LEGEND Dec 23/13 Holiday Cruise Long Review (with Disney comparisons)

[1stcarnivalcruise]

When my oldest was really young, we went to the Caribbean on a cruise and walked into one of these Diamonds International stores. In the middle of the showroom, they had this giant clamshell filled with semiprecious (and very shiny) gemstones. My daughter runs over and says in this awed whisper ... "treasure!"

 

Then she buries her hands in the gems and starts running them through her fingers. It was amazing how fast every single sales person in the store converged. hehehehehehehe

 

 

I hope they did not have "you touch you buy" policy in place :eek:

[RedHeadTexan]

You are doing a great job and I am now beyond giddy for Monday. :D

 

Lisa

[Barbiegator]

Sorry text heavy again…..in this section I am going to put various forms of entertainment on the Legend that we participated in, as you all know cruise ships offer so much you need to pick and choose. You will notice we especially liked activities that allowed us to watch not participate (well Ken really participated in one of these, read on…..)!

 

So let’s get started….

 

Centrum

I really love how the Legend is structured around the Centrum. For those not familiar with this concept there is a big hole in the middle of the ship, on the bottom deck (deck 4) is the music/dance floor/bars, then each deck above surrounds this, you look down or up to see the entertainment. As I said before Ken is a musician he was not thrilled with all the music being played, I am not very musical and liked the background music. One suggestion, if Royal is listening, people really like to sit on decks 5 and 6, so add more chairs. We found that often people would move the chairs from Café Latte-tudes/Library over to the ledge.

 

This leads nicely to……

 

Café Latte-tudes/Library

I would have to say this spot, as tiny as it was, was our favorite area of the ship. During the day on sea days and after dinner, while waiting for the shows, we would sit here to play a family game. They had a cabinet with various games (cards, Scrabble, chess, checkers, dominoes, Apples to Apples, Othello) and a daily trivia & Sudoku sheet. There is also a library here, where you can get, you guessed it a book! It is a great spot to hear the music and to people watch!

 

 

Centrum Aerial Shows

The “Seasons” aerial show was about 20 minutes and was performed at 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm. It was beautifully done and should not be missed. I suggest deck 6 or 7 have the best viewing spots.

 

 

That’s Entertainment Theatre Headliner Shows

We attended all shows and overall was really impressed with the entertainment. Generally, the show times were 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm.

 

The “Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers” did four shows, a special holiday show, “Invitation to Dance”, “Swing City” and “Absolutely Fab”. These were typical singing and dancing production shows, fun and entertaining. Caitlyn in particular enjoyed these. She is a singer and was so inspired she sees herself as a future “Royal Caribbean singer”. We enjoyed the Q&A with the singers and dancers later in the week.

 

Headliners – each nightly show was varied, in particular we loved Los Pampas Gauchos (a combination of comedy, drumming and traditional folk dancing from Argentina); Spectrum (four singers who do an amazing tribute to Motown music), Stephen Thomas (a very funny comedian) and Jerry Goodspeed (a comedy ventriloquist). A little story about the ventriloquist, if you were on this sailing of the Legend, my Ken was “the Ken” that made out with the sexy female puppet. Ken just loved being in the spotlight! But seriously if any of these 4 acts are on your cruise GO, you will love them!

 

Disney Comparison – As expected Disney has outstanding production shows, how could they not they have a huge catalogue to draw from. But overall we thought Royal’s entertainment more well rounded and more entertaining.

 

 

Love & Marriage Game Show

Think the Newlywed Game and you have the picture. I have never laughed so much, everyone must go and see it. The best line of the night…..so what special thing does your wife wear to get you in the mood (not the exact wording but you get the idea)…..husband # 1 “nothing”, husband #2 “high heels”, husband #3 answers “a cloth over her face” I am not kidding!!!! I am not sure if Disney (doubt it too risky) or Carnival does a similar show, we didn’t go if they did.

 

 

Bingo

Ok when did they stop using Bingo daubers (yes I know a weird spelling, I had to google it) and when did Bingo get so expensive! I know this is not really entertainment, but people do take their bingo very seriously and we found that very entertaining! We tried this one day and was amazed at the “nifty” Bingo computer machines that basically do everything for you (they were I think $55 for the 4 game machine). We went old fashioned, paper with pop out numbers for $32 for 4 games. Take your kids they get a free card for each game. This was offered on sea days at 3:00 with Kacy (who is very funny). We got down to one number, 2 times, but did not win. A fun family activity.

 

Next up New Year’s Eve on the Legend

 

On Legend Dec 12. Kacy is the friendliest crew member ever!!! Had serious car accident 12 years ago and lost some arm and a leg. She is a hero!~!!!!!

[1stcarnivalcruise]

On Legend Dec 12. Kacy is the friendliest crew member ever!!! Had serious car accident 12 years ago and lost some arm and a leg. She is a hero!~!!!!!

 

 

Thanks for sharing this information, we were wondering what happened to her arm and leg, yes she is a hero, a very funny one who is so inspiring!

[shipfriend_max]

Thank you so much for the review with the nice pictures - the LEGEND OF THE SEAS is a very appealing ship for me! :)

I would be interested about some pictures of the islands - some of them we are going to visit in April.

 

Glad that you had such a great time in the Caribbean! :)

[1stcarnivalcruise]

Thank you so much for the review with the nice pictures - the LEGEND OF THE SEAS is a very appealing ship for me! :)

I would be interested about some pictures of the islands - some of them we are going to visit in April.

 

Glad that you had such a great time in the Caribbean! :)

 

 

You are in luck starting my review of the islands visited right now :)

[1stcarnivalcruise]

We always book our own shore excursions because I find they are often more cost effective and definitely more intimate (never large groups). I research primarily using Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor.

 

Aruba

Aruba was our first port of call, we were there from 10:00 to 8:00. There were 5 ships (2 mega) in today so it was very, very busy. This is the only island we did not have an exact “tour” booked. My cousin has a friend who lives here and she was supposed to pick us up and show us around, unfortunately at the last moment she was called in to work.

 

Here is what we did instead….

 

Shopping

We are not a big shopping family but Aruba is known for its shopping and this was the only island that we had a lot of spare time. Cassidy who we lovingly nickname our “saver” was given Christmas money from us to buy a ring, she also had money from her other relatives. She is very practical, she bought herself a new winter coat when in Fort Lauderdale and she spent the rest of her money on her new ring. Guess where she bought it….yes Diamonds International!

 

Handing over all of her money…..

 

 

 

 

Her big purchase (hard to tell it is white gold, shiny on one side of the diamonds, matte on the other)

 

 

 

Beach

I had read that the public bus was easy to use. The bus stop is tricky to find, when you are walking out of the port gates you walk pass the many cabs, keep walking straight, you will see small vendor stalls, behind these stalls is a square, this is where the busses come in. We took the bus (approximately $10) to Amsterdam Manor on Eagle Beach which is about 15 minutes away. There is a restaurant, washrooms and a changing room available here. We arrived around 12:30 so had lunch at Passions Restaurant, it was just ok food at inflated prices.

 

Passions Restaurant….

 

 

 

We then went to the beach, it was very crowded and there were no chairs available to rent (they cost $15 for a full day rental and $10 for a half day). We laid our towels down on the beach and enjoyed the ocean and sun.

 

The view from our towels (Ken has photos of his feet from all over North America!)…..

 

 

 

We stayed on the beach for around 2 hrs. For the return trip we waited at the bus stop right in front of Passions. A mini van taxi stopped and offered a ride back to us and another couple waiting for $3.00 per person.

 

On the way back to the ship, just after we entered the port gates we built up our “karma” account. Ken found a man’s wallet with credit cards, identification and money. We handed it in to the security office. I hope the owner realized before sailing away!

 

Aruba was our least favourite island on this cruise, but don’t get me wrong we enjoyed our time here. I am sure it is a beautiful island we just saw very little of it and the next 5 ports were all amazing.

 

Aruba is the only island that we will be repeating on next year’s NCL cruise. I have already decided that we will be doing a guided tour of the island with a stop at the beach.

 

In summary, Aruba laid the foundation to our tan so overall a great start to our vacation!

 

Next up Bonaire….

[shipfriend_max]

You are in luck starting my review of the islands visited right now :)

 

Oh what a luck! :)

Thank you, can't wait to read it!!!

[1stcarnivalcruise]

Bonaire

 

We were in Bonaire from 7:00 to 2:00 and we were the only ship in port. Bonaire is known for its snorkeling/scuba diving so that’s what we did and we loved it!

 

Woodwind Cruises

 

I researched a few different choices but was very happy with my decision to go with Woodwind. It is run by a husband (Ulf) and wife (Dee) team. Everything was organized through email and they were always prompt with replies.

 

So the nuts and bolts…

 

Time - 8:00 – 12:00

 

Cost - $65 for adults and $32.50 for children ages 12 and under (you pay cash/credit card at the end of the cruise)

 

Meeting Time and Location - the time to meet is at 7:45 at the end of the dock, this is a little confusing because we waited here for a little while then realized that you need to walk to the left hand side. There were various tour guides set up under those collapsible sun shelters. This is where you will find Woodwind. You will be given a ticket and then told to walk straight to the “casino”, don’t think you are going wrong, it is about a 10 minute walk. When you enter the casino/resort complex, the Woodwind building is at the very end (right after the pool which will be on your left).

 

Pictures - the Woodwind has an underwater photographer who will take photos of the whole tour, at the end you can view the photos and purchase a CD of about 100 photos for $25 (I know what an amazing opportunity to have wonderful photos of your adventure, no relying on Ken here!!!)

 

 

 

We board the 37-foot trimaran and we start the tour off with a drink, the choice of a glass of water or juice (orange or mango), in a real glass (not plastic). Beer was also readily available throughout the morning. As we start to sail out to the snorkeling location, sailing right by the Legend, Dee comes around to size and give out masks and fins. I have never snorkeled (Ken and the girls snorkel all the time in Florida) because I wear glasses but Woodwind has prescription masks (lots of different strengths of lenses). There were 25 of us on board today, all from the Legend. Dee did an amazing job explaining how to put on a mask correctly and how to use the fins. A great tip, to defog (clear) your mask is to dip them into water with soap detergent. She also explained the history and geography of Bonaire and especially about the reefs at Klein Bonaire (Little Bonaire), a small, uninhabited island where we would be snorkeling.

 

 

 

 

We were divided into 3 groups (beginners, middle of the road, and advanced), apparently I must have looked athletic because we joined another family of 4 (a great family from the Detroit area) in the advanced group. So the 8 of us jumped in (well I held tightly on to the ladder and crawled in). I must say I felt a little panicked at first, I think it was a combination of the cold water and being new to snorkeling. Each group had its own guide who would go under water to show and explain the sea life along the reef.

 

 

 

We drift snorkeled, which means you float along in the current, while the trimaran follows along. But I adjusted fast and enjoyed the wonders beneath us.

 

 

 

 

More snorkeling photos….

[1stcarnivalcruise]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our snorkeling adventure continues…..

[1stcarnivalcruise]

The girls would be quick to point out that I was the first to head back to the ship from the “advanced” group. The jellyfish were really stinging; it feels like an electrified bite (irritating but not tour ending). When all groups came out of the water we sailed to our next snorkeling site. During the ride over everyone got into snorkeling wetsuits to prevent Jellyfish stings and they also keep you warm. I opted out of going in the water again.

 

They swam with some turtles……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girls in their wet suit, notice Cassidy hiding her hands from the jellyfish….

 

 

A funny but a little gross story (I hope if this family is reading this they will chuckle too), so when the “second” group came out of the water there was a lot of laughing going on, apparently one of the mom’s threw up in the water and her boys swan through it. I am not sure if the boys thought it was too funny but the mom and I think their aunt sure did. I think it is pretty comical too!

 

Then on our sail back to the marina the crew came around with more drinks and various yummy snacks (like devilled eggs, sausages, cheese, bread sticks). It was a beautiful tour from beginning to end and I would highly recommend it.

 

 

When we walked back to the dock, we walked around for about 20 minutes, there are some small stalls set up with various local crafts. The small port town looked very welcoming.

 

In summary, Bonaire is a snorkeling paradise!

 

 

Next up Grenada….

[stretchcruz]

We're doing Compass in Bonaire, now I'm worried about the jellyfish. Were the stings painful? Were there any after effects?

Thanks for the great review, we leave in 3 weeks....

[1stcarnivalcruise]

We're doing Compass in Bonaire, now I'm worried about the jellyfish. Were the stings painful? Were there any after effects?

Thanks for the great review, we leave in 3 weeks....

 

 

Don't be worried at all, the stings quickly went away, and there were no side effects. A small red mark but went away by the time we got back to shore. Put it this way a bee sting is waaaay worse.

 

I am sure Compass will offer the choice of wearing a wetsuit if you are worried, have a great time!

[georgiacrzr]

How funny...we were on woodwind too with you... We sat in front just to the left of you :)

 

The stings were not bad.... I suggest for anyone going you wear either the wet suit they have, or a Lycra suit...my kids wore those, but I still just went in my bathing suit and it was fine.

 

The stings are from very tiny bits of jelly fish not big jelly fish.

 

Only a few spots had them...dee said they don't always have them...it was less than getting snapped by a rubber band

 

The sea life was amazing in Bonaire!!!!

[CruisinCadie]

Your underwater photos are amazing!

 

 

Kathy

[1stcarnivalcruise]

How funny...we were on woodwind too with you... We sat in front just to the left of you :)

 

The stings were not bad.... I suggest for anyone going you wear either the wet suit they have, or a Lycra suit...my kids wore those, but I still just went in my bathing suit and it was fine.

 

The stings are from very tiny bits of jelly fish not big jelly fish.

 

Only a few spots had them...dee said they don't always have them...it was less than getting snapped by a rubber band

 

The sea life was amazing in Bonaire!!!!

 

Small world, your description of being snapped by a rubber band is perfect!

 

Your underwater photos are amazing!

 

 

Kathy

 

I agree, amazing memories for us!

[stretchcruz]

Thank you both, I'll be sure to ask for a wetsuit. The pictures are amazing!! Can't wait to see all of the underwater life. I have my own prescription mask, so I'm all set there!

[fishin' musician]

Great review; DW and I were on this sailing, we took a water taxi out to Klein Island. We kept getting bit/zapped while snorkling, we suspected jelly fish, but never saw them. Thanks for the confirmation. A few years back we were in Bermuda and were advised that the stinging tenticles can be 200ft long.

 

The water taxi was a hoot. On the ride out the dutchboys were trolling with a handline and hauled in a small tuna. They were excited about having a sashimi lunch.

[georgiacrzr]

The flying fish were pretty cool too...we saw quite a lot on our trip over to Klein.....we ate flying fish on catamaran trip in Barbados and they were tasty

[stretchcruz]

We're doing Calabaza in Barbados is that what you did

[shipfriend_max]

Hi,

 

Thank you for continuing the great review!!! :)

We plan to snorkel as well when we are on our Caribbean cruise in Spring 2014!

Do you have some recommendations for Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St Maarten?

 

Maybe you also describe it later in your Review. :)

[TheGaDawgFan]

Love the snorkeling pictures!

[Coralc]

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z78/plhunt2/Vision%20Cruise%202013%20-%20Southern%20Caribbean/DSCN2062_zps880a3ca9.jpg

Love the snorkeling pictures!

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z78/plhunt2/Vision%20Cruise%202013%20-%20Southern%20Caribbean/DSCN2065_zps25cd2b4f.jpg

As mentioned, Woodwind sends along a professional underwater photographer on your excursion. About a 100 photos for $25. The photos they provide are awesome and unique! I'm thinking about having a glass panel made of the manta ray we saw on our trip. :D:):D

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z78/plhunt2/Vision%20Cruise%202013%20-%20Southern%20Caribbean/DSCN2161_zps46df69e7.jpg

Edited January 12, 2014 by Coralc

[1stcarnivalcruise]

Great review; DW and I were on this sailing' date=' we took a water taxi out to Klein Island. We kept getting bit/zapped while snorkling, we suspected jelly fish, but never saw them. Thanks for the confirmation. A few years back we were in Bermuda and were advised that the stinging tenticles can be 200ft long.

 

The water taxi was a hoot. On the ride out the dutchboys were trolling with a handline and hauled in a small tuna. They were excited about having a sashimi lunch.[/quote']

 

Glad to hear about the water taxi, we thought about doing that if we go back.

 

The flying fish were pretty cool too...we saw quite a lot on our trip over to Klein.....we ate flying fish on catamaran trip in Barbados and they were tasty

 

I had totally forgot about the flying fish!

[1stcarnivalcruise]

Love the snorkeling pictures!

 

Thanks!

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z78/plhunt2/Vision%20Cruise%202013%20-%20Southern%20Caribbean/DSCN2062_zps880a3ca9.jpg

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z78/plhunt2/Vision%20Cruise%202013%20-%20Southern%20Caribbean/DSCN2065_zps25cd2b4f.jpg

As mentioned, Woodwind sends along a professional underwater photographer on your excursion. About a 100 photos for $25. The photos they provide are awesome and unique! I'm thinking about having a glass panel made of the manta ray we saw on our trip. :D:):D

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z78/plhunt2/Vision%20Cruise%202013%20-%20Southern%20Caribbean/DSCN2161_zps46df69e7.jpg

 

WOW the mantra ray is amazing!