Aug. 15th Legend Family Cruise...with Photos

[deedeedis]

what a great review, thanks for all the information. 12 of us will be sailing Jan 2 on the Carnival Valor which is visiting the same ports as the Legend. We have 6 college students on this trip and we are booked to do the Cave Tubing so that was wonderful seeing all the pictures and reading all about what the tour involved.

[Oakman]

I am curious why you are curious. ;)

I used to work for the Radisson in Sarasota

[AryMay]

I used to work for the Radisson in Sarasota

 

I think technically he is an IT/AV manager...but it sounds like he wears many different hats at times!

[shay1]

Grand Cayman continued...

 

Eventually the kids showed up and we rented vests for everyone (so much for our “free” day of snorkeling!) Wearing the vests was the main reason that we didn’t have much fun. The stupid things ride up under your neck while at the same time giving you a major “wedgie”.

 

 

Sister will kill me for posting this...but it illustrates my point...you feel like you are being choked!

 

 

I am blessed with natural buoyancy (fat) and find it very easy to float, even when not wearing a vest. Without the vests we would have stayed longer and definitely had more fun.

 

GF was terrified of the big fish and wasn’t sure she was even going to get in the water. Eventually DS3 convinced her to get on his back and he would swim out past the fish…what a funny sight that was! Eventually she did relax and have fun. This was her first time snorkeling!

 

 

DS2 and DIL were a little more experienced.

 

 

In theory our plan was a good one…but in the end we didn’t stay as long as we had planned…and we spent $30 renting the vests. The snorkeling was pretty good…but we just got tired of fighting the life vests and decided to head back to the ship. I guess the positive was that by not waiting until the last minute we didn’t have any wait to get on the tender.

 

 

We love Grand Cayman to dive, but you need to go past the spot you stopped at you want Eden Rock Dive Shop they have lockers you can rent and a shower to rinse off, a dip tank and steps into the water. And you do not have to wear a vest this spot is where the dive boats take divers to do Devils Groto plus you can rent equipment here too.

[caribbean dreams]

Just want to thank you for making me drool all over my keyboard while looking at your wonderful pictures;)

[AryMay]

We love Grand Cayman to dive, but you need to go past the spot you stopped at you want Eden Rock Dive Shop they have lockers you can rent and a shower to rinse off, a dip tank and steps into the water. And you do not have to wear a vest this spot is where the dive boats take divers to do Devils Groto plus you can rent equipment here too.

 

Yeah...we should have checked out the dive shop but we had told the kids to meet us at the Paradise Restaurant so didn't want to mess up the plans. But...now I know for the next time!

 

This was our 4th visit to Grand Cayman and DH has done shore dives from Eden Rock twice.

[AryMay]

Just want to thank you for making me drool all over my keyboard while looking at your wonderful pictures;)

 

How funny...but thanks for the compliment! :) (My keyboard is usually just covered with crumbs!)

[ChaylaT]

Beautiful family and photos! Thank you for letting me live through your experience!

[parentsof5]

What a powerful story and very touching...it brought tears to my eyes and made me stop and think about how good life is and how blessed I am. Thank you for sharing.

 

Gina

 

I second this! A great reminder of the family times I have tried to create for our family over the years. I have really tried to make sure these moments are many since my husbands mom passed 11 years ago. I have really been debating whether we could pull/should pull our spring break trip together next year, this just reinforces the moments we create and why.

 

Lori

[bbiggar]

Roatan Conclusion!

 

By the time we left the school it was time to head back to the ship. (We had to be back onboard at 5:30 pm for 6 pm sail away.) Francisco dropped us off right at the entrance to Mahogany Bay and we said our good-bye’s. What a great day we had!

 

 

A little shopping and then back on the ship to shower and change for dinner. It was fun to tell DH and DS1 all about our adventures and to hear about their day diving.

 

I will end this post with just a few more random photos that I took from around the island…and then start writing about our FABULOUS day in Belize!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the memories of Roatan, very friendly people on this island.

 

Are all these pictures taken with you Canon D10? I am looking for an underwater camera that takes great pictures.

[AryMay]

Thanks for the memories of Roatan, very friendly people on this island.

 

Are all these pictures taken with you Canon D10? I am looking for an underwater camera that takes great pictures.

 

All of the "port" pictures were taken with the D10. The pictures taken on the ship were with my older Canon SD200. The one downside to the D10 is the size...it is a bit bulky so I carried the smaller SD200 in my pocket when I was on the ship.

[ciship]

Conclusion

 

After dinner we went outside to enjoy one last sunset. What a beautiful way to end our week!

 

 

 

That night was the Legends Show featuring ship guests portraying various singers…Britney Spears, James Brown, Elton John, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Elvis Presley, Madonna, Garth Brooks, Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin. Outside of the gal who was “Aretha” (who was excellent!) the others were at best just OK and not particularly memorable. Back in 2005 when we cruised on the Victory the passenger talent show was designed to be more like American Idol…I think I enjoyed it more. Does anyone remember a Carnival entertainment staff member named Hector? He played the Simon Cowell role in the show and was hilarious!

 

We left the Follies lounge through the upper level so that we could go directly back to our cabin on the Deck 4. DS2 took this photo of our family right outside the lounge.

 

 

The next morning we had breakfast in the main dining room and listened as they repeatedly called the names of non-U.S. passengers who had failed to show up to go through customs. Until the non-U.S. citizens had been processed, no one else was allowed off the ship. Over and over they kept calling names and cabin numbers but I guess these folks just wanted to take their good sweet time about getting off the ship.

 

Once debarkation did begin it seemed to go fairly quickly. We found our luggage, went through customs and then walked across the street to the parking garage where we were to meet the Holiday Inn Express Rocky Point shuttle that was to be our ride back to the airport. When we called we were told it would take 20 minutes and it was exactly that when the van arrived.

 

During the time we were waiting another shuttle driver tried to convince us to go with him (can’t remember the name of the shuttle company right now) by telling us that he was the “back up” shuttle for the hotel. We told him the shuttle was on the way and we would wait. Once he knew that we weren’t going to go with him, then he became rude telling us that we weren’t allowed to stand where we were. He insisted he was “in charge” and we had to listen to him. The boys called him on his bluff and we stayed put.

 

I’ll spare you the details of the rest of the day which consisted of a lot of sitting in the airport and then a 3 hour drive back home from Minneapolis once our flight landed.

 

Reality hit quick once we were home. I started my first day of school the very next morning and we began the 2 week countdown to GF and DS3’s wedding! So much to do and such a short time left!

 

They were married on September 4th in a beautiful ceremony on an absolutely gorgeous day. In SW Minnesota a day without wind is rare and to have a calm day with 72 degree temps was more than we could have ask for! What a blessing to be able to share this day with all of our friends and family!

 

 

It has been almost 2 months since our cruise and I apologize that this review has taken so long to complete. Thanks so much to those of you who have stuck with me. Thanks also for the kind comments…it made it so much easier to keep writing knowing someone was reading!

 

For those of you getting ready to cruise on the Legend...I will be looking forward to your review and photos!!

 

So, how do you contact the Rocky Point hotel shuttle to come and pick you up? Do they give you a number and you use your cell phone? Or do they have some kind of phone at the terminal that you can use like in the airports/

 

Also, can you remember what time you got off the ship....or back to the hotel?

[AryMay]

So, how do you contact the Rocky Point hotel shuttle to come and pick you up? Do they give you a number and you use your cell phone? Or do they have some kind of phone at the terminal that you can use like in the airports/

 

Also, can you remember what time you got off the ship....or back to the hotel?

 

The phone number for the shuttle was on the receipt that the hotel gave us. The driver told us to wait until we had all of our luggage and were across the street in the parking garage before we called for our return trip. We used our cell phone to make the call. The shuttle took us directly to the airport...we did not return to the hotel after the cruise. I can't remember for sure what time we were off the ship. Since our flights weren't until 2 pm we were not in a hurry. Our luggage tags were group #17 which was one of the latter groups to get disembark.

 

When debarkation first started I thought the process was going to take forever because they kept announcing for some of the non-U.S. passengers who failed to show up for immigrations. Then when they started calling numbers it seemed to be going very slow at first and then they started calling several groups at once and all of a sudden it was our turn to get off the ship. If I had to guess I would say we got off around 10 am or so. After the shuttle dropped us off at the airport it seemed like we still had a very long wait until 2:00.

[going to see the world]

This is definitely one of the best reviews ever :)

It looks like you have an amazing family and hopefully you'll be able to cruise together again :)

[AryMay]

This is definitely one of the best reviews ever :)

It looks like you have an amazing family and hopefully you'll be able to cruise together again :)

 

Thanks for the compliment...and for taking time to read the review!

 

I agree...I do have an amazing family! I certainly hope we are able to cruise together again...but for now we just can't swing paying for everyone too often!

 

I was really glad that we were able to do this cruise last summer. Lord willing, I look forward to grandbabies in my future...which will make it hard to do trips like this. Who knows...maybe my kids will be successful enough that someday they will pay for us instead!

 

I made a half hour DVD of slides & video from the cruise (set to music) and gave everyone a copy for Christmas. For now I guess I will have to be content with watching my DVD and remembering the fun times.

[Cruisin' for our 20th]

AryMay, I stumbled onto your review and so happy I did. We are booked on the Legend in April. We had booked awesome Funsaver rates and were waiting on them to assign our cabin, we recently received an offer to upgrade to any cabin in our category (interior). We had chosen French door cabin 4145, just happy to have some daylight to wake us up each day instead of having to set an alarm. (no way I want to wake up to an alram on vacation!) Once I saw your pictures of cabin 4140 I called to see if it was available - and it was!! It will be even nicer to wake up each day and see a little glimpse of where we are. My only after thought was, "Oh no, does 4140 have bunks too and we'll be at risk of getting booted since we are only two people?"

 

Loved reading your review and "getting to know" the family. When you can get a feel for the writer and what's important to them you know better whether the opinions written could be your own.

 

I had been wavering on Roatan, not sure whether to do a day at the beach or arrange a tour through Victor. I'm convinced we'll be contactin Victor soon to spend the day with one of his guides. Also, in Grand Cayman we had planned months ago to snorkel there and your review reminded me that we need to make sure we go all the way down to Eden Rock.

 

Anyhow, so glad you took the time to write.

[AryMay]

AryMay' date=' I stumbled onto your review and so happy I did. We are booked on the Legend in April. We had booked awesome Funsaver rates and were waiting on them to assign our cabin, we recently received an offer to upgrade to any cabin in our category (interior). We had chosen French door cabin 4145, just happy to have some daylight to wake us up each day instead of having to set an alarm. (no way I want to wake up to an alram on vacation!) Once I saw your pictures of cabin 4140 I called to see if it was available - and it was!! It will be even nicer to wake up each day and see a little glimpse of where we are. My only after thought was, "Oh no, does 4140 have bunks too and we'll be at risk of getting booted since we are only two people?"

 

Loved reading your review and "getting to know" the family. When you can get a feel for the writer and what's important to them you know better whether the opinions written could be your own.

 

I had been wavering on Roatan, not sure whether to do a day at the beach or arrange a tour through Victor. I'm convinced we'll be contactin Victor soon to spend the day with one of his guides. Also, in Grand Cayman we had planned months ago to snorkel there and your review reminded me that we need to make sure we go all the way down to Eden Rock.

 

Anyhow, so glad you took the time to write.[/quote']

 

I am officially jealous of you going on a cruise so soon. The winter here in Minnesota has been absolutely dreadful this year and it would be wonderful to have an upcoming cruise to look forward to. Yesterday I even pulled out the DVD I made of our cruise photos and spent the afternoon wishing I were in the Caribbean.

 

You can rest easy...4140 on the Legend is a 2 person cabin...no bunk beds. It was nice being able to have a bit of a view and natural light. My husband loves being in an inside cabin, but the darkness messes with my biological clock.

 

I don't think you can go wrong doing a tour with Victor. In fact you could still spend part of your day at the beach. That was my original plan, but the kids were the ones who decided they would rather see more of the island.

 

Have a great time on your cruise. The Legend just came out of drydock so she should be in fantastic shape!

[AngelKappie]

AryMay what a GREAT review of the Legend!!!!!! ;)

 

We are thinking of booking this cruise Sept 2012 for my brothers Honeymoon group of friends and family! So happy I found it! :D

I am going to send a link to my soon to be sister in law, I think they would really enjoy reading this too!!!!

 

We were on the Miracle, sister ship to Legend, LOVED the layout of the ship!!!!! Perfect size, and the Aft pool was my favorite! We had 4 sea days to enjoy it! Saw pics of the Legend after drydock looks like a GREAT place for adults to hang out now! Looking forward to seeing it!

 

Also love Tampa port so easy to get in and out of! I really am hoping it works out for his honeymoon cruise to be on the Legend! Really think everyone will enjoy it!

 

ALSO we were suppose to go to Belize in 2007 on cruise but crew member had heartattack so we never made it there! We were bummed we REALLY wanted to do the cave tubing! SOME DAY we hope to! NOT to happy to see that there are tranchula spiders there!!!!!! :eek: I would NEVER put one in my hand! Nervous enough about the bats in the caves! :p

[AryMay]

We were on the Miracle, sister ship to Legend, LOVED the layout of the ship!!!!! Perfect size, and the Aft pool was my favorite! We had 4 sea days to enjoy it! Saw pics of the Legend after drydock looks like a GREAT place for adults to hang out now! Looking forward to seeing it!

 

I saw the photos too and it did look nice. The only down side...there were lots of deck chairs by the aft pool so it was pretty easy to find a spot even if you didn't get up at dawn to save a seat. Now with the new padded chairs and clamshells I'm assuming that seating capacity is down considerably.

 

ALSO we were suppose to go to Belize in 2007 on cruise but crew member had heartattack so we never made it there! We were bummed we REALLY wanted to do the cave tubing! SOME DAY we hope to! NOT to happy to see that there are tranchula spiders there!!!!!! I would NEVER put one in my hand! Nervous enough about the bats in the caves

 

Just volunteer to be the photographer...that way you don't have to hold any bugs! It worked for me.

[going2cruz]

Blessings to you and your family~ Life is precious. enjoy every minute. We dont often get "wake up calls".

 

My parents worked and worked to provide for us. I dont have alot of memories of family vacations and special times other than the holidays, which were huge. It has become extremely important that I do these things with my two. So, I know when I am gone they can laugh together and say.. remember when mom...:)

 

 

 

 

Your so right Donna, we didn't take any family vacations growing up. I feel exactly the same way .....you have great kids so you know your doing it right.

[ADB_BWG]

Booked on the 9/25 departure with my BFF from high school. Her first cruise, and my second (so I'm the "expert")! I've been taking notes from your review. Thanks for sharing!

[AryMay]

For those of you who read this review last year you may remember that I mentioned my husband, Bob, was in a climbing incident in the Tetons and had been struck by lightning several times. I appreciated how so many of you responded with such kind comments following my post.

 

The story of what happened one year ago is featured in a long article with photos in this week's Sport's Illustrated magazine (the July 18th issue.) If any of you are interested the article is also online (but minus the pictures.) In spite of the tragedy of losing one of the members of the climbing group, we have seen how God has used this experience for good.

 

Here is the link to the online article: Countdown to Tragedy

[rhcpchika1]

Thanks for the thorough review and fantastic pics! I have added a couple of great notes to my cruise info.

[AryMay]

For those of you who like long, picture laden reviews...

 

I just finished (finally) my review of our cruise on the Carnival Victory. You can find the review here.

[Sophia2007]

Thank you for posting your review. I enjoyed reading it.

 

I am from south of St Paul, so it is interesting to tie in some of the places, such as Bethel, to my memories.

 

I have 4 kids, ages 9 - 16, and I see in our future - possibly cruising with adult kids and "tag a longs". I am glad it was so much fun for you all. Gives me hope that out the door doesn't mean never together again.

 

Our 2nd cruise in 17 days on Conquest out of New Orleans! Whooohooo!