First Carnival Cruise 2009

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 and pizza delivery was available to the hotel. Check-in couldn’t have been any simpler, just gave our name and the clerk gave us the room key, no questions asked and no papers to fill out or sign. Our room held 2 full size beds that were very comfortable. They were firm but at the same time you sank into the mattress when laying down. The beds were covered in fluffy white down comforters with a hunter green throw over the foot. As we entered the room a double door closet was on the left and held the ironing board, iron and luggage stand with lots of room to spare. Next to the closet sat the refrigerator with a microwave and coffee pot stacked on top, all very convenient yet out of the way. Along with the beds the room had a desk with internet connection, office chair and an easy chair with foot stool as well as the dresser and TV. The bathroom was a really nice size and contained the vanity, which I really prefer. The bathtub had the curved shower curtain rod, I think that makes it feel like there is more room in the shower.
We had to check out before the morning complimentary breakfast started but it was served in a fairly large area off the front lobby. There were quit a few tables and looked like they would have all the typical hotel breakfast foods. On the counter was a cappuccino machine, I hadn’t seen one of these before but I believe it cost a quarter for an 8oz cup but I can’t remember what flavors were offered.
This was a well kept, very clean hotel located in a nice area close to the airport. The room was spacious, comfortable and spotlessly clean. The price of the room would have been well worth it even if it hadn’t been free.

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 to place one bird on the shoulder. We stopped anyhow and had our picture made just for the fun of it. When we made it to the boardwalk we found it consisted of 3 souvenir shops, the photo shop and a small snack bar. The shops were quit small, very crowded and had a limited selection of t-shirts and souvenirs, which seemed to be a little overly priced. The photo shop had several computers set up where you viewed your photos or videos before purchase. Only after payment did they print the pictures, which took about 15-20 minutes. We looked over the shots a choose a 5x7 for $8. At the far end of the boardwalk was a small beach with the shore lined with lounge chairs full of people. Two kayak’s sit at the edge of the water for guests to use at their leisure. The swimming area was plenty large and only had 3 or 4 people in the water the whole time. The beach and water was our main goal so we headed right in, only to find the bottom was not the soft pretty sand we had so enjoyed in Grand Cayman. About 30 minutes of stumbling over the rocky floor and we were ready to move on. Back on the boardwalk 2 Pirates had been announcing the time for the shark show and we went back up to try to watch it. Luckily we found a bench right at the edge of the pool where the show would be held, while sitting there waiting we were able to watch the sharks swim around in the pool, that was pretty cool. The show lasted maybe 30 minutes, it included the trainers as well as guest who paid the extra fee to sit on a bench in the water and hold the shark on their lap and feed it. After the show those same people were given snorkel gear and swam around the pool with the sharks. Guests could also pay extra to swim with the dolphins and we saw part of that show while waiting on our picture to develop. The pool for the dolphin show was a distance from the boardwalk but we could see some of what was going on. A bar sat out on the dock over the water, but this area appeared to be closed so we didn‘t go out there. I had read that there were tanks with stingrays that could be touched but we never saw those. The exit was again along a rough dirt trail that lead past a few booths of souvenirs finally ending in a large souvenir shop just before entering the parking lot to catch the bus. I was very disappointed in the whole atmosphere, crowds, maintenance, and activities available here and wish we had just done some shopping in town before going back to the ship.

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 across the parking lot and through the entrance gate where we were told everyone must have water shoes for the climb. The shoes rented for $5 or they could be purchased from several booths set up along the walkway. Then we were off to rent lockers to store our belongings since you were only allowed to take a waterproof camera with you and nothing else, not even the bottled water they just insisted you really needed. The locker rental fee was $8 but you got $3 back when you returned the lock. Lockers were located just below the rental office and were large enough to hold quit a bit, we put in 2 full beach bags, towels and clothes and still had a lot of room left. The path lead from there to the bottom of the hill where we meet our guide, Raphael. He took us on to the beach at the bottom of the falls and lined us up. He double checked with everyone that any cameras they had with them were waterproof, then offered to carry the ones that weren’t. About that time Curtis showed up and told us he would be video taping our groups climb. He had everyone in line talking and the couples kissing. He generated a lot of energy and excitement in the group throughout our trip. Raphael instructed us to hold hands and form a chain for the climb up, this lasted about 2 seconds. It was around 9 am so when we first stepped into the water it was pretty chilly. We stopped where the water pooled at the bottom of the falls and they wanted everyone to sit down under the flowing water for a picture. This was probably a good idea as the water didn’t seem near as cold afterwards. Our climb was one of the highlights of our whole trip. It was so much fun and everyone in our group was laughing and cutting up as well as helping others up the rocks. We stopped several times at pools formed along the fall for pictures. The guides gladly snapped shots of us with our cameras, and at one spot their photographer took photos which were for sale after the climb for $8, I believe. The terrain wasn’t too bad, there were people of all ages and sizes in our group and no one had any real problems getting up. However my daughter, who did not join in the climb, has a slight handicap and while I think she would have been o.k. for most of it there were a couple places that would have been difficult for her to navigate. It took about an hour to reach the top where we would exit the water. They kept us moving along but we weren’t rushed and it seemed like we stopped frequently. Curtis left us at some point during the trip and was waiting for us at the top to direct us where to purchase the video he made. The cost was $40 for one or $60 for 2 DVDs. After retrieving our bags and turning in the lock for our $3 refund we headed to pick up our video. It was located in the market place at the exit to the parking lot. We had read a lot about how pushy the people were about selling their wares, so my plan was to try and rush through. We were approached by 5 or 6 different people who were pretty persistent but I didn’t think anyone was rude and the whole experience was not nearly as traumatic as reviews on the internet lead to believe. We did meet one sly sales lady, we thought she was kindly showing us where to pickup our video, as we came out from getting it there was an exit gate just a few feet away. She, however, insisted that would not take us to the parking lot and we should follow her for the best way out. Just so happens her route lead by a booth where she was selling souvenirs. The prices on some things seemed reasonable others seemed high but I believe they were expecting us to barter with them.
Dunn’s River Falls was absolutely gorgeous and it was a fabulous experience. It was well worth the cost and I would love to back.

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 and went but the beach or water was never crowded. A tent renting snorkeling gear was on the beach at the entrance, we brought our own so I don’t know the cost of rentals. At the top of the parking lot was a bar and grill, we had intended to try some local food from there but had so much fun in the water we forgot all about eating. Changing rooms and restrooms were also available near the parking lot along with sheltered picnic tables. When it came time to leave we had no problem getting a taxi/bus back to the pier, again $5 per person. This was the prettiest beach I have ever seen and we had a wonderful, relaxing afternoon.

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. The drill took maybe 30 minutes, while a little crowded, over all it wasn’t that bad. When we returned the life vests to the cabin our luggage had been delivered. This surprised us since we had read so many times that it would be very late before the bags arrived. Not even thinking about the time, we finished our unpacking and almost missed the sail away. As we watched Miami disappear in the distance we were thrilled that our long awaited cruise was finally under way.

The Destiny consist of 12 decks, 0 thru 11, with the top two being partial decks. The layout of the ship didn’t allow passage all the way from the front to the back of the ship on some decks and this kept us quit confused. We spent a lot of time going up and down and across to find the area we were looking for. The ship was built in 1996 and carries a little over 2600 passengers plus another 1050 crew members and has 1321 guest cabins. For cost reasons we choose an inside stateroom for the three of us. We had 2 twin size beds and an upper twin bunk, which came down out of the ceiling. There were 2 wardrobes, a closet with shelves and 3 drawers that provided plenty of room for all our clothes. There wasn’t much space on the vanity, the ice bucket and tray took up a lot of the area and the rest was just a narrow shelf . Along this shelf was located the only electrical outlet in the room, so the power stripe we brought was very useful. We had seen and heard a lot about the Carnival Comfort bedding and I have to say the ads were all true. Even the upper bunk was super comfortable. The bathroom was pretty small but had a good sized shower. In fact I think I would be safe to say that the floor space in the shower was larger than the rest of the bathroom floor. The shower had a retractable clothes line that came in handy for hanging up wet clothes. There was a blow dryer and electric razor outlet over the sink. The blow dryer wasn’t much to speak of and I was glad I had brought my own. The room might have become overly cramped to have 4 adults in the cabin but by taking turns the 3 of us got along fine. Our cabin steward came by the first day to introduce himself and even though we never saw him after that he done a wonderful job. The cabin was always neat and tidy and each night we had a cute new towel animal and chocolates.

Food aboard the Destiny was abundant with as many as 8 places serving meals at one time. We had the Sun & Sea buffet several times, other than the large selection of desserts, the food was typical buffet food nothing really stood out as exceptionally good. A lot of our lunches were from the outside grill on the lido deck, they offered hamburgers, hotdogs, French fries, nachos and chicken stripes. The chicken stripes were one of my favorites, they were really good cut up on a salad or along with French fries covered in nacho cheese. We were assigned to the late seating dinner, 8:15, in the Galaxy room which was one of 2 main dinning rooms. The food here was very good and we tried a lot of new things, including strawberry bisque, smoked salmon, tilapia, and lobster. Smoked salmon was the only thing I didn’t care for, everything else was delicious, especially the lobster. The chocolate melting cake was our favorite dessert and couldn’t be passed up. Our waiters done a fantastic job, they had so many people to wait on yet we never wanted for anything. They even took time to entertain us with some song and dance routines each night.

Activities onboard were so numerous we didn’t get a chance to take part in even a third of them. From the lido deck games to trivia games, mini golf to towel folding lessons, there was constantly something to do. One thing we never missed was attending the after dinner theater shows. There were a variety of programs including a comedian and ventriloquist along with the Vegas style singing and dancing shows. One evening we were even entertained by our fellow guest who had proved to be the top talent in an onboard talent show. It appeared that the casino and bingo were both very popular. We played the penny and nickel slots a few times but never tried the bingo. One highlight of our trip was the digital scavenger hunt held the last day. We were given a list of activities and we were supposed to photograph someone in our group doing that activity. The first team to bring there digital photos back won. We ended up in 3rd place but we had so much fun rushing around the ship trying to accomplish our tasks. This was a real blast and we would have loved it if they had played this more than once.

Other than our confusion with the layout we thoroughly enjoyed our time onboard this wonderful ship. And while I don’t really have anything to compare it to I would have to say that with the attention and service we received the Carnival Destiny was a great choice for our first cruise.