Carnival Legend 3/27-4/4 "Review"

[BelizePlease]

Carnival Legend 03/27/05 to 04/04/05

 

We had a FABULOUS time on the Carnival Legend. This was our second cruise on Carnival – the first one was on the Holiday. Quite a difference between the two…but had a great time on both of them. Aside from my Carnival cruises…I have been on the Norwegian Sea and the Celebrity Zenith. This is my first time ever reviewing a cruise…so bear with me!

 

Our group consisted of eight people: Me (30) my two sisters (32 & 33) my Mom (58) my Mom’s long time friend (58-ish?) her two kids (24 & 26) and my Mom’s friend’s sister-in-law (58+ish). When in ports, us “kids” did our own thing…and the older ladies did their own thing. I will only write about what we did on the islands.

 

Embarkation was OKAY. The line looked really long when we got there…and we were very anxious to get on, so it might have seemed a lot longer than it was. We probably waited a little under an hour to get on board. A popular question on these boards is about smuggling “booze” on with them…and I thought I would mention that we did bring in small travel bottles of Vodka (disguised as toiletries in our carry-ons) and two bottles of wine. Carnival allows you to bring on one bottle of fine wine or champagne per stateroom…but I’m guessing each guest could have brought two bottles on with no problem. The security guard even told my sister to zip up her bag with the wine in it so it wouldn’t fall out!

 

I found the ship to be very nice in terms of décor. I read other people’s description of the ship saying it’s gaudy, etc…but really, what cruise ship isn’t gaudy!?!? I thought it was in great shape…easy to navigate…and nice to look at. We never had to wait for an elevator…other than the first day when they’re hauling up luggage. We never had issues finding chairs by any pool…but we get up very early. We would be out on the deck when they were putting the chairs out for the day. I don’t like to sleep away my vacations…and if I’m tired…I can nap in my chair out in the sun! The first day we spent on the upper deck by the main pool. It was WAY too windy there…and spent the rest of the week back by the Adults Only pool. I cannot say enough about this area. It was the best. Security kept out the annoying teenagers and kids…and we had fabulous bar service from Richard – who kept us all entertained on the four sea days. J

 

We were in an extended balcony cabin on the Verandah deck. Our room was great. We had more drawer and closet space than we’ve had on any other ship. We brought along an over-the-door shoe organizer for all of our toiletries…and then found that there were MANY shelves in the bathrooms and probably would have been fine w/o it. We only had water on the floor once during the week from the shower, but we were also very conscious to have the curtain inside the “lip” of the shower floor.

 

I wish I could tell you all about our cabin steward…but sadly, we never met him/her. This was the first time this has happened to us. It was the one part of the trip that really surprised us and made us a little angry. What made it worse was at the end of the week when our room was never “made up”. Luckily, we still had clean towels, so it wasn’t TOO much of an issue…but still very disappointing. We also had water that we ordered (and paid for) from room service taken from our cabin on the last day. We had to call TWICE to get it back. Needless to say…we did not tip the room steward any “extra” at the end of the trip. Other than that, our room was kept pretty clean and we had towel animals every night except the first night.

 

We ate both breakfast and lunch on the Lido deck every day…and had dinner at Truffles every night (except when in Barbados…and didn’t rush back for dinner.) I really liked the pizza that was available all day…and the deli was excellent. We had the early seating for dinner. I definitely didn’t like rushing to get to dinner – as we like to sit up on the pool deck and relax after a day of sun and play cards…but our wait staff was SOOOOOOOOOO worth it!! We had Vasil from Romania as our head waiter, Anton from Bulgaria as his assistant, and Maykol from…..ooops…don’t remember where he was from! Anyway, he was our drink waiter. They were absolutely THE best. So nice…very friendly! Maykol even remembered our drink orders and had them waiting for us each night. The last night at dinner it was like saying goodbye to family…we loved them so much!! The food was very good…and our waiters often offered suggestions and recommendations…but weren’t pushy about it.

 

As for the shows, casino, etc…

I thought the cruise director, Brent Mitchell, was somewhat cheesy…and we didn’t see much of him other than before and after the shows.

I’m not a huge critic on shows. I enjoy the singing and the dancing by the staff the most…but I’m no expert on reviewing things like this. If I’m entertained…then the show was good to me. J No one show really stood out in my mind as being a “must see”…

Another reviewer stated that the guest talent show night really “grated” on him…but I honestly think that was one of the nights I was most entertained. Maybe we had a really talented group on board? But I really enjoyed it.

We spent quite some time with “John” in the Lobby Bar who played guitar…and any request you asked him for! We knew his song list by the end of the week…and he was very entertaining. Yes…he sang some things that he wasn’t cut out to do, but he was entertaining nonetheless.

Had a very fun night at Satchmo’s…listening to Blue Martini. Danced and sang along with the band…it felt like a wedding reception! Good times. J

Spent quite a bit of time in the Dream Team sports bar too…as the final four was on during our cruise.

 

Didn’t spend TOO much time in the casino…I only play slots, so I’m probably not a good critic of that. I lost probably 60-75 in the slots. My sister did win $150…so she got lucky.

 

Ports of call….

St. Maarten, our first stop…was awesome. We went to Orient Beach via Taxi…and it cost us $5 each. We are beach people…and don’t need much to be happy at a beach. We paid $4 to rent a very comfortable chair and spent the day there. LOTS of nudity. I saw enough 60+ men in the buff to last me a lifetime! LOL It’s quite a shock when you see the first one. I think all of our jaws dropped. Probably not a beach I’d take any children too…unless you don’t mind explaining! On our way back, we stopped at Fat Tuesday’s (right outside the ship in port) and had some cocktails before heading back.

 

Barbados was our next stop. We spent the (entire) day out at the Boatyard. It was $12 (I think?) to get in, but then they give you $5 in tokens to spend at the bar. The entry fee paid for your beach chairs, umbrella, and all non-motorized water sports. The locals there are very friendly – and aren’t as pushy as most who sell things on the beach.

 

We were quite disappointed in Martinique – as you have to get on a 25 minute ferry to get to any sort of beach. Since we were only there from 7 to 2…we were a bit leery to get on a ferry. If I ever go back, I’d book an excursion through the ship. We ended up doing an Island Tour…it was $40 per person. Seems steep…but you really get to see a whole lot of stuff!! Our cab driver Manuel even stopped at gas stations for drinks if we asked. Saw the rum factory…the jungle…some beautiful waterfalls…even saw a tarantula at one of our stops. Manuel bought all of us flowers…and treated us to a Banana from a stand on the side of the road. So nice!

 

So…I really, really, really, REALLY enjoyed the cruise…and am now in full Post-Cruise Depression mode. I’ve only been home for a day!

Sorry I’m not a better “reviewer”…if anyone has any questions I will try and answer them.

[herb]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

As far as your cabin steward is concerned... were you upset that he/she did not introduce themselves to you or are you upset that your room was not cleaned and beds not made during your cruise?

[BelizePlease]

The room was clean for the most part...7 of the 8 days. I'm not complaining about that. I guess I'm just used to cabin stewards that go out of their way to introduce themselves and give you the "if you need ANYTHING..." routine. All of the other cruises I've been on...they've been right there if you need towels, glasses, etc. I guess when the tip is automatic - they don't care? Although everyone we talked to on the ship said they had very nice, friendly and attentive cabin stewards.

[judyf]

Nice review!! We were getting off when you were getting on. I agrree with most of what you said about the Legend.

 

We LOVED the adult only pool area and we arrived there later most mornings around 10 to 12 and we could always get a lounge chair that was one of the best things about the Legend.

 

I'm one who does not enjoy the talent shows, I think of it as a way CCL doesn't have to schedule a real show. LOL I think it belongs on a cruise but show be at 3-4 pm and not the MAIN show of the evening. The four guests were good that performer on our cruise, I just don't like that kind of entertainment.

 

I also thought the decor was great I really liked it.

 

Now I need to stop reading the boards and finish my review.

[katgar]

BelizePlease,

I always read reiews of the Legend to remind me how much I've enjoyed her, and if any crew members are mentioned. We always had Maycol at the Unicorn (Adults) pool or if we were on deck 10. He was great! If my SO and I weren't together, he'd always ask where the other person was. I ran into to him the last night and he gave me a big hug to say goodbye. Now you have me trying to remember where he was from!

[BelizePlease]

Maycol was out partying at the Boatyard the same day we were...he came over and brought us a bucket of Heinekens! THAT was awesome. He got a really big tip from us on the last night!

Oooh....he gave me his email...I bet I can find out where he's from!! :D

[katgar]

How lucky you got Maycol's e-mail, tell him Kathy and Gary (Special & Dewars and water) from the 3/11 sailing said hello. (my e-mail is here if you want to give it to him) He must really like the Boatyard, it was his day off when we were in Barbados, too! Later in the day we had told him we missed him, and he said he'd been at the Boatyard. If we go to Barbados again, we may try it.

[thehittgirl]

Thanks for the review!

 

Boy the Legend sounds really fun! On our Fascination cruise, we were culture shocked by the freedoms of Camp Carnival-lol(we're rarely away from the kids) so we didn't do any shows. Reading the great Legend reviews I kind of wish we did...but live and learn with the increased cruising experience. :)

[QM2 Cruiser]

When you were in St. Maarten was the port busy with other ships? This port always seems so crowded.

[BelizePlease]

I guess it was busy...but we really had no issues getting a cab, etc. :)