Carnival Destiny..any RCI cruisers been on?

[AZDCruiser]

I'm debating between AOS and Carnival Destiny for Southern Carib cruise next fall. AOS has some good "hot deals" now, but Destiny has a better price on balconies (which I am thinking I will NEED after my 1st balcony this year, haha)

 

We sailed on Carnival Inspiration this Feb and were disappointed. Our room/bedding was great, the food was good too.. but the ship itself was dark and gloomy and I felt the activities were poorly scheduled. I'm kind of afraid to go on Carnival again :o

 

Anyone who is a "usual RCI" cruiser been on this ship? What did you think?

[Sue L]

I was on Destiny last Feb. and I had been on two previous Carnival cruises which we enjoyed. I am giving you a little background so you won't misinterpret my comments as Carnival bashing.

 

Our friends had also been on the ship the year before and had problems but figured that they couldn't have still been an issue almost a year later...wrong!!!

 

 

We hated the Destiny. We had no A/C , no hot water for the first three days and then after that we had to let the water run for 20 minutes to get in warm enough to shower. Our friends has the plumbing back up through the drain and arrived back in their room to find half of it soaked. No real measures we taken either to vacuum up the water, the room steward just put towels down. It took about three days to get it to dry out.

 

The ship is terribly laid out and basically you couldn't get from here to there in a straight line. You were constantly forced to backtrack up and down stairs because you took the wrong staircase down.

 

The dining staff had way too many tables for each waiter and the service was horrible. We had a 10 top with our friends and we all arrived at the same time. Most of the nights some of us would be getting appetizers while others were getting entrees, they couldn't get the timing right for anything. Even the bar staff in the dining room was awful. A couple of nights the girl came around right when we sat down to take our pre-dinner cocktail order but didn't return with the drinks until dessert, which at that point we didn't want them. Then she had the audacity to bring us a bill for the drinks we sent back.

 

These are just a couple of examples of the problems we had. We did have a good time though because we were sailing with our friends and it became a running joke about what condition we were going to find our rooms in when we got back to them.

 

While we were on this cruise we kept seeing the AOS in port with us in several places, she really made the Destiny look poor. Several of the people in our group were newbies and they kept asking why we hadn't booked the AOS instead of what we were on.

 

It is truly the only cruise I couldn't wait to get off the ship. Granted the itinerary was amazing (Aruba was still part of the itinerary) but I wouldn't go back on that ship again if you paid me.

[AZDCruiser]

Thanks for being honest..I didn't see that as Carnival bashing..just being honest about your trip.

 

We hated the layout of the Inspiration..like you said you couldn't just go straight from here to there, it was constantly "take the stairs to get to this level, then go back down to this room.." and it wasn't even a big ship!

 

We never had a/c problems on our ship and our water was very hot (sometimes scalding..but I love that!..hubby doesn't). Mostly our problem was just the layout of the ship and the weird scheduling of activities. I agree the bar service in the DR was HORRIBLE. Took 1/2 of our meal to get a soda or beer. Also, it seemed like a more of a "party/drinking crowd" Maybe b/c it was a 4 night cruise? We are in our late 20's..by no means seniors or fuddy duddy..but it was a bit annoying.

I think we may stick with RCI..we know we love it, the ships are always great, so is the service, and we'll build up our C&A points.

[dc-snoopy]

I sailed on the Carnival Destiny two weeks ago. I have to say that if you love the ports-of-call, the S Caribbean itinerary is wonderful. We had a great time in the ports. However, if you are someone who wants/needs to enjoy the ship, then I would avoid the Destiny. The service is below par and I agree with Sue L that the layout of the ship is horrible. I also hated the price of Internet usage where you have to purchase a plan of minutes and if you want to use it in your room, you have to rent a special connector since they don't have WiFi in the rooms. If you go down to the Internet cafe, it is in this hallway off of the Onyx Lounge and the end of the Onyx bar is right next to one of the stations. There is somewhat loud jazz regularly in the Onyx bar which can be disturbing if you are on the computer. Additionally, the bar staff uses the end of the bar right next to the computers for their smoking station which floods the Internet area with smoke. Yuck.

 

I have heard on the Carnival boards that these problems are not endemic for Carnival, and that the Destiny has a reputation for being one of the worst ships in the Carnival fleet. Unless you have a strong reason to want to be on the Destiny (and price isn't it for me), I would choose the AOS.

 

For more of our problems, see my review from my sig below.

[cot427]

I too am going to the Southern Caribbean next year. The Destiny and Adventure were my two choices. The prices were great for the Destiny, but I am someone who needs to love the ports of call and the ship. The Carnival Destiny is an older ship (1996) and the service has deteriorated. The layout of the ship is bad, and the ship hasn't been taken care of. I would rather pay a little more for the Adventure to have an excellent ship and excellent ports of call. My choice would definatly be the AOS.

[Lisichka]

I too sailed the Destiny, and will have to say: never again. The ports were gorgeous, but the ship left much to be desired. The dining rooms smelled like urine, the beds collapsed, and more.

 

I love Carnival. I sail with Carnival frequently and will continue to do so. But never again on the Destiny.

[KPLIONMA]

My son and his new wife went on the Destiny for their honeymoon...BIG MISTAKE...after all the stress of the wedding they were looking forward to a peaceful and relaxing trip. Unfortunately, it didn't happen that way...their cabin had no air conditioning and when they called for repair, they were told that they would send up a fan...after 2 days of never seeing anybody, the staff finally put them in another room..of course they had to moved themselves..the only time they did enjoy the trip was in the ports. My son did NOT receive any satisfaction from Carnival and NEVER would cruise with them again.

[ndsumfun]

we were on the destiny in May. I have to say that it wasn't too bad. The ship's lay out is bad & the waiters were definitely overloaded! Everyone was very nice & the ship itself was very clean & I felt like it was well kept. We did have a/c probs but they sent someone up to fix immediately & gave us a fan to use all week! Of course, I like it COLD!

 

After two Carnival cruises I swore I would never go Carnival again but friends begged us to go......I do not want to go back on the Destiny but I'm glad that we did go this time because it did away with my fear of Carnival & I'm more apt to "try" another ship of theirs (as long as it's NEW) if I can get a good deal.

 

I can definitely tell you that if you are a Royal fan you will most likely "not" like Carnival. There are pro's & con's to both lines but Royal definitely has more pros. We too were looking at the AOS wishing we were heading over to that ship when we got there!!! Next year we are doing the Southern route again but on Crown Princess.

[cruisinone]

dont go on the Destiny the cruise director is a idiot

[PhoenixCruiser]

Honestly I haven't read many positive reviews on the Destiny, just a LOT of negative ones.

 

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[ChristieNJ]

I was on the Carnival Destiny and LOATHED it. Dark and gloomy, indeed! It was also very Vegas-like in its decor in some areas. Horrible decor and layout of the ship, in my opinion...ESPECIALLY compared to a Voyager class ship. Teal and yellow tiled pool area....booths in the dining room...no thanks! LOL :p

[travelgyalrox]

admittedly Carnival Destiny was our first cruise, but I loved it so much! It was soooo nice! The theatre was gorgeous, the rooms were very comfortable, the pool area was REALLY nice...we loved the water slide and the hot tubs! The lido deck was very enjoyable -many tasty options! The public, inside areas were very rich in design...to me it was beautiful! This was however quite a while ago...um 5 years! Of course this goes for all Carnival ships I suppose...but the food was amazing especially the softserve icecream! yummy!

 

then again, it may have degraded over the years...it seems so by these comments. I must admit, I saw Destiny in the harbour recently for the first time since we went on it and it looked very small to me, and a little shabby. That was just the outside, but first impressions count.

anyway, i am by no means putting it over RCL. Our second cruise is with them in a few weeks (mariner of the seas). We have chosen it over carnival for similar reasons.

 

just giving my honest opinion!

have fun whatever u choose!