Destiny review Jan 16 - cruise to nowhere

[kerrytens]

Miriam, keep up the good work! We sail in a few weeks and like you are very aware of the problems but have decided we just don't care. We did book the Destiny as a B2B because of the ports but hey we've got one of the L-shaped cabins with a big balcony so as long as the weather is good I'm happy! :) As I have a place to hide from all the unhappy people...:p Would really like to see HMC and Grand Turk but we're pretty good about understanding as it took us three tries to finally see Key West! ;) Always a good reason to book another Cruise to try again and see a missed port! :D Looking forward to the rest of your review.

You will love the Destiny! I know she is getting some sad press right now but being on the fateful cruise myself, I refuse to allow the problems to cloud my judgement about her in general. As I've said before (and it bears saying over and over IMO) the staff are excellent. I found the ship very easy to get around on - something I can't say for my Crown cruise last year. Yes, there are a few odd dead ends but once you know them, you will be fine.

I love your attitude about just needing another cruise in order to hit those missed ports. That is exactly what I told many of the staff! :D

I would really appreciate it if you would say hi to Aleks (you will find him at the customer service desk - dressed in whites) from Miriam, Kathy and especially Hannah. He is the best!!!

Enjoy your cruise and I promise to get going on the next round of pics etc soon!

Miriam

[kerrytens]

After an extra sea day, we finally spotted the pilot boat ... land ahoy!! We arrived around 10AM I think.

 

 

And then the lighthouse made its appearance too.

 

 

The water here is the most beautiful colour. As you enter, the ship starts to stir up some of the silt and it takes on a whole different hue.

 

I do have to admit that I've always wanted to visit Atlantis so when the announcement that we were visiting Nassau, I was actually happy. OK, so it wasn't the itinerary I'd signed up for but in the grand scheme of life, it certainly wasn't enough to bother or upset me.

 

This place was beautiful. Wondering if anyone could tell me what this building is ... I thought it looked like a very nice place to stay.

 

[hill6]

As the title says, here are a few random shots to carry you over until tomorrow (adding pics is way harder than I expected .. not good being lazy!)

 

Our neighbours balcony (very nice folks BTW!!!! I was even asked to crawl over the divider to join them ... ummm, no thanks but I appreciate the offer!)

 

 

 

Do take note of the seas too - this is pretty much what we experienced the entire cruise. The last day was like glass!

 

We had that balcony on our cruise in October. It was an awesome cabin.

[kerrytens]

Best of all, we backed in to our spot!!! I was really hoping we would so that I'd get a lovely evening view of Atlantis too. Carnival Sensation, a RCL ship and Bahamas Celebration were already in port.

 

 

The Destiny and the RCL ship had this ship blocked in. It was quite interesting as it looked like some sort of research vessel. There were torpedo looking things on the side and once off, you could see submarine type things inside a hold too. I did a quick google search once home and I believe it is a geophysical company that operates this ship. I wonder if they were going to do some testing after the Haiti and Grand Cayman earthquakes???

Speaking of the GC earthquake, it happened on this particular day - the day we were supposed to arrive. I do wonder what it would have been like had we made it. Scares me actually!!! I know I made a trip to the internet cafe that evening to let my family back home know all was well.

 

[cuted126]

After an extra sea day, we finally spotted the pilot boat ... land ahoy!! We arrived around 10AM I think.

 

 

And then the lighthouse made its appearance too.

 

 

The water here is the most beautiful colour. As you enter, the ship starts to stir up some of the silt and it takes on a whole different hue.

 

I do have to admit that I've always wanted to visit Atlantis so when the announcement that we were visiting Nassau, I was actually happy. OK, so it wasn't the itinerary I'd signed up for but in the grand scheme of life, it certainly wasn't enough to bother or upset me.

 

This place was beautiful. Wondering if anyone could tell me what this building is ... I thought it looked like a very nice place to stay.

 

It looks like it says Hilton on the side. The word is a little blurry though. Love your pics!!!

[kerrytens]

And here was our view once docked safely!!! This shot was taken in the evening as the sun was setting. I have no doubt that the designer of this building chose the colour with sunsets in mind because it simply glows.

 

[nybumpkin]

It looks like it says Hilton on the side. The word is a little blurry though. Love your pics!!!

The hotel is the British Colonial Hilton. We've walked past it both times we were in Nassau - it's a short walk from the piers.

[kerrytens]

The hotel is the British Colonial Hilton. We've walked past it both times we were in Nassau - it's a short walk from the piers.

Thanks!! :)

[keishashadow]

I must congratulate you on having such a positive attitude. Lovely pics so far, keep them coming.:)

 

Q for u re ur cabin & the bedding. It appears as though there was a sofa next to the bed.:confused:My PVP told me that if we booked any of the direct aft balconies, there would be no sofa & my DS would have to use a cot so we went with one on Lido deck with a berth. Can you remember if it the sofa in your cabin was fullsize or more of a small, loveseat sort?

[kerrytens]

I must congratulate you on having such a positive attitude. Lovely pics so far, keep them coming.:)

 

Q for u re ur cabin & the bedding. It appears as though there was a sofa next to the bed.:confused:My PVP told me that if we booked any of the direct aft balconies, there would be no sofa & my DS would have to use a cot so we went with one on Lido deck with a berth. Can you remember if it the sofa in your cabin was fullsize or more of a small, loveseat sort?

We did have a loveseat sort of sofa in the cabin. Since this was a our first Carnival cruise, I can't answer if it is a standard size or smaller than others. I know that when we first had access to the room the cot was in there as well as the sofa. The room steward told us she wasn't sure how tall my daughter was so she left it in in case we wanted to have it made up instead. The cot seemed like the slightly more comfy option for her. We ended up leaving the sofa in and using it for that daily stuff that seems to accumulate during a day away from home - well, at least it does for me.

 

As an aside, I ended up sleeping on it the first night since she had fallen asleep in 'my' bed. It wasn't too bad actually!

 

It was a tight configuration with the cot/sofa in the room - it actually was like a giant bed. LOL! You got used to it quickly though. When the room steward did the morning cleaning, she would fold up the cot to give us a bit more leg room during the day.

 

As for my attitude towards this cruise, I went into it with a fly by the seat of my pants thinking (so to speak) as it was a cruise to get my daughter onto a ship. We had nothing planned except fun and that is what we had. And, I must say that it wouldn't have been enough to really make me want to complain either even if I had made some plans. She is a lovely ship and I hope she gets fixed once and for all soon so others can enjoy her too. I know I want to go back!!!! :D

[keishashadow]

thank you for the info:) my DS is lanky, so im not sure i'd chance it w/smaller sofa.

 

I really want to sail this itinerary:(here's hoping the problems are permanently resolved soon!

 

ps can't wait to hear ur take on atlantis, we luved it.

[halos]

I'm so happy you enjoyed your cruise so much. I thank you for taking the time to write about it. I'm thrilled the staff was so attentive to you and your daughter :). Your pictures are beautiful :)

[kerrytens]

As I mentioned before, taking a trip to Atlantis has been on my bucket list. Backing in to our mooring spot got me even more excited. We decided to book an excursion through Carnival if only for the comfort I get booking direct. I simply haven't cruised (or travelled for that matter) to be comfortable enough to explore on my own, and this time in particular with my daughter in tow. We chose the Discover Atlantis tour. Luckily it allowed us a lot of time to get organized to get off the ship (and not use my buddy Aleks' time) without dealing with crowds.

 

Our group met on the pier, including our neighbours :), for the long walk to our waiting shuttle. A quick drive and you are there!!!

 

After a quick walk through the lobby of one of the hotels, you are led to this cave. This was probably the highlight of my daughter's cruise - she couldn't wait to get into that cave after spotting it! Keep in mind this kid loves water so this whole thing was right up here alley.

 

 

Stingrays didn't interest her but I liked them!

 

 

She did like the sharks though!

 

[cmdknw]

We ended up doing the dolphin swim and Atlantis. Only main complaint was it was double the price in Nassau as it was in Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

 

We did have fun, but we never got the cool towel animals, we got 1 or 2 total and one of them was a heart shape. We never even saw our room steward but about 3-4 times.

 

K

[SoonerOne]

You pictures are awesome!!:)

[beachgalMA]

I was on the Liberty, and we stopped in Grand Cayman the day after the quake. No damage or injuries at all. Our tour guide said it basically felt like a minor tremor. Our day went on as planned, no changes due to the quake. GC was actually my fav of our 3 ports of call.

 

The Destiny and the RCL ship had this ship blocked in. It was quite interesting as it looked like some sort of research vessel. There were torpedo looking things on the side and once off, you could see submarine type things inside a hold too. I did a quick google search once home and I believe it is a geophysical company that operates this ship. I wonder if they were going to do some testing after the Haiti and Grand Cayman earthquakes???

Speaking of the GC earthquake, it happened on this particular day - the day we were supposed to arrive. I do wonder what it would have been like had we made it. Scares me actually!!! I know I made a trip to the internet cafe that evening to let my family back home know all was well.

 

[As You Wish]

Enjoying your review and can't wait for more.

 

FYI-if you end up back in Nassau and want to check out the British Colonial Hilton, they do offer day passes. Their beach is lovely and they have a nice pool and hot tub as well.

[kerrytens]

We ended up doing the dolphin swim and Atlantis. Only main complaint was it was double the price in Nassau as it was in Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

 

We did have fun, but we never got the cool towel animals, we got 1 or 2 total and one of them was a heart shape. We never even saw our room steward but about 3-4 times.

 

K

You only a a few towel animals? Wow! Not that they were the highlite of my trip but we saw our steward often and asked her one day if she would give Hannah one and the next thing we knew we had one each on each night of the cruise - poor girl ended up repeating them.

I am glad to hear that were able to enjoy a few things on Nassau. Definitely not what we all signed up for though.

[kerrytens]

Sorry for my departure from posting yesterday - internet issues! :mad::eek::mad: A not so quick fix later and we seem to back up again this evening.

 

I did see today that Destiny has a February scheduled drydock now. Although my heart goes out to those affected by the cancelled cruises, I am very happy that Carnival made the decision to get her fixed up once and for all (well, we can hope!). As I've said before, I really like this ship.

 

So, I need to figure out where I left off and finish this sucker off!

[kerrytens]

You pictures are awesome!!:)

Thank you!

[kerrytens]

I've seen many photos of the hand blown glass sculptures in Atlantis many times but this one is particularly stunning in real life.

 

 

Simply stunning! I do wish that our tour guide hadn't been racing us through the casino at this point though :( It was a bit of a speed through! We did get some time on our own at the end thankfully but the little chickie we were with .... let's just say she had other plans :)

Still had fun there though.

[kerrytens]

OK, yet another 'what is this' photo. I work in the nursery industry so I tend to really look at plants when I'm away and this one really caught my eye. Anyone know what it is? It in a big planter on the pier in Nassau.

 

[kerrytens]

A few outside shots of the ship, including our balcony.

 

This one is one of the VERY few night shots that worked for me. I try and try but I've decided I really need to invest in a small tripod to get them to work. If anyone has an advice on getting a good shot of a passing ship at night, I'd really love to hear it.

 

 

Our aft cabin, room 8330. If you look to the top left of the balconies, you will see the aft wrap cabin right beside ours. You will also notice that we had one of the two slightly larger afts too (not including the wraps of course). We LOVED this balcony!!!! It easily fit two chairs, a small table and a lounge chair with plenty of room to spare - we actually had to move the oval table from the room outside too and we still had lots of space out there. I believe it is an 8N now (correct me if I'm wrong though as we booked it when it was still a 8G). Standard room.

 

[kerrytens]

I find this shot funny actually. Here we are doing all of 14 knots, limping along and we passed the Sensation!!! The race of the turtles. Do take note ot the seas though - it was like glass. Just beautiful!

 

 

Here is the view that those of us who've had afts love ... and I thought I was spoiled getting a balcony on my first cruise. I loved our balcony this time even more probably. Yes, it can get very hot out there with no wind but it is so incredibly peaceful. We had some fabulous neighbours, both beside us and under us.

 

We did have something fall on us once though - a pack of cigarettes with a lighter tucked into it. There was also a receipt so my sister took it all upstairs to find the owner ... and maybe give 'Jaymi' a talking to. She instead found a staffer who apologized profusely and said they'd been trying to get them out of wherever they were lodged before they did exactly what they did - fall on my lounge chair! It ended up being quite funny in the end since my sister needed a lighter (yes, she is bad!!!) and Jaymi nicely donated it to her.

 

[kerrytens]

We had time to spare before our flight back to Toronto so we arranged to do the Everglades tour. I am incredibly impressed with this place. I've been to Florida many times before as a kid and have seen many gators and ridden on airboats too ... but I would highly recommend this tour to any and all. I learned more about Miami, Everglades, Florida in a few short hours than in a lifetime. Awesome place!

 

 

Forgot to mention - check out the turtle hanging out with his buddies!!