Carnival Destiny Review with Pictures 6/11/12 to 6/16/12 - long

[mbrown2097]

We woke up and headed to breakfast after packing our bags. After breakfast my husband realized he had left his brand new Harley Davidson Nassau hat in the stateroom on a hanger. I went to the room to find the hat was gone and the door was open. They were cleaning for the next guests. I inquired about the hat to a room steward in the hall. He said he had no idea…they threw everything in the trash and showed me where the trash was. My husband’s hat was NOT in the trash and I would bet there is a Carnival employee somewhere enjoying his new hat. They hadn’t even started disembarkation! They could have held it for us or sent it to a lost and found! Oh well…just another let down for my husband. He just wanted off the ship at this point. This wasn’t to happen quickly as there was a delay getting clearance (not Carnival’s fault). We grabbed a few more cups of coffee and enjoyed our last few minutes on the ship. All that coffee was getting to me and I felt a need to find a ladies room…but the bathrooms by the Sun and Sea dining room were closed so we headed to the bathrooms by the Palladium. There was a lady cleaning the bathrooms there and she told me all the water was off on the ship and we could not use the bathroom. WHAT? I can’t get off the ship and I can’t pee either? I told her it wasn’t an option and tried to go in anyway. She held the door and refused to let me in. WOW! Well I had to go….it wasn’t an option....Carnival just needed to decide if it would be on the floor or in a bathroom somewhere. I finally found an unattended bathroom and was able to go…but this was the last straw for us! I don't mean to be petty here...but you really can't close the bathrooms on a ship with 3,000 people!

 

We had the same experience with the rest rooms. For some reason, Carnival locked many of the public restrooms and put "termporary out of service" signs on others. Then they proceeded to keep us on board for 2 more hours. They really need to get that corrected.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review, sorry it didn't go so well. Nice pictures.

[SouthKakalaki]

I am sorry about your misfortune on this trip. I appreciate your review. I was on the fantasy coming into Nassau at the same time as you. I will be posting a time lapse video of us coming into port with the destiny docking. Should have it posted at the end of my review which I am working on right now.

[caro1998]

Btw Destiny is my least favorite cruise ship to date!

And why is that?

Thanks,

Caro

[drstos]

I'm booked on Destiny for the 18-day transatlantic crossing in February 2013... I understand after our debarkation in Venice the ship will be renovated into another ship altogether... I'm a bit apprehensive about riding the Atlantic in February and also about being on a ship on it;s last leg, but we'll see... This will be my 11th cruise and I'll turn 60 on the Ocean... :confused:

[1mommyof2]

Hi! We were on this same cruise. We had a good time however not sure if we would do another cruise again either. We found the ship to be very nice as well did the motion on sea day not effect you or your family? Some crew members told us it was quite rough seas. I wore the patch but my husband who has never gotten motion sickness had to start taking some over the counter stuff by mid afternoon. The food we all enjoyed even my kids, 13, 12 and 8 liked it and they are all pretty picky. We were in the universe dining room. What I didn't like was the packed lido on embarkation day, luckily we were able to get into our room about an hour after we got on the ship. The LOUD music at all hours at the pool. We didn't go up to the lido at night, we had late dining and the kids were tired after a long day. We did enjoy the comedy as well as the other shows. We got lucky and got the first tender to half moon cay. It was the best! I thought disembarkation was completely disorganized. We went down anyway right before they started calling zones and pretty much walked right off the ship, one person asked if we had a zone something and I just said I didn't know and kept walking.

[kirstennindy]

Thanks to everyone who posted a kind comment! I did try to be as fair and honest as possible.

[kirstennindy]

We had the same experience with the rest rooms. For some reason, Carnival locked many of the public restrooms and put "termporary out of service" signs on others. Then they proceeded to keep us on board for 2 more hours. They really need to get that corrected.

 

I was told by a Carnival employee that day that they always shut the water off on the ship between 9:30am and 11:00am on the day of disembarkation. They said it wasn't usually a problem because the ship was usually empty. I wonder if this has to do with flushing or filling the tanks? Anyway, I think they should have been more flexible and realized they couldn't shut the bathrooms down when they hadn't even called the first people to exit the ship!

[kirstennindy]

I am sorry about your misfortune on this trip. I appreciate your review. I was on the fantasy coming into Nassau at the same time as you. I will be posting a time lapse video of us coming into port with the destiny docking. Should have it posted at the end of my review which I am working on right now.

 

I can't wait to see it and read your review!

[kirstennindy]

I'm booked on Destiny for the 18-day transatlantic crossing in February 2013... I understand after our debarkation in Venice the ship will be renovated into another ship altogether... I'm a bit apprehensive about riding the Atlantic in February and also about being on a ship on it;s last leg, but we'll see... This will be my 11th cruise and I'll turn 60 on the Ocean... :confused:

 

I wouldn't worry about the ship...she is still quite nice! I hope you have a great 60th!

[kirstennindy]

Hi! We were on this same cruise. We had a good time however not sure if we would do another cruise again either. We found the ship to be very nice as well did the motion on sea day not effect you or your family? Some crew members told us it was quite rough seas. I wore the patch but my husband who has never gotten motion sickness had to start taking some over the counter stuff by mid afternoon. The food we all enjoyed even my kids, 13, 12 and 8 liked it and they are all pretty picky. We were in the universe dining room. What I didn't like was the packed lido on embarkation day, luckily we were able to get into our room about an hour after we got on the ship. The LOUD music at all hours at the pool. We didn't go up to the lido at night, we had late dining and the kids were tired after a long day. We did enjoy the comedy as well as the other shows. We got lucky and got the first tender to half moon cay. It was the best! I thought disembarkation was completely disorganized. We went down anyway right before they started calling zones and pretty much walked right off the ship, one person asked if we had a zone something and I just said I didn't know and kept walking.

 

My husband and our oldest daughter did experience a little discomfort on sea day. They both took a dramamine and were fine. We noticed it was rough, but being our first cruise we weren't sure if this was just normal seas. My husband complained of vertigo for about 3 days post cruise, but I wasn't sure if this was from the seas or from having a Carnival glass bounce off his head :D. We noticed everyone was using the entire hallway when trying to walk a straight line that day! The motion only bothered me when I tried to sleep.

 

I am jealous of you getting to Half Moon Cay on the first tender!

[Tennessee Rose]

My husband complained of vertigo for about 3 days post cruise.........The motion only bothered me when I tried to sleep.

 

The smaller the ship the more you feel the motion, of course even more if the seas are up a bit. It's very common to feel like you are still using "sea legs"--walking crazy and high-stepping!---when you come off the ship. After my 1st cruise, this lasted about 3 days. I felt like I was moving when sitting still on the sofa, at work, wherever. I haven't felt this on other cruises, just my first.

 

I loved that gentle rocking motion when sleeping; it so reminded me of being rocked by my mother when I was a baby. Yes, I truly have memory of that motion. :)

 

For motion illness---I take ginger pills, took a case of gingerale on 1 cruise, and have patches and seabands as backup!

[oncruisecontrol]

There are some things that carnival does so well. We loved the entertainment and loved the great food! We also liked the variety in the ports on this trip. Overall we had a pretty good vacation. We are pretty laid back people and usually don’t get worked up over little things. We try to go with the flow and have fun no matter what...but this trip was trying for us. It seemed that every bad experience we had (except for the bathroom thing and having to lug my own bags) happened to my poor husband. He had 5 drinks spilled on his head….ruined a shirt, a pair of shorts, and a hat…was unable to tour the ship…and unable to rent a sailboat…and he had a new hat disappear. Maybe it was just a lot of bad luck or maybe a cruise just isn’t for us…but I think our next trip will be back at an all-inclusive in Jamaica. If this is par for a cruise…I just honestly feel this isn’t the best option for our hard earned vacation money. I feel that every issue was a basic customer service issue that could have been resolved with better trained employees! I hope I don’t upset anyone with this report. I tried to be as fair and honest as I could! I can see a great value to cruising…there were things we loved…and I think we just had a big handful of bad luck. I wish you all the best in your cruising…and maybe someday I will talk my husband into a cruise again…but I doubt it! If you are planning a cruise on the Destiny…go and have a great time without worry…she is a beautiful ship and this was a great itenerary!

 

I have more general pictures of the ship I will look through and post!

 

Thank you for posting your candid review. I really enjoyed reading it. Customer service issues (such as the spilled drinks on your husband) are best handled by the persons at the Guest Services Desk (a definite inconvenience, I know). But, I am confident they would have laundered his clothing at no charge or offered a small onboard credit if the stains could not be removed. With regard to disembakation day, we are always among some of the last to leave the ship because we live locally and have no early flight to catch, therefore we are issued a high zone number like in the 30's. What we do is leave all of our things in the cabin while we go to breakfast. After breakfast, we go back to the cabin to collect our things. All the while we are listening carefully to see what zone number is being called. Only when they start moving rapidly through the numbers is when we make our final exit from the cabin, but......Only after making an uber-thorough check that we have not left anything behind, and only after using the cabin toilet, do we exit the cabin, leaving the door open behind us. We have developed this routine over the years after having experienced some of the ills you described. This routine is our failsafe system.

 

If you do give cruising another try, you undoubtedly will use your first experience as a learning one (we certainly did 10 years ago). I again, thank you for your very well-done review, but I do have a question: It has been some years that I have stayed at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica, what hotels would you recommend based on your experiences there?

[kirstennindy]

It has been some years that I have stayed at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica, what hotels would you recommend based on your experiences there?

 

The all-inclusives in Jamaica vary a lot...so it depends on what you are looking for (romantic, party, fitness, family). I prefer the Negril area...it started as a laid back fishing village. Negril has a rule that no building can be taller than the largest palm tree...so it keeps the mega resorts out and you get nice mid-sized resorts. Negril has 3 main areas....the cliffs on the west-end, 7 mile beach, and bloody bay. I prefer the 7 mile beach area...it is great to walk and the beach is beautiful! I have stayed at Breezes Grand Resort and Spa (used to be called Grand Lido) and Couples Swept Away. Couples Swept Away is on 7 mile beach. It is a wonderful romantic resort with a very nice fitness complex...but tends to lack a little on the night life imho (I haven't been here in years). Breezes Grand Resort and Spa is nice, but it is on Bloody Bay and is starting to show its age a little from its glory-days as Grand Lido. I have heard nice things about Couples Negril also. Most of these resorts are adult only...Beaches Negril is probably #1 for a family in Negril. There are other resorts in Jamaica that offer a vacation Nanny though (FDR in Runaway Bay)...if you have small children this might be a big plus! If you ever go to Negril I recommend flying in on Tim Air from MoBay...it is a great experience!

[girlscruise2011]

Thanks for the honest review. I was on the Destiny in May and I had a great trip. I loved the ports but I agree that they have a problem with the tenders at Half Moon Cay. We had a cabana so was suppose to have priority on the tenders along with 500 other people. Needless to say, we didn't get to the island until about 11am, an hour after we got to HMC.

 

They really need to get a good system on the ship. Lots of bigger ships tender at ports and you don't read about many problems. You are the 2nd review since I've been back that had tender issues. So now I know it wasn't just our sailing.

[Dallen*]

I'm so glad you decided to post a review. I did a review of our very first cruise too (Dec 2010), but just haven't taken the time to do ones for the other two since. If you don't mind, maybe I can throw out some of our thoughts for this particular cruise too.

 

Basically, we did not prefer this smaller ship and will not choose this class again for future cruises. Our previous two cruises were on Freedom and Valor. The larger ships had refrigerators in the rooms, 2 buffet areas, Serenity area, Mongolian Grill, more options for Comedy Club, adult swimming area in the aft, and I think a little better stabilizers. Although none of us had any problems with movement.

 

We learned a long time ago to show up early at tender ports - usually 20-30 minutes before the stated time. Sorry, you weren't aware of that little secret! :( Although it did seem there were some delays getting clearance, we were off in group 3 and enjoying HMC in speedy time.

 

One ISSUE I did encounter was food poisoning! We had anytime dining in the Galaxy and thoroughly enjoyed all of our servers and meals (I too LOVE the bitter and blanc). However, on Tuesday night about 1.5 hours after eating dinner I was sicker than a dog. Since I've had food poisoning before, I knew exactly what it was. I was so disappointed because I thought I was going to miss Grand Turk the next day. Fortunately, I was up and alive by 10am so we snuck off the ship and just relaxed on the beach. My plans for hiking over to Governor's Beach and snorkeling were now dead. We did, however, stop at Jack's Shack and DH had the Turks beer you pictured. We gave Topher a quick pet and moved on. No shots for me (stomach was still on the mend). We then wandered over to Local Village Bar and the DH tried their jerk chicken and another brew (both very good & less expensive). We really enjoyed this area of the beach and pretty much hung out there the rest of the day.

 

I also had the same experience as you finding the restrooms closed while waiting to disembark. Somehow I got lucky and found a restroom open by the buffet area, so I didn't think too much about it at the time.

 

I honestly think your experience was just a slew of bad luck - which is so unfortunate. We received excellent service from the entire crew (loved our steward) and had a very enjoyable week. I really hope you don't let this one cruise prevent you from future cruises. My advice would be to pick a little larger and newer ship. I think you'll enjoy the added amenities the larger ships have. That, along with what you've already learned, should help make the next one much better.

 

ps We're in one of your pictures on sail away! DH is in a light blue tank top with HI on the back. The girls and I are to his right. :)

[oncruisecontrol]

The all-inclusives in Jamaica vary a lot...so it depends on what you are looking for (romantic, party, fitness, family). I prefer the Negril area...it started as a laid back fishing village. Negril has a rule that no building can be taller than the largest palm tree...so it keeps the mega resorts out and you get nice mid-sized resorts. Negril has 3 main areas....the cliffs on the west-end, 7 mile beach, and bloody bay. I prefer the 7 mile beach area...it is great to walk and the beach is beautiful! I have stayed at Breezes Grand Resort and Spa (used to be called Grand Lido) and Couples Swept Away. Couples Swept Away is on 7 mile beach. It is a wonderful romantic resort with a very nice fitness complex...but tends to lack a little on the night life imho (I haven't been here in years). Breezes Grand Resort and Spa is nice, but it is on Bloody Bay and is starting to show its age a little from its glory-days as Grand Lido. I have heard nice things about Couples Negril also. Most of these resorts are adult only...Beaches Negril is probably #1 for a family in Negril. There are other resorts in Jamaica that offer a vacation Nanny though (FDR in Runaway Bay)...if you have small children this might be a big plus! If you ever go to Negril I recommend flying in on Tim Air from MoBay...it is a great experience!

 

Thanks for your reply. I've been to Negril, but it was thirteen years ago. And the resorts were kind of old-looking even then, IMHO. We are all adults (not couples though, as this would be for the all-girls-leave-the-husbands/boyfriends-at-home getaway). I was at Grand Lido Negril 13 yrs ago, but did not realize that it is now called Breezes Grand Resort and Spa. When I look at that area of Negril on GoogleMaps Satelite, it looks like there is a "new" (well, new since I was there) property built next door to the Breezes Grand Resort and Spa. Are you familiar with this resort?

[1mommyof2]

When we got home it took almost 5 days for the rocking motion to go away! Not sure why it lasted so long but we did have a long drive home from Miami to Iowa so that could have been why.

 

I had to comment again on the tendering processes at half moon cay. Yes, we did manage to get the first tender. We were the 2 nd people to deck 2 waiting at the stairs and we did arrive there about 9:05. We did have an excursion at 1030. With that being said, when I saw who was " organizing" the tendering process I laughed. It was the girl who had been running the lazer tag the night before, omg, what a cluster that was. It started out pretty good she had a line forming for everyone that was coming down and that seemed to be going pretty good until people started showing up saying they had gone to the palladium and got tender tickets and they told them to go ahead and come to deck 2 as well. The line for people who were supposed to be getting that first tender and had excursions was extremely long at that point. People started swarming in the area between the elevators, these were people who came from palladium an had no excursions. When they finally started letting people on the tender they let all of those people in the elevators area get on first!! Then they started from the line and our family of 5, the 2 nd group in line, was the last people they let on!! The tender wasn't full by any means either!! Now we had some friends that were further back in the line and they had a cabana, they got the 2 nd tender which did arrive about 15 mins or so after our tender arrived, but people who had no excursions also came over on that boat! I know this because we were with a big group and one of the families that came over on that 2 nd tender had came down to deck 2 before we left and looked at line and said they had no excursion but somehow they managed to get on that boat. They never checked with anyone getting on the tenders to ensure they had excursion tickets. I couldn't believe how many people in our group didn't get over to the island until 1:30 or even 2:00! I agree, carnival needs to do something about this process!!!!!

[mbrown2097]

When we got home it took almost 5 days for the rocking motion to go away! Not sure why it lasted so long but we did have a long drive home from Miami to Iowa so that could have been why.

 

I had to comment again on the tendering processes at half moon cay. Yes, we did manage to get the first tender. We were the 2 nd people to deck 2 waiting at the stairs and we did arrive there about 9:05. We did have an excursion at 1030. With that being said, when I saw who was " organizing" the tendering process I laughed. It was the girl who had been running the lazer tag the night before, omg, what a cluster that was. It started out pretty good she had a line forming for everyone that was coming down and that seemed to be going pretty good until people started showing up saying they had gone to the palladium and got tender tickets and they told them to go ahead and come to deck 2 as well. The line for people who were supposed to be getting that first tender and had excursions was extremely long at that point. People started swarming in the area between the elevators, these were people who came from palladium an had no excursions. When they finally started letting people on the tender they let all of those people in the elevators area get on first!! Then they started from the line and our family of 5, the 2 nd group in line, was the last people they let on!! The tender wasn't full by any means either!! Now we had some friends that were further back in the line and they had a cabana, they got the 2 nd tender which did arrive about 15 mins or so after our tender arrived, but people who had no excursions also came over on that boat! I know this because we were with a big group and one of the families that came over on that 2 nd tender had came down to deck 2 before we left and looked at line and said they had no excursion but somehow they managed to get on that boat. They never checked with anyone getting on the tenders to ensure they had excursion tickets. I couldn't believe how many people in our group didn't get over to the island until 1:30 or even 2:00! I agree, carnival needs to do something about this process!!!!!

 

Hello, The "swarming" line that formed at the elevators was not from the palladium. It was caused by Jason (staff member) who walked from the back of the line to the front calling for all 10:30 shore excursions to follow him. He claimed that they would miss their excurisions if they were not allowed to cut. He completely short circuited the line. Very Very poor decisions by Carnival in my opinion. 10:30s should have had their own location to meet along with cabanas. I think my 10 yr old could orchestrate the process better than the staff on the Destiny.

[1mommyof2]

Wow! Too bad Jason never bothered to ask the front part of the line what time they had excursions!! We really got lucky to get on that first tender! He left cabana people behind too. A complete mess was what it was. Funny thing is when we got over my son and I were doing the sting rays, the excursion info desk at the island where you have to sign the release, we were like the only ones there, maybe justa handful of other people checked in there from that first boat. It wasn't until the 2 nd boat came that it got busy. Btw, I thought the excursion organization wasa mess as well. Our stingray excursion was supposed to start at1030, but we sat around in the blazing heat by the fountain till just after 11 before they finally called the group to go.

[irish_scouter]

Great review and pics... Can't wait to read more! I am going on this trip in August!

 

caro1998 - When in Aug? We will be on the ship the last 2 weeks.

 

Irish:cool:

[luvmy2kids]

Thanks for the honest review. We will be on this itinerary and ship in October.

[jdvmd]

Thanks for your review. You sound like you did take everything with a grain of salt and not let it bother you. I applaud you for that. I don't think I would have been that calm. A lot of other cruisers would have been demanding their cruise for free.

I agree with the poster that a trip to the Guest Services desk would have yielded some results regarding the laundry as bar servers/bartenders are not able to make those kinds of decisions. That is not to say that one of them should not have attempted to call a bar manager to the scene.

Thanks again for your review. I hope the sun always shines bright no matter where you vacation.

[caro1998]

caro1998 - When in Aug? We will be on the ship the last 2 weeks.

 

Irish:cool:

I will be on August 2nd cruise :)

[ourfamilylovescruising]

It looks like you have been on plenty! Have you seen much difference with customer service between the different lines? If so which line might offer better customer service?

 

 

Every cruise line has it pros and cons and Carnival has lots of fun but lacks one on one service. there are 3 kinds of cruise line main stream, Carnival,royal,ncl and disney then there are premium Celebrity,Princess,Holland are the big ones then there is luxcury Crytal, Cunard,Oceania,Silver sea

 

For Main stream maybe you should check out a suite on NCL you cant beat the price for what you get.

we love celebrity because they do alot of little extras that make you fell special.

 

as for you husbands hat I think I would of gone down to guest services and they would of found that hat, I am sure sometimes when we talk to people in the halls they only have listen because they are just trying to hurry and get ready for the next set of people.

if you like all exclusives I am sure you will prefer a more premium cruise line.:)

 

good luck on your next vacation and thanks for your review