Back from Carnival Legend Cruise

[SeaWench]

Hello all, we just got back from the Legend last night . The Cruise was awesome. This ship had the best staff of any cruise I had been on. There was one grouchy purser, but in general they are never overly friendly.

I have never really given a real review so I will try my best.
We had VIP boarding since we had a suite so we were on the ship by 12.
We went up and had lunch and then we walked all over the ship.

The Spirit class layout is WAY diff than any ship of Carnivals. We never really did truely know where we were when we would ride the elevators. The typical promenade deck is deck 5. On the Legend all the bars and lounges are on decks 2 and 3. Plus you can walk loop around the outside deck on deck 2 s well as inside.

We were naughty and snuck our bags into the cabin before it was ready but our cabin steward didnt mind. We hd the wrap around balcony and it was AWESOME!!!

We watched the sail away from our balcony and went up top to go under the bridge which was awesome.
Also best muster ever. Super fast, heres where you go and done.

We hit the pools got our Buzz on and found our favorite bar man.

Dinners were awesome. We had open seating which is nice but I still like having the same waiter. We got a window seat everytime and met 2 really nice older men who we sat with a few times. They had lots of stories.
We also did the supper club. BEST STEAK EVER!!!

We went Parasailing in Grand Cayman and then to 7 mile beach. The boat driver said we had to try a 911 at the Reef Club but they will sneak up on you so he warned us to write our ship and cabin number on our hand, We had 2 and were feeling fine. Then we went to Margaritaville and had Jerk wings and Pina Coladas.


Cozumel ~we took the ferry over to Playa Del Carmen. Went to the Beach and shopped. We went to Fat Tuesday while we waited for the next ferry and had a Great drink called Banana Banshee and were serenaded by the Mariachi's. I got ripped off for a dress for my daughter ~lol We even got to see somebody get revivied on the beach. Excitement

Belize~ we did the Cave Tubing and ATV combo with Cavetubing.com
I originally booked through ccl for 92 bucks but cancelled and did the website and was 75 bucks for both. It was awesome. I even crashed into the tree's. Belize is poor but beautiful in the rain forrest and nice people. We even got a free bottle of Cashew wine.
Highly recomend cavetubing.com

Roatan~ LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. The most beautiful place. We went to Tabyana beach and have never seen a more beautiful place. The fish are everywhere. and I mean everywhere. Just swim or walk in the water and its amazing. We saw stingrays and sea urchins and lots of those yellow and black fish and something nibbled at my leg, not sure what that was and if you go you must try a Monkey La La drink. Nice shops there, great reggea band, clean bathrooms. PERFECT DAY.

Not sure what else to say, but we had a great time and I will upload some photos soon.

[travelgalSue]

Thanks for the review SeaWench. I have been considering doing the Legend with a group and now am going to bite the bullet and go! It was good the hear that Belize and Roatan were good stops, I was concerned they might not be. Looking forward to seeing pics.

[David West]

Thanks for the review Sounds like an awesome cruise The wife and I are booked on the Legend for May . Same ports of call for us also.

How was the service now @ Fat Tuesday's in Cozumel, since they moved downtown I sure hated to see that they done away with there Hut @ the Pier . The wife and I have had alot of fun there in the past.

I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.

Happy Sailing to all;
David

[skymaster]

So happy you had a great time aboard "Legend", and enjoyed the superior service at the Port of Tampa. We love sailing out of Tampa, as the embarkation/debarkation is so much easier, and it's a pleasure to deal with the folks there.
The lovely Mrs. Jones (Vita) and I'll be sailing on "Legend" for Halloween on October 26th. Can't wait, as we too, always love our "Spirit Class" cruises.

Ken
"SKY"

[SeaWench]

I have a few pics up now. For some reason some of them don't want to load so I may see if I can trick it and start a new gallery

David West ~ Fat Tuesday was fine. Great service but as you, I remember it on the pier and loved those big swings at the bar. Those are now bye bye. But still fun

[colorcrazie]

Thanks for the review. We're on the Legend Nov. 9. Have been to all the ports except Roatan, so I'm pleased to hear good things about it. My body chemistry doesn't handle alcohol, so I had to skim past all that. But, now I'm starting to get really excited. Please keep trying to get those pic's posted.
Marty

[Trip]

So nice to sea you back:) Glad the ship and ports got a good report card!
Now, it's time to do a load of laundry, while you pour over some cruise brochures.....I will check out your pictures and sigh;)

[rjsmom]

SeaWench, We also just returned Yesterday and alson had a good time. I have never been on a Spirit Class either and it was a very well designed ship. We also had a Suite on Deck 8- actually we had two Suites 6pl in two cabins . We went down to the Pursers desk upon arrival and were given a form to sign which gave them the OK to open the door between our two cabins. So as a result we had a gigantic Balcony with shade if needed and also the wraparound that gave us great views.

The staff was great for the most part , we had 2nd seating and had a waiter that was more interested in singing every night ( on the Microphone ) than making sure we had coffee and desert before the waiters started their little entertainment . The Maitre'd would hand him the Mic every night and we had to wait for him to entertain the Dining Room .
Twice we left and did not have desert or coffee because we had an appointment and Art Auction the other night. The Assistant also was just OK . He really did not talk to us at all , and one night we waited 10minutes just to get bread and ended up asking for it. So i guess you could say the Service was a little off at times.

The ship is going into Drydock in February and it sure needs a little lift in certain areas. The bedskirt in both cabins was ripped in at least 3 places and looked ragged. The Sofa in our Cabin had a big rip in the leather back. The Shower lever in my cabin was broken upon arrival and we had to call maintenance to replace it the 1st day. Also there is a door between the outer room and the vanity area that got stuck on the second day and i was in there and could not get out , as my Husband was on the Balcony . I think i waited about 25minutes before anyone heard me screaming to get out . It was kind of funny now that i think about it, but also should not have happened if there would have been a phone in the bathroom .

We did not do the Steak House ( $30 ) because we were usually satisfied with the food in the dining room. Although it could have been a little warmer sometimes. If not for the Chocolate Melting Cake , i would probably not have had a dessert some nights. Do not miss it , if you are a true chocolate lover.

Pools were very crowded , especially on sea days as expected. What i did not understand was that there were always kids in the Adult Pool . And no one seems to say anything to them. We did ask one of the pool/deck workers one day because it was very crowded and the kids kept jumping in and i got hit in the head . ( I guess i was jinxed this trip ) Unlike Royal Caribbean and especially Celebrity they also don't seem to say a word to parents of babies in diapers. There were a lot of babies in both the pools and the Whirlpools in their diapers. YUCK !!! On Saturday we heard the Cruise Director say that there were over 600 children onboard. Never heard of so many kids being out of school this early in the school year.

So i guess i won't be looking to go back on Carnival any time soon. I think i'll stick to RCCL and Celebrity and get my Diamond Status perks. I have to say it was nice to try Carnival again but was not as impressed as i was when i was younger myself. I like the Calmness of RCCL and CEL .

Looking forward to Celebrity Summitt in January , CK

[SeaWench]

I think you said one of your group had the cabin either below or above us. I never saw anyone on their balcony's

[tjwalkingon]

I returned from Legend on 9-14. It was a awsome cruise, even with Ike going on. I must say the dining room food was the best I have had on any of the cruises. It was really good every night, we were all impressed. For some reason on this ship I never got my bearings, seems like I was always going the wrong way! Not many kids on board and they didn't go to the back pool. But there were alot of Big Kids (25 and over) jumping in! In Roatan we went horsebacking riding with Shirkie and it was alot of fun. Then went to Fosters for the afternoon at the beach. I won't be back there. The kids were out from school and there was too many. They would not leave us alone, trying to sell stuff. I have never been somewhere that it's been this bad. I don't mind a few and usually buy something, but this was really bad. We were begging them to leave us alone. In Cozumel we went to Paradise beach, nice! Belize we went on airboat ride in the marshes, cool! Didn't get to stop in Grand Cayman cause of Ike.

[rjsmom]

Originally Posted by SeaWench

I think you said one of your group had the cabin either below or above us. I never saw anyone on their balcony's

We were on the Balcony every day , we had the door open between the two cabins and if it was too sunny on the wraparound we stayed on the shady side of the balcony (cabin 8271) . We used it quite a bit and even had lunch out there a couple of days.


To tjwalkingon,
We had over 600 kids on board this week and they did use All the pools. I love children as much as anyone and have 6 grandchildren of my own but i would even say something to my own kids or grandkids if they did the same thing. I also agree that some of the adults needed to have a babysitter as well .

I felt the same about Roatan and the children begging , but have been to many ports where this is just a normal day in their lives. The children from these families are too poor and some don;'t attend school so they can work and help the families. I don't give them a handout because it is not safe because you get swarmed by the rest . It does make it very uncomfortable to walk around . I only walked down the street about 2 blocks and turned back and went back to the ship. Nothing there for me either.

I am sorry you did not get into Grand Cayman , as it is a beautiful Island and hopefully you'll get to see it in the future.

CK

[David West]

Originally Posted by SeaWench

I have a few pics up now. For some reason some of them don't want to load so I may see if I can trick it and start a new gallery

David West ~ Fat Tuesday was fine. Great service but as you, I remember it on the pier and loved those big swings at the bar. Those are now bye bye. But still fun

Can you still order food there @ Fat Tuesday's We've had alot of good meals there, and several " Attitude Adjustment " drinks

Happy Sailing to all ;
David

[SeaWench]

Yes you can still get food. We had only ordered Guacamole and Salsa. But that itself was very good. The Banana Banshee drinks are the best

[David West]

Originally Posted by SeaWench

Yes you can still get food. We had only ordered Guacamole and Salsa. But that itself was very good. The Banana Banshee drinks are the best

The Dw and I, always got the Nacho Fajhiti Chicken / beef plate. Awesome

Sorry to hear about the locals in Roatan . I can't stand that I understand, there only tring to make a living. I think its about the same way on every Mexican Island I've been on.

How was Belize

Thanks;
David

[tjwalkingon]

In Roatan the kids were out from school that day because of elections or something like that, so I think thats why there were so many.

In Belize there was a shopping mall at the dock with a lot of shops and restaurants, it was very nice. We didn't go out side of the gates because I had read somewhere about a travelers warning and go with a tour if you go into the city. We took a city tour and airboat ride thru the ship, it was fun and interesting.