Carnival Destiny - What is free and what is not?

Question

On July 27 I'm going out on a one week vacation with my girlfriend. As you know the economy is kinda tight, but we decided to go anyway on the Carnival Destiny Cruise trough the Carribean. I was just wondering, in this cruiseline, what's free? And what things are not included? Is the food free? And if you wanted to have a nice time without spending a lot of money, what would you do? I'll really apreciate any help, thanks.

Answer 1

My wife and I just took our first cruise too and when we booked our cruise were told that everything is included, meaning meals, buffet or dining room, and drinks like water and lemonade and tea, but soft drinks like coke and others are not, however you can buy a softdrink card that gives you the ability to get drinks off of that card without paying each time..It costs about $5 per day and is well worth it if you drink soft drinks..Beer, wine, and mixed drinks will cost you a whole lot of money..I think stayin sober is a good thing because you'll want to remember everything..Have a wonderful trip...If you order water at the dining room they will charge you $4.oo so always ask if they are going to charge for it.. Tap water is free, and just as good...

Answer 2

The carnival Destiny was the first cruise ship I was ever on and still one of my favorites.

Onboard you can enjoy meals in either of the two dining room as well as the deli counter (make sure you try one of the ruebens), lido deck buffett, poolside grill, and 24 hour pizza counter for free.  Regular coffee, fruit punch, lemonade and tea or also free of charge.  

Alcoholic beverages are an additional charge.  You can view a full menu here. http://cruiserfaqs.com/wiki/index.php5?t...

all shows are completely free, if you want to do an excursion you will have to pay extra for those.  Depending on how adventurous you are it may be a good idea to just rent a car and explore on your own.  To really save money you can make use of public transportation available on most islands.  They don't always adhere strictly to the schedule but usually only cost a dollar or two.  Just make sure you do your research before you go.  

I find the major onboard expense is alcohol and the major shore expense to be transporation/excursions.  You can lessen the alcohol blow by smuggling booze onboard (although this is technically against the rules) and you can lessen the transportation blow by taking public transportation just make sure you are back on the ship in time.

You can spend as little or as much as you want on a cruise its up to you.  My motto is to cruise cheap, cruise often so I'm a bit of an expert on the subject.

Answer 3

Hello!

I've been on four Carnival cruises, so I'll try to help you out.

Most food is free.  The only exception that I've found are the specialty desserts and shakes at the cafe.  Everything else is free.  There is a buffet and dining rooms are available to eat in.  On Carnival, there is 24-hour free pizza and ice cream available as well.

Spa treatments are not included.

Alcoholic drinks and specialty drinks are not included.  Neither is soda.  These beverages are much more expensive onboard then at home.  If you drink a lot of soda, a soda card is available for purchase onboard.  You get unlimited soda for a set price.

The shows and activities are included, so do as many of those as you wish!

If you want to have a nice time without spending  money, here are some activities you could do.  Take your girlfriend dancing, either in the disco club or the jazz club one night.  I'm sure she'd like it.  Go see a show together.  Lay out in deck chairs or go swimming together.  If you have a balcony, sit out on your balcony and watch the water go by together.  Just do little things that let her know you care.

If you don't mind spending a little money, check out the shore excursions for the ports you are visiting on Carnival's website.  My family and I have found cheap excursions to do.  Once you are onboard, you can still purchase excursions and sometimes the price is much better last minute, if you don't mind being without a plan.

Hope this was helpful!