REVIEW - Carnival Legend 5/8 - 5/15

[BritYank94]

Fab Review. We are on the Legend in October. Can't wait.

Thanks again.

[jules1121]

[quote name='mprince4']Hmmmmm weird.... is anyone else having problems? It took me a while to figure out how to post them, so maybe I messed something up.[/quote]

I can't see them either but I believe its an issue with my browser. I usually can only see about half the pics on this site.

Loving the review and can't wait for our cruise on the Legend in 25 days! :)

[mprince4]

Day 3 - Cozumel!!!

We didn't get up early this morning because the ship docked at 9 am, but it was 8 am Cozumel time and Nachi doesn't open til 9 am - so we didn't have to rush off the ship. I wanted to get off the ship shortly after 10 am ship's time so we could get there relatively early and enjoy most of the day there before we had to leave (we had to be back on the ship at 5:30 ship's time, 4:30 Cozumel time). So we got up, had a leisurely breakfast, and got ready to go, and we didn't end up getting down to the gangway until about 10:30... and found a crowd of people waiting. :confused: Our Atlanta tablemates were the first couple in line to get off, but no one could leave the ship. We were puzzled - and then we heard someone say that the Inspiration was docking on the other side of the pier so they weren't letting us off until it was docked. *shakes fist at Inspiration*

I didn't want to wait in the crowded area (especially because there were a few really idiotic guys who thought they were being clever), so we popped upstairs to the Atlantic deck and went out on the Promenade so we could watch and see when they started letting people off. It probably took about 20 or so minutes total (from the time we went downstairs originally) but I was ticked off because I didn't hear an announcement saying that the gangway was closed. I did hear an announcement saying that the gangway was open again, so maybe I missed the first one... but I'm not sure. Anyway, we finally got off the ship and made our way to the shopping area. Now, I got a little confused here because I've been to Cozumel twice and docked in the same place both times and I know where to go to get a taxi - but this seemed different to me, so I'm thinking I was docked somewhere else those last 2 times - unless this port changed dramatically in the last year. We were trucking it through the shopping area to find a taxi and eventually we found the area. There were a bunch of vans around and I wasn't sure they'd take just 2 of us in a van, but when one guy came up and I told him where we were going, he had us get in and we took off. It was $16 to get there.

When we got to Nachi, they took some pictures of us wearing sombreros that turned out horribly, then we went into the covered area, paid the rest of our money, and a waiter (I don't know his name, it started with an M) took us and set us up in some chairs very close to the pool and lunch area. This was a nice spot. Since I believe the Legend and Inspiration were the only ships in port, it was not crowded at all and we actually didn't have people all around us - I don't think there were more than 30 people there at any point during the day. There were about 5 or 6 kids with families, but otherwise it seemed like mostly couples or groups of adults.

As soon as we sat down, J said "I feel like I'm in a Corona commercial." It was GORGEOUS. Our waiter took a drink order and we both got beers (Corona for J to complete the commercial and Pacifico for me). A guy came around telling us about the prices of all the optional stuff you can do there, but we didn't really want to do anything. I'd thought about getting a massage, but it was so relaxing just being on the beach that I didn't think I needed to relax any more! After I drank my beer and ordered a margarita, J goes, "I can get a margarita?" duh :rolleyes: [I]someone [/I]doesn't listen when I tell him things...

We sat there and read for a while and I listened to my iPod and we drank some more, and then I decided to check out the pool and the swim up bar. Unfortunately, we had not put on sunblock when we got there initially because we were under the shade so much - and by the time I decided to go to the pool, my decision making faculties may have been somewhat in question, so I didn't even put it on then! :o Not.a.good.idea. J stayed in the shade and didn't put on any sunblock either, and we both ended up suffering for it - more on that later.

Anyway, I popped in the pool and swam over to the bar and was DELIGHTED to find that the pool has a bench "bar stool" right by the bar. I ordered a drink from the bar and swam around a little bit and started talking to a couple in the whirlpool because the guy had an intriguing looking drink that turned out to be sangria, and then returned to the bar to get another drink. When I got back to where J was sitting, I was like omg, the swim up bar is fantastic, blah blah blah, and J was like, whatever. I went back to the pool. Basically, I spent about 70% of my time at the swim up bar because it was the BEST THING EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I looooooved the bartender there and it was even better than having drinks brought to me. While I "sat" at the bar I talked to a couple on the Inspiration for a while and I was just having a blast.

Eventually I started getting hungry so I got out of the pool and got J and we ate in the covered area. I thought the food was delicious. I got fruit and fajitas and they were awesome. J got nachos and I don't remember his entree, but I ate a lot of his nachos. We didn't get dessert because we were totally stuffed, so we headed back to the beach... where I stayed for a little while before I went back to the pool.

I think J fell asleep at this point and slept for a good bit of the rest of the afternoon - during which the shade moved and he got a horrible burn on his feet and stripes on his legs :eek:

Around 4:15 ship's time, we decided it was about time to pack up and get a taxi back to the port (I have a horrible fear of being late to the ship). The waiter called for a taxi and told us the number, and as we walked out I tipped my bartender and we tipped our waiter. The taxi came like a minute after he called for it - what service! We got a quick ride back to the port and I gave that driver $20 because I didn't have any small bills and I appreciated his speed in picking us up and getting us back to the port. I was smiling the whole way back to the ship because it was such a great day!

But then, once we got to our room, we realized we were both horribly sunburned :( On one side, my shoulder and back were just about fried, and I had some slight burns on my legs. J had the top of one foot badly burned (this turned out to be really unfortunate, as we were going to the ruins in Belize the next day and had to do some walking) and had some burns on the other foot and both legs. It was a sad end to a wonderful day and we were kicking ourselves for not putting on sunblock.

We got ready for dinner and headed to the MDR. This night, all 8 of us were there. The Atlanta couple told us they were late back to the ship (they had a very ambitious plan to go to the Tulum ruins on their own by taking the ferry and renting a car) and everyone talked about their day in Cozumel. I would like to punch the Tampa couple, however, because they said they rented scooters and rode all over the island, which made J want to rent scooters somewhere we were going - but I had already made plans for every port but Grand Cayman after asking for his input and getting "I dunno" in response. This became an issue later on...

For dinner I believe I had the french onion soup (which was FREAKISHLY hot as in temperature - I burned my tongue like 5 times even though I was blowing at each spoonful like crazy) and the sicilian chicken. The chicken was not good. The stewed potatoes with it were good, but the chicken was not, and there was this odd mushroom polenta (I think) patty with it (which is not mentioned on the menu), and I HATE mushrooms. It wasn't a great MDR meal for J or I, although J got the smoked chicken quesadilla and it was delicious. I think he got the pork loin for his entree and was unimpressed. I had the warm fig and date cake for dessert and it was YUM - I definitely recommend this. I was gobbling it up. J got the diet lemon cake - he's built like a stick but still insists on getting diet things :rolleyes:

After dinner we were pretty sacked out after drinking all day and getting burned, so we played cards in our room and went to bed pretty early. I don't even think J played poker this night!

I'll post pics of the sea day and Nachi later! And in case it wasn't totally obvious, I LOOOOOOVED Nachi and I would go back there in a heartbeat. It was basically my idea of heaven.

[AmandaKaye79]

[COLOR=purple]Can you describe what was going on with the poker on Legend? We will be going in July. We both really enjoy poker and are interested in hearing more about it. I notice you said there was a lot of losing going on.. I hope that isn't the case for us. :eek:[/COLOR]

[FaeCruisers]

[quote name='AmandaKaye79'][COLOR=purple]Can you describe what was going on with the poker on Legend? We will be going in July. We both really enjoy poker and are interested in hearing more about it. I notice you said there was a lot of losing going on.. I hope that isn't the case for us. :eek:[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

When are you going in July? We're going on our honeymoon and love the tables!

[mprince4]

[quote name='AmandaKaye79'][COLOR=purple]Can you describe what was going on with the poker on Legend? We will be going in July. We both really enjoy poker and are interested in hearing more about it. I notice you said there was a lot of losing going on.. I hope that isn't the case for us. :eek:[/COLOR][/quote]

Hahaha well, J was playing poker almost every night at the electronic table and it seemed like the table was full of players almost every night. Some nights it was still going when he left, but other nights it wasn't as busy and ended earlier.

I had created a whole thread to learn about the electronic poker and compiled all this information for him where people on CC suggested that he learn how to use the table before playing and other stuff, and instead he just jumped right into it the first night and lost a good chunk of money.

Before we left I wanted to limit him to playing like 4-5 nights out of the 7 because he can get downright SURLY when he loses :mad: but I think he played the 6 of the nights. When he lost the first night, he wasn't too bothered, it just made him want to play more to win back what he lost - and he did have one really good night and was out ahead (probably when he should have stopped). Then the night before the last sea day he had really bad luck and was a total %@#&* when he came back to the room. Then he played in the poker tournament the last sea day and didn't win.

So he ended up in the red, but not by any insane amount of money. I think the poker was just very competitive - certainly more competitive than he'd experienced on RC and Celebrity where there are a lot of people who want to try poker for the first or second time because they're on a cruise ship with a casino. He's a good poker player, but there were a few other really good ones on our ship too. I think he had fun most of the time and seriously, the only thing he spent any S&S money on was the casino and one pair of sunglasses - so by the end of it, he had spent a completely reasonable amount of money for a week-long vacation, he's just really cheap and hates losing money.

I am not making any comments about poker in general, just what happened to J - I don't know the first thing about poker. :)

[Cigar Dude]

Did you happen to go by the cigar bar? I'm sure you didn't miss it! Is it in the sports bar now?

[mprince4]

[quote name='Cigar Dude']Did you happen to go by the cigar bar? I'm sure you didn't miss it! Is it in the sports bar now?[/quote]

I'm pretty sure it is in the sports bar now. We walked through the sports bar a couple times and sat in there briefly so J could watch the rest of some game, but I didn't spend much time in there - but there were a lot of people smoking and I think some were smoking cigars. It's a cool little sports bar and I loved that they had draft beer - I never got it in the bar, but they were handing it out at the past guest party and at the fun farewell party.

[serene56]

[quote name='Cyn7']

I had early dining but changed to late for my up coming cruise as not to be late for the first seating by staying on deck to get pictures going under the bridge.[/quote]


I changed my early dining to anytime dining-- which i will change back once on the ship- this way I can have my anytime dining that first night and not be late

[SunshineOnTheBrain]

Great review so far! I have a question about Nachi. We will be in Cozumel on the Imagination week after next. We don't get into port until 1PM but we are there till 10PM. Do you think it would be worth it to go just for afternoon? Thanks in advance!

[hankandteri]

[quote name='mprince4']I want to say it was at 5:45 - I remember the captain coming and saying it would be at something:45, but I can't remember if it was 5:45 or 6:45.... I seem to recall thinking that the people in the early seating were missing out, so maybe it was 6:45? I'll check my time stamp on the camera when I get home, or maybe someone else on the cruise can chime in.[/quote]

We went under the bridge about 6:50 p.m. I'm pretty sure of that since DW and I had a bet going on the exact minute we would pass under it. Also, our cruise left the dock a little late. We didn't actually set sail until around 4:30 p.m. on that cruise. If the ship had left on time we would have gon under the bridge around 6:20 p.m.

[Jurora]

[quote name='mprince4']I have about 20 pictures of the view straight from the balcony :D and I actually do have one looking straight down where it looked like we were either dumping something in the water around Belize or we were churning some crazy dirt up :eek: I will post that pic and my pics from the first cruise day later today if I get the chance (all pics are on home computer right now).


[SIZE=3]Hi, I'm enjoying reading your 'novel'!! My family and I were on the Legend the week of March 20th, and we missed the ship after we left. I like to still read other people's views re. their trip. I too got a pic of the dirty water, near Belize, that was churned up from the sea bottom when we were anchoring. My husband also got a pic. later, when we were departing. It looks odd against the turquoise water. Funny how we take different pics, to remember everything about the cruise, eh![/SIZE][IMG]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/icons/icon7.gif[/IMG]

[mprince4]

[quote name='hankandteri']We went under the bridge about 6:50 p.m. I'm pretty sure of that since DW and I had a bet going on the exact minute we would pass under it. Also, our cruise left the dock a little late. We didn't actually set sail until around 4:30 p.m. on that cruise. If the ship had left on time we would have gon under the bridge around 6:20 p.m.[/quote]

You're right - I just checked the time stamp on my pics and I took mine at 6:52! Actually my camera says 5:52, but I figured out that it was an hour off because I was NOT up at 6:30 am on Belize day!

[mprince4]

[quote name='NYParrothead']Great review so far! I have a question about Nachi. We will be in Cozumel on the Imagination week after next. We don't get into port until 1PM but we are there till 10PM. Do you think it would be worth it to go just for afternoon? Thanks in advance![/quote]

I think it would probably be worth it. Since it'll be the same time zone 2 weeks from now (at least I assume it will be...), you'll dock at noon Coz time - if you got off the ship right away and grabbed a taxi, you'd still have a good solid 4 or 4.5 hours there before it closes at 5 - and then you have from 6-9ish (ship time) to shop and do whatever else at the pier if you want. I think we ended up being there from about 11-4 (ship's time) and I feel like it was totally worth the money. I probably could have stayed there forever, but if you've never been to Nachi and that's what you think you want to do in Cozumel, I say go for it - if you don't feel like you get enough time there this time, you can just plan to go back soon :D

I'm about to post some pics of Nachi that might help make up your mind :)

[Jurora]

[quote name='mprince4']Ok, last picture before I stop for the night and continue tomorrow. As we were walking by the doors out to the promenade to go to dinner the first night, J goes, "hey look!" and I look outside, see this sunset, and I RAN out on the promenade, tripping over the lip of the door to take this picture :p I saved myself from falling and I think it was worth it :)

[URL="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/img0684v.jpg/"][IMG]http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/6620/img0684v.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/quote]
We never saw a sunset this nice. Gorgeous!! The overall view would have been spectacular. Also you mentioned about late seating being back- logged, the first night, due to some early diners, not showing up on time, due to viewing the ship going under the bridge. That's not good for the staff, as I think our ship passed under at about 6:20, which means these diners wouldn't have made it to the dining room until about 6:30. Very late!! The wait staff would have been hustling, trying to catch up. Everybody at our early seating, on Mar. 20, were all around us, so nobody took the time to see the bridge. We would have liked to see it pass under, but never even considered arriving late. The staff would be expecting us!

[mprince4]

Ok, now for pics of sea day...

Sea that morning when I randomly got up at 7 am

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Random pic of the atrium (side note: you should ride the atrium elevators at least once - I hardly ever saw anyone riding them but it's really cool with the giant picture)

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Medusa's Lair - a little sparse when this pic was taken but it got more lively later

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[mprince4]

[quote name='Jurora']We never saw a sunset this nice. Gorgeous!! The overall view would have been spectacular. Also you mentioned about late seating being back- logged, the first night, due to some early diners, not showing up on time, due to viewing the ship going under the bridge. That's not good for the staff, as I think our ship passed under at about 6:20, which means these diners wouldn't have made it to the dining room until about 6:30. Very late!! The wait staff would have been hustling, trying to catch up. Everybody at our early seating, on Mar. 20, were all around us, so nobody took the time to see the bridge. We would have liked to see it pass under, but never even considered arriving late. The staff would be expecting us![/quote]

Yeah, I bet that was it - in our case people wouldn't have shown up for early seating til 7! :eek: That's an hour late!!!

[mprince4]

Cozumel pics

Balcony views of the sea that morning - apparently I woke up by 7:30 this morning :eek: so out of character!

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Nachi!

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[mprince4]

More Nachi

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In the lunch area looking out to the beach

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This pic is a little crooked - too many margaritas ;)

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[Jurora]

I forgot to mention earlier, that we were on Main Deck (level 4), on starboard side, near the aft, so we were close to seeing the water churning up at the back of the ship. I think that's all my comments, for now...

[mprince4]

POOL WITH SWIM UP BAR!!!!!! The pool was mostly empty the entire day

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Back to the ship :(

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Legend and Inspiration docked together

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[mprince4]

I have more pics of Nachi if anyone wants to see them - they are basically more of the same but I have some other shots of the beach and the covered lunch area and one of the pool. If you want me to post them, just ask. I didn't want to upload a ton of pictures of the same thing so I thought I'd just give you an idea first :)

[mprince4]

[LEFT]Ok, I'll leave you with one more pic before I sign off for the night. This is apparently a picture I took the morning of Belize day, at 7:30 am (this is what the camera tells me - and I know I was up early that day), and I think it is the best picture I took the entire cruise!

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I'll continue with Belize tomorrow!

[/LEFT]

[fwbgirlie]

We will be on the Legend this Sunday! YAY!! I just booked Nachi yesterday for 4 of us. I haven't gotten an email back from them yet though (I did get the confirmation # when their website took my deposit). Did you hear much from them after you booked your reservation? I am sooooo looking forward to our day their, especially after reading your review. Thanks!

[wantavacay]

Great report! We will be on the Legend July 24th. Can't wait!!