(Note: Carnival Victory currently serves this itinerary.)
The Carnival Destiny is not what many would consider a luxurious vessel; the food is nothing too fancy and the ship tends to be crowded and noisy. But budget travelers benefit from an excellent itinerary that offers a new port-of-call every day. You won't spend precious vacation days "at sea" as is the case on most other cruises. The ports are not too far apart geographically, yet offer a surprising diversity of attractions, shopping and amenities. This cruise is a solid option for budget travelers who favor value over luxury on a seven-day trip.
Carnival Destiny - Cost
On our trip, two adults and one child shared an inside stateroom. The day I booked, the cost was $2690 USD, down $100 from the previous day because of a Carnival "one day sale." This occurred 44 days prior to departure.
It hurts to admit this: I priced the same trip two weeks before departure and the cost was $408 lower. But every trip is different. Waiting to book your first choice of room or itinerary is risky.
That total for three people seems like quite a bit to many budget travelers, but consider it in more detail: $2690 comes out to an average of just under $900 for each person. That's $128/day for each person's transportation, food, accommodation and entertainment. You can pay that much for an ordinary hotel room.
Room selection is key to keeping costs in check. If you can do without a window and balcony, there is money to be saved. Hint: choose a stateroom on a lower floor and near the middle of the ship to avoid the effects of rough seas. Stay away from noisy elevators.
The $2690 total does not include airfare to-and-from San Juan, (the departure port) shore excursions or tips of $10 per passenger, per day for dining and stateroom services. This is Carnival's suggested amount, deducted automatically from your credit card when you acquire your on board debit card known as "Sail and Sign." You are free to make adjustments at any time, but I'll admit to being a bit irked by this policy. Why should I tip someone before they render service? In the end, the service we received was excellent and we made no adjustments.
Carnival Destiny - Food and Service
Travelers with elegant tastes in cuisine are likely to be disappointed on the Carnival Destiny. The food is fair-to-good, but usually less than great. For example, some of the desserts (even in the dining room) were similar in quality to what you would find in the frozen food section at the supermarket. Those who don't want a sit-down dinner can eat hearty fare at the ship's buffets. At poolside, we enjoyed the grilled Reuben sandwiches and hamburgers. You'll never go hungry, and you're bound to find something tasty. Board Carnival Destiny with that kind of expectation and you'll be happy.
Service is another matter. Expect greatness. Whether in the dining room, on the lido deck or back in your room, the waiters and stewards appear very well trained and cheerfully attend to your requests. One example: my wife enjoys a certain brand of tea. After stating her preference the first night, the waiter brought it every night thereafter without further reminder.
Each night, dining room waiters stop their service long enough to perform a short song-and-dance show. They seem to enjoy this part of their work, as do the diners.
Room stewards make animal shapes from the towels and place them on the bed each night with an assortment of mints and the next day's schedule.
One complaint: The carpeting in our stateroom had been scheduled for replacement the week of our trip. The work was completed while we were ashore. Upon our return, a thick layer of dust covered much of the stateroom. Why must such work be done when paying customers are trying to enjoy a vacation?
Carnival Destiny - Itinerary and Excursions
Carnival Destiny departs from San Juan, Puerto Rico and visits a new island every day of the trip: U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, and St. Kitts. Departure comes late Sunday night, with arrival back in San Juan the following Sunday morning.
Eastern Caribbean islands tend to use the U.S. Dollar or the East Caribbean Dollar, which varies little in value against its U.S. counterpart. That keeps costs for American visitors predictable and steady.
In this excellent itinerary, there is something for a variety of travel tastes. Some islands are rugged and scenic but still developing as tourist centers. Others offer every amenity a demanding traveler would expect. During our cruise in July, Destiny was the only ship in port at each stop.
Carnival aggressively markets shore excursions from the moment you reserve passage. In my experience, many of their arrangements are overpriced. I was able to reserve similar trips once in port, sometimes at great savings. To be fair, I don't know if the tubing trip I booked in Dominica was exactly the same as what Carnival would have arranged, but I know the price was 38 percent lower because I dealt directly with a tour operator's office in Roseau. Our day trip to St. John from St. Thomas was about 70 percent cheaper than a similar excursion Carnival offered. Check out a Web site called ShoreTrips.com for leads on trips booked directly with the vendors. Another helpful resource is the book Caribbean Ports of Call by Kay Showker.
Carnival Destiny - Practical Considerations
One big advantage to cruising is that your evening entertainment is included in the base price. But we found the show offerings on Carnival Destiny to be mediocre at best. One stand-up comic resorted to insulting the audience as people walked out on his act. He actually jumped off the stage and confronted one departing patron. A magician seemed more intent on interviewing the audience than performing illusions. The best show of the trip featured passenger talent. What does that say about the paid performers?
By contrast, Carnival Destiny appears to do a very good job with entertainment for children and teenagers. My daughter (age 12 at the time of the trip) enjoyed the week of programs and parties available for her age group, and made a number of friends very quickly.
Embarkation and debarkation are very time-consuming. In our case, debarkation was ridiculously long. Carnival staff members do an excellent job of explaining their number-coded procedure, but many passengers apparently chose to ignore the instructions. They crowded gangways, despite being told Homeland Security would close lines that became too crowded.
Even with a debarkation number in the middle of the pack, it was 7.5 hours between when the ship docked and when we walked off the pier. This cut into our planned visits to Old San Juan. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to book Carnival's Old San Juan excursion ($29-39 USD per person) to move up in line. Those with early flight departures are also supposed to debark first, but it might be wise to avoid booking flights that depart Sunday morning.
