Our family of 7 (from teens to parents in their upper 40's), spent our spring break together for our 4th cruise. We sailed the Carnival Destiny and after reading many mixed reviews I wasn't sure what to expect. Honestly, like any ship out there, you can find things that need to be improved and the Carnival Destiny was not without it's shortcomings. But overall, our Destiny experience was GREAT! It is a beautiful ship (a little older than other ships we've sailed on), but she definitely has personality.
We sailed from San Juan. Check-in was smooth. We dropped our carry-ons in our room and then took a self-tour around the ship. We first went to the bar at the casino and purchased soda cards for the kids (unlimited soda for the week for a flat fee). We also nabbed some stretchy lanyards to attach our sail and sign/soda cards on (these come in handy, I highly recommend plus they're free). We had a nice dinner in the dining room (food was very good all week and our waiter/ass't waiter were exceptional).
Our first stop was Saint Thomas. This was a no-brainer for us. Walk off the ship, get a taxi, go to Megan's Bay. Incredible beach!!! We did a little shopping on our return to the pier. Second stop, Dominica . . . a family favorite!! I HIGHLY recommend Rainforest Taxi (www.rainforesttaxi.com). Hazel Jeanmarie was our driver and guide. He was so informative and so much fun (be prepared to answer his riddles!). Of the many tours on many islands over the many years our family has been on, I'd rank this as one of the best!! Informative, entertaining, and affordable. Our next stop was Barbados. If you don't mind walking . . . it's a fairly easy walk into town and then to the beach. Otherwise, taxi fare to town/beach is $4 per person (one-way). Antigua was next. Again, we negotiated a taxi ride to a beach (Turner). Lots of shells, beautiful beach, snorkeling, amenities. If you haven't noticed already, we rarely do pre-arranged tours. We enjoy making a decision according to the weather and how we feel the day of. You can save a significant amount of money being your own agent. Next we went to St. Kitts. What an incredible island!! Lush island, gorgeous beaches. We again had wonderful luck with finding a exceptional taxi driver who took us all over the island. We went to the Batik factory (this is a must) and then to a secluded beach well north of the Marriott (had it all to ourselves). Our final day was St. Maarten . . . a shopping mecca!! Wonderful stores and close to the beach so you can enjoy the best of both worlds. The water taxi into town is the way to go $6 per person roundtrip.