REVIEW - Carnival Legend 5/8 - 5/15

[mprince4]

Chillaxing at the mostly empty pool

 

 

 

A couple of sunset pics I took from the balcony

 

 

 

 

 

I took this pic in Medusa's Lair when this one woman was alone on the dance floor, dancing like crazy

 

[mprince4]

A rainbow at sea day! I told everyone in the card room when I saw this through the window

 

 

 

It looked like a full rainbow too

 

 

 

Hanging out in the card room after the fun farewell party (that pink drink is from the party) - J is now playing Sudoku because I was getting too close to beating him at Battleship

 

 

 

Sunset on sea day

 

 

 

[mprince4]

Little birdie stowaway on the Serenity deck on the night of the day at sea! Smart birdie wants to go on vacation too ;)

 

 

 

Back in Tampa :(

 

[mprince4]

Day 8 - Debarkation :(

 

We did most of our packing during sea day, so we didn't need much time to get ready in the morning. We woke up around 7 and went up to breakfast, which was a little crazy (for obvious reasons). During breakfast they were paging non-US citizens and one particular room kept getting paged and the person doing the paging sounded pretty pissed. After breakfast, we went back down to the room to brush our teeth and finish packing. At 8, our stateroom steward came by and told us to leave the room (more on our stateroom steward in my summary), which was fine because we were just about to leave and, coincidentally, they started calling self assist debarkation right as we were leaving.

 

I didn't realize that they were calling it by deck, and they originally called decks 1, 4, and 5 (we were on 7), but it ended up not mattering because we had a bear of a time getting an elevator down. This wasn't too surprising since it was the midship elevators and lots of people with luggage were all trying to leave, but what made this process somewhat annoying were the people NOT doing self-assist who were just trying to get an elevator down to the lower decks so they could wait somewhere. Honestly, if you are not doing self-assist and you have a bag you can easily carry, and you are mobile, you need to walk down the stairs while self-assist is going on because it's really not that necessary for you to take an elevator down. I never took the stairs when I was going DOWN, but that's me, I understand some people do - but people with zone debarkation, this is not the time to stand and wait for an elevator when you're only carrying your handbag.

 

Due to the delay in elevatoring - thank God we were on deck 7, because I'm sure the people on lower decks got continually screwed - they were calling deck 7 as we were getting to deck 2 and they started calling ALL decks for self-assist as we were in the line to get out. J had a little bit of a problem with the machine reading his S&S card because the magnetic strip wore out from too much use at the casino :eek: and then we were off. We had to take the elevator down to the lower level of the terminal because of our bags (side note here - Carnival makes it sound very dire to do self-assist, like they're trying to discourage people from doing it :confused: - but we had a relatively easy time of it with two rolling bags, a garment bag, and a duffel bag - we did not have to go down any stairs or escalators in Tampa), and then we were outside. We walked over to the garage, took the elevator up, and we were sitting in my car at 8:33 am! It was a really easy breezy (and early) debarkation, which was great for us because we got to hit the road immediately. We made a stop in Ocala to visit some friends of J who just had twins, so getting off the ship so early gave us plenty of cushion to visit with them and not get back home ridiculously late. I think we eventually made it home around 8 pm (but it would have been about 5:30/6ish if we'd not stopped).

 

That's it for my day-by-day and picture review - last up is my summary of the cruise and grades for food, service, etc!

[Gecko7]

EXACTLY! I'm glad you guys know what I mean - I told him that if he didn't like what I planned he could do his own research and come up with something and he was like, I don't want to do research because I don't need to plan anything :rolleyes:

 

I shudder at the thought of a J-planned vacation - it would be awful for everyone involved - but apparently I should be reading his mind, because what I plan is never good enough :rolleyes: I got the most flak for going to the ruins in Belize because J does not have any interest in learning about new places. But it's my vacation too, and I love learning about new places, so tough luck!

 

By the end of this cruise, I had finally figured out J's ideal vacation - sitting in a nice hotel every day playing Sudoku and then playing poker at night. :p What a blast that would be... :rolleyes:

 

Sounds like J would love Vegas.

[mprince4]

Sounds like J would love Vegas.

 

Hahahaha exactly - although I think he is afraid to go there for any length of time because of the possibility of losing a LOT of money :p

[SunshineOnTheBrain]

OK Glad that the last two days were not a complete downer. My DW Is just like J. No interest at all in planning or discussing what to do till 12 hours before we arrive, then its all "why are we doing this? or what is this about?" :rolleyes: I on the other hand love to plan. Thats why I'm here on the Boards. We'll wish us luck we will be on the legend, too.

 

Cozumel: 3 Hour Catameran Snorkeling trip & Hang Around Town

Belize: Lamanai Tour

Roatan: Bananarama By Taxi

Grand Cayman: Sting Ray City & Two Snorkle Sites Tour (Not Sure Who Yet)

We highly recommend Capt. Marvin's for this tour. Smaller capacity boats and the staff was awesome!

[Islandbear]

We highly recommend Capt. Marvin's for this tour. Smaller capacity boats and the staff was awesome!

 

 

Thanks I just looked him up looks perfect for us.:)

[parisbully]

Loved your review. Haven't been on a Carnival cruise for a while. Think I will look into one again.....Just curious, are you and J still together? :D

[SunshineOnTheBrain]

Thanks I just looked him up looks perfect for us.:)

 

No problem...they are easy to find in town and were just great overall. Have a great time!!!

[mprince4]

Loved your review. Haven't been on a Carnival cruise for a while. Think I will look into one again.....Just curious, are you and J still together? :D

 

Hahahahahahahahahahaha.... yes. I can't make any promises for the future, but we are still together for now. :p

[Gecko7]

Hahahahahahahahahahaha.... yes. I can't make any promises for the future, but we are still together for now. :p

 

Winning!:eek:

[mprince4]

Sorry guys, I meant to do my summary yesterday and instead spent about 5.5 hours trying to get tickets for a beer festival :eek:

 

 

Food: B+

Originally I was going to give the food a B because I was remembering some particularly mediocre meals in the MDR, but overall, I think it deserves a B+. I don’t cruise for the food, but I didn’t feel like the MDR food on this cruise was as good as I’ve had on other cruises, although there were a couple of items that really stood out (the fruit, fried chicken tenders, penne with tomato vodka cream sauce, and several desserts). I had some really bad chicken dishes and some very bland appetizers and entrees in the MDR, so it wasn’t always the best dining experience. I did, however, LOVE the buffet - much more than I would have expected - and I managed to find some great food both on the buffet and the grill. I should mention here that I don’t eat much meat besides chicken (and generally not much of that) and I try to eat healthy as a general matter, so what appeals to me may not appeal to everyone.

 

Probably my favorite part of the ship food-wise was the salad bar. I really like salads, but I never have the ingredients at home to put together a really cool salad. On the ship, I could make GIANT salads with all kinds of delicious things – carrots, sliced peppers (which I LOVE), broccoli and cauliflower, onions (which I REALLY LOVE), chickpeas, croutons, etc etc... all topped with honey mustard dressing - mmmm!!! I made a salad every time we ate in the buffet for lunch or dinner! I also loved, loved, loved the coleslaw and potato salad at the buffet. Towards the end of the cruise I was having a salad, potato salad, and coleslaw with every meal.

 

I also really liked the pizza on the ship, so I would incorporate a slice of pizza into most meals at the buffet. It was much better than the pizza on our last cruise (on RCCL).

 

I also loved the grill by the pool because they had AMAZING salsa! I started craving the fried chips at the grill (so healthy, I know) topped with salsa and the queso sauce because it was so delicious. I also got a veggie burger from the grill one day and really liked it, and the chicken tenders and fries were good too.

 

So overall, I found plenty I wanted to eat and the food was good. Because there is usually only one MDR entree option that appeals to me (either the chicken or vegetarian option), in the future I would probably skip the MDR on the nights I had mediocre meals and eat at the buffet instead. If you are more open to meat options, you would probably like the MDR a lot more than I did.

 

 

Service: C

Let me begin by saying that I am not expecting to be waited on hand and foot or anything like that, and I am a glass half full kind of person who usually brushes off small problems in favor of staying happy. I am also sure other people on our very same cruise got better service than we did. We just did not luck out with our MDR service team or our stateroom steward.

 

As I’ve said before, our waiter in the MDR was just ok. Overall he was fine, but a couple of times he forgot things we requested, and he just wasn’t that engaged with us and personable like the waiters I’ve had on every other cruise. Our assistant waiter never spoke and had zero personality, so that wasn’t any better. Add to this the generally disjointed service in the MDR (i.e. appetizers trickling out 2 at a time, wrong menu posted one day, assistant waiter trying to give me an entree I was already eating, etc) and it just wasn’t the kind of MDR service I’ve experienced on all my other cruises. I don’t have unreasonably high expectations, but the MDR service just didn’t meet my expectations.

 

Our stateroom steward was a guy named Sanjaya, and again, I do not have unreasonable expectations, but he was the worst statement steward I’ve ever had. I don’t care if I ever meet the steward as long as the right things get done each day, and I don’t have any strong memories of stateroom stewards on previous cruises because they did everything that needed to be done. I thought the guy on our last cruise was kind of odd because he sang in the hallways and seemed excessively laid back, but at least he did what needed to be done. I don’t think I will forget Sanjaya because he was weirdly neglectful.

 

Sanjaya would sometimes fill the ice, sometimes not... (we were using the ice on a daily basis, by the way). We would have empty cups in the room from the buffet or wherever and sometimes he would take them away... sometimes he would take some of them away and not others... sometimes he wouldn’t take them away. Sometimes he would replace empty/dirty water glasses (the ones by the ice bucket)... sometimes he wouldn’t. Towards the end of the cruise, I had an empty wine glass in the room that I’d gotten from Medusa’s Lair, and instead of taking away the empty wine glass, he took the pink carnation I got at dinner on Mother’s Day (which had just been lying on the desk area for five days at this point), bent the stem, and stuck it in the wine glass. :confused: I just do not understand the thought process that went into this decision. Also, I’m pretty sure one time he rolled up a wet bath mat and left it by the shower instead of just replacing it for a dry one.

 

I mean, these are all little things and weren’t really worth tracking him down for later, but they are little enough that they should have been done, and I’ve never had any problems with stewards neglecting to do things like this before. For a couple of days it wouldn't have bothered me, but for a while week it just got a little annoying. Luckily, he was good about replacing the other towels in the bathroom and the pool towels and changing out the glasses in the bathroom.

 

Finally, as a general matter, I felt like some of the crew on the ship were just indifferent about doing their jobs. The best example for this is clearing tables in the buffet area. There were several times that J and I sat down at a table that had not been cleared because there weren’t any cleared tables available (generally because there were so many tables that had not been cleared, not because it was crazy crowded)... and sometimes it stayed uncleared until we were done with our meal (we looked like we ate enough for an army!). Other times, you would put the last bite of food in your mouth and someone would whisk all your plates away before you were even really done. It was just weirdly inconsistent, and it didn’t correspond to excessively busy times or dead times - sometimes when we’d be sitting at an uncleared table, crew members working the buffet would walk by with empty hands and completely ignore the stuff on our table. Other times, there would be 3 or 4 watching to see when you were done to grab your plates. It was just odd. And I’m not expecting the crew to be super excited about clearing tables, but my attitude is that even if I have a crappy job, I should do it well - and that’s been an attitude I’ve seen shared by most crew members on all the other cruises I’ve been on.

 

I will say that the bar servers were all excellent. I had great service from them! :D We also had very attentive bar service in the MDR, which I know others have mentioned as a problem.

 

So overall, the service on this cruise was just not the best. Maybe if we had a better MDR team and a better stateroom steward, the other stuff wouldn’t have been so noticeable... but alas, that’s the way the cookie crumbled for us. J is a tipping machine and we generally tip over the auto tips on every cruise if the service is good, but this time we didn't tip anything extra because we both agreed we hadn't really gotten good service.

 

 

Entertainment: A

We didn’t do much of the entertainment stuff because we don’t go to shows and don’t do many of the other events where the cruise director and staff are out in force – but I thought Wee Jimmy was a good cruise director when I saw him operate, and I enjoyed the comedians, the magician, and the DJ in Medusa’s Lair. I hated the woman in the piano bar, but most of the other music was good. The band on the Lido deck was good, although the sound was usually turned up too loud for my taste and you couldn’t get away from it because there were speakers everywhere.

 

 

Ports

Cozumel: A+++++!!!!!!!!!!!!

Belize: A

Roatan: A

Grand Cayman: B

 

I only gave Grand Cayman a B because I wasn’t there long enough to do anything exciting, but I have to say that this itinerary is awesome! I would absolutely do the exact same itinerary again because there are multiple things I want to do in each port. By the end of the cruise, though, I really wished that the ports had been backwards the way they were on the Legend just a few weeks before we sailed - Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel - because it would have been awesome to end the cruise with a relaxing beach day at Nachi Cocom after doing more involved stuff in the other 3 ports. In the future I will try to pick cruises that hit Cozumel last for this very reason!

 

 

Miscellaneous things I didn’t like

The smoke - easy enough to avoid, but it was a change from the RCCL and Celebrity cruises I’ve been on recently.

 

Sometimes the MDR menu would come up on the TV, and sometimes it wouldn’t - also, it looked like it was still set for the previous itinerary I mentioned above.

 

 

Miscellaneous things I liked

The freebies in the bathroom

 

The crowd - cruising in early May rocks for me because there were so few kids! I was surprised at how many people on our cruise were elderly and not mobile, but the majority of the cruisers were 20s-40s and a mostly friendly crowd.

 

The ship - easy to navigate. I loved that there were three pools and it never seemed insanely crowded. The Serenity area is really nice and I’m glad I got a few chances to relax on a clamshell and a hammock. I loved the Enchanted Forest - there were always quiet places to sit and relax and read or play cards. The decor isn’t really my thing, but who cares. The Atrium is beautiful.

 

The more relaxed cruise casual dress code in the MDR - I felt much more obligated to dress up for dinner on my recent Celebrity and RCCL cruises (particularly Celebrity), so being able to just wear capris and a top to dinner and not feel like people were judging me for dressing poorly was really, really nice. Sometimes I like the idea of dressing up for dinner, but this cruise I just wanted to be casual and relax. I also felt fine going to dinner on the second formal night in a dress that really wasn't all that fancy (more of a church-type dress). Not having to worry about getting all dressed up was a relief!

 

 

Overall, even though I sometimes wanted to punch J in the face, it was a really good cruise. I'm glad I got to check out a Carnival cruise after 7.5 years so I could see how I'd like it for the future - and I did like it very much (service issues and all)! For the money, you really just can't go wrong with Carnival. I'm still open to cruising other lines, but I am now working on planning a girl's cruise for October 2011 on either the Inspiration or the Freedom! :D And I'm trying to talk up Carnival to my parents so they can take us on another (much cheaper) family cruise :p;)

 

If anyone has any final questions, let me know!

[Elationismyship]

Day 5 - Roatan

 

A couple of side notes I'll mention about Roatan and the Victor Bodden tours - I think the people who have been disappointed in Victor Bodden tours were disappointed because their tour guide had an agenda and they didn't really assert what they wanted to do.

 

We have a private tour for 9 of us with Victor Bodden (sailing the Legend on 7/31/11). FYI, your review is awesome......would you be able to give me the names you recommend and also more importantly give me a listing of what to see (Monkey farm the most important to us) so that we can direct our tour a little bit as you suggest. Thanks again!

[mprince4]

We have a private tour for 9 of us with Victor Bodden (sailing the Legend on 7/31/11). FYI, your review is awesome......would you be able to give me the names you recommend and also more importantly give me a listing of what to see (Monkey farm the most important to us) so that we can direct our tour a little bit as you suggest. Thanks again!

 

Here's the list of people I requested (I put these in no particular order):

Tex, Channin, Lionel (Leonell?), Francisco, Jose (Joseph), Wordy, Hanno, Ronald, Lani, Kemberlee, Derrick, Marty, Anthony, Ollie, Ali, Lanny, Sam, William, or Johanna.

 

I got some of my suggestions from this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1347548

 

And I think I got others from another thread on the Roatan board, but I don't have that thread bookmarked.

 

Things to do/see - ziplining (there are 3 or 4 ziplines on the island), Victor's Monkey Business, iguana farm, butterfly preserve (or something like that), cameo factory, day passes to one of the West Bay beach resorts (or possibly the beaaautiful resort I have pictures of - Parrot Tree), downtown area shopping (I think it's called West End), photo opportunities in scenic places, driving around to look at available real estate (there are awesome beach houses)... it just depends on what your group wants to do, but those are some of the things you can do. Also, some people like to take school supplies and bring them to a school on the island, or bring supplies for the orphanage and visit it. If you want to just sit at the beach while eating lunch or drinking a beer, there are plenty of restaurants and bars on the beach at the various West Bay resorts.

[mprince4]

Oh, P.S. - closer to your cruise, Victor will send you some tips and it will have a more exhaustive list of the kinds of things you can do so you can get some more ideas.

[KRW71]

Thanks for the great review. It is good to know that dress in the MDR is more relaxed because my hubby and a few of his siblings that are going do not like dressing up. 1 of his sisters and her partner had even said that they would not go in there if they had to dress up every night. I think they can handle something dressier than jeans so no worries about them being too casual.

I also want to try a VB tour in Roatan. I like your lists of the "good" guides.

My hubby is letting me do all the planning so he better not complain if I pick something that he doesn't like. But I do know that in Cozumel he will be with his brothers on an ATV tour while I take the kids and grandparents and possibly aunts and cousins to swim with the dolphins. It may be good for us to be apart for a few hours LOL:D

Sounds like you and J had a great time and you didn't sweat the small stuff like some other people may have.

I can't wait till we go but I still have over a year to wait:(

[Gecko7]

Question....When you board do you go through metal detectors like a the airport? I know our bags get x-rayed, but I can't remember if you get the other pat down stuff too.:eek:

[mprince4]

Question....When you board do you go through metal detectors like a the airport? I know our bags get x-rayed, but I can't remember if you get the other pat down stuff too.:eek:

 

We went through regular metal detectors, not anything ridiculous like those useless new xray machines at the airport. J was wearing cargo shorts with a rumrunner in one pocket and he didn't get patted down. I didn't notice anyone else getting patted down either - although I guess they might if they set off the metal detector.

[Catrin]

Just read your whole review!

 

Thanks for the details on your Island excursions... we are going to Belize, Cozumel and Roatan in August.. .love hearing what is out there.

 

Thanks for sharing!

Catrin

[Gecko7]

We went through regular metal detectors, not anything ridiculous like those useless new xray machines at the airport. J was wearing cargo shorts with a rumrunner in one pocket and he didn't get patted down. I didn't notice anyone else getting patted down either - although I guess they might if they set off the metal detector.

 

OK, I think we may try to take a few mini's onboard. Most are all plastic now and I can get a few in our pockets.:D

 

Thanks,

Geoff

[mprince4]

OK, I think we may try to take a few mini's onboard. Most are all plastic now and I can get a few in our pockets.:D

 

Thanks,

Geoff

 

Yeah, we used the 8 oz size rumrunner, but the plastic minis would totally work too. And we also got on an 8 oz and a 16 oz rumrunner by putting it in cargo pockets of shorts that were in the carry on with all the soda. :)