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Back from Legend 10-10-10

Katoo

By Katoo,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Katoo

Katoo

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I will write some details and share some pictures sometime this week. Wanted all to know that even though we ended up with 4 sea days and an unexpected stop at Ocho Rios, we had a grand time.

 

To top it off, Carnival gave us 20% off of our next cruise! We didn't expect it, nor did anyone demand it, they just did it! We'll take it!

 

We will keep trying. That's the SECOND cruise we've been on that couldn't go to Belize or Roatan. Someday, I'm gonna make it there.

 

I don't know yet how everybody else feels about it, but I still had a fabulous and relaxing vacation.

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KruznKel

KruznKel

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I will write some details and share some pictures sometime this week. Wanted all to know that even though we ended up with 4 sea days and an unexpected stop at Ocho Rios, we had a grand time.

 

To top it off, Carnival gave us 20% off of our next cruise! We didn't expect it, nor did anyone demand it, they just did it! We'll take it!

 

We will keep trying. That's the SECOND cruise we've been on that couldn't go to Belize or Roatan. Someday, I'm gonna make it there.

 

I don't know yet how everybody else feels about it, but I still had a fabulous and relaxing vacation.

 

I think you need to cruise with us at the end of October next year :D Glad you had a great time;)

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sstlee79

sstlee79

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This time next week we will be close to going under the bridge!! Never sailed out of Tampa or on the Legend before' date=' but from all the great reviews I've read here on CC, I just can't wait!! Looking forward to your review.[/quote']

 

Come on over to the roll call. We are going to have a couple of different meet and greets early so we all get to put faces to everyone we've been chatting with the past few months.

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SkyMaster

SkyMaster

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On our "Legend" cruise a couple of weeks ago, we missed Grand Cayman because of high winds, and hazardous conditions for the small boats, but made Belize and Roatan with no problems. We too had a GREAT cruise, (except for the karaoke hostess, but that's another story!) :eek: Glad you had the right attitude, and maybe we'll see you the next time aboard "Legend".

 

"SKY"

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mavis2222

mavis2222

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Next yr im booking during Hurricane season. I only get off ship in some of the ports anyways. Even if if dosent stop. Im still happy. Even though I do like when most are off ship in port so i can enjoy the pools and food lines without allot of people onboard.

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krehberg

krehberg

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I'll be on the Legend for Thanksgiving. We always choose to cruise in November because of the likelihood of a hurricane/tropical storm is much lower, not to mention..it just works in the work schedule better than spring.

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MicksMom

MicksMom

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We were told Tuesday morning we would make MoBay on Wed, but miss Grand Cayman (Thurs) & Cozumel (Fri) due to the storm but would go to Key West on Friday as a replacement. Plus we would get 20% off a future cruise.

 

Lot of people were not happy, I was excited since I have never been to Key West. When we got back on board from MoBay on Wed, they announced that the storm had turned & we were back on our original schedule PLUS we got to keep the 20% off a future cruise. :D The weather was beautiful. Was really surprised the port authorities didn't shut down GC, we stood in line 2 hours waiting to tender. When we got to the door we knew why, they could only safely board about 3 people between waves. Felt like we were in bumper cars.

 

We would have been happy with 7 days at sea. We knew going into this cruise that it was hurricane season.

 

Met some really great people from our Roll Call.

 

Now I am depressed because we do not have a cruise booked... working on that right now.;)

 

Happy Cruising!

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Katoo

Katoo

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Okay, so here we go. I am Kate, my husband is John, I'm mid-fifty and John is 62. Because we wanted to save all our money for the cruise itself, on Saturday morning we loaded up a cooler with sandwiches and salad and started the 4 1/2 hour drive for Tampa from St. Augustine on Saturday. We spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express in Rocky Port, perfectly adequate, nothing fancy. A park-and-sale package, although our spots on the shuttle were for noon on Sunday which was much later than we wanted to go. The cost of the park-and-sale and the night in the hotel was almost exactly the same cost of parking in the garage at port, so it seemed like a no-brainer to us. We ate our picnic in the room with a couple of beers, took a walk, watched a movie and settled in for a good night's sleep before the cruise. After a fairly decent continental breakfast we had another short walk and went back to the room and read our kindles until time to go down for the shuttle. Then it was finally time to go.

 

We arrived at the Tampa Port Authority around 12:45 and the line was out of the building and down the street a bit. Dang. We had rum runners in our checked bags - both of us had large ones in our toiletry bags and John had stuffed two small ones in our swim fins which were in a small case with the rest of our snorkel gear that was also checked. A bottle of wine was in each of our carry-ons along with bottles of tonic water and tomato juice for bloody marys and vodka tonics. All made it to the room where there was also a bottle of Absolut vodka waiting all tied up in a bow. We had a decent bar. Although the line was long and it took almost an hour and a half before we were actually on the ship, the line never stopped steadily moving so it wasn't that terrible. As we walked the gangway, I mentally threw all my problems off behind me and stepped onto the ship as happy as can be. Our room was ready (one small advantage of arriving to the port so late) so we dumped off our stuff and headed up to Lido for lunch. We were in 4210 - an unobstructed balcony, aft, conveniently near the aft set of elevators. It was a fine room, clean, not noisy at all, and a comfortable home for our week.

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Katoo

Katoo

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Muster drill was painless, then we wandered the ship a bit. All of our baggage arrived by 4:00 and we unpacked and reveled in the delight of the week stretching in front of us. We had to see the ship cross under the bridge (around 6:30) so we went up to the sky deck to see. It is amazing. A policemen stood in the middle of the bridge and waved to us. Many people were up there watching, some more comfortable than others. It was neat and something not to be missed.

 

DSC_0617.jpg

 

 

DSC_0633.jpg

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Katoo

Katoo

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The sea days blur together a bit, so I'm going to tell you about sea days for us in one fell swoop. I always awoke around six, went up and got two coffees and went out on the balcony to read my kindle, sip my coffee, and watch the sun rise. At seven, I'd wake my husband up and after quick showers we'd eat breakfast and walk around the upper decks for a bit. We didn't do any of the planned activities - we most read on the balcony, ate, walked around people watching, ate some more, drank, drank some more. Very relaxed and happy. We heard our neighbors early one morning joining the balcony club. Hee.

 

We had late seating for dinner, so we'd using have a snack around 4 or 5, a nap, dress for dinner, wander the shops, look at the pictures (finding ourselves was like a Where's Waldo game). Then back to the room where we'd pour ourselves a glass of wine and we'd walk right into the dining room with it. After dinner, we'd find a bar for a night cap - usually Billie's Piano Bar, or the casino bar where there was an excellent guitarist playing a singing and usually we were snoring by 11. We went to one stand-up comedy show. We are very relaxed and laid-back cruisers. Our tablemates were friendly and personable, I loved Ken, our maitre d', who sang beautifully who also recognized us and called us by name when we saw him on the Lido deck one day which really shocked us. We liked Wee Jimmie and thought he had a great sense of humor and joy.

 

Here's me in the green skirt and orange top, acting the fool:

 

PA130008.jpg

 

And now, I can't believe it, but I have to get ready for work. Eek!

 

More later.

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Katoo

Katoo

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Edit - So you live in St Augustine. I'm just down the road in PC!

 

The picture is from our balcony of another Carnival ship (I think it was the Valor) in Grand Caymen.

 

We got into tangles of motorcycle traffic coming home yesterday, I guess it's Biketoberfest in Daytona. I reckon PC gets more of that traffic, eh? We love living in St. Aug.

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friedshrimp

friedshrimp

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The picture is from our balcony of another Carnival ship (I think it was the Valor) in Grand Caymen.

 

We got into tangles of motorcycle traffic coming home yesterday, I guess it's Biketoberfest in Daytona. I reckon PC gets more of that traffic, eh? We love living in St. Aug.

 

Luckily Biketoberfest ended yesterday so hopefully traffic will get back to normal. Now, back to the wonderful review!

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friedshrimp

friedshrimp

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You are not missing anything by NOT going to Belize or Roatan.

 

I gladly would have taken the extra 2 sea days..........and 20% to boot....that would be a HUGE WIN !!!!!

 

I concur with Roatan, no big deal. Belize, was very cool if you venture out in the countryside. I went with my wife and kids on a combo boat ride up the Sabun (?) River, 4 wheeling in a Jeep through the countryside (got that bugger up to 80 MPH), and then spelunking through some caves. Party bus back to the port to round out the day.

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friedshrimp

friedshrimp

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You are not missing anything by NOT going to Belize or Roatan.

 

I gladly would have taken the extra 2 sea days..........and 20% to boot....that would be a HUGE WIN !!!!!

 

I concur with Roatan, no big deal. Belize, was very cool if you venture out in the countryside. I went with my wife and kids on a combo boat ride up the Sabun (?) River, 4 wheeling in a Jeep through the countryside (got that bugger up to 80 MPH), and then spelunking through some caves. Party bus back to the port to round out the day.

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Katoo

Katoo

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Tuesday morning, early, first port, Grand Caymen

 

We made what could have been a disastrous mistake in Grand Caymen, but we'll get to that later. My husband planned the activities for this port, so armed with his folder of materials, his good camera, my binoculars, tilly hats, sunglasses, good shoes with socks, and canteens of water, we boarded the tender around 8:00 and headed over to the island. Headed over to a car rental, picked up a rental car and drove (about a 45 minute drive) to the south entrance of the Mastic Trail. Not recommended, it was narrow, very hot, very rocky with with very loose rocks and very isolated so if you did manage to hurt yourself, you'd be in a real mess. We saw a few woodpeckers, one hermit crab, a few wild parrots and lots of butterflies. We hiked in for about 45 minutes, and then hiked back out - it isn't a loop. Nothing really even photo worthy.

 

Then we went to the botanical gardens. Magnificent! Beautiful! We were able to fill our canteens with fresh ice water at the visitor center and off we went for a walkaround. Truly beautiful.

 

Here I am meeting the first of many blue iguanas:

 

DSC_0690.jpg

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