Trip Report Carnival Legend (warning - it's long)

[sounder]

Just got back yesterday from the Carnival Legend, thought I would write a trip report while it was all fresh! Where to start...!?

Brief background - my husband and I are 35, we went alone, on our honeymoon - first cruise for both of us

The positives: We arrived on embarkation day at 2:00 in the afternoon and practically walked right on to the ship - no line up whatsoever. I heard someone say it usually slowed down around 2.

We had an extened Balcony Stateroom. It was great! The bed was far more comfortable than I expected, pillows were comfortable. Lots of space, room to move, lots of room for all of our clothes, bathroom was fine, it had 6 glass shelves which held all of our toiletries. We brought an over-the door hanging thing as recommended, but didn't need it at all, we had enough room for our things. There was a bar fridge, hair dryer, and shampoo and soap dispenser. Also a couch and table. All very clean. We were on the 7th floor, and it was perfect - so handy to go up to the Lido deck (9th floor), where the buffet restaurant and pools were.

The food - Awesome. I can't get over any one ever complaining about the food. There is the Unicorn Cafe - a huge buffet style eating area. Tons to choose from, lots of seating, prompt service. Breakfast was pretty much the same every day. I read a review that someone complained about this, however, I just can't get over that. There is nothing I can think of that wasn't included at the breakfast buffet. Made to order omelettes to cereal, and everything in between. So it is easy for a person to have something different every day if they wished. My only other comment about this was that it wasn't exactly hot sometimes.

The main dining room "Truffles" was wonderful. First class food and service all the way. We had great servers (Roger and Aleksandra and Sarah). Don't be afraid to ask for something if you don't see it on the menu, and don't be afraid to ask for extra of something. My husband asked for Caesar Salad one night & got it, no problem. You can have more than one starter, I heard people ask for two main courses, two desserts, etc. They were friendly, efficient, accomodating. I thought 2 formal nights was a bit much myself, but fun nonetheless. This restaurant was also available for breakfast and lunch.

We paid the $30 extra and went to the fine dining restaurant one night. How incredible! We thought that Truffles was fine dining until we went to the Supper Club. It was well worth the extra money. A few choices were Surf & Turf, a 16 oz. Lobster Tail, and a 24 oz. T-Bone, to name a few.

Prices on Board - we didn't find them bad at all. Drinks were prices similar to anywhere here & there were drink specials every day. No complaints about that. And the liquor is all "good stuff". I have travelled many times and often find it hard to get Premium booze at all inclusive resorts, Vodka in my case. They only use good liquor on the ship. T-shirts, sweatshirts, other clothes, jewellery, liquor, etc. were all reasonably priced. Various sales every day.

The casino - for the cheap or occasional gambler, it was great to be able to play $5 blackjack any time of the day or night! I don't know if it is common, but we never had any trouble getting a seat at a table.

The ship was overwhelming at first, pretty gawdy, but immaculate. I couldn't help but feeling like I was on "Titanic" a lot of the time - live classical music playing around the ship, the ornate-ness, etc.

Shows - any of the shows we did go and see were good. We went to watch karaoke a few times but it was always the same people going up, so that got a bit boring.

Ok - now the downsides.

The Carnival Legend is a narrow ship, we have come to learn. We experienced quite high winds during the first few days of our cruise, and could you EVER feel it. It rocked and rolled like crazy, and I was sick for the first few days. And I will admit, a bit scared (and I am very, very used to boating)! I did not ever expect to feel the waves like we did. We spoke to several other people throughout the cruise - one woman had cruised 12 times and had never felt anything like it - even the ship staff said it moved a lot more than other ships they had worked on. After about 2 days, the movement didn't bother me any more, but was still more than we ever dreamt it would be.

We assumed that because Carnival is "The Fun Ship", it would be a young, fun loving crowd. Not to say that there weren't people like that, but our cruise was a primarily "older" crowd. I would say 70+? We found that couples like ourselves, or even some of the small groups of single people would wander around at night, wondering where everyone was - the disco was empty any time we went there. I think if you went with a group, it would have been better, you can make your own fun. We had the late dinner sitting, so went a few times to the "aft" (back) of the Lido deck, to the adult only area and had a hot tub at around 6:00. We were the only ones there every time but once. We couldn't figure out why, out of 2000 or more people, we were the only ones to take advantage of this? It was beautiful to sit in the hot tub at sunset.

Because of the high winds, the waterslide was only open a few times, and the top deck was closed a lot. This made it a bit harder to find a lounge chair sometimes, but we only really had any trouble the last day. We would often wait until later in the day anyways, so that the sun wasn't quite so hot, and by then other people were done for the day.

Other odds & ends: We chose to self disembark. I read somewhere on a message board that this was only available for US citizens. Wrong - anyone who can carry, pull, push all of their belongings can do this. I have never disembarked the other way, so have nothing to compare it to, but it was a fine option for us. There was a lot of confusion and complaining while we were all trying to get off the ship - the line up was a little vague, no specific area to wait was designated. We thought this could have been a bit more organized, but once off the ship, the process was fine. I didn't want to have to put my luggage outside our room the night before, so this all worked out fine for us.

I read all of the posts about things to bring. I can't figure out a lot of it. Like I said, we had high seas - winds were over 40 a lot of the time, and that boat was rockin'! I did not see a door or drawer ever fly open, so I am not sure how I could have used duct tape. Someone else said to bring your own tea bags, as the tea was instant. Not on this ship. It was different than what I drink, stronger, but it was a tea bag, not instant.

Anyways, sorry for the length of this, but hope it helps someone. Happy to answer any questions!

[Barkingowl]

Thanks for the review! Its always interesting to read about folks experiences.

[Grampy]

That was a great review. We had a lot of old people the week before too. We went to the disco a few times and there was about ten people in there.:eek: We also had a fun time and I'm an old person that still likes to stay up late and party.:D

[Knights on the Beach]

We just booked the Legend today for our anniversary cruise in December. I imagine the time of year has a lot to do with the passengers being older. Alot of snowbirds wanting to escape the cold, etc. Also I hear that any cruises longer than seven days tend to attract an older crowd.

[nu2me]

sounder....

Thanks for the review. And congrats on your wedding!

The Legend sounds great and I can't wait to find out for myself in 3 weeks!

What did you think of the piano bar singer?

I have heard so many bad things about this guy and it's really disappointing. That was something DH and I were looking forward to so much.

Since the disco was deserted on your sailing, what other things (aside from "honeymooning" of course! ;) ) did you do at night?

[mwebb]

Is there a hoop on the Legend?

[sounder]

To reply to a few questions: In the evening we would go to the late show sometimes (we had the late dinner seating). We hung out at the casino a few times. There is Satchamo's lounge, which was a bit happening sometimes - live "oldies". There was a deck party and midnight buffet one night, up on the Lido deck.

I think there was a basketball area, but that deck was often closed due to high winds, I spent little time up there

[sounder]

Oh yeah - we didn't go to the Piano Bar - stood outside & listened once for a minute, but didn't think he was that bad - didn't listen long enough to give a good opinion though.

[GuitarPlayer]

It's really tough to judge the piano bar by the "ship." You have to know which piano "player" is going to be on when you cruise.

 

People saying the Legend piano bar was bad obviously weren't onboard when Mark was playing (October 2005).;)

 

If Mark is on the Legend when you go, plan on spending some time in there.

 

GP

[nu2me]

Thanks for the tip GP!

I hope whomever is there is entertaining.

[ASONGULOVE]

thanks guitar man!

 

i'll be back there when she returns to NYC, and thru the summer!