Visiting the Southern Caribbean on Board the Carnival Destiny June 17th - 24th, 2007 (but getting there was #&@%$!)

I would like to share with you the good, bad, and the ugly experiences of our cruise vacation.  In this article, I will not repeat what other cruise passengers had already contributed, but I will share with you the good and bad experiences that we had.  I am hoping those of you who read this will find it informative and can help you plan your next cruise vacation accordingly.

We started planning our cruise vacation in March of 2007.  Our plan was to visit the south Caribbean islands on a one-week cruise vacation starting Sunday, June 17.  Carnival Destiny’s itinerary met our needs for it sails from San Juan Porto Rico to St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, and back to San Juan.  There were 13 of us on this trip. Travelers’ age ranged from a nine year old boy to two mid-80 year old senior citizens.  We purchased airline tickets online to save some money; contacted an experienced cruise agent to help us with our cruise reservation.

Through Expedia, we found roundtrip airline tickets for $551 each person leaving Oakland, California to San Juan.  Our plan was to arriving San Juan one day prior to our cruise in case of flight delays.  Outbound flight is with Continental Airline and return flight is through US Airways.  After few clicks of buttons, I received an Expedia email confirmation showing the total charge, our itinerary and seating assignment. 

About one month after the Expedia airline ticket purchase, “bad” news starting to arrive.  I saw a note posted on the e-itinerary requesting me to contact Expedia.  I did so and the Expedia agent told me the note is to inform us that our return flight will be delayed by 10 minutes - no real concern there, I thought at the time. 

About one month prior to our cruise, because my fear of getting “bumped” off the airplane, I decided to call both airlines to confirm our flights.  My call to the Continental Airline was uneventful and took only 15 minutes.  The Continental agent confirmed our flight leaving Oakland, our seating, and assured me everything should be fine.  I then proceeded to call US Airways.  I was appalled of the news that our return flight from San Juan to Oakland was cancelled, period.  I was upset that neither the Expedia nor the US Airways contacted me of this change.  Where’s the customer service?  Well, after being on the phone with the US Airways agent for nearly two hours, we finally identified an alternative flight leaving the San Juan on the 24th but back into San Francisco.  This was an incredible inconvenience since we were traveling with an elderly couple in our group.  I agreed to the change because there was not an alternate choice.  I also knew that if I hadn’t made that phone call we would be left stranded in San Juan, all 13 of us, young and old, looking to find a way to come home.

On June 16, we arose early and arrived the Oakland Airport at 4:30 a.m. to catch our 6:00 a.m. flight.  At the Continental Airline counter, we were astounded to find out that the agent cannot issue us boarding passes even though we have assigned seats.  She explained this is because the US Airways did not release Continental Airline’s portion of the airfare.  The agent explained that whenever online tickets are purchased involving two air carriers, the ticketing agent (Expedia in this case) would assign one airline company to be the ticket (money) holder.  In our case the ticket holder is the US Airways. Apparently, both Expedia and the US Airways dropped the ball by not assuring the transmittal of funds to Continental airline!  The Continental Airline agent (she was pregnant at the time - bless her heart) persistently called the US Airways personnel to negotiate a funding transfer.  She was unsuccessful because her calls to US Airways were put on hold for a long time and when connection was made the airlines’ computers was not programmed to communicate.  We saw our flight depart with 13 empty seats.  After three-and-half hours, standing in-front-of the Continental airline counter, exhaustive telephone calls with both the US Airways and Expedia, we were finally assigned a red-eye flight out of San Francisco for 10 p.m. that evening.  Because of our flight delay, we missed our hotel stay in San Juan, but we were stuck with the hotel bill for four reserved rooms at over $125 each.  Our joy and excitement were zapped.  That morning, we returned home tired, confused, and were very angry with both Expedia and US Airways for their lousy service.  Our call to Expedia regarding the airline ticket snafu and hotel refund were dismissed without any effort to help. We promised to tell others never use Expedia and fly with US Airways again.  All those who drove to the airport were also stuck with airport parking charge of $11.89. 

Finally some good news, we boarded our red-eye flight!  We arrive San Juan Sunday afternoon 2:30 p.m., July 17.  Taxi from the airport to the cruise terminal was easily arranged.  Just look for ground transportation outside the double doors after you pick up your luggage.  We paid $35 including tipping the driver for a 7 passenger van.  They charged by the number of passengers and luggage items carried.  We proceeded directly into the cruse terminal and got in the fun-pass line.  Passengers who completed the fun pass are supposed to go through check in much quicker, but apparently everyone in the terminal had a fun pass.  To me fun pass really does not mean much.  Even though the line was about a 45 minutes wait, everyone was in an up mood so the check in wasn’t that painful. While in line, Carnival provided everyone cold ice tea to make sure everyone stay hydrated.  The Carnival staff also allows groups with senior to move ahead of others in some portion of the line.  They do this because of the high temperature inside the check in terminal, just asked any of the staff there.  My wife and I had a balcony room number #6259.  It was clean, well lit, nicely done with ample storage.  I like the built in mini-safe to store our important items.  My wife like the size of our bed, I think they put two full-size beds together.  We purchased an interior room for our daughters with three twin beds, who shared a room with their cousin.

St. Thomas:  I call into St. Thomas weeks in advance and reserved two mini-vans from Avis.  Because St. Thomas is a USVI, I felt perfectly safe driving there. If you plan to arrange you own transportation, Avis/Budget is just a ten minute walk from the cruise terminal.  The rate for a mini-van was about $125.  Make sure you fill up the gas prior to returning it back.  If you like to visit multiple sites, arranging your own transportation can save you lots of money.  All you’ll need is a good map, a good navigator, and make sure you drive on the left side of the road.  We drove around much of the island, visited shops, and stopped at several beaches.  One caution regarding being on your own, make sure you return the car well ahead of the cruise departure time.  We returned to Avis 4:35 p.m. By the time we finished our paper work, we had to run back to the Destiny with minutes to spare.  After we cross the gangway, the cruise staff literally pulled the gangway away from the pier, close call! In fact, there was one passenger that missed the departure time and had to be delivered to the ship afterwards, plus pay a penalty. 

Dominica:  We really liked this lush tropical island.  The young people in our group enjoyed this island immensely.  Getting off the Destiny, we negotiated with a taxi driver - “Hazel Nut”, who was very capable to serve as our tour guide.  His fee was $20 US per person (very inexpensive compared to the cruise line excursion prices) for nearly four hours of sightseeing.  Hazel was funny and friendly to be with.  He told us about his village, islanders’ life style, and even shared with us some Dominica politics.  I suggest you read ahead and decide the sites you want to see in advance.  During our tour, at each points of interest, Hazel would get out the car and somehow finding another “resident expert” to take us on a side-tour.  Because the people of Dominica rely heavily on tourists’ dollars, we enjoyed their services there and in return rewarded them a nice tip.  On one of the side-trip the young people in our group enjoyed a trek through a rainforest and climbing the Tarfalgar Falls (a.k.a. the Daddy Fall).  After they returned they told me the climb was challenging and difficult to navigate without the help of our “local expert.”  The climb, the water pools, and the view offered those a satisfying experience.  At the end of the tour, we decided to try some of the local food. Hazel recommended the Pearl Cuisine to us.  We had some rum punch (soda for some), plantain, rabbit stew, and chicken dishes.  We went away full, happy but still sober.   

Barbados: We booked through Carnival “A Taste of Barbados” land tour that took us through southern Barbados.  Our tour included a city driving tour, visiting a historical plantation, walking through a rum factory, and seeing a local wood carver in action who produces wonderful pieces of mahogany.  You might have guessed the kids actually preferred the beach as some of them fell asleep on the bus, oh well.  The lesson I learn from choosing any cruise tour is make sure you select the right activities for your group because you’ll only have a day on the island.

St. Lucia:  If you like sports fishing, this is island you want to visit.  Sports fishing excursion offered by the cruise is $140 per person for a half-day trip.  I searched the website and found Hankshaw Fishing.  All you have to do is call them directly (use a phone card) and make arrangements in advance.  Hankshaw charges a10 percent deposit money in advance which is very reasonable.  The cost for us on this half-day trip was $400 for six people fishing on a 31’ cruiser.  The boarding dock was only a ten minute easy walk from the Destiny terminal.  When the boat arrived at the dock, it was a 46’ cruiser, nice!  The boat was fast, spacious and well equipped.  I recommend taking a seasick pill before doing this excursion. I told the boat crew “find us some fish and we will give you a nice tip.” On this trip, we had multiple hookups - the result: one shaker, a wahoo, and a nice blue marlin.  The marlin was released at once, what a beautiful fish - I thank God for His wonderful creation.  The sports fishing trip was a wonderful experience for us especially my daughter Lauren who landed the marlin (I helped of course).    

Antigua:  This is a beautiful island claimed to have 365 beaches, one beach for each day of the year.  Antigua has many beautiful resorts and private villas nested in secluded beaches.  I read many positive reviews on the Eco-tour who operates a snorkeling tour that includes an ecological perspective of the island.  I arranged our reservations through the internet.  You can find the tour operator’s website by googling “eco-tour of Antigua.”   Booking online also gives a 10 percent discount.  However, you have to pay the remainder of the cost in cash.  The price of the tour included a nice barbeque lunch.  Overall, I was a somewhat disappointed with the lack of diversity of marine life encountered while snorkeling.  The tour made three snorkeling stops.  The coral reefs at these stops are largely dominated by massive dome corals, feathery gorgonians, and yellow sea fans.  In fact, it is my opinion that my 140 gallon reef tank at home contained much more diversity than those we saw during our snorkeling stops.  On last note, I thought the Eco-tour staff should have warned the snorkelers the danger of accidental contact upon fire corals.  On this trip, I saw one large colony of fire coral in the shallow reef.  This coral will deliver a nasty sting to anyone who comes in contact with it.

Finally, a few words on our dining experience:  Formal dining was a memorable experience aboard the Destiny.  We especially enjoyed the signature dishes by Georges Blanc.  His signature dishes were always a hit, delicious and with good presentation.