Back from Legend 10-10-10

[Katoo]

More pictures from the Botanical Gardens:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Katoo]

After walking around the gardens, we rested a bit in the air-conditioned visitor's center and then decided to start the drive back, stopping when we felt like it or if we saw something. We wanted to stop at a restaurant that was in a converted lighthouse, but it didn't open for another 15 minutes and I didn't feel like waiting. We passed by a lovely public beach and my husband asked if I wanted a quick walk on the beach. But my feet were tired, so I suggested we just press on back to town and be close to the tenders. I'm slightly paranoid about missing a ship and like to get back on somewhat early. So back to town we headed, stopped and filled the car with gas and returned it to the car rental place. We're talkers, so we spent a bit chatting with the car rental guy and then very leisurely started strolling back to the port. The line for the Valor was huge but I was grateful when I saw the line for the Legend was pretty short.

 

Getting on the tender was awful. The weather had turned and the water was rough. I don't scare easily, but it seemed dangerous. It was even worse getting out and back on to the ship. My husband was in front of me and when they told him to go he lifted his foot to step off and the boat dropped suddenly and a huge gap formed between the tender and the ship. He was able to keep his balance and step back thank goodness. When it calmed for a few seconds, he pretty much ran off of it with me right behind him. Back to the room and I called room service and we both had showers.

[Katoo]

Now for the truly embarrassing part.

 

Truly, this will never ever happen again and it was only pure luck that was on our side that day that saved us. I still get horrors when I think about it.

 

You remember when I mentioned that we almost went to a restaurant and we almost stopped for a walk on the beach?

 

When I got out of the shower, my husband was sat on the sofa reading. He looked up and said, "the sea feels like it is getting even rougher doesn't it?" I walked out on the balcony and was shocked to see Grand Caymen receding and the ship moving! We're not supposed to sail till six! It's just a few minutes after four! What's going on? I walked over and looked at the Fun Times. Oh my goodness. We were supposed to sail at 4:00, and the last tender was supposedly at 3:00. We had gotten in line for the tender around 3:15. I suspect we were on the second to last tender.

 

I do not know how it happened that we BOTH thought it was 6:00. I do know that we were a restaurant stop or a beach walk away from missing the ship.

 

I cannot believe we did that. What it taught me was that no matter HOW much you have researched something to always, ALWAYS double check the details once on board. What an expensive, awful, mess we could have been in.

 

And with that - I'll bid you all good night. Tomorrow I'll tell you about our adventure in Jamaica.

[Katoo]

I will not have a chance to add to this at work today. But I will add another installment tonight.

[jtdlmc]

I love reviews with pictures - thanks for sharing :)

 

Another 123 days until my family and I are on Legend!

[4evercruiser]

Enjoying the review so far. How awful it would have been for you guys if you missed the ship. Glad you were able to make it back to the ship on time. I sail on the Legend in just 2 and a half more weeks.

[Katoo]

I love reviews with pictures - thanks for sharing :)

 

Another 123 days until my family and I are on Legend!

 

Well, even with the missed ports, I loved this ship, it's great! We plan on taking the identical cruise with our 20% off.

[Katoo]

Enjoying the review so far. How awful it would have been for you guys if you missed the ship. Glad you were able to make it back to the ship on time. I sail on the Legend in just 2 and a half more weeks.

 

 

Luck was definitely with us. I swear I get creeped out just thinking about it.

 

You'll love the Legend. I'm jealous that you have it in front of you.

[jtdlmc]

Well, even with the missed ports, I loved this ship, it's great! We plan on taking the identical cruise with our 20% off.

 

It's great to hear you loved the ship that much. Hopefully your next cruise will get you to the ports you missed.

[whendoweleave?]

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 !!!!!

 

While I love the idea of 20% off my next cruise, I disagree about Roatan! You simply have not done the right things! It was one of my fave cruise days ever! We ziplined (14 different zips), which was A-MA-ZING!!!:D Then we were taken to an idyllic little beach for a few hours where we had hour-long massages for $20!!! It was a perfect day!

[racegrrl]

We are on the Legend in January and cannot wait! Just did the double digit dance last week.

 

What beautiful pictures! I am enjoying your review immensely! I would call your situation on GC a happy accident, sometimes you just don't know it but an inner guide is moving you in the right direction.....thankfully!

[Katoo]

Sunrise over Ocho Rios, Thursday a.m.

 

After months of planning and research for each and every port we'd be visiting, we found ourselves confronted with what to do in Ocho Rios. We looked at the excursions that were outlined by Carnival, but nothing really jumped out at us. We aren't very athletic and had heard that people often got hurt at Dunn River Falls, so we thought it was too strenuous for us, so we opted to try to find something on our own.

 

We debarked about 8:30 a.m. at a dock that seemed very industrial - at some kind of quarry. We made our way toward the gate and were instantly confronted by a man with a very modern, air conditioned bus who told us they would be taking folks on a tour to the rain forest, a shopping area, and a beach resort. We dickered about price and got on the bus for $20 each. Our tour guide was Marie and she was just wonderful. So friendly and warm, she wanted nothing but for us to have an amazing time. We drove into town as she described a bit about the history and what we were seeing. The bus was comfortable and cool. We dropped a few people off that wanted to spend the entire day at the beach and then started driving up and up into the rain forest. Beautiful, just beautiful.

[Katoo]

The bus had big, wide windows that would open so one could take pictures and once we got up into the forest, the temperature was cool enough to open the windows. At one point we slowed down and I could see this huge red bloom of a flower about 9 feet tall. As I looked at it, I realized the bloom was moving toward me and my eyes just couldn't figure it out. Suddenly I realized the bloom had a smiling face under it.

 

 

There were lots of little tourist stands along the way, and we asked if we could stop for a few minutes at one of them. Our guide told us, yes, we could stop, but advised us to just get something to eat or drink, but not to purchase any of the souvenirs there as they were overpriced and they would be taking us shopping where the prices would be better.

 

We stopped here:

 

I had a coconut water which I was told would "wash my heart".

 

After drinking it, the guy cut it in half and made a little scoop with a piece of the coconut so I could eat the "jelly" inside the coconut.

[Katoo]

 

My husband with our guide, Marie. Isn't she lovely? He calls this pic "Me and my Jamaican girlfriend".

 

 

 

 

[Katoo]

Then it was off to the beach. With a few scenic picture stops along the way back.

 

One particularly good photo my husband took:

 

 

The beach resort:

 

There was a bar, shady or sunny places to sit, music playing (first time ever hearing the "Booty" song), clean sandy beach with sparkly warm clear water to swim in, jerk chicken and pork being cooked along with beans and rice. What more could one want?

[Katoo]

How low can you go?

 

 

We were there for about 3 hours, then there was Marie to take us back to the bus for some shopping. I picked up some t-shirts, some coffee, some Jamaican rum cream (kind of like Bailey's except made with rum really tasty). Then back to the ship around 4:30. The whole group of us on the bus took up a collection for the driver and our guide, which my husband and I threw in $5 for each so our whole outing with our little bus was $50 total. Worth every penny, I can't tell you how protected and looked after we felt, and how warm and friendly it was. We had an absolutely fantastic time.

 

We were amazed at how easy and free it had felt to us to just get off the ship and find something fun. We were therefore, quite surprised when people on the ship told us how miserable their day had been. I guess we had good luck.

[Katoo]

Final thoughts.

 

We loved the ship itself. We never waited in lines for more than a minute or two and that was from the deli, or the omelette station or the pizza station. This was our third cruise and we kept comparing our experiences on the Valor with the Legend. Everything about the Legend seemed easier to us, and a lot more relaxed. The ship was clean and easy to navigate around. Our room was kept spotlessly clean and our steward was friendly and attentive. Our waiter was friendly and fun.

 

Before this cruise, my husband just kind of went along with the idea of a cruise. He liked it okay. He is agreeable to cruising because he knows how much I get out of it. There was a sea-change (ha! a pun!) with him during this week. He bought a future cruise certificate! He is no long hoping I will not want to cruise again. Now HE wants to do it again.

 

We want to book this same ship, at the same timeframe, with the same itinerary. That's just how good it was for us.

 

As we dragged our suitcases down the street to the parking garage to meet our shuttle (easy-peasy), we were passing the line waiting to board and I felt an intense envy that it was all in front of them, instead of behind them like it was for us. It's such a grand feeling waiting to board and anticipating the adventures ahead. But we'll do it again. And again.

 

CC played a huge part in making our time on the Legend a success. I thank all of you for your generous advice and information. I hope this review helps "pay it back" in a small way. My last two cruises, I always felt somewhat guilty for not writing a review, because I loved reading the reviews. I vowed to write one this time and to complete it before a week had passed. This time last week I was reading my Kindle on the balcony, and sipping coffee.

 

I will be back.

 

Please feel free to ask questions.

[paper1122]

Thanks for the review! I board tomorrow and I am very excited!

[joy21]

Thanks for the wonderful reviews. We sail on the Legend on Dec. 12. We are driving from Missouri and staying at the Holiday Inn Express. I was a little worried about about the hotel and shuttle. You made it sound like a piece of cake, so I am only excited now, not worried. We have always thought that a cruise is what you make of it and it sounds like you had the attitude to make it wonderful. This will be our 13th cruise and we have never had a bad one.

[Katoo]

The hotel and shuttle was a piece of cake. The restaurant, Bahama Breeze is right across the street, but that is the only restaurant within walking distance. I decided not to worry about restaurants right before a cruise where I was going to be eating plenty all week. We arrived at the hotel around 6p.m. and by then the 12:00 shuttle was the earliest available. I was a little upset about this as I had wanted to get to the ship earlier. We tossed around the idea of taking a cab to the port, but just couldn't justify the cost in our heads when the shuttle was already paid for. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter all that much and like I said, it was very nice getting to go directly to the room and dump off our carry-ons before eating and exploring. Breakfast is nothing fancy at the hotel - biscuits and gravy, cold cereal, coffee, tea, fruit, juice, toast, etc. The area around the hotel felt corporate meeting type place. The room was clean, the bed comfortable. That's pretty much all I need.

[LLAKER]

Thanks for the review! We were on the Valor 10/10/10 and also missed a few ports, so we are going to try again with our 20% off! We had a great time on the Valor (1st cruise) and were planning on trying it again, but heard some great things about the Legend and am thinking of switching ships. Is there anything particular about the Legend that you liked more than the Valor, or any reason that you would recommend one over the other? Thanks for your advice. :)

[big_schots]

I enjoyed your review. Thank you for taking the time to write it and the excellent pictures. What was the name of the beach resort you went to in Jamaica ? It looks very nice, and a good excursion alternative to Dunn's River Falls.

[mariamherrera]

I almost hope we have a little bad weather too so we can get a 20% off discount too:D thanks for the review we leave Nov 14th! we'll be celebrating our 6th year Anniversary so are hoping it's a very special cruise!

[Katoo]

It's call Mahogany Beach in Ocho Rios, and it's just a few minutes from downtown. Free to get in, but the food was a bit pricey ($10 for jerk chicken or pork and a Red Stripe beer was $4.00). It's not a snorkling beach, white sand and very clear water.

 

The difference between the Legend and the Valor for me was less crowds, and less lines. I can remember waiting in a long line for an omelette on the Valor, and pretty much just walked up to the station on the Legend.

 

It was quieter, less confusing, easier to get around. I guess it depends on what you are after. It wasn't as crazy partyish as the Valor seemed to be, although plenty of folks seemed to be having a good time. For us it was just right. Not too small, not too big.

[boaterette]

It was a nice review. Thank you for posting.