Legend or Glory? - First Time on Carnival

[Travel_Lover28]

My husband and I are planning on our first Carnival cruise for our anniversary in November. We decided on Legend because we wanted to do W Caribbean. After reading the current news about Legend and have read that it will not be refurbished until January 2014, we are re-evaluating on choosing another ship, the Carnival Glory. Glory was just refurbished in Oct. 2012 and received the 2.0 update.

Can someone please tell me the difference between the two? I really prefer the Legend and it's port of call, but the reason above scares me.

We have been on a dozen cruises - on Holland, Norwegian, Princess, & Celebrity. We are hoping to get the expertise of Carnival cruisers. Legend or Glory and why?

[k2excursion]

The Legend is a better fit for people looking for a more peaceful, quiet atmosphere. The ship's style allows for more public space per guest than Glory, so it won't be as "crowded". Glory's 2.0 stuff is not that big of a deal to many people. Glory also received the new shows in the theater that are getting horrible reviews. So if the nighttime entertainment matters at all to you, Legend would be a much better fit as far as that goes. For a family with kids, I would probably suggest not going with Legend, but it might be a better fit for you.

 

I have not been keeping up with the propulsion issues of Legend, but don't be turned off by the drydock schedule. If the ship's propulsion needs fixing, they will not wait until drydock to do it. I was on a ship that had lost propulsion 10 years ago, and they worked on it while we were out at sea. The next sailing, she was working perfectly, and continued to until they sold her. Of course, recent events has many people doubting how thorough Carnival has been lately with their repairs & maintenance.

[erby2283]

I was debating on those two myself...but the pricing (especially TODAY) for the 11/17 sailing on the Legend is what won me over (I booked on Friday). 8 months off is a long time and I think Carnival will have it's S%&^ together by then. I wouldn't worry. Things like this can happen on any line!

 

Sorry I can't be of too much help on the differences between the ships since I haven't been on either. Itinerary and Price are my two big decision makers. The Legend featured 2 ports I hadn't been to before as well!

[Jimmy Geegitz]

We prefer the layout and size of the legend. But we have been on the Glory before the 2.0 upgrades and it was ok. I will say the 2.0 upgrades are nice with Guys burgers and the Blue Iguana cantina. EA sports bar. Tho the Legend has a nice sports bar. So its a tossup really but even with the upgrades on Glory I would choose the Legend. We were on the sister ship Miracle and it was our favorite even over the Dream. It is a real cozy ship.

[FireMedT]

The ship's style allows for more public space per guest than Glory, so it won't be as "crowded". Glory's 2.0 stuff is not that big of a deal to many people. Glory also received the new shows in the theater that are getting horrible reviews.

 

I was just on the Glory about 2 weeks ago and I can say that the shows were a lot better than expected. The singers and dancers performed great. Are these people saying the shows were horrible expecting to see a full broadway style musical? What I saw was nothing close to horrible.

 

While I have never been on the Legend, I can say that on the Glory the only thing that seemed crowded were the decks with sunbathers. Other than that, walking around on the ship never felt like I was crowded. The Blue Iguana Cantina food was delicious. The new bars are pretty nice specially the EA Sports bars if you like sports.

[ash&geoff]

I've never been on the Legend, but I have been on the Glory. I have been on a ship with the 2.0 upgrades and on a ship without it, and I noticed absolutely no difference in the nighttime entertainment. Everything seemed the same to me. That being said, I loved the 2.0 upgrades, I thought they added some extra oommph to my trip.

 

I think you'll love either ship that you go on, so if the Legend has the itinerary and price that you want, then go for it! You can always use the excuse of not getting to see the Glory to go on another cruise ;)

[Travel_Lover28]

I was debating on those two myself...but the pricing (especially TODAY) for the 11/17 sailing on the Legend is what won me over (I booked on Friday). 8 months off is a long time and I think Carnival will have it's S%&^ together by then. I wouldn't worry. Things like this can happen on any line!

 

My heart was also set on the itinerary of the Legend. I was also admiring everyone's vacation photos on reviews. I was set to book then the news about Carnival Dream and then the Legend's propulsion.

 

Maybe you are right. It is 8 months off. Hopefully it gets better from here. Now I hope I can get a great prices as those that already booked.

 

I'm ready for the "Fun Ship" :D

[RVman]

We’ve been on both and we enjoyed both, that being said we prefer the Legend because it was smaller and easier to maneuver around on board. Plus it was a lot quicker to get on and off at ports. I think the Glory had a more WOW factor when we boarded tho. You won‘t go wrong with choosing either. .

[beachbumfl]

Only thing missing for me on the Legend is the Big Screen on the pool deck.

[crusinpsychRN]

For the first 5 days on Glory I was lost! Kept getting stuck at the MDR with no where to go but up or down until I figured out you could walk through the MDR to get to where I meant to be.

 

Legend is easy to get around.

 

By the time you go, it might be Glory's turn for a mechanical problem....

[ffmack]

First timer, Glory. It will give you a lot more options. We did it for our honeymoon as first time cruisers and have been hooked on cruising ever since.

[TerryandKim]

Everyone has done a great job covering the major decision points.

You mentioned that it is your first cruise on Carnival, not sure if you are very experienced cruisers or not so I'll throw this out there. The Spirit class(Legend) ships will move around a bit more in rough seas than the some of the others due to the design. They were built to be a little more slender for speed and to fit through the Panama Canal. We were on the Glory in rough seas and it was a rock, barely noticeable. We were on the Miracle in rough seas and it seemed that 1/3 of the ship was sick.

The gulf is generally flat in November so it's probably a non-issue.

[erby2283]

My heart was also set on the itinerary of the Legend. I was also admiring everyone's vacation photos on reviews. I was set to book then the news about Carnival Dream and then the Legend's propulsion.

 

Maybe you are right. It is 8 months off. Hopefully it gets better from here. Now I hope I can get a great prices as those that already booked.

 

I'm ready for the "Fun Ship" :D

 

I was ready to take the year off and not cruise but then when I saw the price (and they had a reduced deposit for past guests), I figured it wouldn't hurt to at least put the deposit down b/c I have until August to make up my mind. ;)

 

As for Legend, I think the only issue was that its maximum speed slowed down so they had to cancel their last stop and head back to make sure they made it back on time. They also made an itinerary change on this sailing - probably for the same reason.

 

We can all hope and pray for smooth sailing but things can and will happen...we just hope it doesn't happen to us.

 

I would say make your decision based on whatever details are most important to you. If money is not an issue, etc. one decision might be better than the other. Check airfare prices right now. Sometimes it's cheaper to fly to a different port or you may not be able to get a direct flight to one port over the other. For me, I am going to try and fly in the day of the cruise instead of the day before. So, before I booked, I tried to research to make sure there was an early AM flight that got me into TPA in plenty of time for my cruise.

 

So many decisions to make, right?

[stargate fan]

Only thing missing for me on the Legend is the Big Screen on the pool deck.

 

Negative.

One reason we love the Spirit class ships is the lack of the noise-generating big screen.

[gtalum]

Between the two I'd pick Legend, as the Spirit-class ships have the best passenger to space ratio. My wife, however, would prefer the Glory. You really can't go wrong either way, so pick based on fare and itinerary.

[NJ Pharm]

We have been on both. I would choose the Legend in a heartbeat. Just a nicer ship. I do not care for the enclosed pool in the aft of the conquest class ships.