erby2283

Loving your review so far, thanks for taking the time to post it. Paradise Beach looks beautiful!

You're welcome and thanks for taking the time for your quick post to let me know you were reading/enjoying it.

It really takes a lot of time to upload/crop hundreds of pictures and then take the time to write a review. May not be as detailed as most but I post what I can remember off the top of my head.

When I am anxiously awaiting for a cruise, I love reading reviews which is why I choose to do one; to return the favor. Always amazes me to see how many people actually read the review versus actually posting a reply/thank you.

So thank you to all you who took a moment to respond.

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We tip van drivers who take us to the port about $5, porters $1 per bag. We did ATD this past cruise and in addition to the auto-tips, we tipped our waiter $35 (we also skipped the dining room 3 nights), and the assistant waiters $20 each. We tipped our room steward $40. Maybe this sounds like a lot to some people but my BF used to make a living off tips and we know how hard they work. We also know how many people don't tip at all so we try to do our best to make up for it.

Before we boarded, I stopped to take a picture of my BF in front of the Carnival Legend and Carnival Paradise. There was also another Carnival ship at another pier but I cannot remember which ship it was. It looks like a postcard to me!

One of my favorite things about cruising is sitting on my balcony just watching the water and hearing the waves. On this evening, shortly after sailaway, and lasting into the night, we had a lightening storm. I kept randomly snapping pictures with my camera hoping to catch a flash of lightening in the clouds and after about 9 tries, I was successful!

I would later go up to the Serenity area and lay on one of the hammocks with my ipod, and just listen to music watching the lightening in the clouds. I find so much peace and tranquility during moments like that!

I think we skipped dinner in the dining room tonight and ate from the deli/pizza.

A few cruises ago, I won $425 on a penny slot machine (on my first $20 too)! I headed down to the casino with my $20 and when I got up to $63, I cashed out. Why chance a good thing, right? I knew I probably wouldn't win like that ever again...lol!

After months of not being able to make up my mind of what I wanted to do, and with the uncertainty of weather, we decided to go to Paradise Beach with Poptart and her family (whom we met here on CC). My BF and I ate breakfast in the buffet and met Poptart and family in front of guest services so we could share a taxi to Paradise Beach. While walking down to Deck 1, we ran into another cruise critic couple in the hallway, Judy and Mike, who wanted to go to Paradise Beach too! The more the merrier. I’m so glad Poptart was there as she knew exactly where she was going and just led us to the taxi stand and told them where we wanted to go. There were 11 of us altogether so we had to split up. Still, it was nice to share a cab ride and not have to pay the fare by ourselves.

When we arrived there was hardly anyone there!

And the pool was just as beautiful as everyone said it was! Later in the day, Poptart and her daughter ordered some food and they brought over a table and set it in the water so they didn’t even had to get out of the pool to eat their food!

There were only 3 ships in port that day so I’m assuming this is a quiet day for Cozumel. We decided to hang out by the ocean for an hour or so and enjoy the view. We order a virgin pina colada and a diet coke. We just sat in the loungers and enjoyed watching everyone swim around and play on all the floats.

After an hour, we moved up to the pool area where Poptart and her family were and Judy and Mike who were at the beach with us, followed a short time later. We all enjoyed hanging out at the pool. It was not crowded at all! When it was time for us to order lunch, my BF ordered the Mexican Platter (I think it was $14.99)

As I explained earlier, I am the plain Jane eater so I ordered a plain chicken sandwich and French fries. My BF even told the waited in Spanish just the chicken (pollo) and bun…nothing else. It was delivered with cheese, lettuce and mayonnaise so I guess “plain” means the same thing in Mexico as it does here at every drive-thru in America! LOL!

As you can see, the grounds at Paradise Beach are extremely beautiful and well kept. I never had to use the bathrooms but I heard they were spotless as well! I am so glad we decided to come here for the day. We would definitely come back here again. We took a cab back with Judy and Mike and were on a mission to find a particular brand of Vanilla for a friend back home. The only bottle I could find was a very small bottle and all of them had been opened. Seriously, who would buy a bottle that had already been opened? So, we had to settle for a different brand. But when you can get a huge 32 ounce bottle of vanilla for around $10, does anyone really care what brand it is?

We were on the Conquest in Nov... we booked with Royston... I was very unhappy with the terrible tour.. 5 hours with no lunch stop (as stated) ... I was NOT going to eat street food at one of our stops... no fortress (as stated)..

I booked with Royston because of the positive reviews... we had people on our bus that required food for medical reasons...

We were quoted a price that was to include food and a tour...

They were VERY unorganised.. don't rely on positive reviews..

Book at your own risk!!

When you say they were unorganized, do you mean you did not have Royston himself? If that's the case, that's the first I have heard of him needing help.

Have you emailed him since returning?

We enjoyed our tour very much and out lunch choice was yes, from a street vendor, but very delicious; or a conch-something - can't remember bc I don't eat seafood and it was 2 years ago.

I too would be unhappy if i booked expecting one thing and getting another. I would definitely email him if you haven't already!

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We rented a car from Tampa and drove to MCO. We had a late flight (3:45) so we were not rushed but I can attest to competing with everyone from the theme parks. We still had to check our bags (we were already checked-in via early bird on Southwest but still had to wait in a short line to check our bags) and then in the security line. I'd say it took about 45 altogether but I think you just have to ask if you want to worry about it the whole time.

p.s. - they didn't START disembarkation until after 9 AM so I was thankful for the late flight.

We were on the week before you so I can verify that they did not start the Christmas decorations until we were getting off - we were off fairly early because I'm Platinum and they were just starting to drag the decorations off. So, my guess it was the reason for the delay in boarding. We boarded way earlier than 12:00.

 

I loved the Legend and wish she were hanging around - I live less than an hour from the port, but this was my first time on her. We really enjoyed our week.

Thanks for verifying the Christmas decorations. I was just glad I bought FTTF!!!!

It must be nice living so close to port. If I did, I could take so many last minute cruises at good rates!

I play Call of Duty on ps3 and have friends that live in Plant City. Isn't that near Lakeland?

Day 2 - Sea Day

It has been my experience that if you want a good spot in the Serenity on sea day, you have to get your butt up early! We got up around 8:15 and I changed into my bathing suit and headed up to Serenity. There were a few people already out but surprisingly, it was not too busy by 8:30. That WOULD change on the second sea day (Sat).

I had been watching the weather like a hawk prior to our cruise and it had called for rain (like 80-90%) every day in every port. But we lucked out on this cruise and the weather was beautiful. Other than sitting on my balcony, there is nothing I enjoy more than this view while being on a ship!!!

Debbie (AKA Poptart) found me quite early and I enjoyed her company all morning! Debbie talked about the Legend having her favorite Serenity area and I have to say after now having sailed 3 Carnival ships, I concur. It's laid out perfectly and has it's own pool. The showers are nice to cool off in as well.

I laid out in the sun until about 2 and decided that was enough. Too much sun gives me a migraine and I didn't want to ruin the rest of the day.

I grabbed a bite to eat from the deli (a turkey sandwich is all this picky woman eats) and I would eat from here almost every day. IMO the buffet on the Legend not only has a very limited selection, it's not very good. But between the turkey sandwiches and the pizza, I would not starve. :D

Tonight was formal night...AKA lobster not for all you seafood eating people. My BF ordered two!

After dinner, I went to the internet cafe to send an email to my mom who was taking care of my dog. What can I say other than the internet at sea sucks....always. But that's not Carnival's fault. Sometimes I wish there was a way for them to actually track how long it takes each page to load and not charge you for that time. One time, it literally took 5 minutes to load a page.

After checking in with mom, we went to the adult-only show for the comedian Happy Cole. We had seen him before on another Carnival ship and he's extremely funny. We got there about 10 minutes before show time and there was no place to sit down. Standing room only.

After that we headed back to the cabin. I swear I go to bed earlier on vacation than when I go to work!

We sailed away around 4:15 and a few of us who had met on cruise critic, but kept in touch more regularly on another website, had a little get together planned at 5 pm at the Unicorn Bar (another one was planned for noon the next day for those who couldn't make the one on embarkation day). Turns out our meet and greets were held in two different areas of the unicorn bar so we all weren't together in one spot and I didn't get to meet everyone. :(

Around 5:45, a few of us went to higher decks so we could get a better view as we approached the Skyway Bridge. NCL's Jewel left 15 minutes before us. Here is a picture (a bit blurry) of her sailing under the bridge.

Then we approached the bridge. It reminded me of when I sailed under the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco (RCCL). One of these pictures is really, really blurry, for which I apologize, but it's a picture of the Carnival tail as it passes under the bridge. You can see how the ship just barely clears.

After we sailed under the bridge, we got changed and headed down to deck 3 to the dining room for ATD. The line to get seated was pretty long when we got there and had to wait about 15 just to get seated. But my BF and I prefer to sit at a table for 2 so we were given a pager and had to wait about 10 more minutes. We were seated right by a window and enjoyed great service by Fernando and his staff tonight, and every night we had dinner. We asked for his section every night and were never disappointed. On Wed night, I asked Fernando what night mac-n-cheese night was going to be to which he responded, "it can be tonight Ms. Elisa!" Sure enough, with my meal, he brought a side dish of mac-n-cheese.

Here's where I must apologize to the foodies b/c I am about as plain jane when it comes to food as it comes. I do not eat any sea food and between that and my pickiness, unfortunately, leaves very little for me to choose at dinner every night. Every night for a starter, I have the spring rolls and I usually was able to find some sort of pasta, steak or chicken to eat.

For dessert, is there really anything better than the chocolate melting cake? I ordered it 3 times but only the first night was it cooked properly (with it melting inside). The other nights, it was overcooked but still excellent. I even ordered it with vanilla AND butter pecan ice cream! Then one night, I surprised my BF and actually tried something new. I always read about the Bitter and Blanc dessert here on CC but had never tried it, so I did. It was good, and I would order it again since it's only offered on one night but I still love my chocolate melting cake!

We walked around the ship a little more and peaked in on a couple shows but decided to go back to the cabin early. Monday would be a sea day!

The stairs that lead to the Steakhouse:

Yumminess!

I find this creepy, isn't this the sister ship to Miracle?

I'm not sure if they're sister ships (I don't know Carnival's ships all that well). But the top picture is the set of stairs that leads to the teenage nightclub so I think it's supposed to be kind of edgy and the bottom one is the enchanted forest. It's actually really beautiful in person and an awesome place at the very front of the ship to sit and read.

Random pictures of the Legend:

When we finally got inside the terminal and up the escalator, a woman was advising people which lines to proceed to in order to check-in. When I advised her we were FTTF, she broke apart the line barrier and we stood at the very front of the line with her until the next agent was available (which happened to be right in front of us). We were processed in about 5 minutes and we were on our way to board the ship.

As soon as we got on, we went straight to our cabin; a balcony #6285. One crew member did try to guide us upstairs to Lido but once I told him we were FTTF and wanted to drop our carry-on's off, he nodded and we proceeded on our way. To my surprise, our luggage was already at our door! Well, all but one piece of luggage. So we brought all the luggage inside and began to unpack. The final piece of luggage did not show up until 4 hours later. I had assumed that maybe it did not get tagged FTTF like the rest, but sure enough, it did in fact have a FTTF sticker on it so I guess it just didn't get sorted correctly along with our other bags.

After unpacking, it was off for a quick bite to eat and to explore this beautiful ship I had heard so much about.

I had read that our voyage would be the first in which the Christmas decorations would be displayed and I was excited about this fact b/c I always cruise in November but I always seem to miss the Christmas decorations by a week or two. I had heard some rumblings from fellow passengers that the reason our embarkation was delayed was so they could put up these decorations. I personally would not be able to validate this statement so maybe someone who sailed the week before could comment if any were being put up during their sailing?

I thought the decorations were beautiful and not overbearing or tacky in anyway.

For dinner we decided to eat at a place very close to the hotel called Bahama Breeze. I ordered Grilled Chicken with Cilantro Cream sauce with mashed potatoes and corn and my BF ordered the Jerk Chicken Pasta. We also ordered the Spinach and Artichoke Dip appetizer and I had a virgin painkiller and some sodas and our bill totaled around $50. The place was packed but we only had to wait a few minutes for dinner. I would highly recommend this place. Service was great, and the food was really very good!

Usually on the embarkation days, I like to be at the terminal by 11. This is the second Carnival cruise I had purchased FTTF so I wasn't too anxious to be there. We had to drop our rental car off at the Alamo located inside in Westin hotel which is located about a mile away from the pier and it was a nightmare. Only 2 guys working the desk and about 10 people waiting to rent cars. I was second in line to return a car quickly followed by 5 more. But people waiting to rent cars were in front of us. We must have been waiting about 30 minutes before the guy at the counter said they had to take all returns back first b/c the cars were blocking the entrance to the hotel. So we lucked out in a sense that we didn't have to wait for those waiting to rent cars to be processed first. We then took the free shuttle Alamo offered to the pier. The driver advised that he was going to drop the others off at NCL's Jewel first b/c Carnival had not yet started embarkation. What? It was almost 12 PM and they still hadn't started embarkation yet?! So we dropped our luggage off and got in line. The line soon wrapped around the sidewalk behind us. While waiting, we met a very nice couple (around my parents age) from the UK. We would run into them quite frequently and are now even FB friends.;)

This cruise almost never happened for me and I was still reluctant to go as my dog was diagnosed with cancer for a 3rd time in June 2013, and what was supposed to be an easy surgery turned into months of chemo, weekly testing and well, as you can imagine, big time bucks. I decided since the Legend was going to be permanently moving to Australia and I had gotten such a good deal on our balcony, we would stick it out and take this trip and probably forego a cruise in 2014.

Southwest started flying out of Charlotte earlier this year so we no longer had to drive to Raleigh to get great rates on flights. However, there were no direct flights into Tampa and I really didn’t feel like flying through Houston and traveling for 8 hours the day before we set sail. So, I decided we would fly into Orlando and rent a car and drive to Tampa. The flight was uneventful and while waiting for our bags, I luckily overhead someone mentioning how incredibly long the lines can be renting cars at MCO. So while my BF waited for luggage, I briskly walked to the rental counter and got all that taken care of before our bags even arrived! FYI – while dropping off the car for our return flight, I noticed the lines to get rental cars was 100x worse than when I was there so I guess I got lucky. Picked out my Chevy Impala and off we went to Tampa.

After getting advice here on Cruise Critic, we booked the Double Tree in Rocky Point which overlooks the Bay. I made a reservation about 6 months in advance and was glad I did as it seemed to be completely booked well in advance of our sailing. I had originally booked us 2 double beds and at check-in, she upgraded us to a king and didn't even have to ask for the view! It was beautiful! After check-in, we dropped off our luggage and set out for a quick ride around town. Here are a few photos of our hotel room. The hotel is being renovated but we didn’t hear a single peep! For what I paid, I was really impressed with the accommodations!

We cruise on the Legend the week before you and lucked out on weather. Sorry you were not as lucky.

We did ATD and sat in the same section (Fernando) at a table for 2 every night (except formal night). We did had to wait 10 minutes, twice, to get a table but we didn't mind waiting. Like we, we prefer to skip the small chat.

We just got back from our cruise last week and used the beach at Royal Palms. $2 per person to get in and $7 per person for a beach chair. Umbrellas will cost $10. They also have an adults only pool and I don't think they charge to use that area but double check on that. It was. $4 per person cab ride. Water was beautiful. Warning: food and drinks are very expensive. We got a diet coke and virgin pina colada and it was $10.50! I was already warned about the food so We ate on the ship and tendered in around 11:30 so we wouldn't be hungry for lunch.

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Y'all were right. We did not cancel and it only rained 5 minutes while on the tender and a couple brief showers while driving to Altun Ha. Although our Chukka tour guide did say it was the first day in almost 2 weeks they didnt have to cancel a lot of excursions bc of rain.

We lucked out and had some great weather on our trip. Last sea day was cloudy but hey, I'll take it!

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Yay! Glad you bought the poncho!!!! Tomorrow is your big day! Go and have FUN. No matter WHAT the weather!!!!:D

Hopefully we'll see a review from you when you get back. Enjoy!

I will try. Trying to get my mind off my dog. He just finished chemo last week and staying with my mom and bro but he has separation anxiety and didn't want to eat this morning and when my mom did get him to eat, he threw up 7 hours later. Pray it's just stress bc i was THIS close to canceling my cruise due to his health.

Where in CT are you? Born and raised in brookfield but live in Charlotte now.

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Thank you all for your replies. Still forecasted for 100% rains but I packed my poncho and umbrella and will hope for sunny skies. ;)

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I don't trust any of the weather sites for the caribbean. We were in Cozumel late Oct , and the forecast said 80%...We never felt a drop..

Thanks. I posted on the main board too in hopes of more responses. Hope they echo your sentiments!

I posted this on the Belize board as well but it's not frequented as much and was hoping for some quicker responses since I leave on Sat.

We are cruising next week and weather dot com says that weather in Belize is going to be 78 degrees with 100% chance of thunderstorms. I have booked the Carnival Altun Ha excursion - and is actually, the ONLY Carnival excursion I have booked and was really looking forward to it. Now, I am debating canceling it bc of the weather. What do you guys think? Has anyone taken this tour that could specifically comment about how long we'd be in rain - I heard the majority of the tour is travel time? Would there be a better excursion suited for rainy weather?

Looks like we'll be having crappy weather in practically every port (maybe squeak out a good day in the Caymans)...maybe the sea days will be nice.

Cozumel 79 degrees 70% chance of showers

Belize 78 degrees 100% chance of Thunderstorms

Roatan 79 degrees 90% chance scattered showers

Caymans 82 degrees 30% chance of rain

We are cruising next week and weather dot com says that weather in Belize is going to be 78 degrees with 100% chance of thuderstorms. I have booked the Carnival Altun Ha excursion - and is actually, the ONLY Carnival excursion I have booked and was really looking forward to it. Now, I am debating canceling it bc of the weather. What do you guys think?

Looks like I'll be having crappy weather in practically every port...maybe the sea days will be nice. :rolleyes:

Cozumel 79 degrees 70% chance of showers

Belize 78 degrees 100% chance of Thunderstorms

Roatan 79 degrees 90% chance scattered showers

Caymans 82 degrees 30% chance of rain

My very good friend's husband LOVES the 12-year aged rum that can only be purchased in the Cayman's. I will be there next week. However, my brother also loves the rum I brought home from there on my last cruise and I'd like to bring back at least 6 bottles or so.

I guess my question is two-fold. Isn't there a limit as to how much you can bring back without being taxed and what's the most you've ever brought home (and brought home without breakage :D).

Any tips for packing the booze? Last time my bf brought a duffle bag and we just wrapped our clothes around the bottles as best we could. Seemed to work as nothing broke but wanted to know if anyone had a better idea.

Thanks everyone!

I received one for Sept and even though my cruise wasn't until Nov, I needed to reschedule because I am taking an accounting class at a community college and I cannot miss more than 4 classes. I will be missing two b/c of my Nov cruise and b/c I suffer from migraines and wanted a little cushion in case I missed a class or two, I needed to reschedule the jury duty.

They had an option online to reschedule and i got all nervous about whether to put in details about my cruise and school and why I wanted to reschedule. I decided to just tell them about school and leave out the cruise b/c last time I had jury duty, the judge didn't want to hear diddly squat about people's vacations being a valid reason for being excused as a juror. The SECOND I hit "send" on my request, it was accepted...so basically, they didn't even read it.

I go back on Fri, December 13. I picked a Friday hoping they wouldn't start a new trials or need jury peeps on a Friday....wishful thinking, right?