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Carnival Destiny Review 5-11


*Luv2Cruz*

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My wife and I just returned from our Southern Caribbean cruise on the Destiny. This was our second time on the Destiny which now has six ports and no days at sea. Before I get into the meat of the review, I’d like to thank the Cruise Critic site for all the excellent and accurate information I found on the forum.:D All our excursions except one was booked privately based on the reviews and information on the forums. We also had a pretty active roll call and about 10 couples showed up for the meet and greet. One of the couples we met, you know who you are, were really great people and I’m sure we’ll be seeing/cruising with them again soon.;)

 

Embarkation:We got up a 4am and flew in from New York the day of the sailing. We shared a cab with some other people in line and split the $22.50 cab fare. We got to the pier around 12:30p. Check in was a breeze. We then had a few free shot samples, okay a lot of samples, and we picked up a bottle for our carryon.

 

Room/Food/Shows/Casino:We had an 8C mid ship balcony 8188. Loved it! We liked all the food on the ship but really loved the Galaxy dinner room because of its location and the singing Maitre’d Jean Pierre who was fabulous. Do not forget to have the Warm chocolate melting cake!! One couple we ate with had it every night. The shows were good and we always got good seats. On most nights we were in the casino before 10 and I even won enough money the first night to go home up a few bucks. Love when that happens!!:cool:

 

St. Thomas:

We did a two beach and sightseeing tour with Air Force 1 Tours and loved the tour and Papa Bear the owner operator. We went to both Coki and Sapphire beaches with Coki being my favorite stop on the entire cruise. It was small, beautiful, had great snorkeling, and the sand in the water was the smoothest I’ve ever experienced. The tour afterwards was great and Papa Bear was very proud, compassionate, and knowledgeable about the island which really made this a fabulous tour. He does it all and went the extra mile!

 

Dominica:We were there once before so we made this our day at sea. The only one!

 

Barbados:Based on the reviews I found on the CC site we were heading for the BoatYard. ($4 /pp cab ride.) But I also ready about Lobster Alive which is 100 feet to the left which shared the same beach though we could not use the water trampoline at the BoatYard. $15 gave you the use of two chairs, an umbrella, and 3 free drinks. ($15/pp at the BoatYard if you want/need the trampoline) Be careful of the rum punch. Wow!

 

St. Lucia:Of all the information I found on CC everyone loved the Cosol Tour and so did we!! Cosol and his brother YellowBird really know how to have a good time and we saw, ate, and drank everything that was possible to do on the island. At every stop on the 5-6 our tour we were treated like VIP’s. On this tour alone, we had over 60 CC members. I even found out how he got the name Cosol, but you need to take the tour to find out. Great!!

 

Antigua:We went on the Carnival Catamaran Snorkel tour in Antigua. It was reasonable priced and was a great way to relax after the Cosol Tour. The cat was nice and the snorkeling fair but it was relaxing and we had a beautiful day at see. After the snorkeling they had and open bar and we went to a beach for a while which was just an average beach. On the way there we saw the boat from the Pirates movie which was nice. When we left the beach, the Pirate beach shot at us and the party started on our sail back with lottsa rum punch and drinks, singing, dancing, and amazing limbo action. Had a great time!

 

St. Kitts:We really wanted to take it easy on our last day and here again I read about a water taxi to Frigate Bay Beach. The taxi was a smallish boat with a big engine and it was a fun 10 minute ride to the beach. Two chairs and an umbrella were $12 and they had a really nice bar/restaurant. The beach had a drop off and was rocky on the bottom just like the CC reviews told us but the R&R was great and the water taxi comes back every half hour so you can come and go as you please for $10/pp rt which seemed to be the same rate as a cab. Just what the doctor ordered!

 

Disembarkation:Getting off the ship has never been fun for many reasons. This time we did the airport express option. For $15/pp they take your luggage on the last night as usual and give you your boarding pass for the flight home. They also had a special room for us to meet and for the first time ever, getting off was easy with no crowds, lines, or pushing. When you got off the ship you had simply had to bring your bags to the airline trucks outside and we were done and checked in for our flight home. Nice service!!

 

Final Thoughts:This cruise on the Destiny was probably one of my favorite cruises. Although the ship is a bit older than others, everything and everybody was great. I think what really makes a great cruise, is traveling with friends and family, meeting new people, visiting great ports, good weather, and good food, entertainment, and accommodations on board the ship. We had them all and would do it again!!:) If you have any questions let me know.

 

I am a cruise addict and Luv2Cruz!!

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Thanks for the review!! I agree SJ has always been the easiest embarkation and debarkation of any ship I have sailed, very efficient. Plus you gotta love free rum samples and a duty free liquor store in the terminal.

 

Yes, Lobster Alive! is a great spot if you dont want to do the water trampoline at the Boatyard. When I was there in Aug, we even snagged a private snorkel boat for $20pp.

 

Destiny was my first and she will always have a special place in my heart.

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Thanks for your review! We cruise Destiny in June. Glad you enjoyed S. Frigate beach in St. Kitts. We spent a week at Timothy Beach Resort near Mr. X's. Wonderful stretch of beach bars and restaurants.

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Thanks for the review. What airline were you flying on? We will be on the Victory next March and hope to use the baggage express service (we will be on Northwest).

 

We flew AA JFK to San Juan. Hopefully Northwest offers the same service. We wanted to try the Miracle but did'nt want to wait till next year. Sure it will be great. Enjoy!

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We were on the Destiny the cruise before yours and we also had a awesome time. Can't say enough good things about Cosol and would love to go back to Frigate Bay in St Kitts for a land vacation. Funny thing our cruise was also made even better by the people we met on our CC rollcall.

 

This was one of my favorite cruises will be doing it again when the new ship takes over in a few months.

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We were on the Destiny the cruise before yours and we also had a awesome time. Can't say enough good things about Cosol and would love to go back to Frigate Bay in St Kitts for a land vacation. Funny thing our cruise was also made even better by the people we met on our CC rollcall.

 

This was one of my favorite cruises will be doing it again when the new ship takes over in a few months.

 

Glad you liked the cruise and CC folks as well. I have a pic from the Cosol tour which will explain his name if you don't know how he got it already.;) I'll probably post them tomorrow.

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Thanks for taking the time to post your review. We leave on the Destiny in 19 days!!! (but who is counting) WHOOT WHOOT!

 

I am so excited hearing that the Cosol Tour was great - I booked with Cosol from reading these boards also.

 

Thanks again for the review - I have cruise fever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Could you tell me what nights were your formal nights on the Destiny? I have been reading comments about menus changing. Has the Destiny's dining room menu changed?

 

Thanks so much. We leave on the Destiny June 22nd!

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Could you tell me what nights were your formal nights on the Destiny? I have been reading comments about menus changing. Has the Destiny's dining room menu changed?

 

Thanks so much. We leave on the Destiny June 22nd!

 

If I remember correctly (its only been 2 weeks) formal nights were Monday & Friday. I was on the Holiday the week before the Destiny and the menu was a bit different from the choices on the Destiny so I would say yes the menu has changed. I only ordered dessert a couple of nights cause the selections on the Destiny just did not appeal to me whereas I had dessert everynight on the Holiday (shame on me).

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We were on the cruise the week before you with Bonniemari and had a great time. We were also on the Cosol tour but we werent told how he got his name. I cant wait to find out when you post the picture! We would definately do this cruise again but might take one day off going into port to rest on the ship. We also loved PR and OSJ and had a great time there the 2 days before the cruise.

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Could you tell me what nights were your formal nights on the Destiny? I have been reading comments about menus changing. Has the Destiny's dining room menu changed?

 

Thanks so much. We leave on the Destiny June 22nd!

Formal nights were Tuesday and Friday. I don't know anything about a menu change, but ours was so good, I hope you get the same!! I have the daily capers but need to scan the "day at a glance" page hopefully by Saturday. You may also want to check for threads about the new dress code, and new dinning hours which are coming soon or now in place?

 

Luv2cruz....I'll be on the Victory 5/09 when it takes over for the Destiny for the same itinerary. Did you dock in all these ports or were you tendered into some.

 

Docked at them all:D

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Luv2cruz-thanks for correcting me-they say the mind is the first thing to go and I'm begining to believe that is true.

 

Not a problem.;)

 

We were on the cruise the week before you with Bonniemari and had a great time. We were also on the Cosol tour but we werent told how he got his name. I cant wait to find out when you post the picture! We would definately do this cruise again but might take one day off going into port to rest on the ship. We also loved PR and OSJ and had a great time there the 2 days before the cruise.

 

Cosol got his name from the Cosol fruit which is grown in St. Lucia. Here's a pic I took while on tour, and it was great!!

 

CosolFruit.jpg

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Luv2Cruz.. thank you for the very nice review. It was well written and easy for old eyes to read. I appreciate your taking the time to share your memories.

 

Question: were you exhausted when you returned? All those ports and no sea days.. I would need another vacation. From your review it looks like you headed right home after the cruise. I would have had to sleep for three days.

;-)

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Luv2Cruz.. thank you for the very nice review. It was well written and easy for old eyes to read. I appreciate your taking the time to share your memories.

 

Question: were you exhausted when you returned? All those ports and no sea days.. I would need another vacation. From your review it looks like you headed right home after the cruise. I would have had to sleep for three days.

;-)

 

We were tired by we stayed on the ship in Dominica, and some of the days we were back by 2. All in all it was great. We're not late night people so we usually went to bed after the show and some gambling. Keep on cruzin.:D

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Not a problem.;)

 

 

 

Cosol got his name from the Cosol fruit which is grown in St. Lucia. Here's a pic I took while on tour, and it was great!!

 

CosolFruit.jpg

That fruit is Soursop

 

Please see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soursop

 

Somehow I think he's pulling a fast one on ya? ;):)

 

 

I see nothing among its several Annona genus/species names

to indicate that Cosol might be named after the fruit, or even the other way around.

 

I've lived on Barbados for over half a century now

and have known it as Soursop all my life -and I still don't like the taste!!

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That fruit is Soursop

 

Please see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soursop

 

Somehow I think he's pulling a fast one on ya? ;):)

 

 

I see nothing among its several Annona genus/species names

to indicate that Cosol might be named after the fruit, or even the other way around.

 

I've lived on Barbados for over half a century now

and have known it as Soursop all my life -and I still don't like the taste!!

 

Are you sure that some dont call that fruit "Cosol" on St Lucia?

 

I know various things have "nicknames" on some of the islands or even here in some states.

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