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WE MISSED THE BOAT! A cruisin USA "LONG and LENGTHY" DESTINY Review

cruisin USA

By cruisin USA,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

Posted
Posted

crusiin USA, Thanks so much for posting this review even though your cruise took place this past winter. So much we can all learn from it. I'll not get into the " arrive the day day before" mode. But that certainly is one of the lessons we can see. Anything can happen at the airport. But the real lesson here is how you handled the situation. Contact and keep in contact with all parties. Make those alternative arrangements. You went home, had a nice dinner, good night's sleep and headed out again. Not everything was perfect, but you just kept focusing on getting to the ship and starting your vacay. I'm sure at the time you were as upset as you've ever been but you didn't give up. And you'll probably have a ton of funny stories out of this as time passes.

 

So we wait fro the next reel...:)

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klfrodo

klfrodo

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Posted
Thanks for sharing. My October cruise stops in Jamaica and I've been a bit apprehensive (after reading stuff on hear). From your review, it sounds like we'll have a blast!

 

For what it's worth, I've been to Jamaica numerous times on an AI and 3 or 4 times via cruise ship.

 

I can't explain it but on an AI when I staying there for a week, it's the greatest. People are great, food is great,, just great.

When we stop as a cruise port visit,,,,:confused: I certainly understand where people are coming from.

 

If my only experience of Jamaica was a cruise stop, I'd never go again either

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imsulin

imsulin

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You definitely have the philosophy of, "If life hands you lemons, make lemonade!"

 

(I, on the other hand, have the philosophy of, "If life hands you lemons, throw them at somebody!")

 

LOVE our review, so please keep it coming!

 

Great tie-dye, Dude!

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Froufie

Froufie

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Wow Gary - that's some excitement!!! I don't think I would have handled it as well as you did - and even flying in the day before (which I always do) I seem to run into 'issues' always landing way later than expected! And that aft wrap is gorgeous! (so you have one booked for february? and please tell me you're flying in a day ahead of time? :D:D)

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cruisin USA

cruisin USA

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"Grand Time in Grand Cayman"

 

We woke up the next morning in Grand Cayman. The ship actually just drops anchor, and there’s tenders that take you to shore. Although this was our 3rd time to Grand Cayman, it seemed as though this was the 3rd different place we dropped anchor. The pirate ship was still there, shooting their cannon at the tenders that were heading ashore. The landing area was your typical, shopping “city”, where you could go to various souvenier shops.

 

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There were 2 other Carnival Ships anchored with us. The “Valor” and the “Dream“, which is HUGE!!! A MCS cruise ship came in after all of us. We checked out the stores. Dave and Jessie were looking for some liquor to take to the beach. Unfortunately, if you shop at a Duty Free shop they have to send it to the ship for them to hold for you. We couldn’t find any other stores that just sold regular liquor anywhere near the port. We finally just decided to get a cab, and go to 7 mile beach(I heard that the beach is actually more like 4 miles long). Getting a cab was easy. I told the driver to take us to a bar at the beach. Along the way, we did see liquor stores, but decided to go straight to the beach instead of stopping. The cab ride was about 10 minutes. He set us right at one of the beach bars. I decided to get us round before we hit the beach. 5 drinks(2 specialty 3 cans of beer). $39.00!!!!!! OUCH!!! (wish we would have stopped)The rest of our time was spent laying on the beach.

 

 

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The 3 Amigos

 

 

The temperature was in the mid 80’s. Although the clouds threatened throughout the day, it stayed mostly sunny. I LOVED swimming in the ocean

 

 

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Grand Cayman has pretty big waves crashing ashore. I’d backstroke my way out, and body surf my way back in. It seems like we’d all take turns going into the ocean to cool off. Dave noticed that a whole section of people next to us had left. We figurd that they must have had to get back to their ship. After we roasted a couple of hours in the sun, we decided we’d had enough, and headed back to the ship. A taxi was easy to find. Again we had to wait a few minutes for it to fill up. We were back at the shopping area/tender launch in no time. Dave and Jess decided to stop and shop while Mary Ann, Nicole, and myself hit the long line for the ship. Got to the tender in about 10 minutes. Back to the ship, back to the room to freshen up, and we went to the buffet for lunch.

 

 

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to be continued........

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vacruizer

vacruizer

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I have Delta booked out of Missoula for our Jan. Cruise. I am some what nervous now, but the nice thing about small airports it there is never 500-600 people in the place at one time:D

 

Loving the review and glad that you finally met up with the ship!

 

Check you flight times about every two weeks, Molly! Delta changed my flights SEVEN times between booking in Feb. and our cruise in July a few years ago. Nonstop became connections (we were driving three hours to get the nonstop and cheaper rate) then flight times changed to where we wouldn't get back post cruise until midnight instead of 4pm and would then have a three hour drive home. At one point, they even had my first flight arriving in Atlanta 30 minutes after the connection departed. They changed it so darn many times Delta finally agreed to let me fly from our home airport instead at no extra charge. Finally had an agent tell me that they don't notify on flight changes until 30 days out since they change so much and that you are stuck with what's left if you wait until they notify you. She was the one who told me to check my reservation every two weeks and call them if the changes didn't work for me.

 

 

Cruisin - I am loving your review!!!!! We almost missed the ship a few years ago and it was not fun even thinking about it - I feel for you! We were even flying a day ahead and almost didn't make it.

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cruisin USA

cruisin USA

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At this point I will remark that there were long lines at the buffets during peak times.

 

 

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The lido deck usually had only one side open, but we never experienced anywhere a line we couldn’t handle. The rest of the people came back from ashore. We went back to the room. There, on the bed was our invitation to the past guest party, to be held the next day. NO MORE SHIP PINS! Luckily we got a Destiny one last year. We spent the rest of the day hanging out on our HUGE balcony.

 

 

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The ship eventually started to pull away. Off we went. That feeling came over me. Knowing that the next time we saw land we’d be in Miami. I pushed it aside knowing that we had a full day and a half at sea before we got there. Mary Ann fell asleep on the chaise. I had to wake her up to get ready for dinner. We had all decided that tonight we’d dress up for the pictures, and the party we missed Saturday. Tonight, Mary Ann and I had Chateaubriand cooked to perfection. I had the fruit plate appetizer, shrimp cocktail, and minestrone soup to start. All were EXCELLENT!! For dessert…..Amaretto Cake!!!(yum!). Tonight’s waiter show was danced to the Flo-Rida’s “Low”. The waiter pulled us all up off our table, and we ALL ended up dancing in the aisle. There was lots of hootin and hollerin towards the middle of the dining room, but we couldn’t see what was happening. Back to the table to finish off dessert, and back to the room. “Uh-oh” I thought as I reached into my pocket to find no key. I asked Mary Ann if she had hers. Nope(sigh). I had to go down to guest services where they promptly made me an entrance only key. Got back to the room. There were both keys just sitting there on our table. We were very tired. We agreed that it was the sea air that was doing it to us. We settled in.



 

 



We were just too tired to go out for pictures. Another long day!!

 

 

 

to be continued......

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cruisin USA

cruisin USA

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Hello to EVERYONE!!

 

Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much for your kind words!!! I started posting the review last night. I came back today to find over 4000 hits!!!

 

 

Falkor......Sorry I spelled your name wrong in the review. It had been over a year since I first posted in your EXCELLENT Destiny review!! A special Thank You for your input(it means a lot). When I saw the slide again. I just had to get that pic...hehe

 

I can't post anymore tonight.....I own a bar, and Friday is my busy night!!!

 

I'll post more tomorrow afternoon....

 

 

And to all who mentioned making lemonade......

 

"When life hands you lemons, add vodka and sugar and make LEMON DROPS!!! hehe

 

I'll be back tomorrow, and at least get us to the end of our first leg.

 

 

Gary aka cruisin USA

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Meyer2

Meyer2

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Hello to EVERYONE!!

 

Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much for your kind words!!! I started posting the review last night. I came back today to find over 4000 hits!!!

 

 

Falkor......Sorry I spelled your name wrong in the review. It had been over a year since I first posted in your EXCELLENT Destiny review!! A special Thank You for your input(it means a lot). When I saw the slide again. I just had to get that pic...hehe

 

I can't post anymore tonight.....I own a bar, and Friday is my busy night!!!

 

I'll post more tomorrow afternoon....

 

 

And to all who mentioned making lemonade......

 

"When life hands you lemons, add vodka and sugar and make LEMON DROPS!!! hehe

 

I'll be back tomorrow, and at least get us to the end of our first leg.

 

 

Gary aka cruisin USA

 

More great review! Look forward to tomorrow's! Have a great night.

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Eeyoregon

Eeyoregon

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Posted

OP: Thank you for your wonderful review and refreshing attitude!!

I know several posters have mentioned the importance of flying in the day before, etc. What hasn't been mentioned is the importance of passports, especially in your situation because had you not had passports (just cards or birth certificates) you wouldn't have been able to fly in and meet the ship, correct? There are 6 of us cruising in October and 2 in our group do not have passports and aren't getting them, sigh. But what can I do???

 

Looking forward to more!

 

Gina

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