New to CCL - Going on Destiny - anything we should know??

[kathyjack]

So we reserved our room on the Destiny today for January 23, 2005. There will be about a dozen of us - some past cruisers, some newbies. How does CCL compare to Princess, Royal Caribbean (not our favorite), Norwegian? Food, cleanliness, room sizes, entertainment? Anything you could offer would be much appreciated. Shore excursions not to be missed?

[cousinIT]

We had 6E Cabins on Spa Deck and LOVED them! We just sailed on Glory and had to have those floor to ceiling windows again! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

We did Barbados on our own and went to The Boatyard. Had a great time..cheap drinks, water trampoline, chairs for rent, jet skiis etc. Nice spot and a lot of fun. Aruba we took the local bus to the Hyatt and spent the day on their beach. St. Thomas.. we LOVE Megans Bay but it is becoming VERY crowded. Out TA just returned and went to Lindberg Beach and found it very nice and not as crowded.

We LOVE the Carnival food. Disney was good, but Carnival was the best. My sister just returned from RCI Navigator of the Seas and said the food was terrible..only 2 or 3 choices at dinner and you were SOL if you didn't like any of those she said. Carnival appears to have the largest cabins from what I have read in comparisons.

One thing though, Carnival does it right! Enjoy! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

RCI Nordic Empress 8/91
Disney Wonder 6/00
Carnival Victory 4/01
Carnival Triumph 4/02
Carnival Destiny 4/03
Carnival Glory 4/04

[GroupCruiser]

You'll love it.

Check out [url="http://www.cruisestateroom.com"]www.cruisestateroom.com[/url] for a cabin layout and a 360 degree virtual tour of cabins and public rooms, ship stats, pictures and so on.

[Nisha]

If you read several different post on here, you will find out everything there is to know about the Destiny. I am leaving on the Destiny on June 6, 2004 and this board was very helpful with all of the excursions I booked and to give me some insight to specifics. I am staying two nights pre-cruise and one night post-cruise and the information on here was EXTREMELY informative for me. I'll post my full report when I return, but in the mean time just read some of the Destiny threads. This will also be my first time on the Destiny and I'm looking forward to everything... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

Carnival Destiny 06/06/2004....The party spot
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=4169e1&cdt=2004;6;6;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[cruzn buckeye]

When you go to St. Thomas, you can take an excursion to Trunk Bay on the island of St. Johns.
Megan's Bay is beautiful on St. Thomas, but if you have never been to Trunk Bay , it is not to be missed!
Aruba has low-rise and high-rise hotels on Palm Beach. If you go to the beach in front of the low-rise hotels, it gets very windy, sand blows everywhere! BUT...if you have the taxi drop you off at the Wyndham or any of the other high-rise hotels, it is very beautiful. The wind is not as strong and you can rent chairs and beach mats to float on! We go to Tony Roma's for lunch...great ribs!!!
Have a great time!

[cruzn buckeye]

I forgot to mention that a cab will take you to these hotels...or you can take the public bus for$2.

[IKON]

Hey, its me! I didn't even realize the name until I looked again. Any more tips for us-now the count is up to 18 from a dozen. Would like info on Camp Carnival for 8 year olds also if anyone has any.

[kathyjack]

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] Hi IKON, see ya on the ship!! Only 8 months to go!!!