CruiseMates' Readers Cruise Reviews

Flight and embarkation.

We booked a deviation on American Air Lines to insure our frequent flier mileage and so that we could chose our isle seats both going and coming back. Diane and I both need seating on the isle because of physical demands. She must have extra legroom for her right leg or she gets back pains and I am a large man and need some extra shoulder space on long flights. Boy did this trip qualify there. Needless to say we had to get up well before dawn to catch a flight to Dallas so we could wait about 4 1/2 hr. for a flight that was held on the ground for a thunderstorm.

The flight to London went well in the new 777 and other than the fact we were covering 6 time zones plus the two from Sacramento, which plays hob with eating schedules and gets you into Gatwick airport at 9Am with no sleep at least for us, neither of us can sleep on a plane, and a further 2 � hr. bus ride to Harwich to catch the ship. The check in at Harwich went much faster and was more organized than when we sailed from here on the Splendor Of The Seas about 5years ago. Practice pays off.

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The Ship has been reviewed many times in the last 6 years so I will not tour the ship again as it would be repetitious at best. This is our second time on the Legend. We sailed from Hawaii to Ensenada in 95 when the ship first came out. They have kept the ship in very good shape and it hardly shows any wear for 6 years of service. The only change I noticed was the removal of the hot grill for hamburgers and hot dogs that was attached to the Solarium bar has been removed an now is just a order stand which serves hamburgers from a steam tray reheated and if you order a with cheese its not even melted. McDonalds has nothing to fear, in fact after a couple of these dried out wonders a big Mac looks good. I lament the loss of the hot juicy, made to order, double melted cheeseburger of yesteryear. Some changes are not for the better even if they are labor saving. I know the ship is being heavily pushed in the European market especially the UK and they like their burgers cooked dry and bland. A compensation is the addition of an ice cream sundae stand which is open all afternoon every day with a selection of flavors, not good for the diet but truly addicting.

Food

In general we were not impressed by the new International Menu. We found the it tobe limited and uninteresting. I used to look forward to the appetizers but they have cut back and now offer less choice. The salads are uninspired and were just greens and a house dressing most nights. I can only hope RCI dose not spread this menu and style to the whole fleet since their our favorite line and we are Diamonds Club members

Entertainment

The wave review dancers put on very energetic shows, which were pretty good but not as good as many, we've seen in the fleet. As to headliners there was a quick-change artist who was interesting but not great and a magician act that was pretty run of the mill. The other headliners were all very talented but their acts went on longer than my interest. I can only listen to so much violin or harmonica before I get bored and there was a pianist who had truly amazing repertoire and played for 45 min. non-stop without a word who had me dying for a break. The Europeans in the audience loved it. We noticed the same mix of entertainment in 95 except then they had an opera singer.

Excursions

We booked our excursions in advance based on the material sent before the final payment. Since I know I would have liked to have a more objective idea as to what I was buying before I put my money down, here is my opinion of what I got. Remember its just one mans opinion and reflects my tastes not nessaceraly everyone's.

Oslo

Since we have been here before we chose the Norwegian Seafarers & Folk Museums tour that visited the Seafarer Museum, which is located on the grounds with the Kon Tiki and Polar explorations buildings. The Seafarers is filled with ship models and while interesting could be included in the Kon Tiki, Polar, and Viking ship tour. The second part of the tour went to the Folklore Museum, which consists of a group of early Norwegian farm units dating back to the Vikings, all-empty. The end of the walk on the grounds is up a steep long hill to the Stake church of the early Christian period. The climb is a killer especially if you have difficulty walking, which we do. While the tour continues down town and drops you off at the city hall the ship isn't docked a short walk away as your led to believe, unless you're in good hiking shape. First time visitors should take the Viking Ship tour its better for the money.

Stockholm

Here we chose the Historic Stockholm And Sigtuna tour mostly because it was longest and seemed to promise the most sights for the money. We were wrong what we got was a walk through some narrow old streets to the city hall and back on the bus with out seeing any thing really interesting. The next stop was the Vassa museum to view the largest wooden war ship ever built. This was the highlight of the trip but we could have gotten their a lot cheaper, I mean a lot cheaper. The ship is well worth seeing and is in amazing shape considering it sank over a hundred years ago. The ride to Sigtuna took about 2 hours and was like a trip on most freeways not very interesting. Sigtuna itself is a bout 3 blocks long with the usual overpriced local crafts and boutiques in small buildings with plaques on them claming to be built in the 13 and 14 hundreds but not architecturally unique in anyway. The lunch served was a local fish dish and a salad, which I thought was ok but not outstanding. Over all I would say the trip wasn't worth 1/3 of the cost.

Helsinki

Again we booked an 8hr tour for the same reason as in Stockholm and this was even a worse waste of time and money. We were whisked around Helsinki and then a long boring ride to Povoo where I could only wonder why we went and the worst lunch of my life in an old mill that served salads with local flower buds in it and a meat concoction that looked like liverwurst but tasted awful, there had to be a better tour than this.

St Petersburg

here we took the all day tour of the city that went to St. Peters Cathedral where the tsars and their families are intomed, it is being restored and the interior is beautiful. Then on to various sights within the city including the bleeding heart church, which has been beautifully restored at least on the outside, which was all we saw because it was Sunday, and the church was in use. We made several stops where souvenirs were available especially the nesting dolls and lacer boxes. Caution! Don't buy at the first stop as the price goes down at each stop. Diane bought dolls early and later saw the same for less than half. The lunch was a chicken Kiev that was the best tour meal I've ever had, it includes vodka. The last stop is at a park to see a statue of a man on a horse where weddings take place for non-religious Russians and a long long walk to the huge parking lot of the Hermitage. Stay on the buss if walking is difficult. The following day we could only go to the Hermitage because of time. The place is really four palaces all connected. It is vary ornate and is mostly restored, but you can still see many signs of the neglect of the Communist years. The fact is the whole city has only a false face-lift look to it and only looks good at a distance. Driving through the living parts of the city decay is evident along with years of grime and soot covering the lower floors of the apartment houses. Window casings are far gone with rot and should have been replaced years ago. It will be years before the city is really restored and will take a lot of money. They hope to get tourist dollars, as the ruppel is not worth much.

Tallinn Estonia is by comparison prosperous and clean, a fact the Estonians are happy to point out. There is no love lost for the departed Soviets. The old city is well worth the trip but the walking is a killer. The tour goes to the upper city only and if you want to see the old walled town you must walk down a long hill and after seeing the shops and houses you must walk about a mile to get the shuttle back to the ship as no busses can enter the medieval village.

Copenhagen

The first night was a layover and we went to Trivaly Gardens like all good tourists should. It's all lit up with lots places to eat but as an amusement park it is really second rate we spent most of our time just watching people from the outside table in front of pub across the street drinking beer and enjoying the atmosphere. For our full day trip we went to the Castles of North Zealand. We have been to Copenhagen before so this time we wanted to go out into the countryside. Boy did we go out, North Zealand is about 1.5 hours bus ride to the first stop at a small village with a large castle with a moat and all. The bus parks about 3 blocks away from the entrance to the main part of the Castle and then be warned there is a long clime up a turret to the upper floor where room after room is filled with huge portraits of Danish royalty all painted in stile of the Dutch masters ala Van Meier. Or at least that's the impression I got. The walls are covered from floor to ceiling with them. I'm sure that when the Castle was occupied there were less paintings and more furniture. After leaving the Castle we went to a Summer Palace that was being restored and could not be entered, I thought why bother except to fill time before lunch which was served at a fancy marine and resort complex. The lunch was a smorgasbord with a large selection of local dishes and a bottle of Torburge beer. We then went to Elsanor Castle, which is supposed to be Hamlets Castle. There is no entry into the castle itself only a walk around the grounds and I can only say the reason for coming is to say you've been there. The ride back to the city takes a different route and passes through some quaint villages with thatched roofs and past the new long bridge to Sweden the Danes are so proud of.

The trip home was uneventful and long. I began to write this in early September and got side tracked by sudden trip to Oregon. Then the Sept 11th disaster made it seem frivolous to finish. Since then we have taken a cruise on the Carnival Spirit to Belize, which I intend to review and have a trip booked to go down the Amazon the end of Jan. I got back in the mood to finish even though the memories are less sharp.