Legend or Dream for Western Caribbean

[MRVEGAS711]

I say the Legend hands down. My favorite ship in the fleet.

[beachbum6264]

We've sailed both, and both on Western itineraries (well, the Dream was supposed to be Eastern, but a hurricane changed that). We had the same choice for this year.... and chose the Legend.

Reasons: sailing out of Tampa - personal reasons here, as I lived in Pinellas county for several years and wanted to go 'home' before the cruise, plus, sailing under the Sunshine Skyway bridge is fun! Port of Tampa is easy to deal with, too.

Dream is pretty, but huge. Don't like the huge screen in the pool area, and no pool in the Serenity area on Dream.

Did love the deluxe ocean view room with the extra bathroom area on the Dream, but got a balcony for less $$ on the Legend.

We would sail the Legend again, but not sure about the Dream. Glad we did, but don't feel the need to go 'big' again. (But if we had younger kids with us, that may change - the slides are pretty cool on the Dream!)

[helen haywood]

Have sailed Legend twice and just got off Dream. I would chose Legend over Dream. Regardless of what time of year you sail, Dream is carrying a lot more passengers and the public areas are not large enough. Its not the issue of waiting in lines....I don't mind that. Its that your personal space always felt invaded as there were too many people around you. We were always accidentally bumping into someone or someone's chair.

 

We had really wanted to try a cove balcony; that's why we picked Dream. But in retrospect I'd say make sure if you do that you aren't cruising in hurricane season. When our balcony was closed at 5 pm one day it was not opened until 2 pm the next day even though the seas were calm at 8 am when I awoke. I think they are very concerned (rightfully!) about safety in closing them ASAP but reopening them so you can enjoy your balcony is not a top priority of theirs.

[crusinpsychRN]

I'd pick Legend only b/c of ease of getting around. Just back and booked another for Sept. 2012. It's a great ship.

[EMc&DrS]

Don't think the Dream has been missing Roatan very often anymore. It was a bigger problem last winter, but I haven't read any recent reviews where they missed Roatan this summer. I do recall one review this summer that the writer mentioned that the seas were rough the entire week and they had to go to the other port in Roatan instead of Mahogany Bay. I did read this week where someone on Legend mentioned the stay in Roatan is short--departs at 3 PM. The Dream is there all day--if that is important to you. You also need to ask yourself--Grand Cayman (tender port) or Costa Maya (pier). Our day at Maya Chan Beach in Costa Maya was the best part of our Dream cruise, and I'd choose that itinerary again just to visit there a second time:

 

[Stacey779]

Wow - you guys are making this a really hard decision! Of course I truly appreciate all of your feedback.

 

In the end, it might come down to availability and pricing. DH is currently on deployment and scheduled to get back in early March, and usually his leave is approved about 4 weeks in advance. So I'll probably have to wait to make my decision until sometime in February. I'd really like to surprise him with something special - like a premium balcony or cove balcony - but I'll just have to wait and see what's available at the last minute.

 

Again, thanks to you all, I'm convinced we'll have a good time no matter which ship we choose. :)

[DGP1111]

I would personally choose Carnival Legend over Carnival Dream on any itinerary.

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(I've been on Legend 1x, and Dream 3x)

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[DDFla]

I liked the pool space and the fact we were able to get Serenity seating a bit easier on Legend. We also had the restricted view "inside" cabin which we loved the location and layout. That said, we were always able to find a hot tub on the Dream and I enjoyed the additional food selections. My daughter loved the pasta bar!

My trip on Legend was a little dissapointing after reading all the reviews, I thought the service was down from the Dream, still I haven't been on a bad Carnival cruise.