Carnival Destiny
by Au48@aol.com
Western Caribbean
June 27, 1999
PREVIOUS CRUISES
Overall, this was my 7th cruise, but it was my first on Carnival Cruise Lines. My previous cruises include Premier's Big Red Boat Oceanic to the Bahamas, Celebrity's Zenith to the Western Caribbean, Majesty Cruise Line's Royal Majesty (now NCL's Norwegian Majesty) to Bermuda, Holland America Line's Veendam to the Eastern Caribbean, Holland America's Westerdam to the Eastern Caribbean, and finally, Princess' Crown Princess to Alaska (Northbound Vancouver to Anchorage). Since we had already cruised the "upscale" lines, I guess we were a little bit skeptical about cruising the Destiny...we shouldn't have been because this cruise was excellent!
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THE DESTINY
In the Carnival brochure, it is stated that the Carnival Destiny is "a destination unto herself." This statement could not have been more accurate. When we first came aboard this monster ship, we were in awe of the Rotunda atrium. Rising nine stories to a glass dome on the top, with four glass elevators, the Rotunda was truly the heart of the Destiny. The Flagship Bar at the bottom of the Rotunda was a great gathering place as well as a favorite spot for people watching. Lining the Rotunda is an array of shops, the photo gallery, and the pursers desk along with the shore excursions desk. I'm not going to go into great detail as to all the public areas on the Destiny, simply because that would take all day! However, I will point out some highlights of the ship. The Palladium show lounge is a three story theater where the main shows take place. With seating for 1,700 guests, this is the largest show room on any cruise ship at the moment. On Destiny's way; the inside Promenade for which Carnival is famous for, there are many lounges, bars, and night spots. With a walk down Destiny's way, one could hit most of the ship's public rooms. There is the Millionaire's Club Casino, the Destiny Bar, Cafe on the Way, the Point After Disco, Cheers, Apollo Bar, Downbeat, and Criterion. My favorite room out of these is the Point After Disco. This place was jamming until 3:00 AM every morning. The walls were lined with hundreds of TV screens to produce a really neat effect. Another favorite was the Apollo Bar where many piano sing-alongs took place. The Destiny has two two-floored main restaraunts, the Universe and Galaxy. Up top, Destiny has a tiered pool area which includes the famous 214 foot waterslide, two pools, and three jacuzzis. Also in this vacinity is the Sun and Sea Restaraunt as well as the pool in the back with the sliding roof atop it. Overall, the Destiny was by far, the best ship I've been on when it comes to the ship itself.
CABINS
We were in cabin number 6329, a category 8 balcony cabin on Upper Deck right next to the aft staircase. This cabin was a very good size, we had enough room for four people. The thing that made this room, obviously, was the balcony. I was kind of worried that the balcony would not be that big, but I was wrong. We fit 7 people out on our balcony comfortably at one time! The balcony was as wide as the cabin was, and about four feet deep. It included a plastic chair, table, and lounger. The door had a lock on it and was basically a huge window. The door and the actual window for the room gave us a great view of the sea especially since the balcony railing is made of glass so you can see from inside your room. Having a balcony made this cruise so much more enjoyable, it truly was worth the extra money. Our room had enough drawer space for three people, but it was a little tight with clothes for four. The bathroom was average sized, I'm 6'4" and I fit in the shower fine. Carnival only provides soap, so bring shampoo and everything else yourself, or you can purchase it in a shop on board. Also, if you need ice and can't find your room steward, ice machines are located on each floor.
SERVICE
Considering that we had a completely full ship of 3,400 passengers, the service was very good. Our Room Steward, Delvin from St. Vincent was very good. However, we rarely saw him, he was like a ghost! You leave the room for ten minutes, come back and its all made up! He made a different creature from a towell every night which was really kind of neat...it was new for us since we hadn't been on Carnival before. Whenever we needed to get something from Delvin, we just paged him, and he showed up at our room in minutes...he was a very good cabin steward. As far as service in the dining room is concerned, it was also good. The Destiny runs the single largest dining operation on any cruise ship...serves 4,500 people every night (including crew). The first three nights, we had three different tables (each on the Upper Level of the Universe Dining Room), each with good waiters and busboys, but we finally landed at our permanent table on the third night. Our waiter Duarte, and our busboy Lucilo (or "Lucy" as we called him) were excellent. They were very friendly, funny, and delivered our meals with very good speed. Lucy remembered our favorite drinks the first night we had him, and had them waiting when we came to dinner each night. Though the service was good all over the ship, the best service and treatment that we received came from our Maitre'd, Haryano. We were given late seating the first night, but we had requested early seating. Haryano quickly moved us to early seating the next evening. That night, we had a problem with our table (not enough room for four people), so Haryano again moved us to another table. This new table was perfect, it was right in between the window and the orchestra area in the dining room. While changing our tables, Haryano was very friendly, and he checked up on us every morning and every night at dinner, he truly did help make our cruise better. Overall, the service on the Destiny was good, not excellent like some other cruises we have been on (Holland America), but very good considering the passenger load.
FOOD
Allright, this is the category where I feel that Carnival does not get enough credit. The food we had on the Destiny, in my opinion, was the best that we've had on any of our previous cruises (yes, even better than Celebrity...ohhh shocking isn't it?). I'm going to break my food critique down into categories. First, the Dining Room food. We ate 6 of our breakfasts, 2 lunches, and every dinner in the Universe Dining Room. Every meal was prepared beautifully, and everything that I had was excellent. The breakfast menu was the same every morning, but that was fine by me since I got Eggs Benedict every morning...yummy! Lunch was also very good, but I don't remember exactly what was on the menu. Dinners were excellent. The "Starters" which consisted of hot and cold appetizers along with soups were very tasty and interesting...very good shrimp cocktails. The salads were great as well, especially the Caesar salads. The entrees were almost perfect. Each night, there were 7 or 8 entrees you could choose from which really impressed me. Everything I ordered was wonderful, especially the lobster and Veal Parmigean (sp?) The Next Area I'll cover is the Sun & Sea Restaraunt. This huge area on lido deck consisted of two buffets by the pool, two main buffet lines, a salad bar, The Trattoria, Happy Valley, The 24 hour Pizzeria,ice cream and frozen yogurt machines, and the Grill. First of all, the main buffet lines served breakfast, lunch,and dinner. Although we did not eat here for dinner, the breakfast and lunch buffets were excellent. The Salad Bar had lots of fresh vegetables and dressings...it was very good. The Grill serves hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and grilled chicken sandwiches on french bread. The burgers were very juicy and delicious as was the chicken sandwich. The Pizzeria was a highlight of the ship! Here, six types of pizza, caesar salad, and garlic rolls were served. The pizza was so good. I ate at least three slices a day! This pizza was definately the best I've ever had on a cruise ship. Also, the Caesar salad they served here was excellent! I love caesar salads, and the one this place made was one of the best salads I've ever had! So as everyone can tell, I personally loved Carnival's food. Like I said, I think they should get much more credit for the great food that exists on their ships.
NAUTICA SPA AND GYM
Well, I didn't just eat on this cruise, I worked out everyday too. The facilities on the Destiny are second to none! The gym itself was huge. There were treadmills, stairmasters, bikes, ski machines, free weights, and many wieght machines. The machines were especially neat because instead of using weight as resistance, these machines use air pressure as resistance. To increase or decrease the "weight" all you have to do is press a button. I just thought this was really cool! Atop the gym is a skylight which shines down on the two jacuzzis and the Aerobics room and Juice Bar upstairs. There is a male and female locker room with showers, saunas, and steam rooms. These are definately the best workout facilities I've seen on any ship, very impressed!
ENTERTAINMENT AND ACTIVITIES
First of all, the entertainment organized by cruise director Haste Merchant was excellent. During the course of our cruise, we had three comedians, a magician, a juggler, and two production shows. The first comedian, Al Earnst was by far the best. Nothing against the other two, but this guy was great! He hosts the show "A View From the Cheap Seats" on ESPN. The other two comedians were also very good. I did not get to see the juggler, but from what I heard, he was pretty good as well. Our magician was awesome! He did many mind boggling tricks, followed by a grand finale in which he made an airplane appear on stage with a Carnival Destiny paint job on it! I also didn't see the production shows, but the rest of my family thought they were absolutely amazing. I didn't miss them though, because after 7 cruises, big shows like that get a little old for me. As far as activities are concerned, lets just say you will always have something to do on this ship. I'm not going to go into the specifics, but there was almost always something happening on board the Carinval Destiny.
NIGHTLIFE
If you want to go on a cruise where you can party late into the night, then this is DEFINATELY the ship for you. At night, this ship is alive! From music, to sing alongs, to karaoke, to the casino, to the disco, the Destiny almost never sleeps. I know for a fact that every night, the disco was open until 3 or 4 am. This was a little different for us considering the last three cruises we have done were with Holland America twice and Princess...both lines were "asleep" by midnight. The abundant nightlife on the Destiny really adds to the FUN FUN FUN atmosphere!
WHO GOES?
This cruise was a very young crowd. There were some older couples, but not many at all. The majority of the ship consisted of younger or middle aged couples and families. On this cruise, there were 900 kids, 400 of which were teens. The younger crowd created a much more fun atmosphere than any other cruise that I've been on. Average Age: 35.
EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION
Embarkation in all took about thirty minutes of standing in line...the line moved pretty quick so it was not all that bad. Disembarkation, on the other hand took forever. We reported to the Palladium lounge at 8:30 AM and were not off the ship untill 11 AM. This was mainly because there were some problems with people not reporting to immigration, and a few people got busted for drugs...by the way, don't risk brining illegal stuff in to the USA from Jamaica or Mexico...you WILL get caught. There were drug dogs all over the ship that morning. Overall, Carnival made these processes as painless as possible, and I realize that it was not their fault for our delay in getting off the Destiny.
WESTERN CARIBBEAN ITINERARY
SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 1999 -- Miami, Florida
Today, as we drove into the Port of Miami, we saw the Carnival Destiny towering above the other ships (Paradise, Majesty of the Seas, and Enchantment of the Seas). We explored the ship, ate, went to muster, and finally set sail a little late (6:30) because we were waiting on a delayed flight. Dinner: Casual
MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1999 -- "Fun Day" At Sea
I'm not going to go into any specifics as to what we did. Most hung around the pools all day and took in some sun, or went down the waterslide. There were tons of activites planned for today as well as all of the other at sea days. The At Sea days are ALWAYS my favorite! Dinner: Formal
TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1999 -- Cozumel, Mexico
Today, I woke up and watched us dock in Cozumel...we were the only ship at our piers, but I believe the Enchanted Capri was docked downtown. We made a quick stop in Playa del Carmen to unload the passengers taking the Tulum Ruins tour. We went scuba diving at the La Ceiba Hotel which is visible from the pier. They charged $5 per person to use their beach for the day. Tanks were also $5 apiece. The diving was decent, good water clarity, we dove a reef and a wreck of an airplane. We then headed back for the ship and did some shopping on the way back. I got stuck off the Destiny becasuse I forgot to bring my photo ID...I brought the Sail and Sign card, but because I had no ID, they wouldn't let me back on, so I had to wait for my ID to be brought to me. REMEMBER YOUR PHOTO ID!!! Security is VERY TIGHT on this ship! Tonite, we left at midnight...lots of people went to Carlos and Charlies, and came back to the ship staggering...very drunk. Tonite was a crazy but fun night! Dinner: extremely casual
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 1999 -- "Fun Day" At Sea
See the previous at sea day. Dinner: casual
THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1999 -- Georgetown, Grand Cayman
We anchored here this morning just before the Majesty of the Seas and Celebration. We tendered into town, walked to Eden Rock Dive Center and again went diving. This is always our favorite stop because of the diving. We love Cayman so much, that we come back her for days at a time to enjoy everything (the diving and 7-mile beach). We set sail this afternoon for Jamaica. Dinner: casual
FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1999 -- Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Today, I decided to sleep in. I went to some shops later on in the day, but other than that, I didn't do much. I actually regret not going to Dunn's River Falls because everyone who did that just loved it! Dinner: formal
SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1999 -- "Fun Day" At Sea
Today was our last full day on the Destiny =(. See the first at sea day for details. Tonight, I stayed up all night and watched us near Miami. Dinner: casual
SUNDAY, JULY 4, 1999 -- Miami, Florida
This morning, I watched us meet up with the Paradise and sail side by side with her until we reached the port. We then docked in the same space we had the previous Sunday...with the Paradise to our aft, Majesty of the Seas forward, and the Enchantment of the Seas on the other side of the Majesty. Our cruise is all over...boo hoo!
IN CONCLUSION...
Well, what can I say? This was definately the most fun I have ever had on a cruise! The Destiny is a beautiful ship with great food, good service, lots of fun, and a great value! You really can't go wrong with this ship! Whether you're a first time cruiser, or you've been on several, you are sure to love the Destiny if you want to have a good time. If you don't like crowds or nightlife, you may want to reconsider taking the Destiny...she is truly a "Fun Ship"! I really recommend this ship to anyone who wants to have a really fun and exciting vacation...I sure did! All I can say is that Carnival COMPLETELY impressed me. This cruise delivered so much more than I expected. We will DEFINITELY cruise on Carnival again!
