Just booked the Legend

[jmps]

We just booked on the Legend for January of next year after a great time on the Ryndam a few weeks ago. We saw the Legend in Tampa and thought we would give it a try.

 

This will be our first Carnival cruise. We have sailed mostly on HAL and Celebrity along with two RCI cruises. We booked cabin 6232 based on pics here on CC. It looks like a really nice veranda. We will have our daughters in with us so it will be nice to have all of us fit outside.

 

Our daughters are looking forward to the water slide even though they aren't little anymore. :-)

 

How does the service on any time dining compare to fixed? We are debating late fixed vs any time. Do they have always available items like onion soup, ceasar salad, ny strip? I sounds like the food might be a bit less quality than HAL but still good. Any more input on that? Our one daugher loves escargot. Do they have that?

 

I saw one mention of the Legend going to drydock. Is this true? Any details?

 

Thanks for any answers or any other thought on the Legend.

[Disconnections]

When you board, talk to the hostess of the dining room. You will be able to request a certain dish every night or on select nights.

 

Legend will be in dry dock I believe this Feb. I know the date is posted on the cruise director schedule on John Heald's Blog which is right before our sailing Mar 27. I believe Onion Soup is Fifth or Sixth night. The food quality on Carnival is better than RCI from all my past experiences and seeing that you were on RCI.

[iloveGESUS]

Hi! I think you will love Carnival. We (me, my three sisters, parents, and two relatives) just got back from our first cruise and we fell in love with Carnival and cruising in general. :) I've been looking around for another cruise to book for January 2012. We're debating between either the Legend or Liberty for January 8th. What dates are you going? Anyway, I don't really have answers for your questions but I did read somewhere on here that the Legend is going to drydock in February for general maintenance. :)

[Disconnections]

Just checked. The Legend is in Dry Dock from Feb 7 until Feb 19.

[beach410]

We loved the flexibility of anytime dining, but we prefer set time when it comes to service and the familiarity with the same staff. We did end up requesting the same waiter and had fin with our waiter however, we were fortunate he was available, but he seemed more rushed.

 

They normally serve ceasar salad most nights, the every night steak option is flank, dh had it a few times and it was better than we expected. And yes, one night escargot is offered, I look forward to it every cruise. French onion is also on the menu one evening, that's good too. I enjoy most meals and if there's something I don't like, rarely, there always more options. Look for the rack of lamb, delish!

 

 

The Legend is what I would love to take next. Have a wonderful time!!

[jmps]

Thanks everyone for the info so far. We are really looking forward to trying the Legend. iloveGESUS, we are on the 1/1 sailing. It is great news about the dry dock. We won't be on right after but should still be in great shape in January 12.

[Irishlinny]

Great choice! We have flown to Tampa 3 times in 4 years to do the same cruise, so you know it's good! Staff is wonderful, ship is in very good condition, and the ports have lots of options for activities.

We did the anytime dining on her sister ship and liked it. Depending on when you go, you may miss the waiters' singing shows because they do it after regular dining is served dessert. We think the food is very good, but we haven't sailed HAL.

Hope you all have a great cruise!

[zqvol]

We just booked on the Legend for January of next year after a great time on the Ryndam a few weeks ago. We saw the Legend in Tampa and thought we would give it a try.

 

This will be our first Carnival cruise. We have sailed mostly on HAL and Celebrity along with two RCI cruises. We booked cabin 6232 based on pics here on CC. It looks like a really nice veranda. We will have our daughters in with us so it will be nice to have all of us fit outside.

 

Our daughters are looking forward to the water slide even though they aren't little anymore. :-)

 

How does the service on any time dining compare to fixed? We are debating late fixed vs any time. Do they have always available items like onion soup, ceasar salad, ny strip? I sounds like the food might be a bit less quality than HAL but still good. Any more input on that? Our one daugher loves escargot. Do they have that?

 

I saw one mention of the Legend going to drydock. Is this true? Any details?

 

Thanks for any answers or any other thought on the Legend.

 

Have been on the Legend 3 times. You are going to be disappointed with the food based on your past cruises. They do not always have any of the items that you mention except Caesar salad. In fact they never have NY Strip steaks, having replaced them with flat iron steaks that at best can be described as so -so. Escargot is a one night thing.

 

Service is better with any time dining than with fixed dining. We always book that way.

 

Drydock is simply because it is required. Do not expect any major changes, or modifications. They might upgrade the TVs to flat screens but other than that you will not be able to tell it has been in dry dock (well except that the sea grass on the hull will be gone).

[Heirloom]

I'll disagree with negative food comments. Been twice on Legend, and we thought it was GOOD. Prime Rib 2 nights, excellent, instead of NY Strip.

A third night has fillet mignon/short rib combo !

 

Lobster/shrimp combo one night---have to say, lobster is good but SMALL. If hungry, order two !

 

Rack of lamb, excellent. Melting chocolate dessert: awesome, many enjoy every single night !!!!

 

Waiters: Hard to beat.

[sfs2001]

Hi my husband and I are thinking about booking the legend outta tampa in January of next year. It works because he owns a house close to that so we can stay over beforehand. I was wondering, we have only been on royal and princess....always an inside room..but this time we want to get a balcony because it is so cheap. What is the difference between extended and regular balconies....where is the best place to have a balcony room (forward, after, middle) and what level is good to be at (floor 6,7,8 etc?) Sorry I dont know how to post my own question and found this tread....thanks everyone!!!

[Heirloom]

We've done Legend twice.........and liked being in mid-ship standard balconies on Empress and Verandah levels.

 

Our THIRD time on Legend won't be until December.....doing an aft wraparound ....what the heck.

 

But you IMHO have picked the finest ship in the whole Carnival fleet. You'll understand once you get there. What a feeling. Enjoy !

[Irishlinny]

Hi my husband and I are thinking about booking the legend outta tampa in January of next year. It works because he owns a house close to that so we can stay over beforehand. I was wondering, we have only been on royal and princess....always an inside room..but this time we want to get a balcony because it is so cheap. What is the difference between extended and regular balconies....where is the best place to have a balcony room (forward, after, middle) and what level is good to be at (floor 6,7,8 etc?) Sorry I dont know how to post my own question and found this tread....thanks everyone!!!

If you want to post a thread with a question, when you are on the main Carnival board, right above where the threads start, there is a blue button called New Thread.

 

The extended balconies are the same length as the regular, but they are 2 feet deeper, allowing more leg room. There are a few really long balconies if you can snag one...the cabin #'s are 6232, 7258 & 8232. They are awesome...located right near the aft (back) elevators. I have stayed midship and aft...don't see any real difference. Best thing to do is to look at the deck plans and see what area of the ship you might spend the most time. For us it is the aft Lido (adult pool) and buffet, so we tend to book toward the aft (that's also near the restaurant). If you spend alot of time in the casino, you might want to book more near forward. No real difference between the decks except for price...higher is more $. If you want to book on deck 8, I would compare it to the deck plan on deck 9 and try not to get right under one of the pool areas...you sometimes will hear the lounges scraping when they're being moved. Under the buffet area is better.

 

Re the food comments, we have always found the food to be very good on Legend.

 

Re the drydock which is almost complete, one big thing they did was turn the aft lido pool area into the adult only Serenity area.

[jmps]

Thanks again for the continuing replies. I think we will stick with the anytime dining. Good to hear some positives on the food along with the mixed reviews. Flat iron steak doesn't sound very good but we all love Prime Rib. What night has the weakest menu if we advance book the steak house? I don't want to miss Lobster or Prime Rib.

 

The Legend really does seem to get a lot comments as "best in the fleet." That is great to read.

 

We are really looking foward to having the famous 6232 verandah. We were in an OV on the Ryndam and the Verandah will be a treat.

[viajerita]

We loved it. Have sailed on the Legend twice and probably will do so again. I do wish there would be more variety in itineraries - maybe a Southern or Eastern Caribbean . But its great - I think you'll enjoy it.

[Irishlinny]

Thanks again for the continuing replies. I think we will stick with the anytime dining. Good to hear some positives on the food along with the mixed reviews. Flat iron steak doesn't sound very good but we all love Prime Rib. What night has the weakest menu if we advance book the steak house? I don't want to miss Lobster or Prime Rib.

 

The Legend really does seem to get a lot comments as "best in the fleet." That is great to read.

 

We are really looking foward to having the famous 6232 verandah. We were in an OV on the Ryndam and the Verandah will be a treat.

The flat iron steak has been better recently than it was a few years ago...I usually end up getting it at least once on the cruise. Lasagna Bolognese was DELICIOUS (was served the first nite, I believe). I think the weakest menu was usually on the Grand Cayman day...Tuesday, but who knows if they may switch things around.

 

I think you will love the ship and that balcony (it was awesome!).

[Clearwater]

We loved it. Have sailed on the Legend twice and probably will do so again. I do wish there would be more variety in itineraries - maybe a Southern or Eastern Caribbean . But its great - I think you'll enjoy it.

 

I completely agree! We just booked her for our 2nd trip on her for this October 9th.

 

We went on her 2 yrs ago and she is incredible. Wonderful staff, wonderful ship and wonderful food!

 

I too wish there was more itinerary varieties because I would totally keep booking her. I live in St. Pete, so it's my local port.

 

Maybe one day! I too can't wait to see the new drydock upgrades.

[MagnoliaFly]

I completely agree! We just booked her for our 2nd trip on her for this October 9th.

 

We went on her 2 yrs ago and she is incredible. Wonderful staff, wonderful ship and wonderful food!

 

I too wish there was more itinerary varieties because I would totally keep booking her. I live in St. Pete, so it's my local port.

 

Maybe one day! I too can't wait to see the new drydock upgrades.

 

I know right? I live in Tampa too. Not really into driving to Ft. Lauderdale, Miami or Port Canaveral for a different itinerary. Love the Legend!

[Clearwater]

I know right? I live in Tampa too. Not really into driving to Ft. Lauderdale, Miami or Port Canaveral for a different itinerary. Love the Legend!

 

Exactly! We did the Sensation last out of Port Canaveral to hit the Bahamas but there was NO comparison to the Legend.

 

There is always a large family group of us so we don't want to drive 5 hrs to Miami when we can get to the port and unload in 30 mins :-D

 

Last time we had 3 reg balconies side by side (and we opened the dividers). This time we booked extended balconies and hope to jump on the ship and request the dividers open again. That way we have one massive balcony for all of us. Love it!

[MagnoliaFly]

Exactly! We did the Sensation last out of Port Canaveral to hit the Bahamas but there was NO comparison to the Legend.

 

There is always a large family group of us so we don't want to drive 5 hrs to Miami when we can get to the port and unload in 30 mins :-D

 

Last time we had 3 reg balconies side by side (and we opened the dividers). This time we booked extended balconies and hope to jump on the ship and request the dividers open again. That way we have one massive balcony for all of us. Love it!

 

We've convinced our friends to go on their first cruise with us on the Legend next month. Unfortunately their TA told them a balcony wasn't worth the extra money so they booked an ocean view room. Otherwise I would have done something like that.

 

I managed to snag an aft balcony upgrade last week and can't wait to be out there!

[clearwatergirl]

Love the Legend. Is my favorite ship thus far. Would love to see the new serenity pool area but looks as though I'll have to wait awhile.

 

Have family on ship in April so I'll hear about upgrades then.

 

You won't be dissappointed. May be a little cool in January. :)

[Froufie]

Service is better with any time dining than with fixed dining. We always book that way.

 

Drydock is simply because it is required. Do not expect any major changes, or modifications. They might upgrade the TVs to flat screens but other than that you will not be able to tell it has been in dry dock (well except that the sea grass on the hull will be gone).

 

I beg to differ - not sure why you would think service is better with anytime dining? Have never had any issues with fixed dining at all - in fact I find the 'personalized' service much better.

 

As for the drydock - this is what is being done to the Legend:

 

Highlights:

• Serenity – Will be located in former aft pool area and feature pool, whirlpool and full bar

• Conversion of Grand Suite 6182 to be ADA compliant

• Kids Pool Area – More colorful, playful design for floor and pool tiles; Addition of teak benches and plush outdoor toys

 

Other Updates:

• Lido Pool Area – Retiling pools, new whirlpools, new look for area including bars

• Casino – Reconfiguration of layout for slot machines & poker tables

• Dance Club – Removing TV wall, replacing furniture and fabrics

• Lido Restaurant – Replacing chairs (inside and outside) and carpet

• Dining Room – Replacing chairs

 

Planned for completion while in service in 2011:

• Stateroom TVs being replaced with flat screen LCDs

• Replace gym equipment

 

And for the OP here is a link to some of the menus:

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/menus/Menus_D_1-7.htm

 

I am sure you will all find something to enjoy!

[Clearwater]

Oh sailing next month, lucky!

 

We for those of us not sailing until much later... please post pics, updates and a review when you get back so we can live vicariously until our sail date :)

[jmps]

Thanks Froufie for the menus!

[cruising102]

what is ihm0?

[Froufie]

what is ihm0?

 

I think you mean IMHO - which means 'in my honest opinion'...