LIVE! - Carnival Legend Solo Bahamas - March 20, 2022 (The Sequel)

[brilliantseas]

8 hours ago, aztekpm said:

Sailing her in November, along with 2 friends who are onboard with you now and doing a back to back. Thanks for this!

 

Enjoy it! I hope your crew in November is as great as the current crew. We're having a great time.

[brilliantseas]

Sea Day Brunch was a bit disappointing. "Under 10 minute wait" after check-in on the app turned into a 25 minute wait to be seated. No big deal, the dining room was the busiest I've ever seen for Sea Day Brunch. 

 

After being seated, it took another 10 minutes to be greeted. I ordered a coffee and did not get it until after my entree was delivered. The waiter also forgot my chia seed pudding. 

 

While the omelet arrived hot, the presentation and portion size seemed smaller than the earlier brunch seatings. 

 

 

 

The banana cream pie presentation was not impressive, although the butterscotch ice cream that comes with it was the best I've ever had. 

 

[Ilovesailaway]

Sea day brunch on Legend in November.... Waited for nearly an hour and no one took our order. We were given our coffee and that was it... no one came to our table after that.

I decided to leave. I spoke to a manager on the way out to make them aware. He asked for my name and room number, wrote it down and said he would make it up to me. I didn't ask for any compensation I just know from my experience in management that the feedback is important to keep the machine running at its best.

Well I never heard back. Again, I wasn't asking for anything but the pump fake didn't exactly help with my original negative experience.

[brilliantseas]

1 hour ago, Ilovesailaway said:

Sea day brunch on Legend in November.... Waited for nearly an hour and no one took our order. We were given our coffee and that was it... no one came to our table after that.

I decided to leave. I spoke to a manager on the way out to make them aware. He asked for my name and room number, wrote it down and said he would make it up to me. I didn't ask for any compensation I just know from my experience in management that the feedback is important to keep the machine running at its best.

Well I never heard back. Again, I wasn't asking for anything but the pump fake didn't exactly help with my original negative experience.

 

I'm hoping now that Ken is onboard, dining room service will improve. It has definitely gone in the wrong direction from my December cruise. 

[brilliantseas]

Entertainment staff Q&A filled the entire lower level of the theater this afternoon. Leigh let it get a bit risqué at points, talking about the Big Nude Boat charter (Emma worked that sailing prior to the shutdown in early 2020), and the swingers cruise charter that occurred back when Leigh worked at Royal Caribbean. 

 

We learned that the current Playlist cast will be onboard for another four weeks. Leigh is also coming up on the end of his contract. He is taking a two month vacation and then will be back for a 7.5 month contract that will take him into early January 2023. 

 

 

 

Pictured left to right are Cruise Director Leigh, dancer Emma, and male lead singer Bobby. 

[riviera]

We board on April 3. Do you know when Leigh is leaving? We have been looking forward to seeing him again. We really enjoyed him on RCCL.

[brilliantseas]

36 minutes ago, riviera said:

We board on April 3. Do you know when Leigh is leaving? We have been looking forward to seeing him again. We really enjoyed him on RCCL.

 

I believe he said he has three weeks left? I could be wrong. He was throwing out a lot of dates for different people on the entertainment staff. In any case, I believe he will still be on for your cruise. 

 

Miguel from the Fun Squad and the Red Frog band Alter Idem are signing off tomorrow. The music director and guitar soloist is signing off as well. 

 

[brilliantseas]

My favorite pair of slot machines paid out nicely again this afternoon. This is the third "major" payout I've had from this pair of slot machines this cruise. 

 

 

Out of curiosity, roughly how many casino "points" does it take to start receiving casino discount offers for future cruises? 

 

[brilliantseas]

Tonight's MDR Menu

 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

If you've ever wondered what the view from an interior with obstructed view window looks like, this is it. Just enough of a view to tell if it is daytime or nighttime and if the ship is moving or not. 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

Lukman, my cabin steward, has been accumulating the towel animals on the vanity all week. I have a small army of strange towel creatures on my bed. 

 

[brilliantseas]

Someone is in trouble!

 

[brilliantseas]

This view will keep me coming back. 

 

[brilliantseas]

Alter Idem's last set in the Red Frog Pub. They've been on the ship for six months and are headed to a well-deserved vacation before their next two month contract on the Carnival Splendor. 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

Lukman had some fun with the towel animal army. I'm sure Tony from La Lido Loca would have a field day with all of these towel animals. If you know about Tony's feelings about towel animals, you'll know where I'm going with this and what happened to all of these poor towel animals. 

 

[arctickitty]

32 minutes ago, brilliantseas said:

Alter Idem's last set in the Red Frog Pub. They've been on the ship for six months and are headed to a well-deserved vacation before their next two month contract on the Carnival Splendor. 

 

 

I will see them on the Splendor in May!

[brilliantseas]

Last pizza 😫

 

[brilliantseas]

Towel animal army is safely stowed for the next voyage. 

 

[brilliantseas]

How can you tell you are back in Baltimore without being able to see land? 

 

The water goes from blue to brown. 

 

[brilliantseas]

Last performance by Alter Idem before they head back to Argentina. 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

 

 

[brilliantseas]

 

 

[brilliantseas]

...and last but not least, the final encore performance in the Red Frog Pub. 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

And now that I've finally made it home, here is the good and the bad, including what has changed since my December cruise. 

 

The Good:

 

-I think the ship was actually in better condition on this sailing than it was in December. They've been continuously painting. I didn't have a balcony on this sailing, so I can't comment on the rust dripping issue, but I saw very little corrosion and active painting of the exterior going on each week in Baltimore. The interior was also well-maintained with the exception of some of the coffee, ice, and juice machines that were out of service, including two coffee machines that have been down since my December cruise. 

 

-The entertainment was excellent! I can't stress this enough. This is probably the strongest entertainment cast I've seen on a Carnival ship. Cruise Director Leigh is a professional, and although maybe not quite as boisterous as some of the younger CDs in the fleet, he is unobtrusive when it comes to announcements and does an excellent job of hosting throughout the week. 

 

The Playlist cast, led by the incredible vocals of Olivia Galvin from England and lead male vocalist Bobby from New Jersey, were so strong I made it a point to watch a few of the shows twice on this cruise. 

 

The Entertainment Q&A with Leigh, Emma, and Bobby could best be described as "ship life story hour", and I was impressed by how open Leigh was about his former life as a CD on Royal Caribbean and some of his stories were pulled from his former life at Royal. 

 

Finally, Alter Idem in the Red Frog Pub and Accidental Violin Trio near Alchemy Bar stood out as the top musical entertainment on the ship. There was also a guitar soloist in the lobby and a steel drum / keyboard Caribbean duo on Lido. 

 

-Ranier did an excellent job again as comedy club host/manager. 

 

-Bar Staff at Alchemy Bar

Kat, Andrea, and Rodolfo stand out from the crowd as the best bartenders on the ship. Kat and Andrea both remembered me from the December cruise despite the fact that I only ordered three or four drinks from Alchemy during the entire cruise. They have incredible memories. On this sailing, Andrea came up with a special smoked cocktail using a burning cinnamon stick, Buffalo Trace bourbon, Citrus, and lychee syrup. I highly recommend it if you can convince her to recreate it for you. 

 

-Lukman, my cabin steward, was very efficient and always managed to get my cabin cleaned in the 30-minute window of the 7:30 Playlist show. He is also a towel animal artist extraordinare and creator of the towel animal army. 

 

-I can't wrap up the "good" without recognizing that fresh, hand-cut fries are back at Guy's Burger Joint. 

 

-Lido food was decent, with some of the Chopsticks and dinner buffet items getting above average marks. I also had great service from the two guys working in the deli. 

 

The Bad:

 

-I'm sad to say it, but both the quality/consistency of the food and the service in the Truffles Restaurant failed to meet expectations on this sailing. I had generally good to great (Almer and Joseph) service in December, even if the food was a bit hit-and-miss. Unfortunately, the food has slipped further at both brunch and dinner, and I did not have a single positive service experience across five meals. I gave up and ate most of my meals on Lido Deck. 

 

-The number of comedians on the 7-night sailings dropped from four to three. Kier was "okay," but the musical impressions feel overly repetitive across the PG, R-rated, and showcase shows. Lisa Alvarado was very Tina Fey like. I didn't care for her at all, but if you like Tina Fey, you might like her. Mike Brody joined the ship in Nassau and was by far the strongest of the three. 

 

Other small changes included staff assignments with the Fun Squad. Marcela has been elevated to Bingo Host, and Ramon (aka Noodles) has taken over hosting most of the trivia and karaoke. It sounds as if most of the Fun Squad is due to sign off over the next four weeks, so be prepared for a lot of change as we head into summer. 

 

[CRUZNQT]

Thanks for posting this!  Will be on this ship in May and very interested in your thoughts.  How are the crowds?  Is anyone masking?