Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival Destiny Cruise Review
Brenda Brittain
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
Sailing Date: January 16th, 2010
Age: 56
Occupation: Teacher
Number of Cruises: 6
This cruise was a real
disappointment. We left over 3 hours late. We were scheduled
to visit Jamaica and Grand Cayman but due to mechanical
difficulties, we ended up in Nassau. They refunded us $75.00
per person which I hardly think is fair compensation for
booking a 5 day cruise to visit 2 ports. I might cruise with
Carnival again but I would NEVER get on the Destiny.
The food was wonderful and our
service at dinner in the Universe Dining Room was great.
However, one morning at breakfast we were told we would have
to wait 20 minutes to be seated in the dining room (there
were 2 of us) when there were many empty tables visible
behind the hostess. Another day at lunch our waiter
disappeared and we never got our dessert.
The location of our stateroom
was great. It was on a corner, by the elevator on deck 8. We
did have plumbing problems which included flooding in our
shower and drainage in the sink. Our cabin steward was
excellent and tried to accommodate our needs. He reported
our difficulties immediately. It was the maintenance staff
that was slow in responding. It took three phone calls and
several hours before someone came to fix the sink. They
finally knocked on our door at 11:45 p.m. after we had given
up and gone to sleep.
The on-board activities were
the usual. When we ended up spending an extra day at sea,
they added more bingo games and of course the casino was
open. That way they made more money on gambling and drinks
than they would have if we had been in ports. Apparently
they were unable to pick up the scheduled entertainers
because we did not make it to Jamaica. For the evening show,
they replaced them with one of their featured singers
performing an entire show. We left after the first few
songs. There was an award winning comedian-magician on board
who was traveling with our group. He offered to perform at
no charge to Carnival. They told him they did not know who
he was and declined his offer. With a little use of
technology, they might have checked and discovered he has
appeared on National Television many times.
When we missed our scheduled
ports, Carnival automatically refunded the excursions we had
booked through them. The only excursions they offered in
Nassau involved golf and visits to Atlantis. I have been to
Atlantis and it is beautiful but a sandwich & bottle of
water will cost you about $15.00. We did not arrive in
Nassau until 11:00 a.m. which gave us very limited time to
spend on shore. We booked our own snorkeling excursion when
we got on shore and saved about $25. per person.Oh the ship
did stay overnight, but all the shops closed at 5:30 so
there was nothing to do unless visiting nightclubs appeals
to you.
I can understand mechanical
problems. However, we spoke to a man at the airport who had
been on this same ship before when they had the same problem
and missed a port. Apparently this ship has had repeated
mechanical problems within the past six months. The Captain
offended many passengers when he said over the intercom that
they could have just taken us back to Miami but they would
take us to Nassau. This was our sixth cruise and our fifth
with Carnival. As a past guest, I am very disappointed with
Carnival and their handling of our situation. There were
many people in our group who were cruising for the first
time including our son and a friend. Carnival did not make a
good impression on them!
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