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Carnival Destiny 12-24-06 Review


CVL105

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Day 1 - Flew direct flight from Boston to San Juan via Jet Blue. No problems at all. Arrived in San Juan at 1:00 pm and waited for the rest of my family to arrive. By 2ish we were on our way to the port. We took a taxi and it was much cheaper than if we took Carnival transport. It was $33 for 7 of us and all of our luggage. So that was a good bargain.

 

We FLEW through check in. There was no line whatsoever, I was shocked! We got on board dropped off our bags in our rooms (which were already cleaned and ready for us). We then headed to the Lido buffet for lunch. They were walking around with complimentary champagne which was nice.

 

We then explored the ship to figure out where everything was. After that, it was pretty much time for dinner. Open seating that night. We were assigned the early seating, but showed up to the later one because we just weren't hungry yet. No problems.

 

We all had oceanview rooms on the Main Deck (deck 2). Rooms were much larger than I thought they would be. I've only been in inside rooms so I was pleasantly surprised by the extra room in oceanviews. This was especially nice in my room since we had 3 people. Air conditioning worked just fine. We had a cool room every night and most nights kept it very low. Bathroom was normal size. Shower drained slowly, but not a big deal to me. My parents had a slight problem with the drain under their sink. It was making a gurgling noise and at one point smelled like sewage. But I called the front desk for them and it was taken care of very quickly.

 

I thought the ship was very nice and very clean. Especially after listening to others complaints. My standards may not be as high as others I guess. I was on vacation and nothing was gonna disappoint me.

 

Nothing much else to report on this day.

 

St. Thomas tomorrow...:D

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Woke up and had breakfast in the dining room.

 

Got off the boat and met to go on our excursion. We did the Kayak, Hike, and Snorkel through Carnival. It was a blast! The company was great that Carnival works with for this excursion. I can't remember the name of it right now, but I have their card at home. We kayaked a total of 2 miles on 2-man kayaks. 1 mile out to the hike site and 1 mile back. The hike was very easy and flat for the most part. We hiked out to a rocky area where the waves were crashing up on the rocks. It was beautiful. We then hiked back and went snorkeling. Snorkeling was so so, but I've been spoiled by scuba diving in some great locations so I'm a bad person to ask. But there were alot of little fish in the mangroves and some huge fish out by a small wreck. It was still fun and there was marinelife. They provided water to keep us hydrated and were alot of fun. I would absolutely go on this again.

 

After we got back we had lunch and then got back off the boat to walk around and do a little shopping. Most stores were closing at 3pm because it was Christmas, so we just stayed in the immediate port area. Window shopped the jewelery stores, etc. I got my first souvenir here, a Christmas ornament. Actually x-mas ornaments were all I got the whole trip. I collected an ornament from each port. Here I got a sailboat in a bottle. Very cute!!

 

Back to the boat for some shuffle board with the family. It was alot of fun playing this up on the top deck (right below the funnel). It was always empty and we found it to be alot of fun!

 

We went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. We met our waiter Eugenio and assistant waiter Subadri this night. They were fabulous. I honestly can't even begin to explain how great they were. We really clicked with them. Eugenio was the head waiter in the Galaxy dining room where we ate. He is from the Phillipines, as was Subadri if I remember correctly. Dinner every night was pretty good. Not fabulous, but it's better than the junk I eat when I'm home! haha....First night I had a fish plate (don't remember what exactly, maybe bass, and it was good). 2nd night I had Filet Mignon and it was so so. I always had the caesar salad, which is very good and I can't remember my appetizers right now. Both nights I had the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake...mMMMmmmm...actually, I had this EVERY night! haha

 

The shows weren't that great. The dancers were so so as were the shows as a whole. My grandparents really enjoyed them though. So I guess they are for some people and not others. Although we all really enjoyed Destiny Idol on friday night! We had some GREAT singers!

 

On to the next port...Dominica (our favorite)!:D

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Ok, I'm home from work now and the name of the company we had our excursion with in St. Thomas is Virgin Islands Ecotours.

 

Day 3 Dominica - Again, woke up and went for breakfast.

 

Today we went on a tour with Levi from bumpiingtours.com. We did a hike through the rainforest to Sari Sari Falls. The drive to the beginning of the hike was 1 hour and 15 minutes about. It was a very windy and steep drive. It was beautiful too. We drove through many small towns and through alot of nothing, just green and beautiful. Once we got to the hike site, we hiked for 45 minutes to the waterfall. It was a tough hike. Lots of steep hills lots of climing over the river, jumping rocks, etc. It was worth it though. We got to the bottom of the fall and went for a swim. It was fabulous. There were 10 of us total on the hike, plus Levi. I would totally recommend any of Levi's hikes as he was truly spectacular. On the ride back he told us all about Dominica. He made stops for us to take pictures whenever and wherever we wanted. He had a van that we all fit in and it had some powerful AC. He also provided beer, water, and soda to us.

 

We had finished the hike a little early, so he brought us up to a lookout that overlooked the town and the pier. Here we were able to take some nice shots of the ship. I will upload my pics and provide a link eventually.

 

When we got back we walked around the open market a little bit. Here I got a turtle magnet made from shells that I am turning into a x-mas ornament.

 

We then went back to the boat and got ready for dinner. We all had lobster tonight. It was the first formal night. Lobster wasn't as tasty as I would have liked, but it was still good. Saw lots of people dressed up beautifully. Saw many with tuxes and gowns on, saw lots of cocktail dresses and suits, and even saw a man in a t-shirt, his daughter in a hooded zip up sweatshirt, obviously very classy. But none the less, everyone was allowed in the dining room!

 

Hung out with my family and played cards all night. We spent alot of time in the library as there were rarely anyone else in there so we could play cards and laugh and just have a good time!

 

Next on the itinerary...Barbados!

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cAN YOU TELL ME WHAT YOUR ROOM WAS odd or evens???

 

AND WHICH SIDE OF EACH ISLAND DID YOU DOCK AT??? ODD SIDE OR EVEN???

 

 

WE ARE SAILING OUT THE 21ST OF THIS MONTH AND CAN'T WAIT..

 

WE HAVE BALCONY'S ON THE ODD SIDE OF THE SHIP...

 

THANKS

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Day 4 Barbados - We booked the 4x4 Jeep and Paradise Beach excursion through Carnival. This was an ok excursion. We did a tour around Barbados which was interesting. We made a pit stop at Bathseba (sp?), which was a beautiful beach/kodak moment. You can't go into the water here though because it is too dangerous with the rocks and the undertow. They also gave us some rum punch or fruit punch here if you wanted. We then travelled through more of the countryside and headed for the beach. The beach was small but there weren't many people there. It was beautiful and the water was like pool water. We overall had a good time.

 

We headed back to the boat for some lunch. I haven't mentioned it yet, but I think almost my whole family had a Reuben sandwich from the New York Deli almost every day. MMMmmmm they are my favorite! Make sure you ask for extra dressing on the side though, because they don't put enough on the sandwich.

 

We then had reservations with a dive operator in the afternoon. The Dive Shop LTD http://www.divebds.com/. They take out snorkelers and divers on the same boat which was great for my family. My brother and I scuba dive, but the rest of my family doesn't. So they were able to snorkel. We saw beautiful fish and 3 seahorses!! They were so cool! Overall it was a good dive, even though we were stuck with a beginner who wasn't even certified!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But none the less we enjoyed ourselves.

 

Back to the ship we went. But of course not before stopping for a x-mas ornament. I just shopped around the stores right at the port. I found a beautiful shell ornament here.

 

Dinner tonight for me was Chateaubriand. It was delicious!!! And of course warm chocolate melting cake for dessert! I can't remember what appetizers I had which night but they were all good. We had fried mozzarella, crab and lobster cake, sushi, onion soup, quesadilla, etc. Everything was yummy!

 

Day 5 Sea Day #1 - I got up and was out on deck by 8am. I like to get my nice tan while on vacation and since we were so active in port, I needed to get my sun on the sea days. We camped out at the back of the boat above the adult only pool. It was great there. No kiddies running around. And it was pretty quiet and peaceful. But it seemed that chair filled up quickly as I saw many people walking around in what looked like a search for a place to sit.

 

Dinner tonight was the second formal night. I think I had teriyaki short ribs tonight, but I could be messing up nights and what I had for dinner.

 

The waiters sang and/or danced just about every night. My favorite performance was featuring our waiter Eugenio. They sang and danced to a Backstreet Boys song. Eugenio was the "lead" singer and dancer right in the front. He just killed me! He was soooo funny. Look out for this performance, it was fun! I don't know if they do similar acts in both dining rooms though.

 

Next is Aruba...:D

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Day 6 Aruba - My brother and I went scuba diving here. It was pretty cool. We went diving w/ Clive @ Dive Aruba. www.divearuba.com I think. He was really good! We did the Sonesta Airplane wreck and the Bali Barge Reef. Saw an octopus and 2 sea turtles and lots of pretty coral and fish. We even got to swim through the airplane, pretty cool!

 

I got a pretty handpainted christmas ornament at the shops right at the port.

 

We got back to the boat around 2:30pm and then went for lunch. Afterwards I just laid out and got a little sun. I watched the Princess ship that was in port pull away and then went in to get ready for dinner.

 

Went to Destiny Idol tonight, which was good as I already mentioned.

 

Day #7 Sea Day #2 - Laid out till noon until it started drizzling and then downpouring! BOoooooo!!!! I was pretty disappointed. But I just went in and ate lunch and played some cards with the family for the rest of the day.

 

Day #8 Disembarkation - I had an early flight so I was in the Palladium Lounge around 7:45am to get off the boat. Pretty much walked right through customs. Not a very long wait at all. I then went down and picked up my luggage and headed off to the airport. Taxi was more expensive for just one person...$20 for me and my luggage (it was $33 for all 7 of my family on the way to the port).

 

Overall it was a fabulous trip and I didn't want to leave. I don't know what all these people are complaining about! haha jk...everyone has their own ideas of vacation and expectations.

 

Let me know if you have any questions and I'd be glad to try and help!

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  • 4 weeks later...

you said you saw seahorses while diving in barbados - could the snorkelers see them too? i'm a snorkeler and i'm DYING to see seahorses!!! i've read that dominica is a good spot for seeing them, but i'm thinking we'll probably snorkel in barbados too cuz of the turtles (thinking El Tigre or SivlerMoon). anyway, tips/info about seeing seahorses would be great! tia!

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The snorkelers didn't see them when we were diving. They were probably too far down. They were just kind of sitting on the bottom of the ocean floor. But other locations might be better for snorkelers to see them, especially if it's shallower waters. If you email some snorkeling companies I bet you could ask them if they have locations where you would be more apt to see seahorses. They may be able to accomodate your request and take you to those spots. Of course, they can't guarantee it, but it's a good try.

 

Good luck!

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