*Does anyone have any tips/recommendations on Destiny?*

[Skyev21]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm sailing on Destiny for the first time ever & would LOVE any last minute tips or recommendations.

 

I'm gonna join that 'balcony club' I've been hearing so much about on here. lol! ;)

Also this will be our first time in a balcony & was lucky enough to grab an aft balcony.

 

Can't wait to sit back (with drink in hand) & watch the wake. :)

 

So, please post anything you know about this ship.

I'd love to hear it all.

 

And how do I control my excitement?!?!

Going crazy over here!:eek::D

 

Gotta finish packing & purchasing those last minute items today.

 

Here's my list so far, feel free to add to it...

 

Here's my checklist:

(I actually check them off as I pack & w/this cruise I'll have 3 check marks on each item cuz this is our 3rd cruise this year!)

 

Cash (small bills & $50 singles)

Verify ID, Docs, Fun Pass

Luggage tags & locks

Toiletries

Jewelry & Make-up

Video Camera & Extra Battery (Charged)

Carry on Bag - W/docs. ID, chg of clothes, bathing suit, sandals

Bathing Suits - 2

Binoculars

Camera - Disposable, Disp. Underwater

Books, Mags

Sunscreen

Sweater - 1

Shirts - 5

Shorts - 5

Sneakers & Sandals

Formal Wear - 2 (not sure how many on this ship?)

Dress Shoes

Cell Phone Charger

Socks

I-Pod (charged)

Bonine

Clothesline clips (dry bathing suits on balcony chairs) (Maybe ?)

Door wedge (keeps balcony door open)

Beach Bag

Snorkel Sets

12 pack of Pepsi

12 pack of water

Bacardi

Wine (Conundrum)/Champagne

Wine opener

Ashtray

Batteries

 

Just started (fully) charging the batt's for the video cam.

 

 

YIPPEE!!!!!!!! :D

 

Now if I could just get through the next...

[aggieastrosfan]

There's only one formal night on this ship, so there's one thing off your list!

 

If you gamble, look for Diana, a waitress in the casino. I never went without a drink, she found me as soon as I sat down every night!

 

Be careful on those aft balconies, they're not private. Your neighbors can peek around the dividers and see your entire balcony. We used to stand by the divider with our neighbors and chat a lot. Actually, when I went outside I would always look over there and see if they were out, so be careful! ;)

 

Leave the clothespins at home, the shower has a string you can pull across to hang up bathing suits. Leave the ashtray, also, your steward will bring one for you, and give you a clean one every time he/she cleans the cabin.

 

I don't know if Damian will still be in the piano bar by the time you sail, but if he is, make sure to pay him a visit, he is wonderful!

 

Destiny has its minor problems like all other ships, but we had a great time, and I'm sure you will, too. :)

[kelz66]

The aft pool area is a great quiet place to relax and enjoy the ship without the usual lido deck "distractions". :rolleyes::p

 

Also..in the morning...there is an omlette station set up in the deli (or dely as the sign says...LOL) not many people know this so the line was shoer...they have all the hot sides there too so you can get a complete meal there in one short line.

 

;)

[Skyev21]

Great!

I'll definitely check that out.

 

Appreciate the info. :)

[hazeleyes]

Destiny was my first cruise ship ever, and it set the tone for all the cruises i've been on. It got me hooked (in other words) :). I loved our cruise and the ship was beautiful. When we sailed it - it was out of San Juan PR the first two days were a bit rocky but after that it was wonderful. I'll always love destiny.

[Skyev21]

Destiny was my first cruise ship ever, and it set the tone for all the cruises i've been on. It got me hooked (in other words) :). I loved our cruise and the ship was beautiful. When we sailed it - it was out of San Juan PR the first two days were a bit rocky but after that it was wonderful. I'll always love destiny.

 

Wow! Looks like u know what you're talking about!

 

I can't count how many you've been on.

 

Hope my list looks like yours in a few years!

 

...Working hard on it.

 

Thanks for your insight.

 

I'm soooooo excited!!!!!

 

Don't know how I'm gonna sleep these next few days. lol!

[tha sista]

Ditto on Aggieastrofan's review of Diana the bar waitress! she is the absolute greatest!!!

[falkcor]

go find the front deck through the secret doors all the way forward on every deck with balconies...

 

it's really nice out there (but a little windy sometimes!), and typically you'll be the only ones out there! here's a pic

 

 

btw, that pic is taken from the bridge. you can ask the captain to tour it at the reception if you like, or at the pursers desk. but asking the captain, is just more... cool.

[Skyev21]

go find the front deck through the secret doors all the way forward on every deck with balconies...

 

it's really nice out there (but a little windy sometimes!), and typically you'll be the only ones out there! here's a pic

 

 

btw, that pic is taken from the bridge. you can ask the captain to tour it at the reception if you like, or at the pursers desk. but asking the captain, is just more... cool.

 

Wow great!

 

Thanks Falkcor! I'll take your word cuz i've read your reviews and loved it!

 

I'll definitely hunt down that captain for a tour!

 

Always wanted to try that.

 

Thanks for the tip.;)

[winddawn]

Here is the text of a post I made last month about my Destiny cruise:

 

DH and I just returned from our Carnival Destiny cruise yesterday. I want to immediately put to rest the negativity about this ship. Destiny looks great. Is she a new ship? No. Is she a nice ship? Yes! And what a great value too. We did see ongoing maintenance taking place, but no more than we've seen on any of our past dozen or so cruises on Carnival or other lines. We did not see a lot of families on board, and were surprised that the majority of passengers seemed to be a 40+ crowd with many seniors! Our itinerary included a sea day, Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau, Monday through Saturday.

 

We flew into MIA a day early, and stayed at the Intercontintal Hotel downtown for a fabulous price using betterbidding and easyclicktravel web sites. We had a pool view room and could also see the bay from our window. Cab fare for two people including a generous tip was $30 from MIA to our downtown hotel, and from port to MIA (each way). We walked to Bayside Marketplace from the hotel and had dinner at Chili's restaurant. They have great margaritas! This restaurant adds an automatic 15% gratuity to all checks. We had great service that was well worth this (I always expect the worst when the server is guaranteed a certain tip). Their food was a little pricey, but they have a nice selection and we found the staff friendly. This restaurant has an outside eating area available overlooking the bay. There is also a separate smoking bar outside of the main restaurant , and indoors is smoke free.

 

We enjoyed a balcony cabin on Empress Deck on Carnival Destiny. Our cabin did not have the new LCD TV. Our cabin steward Juan was fabulous. We did not want for anything in our cabin this past week. After experiencing a cabin that was too warm for my liking in August on Fascination, I was pleased that our Destiny cabin was comfortably cool all week. The only bathroom amenities we had were razors (in the clam shell looking bowl). Our balcony had a small metal table and two metal chairs. We had nice robes in our cabin. We always enjoy Carnival's bedding. The ship's public areas were clean and well maintained. Everywhere we went on ship, crew members were cleaning something!

 

We chose not to visit the dining room, and took all of our meals from the buffet, deli, grill, pizzaria, and room service. The buffet selection was decent, and the food tasted good. I especially enjoyed the homemade soups available each evening on the buffet. The buffet had prime rib and shrimp one evening. Other evening selections through the week included roast turkey and dressing (great dressing!), salmon, tilapia, varied pastas, jerk pork loin, and eye of beef round. A small salad bar was available each evening, and the items did not vary. Caesar salad (pre-tossed with dressing) was also available. I would have enjoyed a better cooked vegetable selection. Breakfast was standard Carnival buffet fare. The omelet stations stayed busy during breakfast hours. My omelet was served with a smile every morning. I found Chocolate Melting Cake as a dessert selection almost every evening at the buffet. Our Carnival Capers showed that ice cream sundaes and milk shakes were available, but we did not find them except for the milk shakes available for a fee in the for-a-fee coffee shop. Room service was typical for Carnival, and took between 20 and 40 minutes for delivery to our cabin. Our room service was not always correct (we didn't get what we ordered twice). The Asian window near the Lido buffet was not serving Asian. I only saw the window open during breakfast hours, and they had breakfast pastries out.

 

The thing that impressed me most about this cruise was the staff. This was the friendliest staff that we have ever experienced on a cruise ship. Every crew member that we encountered greeted us with a smile, and we were addressed by name often. The only glitch was that service on deck was not as available as we thought it should be. More often than not, we had to leave our deck chairs to get our own drinks from the bar. Bar staff was great though. The adults area bar always had pitchers of ice water available on a tray with plastic glasses. I thought this was a nice touch.

 

The adults serenity area wasn't very serene. It was just adults having fun though. It just seems like the "serene" label doesn't describe this area. It was great not having kids running around screaming or splashing in the pool though. The couple of times that we saw kids get in the adults pool or whirlpools, a very nice man in a white uniform came and kindly asked them to leave. :-) The adults serenity area did not have any kind of signage that I could see except for a small sign, "adults only," inside the pool facing aft behind a high wall near the water line. You would really have to look for it to see it. In fairness, they need a large sign announcing this as the adults area. I would have enjoyed some low, soft, relaxing music in this area, but there was no music at all. The mounted speakers for announcements were way too loud. If you were near them, they would temporarily deafen you if an announcement was made!

 

The thing that disappointed me was the new large screen on Lido deck. This could be a great asset to a cruise, but instead all we saw on it was CNN and MTV videos. I was also disappointed by the music in public areas. Acid rock music for breakfast is not my idea of how I want to start my day (in the buffet area inside), and I don't think the majority of passengers appreciated the rap music blaring from the big screen much of the week. This cruise seemed to be a mostly older crowd to me. I would have loved to have had some Caribbean style music on deck during non-live music time.

 

Grand Turk was beautiful in spite of the hurricane damage. This island of about 4,000 people still bears the scars of hurricane Ike. Blue tarps dot the roofs of most structures, and folded aluminum and other debris are still visible from the port. There seems to be a lot of roof damage and clean up work left to be done. I saw no mention of the passengers getting involved in the clean up efforts, but we did see some people out picking up debris along the beach. We assumed these were crew members. The beach area starts right at the end of the pier as you exit the ship. The shopping area is intact although we saw a few boarded windows, and a few of the shops remain closed. Margaritaville was open for business. Someone told us they have the largest swimming pool in the Caribbean (??). It does indeed have a nice swim up bar. :-) The flow rider remains closed since the hurricane. The coarse white sand is still littered with a minimal amount of debris like pieces of roofing shingles, but was very nice and certainly seemed safe. There were ample lounge chairs on the beach. You won't find cheap T-shirts in the terminal shopping area. This shopping area is nicer than many you see in the Caribbean. There was a one-man reggae band playing in the shopping area. This is a beautiful port of call that I would enjoy returning to on a future Carnival cruise.

 

My favorite part of the cruise was Half Moon Cay. We rented the peach cabana and spent the whole day there after tendering over from the ship. Our cabana had a mister, a misting fan, an air conditioner, a shower, float mats, and snorkel gear with fins. Carnival staff delivered our choice of soft drinks and water, sliced fruit and chips and salsa, and a vegetable tray with dip (although we had to share these with the ants and a bird--we didn't mind though--the bird was good entertainment--I figured I owed it to him for sharing his island with me). The outdoor beach party included hamburgers and hot dogs and jerk chicken. What can I say about Half Moon Cay? I can't wait to go back to this island! The sand is clean powdery white and the water is pristine. You could see small tropical fish swimming around in the clear shallow water. This island is nothing short of a tropical paradise. The sight of the Carnival Destiny in the distance from the shore of this playground is one that I won't soon forget. That alone was worth the price of the cruise.

 

We visited the casino at Paradise Island in Nassau. The cab ride was the usual ride-at-your-own-risk one for $4 to $5 each way per person depending on who you ask. We've been to Nassau several times, and this is not one of my favorite ports, so I won't elaborate.

 

I would definitely go on this cruise again. I love Carnival, and the Destiny is a beautiful ship with special touches. When we got home yesterday, I was already dreaming about our upcoming Christmas Carnival Glory cruise before I had even finished our vacation laundry. Sigh. Two more Carnival cruises before I get free Platinum laundry service onboard. I was welcomed home with a price drop on my Glory cruise which the Carnival rep gave to me in shipboard credit. Life is good.

[GoinCruisin]

 

The adults serenity area wasn't very serene. It was just adults having fun though. It just seems like the "serene" label doesn't describe this area. It was great not having kids running around screaming or splashing in the pool though. The couple of times that we saw kids get in the adults pool or whirlpools, a very nice man in a white uniform came and kindly asked them to leave. :-) The adults serenity area did not have any kind of signage that I could see except for a small sign, "adults only," inside the pool facing aft behind a high wall near the water line. You would really have to look for it to see it. In fairness, they need a large sign announcing this as the adults area. I would have enjoyed some low, soft, relaxing music in this area, but there was no music at all. The mounted speakers for announcements were way too loud. If you were near them, they would temporarily deafen you if an announcement was made!

 

The Destiny doesn't have a Serenity Adult area... only the Fantasy Class ships have those... the Destiny has an adult POOL and HOT TUB ... but it's not an adults only area, kids can be back there, they just can't get in the pool or hot tub. But it's not an adults only area... I wish it was!!!! LOL! Also, we were on the 2 cruises before you and I don't recall CNN or MTV... we had football games, concerts, movies, etc. It was great. The music played on our cruises (piped in) was a little too low key... but we had plenty of caribbean music on deck played by the band... so it was fine.

 

I agree though, Destiny was a great ship! The nickname by those on the ship is the Deathstar, which cracked me up... apparently it was an experiment design, and I do prefer the Conquest... but it was interesting. If you look really closely you will see the flaws and work that needs to be done, but if you are having fun, you will probably never notice!!! It's a great ship with a great crew and staff!!!!

 

Mer, Damian got off the same day we did to head to LA, ours was his last week on Carnival...

[Socref124]

 

I'm gonna join that 'balcony club' I've been hearing so much about on here. lol! ;)

 

Be careful on your balcony. Don't forget that people on the decks above you might be able to see you as well, depending on where you are being initiated...:D

[Skyev21]

Be careful on your balcony. Don't forget that people on the decks above you might be able to see you as well, depending on where you are being initiated...:D

 

LMAO!!!

 

We're on the top!

...so watch out below!!!

 

Heard there's a chance of showers! lol! :D

[*Luv2Cruz*]

Ask if the singing Maitre’d Jean Pierre is on duty and eat in his dining room. When we were on the Destiny he was in the Galaxy. He who was fabulous!:cool:

[cruisetobeaches]

LMAO!!!

 

We're on the top!

...so watch out below!!!

 

Heard there's a chance of showers! lol! :D