Just watched the Legend depart from Tampa

[bluesman0711]

We love the Legend and the Spirit class ships!

[zephyrhillscruisers]

Well, if you you missed this first trip out of Tampa, consider yourself fortunate. Heres the rundown, which would have come tuesday had the wifi been on long enough to post anything more than a glorified tweet. 
 

we are also tmobile customers. My wife and i are on the same plan, yet she has service in all ports, I do not. I did get a text in Cayman from them saying “Welcome to Jamaica” and nothing else. Wait, I take that back, I did get a text saying they received my payment.  Through Three Amigos wifi, we had a back and forth that resolved nothing. They suggested I turn my roaming function on.Seriously. I texted back “Why dont I just give you all my credit card info?” 
 

we are neither carnival cheerleaders, nor detractors. We will begin with the Platinum gift. 
 

There is none. Nor a button.
 

Nor any explanation from anyone, not even at the Diamond/Platinum party.

 

 Now we dont cruise for the gift (some of you will need to re read that a time or two to let it sink in). One employee suggested we go to Guest Services. Look, I’m not spending 30 minutes in a line to get an explanation of what I hear is supposed to be a$5 luggage tag and a $1 pin. 

 

Some Alchemy enthusiasts say the number of drinks they can make is very limited because of a lack of ingredients like coconut water and whatever goes into a Lemontini.

 

None of the propulsion jets in the hot tubs work; the serenity tub is closed all together. It was only when the kids started complaining about the hot tubs (go figure, right?) did the crew pay attention. 
 

the Waterworks was open the first few days, then was shut down, along with the waterslides for maintenance. From what I could see, workers were scraping rust off the stairs. 
 

speaking of rust, the serenity pool, which was working, needs about six cases of rustoleum. 
 

the shows in the theater continue to head downhill. The lead female vocalist, bless her hear was classicially trained. Vibrato is welcome on broadway, but not when your singing “lets spend the night together”. 
 

For $ome rea$on, the “Hot Shots” band, featuring a lead guitarist who belongs in a real rock band, or on the main stage, is relegated to the Red Frog Pub. The band, very tight and in tune was to play the Costume Party on Lido until a rainstorm with gusty winds washed them out. 
 

Belize has officially replaced Nassau as the Capital of ‘in your face, arm twisting, aggressive, I’m going to bother you until you leave” salesmanship. Even the tender employees were asking for tips, to the point where one of them should have started his speech with “I am your captain now!”

 

Get to Cayman while you can. More and more billionaire developers are acquiring beach front property and squeezing out Mom and Pops, for resorts at $500 or more per night. We enjoyed an afternoon at Calico Jacks, which is probably a future target.

 

btw, the Cruise Lines caved on demanding that docks be built there. Water shuttles for all.

 

the beach at roatan was great, as was the food at Fat Tuesdays. Cozumel is Cozumel. We haven’t taken any all inclusive trips because I would like to know ahead of time which are owned by cartels, so my safety is insured. 
 

anyway, please forgive the punctuation, capitalization errors, as its taken several log ins and log outs to get this posted. Im sure once Carnival returns to Tampa, they can look up a plumber to fix the tubs, etc. 
 

 

 

 

 

[Out of Iowa]

Zephyrhillscruisers, thank you for your extreme efforts in posting your experiences despite the awful Wifi coverage.  What a battle!  I hope Carnival can rectify some/most of the glitches before we board.  Sorry that your sailing was impacted.

 

Do you have any comments on dining teams/service timing, production shows, cabin service, buffet, CD, cleanliness onboard, etc.?

[zephyrhillscruisers]

They just drained the water from a second tub, according to the sign, its undergoing chlorination, lol. We are down to one hot tub, sans jets.

 

dining room food and service are excellent as always. Both vegetarian and beef lasagna were outstanding. 
 

Its easier for the staff these days since i would say just under half are eating dinner on the Lido. Have never seen so many tables empty at late seating. Also, Guys Burgers are as enjoyable as ever.
 

Dinner dress code? Wear what you want. One cruiser decked out in headband, athletic shirt, gym pants and sneakers came in just daring to be tossed....on the first elegant night. Maybe over half the men on the lower level had at least sportcoats, fewer with ties. Not judging, just an observation.

 

i mentioned the only show we attended, the young lady trying to sing rock and roll. Bless them, its the level of a community college production. Tonight, eight white singers and dancers will salute the music of Motown. 
 

sat and chatted with some who believe that Carnival is spending so much money and time on the newer larger ships, one shareholder believes they will start selling off the smaller, older ships, and concentrate on the larger ships and ports. Makes sense. The Legend may live on, but it needs work.

Edited November 1, 2019 by zephyrhillscruisers

[Joe817]

Phew. I  think I'll pass on commenting on this " review ".  I look for positives, and so far, I've not seen any. 

[zephyrhillscruisers]

You just did.

[DiverJohn]

16 hours ago, zephyrhillscruisers said:

dining room food and service are excellent as always. Both vegetarian and beef lasagna were outstanding. 
 

Its easier for the staff these days since i would say just under half are eating dinner on the Lido. Have never seen so many tables empty at late seating. Also, Guys Burgers are as enjoyable as ever.

Joe 817, Did you miss this part? I prefer accurate over sugar coated any day, but that doesn't mean others have to.😀

[evandbob]

I believe the Celebrity Constellation has begun cruising from Tampa.  Perhaps an alternative?

[sunonfire]

1 hour ago, evandbob said:

I believe the Celebrity Constellation has begun cruising from Tampa.  Perhaps an alternative?

The Celebrity Constellation will begin sailing from Tampa November 2020

[evandbob]

2 hours ago, sunonfire said:

The Celebrity Constellation will begin sailing from Tampa November 2020

 

Thanks, looks like I am a year early.

[zephyrhillscruisers]

Final update before debarkation: all three hot tubs have water, but no jets, and both waterslides and the waterworks remained closed for maintenance. 

for saturday college football fans , and there were many on this cruise, the espn south american feed is espnu and the sec network, whose games featured second division matchups. The florida-georgia game , go figure, many passengers were from both states, was not available from cbs, thus a lot of beer money was lost this day. Two enterprising fans spent mortgage money on high speed streaming of the game on their ipads, which with buffering was about five minutes delayed. 
 

Non sports fans, save the flaming. Todays Cruising is more than jewelry, spas, watches, tshirts, photos, smoke filled casinos and trivia games. Increasing numbers of cruisers like their sports on tv. Get over it. 
 

Oh, and sports fans couldn’t  even pray for their games, as the chapel was locked all week.

 

Look at it this way: a crowded sports bar opens up chairs poolside.

[sunonfire]

8 hours ago, evandbob said:

 

Thanks, looks like I am a year early.

Also the MSC Armonia is coming to Tampa in November 2020.