LONG! Carnival Destiny Review & Photos ~ 6-14-10 ~ 5 days to Grand Turk, HMC & Nassau

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Here's another shot taken from Destiny's forward verandah on Deck 7 (the people in the bottom of the picture are standing on Deck 6). The high-rise buildings in the far distance are condos on South Miami Beach. The Coast Guard Station is just ahead on the left.

 

 

 

 

 

And here is one of their finest... guarding our safe passage to the Atlantic Ocean. Check out the size of his weapon!

 

 

 

 

 

Across the harbor from South Miami Beach, is the exclusive community of Fisher Island. An automobile ferry transports the residents back and forth from the mainland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open water ahead! Yay! The open area on Deck 5 (seen below) is a crew relaxation area. Notice the large spare anchor (painted white) is taking up most of the forward deck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost time for the Circle C "Meet & Registration"! Just a few minutes left to kill... so we attempt some trick shots! Doesn't DS appear to be blowing away? LOL!

 

 

 

 

 

DH... not so much! (DS does his best to hold DH's feet up... not an easy task! LOL!)

 

 

 

 

Up next: off to register for Circle C!

[ShineSoul30]

This is such a wonderful review--I am taking my own DH on his very first cruise in October... your excitement has us both squealing like little kids!!! We're going to try this itinerary next April or May--we haven't decided!

[mek]

Sorry about the LONG delay! Can you believe I stayed up until 3am on Sunday morning typing the first day of the cruise and when I hit "Submit Reply", everything was lost?! The next screen I saw was the CC sign-in page. I almost cried!!! Getting "re"-started now... hope I can remember everything I said the first time about embarkation day! :D

 

That's one of the reasons I do a long post in Word and then copy and paste.

[fab4cruisers]

Thank you for the info..... I'm looking forward for more details of your trip and I'm taking notes. We are also planning in renting a cabana, hopefully we will be able to get one. How far were you from the "lunch Buffet Pavillion"? We have 6 more days!!!!!!!!! until our 2nd cruise Yay!!!!!:D

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Thank you for the info..... I'm looking forward for more details of your trip and I'm taking notes. We are also planning in renting a cabana, hopefully we will be able to get one. How far were you from the "lunch Buffet Pavillion"? We have 6 more days!!!!!!!!! until our 2nd cruise Yay!!!!!:D

 

Cabanas #10 - 15 are the farthest up the beach, but are still very convenient to the important amenities! LOL! Cabana #11 is just north of the lunch pavillion (an easy 2-3 minute walk on the access road behind the cabanas), and the restrooms are directly behind cabana #10! Enjoy your cruise!

[CruiseVacationQueen]

I remembered an earlier portion that I forgot to share! Let's back up a minute:

 

When we booked the cruise (just 9 days out) we were "wait-listed" for Your Time Dining. DH & I prefer the Early seating time and getting to know our waiters... so, we had to mentally prepare ourselves for the possibility of waiting in line to eat and having a different server every night. To both our surprise, DH notices an assigned dining time printed on the front of our S&S cards: table #535 in the Universe Dining Room, Upper level at 6 pm! How can this be, when we were one of the last to book? Surely this must be a terrible table location, I fear! So, after our triumphant return from the Excursion Desk, we leave DS in charge of the luggage while DH & I go in search of our dining table!

 

We bring the Deck Plan Map with us to avoid getting lost or stuck in the dreaded "dead zone" created by the mid-ship Galley. First, we climb the Atrium stairs to Deck 4, then cut through the Galaxy Dining room, and... walk right into an area of elevators and stairs! (We don't see the hallway to the left, that would take us through the Internet Cafe, Onyx Cigar Room, and directly to the Universe!) So, we take the stairs up another level to Deck 5. We step into another area with stairs and elevators! Argh! Even with the map, we are "lost"! Straight ahead is the Millionaire's Casino, so... let's go that way! A crew member is vacuuming the carpeting in the casino and I notice that the area smells pretty clean, with only a slight, lingering odor. We follow the walk-way to the right, pass by the Casino Bar, turn right again, and step onto Destiny's Way (the inside promenade with several bars and the disco). We head aft and immediately find the Sushi Bar. Yum! Next, we walk past the coffee shop (Cafe on The Way) on our right and take note of the delicious desserts in the case! The Point After Disco is now on our right and we spot the Apollo Wine Bar just ahead. DH comments that the Destiny's layout is very similar to the Liberty & the Freedom, and I agree. Continuing farther back, we walk past the aft elevators and stairs and into the rear atrium area (you can see all the way down to Deck 4 from here). The Downbeat Lounge is on our right and the larger Criterion Lounge is at the very aft of the ship. We notice a sign outside the Criterion, that a wedding will soon be in progress, so we decide to get outta' there! We look down into the rear atrium, and guess what we see? Ah-ha! The Universe Dining Room! We take the stairs down to Deck 4 and step up to the entrance of the dining room. We spot a few servers working in the back of the dining room, but they are too far away to catch their attention. We cautiously enter the left side of the dining room (we hate to barge in while they are working!) and quickly scan the tables for our number #535. Well, we're on the correct side, at least, because all the table numbers are odd... we spot 517 and then 521. Farther back we go, but we still don't find our table number. We finally make our way even farther to the back, where a server is busy folding napkins. We apologize for interrupting his work, and ask about the location of our table. He smiles and graciously escorts us around a large waiter's station to the very back of the dining room. Our table is up against the aft windows, with seating for 6. We thank him for his help, and as we are leaving I wonder if we should change to Your Time dining, after all? The view of the ship's wake through the aft windows is awesome, but I notice the temperature of the room is very hot back there. And... who will we be seated with? Hmm... should we request a change to Your Time dining? DH says he likes the location of the table, a lot! I continue to wonder... could this turn into a dining nightmare?

 

We realize that we have left DS alone much longer than intended, so we quickly make our way back to the Atrium. We exit the dining room, walk past the elevators and turn right into the Onyx Cigar Bar (moderate cigar odor). We cut through the cigar room and notice the Internet Cafe just ahead. We pass by the computer terminals (nice area!) and follow the narrow walkway to the end. We turn to the left and enter an area of elevators and stairs. Hmm... this is where our journey first began! LOL! I now realize that Destiny's metal wall paneling "hides" some walkways in plain view! So, if you find yourself in a landing with elevators and stairs, check for hallways that may be hiding! LOL! We cut through the Galaxy Dining room again, head down the Atrium stairs and instantly spot DS, who is happily relaxing on the couch, listening to his MP3 player! We tell DS about the table location, and DH makes the "executive" decision that we will keep the assigned seating. Fingers crossed for cold A/C and good table mates!

 

 

Up next: back to the rest of the story!

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Back to the rest of the story! As you may recall, we are out on the forward verandah of Deck 7 enjoying sail-away...

 

DS announces that it's now time to go register him for Circle C, so we head inside using the starboard side doors on Deck 7. As soon as we step inside, it hits us! That is... "the smell" hits us smack in the nose! Eeewww! That's the famous funk-factory odor I read about! Several passengers were walking down the hallway holding their noses... a couple of other passengers had their cabin doors open looking around and grimacing at the smell. We high-tailed it outta' there and jumped into one of the forward elevators. Wow! That was bad! We concluded that the sewage must have just been pumped before sail-away and that was just the lingering odor. But then again... we didn't smell it on the outside deck! Weird!? Glad we didn't book a forward cabin on Deck 7... and feel really bad for those who did!

 

So, we make it up to the Circle C room on Deck 11, and get in line for registration. Less than 10 minutes later, DS gets a Circle C sticker on his S&S card and is stoked about tonight's party at 8:30 pm. DH & I are impressed with the counselor (Rebecca) and pleased that there is a large turn-out of kids who appear to be very well-behaved. The time is now 5:30 pm, so we head back to the cabin to freshen up for dinner. Tonight's dress is Casual, and we decide to just wear what we have on, so we have time to stop by the Sushi Bar before dinner. DS hangs out in the "window seat" while DH & I finish getting ready!

 

 

 

 

As we leave for dinner, we run into our cabin steward, Rey. He wishes us a nice dinner and mentions again that he will make a comfy bed for DS on the couch. Nice! We take the front elevators up to Deck 5 and survey the Destiny Shops as we walk by. Looks like the standard stuff: souvenirs, clothes, perfume, jewelry, watches & liquor. As we step onto Destiny's Way, we spot the Future Cruise Vacations Desk on the left. Note to self: come back soon! Up ahead, just past the casino, we spot the Sushi Bar. And no one is in line! Yay! The chef serves us a plate with 3 pieces of sushi. We notice a small cart off to the side with wasabi, ginger & soy sauce. We prep our sushi, then quickly wolf it down. One piece has tuna with asparagus... not sure what's in the others, but they are all yummy! Now that our tummies are happy, we head off to dinner! LOL!

 

As we head down to the dining room, I remember my worries from earlier in the day. I guess we'll know in a few moments if we have a good table or not! When we arrive at the entrance to the dining room, a server greets us, asks our table number and escorts us to the table. Well... that's a good start, at least! We arrive to an empty table, and my first thought is: maybe we have the table to ourselves! My second thought is: it's hot back here! I sit in one of the chairs farthest from the window, DH sits beside me in the middle chair and DS sits in the end chair across from me. As we settle into our seats, I notice that the wake of the ship is just as beautiful as I had imagined... and I am glad that DH wanted to keep this table.

 

The other family of 3 arrived at our table, just in time to pull me out of my thoughts. The DF (Steve) sat beside my DS, and their DS (Jeb) sat in the seat beside his DF. The DM (Kim) sat beside my DH. (Got that!?) As we were making introductions, the Head Waiter (I Gede) came over and introduced himself and the Assistant Waiter (Diane). In less than 30 seconds, we all became one big happy family! What a relief! Come to find out, they booked their cruise at the last minute, too: just 4 days out! And, they had a malfunction at home right before the cruise, also: their refrigerator died! Our families have several other things in common, as well. Carnival did a great job in pairing us for dinner! Speaking of dinner, the meal is fabulous tonight! After dessert and cappuccino, we head down to Deck 3 to take some pictures of the gorgeous sunset. Can you spot the moon and star?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so intrigued by the blue glow of the lights on the promenade, that I start taking photos from several angles. DS is bored to tears, as you can probably tell! LOL! Thankfully, his MP3 player is in his pocket, so he can listen to some tunes.

 

 

 

 

 

DH makes a handsome Smurf! And that sunset looks nice, too!

 

 

 

 

 

I am taking these photos with the flash off. DS is standing under one of the ship's side lights. The photo is blurry, but interesting, IMHO!

 

 

 

 

 

See how the camera flash cancels out most of the blue glow and makes the back-ground so dark? Pretty cool how light reacts!

 

 

 

 

 

See the stack of chairs behind DS? Up next is a really cool photo of them!

 

 

Up next: the rest of Embarkation Day!

 

 

[djmaine]

I am so enjoying your review and love the pictures. I'm am looking at this cruise for March!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for the next installment!!!

[peachhead11]

Loving your review. I'm on the Destiny July 22nd & this is really getting me excited. Hope you have more cruises coming so we can read your great reviews.

[raytownlady]

Thanks for posting such a great review!

[dane225]

Great review!! Thanks so much for posting!!:)

[pcrum]

Love, love, love the review! Just how I like 'em, with loads of detail!! Sorry about the a/c expense! Been there!! We are practically neighbors as we live in Orlando!! Thanks for taking the time to post such detail!!

[pcrum]

Loving the review, but I have a question...how do you get your photos so large. I also used photobucket in my last review, choosing the "large", 640 x 480 upload option, but my photos were much smaller.

 

Thanks again for a wonderful review!

[taylor6400]

Your getting me so excited for the Destiny in Sept! Same ports. Cant wait to keep reading! The suspense!!!!!

[crewsweeper]

CVQ...love the "smurf" lighting pictures! Great review.

 

Crew

[huxlemo]

Love your review! :D Come back soon!

[CARNIVALCRUISE3]

Carnival cruise3 , we too are doing the Western route in August and can't wait. We would love to hear about Key West and Cozumel when you get back. Cruise Vacation Queen...... Loving your review. August seems too far away!

 

Honeymooners11, I'll post a review and pictures as soon as I return. I sail on July 22nd.

[All4fun&fun4all]

It is Photobucket. We have exceeded the FREE bandwidth that photobucket gives out. The reference to PRO is the hint that they want money to turn the spigot back on.

 

A really good reason to use Google Picasa.... free, and no bandwidth costs ever.

 

BTW this happens a lot, and even has a name for it... slashdotted... named for the website that causes this almost every day....

This happened to me too when I wrote my review. I just went ahead and signed up for the PRO for 2.99 a month. It was quite a shocker though to log in and not see your pics anymore....especially after all the trouble I had uploading them in the first place.

Enjoying your review. :)

[Sarah@Sea]

Your getting me so excited for the Destiny in Sept! Same ports. Cant wait to keep reading! The suspense!!!!!

 

When in Sept? I'll be on the Sept 6th sailing, same ports.

[taylor6400]

When in Sept? I'll be on the Sept 6th sailing, same ports.

 

Im on the Sept 20...I'll be looking for your review when you get back!

[OKLandShark]

Your review is so wonderful it's almost making me cry! I am so excited to sail on the Destiny is October (yes, I realize I still have quite a wait) that I'm beside myself reading this and looking at all your photos. Thanks so much!!

 

 

I'm with you, October seems so far away and I can't wait for it get here. But then when it is over, I am not going to want to leave!

 

Very good review and great pics!

[CruiseVacationQueen]

Loving the review, but I have a question...how do you get your photos so large. I also used photobucket in my last review, choosing the "large", 640 x 480 upload option, but my photos were much smaller.

 

Thanks again for a wonderful review!

 

Hi, pcrum! I just looked at my picture sizes at PhotoBucket, and they are all sized around "700 x 1100"-ish. Not sure how I am getting the XL pixs... maybe because my camera is 15 MP? I am a newbie to the "web-hosted-pictures" thing... I didn't realize the photos would be so large on CC, until after I started the review! LOL!

Thanks everyone for the kind words! Will be posting more today!

[noleswin]

This review is great Queen but at this pace my July 26th cruise on the Destiny is going to get here before the end of your review. LOL:D

[CruiseVacationQueen]

This review is great Queen but at this pace my July 26th cruise on the Destiny is going to get here before the end of your review. LOL:D

 

I know, right? LOL! :D

[KandCsailing]

Loving the review, but I have a question...how do you get your photos so large. I also used photobucket in my last review, choosing the "large", 640 x 480 upload option, but my photos were much smaller.

 

Thanks again for a wonderful review!

Hi, pcrum! I just looked at my picture sizes at PhotoBucket, and they are all sized around "700 x 1100"-ish. Not sure how I am getting the XL pixs... maybe because my camera is 15 MP? I am a newbie to the "web-hosted-pictures" thing... I didn't realize the photos would be so large on CC, until after I started the review! LOL!

Thanks everyone for the kind words! Will be posting more today!

Under the space that says "upload images and videos" you can go to "more options" to change the sizes before you download to Photobucket. This size may be the 17" selection. Hope this helps.

 

Great review, looking forward to the rest.