We flew into Ft. Lauderdale from Detroit on Spirit Airlines, and saved around $160 PP on airfare. We took an Airport Express Car (nicer than a cab, it was a Lincoln, believe it or not less expensive than a taxi) to the Port of Miami for $48 plus tip, you can arrange for one outside baggage claim in Lauderdale. At that time we made arrangements with our driver to pick us up the following Saturday outside the CCL terminal at 10am, no money up front for the return. He also told us that some drivers wouldn't do this because people are not there when they say they will be. I guess we convinced him we would be there, saying we have to get back to Lauderdale for a 12pm flight on the following Saturday, and that if he didn't want to be there FOR SURE, then we would find someone who wanted to take our money (taxi). He was there.

Embarking: Our flight landed in Ft. Lauderdale on time at 11:00am. We had our luggage and our Express car at about 11:45 and were on our way to the Port Of Miami, it is about a half hour drive. Coming over the hill and seeing the Triumph is a thrill in its self, but to our surprise the Triumph and the Destiny were nose to nose, what a sight. The Destiny was taking a few days off for some wet dock repairs. We got some great shots of Destiny as we were leaving port. Since we had a Category 11 suite we got to be in the Skippers Club, which means that we checked in a separate room and line from the rest. When we booked this cruise we started with a category 8. The prices dropped so much that for less than our original booking cat. 8 price we upgraded ourselves to the cat. 11. We were checked in with boarding picture, sail and sign card and escorted to our suite in less than 10 minutes. Later while talking to others on the cruise I found out that at about the time we checked in, people were waiting a little over half an hour to get fully checked in and on board.

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I didn't try to bring on any liquor in my carry on, though I am sure I could have if it was in a soda bottle. Did bring on a fifth of Absolute in my checked baggage, packed in the middle of my large suite case in the original bottle, wrapped in a zip lock and some bubble wrap, our cabin steward didn't say a word about it. Our suite had a refrigerator, with CCL's drinks and soda in it, which when something was removed a charge would show on our account, but our cabin steward told us we could call the Pursers Desk and they would come up and remove the items, then we would be free to place our own items in it. We really liked the bigger room we had a cat. 8 on the Destiny. Loved the whirlpool tub, the separate dressing area (be sure to bring an adaptor that lets you expand your electrical usage like a one to three adaptor). There was a blow dryer in the bathroom but it didn't work very well, I have a very powerful blow dryer (1600 watts) and had no problem using it in the cabin. Also liked the larger balcony, not to mention more dresser and closet space. After the lifeboat drill that took about 15 minutes at 3:30, we set sail at 4:00 pm right on schedule. Dinner the first night was good, NY Strip Steak. I found the food to be good through out the cruise, especially some of the appetizers, deserts, the lobster, and filet minion. Played a little roulette that night after dinner and hit the sheets at about 1am. It is so nice to be able to prop open your balcony door at night, I love hearing the sea, and the smell of the ocean it, really puts you to sleep. Not that traveling all day makes you tired. Did this every night except one when it was just too windy resulting in a wind tunnel in our suite, a sort of tornado of sail and sign receipts. During the day when it is hot and in port because of bugs (unless you like heat and bugs) you will want to use the air, and keep the door closed. Hint to using the safe, you don't have to use your sail and sign card to program it, any card like your AAA card with a magnetic strip will work, then you can hide it in the cabin, so that you all can have access. You can program it to take two cards but we had three in our party. Did notice that the carpets on the ship where looking old and tattered (for a new ship), but they do get a lot of abuse.

Day at Sea: Woke at about 8:30 and went to the main dinning room for breakfast. New on Triumph is open seating breakfast from 8-10am. What a great change I wish lunch and dinner could be the same, but then you wouldn't be sitting with the same people every night, which I like. We have always been lucky to have great dinner companions. I use to hate having early seating for breakfast, and really dislike the powered eggs on the Lido deck, if you do go there for breakfast have the made to order omelet, or the eggs over easy. Love the Eggs Benedict in the dinning room, they only give you one, so make sure you say you want two, if you do. After breakfast we sat on our balcony and enjoyed our coffee, and the sea air. Did some sun tanning. I go to a tanning booth twice a week for a month before the cruise so I don't have to worry about burning, didn't use any sun block (I know), and with some common sense didn't burn. Watched a movie while getting ready for dinner the first formal night. I like to dress up and to see others dressed up. It was lobster night. To my surprise everyone was fairly dressed up and looking good. Let me say right here that our waiter Oscar and our bus girl, Valentine took care of us in every way, for instance we like lemon in our water and after the first night there was always a plate with nicely laid out lemons every night. Second, I like extra salad dressing with my salad and the second night I didn't ask, Oscar just brought it. Third, my friend and traveling companion Andy likes to try more than one entree, Oscar must have over heard him as every night he always brought Andy a second. Andy really likes food. I did have two lobster tails this night, which were not Maine lobsters but were quite tasty. I skipped the show that night to play roulette, since I was up from the night before, and didn't give back all the money I had won the night before. The night before, for the first time I took all my color chips away from the spinner (great way to start a cruise), which I would do a second time on this cruise. Went to the comedy show at midnight was only so-so, but some thought he was very funny, and he thought he was funny.

Day at Sea / Puerto Rico: After breakfast in the dinning room the day was pretty much a repeat of the day before. The Captain said that with the stiff tail wind we would get into port early at 2:30pm, and we did (it was pretty windy on deck both days and if you didn't tie your things to your chair you sacrificed them to the sea). Got some food at the NY deli (excellent corn beef and pastrami), and then headed into San Juan at about 6 skipping dinner in the dinning room to be in port. It got dark at 5pm, so there wasn't much you could see, but coming into port we got some great pictures, and a view of the island. Bought some rum poured it into a soda bottle so I could have it in my room and not have it confiscated by CCL police, and got many t-shirts. I did my best to help out foreign aid by loosing $40 playing roulette in their casino (not very impressed), and went back to the ship. Didn't do much else that night watched a movie, had some pizza (pretty good, but not the best as some say), some soft serve ice cream and hit the sack. I agree with some that this is not the best port, but I did see some very good-looking men even though they didn't speak English, and enjoyed seeing the town even in the dark. I went out alone, and never felt threatened, but then again was never out of sight of the ship except in the casino, which was within walking distance. The people were very nice, and not pushy.

St. Thomas: We got into port at about 7:30am. Took some pictures as we came in, and then went to breakfast. Did the St. Thomas Beach Treats tour, and liked it very much. I think most of St. Thomas was quite slummy, but this beach and club were ok, felt the same way about St. Croix. Got back to the ship at 3 after some shopping for more t-shirts.

St. Croix: Got into port on schedule and once again got some great pictures. Had an early tour so we had breakfast on the Lido Deck. Did the St Croix Beach Party Tour, there was quite a bit of damage all over the island from hurricane Lenny only 2 weeks before, and as I said the poverty is pretty evident. I must say I liked the Western Caribbean much more. We figured when we got back that booking CCL's shore tour was only a few dollars more and much less of a headache than it would be worth with the transportation to and from, the ferry, the lunch, the admittance to the island, and the beach chair etc. FYI, you can look at CCL's shore tours on CCL's Web site www.carnival.com under destinations, then under shore tours. I researched all tours before I left, then used that info along with the info on CCL's interactive TV to book and see further what the tour would be like. A good vacation is a researched vacation. The lunch on the island was BBQ chicken and burgers, with a few salads, it was okay. This tour took us across the island, which is how I got the feel for the way people live there. From the island we were on you could see that there were some nice houses up in the hills, but that is not the way 98% on the people live. Did some shopping; most of the shops were rundown, as were the streets. I am not trying to cut the place down just give others the feeling for what I saw. Okay place to visit, wouldn't want to live there. Once again dinner was great I think Beef Wellington. Loved the towel animals our cabin boy (as I called him) made, he really took care of us his name was Hugo.

Day at Sea: See first day at sea. I love them, some don't. I like lying in the sun, or sitting on the balcony, having good food and chatting with people you have been getting to know. Some say you never see the same people twice, I did. There seemed to be plenty of activity for those who wished to do so. Me, I am not into racing across the pool with an orange on a teaspoon, but if you are go for it. For you single women I didn't have any trouble meeting single men. I will say that finding a deck chair can be a problem, and forget being by the pool unless you get lucky, or get there early in the morning. Higher up on the ship there was plenty of deck space but no chairs to be found. CCL really needs to address this (maybe buy some more chairs). Seeing as it was partly to mostly cloudy but beautiful I still had to hunt for a chair, glad I only wanted one and not 6 or 7. Second formal night everyone looked good. Tried to escape from the dinning room before the waiters broke into their song and dance, no such luck. Some like to watch them, I don't. Went to the Las Vegas type show in the Rome lounge it was okay, the men probably like it better, scantily clad women don't really do much for me, but the lead female and male have great voices, and the laser light show should not be missed. Played some more roulette. Had some pizza, watched a movie and was out like a light. It doesn't sound like I did much, but vacations can be exhausting. Note: CCL really needs better TV there is an hour break in between movies, their pay per view movies and movie channels are all old movies, and they really should have more than their channels or movies to choose from, like CNN and maybe Discovery. I know you don't go on vacation to watch TV but I like to fall asleep with it on, and do listen to it while in the cabin. I would like to know if there was going to be snow up to my rear when I get back to MI.

Day at Sea: See yesterday. Very sad the last day is here, a week never will go by this fast on land. We had some rough seas at night, but it didn't bother me or any others I spoke to, could see some people wearing patches behind their ears. Skipped dinner tonight I just ate too much this last week, but did drop by and tip the people who had taken such good care of me all week. Tipping is personal, I tipped more than the recommended amount, and they were all worth it. Lost the rest of the money I had taken at roulette this last week, plus $50 of my own (I know you are shocked), but it was worth all the hours of entertainment I got. Didn't really go into the nightclubs much, I will never do the Macarena (sp), but talked to people whom really liked it. Got back to the room at 10:00 packed up and got the bags out side my door by midnight, ordered a movie and reflected on the cruise with some pizza.

Disembarking; Got up at 7:30 showered and had breakfast we were already back in port when we woke. Got to the designated room at 9:15, we had VIP checkout due to our very early flight, and our being in a suite. Seeing as we really didn't leave the U.S. customs was not a problem. We had our luggage and were in our Express car at 10:15, our driver experienced big traffic on the highway both ways to pick us up, so he took a different way back. We had no trouble making our 12pm flight back to Detroit.

All in all a great cruise, to cure the post cruise blues you plan and book your next cruise, Victory Dec 10, 2000 Western Caribbean. I never felt the ship moving when I got back home as some do, but I did feel it when in port and off the ship. Met some great people, was well taken care of, and liked the food. Some people don't like CCL, I cruise on the newer ships and have never had a problem vacation is what you make of it (next time someone makes you angry try laughing, or you can let it wreck your trip).