat me to it, but I wanted to invite everyone over to the DestinyCruisers Past and Future thread for some very specific information on the greatest itinerary that Carnival offers :)

I would love to join y'all, but won't travel during the summer months unfortunately. Hope everyone has a wonderful cruise on my favorite ship!

Hi Guys

Like I told you on our Philly thread, any ??? feel free to ask away.

And the Destiny thread has a ton of info too, glad to see it's still going strong.

Okay, I just remembered 2 things that may come in handy.

First, you don't need to bring that many dress clothes on this trip. You are allowed to wear shorts in the dining room on the first night(Sun.), while in Barbados(Wed.), and in Aruba (Fri.).

Second, if you're going to be bringing booze back, check the prices in the SJ airport duty free stores first. Then you can compare once your on the islands. I found the prices on what we were interested in to be the same as St.Thomas. I waited till we were back at the airport to make our puchases, that way we didn't have to lug it from the ship to the airport with all our luggage.

Thank you so much for the info Mickey. If there are any good excursions that you can recommend, that would be great too.

Just keep watching this thread. I'm waiting for Laura to e-mail me back with the t/a information so we can start booking. If I don't hear from her by lunch time tomorrow I'll shoot her another e-mail. As soon as we get the t/a info then we're good to go and can officially get booked! :)

Thanks, Snowball! I'll keep my eyes peeled :D

Uh-Oh Deb - so you have not booked yet? Your poor family! :p