Carnival Legend 4/13/2014 Trip Report/Review

[wendynat]

Day 6, Continued

 

Some pics on the way back over the bridge towards the shopping area:

Chair lifts with the Legend behind:

 

The bridge:

 

Beside the bridge

 

We made it to the main shopping area and spent a couple of hours making sure we didn’t bring back any cash. Kiddo got a cool wooden puzzle box from the mini straw market at the end of the shopping area, and we got some other random things. Iron Man saw a great shirt in Del Sol, but it was too big for him.

 

Don’t bother whining at the Straw Market…

 

While in said Straw Market, we saw our friends show up – their excursion had ended and it was shopping time. They told us that their trip had been a lot of fun and VERY exciting: they saw a shootout!

 

WHAT?

 

Flower tours are apparently way more intense than I’d expect. Friend gave me the bare bones rundown, and filled us in in more detail during dinner. They were tootling along in their tour bus, and the tour bus driver was poo-pooing the reports of crime, encouraging folks to buy property in Roatan because it’s a great price and a great place to live and he just happened to be a real estate agent on the side so they should totally buy property from him for a great price in the low-crime area of Roatan.

 

JUST then, on the side of the bus Friend was on, shots rang out.

 

She said it looked like a car robbery or something – a red car came careening around the bend, and police in pursuit planted and continued shooting at the car until it came to a stop. So the good news was it was police shooting, not bad guys shooting. But the timing was rough for the poor bus driver/real estate agent – she said another passenger called out something to the effect of, “So what were you saying about the crime again?”. The driver didn’t really say anything else about how safe and wonderful buying property there would be.

 

After leaving the straw market thingie, I went by the Pharmacy there to grab some extra toothpaste, as our little travel tube was running dangerously low. I’m being absolutely serious here - I think I was the only one in there NOT buying prescription meds to smuggle back to the States. I guess I’m just a square.

 

After that we wandered through Piranha Joe’s to make a donation in return for a shirt for hubby, then headed to the pier. For the second time ever, we got to the pier near last call – since I could see the ship from the shopping area and knew it was a one minute walk, I wasn’t worried, but it was very unlike us. The shopping there was better than I’d expected, even more so since we’d been cheated out of shopping in Belize – I love the earrings I got from the little stand in the middle of the courtyard, and they were a good price.

 

This is a good view of the slides on the deck. I took this from the shopping area:

Continued

[wendynat]

Day 6, Continued

 

We got on board 15 minutes before all-aboard time. We went out on the balcony to take in the views and check for pier runners. None of them were crazy late this time, and they all were let back on board.

 

You can see in these pics from the balcony how deserted the place is once the ship passengers leave:

 

 

After, did some cleanup since we’d been to the beach and eh. Friends were headed to the 3:00 Name that Tune 60s, but since Mike wasn’t running it (he’d told us the evening before), we didn’t try and rush through our showers to make it. I did tell them that at least *I* would be at the 4:15 Harry Potter trivia.

 

In the end, kiddo and I headed down while hubby napped. Told him we’d be back up before dinner to collect him, then went to the Legends Café. On the way, I took some random ship pictures.

 

 

 

 

Friends were already there when we arrived, since they’d been at the 3:00 Name that Tune. Friendhubby was able to pick up his Invicta watch early, well before the 6:00 time they’d quoted… look at that happy face!

 

 

We played the trivia, did OK but not stellar. One of the teams next to us were using a cell phone to look up answers… I really hoped they knew about the extra charges for Cellular at Sea, because yikes! It was in the FunTimes, but not everyone reads them. I figured maybe they had wifi, but I certainly wouldn’t be wasting minutes on trivia lookup (and they didn’t win). Just an odd thing. We saw another few teens using their smartphones while on board, and I always winced and hoped they had some sort of special plan so they didn’t get killed with the $ per MB pricing.

 

 

 

Continued

[wendynat]

Day 6, Continued

 

After trivia we all separated to get ready for the second elegant night. We met around 6:00, took some pictures and got to the dining room at 6:20. No wait again. We were able to get Henry’s awesome window table again, and they did the dancing again that night. So much fun!

 

Dinner drink

 

Dinner was very good, and then we headed out to hit the family comedy. Family Comedy was really good. I loved the lounge – wish they’d make them a smidge bigger on the ships, but at least on the Legend we were able to get seats without lining up, even getting there just five minutes before start time:

 

Some decoration on the ceiling in the Firebird Lounge (aka comedy lounge):

 

After comedy, the kids wanted to go to the Pub to play foosball, so we headed there and then the old folks went to the main showlounge to check out the end of the Epic Rock show. It was OK – the electronic backdrop was pretty neat, and most of them were very good singers. Their rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody was fantastic, but there were a couple of other songs where I thought one of the other singers should’ve sang instead. They were still all way way better singers than I am, though, so who am I to complain??

 

We checked on the kids again and then wandered the casino. Hubby eyed the keyhole thing and donated a couple of dollars in an attempt to keep our future cruise prices down.

 

 

After wandering a bit more we chatted some and settled on meeting at about 10:30 the next morning with our protective gear on for the Bellaperl-whatever bracelet sale, after which we’d get brunch. That decided, we picked up kiddo and headed back to the room. Met our towel animal for this evening, and told it goodnight.

[BuzzBuzzen]

Thank you for your fantastic review and wonderful photos, I have enjoyed every page .

[2xprincess]

1st - thank you for great review and pictures - this is really getting me in the vacation mood

 

2nd - do you remember if there was a day when there were specials offered in the spa for massages and what the special prices were? Just curious......

 

Thanks

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report! Liked the "3's".

[meanjean80]

Loving this...I'm on the Legend for the transitioning cruise on August 17th, so my itinerary will be totally different, but great to hear the ship details (love the Spirit class!)

[nycfa]

Hello, neighbors! I actually went to high school in Chesapeake, and my parents still live there.... all of ten minutes away :). I hope you plan to post a report of your trip, would love to read it!

 

I went to school in Chesapeake too!! Small world. Where did you go? I'm from Great Bridge. Live in NY now :)

[jdyer09]

What days were the formal nights on this cruise? We leave sunday on her!

[mishka422]

First sea day and after leaving roatan

 

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

[wendynat]

Thank you for your fantastic review and wonderful photos, I have enjoyed every page .

 

Thanks for reading and replying!!

[wendynat]

1st - thank you for great review and pictures - this is really getting me in the vacation mood

 

2nd - do you remember if there was a day when there were specials offered in the spa for massages and what the special prices were? Just curious......

 

Thanks

 

Thanks! I'm sorry, I know there was a day with packages for the spa, but I tossed the flyer so I've forgotten when and how much. I do know port days had the best specials

[wendynat]

Thanks for the report! Liked the "3's".

 

Thanks :)

[wendynat]

Loving this...I'm on the Legend for the transitioning cruise on August 17th, so my itinerary will be totally different, but great to hear the ship details (love the Spirit class!)

 

Thanks! That would be a GREAT cruise to be on! Loved the ship - I'll try to put in more ship pics in the next post... which will be easy since it's the final sea day :). Should post it in the next day or so.

[wendynat]

I went to school in Chesapeake too!! Small world. Where did you go? I'm from Great Bridge. Live in NY now :)

 

I actually went to Indian River - I think we were rivals, but I'll bet I'm older than you so probably not rivals at the same time ;). Very small world, indeed!

[diwijo13]

I actually went to Indian River - I think we were rivals, but I'll bet I'm older than you so probably not rivals at the same time ;). Very small world, indeed!

 

Wow! My son is a sophomore at Indian River. I grew up in Norfolk.

[wendynat]

Wow! My son is a sophomore at Indian River. I grew up in Norfolk.

 

Wow - REALLY small world :). Nice to meet another Braves family! I was surprised to recently learn that my Principal, Mr. Frye (who the Sat Night Live skit by Jay Pharaoh is based off of), is retiring this year. I had no idea he was still principal there!

[wendynat]

Day 7 - Saturday – Sea Day

 

I got up around 8-ish and went out on the balcony to enjoy our final official day at sea. Read for a while out there, then decided to start getting some things packed up. We separated out the things we knew we’d need that day and the next, and got started dragging out the luggage and packing everything else away. *sniff*

 

Around 9:00 we saw on the television that we were passing Cuba. I grabbed my camera and kiddo and I went up on deck to take some pictures of the far-off island. Can’t see it too well, but it’s there, I swear!

 

Some pics of the ship that morning:

 

 

 

 

 

-- Continued

[wendynat]

Day 7 – Continued

 

 

After taking pics and wishing I had a better zoom on my camera, kiddo and I grabbed a light breakfast on Lido to hold us over and even grabbed some things to take back to the cabin for hubby. Along the way we witnessed proof that the Legend staff DOES mark chairs to thwart chairhogs:

 

 

The buffet seating near the window:

 

 

A pic of the ceiling decoration in the buffet:

 

 

Then… it was time for some serious sale shopping.

 

Now, on the Ecstasy the bracelet sale was a battle of legends. It was held in the awkward hallway of the FunShops located RIGHT OUTSIDE the main showroom doors. It was also held, if I recall correctly, in the evening at the same time as the main showroom let out. Very logical (that’s sarcasm). So it was really, really crazy.

 

This time we came prepared. We got there almost a half hour early and stationed ourselves near the tables that we’d need. Friend was going to pick up a bunch of bracelets for gifts, and I only wanted some extra beads/charm sets. So I stationed myself at the corner of one, leaned one hip against the table to check latecomers from trying to push me aside, and squinted really hard at the boxes under the thin fabric covering them.

 

This time, instead of an opaque covering, it was a shimmery chiffon-like cloth. I was able to spot two charm sets that I wanted, and I engaged the other veteran bracelet sale shoppers who had also claimed spot to find out what they were looking for. I helped them eyeball their desires, and we all staked an unofficial claim on the items we wanted.

 

Finally the hawker- er, sales associate – did some drawing and babbled on about the bracelets and how mystical and magical and great deal and get on with it already! Finally they said “go”, pulled the chiffon out of the way, and I grabbed my three (it was buy two, get one free) and went right to a register, making room for the next folks while simultaneously getting myself out of harm’s way. The sales associate seemed surprised to see me, and I had to ask her to ring me out. “You’re done already?”

 

What, do I look like an amateur?

 

Friend took a wee bit longer but she was buying WAY more stuff, and had to be sure the colors were all different for the gifts. It was harder to see color through the blue chiffon, but she was still done really quickly and then took her stockpile off to a safe corner to make final decisions.

 

While she did that with Friendniece, we decided that we’d head down to the Shore Excursion desk and inquire about the credit situation. Friend had run into someone the evening before and was told that they were giving half credit for the Belize City tour. With the desk only open one hour that Sea Day, we wanted to go down and see what was what. Friend and Friendniece waved us off, and we said we’d meet the back there for the Sea Day brunch. Friendhubby, hubby, and I (and the boys) headed down to the Shore Excursions desk.

 

This is the curvy staircase near the Legends Café – on the way to the Excursion desk:

 

It was a quick transaction, and we magically had extra onboard credit! Woot! They said the credit was for the blown tire, as Carnival and the excursion operator had no control over the tender boats that were run by Belize City itself. I do wish they’d just automatically done it for everyone on the trip – I felt bad for anyone who hadn’t gotten the word of mouth and missed out on the credit. Granted, it wasn’t a whole lot since we’d already gotten a discount based on the Shore Excursion Price Guarantee before we sailed, but every little bit buys more candy and drinks! And… watches. Hubby had eyed a couple of the watch sets that would be in the 20.00 sale later that day and planned to use some of the credit towards that.

 

So we met back up with everyone and made it to the MDR for the last Sea Day brunch. The food was good, but the bar service that morning was super slow. Agus wasn’t there, and it seemed like they only had one bar waiter for the entire dining room. Not the best setup. I don’t know if it was because we got there at 12:30 or what, but I was done with my meal by the time my Bloody Mary arrived, so I just took it with me.

 

--Continued

[wendynat]

Day 7, Continued

 

After lunch we headed our separate ways, hubby and friends planning to meet up at 3:00 for the 20.00 watch sale at 3:30. Not sure what Friends did, but shopping was probably included. Kiddo went to the arcade and pub with the other kids while hubby and I headed up on deck for relaxing. The Lido pool area was crowded, so we went up one level and sat on some loungers next to the rails. Loved the location, nice and quiet and could see the water. Can’t beat it! Drank my Bloody Mary, watched the waves, did the normal relax-read-relax. I did get up once to go down the Twister slide, which was a lot of fun.

 

Hubby headed down around 3:00 or so to go to the watch sale, and I stayed a little longer out on deck. I only really needed to be there for decision time – he tended to want help narrowing down the choices to two or three. At that point he’ll ask my final opinion of those and then promptly ignore it. It’s a system.

 

On my way down, I took some pics:

 

 

 

 

 

I found a watch, too, which was great. There is NO WAY it was actually worth the “regular price” of 85.00, but for 20.00 the set came with the watch and a floating heart pendant and chain. Totally worth 20.

The loot:

 

After the sale, hubby and I went to drop off the stuff in the room and I cleaned up from being in the sun (and the water, in my case). Then we did the final packing… all except for the last suitcase which was waiting for the rum delivery. We had some extra clothes to use as additional padding, and I’d brought bubble wrap as well.

 

Hubby wanted to relax and I wanted to meet up with friends at the General Knowledge trivia in the Legends Cafe. I told hubby to be ready at 5:30 and kiddo and I headed down. Trivia was fun, but we did miss the first few questions. Kiddo filled me in a bit on the kids’ afternoon – they’d gone to the Hasbro The Game Show but didn’t stay long. He said it looked fun if you’d been picked, but not as much if you or a friend weren’t picked. They had instead done the arcade, then foosball and shuffleboard in the Red Frog Pub.

 

-- Continued

[wendynat]

Day 7 – Continued

 

After trivia, I gathered Hubby from the room and we met friends at their room. Headed down a little early and walked through the casino and lobby, taking some pics along the way. Since these show more of the ship, I’m putting them in as well as some other random ship pics:

 

 

Piano bar:

 

Photo gallery

 

Wall decoration just outside the official casino floor, near the claw machine:

 

 

 

The lobby stairs:

 

-- Continued

[wendynat]

Day 7 - Continued

 

Six o’clock came and we headed to dinner. We had a great dinner – we saw Magic Leo one last time, food and staff were great. We asked for Henry’s area again, and got our favorite table at the window. They sang the going away song, and I loved (and hated ~sniff~) the final show from our awesome waitstaff. Henry’s assistant waitress had soaked a napkin in water, and pretended to wipe her eyes with it and then wrung out all the “tears” at appropriate points in the song. Too funny!

 

Magic Leo:

 

Mango soup was great – Iron Man approved:

 

Cute sign in the bathroom:

 

After dinner, we swung by the shops and the photo area for a last look. Hubby and I bought a couple of the elegant night pictures, then headed to get seats for the Name that Tune Trivia – Classic Rock! The kids, again, floated between the trivia and the Red Frog Pub. When trivia started in earnest, Kiddo hung with us the whole time.

 

While we sat and waited, we got some drinks from the lovely waitress and hubby went up to the room to take some meds. When he came back down, he said the rum box was there but it looked like only one bottle.

 

Huh?

 

We had time before trivia started, so I ran up to the room to check it out. I saw the heart shaped towel “animal” – sniff – and saw a box that quite clearly was holding two rum bottles. No more drinks for hubby! Since I was there, I took the bottles out of the box, wrapped each in bubble wrap, then put them back into the box and nestled them into the suitcase, all snug and ready for the Southwest baggage handlers to rough up.

 

Had a great final trivia with Mike. Classic Rock, great to sing along with. We didn’t win, but can’t be too greedy! The group made plans to set up a Facebook page for the Nametaggers. Mike had on Shark socks tonight:

 

 

Iron Man still can’t believe he never won a raffle game the whole trip

 

After trivia, we said goodbye to everyone and headed to the cabin to do a once-over and then put the checked bags outside the room. With Faster to the Fun, we had received Zone 2 tags which would get us to the airport in plenty of time for our 1:45 flight back to Raleigh.

 

~Sniff~

[38countries]

Wendynat, thank you so much for an informative, funny, interesting, full of tips review! My daughter and I are taking our first cruise next month, so your wonderful review and pics is most helpful!! Thanks again!:)

[triciasrv]

Thank you for a thorough trip report. We (twin 14 year-old boys, 6 year-old girl and myself) are taking the Legen on July 20. I plan on showing them some of your excursion reports to guage their interest in a few trips. This is my second cruise and their first. Thank you again. You were funny and informative.

[clmsntgers]

Thanks for the great report! We are planning to go on the Legend in Alaska next year and I love all the Legend info.