Caribbean Islands Journals

First Carnival Cruise 2009

A March 2009 trip to Caribbean Islands by pbpd81

Carnival Destiny Photo - Carnival Cruise Lines, Cancun, Mexico More Photos
Quote: This was our first cruise and after 10 months of planning our excitement was almost too much to contain. We flew out of St. Louis into Miami to board the Carnival Destiny for a 5 day cruise. Our ports included Georgetown, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Wingate by Wyndham Maryland Heights

Best Of IgoUgo

Hotel | "Great Place for the Night"

Windgate by Wyndham Photo - Wingate by Wyndham Maryland Heights, Maryland Heights, Missouri
Quote:
We booked the room using Wyndham Reward points that a friend traveling with my daughter and I had. The room listed for $99.76 with tax but with 10,000 reward points it was free. From reviews and pictures on the internet it looked close to the airport and appeared to be very nice and safe for 3 women travelers. The hotel was located just off I-70, maybe a 10 minute drive from the airport, where we had to be early the next morning. It was very easy to find and accessed easily off of Earth City Expressway. We didn’t explore the neighborhood but other than a convenience store beside the hotel there didn’t appear to be much else in the immediate area. A Burger King was located inside the convenience store ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 2, 2009

Wingate by Wyndham Maryland Heights
13615 Riverport Dr
Maryland Heights, Missouri 63043
314-209-0001

Dolphin Cove Park

Attraction | "The Disappointment of Our Trip"

Parrot Photo - Jamaica, Caribbean
Quote:
This turned out to be the only disappointment of our whole trip. We were on a Carnival excursion which included Dunn’s River Falls and Dolphin Cove. We went to the Falls first and loved it so much I was really surprised at what we found at Dolphin Cove. When we arrived we had to make our way down a rough dirt trail to the main part of the park. On the way down we came across a lady taking pictures of tourist with live parrots. She had 6 or 8 colorful parrots of different sizes which were placed on the guests shoulders, head, and arms. She told us that the photos would be for sale in a shop on the boardwalk. Unfortunately if we intended to take any photos with our own cameras she would only be allowed...Read More

Member Rating 1 out of 5 on April 2, 2009

Dunn's River Falls

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Highlight of Our Criuse"

Dunn's River Falls climb Photo - Dunn's River Falls, Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Quote:
Dunn’s River Falls is a 600 foot fresh water fall that cascades down the mountain side spilling into the ocean. We were on an excursion from the cruise ship which included our entrance to Dolphin Cove so I’m not sure what the cost for the Falls alone would be. In the parking lot as we got off the bus we received a bracelet from our tour company and were told if we didn’t have a bottle of water we should get one now because it would be needed. There were a couple of people standing around holding out bottled water and trying to give 2 bottles to each person. After everyone who was going to take it had their water they announced that it was $5 for the 2 bottles. After paying up our group was rushed acr...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 2, 2009

Dunn's River Falls
Ocho Rios
Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Seven Mile Beach

Attraction | "Beautiful 7 Mile Beach"

Grand Cayman Photo - Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Quote:
The simplest way to describe this is just Beautiful! We took a taxi, which was really a bus, from the pier for $5 per person to the section called Public Beach. From there we could have walked to other sections but we were in a hurry to get in the beautiful blue water so just headed into the roped off swimming area. The water was wonderful such a pretty blue and the sand was as white as snow. We had no more gotten in the water when we saw a school of Angel Fish and later out in the deeper water we came upon a group of squid. The squid didn’t seem too concerned with our presence and we spent along time swimming above them trying to get a picture. We were there for several hours and a lot of people came...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 2, 2009

Seven Mile Beach
Western Shore
Grand Cayman Island

Carnival Cruise Lines

Hotel | "The Carnival Destiny, What a Fantastic Ship!"

Carnival Cruise towel animals Photo - Carnival Cruise Lines, Western Caribbean, Caribbean
Quote:
After flying out of St. Louis early Saturday morning we finally arrived at the Port of Miami about 2 that afternoon. Even though we were late getting to the ship the good news was our stateroom was ready and we were able to unload our carry-on bags. Anxious to explore we headed to the upper decks to check out the views. Our next stop was the buffet line at the Sun & Sea restaurant, where we choose from a variety of meats and vegetables and a huge selection of desserts. Next up was the muster drill which had to be done before we set sail. We easily found our way back to the cabin, which was the last time we easily found any place on the ship, picked up the life vests and went to our muster station....Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 1, 2009

Carnival Cruise Lines
Cancun
Cancun, Mexico
(888) CARNIVAL