Great Cruise on the Carnival Destiny

Eleven of us cruised on the Carnival Destiny leaving out of San Juan on June 22nd. This was our sixth cruise. It was an extremely special family cruise because my parent's celebrated their 50th anniversary in March, and they preferred taking a family cruise rather than a party. My father also celebrated his 73rd birthday while we were on board. My two sons, age 19 and 23, also cruised with us, which will probably be their last family trip for a while, they'll probably vacation with their friends for the next few years. My cousin and his family also joined us on the trip. It was a great time, with many wonderful memories created. We live in northern West Virginia, but chose to fly out of Dulles because we could get a nonstop flight to San Juan. We had made reservations to stay at the Herndon, Va Hampton Inn since our flight left early. But, when we got there, they didn't have any double rooms left. After a few panicky moments, the manager made arrangements to take us to another hotel, so it all worked out. He also allowed us to park free of charge at his hotel. We had an uneventful flight from Dulles to San Juan, Puerto Rico the next morning. We were able to get our bags and 2 taxis to our hotel easily. We had made reservations through Priceline to stay at the Normandie Hotel in San Juan. Our taxi driver must have been a Nascar driver in his spare time, he drove very fast, and swerved from lane to lane. It was a pretty scary ride. He also spoke only Spanish, so we couldn't communicate with him. We did arrive safely at the Normandie though. We had upgraded prior in order to be assured of getting double rooms. The hotel was very unusual. It was very pretty, but it definitely could use some upgrading. The carpeting is in need of replacement, and some painting. Our suite was nice, but it did have a musty smell to it. But, we were only staying one night which was fine, but I wouldn't have wanted to spend a week there. We ate breakfast at the hotel, but it was rather expensive. They charged $4.00 for EACH cup of coffee. (No free refills.) We took taxis to the port 11:00 A.M. Embarkation was very smooth. We carried out bags in ourselves, because it was only a short distance to the building, where they took them anyway. We checked in immediately with no wait at all! We stopped at the Duty Free Shop, picked up a couple bottles of alcohol, and soft drinks and bottled water. Good prices, and were able to carry them on with no trouble. They were also giving away plenty of free samples. By then, they were calling our number to board, so we went ahead and boarded. I was a little disappointed in the fact that they had no one there to greet you, or guide you once on board. Most ships have someone there to greet you with a smile and a hello. Some of our rooms weren't ready, but we were able to drop off our carry-ons. Then we did what everyone does, and headed out to the buffet and then explored the ship. We had 5 staterooms on the Lido deck (deck 9). Three balconies, and 2 inside rooms for the kids. Our room was kept very clean. I can't tell you the name of our room steward because he didn't came around much. As I said, he kept our room very clean, so were happy. Our safe didn't work, but we just used the one next door in my parent's room, and the bathroom had a bad odor which my husband thought was sewer gas. We didn't complain about either, We really missed having a small refrigerator in our room. The balcony was small, but nice. We had dinner in the Universe Dining Room, (tables 818 and 820). It was very nice. The menu's were pretty much what we expected. Our wait staff were very nice. We especially enjoyed Melo, our assistant waiter. He was very helpful and entertaining. We enjoyed the filet mignon and the warm melting chocolate cake, they were delicious. The buffet was okay, but the Deli and 24 hour pizza were wonderful. Entertainment on the ship was again pretty much what you would expect. We liked the comedians. The singers and dancers did a good job. I know this may sound old fashioned, but I don't think the dancers should be wearing thongs in a family show. It was raining when we got to St. Thomas, so we just did a little shopping. Two of the members of our group went to Megan's Bay, and thought it was beautiful. My sons wanted to eat lunch at Hooters, so we did. Then we did more shopping near the dock. In Dominica we took a tour of the island and of Emerald Pool. It was okay. The driver wasn't very social, and he drove too fast for the road conditions. The Emerald Pool and waterfall was beautiful. We decided to hit the beach in Barbados. We had planned to go to The Boatyard, but the taxi driver talked us out out of it, suggesting instead we go to Rock Lobster. The beach was very nice, but there was locals constantly trying to sell us something. My son rented a jet ski and my cousin had her hair braided. We went back and looked around the shops near the ship. In St. Lucia we took the Cosal Tour. It was by far the best excursion we've ever taken. It was AMAZING! Our driver was Samuel, he was wonderful. In Antigua and St. Kitts we just shopped and walked around the shops near the dock and into the town nearby. We were pretty worn out by the end of the week. The boys wanted to check their email accounts, and we were able to find internet cafes that were very reasonable. Disembarking was a slow and unorganized. When we finally go off the ship we took a taxi to the Embassy Suites and Casino where we stayed for 2 days. It was a very nice hotel. We took the bus to Old San Juan for only 75 cents each way per person. We found some great shopping at the outlets.(Coach, Burberry, and Polo) We were impressed with the beach near the hotel. At the hotel we enjoyed the Manager's Free Drinks in the evening, and the breakfast buffet in the mornings. We even won a little in the casino. My husband and I would like to come back again to stay longer. Overall we had a great cruise. The boat was clean, and the service great. We enjoyed the Cruise Director, though we wished they had had more activities earlier in the evening. It was hard to stay up that late, when we had a new port every morning.