LEGEND March 20-30,2015 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[Hoopster95]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, my video is the coolest!! The sound, the turbulence you feel, just all the senses.... awesome, these pictures do not do this justice.

[Hoopster95]

There were 6 big planes coming in within about 1.5 hours and we times it perfectly from approx 12:15-1:45, with a couple of big take-offs in between.

 

 

 

This one's for you Stan!

 

 

 

It was time for the AA jet to take off, and it seemed to me anyways that he did not go down the runway very far as a couple of the other jets had done over the past hour to take off, he was quite close to the fences. I have seen the effects of a very close big jet throttling up to full blast a couple of years ago, and the sand blasting on your body is incredible, let alone watching vacationers belongings, chairs and umbrellas being blown down the sand like tumbleweeds in the desert and into the water lol!!!! I got the feeling this would be one of these moments....

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily there were no umbrellas and chairs on the beach this time, as some vacationers were pushed down to the sand to cover themselves. Others were forced to jog downhill into the water, and I witnessed several beachbags and towels head down into the water lol! Me/ I felt the blast immediately and turned my back, holding my camera close to my chest undercover as I watched the turmoil down the beach. Haha, this was better than watching the plane land! And below is the aftermath of people down in the water picking up shirts and things that were blown away. Nothing like experiencing a full throttle jet blast right at you from only a few hundred feet.

 

[Hoopster95]

We arrived by the bus at the Driftwood Boat bar, and stayed on that side of the beach, not bothering to even go over to the other side where it seemed so busy at the sunset grill. SO we drank and ate here, and Noelle had ordered us pizzas and yet more beer. The pizza was excellent and much needed after not having anything to eat since early breakfast.

 

 

 

 

 

Getting into that shade was really needed as the sun was starting to burn, so this bar is set up extremely nicely with views if the planes through the palms, and this funny lady singing some great Caribbean tunes. She would come sit down with people and flirt with the guys as she entertained at the bar. Lots of fun.

 

 

 

 

Soon enough it was time to head back. Unfortinately, about 30sec after we jumped onto a bus, we noted the KLM 747 taxi'ing out to take off from the main terminal. Damn, we missed a take off! But I was really hoping as we headed down the highway we would end up at the oposite end of the runway to watch her leave, but it wasn't to be... she accelerated and disappeared behind the airport terminal building and out of sight while we were in the bus.

Good bye for now Maho, "I'll be back!"

 

[Hoopster95]

The jitney bus back from Maho again took about 30minutes, super easy and again only $2 per person. The driver dropped us off smack dab in the middle of time, a direct 2 block walk from the back street, past main street and to the pier at the beach to grab the ferry. We said goodbye to Stan and Noelle as they had a few errands to run, and we shopped a bit through the flee market type booths set up in the square behind the courthouse. Then we headed to grab the ferry.

 

For those of you wanting the absolutely easiest beach excursion ever, you can come to this beach right at the front of Philipsburg and rent a chair/umbrella for the day. Beautiful beach close to everything, simple walk or 10min ferry back to the ship, easy peasy.

 

 

 

I couldn't resist chatting up with the ferry capt, very fun guys. He let me get a pic in the Capt's chair once we had gotten to the pier.... I had lobbied to allow me to drive for 10 seconds in a straight line but he laughed and refused no matter how hard I tried

 

 

 

I had not purchased any liquor in any of the ports yet, and have not brought home any Guavaberry for years, so I struggled to decide whether I would buy anything, especially with carry on luggage that I just didn't feel like checking in for my flights. I went for it, and now my "Old Man Guavaberry Brand" liquor sits proudly beside my Amalfi Limoncello, Depaz pure sugar cane rum from Martinique and others in my little collection.

 

 

 

 

And once again we returned to the Legend, and I couldn't resist having my photo taken in front of her likely for the last time ever.

 

 

 

And again note we had water and cold towels waiting for us as we got back... RCL stepping up their game? I've read a few posts here on CC in recent months about lack of service, and a couple mentioning cold towels, etc coming back to the ship on Celebrity for example.

 

[Hoopster95]

As per usual, we arrived back to the ship very close to all aboard time. So after dropping off our stuff we headed top deck for sailaway. One thing about this cruise was a first for me... no hooting or hollering at late comers running down the pier! None of those onboard announcements "Mr & Mrs X, please call guest services immediately", Didn't happen once. And basically at all 5 ports we pulled away pretty much as planned and on time.

 

 

 

 

 

We pulled back, and began turning 180 degrees, so we headed back to our aft cabin to watch our final sailaway. Just gorgeous.... and I got to admire my new watch I had bought earlier in the morning lol.

 

 

 

 

Tonight I decided to leave my camera in the room and enjoy the "freedom" as I'd done on a previous evening. We were booked for our 2nd of 3 Chops visits, and I was absolutely determined to try all brand new appies and entrees tonight... totally excellent service from Mario and one of my most enjoyable dinners ever on RCL thus far. Of all things, I ordered the crusted tuna as my entree... it was amazing! It was actually served like Tuna Tataki (google it), slightly seared and mostly raw, perfectly done and seasoned, waaaaay better than anything I tried at Izumi. If you like Japanese, you should definitely give this a try at Chops.

 

We were able to enjoy the show and trivia as per normal. I believe tonight was the 50's & 60's sock hop held in the Centrum. We watched for a while but abnormally did not join in on the fun. Truthfully, we were super tired from the last 5 days, and I guess it caught up to us. Deciding instead to chill out on our balcony and star gaze for a while, we were in bed early, Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[DutchCruiseFan]

I like your review so much!!

Edited April 17, 2015 by DutchCruiseFan

[Hoopster95]

Sigh...getting up this morning to my "regular" sea day routine also came with the realization that the cruise was mostly over. So I wanted to get in some really nice and easy days soaking up a few rays and hanging with great friends. SO after a great gym/jog, this time we grabbed the requisite machiatto and then stopped at the Park Cafe for some light breakfast, and brought it back to our cabin in order to enjoy our balcony.

 

 

 

 

Besides wanting to sit in a lounger all day and do absolutely nothing, we spent a little bit of the morning heading out aft to try a few things we hadn't done yet, so we played a round of mini golf and of course I had to say that I conquered the rock wall..... ding ding ding!

 

 

 

 

Seriously, we did nothing all day lol!! We headed back to the cabin to get ready for some more sun, and I left my camera there for the freedom of not carrying it around everywhere as I do on most other cruises. Pool deck again provided some pool games, the Caribbean band, and simply a great day out in the sun. After a massive dinner at Chops the night before, we certainly weren't hungry for a full meal, but Windjammer did have a Mexican theme set up for lunch again (as it did earlier in the cruise) so I just couldn't resist a plate full of nachos with all the fixins... muy bien!! We were enjoying our 9th straight day of heat and sun

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Sounds like an amazing day!!!! And cruise!! Pics are great, thanks!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Hoopster95]

We did not last long out there, and frankly we were sunned out. By mid afternoon GF wanted to hang out by the shops and look around at things, then chill out on our balcony. I went back to grab my camera so that I can take some last shots of Legend of areas where perhaps I didn't get the greatest view before.

 

Below is the Centrum once again from deck 6, with a clear view across to the photo gallery, deck 5 excursion desk (left) and guest services (right) and R-Bar seating below on deck 4.

 

 

 

 

 

And here are the shore excursion desk & guest services

 

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Sounds like an amazing day!!!! And cruise!! Pics are great, thanks!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Hey hey Debbie.... How are you guys?! you won't believe this... I booked anthem today!! :eek::D:D You and Phil wanna re-live Quantum? ;)

Email me (link below). We'll have to talk before our Sept cruise

Edited April 21, 2015 by Hoopster95

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Hey hey Debbie.... How are you guys?! you won't believe this... I booked anthem today!! :eek::D:D You and Phil wanna re-live Quantum? ;)

Email me (link below). We'll have to talk before our Sept cruise

 

 

Awesome!!! So lucky! We are definitely looking into Anthem for next year. Loved Quantum!! [emoji7][emoji7][emoji7]

 

Will do! Can't wait for Hawaii. Will be here before we know it!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Hoopster95]

I decided to head outside on deck 4.,. I was shocked at how many fellow cruisers were out there! On the non-smoking side, every lounge chair was taken front to aft with cruisers enjoying the day on that deck, closer to the water. It was here I had realized I had not walked all the way around to the back of the ship, so off I went.

 

Like all other Vision Class ships, there's really nothing back there. I was able to lean out as far as possible and get a decent shot of the "Legend" lettering on the hull.... I was just waiting for the "alpha alpha alpha" call and 10 guys running and grabbing me away from the railing as I'm precariously reaching over the railing lol!!

 

 

 

 

 

And again like all other Vision class ships, Legend also is blocked off at the bow of the ship as a dead end, so I headed back in to the Centrum. Another sign that this ship is definitely smaller than all other of her sisters, the "Art Gallery" and office is simply a desk set inconspicuously off to one side of the Centrum down on deck 4 between the MDR and Centrum.

 

 

 

[Hoopster95]

I wasn't ready to head back to my cabin yet, so I decided to check out top deck to see if anything was going on. The pool deck was already emptying out earlier than normal... I figure many others were sunned out as well over the last 9 days of incredibly awesome weather. And both the Legend Links mini-golf and Rock Wall were busy this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

We were booked for formal night at MTD 5:30pm. We were seated for the final time in our normal table 88 with Sunil & Cherylee as our excellent servers. It was lobster night, and as was the entire cruise the food was better than average. We had a great dinner and great service, and because we were booked for Chops on the final night, we thanked Sunil+Cherylee and bid our farewells. Not once did either of them ask us to write them up on our survey...

not once. I have to really commend them for that.

 

Soon after dinner it was off to the final Headliner Show of the cruise. Here's a tip for any of you who like shows and are sailing on Legend in the next year or two in Oz/Asia: The sound quality if you sit at the sides of the theatre is horrific! In the middle it's totally normal. I recommend never sitting on the sides at all

 

Tonight's show was the "Tribute" band whom I've seen before and totally loved. They're a Motown Temptations cover band but they do a couple of other covers as well. These guys are superb, but I tell you the acoustics at the side of this theatre ruined this show. Really too bad... I hope other cruisers who had seen them before also realized this. In the 2nd picture below, the farthest gentleman with the beard is the most amazing bassist I've ever heard, awesome group.

 

 

 

 

It was QUEST night!!!! It was super tame, and there was no announcement that I heard regarding children not allowed. No problem for this night, but it was still fun. Because the room is so small they asked you to be in teams of 8-10 sitting anywhere in the lounge. You really need to be sitting right in front as 5 points are awarded to the first team completing the quest, 4 points, 3 points, 2, then 1 point for all the remaining teams. We didn't win but we likely would've had a medal had our team been sitting right in front.

 

So guess who our team Captain was? Yep... you guessed it. Really, I wanted to digress tonight and just watch but nobody else in our group wanted to step up... sigh, cowards! lol!! And you all know what the final quest is right?? Ok ok... I think Stan took this next pic and I'm sure him & Noelle will be reading this review and laughing their a$$es off at this... it's alright, I'm comfortable with my feminine side lol :p (damn, Noelle missed getting the high heels on this shot... lol!)

 

 

 

Ok, you can all stop laughing now...

 

ok, now.

 

Tonight was also the busiest night up at the Viking Crown nightclub. The dance floor was full for the most part and the tunes were great. We had fun and were not the last ones to leave. We'd be sleeping well tonght!

Edited April 21, 2015 by Hoopster95

[Hoopster95]

I certainly wasn't planning to get up early, but my body clock told me to do so, so I listened. I thought what the heck, off to the gym as usual. I was surprised to see clouds and gray outside.

 

 

 

I did not make this a long workout, and having had such a nice breakfast out on my balcony yesterday morning, I decided to do the same today and brought down some oatmeal with all the fixins and an RCL breakfast sandwich, again from the Park Cafe. Note that Halil and Romeo from Chops work here every morning and always came up to me when they saw me to say hello... as mentioned really great crew up in Chops... go eat there at least once if you sail on Legend.

 

 

 

Gf was just getting up, but I had to get ready for a complimentary bridge tour. I was really interested to see this as I have never been on the bridge of any of the older RCL ships and wished to compare it to the latest I've seen on the phenomenal Quantum Bridge. We all met on deck 8 forward elevators, security swiped us, and we were led forward to the bridge

 

 

 

SHOCKER!!!! Having seen the ultra modern and technologically advanced Quantum, this seemed very old and very out of date. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking

 

 

[Hoopster95]

As per all the bridges I've been on so far, Off to the side they had the full table of all deck plans on the ship. I took several close ups including the rarer decks 2,1,0 here

 

 

 

 

"Warp speed Mr. Ziulu"!! I was still a little flabbergasted at the original equipment, the ballast and ventilation controls for example were a wall of buttons, dials & LED lights (Star Trek Enterprise looking). My iphone can probably be programmed to control this ship! It's just so amazing how advanced the bridge has become in 20 years from this 1995 build of Legend to Quantum

 

 

 

 

[Hoopster95]

 

 

 

Getting closer to the Florida Coastline, and being a Sunday, it was inevitable that we would see some ships close to us at some point. Sure enough this morning we had three on the radar close to, including Independence approaching us on the port side.

 

 

 

 

 

The tour itself was only about 20-25 minutes tops, not too long at all. I would've liked a little bit longer to enjoy the view and review the radar info. In the distance you can see the Caribbean Princess, but not Indy yet in the gray cloudier visibility. We were rushed out pretty quick at this point and I took my final shot of the Capt's chair

 

[Hoopster95]

I rushed up to Pool Deck as the Walk for Wishes was starting in only 10 minutes... no problem, got there easily and they were still selling T-shirts. I had never seen this before, but Capt. Nordmo, the Hotel Manager, Food & beverage Manager & Paul Rutter were all there signing shirts that you buy... a very cool idea

 

 

 

Being a cooler and extremely windy morning at that time, there were not many walkers and I was disappointed thinking maybe they did not raise much for charity, but I was wrong. I suspect many did in fact donate but just didn't bother walking... I'm pretty sure the total number was over $2000 but I cant remember exactly.

 

 

 

 

There was no behind the scenes tour of the Theatre offered on this cruise, but the dancers and Singers did hold a question and answer session hosted by Paul Rutter in the Centrum. It was interesting actually, and they were available after the formal part to walk up, ask more questions and take pictures... really nice touch.

 

We decided to head straight to the Windjammer after this... it was BUSY up there as pool deck was pretty empty. We had another great lunch but the surprise was the specialty table they had set up with the biggest apple pie I had ever seen! And it was it soooooo good with a dollop of vanilla sauce and a huge scoop of vanilla ice scream on top. YUM YUM YUM

 

 

[Hoopster95]

The rest of the afternoon was spent puttering around various decks, stopping for a drink, hanging out on our balcony, packing (BOOOOO!!!) etc.... a few parting shots of the Centrum area

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last supper this evening was at Chops. I had invited Stan & Noelle a few days back to join us for dinner at Chops the final night at 5:30pm. Being late diners, I assumed they might not and sure enough they declined. Once hanging out with them and the regulars up in CL for a little bit, we left for our dinner. Stan & Noelle also left the CL for something too and I didn't put two + two together... they surprised us by coming up the other Centrum elevator and finding us at the entrance to Chops! lol. Nice one guys. We all had another great dinner together, and again I tried something different for my entree: Spicy jumbo Shrimp. Excellent! Great service, the best company, superb food... couldn't ask for anything more

 

[Hoopster95]

We attended the Farewell Show, typical to most shows these days with a the Cruise-in-Review being shown in part pre-show, and then the Legend Orchestra playing a piece with a short variety act after. The dancers and singers did a number, and finally Paul Rutter invited the staff up for a farewell salute. Thank you Legend crew, as a whole you guys & gals were fantastic

 

 

 

Noelle was invited to participate in the All-Star Karaoke finals on this night, so right after the show it was off to perform. She sang "Over the Rainbow" by Judy Garland (of course Noelle's handle on this forum is "JudyGarland" for a reason) and she kicked total butt winning the show! This one's for you Dorothy :)

 

 

 

 

The gang got together on the Centrum to hang out a bit and celebrate Noelle's victory! And what do you do with a bottle of champagne on the last night? Easy answer....

 

 

 

We hung out for a bit, but soon is was time to part. Sigh... this was it. Off to bed for the last time

 

[Dragster13]

I wasn't ready to head back to my cabin yet, so I decided to check out top deck to see if anything was going on. The pool deck was already emptying out earlier than normal... I figure many others were sunned out as well over the last 9 days of incredibly awesome weather. And both the Legend Links mini-golf and Rock Wall were busy this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

We were booked for formal night at MTD 5:30pm. We were seated for the final time in our normal table 88 with Sunil & Cherylee as our excellent servers. It was lobster night, and as was the entire cruise the food was better than average. We had a great dinner and great service, and because we were booked for Chops on the final night, we thanked Sunil+Cherylee and bid our farewells. Not once did either of them ask us to write them up on our survey...

not once. I have to really commend them for that.

 

Soon after dinner it was off to the final Headliner Show of the cruise. Here's a tip for any of you who like shows and are sailing on Legend in the next year or two in Oz/Asia: The sound quality if you sit at the sides of the theatre is horrific! In the middle it's totally normal. I recommend never sitting on the sides at all

 

Tonight's show was the "Tribute" band whom I've seen before and totally loved. They're a Motown Temptations cover band but they do a couple of other covers as well. These guys are superb, but I tell you the acoustics at the side of this theatre ruined this show. Really too bad... I hope other cruisers who had seen them before also realized this. In the 2nd picture below, the farthest gentleman with the beard is the most amazing bassist I've ever heard, awesome group.

 

 

 

 

It was QUEST night!!!! It was super tame, and there was no announcement that I heard regarding children not allowed. No problem for this night, but it was still fun. Because the room is so small they asked you to be in teams of 8-10 sitting anywhere in the lounge. You really need to be sitting right in front as 5 points are awarded to the first team completing the quest, 4 points, 3 points, 2, then 1 point for all the remaining teams. We didn't win but we likely would've had a medal had our team been sitting right in front.

 

So guess who our team Captain was? Yep... you guessed it. Really, I wanted to digress tonight and just watch but nobody else in our group wanted to step up... sigh, cowards! lol!! And you all know what the final quest is right?? Ok ok... I think Stan took this next pic and I'm sure him & Noelle will be reading this review and laughing their a$$es off at this... it's alright, I'm comfortable with my feminine side lol :p (damn, Noelle missed getting the high heels on this shot... lol!)

 

 

 

Ok, you can all stop laughing now...

 

ok, now.

 

Tonight was also the busiest night up at the Viking Crown nightclub. The dance floor was full for the most part and the tunes were great. We had fun and were not the last ones to leave. We'd be sleeping well tonght!

 

So I guess that is not going to be on your next ad? You could pickup up a whole new clientele.

[Hoopster95]

So I guess that is not going to be on your next ad? You could pickup up a whole new clientele.

 

Lol!:D Nope I don't think the bus benches would do so well :p

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Awesome review! Really nice itinerary!

 

I guess booking Anthem shows how much you loved the Quantum? I'll admit, she definitely has caught my attention!

[Hoopster95]

The dreaded morning had arrived. We were given very early luggage tag numbers for debarkation, so the night before I had pulled out later ones from a housekeeping cart. Nonetheless, I awoke very early, perfect for our entry into Fort Lauderdale before the channel. This morning CL still had coffee available (prev Cls didn't have the coffee machine running) so with my final Macchiato in hand I went top deck and watched sail in, took several night shots around the ship, and then watched the Constellation come in behind us before heading back down to the cabin again.

 

 

 

 

We did breakfast in the MDR for the first time today... no Eggs Benny on the menu!!! Boooo. However the buffet selection of Muesli & condiments, fruit, etc was much better than Windjammer. Still had a great farewell meal. Alas it was tiime to gather our things from our room and take a final shot our the aft balcony..... sigh

 

 

 

I headed back to the CL for another Machiatto to take with me as I figured we would end up waiting for our number to be called, and found CL Luca there doing some last minute things before debarking for his 2 months vacation back home. He'll be back on Legend in Asia. I also took one of my few shots of the CL... the DL is exactly the same size only a mirror image.

 

 

 

 

Heading to the theatre to gather, I wanted to walk through deck 8 to see if I can find any open J interior cabins while they were preapring them for new cruisers. I was originally booked in this cabin, but was upsold to the balcony... the J is very big actually, about the same size as the D1 aft on this class believe it or not, with full 3 seater couch. The couch is not a bed however, so 3rd person sleeps on the pullman. I would've been very happy here at the price I paid as the aft balcony in my humble opinion was not at all worth the full price it was being sold for in comparison. So those of you seeing really small interior square footages and maybe bad reviews on interiors for this Legend, have a look at the J interiors if the price is right.

 

[Hoopster95]

Awesome review! Really nice itinerary!

 

I guess booking Anthem shows how much you loved the Quantum? I'll admit, she definitely has caught my attention!

 

Thx for the kind words OfTheSeasCriuiser :)

 

Looks like RCL got the Anthem inauguraul right this time... some really positive comments on the "Countdown to Quantum" forum

[Hoopster95]

It was time to go. This was a very easy non-stress debarkation. We found our luggage easily and out we went.

 

 

 

I hate the waiting at the airport, such a downer for a couple of hours. But luckily I got a bit of excitement as we took off... I had a great view of the Legend taking several photos as the plane banked. Never had this opportunity before and I thought seeing the Allure on a weekend with all the other ships must be extremely cool. So this was likely to be my last very live view of Legend as she does a few Canal crossings then goes off to Asia/Oz for who knows how long... and maybe forever (ie. sold)

 

Here's Legend just above the wing-tip.

 

 

 

 

 

Buh-Bye Port Evergaldes... see ya next time!