Carnival Legend short review 03/13

[kml2000]

2nd attempt - this already isn't going well.

 

here goes...

 

I read so many great reviews while researching our trip, I was determined to write one when I got back. I am not writer, but here goes. As background, this trip was my DD (17 to be 18 in April) and I travelling to celebrate her SR year. We arrived in Tampa the night before and stayed at the Hampton Inn, airport. It was a nice hotel, typical Hampton Inn. The staff was very nice and there were many restaurants located very close by. They gave us a map with the names and locations so it was easy to find a quick dinner when we got in.

 

We had a category 7A, obstructed balcony - Cabin 5176. I really wanted a balcony and thought this category was a deal for our budget when we booked. I had hoped to get the upgrade/upsell call but it didn't happen. I was NOT disappointed because I booked what I would be happy with in the first place. Cabin 5176 is located between two lifeboats. I had a reasonable view looking straight down, but not a clean view. There is a platform coming off deck 4 that obstructs the straight down view. I am going to try and post a few pictures of the cabin and its view. In fact, I am going to post this and then edit and add the photos. I lost my whole post a second ago trying to add photos....UGGGHHHHH. :eek:

 

Cabin 5176 - 7A category Carnival Legend.

 

well....that didn't work.

[LBumb]

looking forward to pics

[kml2000]

I am going to keep writing, maybe someone can help me post pictures :)

 

I thought the ship was beautiful and in good shape. Our cabin still had the old TV's but the TV isn't a big deal to me.

 

I should back up and say that we arrived at the Port of Tampa at 10:00am and had to drive around for about 30 minutes. Right at 10:30 they moved the cones and we drove in to start our adventure. We used the valet parking and it was great. I didn't plan to Valet, but that is what happened and we just with it and it was great.

 

I am not a big drinker or gambler so I won't be very helpful along those lines. We did carry on an 8 pack of bottled diet cokes in a rolling suit case. It went through the scanner and nobody opened it up and looked at them or anything.

 

I am a divorced Mom and have no idea how to get in touch with my EX. I didn't have the letter allowing me to travel alone with my DD and was never asked for it. I did take my divorce decree that gives me sole custody but wasn't asked to show it either.

 

We were in zone 2 and on the ship by 11:45 or so.

 

The Lido food was good. We tried a little bit of everything all through the week EXCEPT the hamburgers and hot dogs. I really wanted to try a Carnival hot dog but just didn't get around to it. I tried to pizza one night as a late night snack and it was very good. I especially liked the deli sandwiches but wished they had potato chips to go with the sandwiches. I certainly didn't need them and they did have potato salad, slaw, pickles,, etc. However, just some plain potato chips would be great. You can get them from room service :) .

 

Speaking of room service - we enjoyed room service one day for mid afternoon snack and a few mornings for breakfast. I had the chicken fajita wrap and it was quite tasty. We pre-ordered for our port mornings and it got to be quite funny for us. I never could get the order just right. The first morning they were 30mins early and I was still asleep!! I thought I had read you had to order EVERYTHING you wanted (like if you order coffee, you need to order sugar if you want it, cream, etc). The first morning was okay but we only got a couple packets of sugar. Another morning my daughter ordered two boxes of cereal and I ordered one and I checked milk. We got FOUR cartons of milk. Another morning my daughter ordered a bagel and I ordered a croissant. She got her bagel and I got FIVE croissants. The last morning we ordered cereal again and didn't check the milk box. The waitress brought the tray and asked if we wanted milk, she had two on the tray but said since we didn't check it they weren't sure. We were just trying NOT to get FOUR cartons of milk. Oh well......we always got our food and it was all good.

 

Our MDR experience was not as good as we have had in the past. We had a wonderful table in the back by a window (I would post a pic.....but that hasn't been going well). The first night it was us and two others at an 8 person table. We were at one end and they were at the other. I spoke and they acknowledged but that was it - AWKWARD. After the first night, the table was full and it was a very interesting group. I won't go into specifics (in case they read this board and figure it out), but it was just interesting. Our service was just adequate and some days disappointing. We always got our food and got what we ordered, but were not checked on, asked if we needed anything else OR offered any sauces or condiments. I ordered a baked potato twice and once it came with the mail. I was never asked if I wanted sour cream. Prime Rib night I watched the table next to ours (same wait staff) be served their meals and offered a tray of what I assume to be sauces and potato condiments. I assume that was what was in those silver "gravy type bowls" because they never offered them to our table. One night our water glasses weren't filled after the first fill up until it was time to order desert.

 

All that being said, the food was good and it didn't ruin our cruise. It did prompt us to try the Lido one night for dinner, which we have NEVER done in past. We didn't enjoy that and probably won't do it again. The food was fine, it just wasn't dinner without being in the MDR.

 

One final thing about the MDR - in watching the other tables, our service experience wasn't typical. I saw many of the waiters interacting with their tables and smiles all around. I just chalk it up to the luck of the draw and will move on.

[kml2000]

I wanted to give this its own separate post. We ate in the Golden Fleece Steakhouse one night and it was FABULOUS. I am one of those cruisers that have said "why pay extra when all this food is included" and never even considered the steakhouse. WELL......NO MORE. This was easiest the best meal on the ship. OH MY GOODNESS!!! The service was amazing, the food was great and I can't say enough good things about it. The only thing I did wrong was choose the wrong day to go. I would recommend either day 3 or Belize day. We went Roatan night which was the semi formal night. The only reason I wish we would have gone the other nights is the menu in the MDR those nights didn't excite me. The menu for Roatan in the MDR looked good. I had printed out menus and got them mixed up apparently when I booked our reservation. Its not a big deal, just thought I would mention it.

 

My DD had the lobster bisque and it was fabulous (I did get to try it). I had the crab cake it was also very good. We both had the surf and turf and the steak was one of the best I have eaten and the lobster was just as tasty. I had the chocolate sampler and my daughter had cheesecake (HUGE portion). We both also had a caesar salad and that is the one thing I didn't think was all that great. When (yes I said when - may be a few years, but WHEN) we go back, I will order two appetizers and not a salad and appetizer.

 

I will also mention I spoke to several people who had tried the steakhouse for the first time and they all really enjoyed it. I guess since I said something bad about the salad, I should mention someone I spoke with said they got the iceburg wedge and really enjoyed it ;)

 

So......GO TO THE STEAK HOUSE!!!!!

[anthsmom]

Thanks for the review Karen...Looking forward to reading more! :)

[y7anks3]

Cant wait to see pictures and your review if u did any carnival excursions..... will be on board in august

[golfb4cruzing]

We are going out on the Legend 4/3, do you remember your wait staffs name in the MDR. We might be on the lookout or report back that things have improved. Waiting for the rest of your review and hopefully your pics work.

[kml2000]

Moving on to entertainment, I really enjoyed most everything we did. In my opinion there was always something to do, even if you didn't participate and just observed. My DD met up with a sweet girl from our roll call and I was kind of by myself in the evenings and while we were sailing. I attended several of the triviathons that happened during the day. I am HORRIBLE at trivia so I just observed and it was still fun. I played bingo once and didn't come close to winning so didn't do that again. The Love and Marriage show was quite funny.

 

My goal was to read a book on this cruise and I accomplished that. It was a very relaxing cruise for me. That said, there was always something I could have attended when I chose to read.

 

As I said before, I am not a big drinker or gambler and by about midnight it is nighty night time for me. I spent most of the evenings in the Comedy club and really enjoyed it. The only problem I had was it seemed like some sort of contest to see how many times you could say the "f" word in the R rated shows. I KNOW...it is the adult show, that was to be expected. For me, though, the jokes would be just as funny without that word. This is a matter of opinion and just thought I would share. There was one other thing I wasn't happy with but I got past that too. The comedy club gets packed, make sure you go early. I just stayed in my seat through the 30 minute break (and read my book - yes I carreid it around). We were lucky to have 4 different comedians. I'm not sure if this is how it works on all the ships, but we had two the first part of the cruise and they debarked in Cozumel and two different ones came on then.

 

I did see the Welcome Aboard show, the show with Marcus Anthony singing, and the Legends show in the Follies theatre. They were all good. I enjoyed the Welcome Aboard show more than the Legends show. It doesn't mean the Legends show was bad, just that I enjoyed the other one better.

 

Since I stayed in comedy club so much, I can't comment on the other entertainment venues. My DD said the Karaoke bar was always packed. I went to the piano bar once and didn't enjoy the lady sining so I didn't stay.

 

All in all, I enjoyed the entertainment provided very much.

[kml2000]

We are going out on the Legend 4/3, do you remember your wait staffs name in the MDR. We might be on the lookout or report back that things have improved. Waiting for the rest of your review and hopefully your pics work.

 

I know our head waiter's name was Julius. Other than that, I know nothing about him. He seemed to know what he was doing, not sure what the real problem was.

[kml2000]

I am not a fan of Carnival sponsored excursions, mainly because of the cost. I do a lot of research before we go and have had pretty good luck with booking on our own. We did do a Carnival excursion in Belize, and had a good time.

 

Here are the ports and what we did:

 

Grand Cayman - this was our "not do much" port. This was partly because of budgeting and partly because there just wasn't much we wanted to do here. My DD has done the stingrays and hated them. She wouldn't even consider doing that again. We just walked around in port, ate at Margaritaville, and went to Seven Mile Beach. Margaritaville is expensive and we didn't drink. I dont know that we would do that again. The portion of 7 mile beach we went to was pretty rocky and hard to find a place to just put a towel down. I would recommend being specific to the cab driver about going someplace like Royal Palms. That was my original plan but didn't do that because by the time we walked around, ate, etc we didn't have much time to spend on the beach. I would do this port very differently if we go back.

 

Cozumel - easily one of my favorite days. We went to Nachi Cocom and it was FABULOUS. My DD is still 17 so it was $84 for the two of us plus a $30 (round trip) cab ride. Nachi Cocom is all inclusive so it included all our drinks, 3 course meal, chairs, palapa, and a waiter. I did have a margarita here and it was very tasty (I said I was not a big drinker...not a non drinker). The guacamole was the best I have EVER had. I did everything but lick the plate. We actually got full from the appetizer and almost forgot to order the rest of our meal. I ended up ordering fajitas and they were good. My DD just ordered desert and the cheesecake was very good. They serve it with ice cream and that was to die for. I HIGHLY recommend Nachi.

 

Belize - we did Goff's Caye snorkeling through Carnival in this port. It left right from the ship and the little island is beautiful. It was very windy and the water choppy so I never actually snorkeled. My DD went with her friend and had a good time. I could have stayed longer on this little island and just enjoyed being on an island in the ocean. It was very pretty.

 

Roatan - Our second favorite port, my DD's favorite. I booked the Zip n Dip with Victor Bodden and we had a great day. My DD zipped, but I didn't. I am scared of heights and there is no way you would hook me in a harness and make me jump off a platform....no way. After they zipped we got to play with the monkeys and that was amazing. Finally, we went to a beautiful beach on the West end (???) called Bananarama. It was beautiful, the food was reasonable and the drinks reasonable. I got a pina colada here made with fresh coconut for about $5. We just wanted a snack so we got chicken quesadillas and split them - $6 and very tasty. My only complaint with this port is that we left this beautiful island way too early. I could have stayed here all day.

[kml2000]

In closing........and some random thoughts.....

 

we had a great trip and would sail Carnival and this ship again in a heart beat. I wouldn't think twice.

 

What we lacked in wait staff in the MDR, the cabin steward made up for it. He was FABULOUS. Loved Loved Loved him and his partner. He always spoke to us and called us by name, even the first evening of the cruise. My cabin was always taken care of and any request I made he took care of it right away.

 

Carnival maintenance got right on a problem we had with our balcony door making a noise. The first night it sounded like someone was blowing through one of those wooden train whistles. I went to guest services in the morning and by that afternoon a maintenace worker with a drill was there. No problems the rest of the week.

 

The serenity area gets full early. after that, people are like vultures trying to grab chairs. I went to the bathroom and my DD was asked at least twice if I had gone for good. Also, I had hoped to go out there one night and just sit and watch the stars but they take up the chair cushions. I understand it gets windy, but I just wanted to sit out there at night. Oh well......not to be.

 

I am going to try and research how to post pictures. That will have to be a tomorrow night project as it is my bed time at this point. Once I figure it out, I will post some pics to go with all this writing.

 

I am happy to answer questions, if I can......

[cruisy-suzy]

Thank you for posting your review, we are going June 19. We've been really agonizing over what to do in Belize, I am glad to hear the Goff's Caye excursion leaves directly from the ship. Did the island have any sand, or was it all rocky? What services do they have there if any?

 

Thanks!

[DaKarr]

Thank you so much the the review. It is always a pleasure to read a review from someone who can be a little objective about their experience! :D

I would have to agree with you about the chair hogging and it would have been nice to be able to hang out at night and watch the stars. I just hung out in the Hot Tub :D!

[pzerba]

Great review - we leave in 4 days for the Legend, so always excited to read current reviews.

 

To post pictures, I've found the easiest way is to open a free http://www.photobucket.com account, upload your pictures to it. Once uploaded, the site will provide a "img" code for your pictures that you literally just copy and paste into your post here.

 

For instance, here is a copy of my granddaughter on our trip to Disney World last year

 

[dying2cruise]

Thank you! I have been hoping for a recent Legend review! Glad you had a good trip!

[spideyfam]

Thank you for your review. In less than 6 months I will be on her myself.

 

I will second the Photobucket suggestion. It is very easy.

[kml2000]

Thank you for posting your review, we are going June 19. We've been really agonizing over what to do in Belize, I am glad to hear the Goff's Caye excursion leaves directly from the ship. Did the island have any sand, or was it all rocky? What services do they have there if any?

 

Thanks!

 

There were some sandy places on the island. We were there very early. Right after we got there, a boat drove up and brought chairs you could rent - $5 each. They also had people come to sell things like wooden bowls, jewelry, etc. Don't make the mistake of asking a price, they won't let you go :p . I have a wooden bowl :p . It is very pretty and I am ok with that. There is also someone grilling lobster and set up a make shift bar. If we had been there a little longer I would have bought a lobster kabob, but I didn't so I don't know how they were. There is a bathroom that I never used. My daughter said it was weird (not sure what that meant). Another lady I was talking with said it was fine.

 

If I could figure out how to post pictures I will. I am going to try and figure that out tonight.

[kml2000]

Thank you for your review. In less than 6 months I will be on her myself.

 

I will second the Photobucket suggestion. It is very easy.

 

I uploaded them all the Photobucket last night and tried the copy and paste but didn't get the image. Well.....I did a "post preview" and didn't see the image. Maybe if I had just posted the picture would have been there. I will try it again tonight.

[loltastic]

Thank you for the review!

[Chef P]

Thanks for th egreat review, I had a group on this sailing and they only had one complaint, the service in the Main dining Room..

[Karrde]

Thanks for the review. We board this weekend.

[new2florida]

Great Review, thanks for posting. So glad we met up on the roll call, it was the first time I've participated in one and it was certainly worth it. I'm sure our DD's would agree! Enjoyed spending time with you too.

[sadiesue]

Did you prebook with Victor Bodden in Roatan? How much did it cost?

 

Great review! Thanks! We'll be on the Legend on April 3. Let's see....That's 11 days, 3 hours, 10 minutes and counting!

[Kobefell]

Hi

Thanks for the review.We are going on the Legend in July and also are thinking of booking Zip n Dip with Victor Bodden. I see in the itinerary that the boat leaves at 3:00 and they bring you back two hours before you leave. Is this enough time to enjoy the excursion? What time did you leave the boat for this? Thanks Ken

[kml2000]

Great Review, thanks for posting. So glad we met up on the roll call, it was the first time I've participated in one and it was certainly worth it. I'm sure our DD's would agree! Enjoyed spending time with you too.

 

I enjoyed spending time with you too. We have participated in a roll call before and it worked out well. Because it is just me and the DD, I am always looking for ways she can meet someone her own age. Our daughters had a good time, I do believe!