Kathy and I flew from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale, then made our way to South Beach for the night before the cruise.
Kathy's first drink in South Beach Miami. It's as big as she is.
🧭 Journey · 2 parts 1/23/2011 – 2/3/2011
5 Night Eastern Caribbean & 5 Night Western Caribbean (Back 2 Back)
11days end to end
9places
5countries
10nights at sea
1night ashore
Part 1 of 2 ⚓ Cruise 1/23/2011 – 1/29/2011
5-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise
⭐ First cruise ever⭐ First Eastern Caribbean Cruise
5nights
7ports
1day at sea
Carnival DestinyshipStateroom: 7215 · OS SUITE (Oceanview with Verandah)
Firsts: our first cruise · first time in the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas
Day by day
Miami, FL
Goodbye friends. We are Caribbean bound. Turning off the BlackBerry for 5 days.
We were in Miami to meet Darrell and his wife Lisa. They were avid Carnival Cruisers, they talked us into joining them, and on this trip, they would be our Sherpa.
South Beach, Miami Beach, FL
With a few hours before boarding we walked South Beach, past the row of Art Deco hotels on Ocean Drive, the Beacon Hotel with its white facade among them. The palm trees along the promenade leaned sideways in the wind and the beach itself was busy with sunbathers.
🎭 Aboard the Carnival Destiny
We waited in a bright lounge before making our way to the ship. By mid afternoon we had boarded the Carnival Destiny, found our stateroom already made up, and wandered through the atrium with its tiers of balconies stacked up toward the ceiling. We watched the skyline of Miami from the deck as the ship got ready to sail.
By six the Destiny pulled away from the dock. We stood at the rail and watched the city slide past, the funnel rising up behind us against the evening sky.
We woke up already at sea, with no land in sight in any direction. After the busy embarkation day before, we had the whole ship to explore and settled into the rhythm of being aboard, with a full day ahead before we reached Grand Turk. Kathy and I took it easy, getting used to life on the Destiny before the first port call. It was the only day of the trip with no photos at all.
Grand Turk
The Destiny came into Grand Turk in the morning. Kathy and I walked over to Margaritaville and the shops at the Grand Turk Cruise Center, past the fountain in the plaza and along the row of white buildings.
🎭 Aboard the Carnival Destiny
We spent the afternoon on deck watching the tenders work the water below, running people back and forth from the beach, with the loungers lined up along the sand.
Once we pulled away that evening we found a table out on deck for drinks as the sun went down. I had a cigar and a glass of wine. Kathy had a red drink with a straw. The pool deck's movie screen was running while we sat out there and the sky went orange and then dark.
Back in the cabin that night the steward had left a towel elephant waiting on the bed.
We tendered in to Half Moon Cay in the late morning, riding the ferry boat over from the ship. Just past the beach we walked under the Fort San Salvador arch and past a signpost pointing out the mileage back home. Along the beach there was a sign that read I wish I could stay here forever. We spent some time on the loungers looking out at the Destiny anchored offshore.
In the afternoon Kathy and I went out on a boat and para-sailed, one at a time, just in case... getting harnessed up and lifted off behind the boat with the island and the ship laid out below. Kathy and I also went horseback riding, walking the horses along the edge of the water with the beach and the ship behind us. The ship's photographers caught us both on horseback afterward.
We explored around Fort San Salvador's wooden lookout tower before heading back to the ship. That evening there was mini golf up on the top deck, and Kathy had a coffee later on. Another towel animal was waiting on the bed when we got back to the cabin.
🎭 Aboard the Carnival Destiny
The Carnival Destiny came into Nassau in the morning, with Atlantis Paradise Island's towers standing pink against the sky as we sailed in. Ashore, Kathy, Darrell, Lisa and I made our way over to Atlantis for the day.
We wandered through the resort's aquarium tunnels, glass walls on every side with sharks and reef fish swimming past, and out past the pools and the waterslides. Jellyfish drifted in a dark tank of their own, and in one hallway I sat down on the resort's big carved stone seat for a photo. We walked the beach in the afternoon and looked out over the water.
The best part of the day was booked ahead of time. Kathy and I got into wetsuits at Dolphin Cay and swam with a dolphin, each of us riding a board while it pushed us through the water, then together for a photo with our hands out to it.
By evening we were back near the ship. I photographed the lighthouse at the harbor mouth and a big glass sculpture in the lobby before we sailed out past Atlantis again as the light went flat and gray.
🎭 Aboard the Carnival Destiny
The Carnival Destiny returned to Miami in the morning. I was up on deck as the sun came up over the skyline and the ship came in past the cable-stayed bridge at the port, the sky still orange in the east. By the time we were tied up, the skyline was bright and clear in full daylight.
🎭 Aboard the Carnival Destiny
Part 2 of 2 ⚓ Cruise 1/29/2011 – 2/3/2011
5-Night Western Caribbean Cruise
⭐ First Western Caribbean Cruise
5nights
5ports
2days at sea
Carnival DestinyshipStateroom: 7215 · OS SUITE (Oceanview with Verandah)
Firsts: first time in the Cayman Islands
Day by day
We boarded the Carnival Destiny in Miami, Kathy, Darrell, Lisa and I, back on board for the second leg of the cruise. Up in the cabin a welcome-aboard gift was waiting: a bottle of champagne on ice next to a wrapped basket of fruit and chocolates.
🎭 Aboard the Carnival Destiny
A day at sea aboard the Carnival Destiny, no port on the schedule, just time on the ship. In the evening I was out watching the sun go down over open water, the sky fading through gold as it dropped to the horizon.
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
The Carnival Destiny came into Ocho Rios this morning, Jamaica's coast and mountains rising out of the sea as we sailed in, and we were tied up at the pier by mid-morning.
Dunn's River Falls, Jamaica
Ashore, Kathy, Darrell and Lisa and I went to Dunn's River Falls. We joined the long human chain of guests holding hands up through the falls, with guides in blue shirts stationed on the rocks to help everyone through the fastest water. Partway up we stopped on a wooden platform for a picture with the falls behind us, and again near the top to wave for another.
Where the climb finishes there is a sign congratulating everyone who makes it up the World Famous Dunn's River Falls, and we had our picture taken there too, still wet from the climb.
🎭 Aboard the Carnival Destiny
Back aboard the Destiny that afternoon we stood at the rail and looked out over Ocho Rios.
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
The Carnival Destiny called at Grand Cayman today. We tendered in to George Town and spent the afternoon on the pier at The Shops, in and out of a Harley-Davidson store, past jewelers and t-shirt stalls, stopping for guava ice cream at one of the stands. We had our picture taken at a yellow "Welcome to the Cayman Islands" sign and studied a big painted road map of the island posted near the shops.
🎭 Aboard the Carnival Destiny
By late afternoon we were back aboard, watching George Town slide past from the rail as we sailed away, along with a harbor tug working alongside us and one of the island's pirate-style tour ships anchored in the bay. Back in the cabin, a note on the laundry bag read, "We'll do the laundry, you do the lounging."
That evening we stopped by the ship's photo shop, where they had a costumed pirate character on hand for photos. We had a few portraits taken, Kathy and I together, one of them with the pirate posing alongside us.
A day at sea aboard the Carnival Destiny. After Grand Cayman, this one had nothing on the itinerary but open water, the ship working its way back toward Miami. We slowed down, stayed on board, and let the last full day of the cruise pass quietly before it was time to think about getting home.
🎭 Aboard the Carnival Destiny
Back to the real world after 10 fabulous days in the Caribbean. Time to fly back to the snow.
The Carnival Destiny returned to Miami this morning. We were up early enough to watch the skyline come into view before sunrise, the last look at the coast before it was time to pack up and go.
Ashore, Kathy, Darrell and Lisa and I flew from Fort Lauderdale to Detroit, then drove home from Detroit. Ten nights and two cruises after we set out, we were back in Coloma.
More photos
