This was our honeymoon and our third cruise, all previous with Carnival. I am 29 and my husband is 40. We are from Montreal, Quebec/Canada. Carnival is well suited to our needs and budget and we really enjoy it every time we are onboard a Carnival Fun Ship. Since for us, it is a waste of money to spend a lot on a cruise to the Caribbean during the summer time (because winter is very rough in Quebec), we opted for the New England itinerary with a great deal on a balcony cabin.

JULY 3
Coming from Montreal, we took the car for a 6-hour drive. We arrived a couple of days before in New York to visit and enjoy the Big Apple since we had never been to New York before. We had reserved a nice hotel (one with a pool on the top - not too many in Manhattan - The Travelinn - 135$/night) on 42nd street West corner of 10th Avenue not very far from Times Square.

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JULY 6 - DEPARTURE
From the Hotel, we had to drive about 3 blocks to get to the roof top parking of the New York Passenger cruise ship terminal. It was 18$ per day for the parking. It is very safe to park there by the way and probably the least expensive. It was about 11:20, when we took the escalator down and dropped off our luggage with a porter. We stood in line for about 10 minutes. They took our welcome aboard picture and then forwarded us to the counter for boarding papers. As Canadian citizen, we had to wait (only two clerks) to be registered for boarding. Took about 15 min. as there was people upfront of us.

At 12:15 we were entering our stateroom. We had stateroom # 6371 in the very back corner of the Destiny (starboard side). It was quite large. Our last cruise aboard the Fantasy was in a suite. Since those balcony cabins on the Destiny are called Mini-Suites, I found they were very well laid out. The interactive television is fantastic. You can reserve your shore excursions, check your account balance on your sail & sign, view movies, etc...

That cabin is one of the few with a queen size bed and a large balcony. We had two large windows and the balcony door. Plenty of lighting and storage space was very sufficient. We were located just below the Criterion Lounge and believe me, never heard a sound. Did not feel any vibration either. Our stewart was speaking French (like us) and English. His name was Jean Blaise from Haiti. He did a great job, keeping our stateroom spotless, making animal towels, filling our buckets with ice, etc...

Around 1PM, went to the Purser's office to give a deposit on our Sail & Sign account since we did not wanted to give a credit card, it's too easy. Then, we went on the Lido Deck for Lunch. They were serving Turkey, stew, roast beef, hamburgers, large salad bar or their famous pizza, the Trattoria where you can have fresh sandwiches made or even Chinese Foods, Happy Valley. The food was good. We then, explored the ship and waited for our luggage to arrive since I needed my bathing suit to go at the pool. Temperature was 88� in New York.

We stayed at the lido pool were they open the dome to get some sun. At 4:30, we went to that mandatory safety drill and set sail at 5PM. We looked at New York, while the ship was pulling out of the port and got back to our balcony with an extraordinary view as we were passing the Statue of Liberty and the Bridge to New Jersey. As we came to the open ocean, the temperature dropped a bit 72-74�.

We had requested late seating, so we went to the Universe Dinning room (lower level) for 8:15PM. We had a round table with another couple (Bonnie and Maurice from Connecticut) and then the next day, two nice ladies (Millie and her lovely mother, from Florida) were moved at their request to our table. This dinning room is located in the back of the ship on Lobby deck and our table was just next to another table by the window, we were having a nice look at the sunset every night of the cruise. Our waiter was Gabor (from Hungary) and assistant waiter was Kamaroudin. We had great service. The first night I had the best Rack of Lamb I have ever tasted in my life, so good and juicy, YUUUUMMM YUUUUMMM!!!!

Went to the welcome aboard show with a Comedian John Piazza Jr. He was funny!

JULY 7 - FUN DAY AT SEA
Weather was not so nice, cloudy, humid (70�). We got up and went to the open seating breakfast in the dinning room and then enjoyed the pool at the front of the ship in the Nautica Spa. At the lido, nothing was going on (I was surprised, no deck party, no music, no game pool) except kids who were playing and splashing in the pool as well as in the whirlpool. There were over 700 children onboard during our cruise. So we decided to go to another quiet place. Relax, had a nap and got ready for formal night. We attended the Captain's Cocktail Party at 7:15, the Criterion Lounge was so packed, we went next door to the Appollo Bar and relax to the sound of the Pianoman there. Went to the Captain's Dinner at 8:30. Lobster tail, Chateaubriand, wow so much things to eat and so good too!!! After dinner, we went for those formal portraits and to the late sitting show Nightclub Express, played bingo before the show and went to bed early since no midnight buffet was scheduled that night and we had seen that show on the Fascination during our first cruise in Jan. '99 and then on the Fantasy again last November. They should consider changing their shows every 6 months!

JULY 8 - HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA
Although we are Canadian, we have never had a chance to visit the Maritimes. It is about 12-14 hours of driving from Montreal. After breakfast (buffet style) in the Sun & Sea, we got off the ship at around 11:00 (temp. sunny with clouds - 78�) and walked for about half an hour on the boardwalk. We did not book any shore excursion with the cruise ship. We did visit by ourselves. We stopped and visited the Pier 21 exhibit and went to the maritime museum. At 2:OO p.m. we were back at the ship and just relaxed at the pool by the Lido deck. The ship set sailed at 5PM. Went to dinner and Showtime. That night was Rand Woodbury a magician, who was pretty funny too. That night they had a late night Broadway show, we did not attend. While my husband was listening to the guitar player next to the casino, I went to the Midnight Fare in the Sea & Sun at the Lido. Not much, some liver pates, cheese, salad, pasta, lots of fruits and deserts. My husband noticed there was a greater seclection of deserts then on our past cruises with Carnival.

JULY 9 - FUN DAY AT SEA (LAST DAY)
Went to Lido again for breakfast 10:00 and relaxed at the pool on Lido till 1:45p.m. then went to the dinning room for lunch. Same menu as last time aboard the Fantasy. I had their famous Ribs (the best I ever had) and my husband had Fish-n-Chips. Went back to the pool after that, the weather was starting to be foggy and colder. Went to the Newlywed show which was hilarious. Tonight was farewell dinner. They did celebrate our honeymoon and served us a cake at the end of the meal. The waiters did some entertainment, which was cool. Showtime was Formidable at 7:00 pm for us (late seating) and after dinner, they had their great talent show.

They push a lot for people to attend the Debarkation Talk. If you miss it, don't worry, they show it over and over all day long on the TV. You can watch it in the comfort of your stateroom.

First time ever for us, there were two ways to disembark the Destiny. It could really be a nightmare if people do not cooperate. You can now (if you want to) carry your own luggage instead of putting them outside your door before midnight on the last night of the cruise. Or do the usual. We chos to do the usual because we had 6 pieces of luggage to carry - it was large. The passengers with their luggage will be allowed to get off first and then call decks for those who have to claim their luggage.

JULY 10 - DEBARKATION
Woke up at 7:15a.m., went to the Point After Dance Club to get our passports and give the immigration our customs papers. At 8:00a.m., we were having our breakfast at the Sun & Sea. 9:00a.m.we went back to our stateroom and relaxed by the balcony. At 9:45a.m. they called our deck, we went down the stairs and found our luggage in the terminal. I would say 3/4 of the passengers were taking their luggage with them. It was quite easy for us. At 10:15a.m. we were in the car at the traffic light outside the terminal building.

Overall we really enjoyed the Destiny. Not as many activities as on the Fantasy or the Fascination. I would expect to have more deck parties, games, pool and midnight buffets. On a scale from 1 to 10, I would give it a big 8. The food was really good, it improved since our first cruise. It is time for Carnival to change their shows for repeat cruisers. This was a bit disappointing. They have nice shows, but not to see twice. The Victory is coming to New York, so the Destiny will move to San Juan (Puerto Rico) for the fall/winter. I would definetaly go back on the Destiny for the Southern Caribbean Itinerary. Our cruise director; Greg Kneale was funny. He really entertains his guests. For sure they all have the same jokes since our last three cruises.

We are now ready to go again. When I got back, my girlfriend (my cousin - who was my maid of honour at the wedding) asked me to go with her again in August. We opted for the RCCL Sovereign of the Seas. It will do the same as we did with the Fantasy last November during their wedding (they got married in Nassau during the cruise) but I wanted to try RCCL to see the difference, we did not have time to visit Nassau since we had to attend their wedding. This time we will have time for the Atlantis and snorkel in Coco Cay, RCCL private island. Let's get ready RCCL, here we come!

If you have any other questions, or need more information, please feel free to contact me. I kept all of the Daily Carnival Capers during the cruise, if you wish to have them, e-mail me and I will be glad to fax or mail them to you.

See Ya, from Montreal, Quebec ;-)

Natalie & Richard Laroche