LEGEND 2/13/06 Review (Long)

[GOTTA CRUISE NOW]

Just got back from our Southern Caribbean Legend cruise.

Had a wonderful time! (In spite of a very dicey beginning!)

Our trip to the port

We decided to drive to Ft Lauderdale. We left early from PA because of an impending snowstorm. Got to Ft Lauderdale on Saturday. Stayed at the Red Carpet Inn, which we booked online. It was worse than a dive IMHO. :p The rooms weren't ready, no towels, no soaps, nothing. Mold in the corners, bathroom door wouldn't shut. We stayed 2 nights, (there were NO other rooms in FLL because of the snowstorm in the North closing down the airports)and the second day we went out to get supper. Came back to the room and our keys were deactivated. No reason, because it was all prepaid! Anyway, had to go stand in line at the front desk where there were 2 people working VERY slowly. The kicker was when we were ready to use the shuttle on Monday AM to get the port, we were told we couldn't park there for the week. We did this before when we sailed out of Port Canaveral, and it worked very nicely for us. So we ended up paying $90 more to park at the port. Arrgh!!

 

Embarkation

So we get to the port early. Around 10 AM. They had a nice registration counter on wheels for early arrivals. We were taken right away. Got our Gold cards!!! They don't do anything, but they are pretty! And as some others have said on these boards, I did hear a few "Welcome Backs". We were herded upstairs where we had to wait for a while because the ship wasn't ready yet. We were then told we could get on, but NOT to go to our rooms to unload our luggage yet. We were to take it along up with us to the Lido restaurant. We were eating by 11 AM.

 

Our cabin

We were in cabin # 7275, an 8F category balcony. (We booked an inside GTY)It was very nice. It is the last cabin in the area that juts out. It was very convenient for the Lido deck & Atrium. Our room steward was Jovica. (pronounced Yo-vits'-a) He was great. From Macedonia & a cutie. ;) We might have gotten better service than others because my pretty niece , Mindy was along!

 

The main dining room

Let me preface this by saying we have always eaten at the early seating. We were again booked in the early seating on the 2nd level. There were 5 of us in our group and we were to be seated together. We went the 1st night, and my brother had a chair pulled up to the end of the table in the middle of the aisle that the waiters all used. It was very awkward and uncomfortable for him. We talked to the Maitre'D, but he said there was nowhere else to go because there was a LONG waiting list for people to get into the early seating. After discussing this among ourselves, we decided to switch to the late seating. Sooooo glad we did. Our wait staff were the best!!! Sumpena & Made (Some-PAIN-a & MOD-ay)were efficient & funny! Sumpena would bump into one of us on purpose & with a straight face, say it was the rough seas. You'd look him in the eye, and he would have this little twinkle in his eye that told you he was pulling your leg. He pulled my niece up to dance with him one night, but she wouldn't do the traditional waiter dance with the funny arm movements. She kept doing "the bump" to him. It was hysterical, 'cause he didn't know how to react to it! The food was exceptional! My favorites? Creme Brulee', prime rib, crab cake, and pumpkin soup. There was one night when there was nothing on the menu that my friend Anna liked. She asked for a steak, and they were more than pleased to get that for her.

 

The Lido Dining Room

My only complaint here was the music. But it's a big complaint.:p Opera music. nonstop. Not my idea of music for a caribbean cruise. On the 1st day they had fun music playing such as the Beach Boys, the B-52's, and other fun "beachy" kinds of music. The next morning it was opera. The same opera all day, repeated like every half hour or so. I complained twice to the pursers desk, they said they would change it, but never did. I think there was an older crowd on the ship that complained about the music on the 1st day. Whatever. Near the end of the cruise I would just start breaking out in opera just like the recording:confused: . The crew would join in. Some of them would start singing every time they saw me! I found it very funny. P.S. The food was good, too!

 

Entertainment

The cruise director was Brett Alans. Clark Kent personified. He looked like him, moved like him & even sounded like him. I did like his magic show. I went to 2 of the production shows. Thought they were good, not great. My favorite thing was the "Legends" show on the last night. Possibly because I was in it!!!!! Yes, I was Aretha Franklin!!! So much fun! We were fitted for costumes backstage which was great to see. The dancers danced with some of us. (Not me)Although we were each assigned a dancer to be with us whenever we needed to go somewhere. Mine was Stephen from Northern Ireland. A real cutie patootie! I would definitely do this again!

 

Misc info

As I said before, there were alot of older people on board, and also families with very young children. As a result, it seemed like the ship was really quiet at night. After 11 PM, it was hard to find anyone out & about. But in the morning, the earlybirds filled the Lido restaurant. Never saw a cruise like this before. :rolleyes:

 

St Maarten

Loved it! Took the water taxi to the town & enjoyed the beach. The last time we were there it rained all day & was miserable. We ended up getting back on the ship & taking a nap. Not this time. This is now one of my favorite beaches! The water was incredible! We got the lounge chairs & umbrellas for about $4 pp.

 

Barbados

Took the Rum Distillery & Plantation tour. Enjoyed it. A very vibrant & thriving island.

 

Martinique

Only here from 7AM-2PM. We got off the ship & walked around a bit, then got back on & hung around the pool. The island was beautiful, though. Mountains(volcanoes) jutting out of the water were gorgeous. Wish we could've stayed longer...

 

I loved the Legend, and I'd sail her again in a heartbeat!!!

 

P.S. I was not distracted by the urns at all like some people have mentioned before. Although the red light-up dots in the dining room were a bit odd, I thought!

[janetz]

Thanks for taking the time..Just getting me more excited and I have so long to wait! :p

[wegiekat]

Thanks for the great review. We did this itinerary on the Legend about two years ago and loved it as well. The Legend is my favorite ship. It's nice to hear that she is holding up well.

 

Mindy

[GOTTA CRUISE NOW]

Yeah. I'd sail her again in a heartbeat.

[WTigger42]

It seems that you really enjoyed your trip on the Legend! I'm glad to hear that because my family and I are sailing on March 17! I can't wait:p ! I do have one question for you though that I'm hoping you might be able to answer. Do you by chance remember the name of the Maitre' D? I'm wondering, if possible, that one that I have had on a past ship might have gotten moved around! I'm actully looking for a certain head waiter too, but I think that is too complicated. Did you spend much time in the casino? Do they by chance have any penny machines? My grandfather is going with us and he is 85 and loves to play them, penny or nickel machines! :p Thanks for your post, now I'm just getting more excited about my trip!

Andrea

[biffman]

That post brought back some great memories. We were on the Legend two years ago (same itinerary). What a fantatstic ship! However, the night life when we went was very active.

[Knights on the Beach]

Thanks for taking the time..Just getting me more excited and I have so long to wait! :p

Not as long as me! :p

 

Gotta Cruise Now, thanks for posting!

[janetz]

Cruisemom2, I will let you know all about it when I get back..lol :D

[Knights on the Beach]

OK, Janetz, now I'll have to have TWO countdowns -- one for your cruise (and long, long, long very detailed review complete with pictures of everything), and one for my own! :)

[poolgal]

Thx for taking the time to post a review. We're sailing the Legend on 3/17/06, 1st time for Spirit class. Getting excited!

[GOTTA CRUISE NOW]

poolgal; I LOVE the Spirit class! The only drawback that iI've noticed is they tend to sway a bit more than some of the other classes. Some of the crew I talked with said it is because these ships are narrower than the others. Not sure if that's true or not...

 

WTigger42:

No penny slots. Lots of nickels! I'm not much of a gambler. I played a $2 roll of nickels and won $15 & stopped. It was fun, though. I don't remember the Maitre' D's name, sorry. He was very nice looking though, IMHO. :rolleyes:

 

I did see some workers from other ships.

1. Our waiter 2 years ago on the Spirit was Nestor, and we saw him this time & he's a head waiter now.

2. I also saw this gorgeous camera guy named Jan from South Africa. I had my picture taken with him on the Spirit 2 years ago to show my girlfriends back home who I "met". (I wanted to freak them out a bit)

I told him what I wanted to do, & he thought it was great! The rest of that cruise every time he saw me he'd say "Hello my love" in a WONDERFUL accent!!

[janetz]

I am going to have to bring a journal so I can remember everything! :cool: Then maybe I can give a long long review! :D

[campdaan]

The cruise director was Brett Alans. Clark Kent personified. He looked like him, moved like him & even sounded like him.

 

I wonder which Clark Kent. George Reeves ? Dean Cain ? Christopher Reeves ?

 

I thought he was a Disney audioanimatron gone missing...

 

Did he mention if he was leaving ?:confused: :confused: :confused:

[GOTTA CRUISE NOW]

He said he was leaving after our cruise! Jennalicious :rolleyes: was taking over while he 's on vacation, I think.

 

Yeah. He was annoying. Very stiff.

[campdaan]

He said he was leaving after our cruise! Jennalicious :rolleyes: was taking over while he 's on vacation, I think.

 

Yeah. He was annoying. Very stiff.

 

We are doing the Southern next week. I had heard a rumor about Brett going to the Valor and that Lenny Haliday as going to take over.

 

Last year on the Glory we missed John Heald (he had to leave suddenly) and we had Carlo Lombard. We thought he was great. Have'nt heard of him since.

 

I wonder what they will do in lieu of Brett's magic show ?

 

And what's with the Opera music on the Lido ???:eek: :eek: :eek: