Alaska/Carnival Legend Cruise Review w/ Pictures July 2015

[navybaby1113]

Our free past guest bottles of water were waiting for us as well.

 

 

We dropped off bags and looked over the Fun Times, and then went up to the Lido deck for lunch.

 

I’m never a huge fan of the lunch buffet on the first day of the cruise. I grabbed some pizza and a ceasar salad. DH tried the Chinese buffet. Both were pretty tasty.

 

 

After we finished our meals, we grabbed a few desserts to share.

 

[navybaby1113]

After lunch, I went to explore the ship. Since the Spirit class is set up so differently than the rest of the Carnival ships, I wanted to go ahead and figure out where everything was so we weren’t going to be lost the rest of the week.

 

Here's some random photos taken throughout the ship during the week:

 

Lido Restaurant

 

 

Pizza Pirate in the Lido Restaurant

 

 

The Library

 

 

 

The Main Lounge (Follies)

 

 

[navybaby1113]

Firebird Lounge (this is where Punchliners was held)

 

 

 

Bonsai Sushi

 

 

Main Dining Room

 

 

Casino

 

 

The Taste Bar

 

[navybaby1113]

Red Frog Pub

 

 

 

 

 

Chapel (there was someone praying every time I went in there, so couldn't get any pictures of the actual room)

 

 

[navybaby1113]

Enchanted Forest (quiet walkway around the Follies theater)

 

 

Trophy Case

 

 

Cherry on Top

 

 

Lobby

 

 

 

Lounge area near the upper floor of the dining room (this is where you wait if given a pager)

 

[navybaby1113]

Art Gallery

 

 

Midship Pool (it's covered by a retractable dome)

 

 

Serenity (with a view of waterworks in the background)

 

 

 

 

[navybaby1113]

More Waterworks

 

 

 

Mini Golf

 

 

Cool mural on ceiling of lobby

 

[travlngrl1996]

Enjoying the review. Alaska is definitely on my bucket list. Also Red Robin opened here in Tallahassee on Apalachee Parkway in July. Before that, the nearest one was in Panama City. Can't wait to read more and see more of your fabulous pictures!

[navybaby1113]

Enjoying the review. Alaska is definitely on my bucket list. Also Red Robin opened here in Tallahassee on Apalachee Parkway in July. Before that, the nearest one was in Panama City. Can't wait to read more and see more of your fabulous pictures!

 

I saw that after we got back. Went there with my co-workers last week. It was tasty, but the service was horrendously slow.

[navybaby1113]

You are a great photographer. This really makes me want to move to Seattle.

 

Aww...thank you. Seattle is absolutely gorgeous. DH and I were talking about moving there after this trip, but are now thinking of Portland instead.

[navybaby1113]

After we were done touring the ship, we came back to the room to find all our bags had arrived. We went ahead and unpacked to get it over with.

 

Between the closets, the shelves in the bathroom, and the drawers under the couch, there is more than enough space to put all your belongings.

 

Luggage also fits comfortably under the bed, so you don’t have to worry about it taking up precious closet space.

 

Right before muster was called, we turned off our cell phones and put them in the safe. There is plenty of room in the safe to store all your belongings. The only things I’ve found that don’t fit in there are laptops and DSLR cameras. We just store those in a bag in the closet and have never had a problem.

 

Muster was called around 4pm. People were being extremely rude during the drill, so it took longer than usual. We started to sail while we were still at our muster station.

 

As soon as muster was over, we headed down to our room to watch sailaway from our balcony. We had the perfect view of the Seattle skyline.

 

Goodbye Seattle!

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed on our balcony for awhile just watching all the gorgeous scenery. Finally we started to get hungry so we decided to head down to the dining room.

[navybaby1113]

We had Your Time Dining, which was held on the upper floor of the dining room. They adjusted the hours of dining during this cruise, so it started about 30 minutes earlier than normal. We went down to the dining room around 5:45pm and were seated immediately at a table for 2 near the window.

 

We got to watch a gorgeous sunset from the window, but eventually it was blinding us so we had to close the curtains.

 

 

For our appetizers, I ordered a ceasar salad and DH ordered the chicken tenders. Both were yummy!

 

 

 

I wasn't terribly interested in anything on the menu, so I ordered mac n cheese from the kid's menu. It was nice and creamy. DH ordered the chicken a la greque and he really enjoyed it. It tasted a bite and it had really nice flavor.

 

 

 

I glanced outside while we were eating and saw a glimpse at a light house. We were so far away though (and I didn't have my zoom lens on), so I didn't get a great picture of it.

 

[navybaby1113]

For dessert I ordered my favorite standby, WCMC. It was cooked to perfection. DH ordered the Black Forest Gateau, which he loves.

 

 

[Namlsnik]

Awesome food photos too!

 

We just landed in Seattle!

[ch27088]

Still loving your review and the pictures. Can you please tell me what the weather was like on your cruise to Alaska. I'm not really interested in going to Alaska on a cruise, but my husband has been thinking about it for a while. I'm a Caribbean kind of girl that loves sand, beach, and palm trees. However, to be fair, I was thinking about doing a cruise to Alaska for the hubby, but it would have to be in the summer.

[navybaby1113]

Awesome food photos too!

 

We just landed in Seattle!

 

Have a fabulous time!

[navybaby1113]

Still loving your review and the pictures. Can you please tell me what the weather was like on your cruise to Alaska. I'm not really interested in going to Alaska on a cruise, but my husband has been thinking about it for a while. I'm a Caribbean kind of girl that loves sand, beach, and palm trees. However, to be fair, I was thinking about doing a cruise to Alaska for the hubby, but it would have to be in the summer.

 

The ships only sail to Alaska in the summer, so no worries there. :-)

 

The weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was in the high 60s to mid 70s the entire cruise. The coldest day was Tracy Army Fjord, but just bundle up or stay inside that day and you'll be fine! It was a little chilly while sailing in the evenings because of the wind, but a wind breaker solved that problem quickly. We were lucky because we barely had any rain at all the time entire time.

[exarkkun]

Hoping to do an Alaska cruise here in the next few years once we get settled into a house. My questions are all related to airfare. Did you book through Carnival, or did you choose this itinerary/date because the flights were cheaper? My husband is 6'7" so we always have to bump him into business or first class which makes international flights and whatnot prohibitively expensive.

[athenasbyshanna]

Day 4: Sail away from Seattle

CRUISE TIME!

{Tuesday, July 14}

 

We woke up this morning around 8am. We had a shuttle to the port scheduled for 10am, so we wanted to make sure we had enough time to pack and eat breakfast before it showed up. We packed up our suitcases and then headed down to the lobby for breakfast.

 

After breakfast, we relaxed around the hotel for a bit and made sure we had everything we needed. Around 9:30am, I received a phone call from the front desk saying that our transportation to the port was here. I few months prior to the cruise I had arranged transportation to the port through Seattle Express. We were scheduled to be picked up at 10am, so I was a little shocked by the early arrival. Thankfully we were all ready to go.

 

The shuttle was a 22 person shuttle and we were the first hotel on board. I see the reason why they picked us up early because we still had to stop at 4 more hotels. Driving to Seattle in the shuttle wasn’t bad at all because there is a dedicated lane in the city for buses, which is awesome. The ride was $12 per person and completely worth it.

 

The past few cruises, we have booked FTTF. It makes check-in so much easier and also makes disembarkation a breeze. As soon as it became available for this cruise, we decided to scoop it up. For only $50, it gets us onboard the ship quicker and in our rooms earlier than everyone else. Completely worth it to us.

 

We arrived at the port around 11am. The checked bags at this port work a little differently than others. You go in a separate door than everyone else to take your checked bags to the porters. They slap the tags on it and put them on a cart to be taken on to the ship. Once you hand you bags off, then you have to go back out and through the door that everyone else went in. It was a little confusing at first, but I think it worked a lot better because you didn’t have all the commotion outside the doors of the port.

 

As soon as we checked our bags, we breezed through security and check-in. We were through it all within 10 minutes. We had time to make a quick bathroom stop and then they started calling Platinum and Diamond guests. Once they were on board, they called us next.

 

We dinged our cards in the security scanner and walked up the long ramp to the ship. We were on board by 11:30am. Our first view was the Legend Lobby and the millions of urns filling it...

 

 

One of the perks of having FTTF is immediate access to your staterooms when you board the ship. This perk is one of the main reasons we purchase FTTF. I hate dragging bags up to the Lido deck and then wandering around the ship with them until our rooms are ready.

 

We booked a balcony cabin (room # 7255), midship on the Verandah deck. We were originally planning on booking an extended balcony, but I was a little turned off by the lifeboats underneath those rooms, so we booked a regular balcony instead. Since it’s only the two of us, we really didn’t need the extra space anyways.

 

Everyone always asks if you need a balcony room for an Alaskan cruise. Now obviously you don’t “need” it, but I would highly recommend it. It’s nice to just be able to go out on the balcony and look at the scenery instead of having to go to a top deck. Plus, it’s more secluded from the wind and rain.

 

I really liked the location of the stateroom. It was only 2 decks down from Lido and it was very close to the mid-ship elevators. Even though we’re right next to the lobby, you never heard any noise. We actually rarely heard any noise at all, even from the hallway.

 

 

 

 

Standard Carnival bathroom. There were no free goodies in there.

 

 

 

Our balcony came with two chairs (one reclined) and a small table.

 

The room worked fine for just the two of us. Plenty of storage space in both the room and bathroom.

 

 

I spy Thirty-one bags!!! Loving your review so far!

[navybaby1113]

Hoping to do an Alaska cruise here in the next few years once we get settled into a house. My questions are all related to airfare. Did you book through Carnival, or did you choose this itinerary/date because the flights were cheaper? My husband is 6'7" so we always have to bump him into business or first class which makes international flights and whatnot prohibitively expensive.

 

We chose itinerary/date based on work schedules. Summer is hard for me to cruise and this is the only time that worked for me.

 

We booked our airlines ourselves. I searched for weeks for a good price and finally just changed to a different airport because they were pricey.

[navybaby1113]

I spy Thirty-one bags!!! Loving your review so far!

 

Haha. You could never tell I was a consultant by my pictures. ;)

[tamirpr]

This is so funny reading your review. We are from Tampa and was on the same cruise as you. We did the exact same pre-cruise itinerary you did! Your pictures are exactly the same as mine, right down to the weather, City Pass and Argosy cruise, Starbux, Mt. Rainier. I keep looking to see a picture of y'all to see if I recognize you or if my family is in the background. :D

[michelle1836]

Still loving your review and the pictures. Can you please tell me what the weather was like on your cruise to Alaska. I'm not really interested in going to Alaska on a cruise, but my husband has been thinking about it for a while. I'm a Caribbean kind of girl that loves sand, beach, and palm trees. However, to be fair, I was thinking about doing a cruise to Alaska for the hubby, but it would have to be in the summer.

 

i am a warm weather girl too but we really lucked out with great weather.

 

This is so funny reading your review. We are from Tampa and was on the same cruise as you. We did the exact same pre-cruise itinerary you did! Your pictures are exactly the same as mine, right down to the weather, City Pass and Argosy cruise, Starbux, Mt. Rainier. I keep looking to see a picture of y'all to see if I recognize you or if my family is in the background. :D

 

same here! and Ashley- I think we were right on the other side of you in 7258!

[navybaby1113]

Such a small world! This is me. :-)

 

[marshhawk]

Oh please do hurry back and post more. I am so into your review. I learned a lot which will help me with my final bit of planning. I knew nothing about the Monorail, we are also getting the city pass, doing the museum, Chihully and the Space Needle. My husband is ex air force and wants to spend our first day at the Aviation Museum, that will keep us from being in Seattle proper on Sunday, so all of Monday will be in town.

 

Thank you for the information about the Seattle Express too. I was planning on getting the shuttle through Carnival, picking us up at the airport, but this is so much less expensive.

 

You are my hero!

 

I love your pictures and really cant wait for the rest of your review. Thank You.