Tell me about the Carnival Legend

[mantle]

I have an upcoming 8 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on Oct 1st with 30 year old son and I am not familiar with the Legend (Spirit class).

For those who traveled on it say in the past year

What are your likes about the ship? What's your favorite feature? Any dislikes? I wished they had outdoor movies by the pool                                                                    Note: We don't drink but still go in the bars to see entertainers (i.e., piano bar)

 

I also have some some specific questions:

Serenity Deck - is it a big area meaning do you generally get a lounge and/or clam shell you go there around 9 or 10 in AM?.  Do people put their towels early in AM to reserve lounges and clam shells. Other than the serenity deck is their any other place you go to for quite R&R - is their a lower deck on the ship that has lounge chairs?

 

How is the wi-fi - is the value plan good enough to access e-mails and some news or financial sites or should I get the premium. Is connectivity/speed better using a PC in the internet cafe - can you go in there 24/7?

   

How many outlets in an interior room and where?                                                                                                                                                                                                          We are in middle of deck 7 - is that an OK deck to be on? Our room is 7234 - last of 3 interior room after the atrium by elevators. Not sure what is after our room  going towards the back of ship - is that an open area before one row of interior rooms start again?

 

Is pizza still the only place open after 11? Long line? Confirm they stopped the late night snacks in buffet area

 

In the casino - Is there a non smoking area - is it a good size area or small area and does it only have slots? 

 

Lastly - If you made any telephone calls - what did you use? My provider T-Mobile advised they do not have cellular data on the Legend and rate for a call would be $5.99 a minute. Can you still use cabin phone @ $1.99 a minute. My son just wants to say hi to his 5 year old as it is the first time they are apart for an extended  period of time so it would be just a few minutes each night. Can you make calls from the ports (Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Amber Cove) or on the ship when docked?  

 

Thanks in advance for any information/comments. 

[iamsteph]

4 hours ago, mantle said:

I have an upcoming 8 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on Oct 1st with 30 year old son and I am not familiar with the Legend (Spirit class).

For those who traveled on it say in the past year

What are your likes about the ship? Good passenger to space ratio, never really feels crowded.  What's your favorite feature? Serenity. Any dislikes? It doesn't have an upper dining area on Lido like some of the newer ships.  I like the upper dining area on Lido, as it's usually quieter. I wished they had outdoor movies by the pool    They showed movies in one of the Lounges.                                                                 Note: We don't drink but still go in the bars to see entertainers (i.e., piano bar)

 

I also have some some specific questions:

Serenity Deck - is it a big area meaning do you generally get a lounge and/or clam shell you go there around 9 or 10 in AM?.  Do people put their towels early in AM to reserve lounges and clam shells. Other than the serenity deck is their any other place you go to for quite R&R - is their a lower deck on the ship that has lounge chairs?  Yes, people save spaces with their towels.  It's annoying.  Go early.  There isn't a lower deck with chairs.  Usually the piano bar is open during the day, but nothing going on, so it's a quiet place.  There's also a "secret" area on deck three along the front of the ship behind the lounge.  It's always quiet in there, with seats to chill on and read. 

 

How is the wi-fi - is the value plan good enough to access e-mails and some news or financial sites or should I get the premium. Is connectivity/speed better using a PC in the internet cafe - can you go in there 24/7?  Internet isn't the greatest on these older ships.  I usually get the mid-tier plan.  The one time I bought the top-tier, I swear it was worse than the middle.  The public computers are in a walkway between the coffee bar and the casino.  Be warned, everyone who walks by in this busy area would be able to see whatever you're looking at and read over your shoulder. 

   

How many outlets in an interior room and where?    There is one outlet under the mirror between the tv and the closet.  As the bedside lamps die and get replaced, the newer lamps have USB ports.  But don't count on it.                                                                                                                                                                                                        We are in middle of deck 7 - is that an OK deck to be on? Our room is 7234 - last of 3 interior room after the atrium by elevators. Not sure what is after our room  going towards the back of ship - is that an open area before one row of interior rooms start again? You may hear noise from Lido. I always advise to take ear plugs, as ships can be noisy.  Not an open area, it's for crew. 

 

Is pizza still the only place open after 11? Long line? Confirm they stopped the late night snacks in buffet area.  I believe the pizza closed at 3 am on my last cruise? It's really in flux due to staffing issues.  Didn't get up to Lido for snacks, so can't answer that. 

 

In the casino - Is there a non smoking area - is it a good size area or small area and does it only have slots? There is a non-smoking area with a good number of slots.  The tables are between the smoking area and non-smoking area.  I think I remember seeing no smoking signs at the tables, but I was paying more attention to the dealer killing me on the blackjack table lol

 

Lastly - If you made any telephone calls - what did you use? My provider T-Mobile advised they do not have cellular data on the Legend and rate for a call would be $5.99 a minute. Can you still use cabin phone @ $1.99 a minute. My son just wants to say hi to his 5 year old as it is the first time they are apart for an extended  period of time so it would be just a few minutes each night. Can you make calls from the ports (Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Amber Cove) or on the ship when docked?  You can still make calls from the ship cabin, I believe it was still $1.99/min.  I have Google Fi, which is excellent for use in foreign ports.  Your use of your phone in port would depend on if it's compatible and what your provider charges for use of your phone in those ports. 

 

Thanks in advance for any information/comments. 

Sailed on the Legend twice this year, and sailed numerous times on the Pride. 

Edited July 22, 2022 by iamsteph
add phone

[mantle]

Thanks Iamsteph

 

Can any other Legend cruisers comment?

[EllieinNJ]

We did our first Carnival cruise in April on the Legend and enjoyed it very much.  We had a balcony on 7 aft and there was just one outlet at the desk.  I brought an extender to make it 3 and it worked fine.

 

My husband and I shared the regular wifi and we were very happy with it.

 

The only time I was in the Casino was for a slot pull but it wasn't very smokey.

 

Never was able to get a lounge by the pool or in Serenity.  Got one on upper deck 10 but not overlooking pool.

[Sinbadssailors]

We were just on the Legend in June.

 

Spirit class ships are a nice size IMO. Quiet hallways with portholes, outside the theater, when weather isn't cooperating.  Few people ever go there.

 

We have WhatsApp on our phones and use wifi calling to stay in touch at sea 

 

Late night food was a real problem. We gave up after the first night. The pizza line was terrible. And one guy making pizza.  Pizza line tended to be long most of the day. 

 

We ordered room service a couple times and yes, there's a charge after breakfast, but it was much faster than pre-covid.

 

 

Chair hogs were the worst I've seen in years. Serenity was hopeless by 8:30, the rest of the ship only a few loungers available by 10.

 

We missed the dive in movies, but they showed some in the atrium a few times.

 

The comedians were great. Ours was a 6-day and they had 3 comedians alternating, doing 2 or more shows a day.

 

The comedy club is much better on Spirit class. Get there at least 20+ minutes early, but not required to line up outside. And I swear it seats more than on the newer ships.

 

The live music was also very good. A guitarist, piano player, a band or 2, and a violin trio. 

 

Casino was mostly not smokey. We seemed to be on a casino cruise. It was packed every night, both slots and tables.

Edited July 23, 2022 by Sinbadssailors

[luc122]

We were on in June. 
Pizza line was stupid long! Not that I want my pizza “old”, but they really should have had a build up of

pies. It almost seemed like you order and then they make your pie. 

The deli stays open till 11pm. We did that a few times. It was really good and they have fries!  They did have security close the line at 11, so get there before then. 
 

one side of the casino is smoke free. There was a bank of i think 10 video poker, some had keno, 1 or 2 had ultimate X. 

[Velvetwater]

Sailed on her twice 8 years ago and love her layout and passenger ratio.

 

Just wanted to add that if you've booked an interior cabin look into booking a deck 4 obstructed cabin. When we have booked these they have been hardly much more money and are bigger, have natural light have a balcony layout and are super quiet. If you get lucky and book one between lifeboats even more view!

 

Also the themed corridor that wraps around the theatre is an awesome spot for quiet table games and other stuff.

 

Serenity got full by 8. Clamshells were gone at 7.

[vadersprincess12]

The Legend is our homeport ship.  It's a smaller ship but overall a really nice ship.

 

Other responders were correct about Serenity ~ it's usually pretty full and tough to get a lounger or clam shell.  

 

I personally have never seen the pizza lines too long but I guess it depends on the time you go.  I also thought that there was no service charge for room service but maybe that was pre-Covid.  There were some items that were chargeable and some that were not, but we never paid a room service charge.

 

The casino is small with a "non-smoking" section but on our cruise earlier this year as in the past, the smoke permeates throughout the entire area and of course it gets worse toward the end of the cruise.  There are slots and table games, and a few of those coin type arcade games.

 

Love the Red Frog Rum Bar, they usually have bands each evening.  The do have a sports bar and a piano bar.

 

They have Cherry on Top ~ a candy store which is cool.

 

If you like a quiet place to sit and read, or enjoy your coffee, there is the Enchanted Forest Interior Promenade on Deck 3 forward that is a cute place to sit; you can walk all the way through the front of the ship there.

 

Outlets are few and far between in the cabins since it's an older ship so you might want to bring an adapter or a non-surge power strip and if your cell phone has a plug remember to bring it as there are no USB ports.  The outlets are at the desk area only.

 

Deck 7 is a good deck because there are cabins above and below you.  I hate being in a cabin below restaurants or pool decks because it can get noisy when crew is moving furniture, etc. during the late or early hours.  The area behind your cabin is more than likely a storage area for the stateroom attendants.

 

Bring your own hairdryer ~ the ones in the cabins pretty much suck.

 

We are sailing the Legend again this month.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

 

 

[vadersprincess12]

I just double checked and there is no charge for room service ~ you are only paying for specific food items that have an upcharge; there are many food options that are free.

 

 

[IntrepidFromDC]

From Carnival's FAQ page...

 

24 HOUR ROOM SERVICE

We have expanded our 24 hour room service menu to give our guests a greater variety of upgraded culinary choices for in-room delivery; charges may apply. 

 

Each morning, we offer a Continental Breakfast Menu, 5:00am to 10:00am. On the last morning of the cruise, room service is not available; guests will have the option of enjoying breakfast at the Lido restaurant or in the main dining room.  

 

From 6:00am to 10:00pm, our daytime menu features salads, sandwiches and desserts as well as specialty items such as Totally Awesome Wings, Chicken Tenders, Spicy Fried Firecracker Shrimp, Chicken Quesadilla, Philly Cheesesteak and Pan Pizza .. and for dessert, an Old Fashioned Banana Split.  

 

From 10:00pm to 6:00am, our expanded late night menu features the above items as well as a Portabella & Veggie Bun, Grilled Cheese, Bacon & Tomato Sandwich, Roast Turkey Wrap and Omelette and French Fries. For those with a sweet tooth, who can resist a Dark Chocolate Walnut Brownie or Doughnut Sandwich, 

 

In addition to food items, beverages from the bar may be ordered through room service including beer, liquor* and wine by the bottle (all which must be consumed in your stateroom).

 

For late night dining and snacks, the Carnival Deli and our pizza stations are open for additional food options.  

 

* limted to two bottles per day and must be consumed in your stateroom

[coldinerie]

Wi-Fi was great, no issues with streaming YouTube if you have the highest level of internet.  Serenity, you had to be there by 630/7 am to get a chair.  It was a bit of a nightmare. Cruised June 2022.

 

 

 

[mantle]

Thanks to all who responded - your comments are a great help 

[ddavis5us]

Legend has always been one of our favorite ships.  Size is just "right.  Haven't been on it lately (as it and Pride rotate out of Tampa) and they could have changed during a dry dock, but all we have had was a double outlet in the vanity area.  We carry a multi-plug adapter and our own UL extension cords to run CPAPs, so that has not been a problem.  You might look for one of the adapters that can rotate and has USB slots.  By rotate, I mean that it can turn right/left/up/down.  Ours is a Belkin and I think cost about $25. 

 

Serenity is a fairly big area, but agree that chair hogs typically have it locked down before 9.  Does clear out in the late afternoon.

[notscb]

22 hours ago, vadersprincess12 said:

Serenity ~ it's usually pretty full and tough to get a lounger or clam shell.  

 

Does Carnival staff not really monitor this? Just curious, as I haven't been on a Carnival ship since the early 2000's and don't remember it being that bad.

[Kellyann]

I've been on a dozen Carnival cruises and never saw a staffer doing anything to remedy chair hogs.  It's such a selfish practice.

 

[djfrangella]

We are heading to the Legend on Oct 1st also.  Last on it in Feb.  My biggest complaint was the clam shell hoarders.  Why hog it up when you dont come out till noon.  I was able to snag one a couple of times when someone was leaving. Luck has to be with you.  

[jimrebholz]

Just got off the Legend today.

 

Serenity area was busy.  didn't really try to get a lounger or clam shell mostly hung out in the shaded area, but it was mostly full morning and day.

 

Wifi was fine, had the middle plan.

 

One outlet

 

We had a front interior on the 6th floor...had some noise from the theater, but not too bad...I think you'll be ok near the atrium....yes the rooms continue after the atrium.

 

Pizza line was never too bad, even late at night, got served quickly.   No other food after 11 except room service.   sandwich place was open until 11.

 

Casino has non smoking area.....not too big, but I felt the casino was on the smaller side of the carnival ships I've been on.   Smoking area machines were always busy and had the seat savers where they tilt up the chairs when they go to the bathroom or wherever they go.   Was tough to get on some machines.  I believe half of the table games were non smoking.

 

Didn't make any phone calls.

 

The buffet I thought was lacking, dining room was ok, service seemed pretty good.  Only one issue all cruise was the air conditioning went out one night until the next afternoon.  

 

It was an Ok ship, no frills, but kind of what I expected, very much like the Pride if you ever been on that but without an outdoor movie screen.

Edited August 1, 2022 by jimrebholz

[bambiying]

Was on the Legend from Baltimore on 7/23.  While the cabin only had 1 outlet, both table lamps next to the beds had several USB ports.  We never had problems charging our Kindles/phones, etc.

[CM1984]

49 minutes ago, bambiying said:

Was on the Legend from Baltimore on 7/23.  While the cabin only had 1 outlet, both table lamps next to the beds had several USB ports.  We never had problems charging our Kindles/phones, etc.

Thank you so much, very helpful. What category Cabin?

Edited August 10, 2022 by CM1984

[bambiying]

6 minutes ago, CM1984 said:

Thank you so much, very helpful. What category Cabin?

It was 8K, Cabin 8184.

[CorrieCJ]

I know the Legend doesn't show the "Dive in Movies," but is the pool open until midnight anyway? We always do late dining and the kids like to go for a swim after supper.  We've sailed the Pride out of Baltimore many times, going for the Legend out of Baltimore next summer. 

 

Thanks!

[brilliantseas]

On 7/22/2022 at 12:35 PM, mantle said:

I have an upcoming 8 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on Oct 1st with 30 year old son and I am not familiar with the Legend (Spirit class).

For those who traveled on it say in the past year

What are your likes about the ship? What's your favorite feature? Any dislikes? I wished they had outdoor movies by the pool                                                                    Note: We don't drink but still go in the bars to see entertainers (i.e., piano bar)

 

I also have some some specific questions:

Serenity Deck - is it a big area meaning do you generally get a lounge and/or clam shell you go there around 9 or 10 in AM?.  Do people put their towels early in AM to reserve lounges and clam shells. Other than the serenity deck is their any other place you go to for quite R&R - is their a lower deck on the ship that has lounge chairs?

 

How is the wi-fi - is the value plan good enough to access e-mails and some news or financial sites or should I get the premium. Is connectivity/speed better using a PC in the internet cafe - can you go in there 24/7?

   

How many outlets in an interior room and where?                                                                                                                                                                                                          We are in middle of deck 7 - is that an OK deck to be on? Our room is 7234 - last of 3 interior room after the atrium by elevators. Not sure what is after our room  going towards the back of ship - is that an open area before one row of interior rooms start again?

 

Is pizza still the only place open after 11? Long line? Confirm they stopped the late night snacks in buffet area

 

In the casino - Is there a non smoking area - is it a good size area or small area and does it only have slots? 

 

Lastly - If you made any telephone calls - what did you use? My provider T-Mobile advised they do not have cellular data on the Legend and rate for a call would be $5.99 a minute. Can you still use cabin phone @ $1.99 a minute. My son just wants to say hi to his 5 year old as it is the first time they are apart for an extended  period of time so it would be just a few minutes each night. Can you make calls from the ports (Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Amber Cove) or on the ship when docked?  

 

Thanks in advance for any information/comments. 

 

I sailed on Carnival Legend twice earlier this year, in January and in March. I booked the March cruise after having such a great experience with the entertainment staff that I wanted to get back before they signed off in March and April. I'm sure some have come back to the ship, but Alter Idem, the band in Red Frog, and Leigh Xuereb have moved on, with Alter Idem doing a contract on Splendor for the first part of the Alaska season, and Leigh falling off of the cruise director schedule after initially planning to spend July - January back on Legend as the CD after a vacation. 

 

The Legend is a smaller ship, and thus the Serenity area is a bit smaller. You're more likely to find a vacant clamshell along the sides of the ship on deck 10 (along the sides of the funnel). The good news is that the small size of the ship means far fewer passengers and more room to spread out overall!

 

I had the premium wifi plan and I would consider the speed "good" as far as cruise internet goes. While not as fast as land-based wifi, I was able to stream video calls in non-HD quality with only minor complications, and was able to get work done. It was far better than the internet on the Sunrise in February, and about the same as the Sunshine in August. If you're just looking for email and financial news, you should be okay with the "value" plan, and if you're not satisfied, you can always upgrade. I don't believe the FunHUB PCs are any faster than the wifi. 

 

Regarding pizza, it will be the only thing open after 11:00 PM. The pizza location on Legend is small and it does get a line. Unfortunately, the service style of giving each guest a full pizza by default made the speed even worse. On previous sailings, and on my most recent sailing this month on Carnival Sunshine, the default was to offer half of a pizza unless the guest asked for a full one. This expedites things quite a bit. Sunshine also had deck ovens, which requires more attention and more staffing, whereas the Legend has a conveyor oven, and at times was only staffed by one person, which slowed it to a crawl. 

 

There are non-smoking slots, but no non-smoking table games on Legend. The smoking and non-smoking sides are separated by the main guest path/promenade. 

 

I'd recommend using something like Facebook video chat or even Zoom rather than making a phone call. Even if the video quality isn't great, your internet should be more than sufficient to carry the audio without the expense of phone calls. Be careful about taking your phone out of airplane mode mid-sailing as you'll automatically download all of your incoming text messages when you do so, and those cost a pretty penny, around $0.50 each, as I recall. 

 

Overall, I had a great experience on the Legend aside from some minor issues with the condition of my balcony. It shows its age in design, but was very well kept, and the entertainment and bar staff were among the best I've encountered. I also like the uncrowded feel, especially in comparison to the Carnival Sunrise or Sunshine, which were my other two sailings this year. 

 

Have a great trip, and be sure to come back and let us know about your experience. 

[Jamman54]

We'll be on for a B2B starting Sunday so we'll report back. 😎

[ahl]

On 8/10/2022 at 3:21 PM, bambiying said:

Was on the Legend from Baltimore on 7/23.  While the cabin only had 1 outlet, both table lamps next to the beds had several USB ports.  We never had problems charging our Kindles/phones, etc.

Thee are two electrical outlets on the vanity. One is an American type at 110v, the other is a UK/European type at 220v. I brought a European adapter in order to use both.

[Gypsywych]

On 8/26/2022 at 7:52 AM, Jamman54 said:

We'll be on for a B2B starting Sunday so we'll report back. 😎

 

We'll be joining you on the 3rd.