Just off the Legend: 8/16 - 8/24

[Martin 5]

What other ships are you comparing it to?

Sorry about that:( I'm comparing the Spirit Class to theTriumph & Victory & Destiny. I'm not comparing the amount of decks, but the amount of decks with lounges, dance clubs & bars. Before I get a negitive response, I'm not bashing CCL I just noticed a difference and wanted to know from the people who have already sailed on THE LEGEND if they noticed?

[SnowWhiteNYC]

I posted my review on this board.

[vincenzo0506]

I posted my review on this board.

 

Found it, Thanks.

 

Was the Water Slide open?

 

I'm looking forward to that!

 

and What about the Hairy Knuckle contest?

 

vincenzo:)

[MrPete]

Sorry about that:( I'm comparing the Spirit Class to theTriumph & Victory & Destiny. I'm not comparing the amount of decks, but the amount of decks with lounges, dance clubs & bars. I just noticed a difference and wanted to know from the people who have already sailed on THE LEGEND if they noticed?

 

I've sailed all four ships. Keep in mind the Legend is a smaller ship, yet has two decks of promenades. I like that, and still never remember where's what on either deck!

 

I also like the lido restaurant better on the Legend.

[Caribbean Dad]

Sorry about that:( I'm comparing the Spirit Class to theTriumph & Victory & Destiny. I'm not comparing the amount of decks, but the amount of decks with lounges, dance clubs & bars. Before I get a negitive response, I'm not bashing CCL I just noticed a difference and wanted to know from the people who have already sailed on THE LEGEND if they noticed?

 

We have sailed both Legend and Victory, and can say that due to her layout, Legend doesn't need the extra deck. Here is how they stack up head to head:

 

Legend (Spirit Class) to Victory (Triumph Class)

Tonnage: 88,500 to 101,509

Length: 960' to 893'

Beam: 106' to 116'

Passengers: 2124 to 2758

Decks: 12 to 14

 

Over all the Spirit Class is a slimmer, sleeker, faster, but smaller than the Triumph Class. But with the addition of 600 pax, it requires the Triumph Class to offer 2 formal dining rooms rather than the 1 that the Spirit Class offers, which allows the Spirit Class to offer just as much with one less deck.

 

To date, Legend has been our favorite ship, and we hope to free up enough time to return to her soon.

[Rgtouro]

Helloooo to my fellow Cruise Critic's friends who sailed with me. You guys were a lot of fun to be around. I enjoyed your company and running into you at the ports!!!

 

criptcruiser, you are a party on wheels. I loved meeting you and DH. How is your knee doing? Maybe you should get a x-ray? Elvis/Frenchy is such a great caring and compassionate hubby. I will be sending you the pictures of the Legends show soon.

 

Snow, We had mad fun at the Bath's with you and DH. Great time and many laughs. I really think you could be the "Supper Shopper" onboard the ship.

 

Bayonnegrl you are certainly the party girl, you really know how to have a good time and enjoy life. Way to go girl!!!!(Senor Frogs) lol

 

Dizneefamily you are so funny and I seen you at 2 of the 3 ports. Are we really going to put our lunch in that $21.00 Dooney & Bourke bag? How's you new Coach bag?

 

Judester & Raineyo, you both have the nicest & sweetest family!

 

ED'S IRISH GIRL it was so nice to meet you, son & SIL at the Lido deck.

 

Sea, I didn't get to meet you but I know you were there. (Shir told me)

 

I had a blast on this cruise, 8 days of fun and excitement!!!

This was my first balcony room and I don't think I will go back to inside.

 

THE Carnival Legend missing a deck? I see what you mean, maybe the fact that the ship is longer in length makes up the difference?

 

chuckyb why didn't you join our roll call? Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing your pics and reading your review.

 

More to come...

[Pianogrl]

Thank you all for posting your thoughts & reviews about the Legend for those of us waiting to sail on her. We will be sailing April 1, 07 to St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten on her & love reading about your experiences onboard..even if you went to different ports.

Thanks for taking the time!

[Martin 5]

Thanks for the info Mr. Pete and Dad for all the information. It was very helpful.

[SnowWhiteNYC]

The slide was open. There was a hairy chest contest, not knuckles!

 

Hey FirstTimeCruiser - glad we could share a day with you and your DD. Had a blast with you and the others!!! :0) We must exchange pix!!!

[vincenzo0506]

The slide was open. There was a hairy chest contest, not knuckles!!!

 

I've been in that contest. Trust me, it is NOT named appropriatly! :D

 

vincenzo:)

[Fiestacruiser]

Alright, call me slow.... but I cannot find the review:( Can someone help!

[Fiestacruiser]

Ok, I found the GREAT review!!!! Sorry, it is Friday and the week wore me out. BUt I will be sailing soon......

[campdaan]

I posted my review on this board.

 

Here is the link http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=402788

 

And below is the link to my review from March.

[POPPA_DADDYO]

Yes, the smoking is HORRIBLE on Carnival. They also play a lot of broken records. Please try another line, like NCL.

Sorry I offended another smoker. I talked to many that will not come on this site that also could not stand all the rude smokers on their Carnival cruises. I wish they would, I need a clique of my own it seems!

[chuckyb]

I'm having issues with my cable modem. It could be a few days before I can post my review.

[KruznKel]

How was the smoking on this ship? I went on the Victory and smokers were smoking in non smoking sections the whole cruise.

 

I thought you had posted a thread that was deleted that you were no longer going to post here:confused: :rolleyes:

[KruznKel]

Sorry I offended another smoker. I talked to many that will not come on this site that also could not stand all the rude smokers on their Carnival cruises. I wish they would, I need a clique of my own it seems!

 

I think you need to cool your jets abit... there are no more rude smokers.. than rude non-smokers.. because a cruise ship is accomodating to all.. YOU are not GOD and because you find smoking intolerable I think you need to take a cruise on a smoke free cruise line:rolleyes: And save the preaching for there..

[Martin 5]

I think you need to cool your jets abit... there are no more rude smokers.. than rude non-smokers.. because a cruise ship is accomodating to all.. YOU are not GOD and because you find smoking intolerable I think you need to take a cruise on a smoke free cruise line:rolleyes: And save the preaching for there..

Your right, the ship is accomodating to ALL. If everyone follows the rules for smokers and non-smokers there shouldn't be any problems. We are on a cruise for much needed vacation and to try to get away from some of the everyday stuff we all inquire on an everyday basis. Enjoy Your Cruises!!!!!!!:)

[POPPA_DADDYO]

Your right, the ship is accomodating to ALL. If everyone follows the rules for smokers and non-smokers there shouldn't be any problems. We are on a cruise for much needed vacation and to try to get away from some of the everyday stuff we all inquire on an everyday basis. Enjoy Your Cruises!!!!!!!:)

You are right, if only everyone would follow the rules. But most of all, when you have rules, you need someone to enforce them rules. Walking through a promenade level that is supposed to be non smoking, and it is filled with smoke, makes no sense to me. Believe me, I avoid smoking areas, but it was hard on my last Victory cruise when they smoked in non smoking sections. I must be the only person on these threads that had someone sit down next to me in the eating areas and lit up. That is flat out RUDE!

[MrPete]

Sorry I offended another smoker. I talked to many that will not come on this site that also could not stand all the rude smokers on their Carnival cruises. I wish they would, I need a clique of my own it seems!

 

Who said I was a smoker?

 

If you're looking for a clique, and they won't come to you, feel free to go to them. I remember them too when I was in grade school.

[thecripcruiser]

Blu,

I'm sorry I didn't call your room. I didn't have your room number. I'm glad we met up tho.

I'm working on my review and will post to this board when i'm done.

The trip was great in spite of my fall in San Juan.

I enjoyed meeting all of you and will carry fond memories of the time we shared.

The bruise has traveled down my leg and is quite painful, I'll see the doctor on Monday.

 

Most of the CC group met at the pool bar and those who didn't we met during the cruise cause they recognised my red scooter. Thank you to all who stopped to introduce yourselves to me.

Sue, Lorraine, Lisa, Laura, Susan, Judi, Sea, Edsirishrose, and those whose names have slipped my mind, [brain fart] you were all great. We enjoyed meeting you and your families. A couple of you even saved my azz during the Legends show. I can't wait to see the pix My e-mail addy is sbv67@hotmail.com in case I didn't give it to you.

Smoking I felt that the ship was mostly smoke free. There were not a lot of smoking sections. The casino was smoky because it was the most visible smoking section. All public areas, lobby, lounges, dining room, show venues, that I encountered were smoke free. A few rude people were lighting up in restricted areas, but , not many.

Carnival Cruise Line was most accomodating. They went out of the way to make the trip great. They let me take a wheelchair off the ship in ports when my wheelchair broke and they refunded all the shore excursion money we had spent when I could not do the buses.

Shore excursions are NOT accessible to those with limited mobility. The Legend is a beautiful ship, but it rocks constantly and I felt it in my joints. Probably because of the fall I took.

Just wanted to touch base with you great folk. My review will be long and will post in a day or two.

 

Lata

Shirl

__________________

[chuckyb]

Here is my review of the 8/16 to 8/24 Carnival Legend. Pictures will be uploaded and I will post links when I get that done.

 

The carnival legend was my 8th cruise on carnival cruise lines. I have also taken one cruise on celebrity cruise lines to Alaska. I went with my family and we chose the Legend because the ship sailed out of New York, we were tired of taking cruises from Miami. Our sailing date was 8/16/06 and the cruise was 8 days in length. The cruise was pretty full as far as we could tell.

 

Embarkation: We arrived at the cruise terminal by taxi at 12:15. We gave our luggage to the porters outside and they took care of them for us (after I told my dad we don’t bring the luggage with us on the ship). The carnival representatives in the terminal told us to sit down and make sure that all of the necessary paperwork was filled out prior to embarkation. A few minutes later, we proceeded to the ticket agents and received our sign-and-sail cards, which include our room keys and our form of payment. We then had a picture taken and were on the ship by 12:50pm. Our room was not ready so we ate lunch at the unicorn café. The rooms are not typically ready until at least 2:00pm.

 

Breakfast: Breakfast is served in the unicorn café, which is on the lido deck from about 6:45 to noon. There are five stations that are serving breakfast. Each station has the same food as the other stations do. By the 4th day, I was sick of the breakfast food that was being served. The stations on the lido deck all serve the food buffet style, you pick and choose what you want to eat. The choices are oatmeal, grits, eggs, hash brown potato circles, bacon, bagel and toast, or French toast and pancakes (they would alternate every other day). They also had cereal and fresh fruit available. The breakfast was the same everyday and it can get real old after a few days. We ate breakfast in the truffles dining room on debarkation day. It’s the same food that you will find on the lido deck, but someone serves it too you instead.

 

Lunch: Lunch is also served in the unicorn café on the lido deck. There are five or six stations open for lunch. The grill outside has hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, steak, chicken sandwich, and garden burgers. French fries and other fast food selections are available at the grill. I usually ate the chicken sandwich and they were pretty good. On the inside of the unicorn café, there are four stations each serving different food. The taste of the nation, would have food from a specific nation. The Chinese station had Chinese food. There also was a deli station that had both hot and cold deli sandwiches. The deli sandwiches are good, but don’t expect Carnegie deli sandwiches. There also was another station that had American food. A salad bar and desert area are also open for lunch.

The lunch on the lido deck has changed a lot since some of the earlier cruises we took. When we took the Jubilee the only thing available for lunch was cheeseburgers. The variety of food available during lunch should be able to subdue most appetites. I will admit that the different stations can be confusing, but if each station served the same thing people would be complaining.

 

Dinner: Dinner is primarily served in the Truffles Restaurant. The dining room is in the back of the ship on decks two and three. There is only one dining room on this cruise ship. When we were at sea, the dining room had a tendency to vibrate and shake. I think this might be caused by the fact that we were a few floors above the engines.

Our head waiter was Achmad and our assistant waiter was Chandra. They both were from Indonesia. Achmad asked us for our names during the first night and then would address us by our names during dinner each night.

The food in dining room is unique to say the least. You are given a menu, with many choices on it. The menu is separated into 3 different sections. The first section is called “starters”, which includes soups and appetizers. There are some strange appetizers, but I’m a picky eater so some people might find them to be normal. You can typically find a fruit/vegetable plate and a seafood plate on the appetizer section. On some days they had some chicken dishes. The second session is called “salads”. There were always mixed green salad and a different salad each day. The salads were pretty good, but some of the lettuce looked old. The final section of the menu is “Entrées”. There is always a meat choice and fish choice available every night. Some nights there were chicken dinners. There is usually a unique meal every night such as rabbit or duck.

Some of the appetizers were good and some were okay. Looking back, I remember ordering the same appetizers on previous cruises that I took with carnival. They still taste the same. The salads are okay. They haven’t changed too much since the previous cruise we took. The only difference I noticed is that sometimes our waiter would serve us fresh salad from a bowl, rather than it being prepared in the galley. The main entrees were okay. I was trying not to order meat every day. On the days that I did order meat it did come the way I ordered it. I agree with the other reviews as the main entrees were warm, but not really hot. I tried to order different meals on this cruise, but I found myself ordering the same things that I ordered on previous cruises.

Desert was also served in the main dining room. I usually ordered vanilla ice cream because I am not a desert fan. My sister said that most of the cakes were pretty good. Usually the same deserts that were available for dinner can also be found on the lido deck during sea view bistro (dinner on the lido deck, buffet style).

 

Cabin: Our cabin number was 8139. We were on the front starboard side of the Legend. Our room included an extended length balcony (not sure what is extended about it). The room includes all your standard amenities found on other carnival cruises. Our room still had a regular TV, I read on some reviews that carnival is adding flat screen TV’s in each room. The cabin also had a queen size bed, one couch bed, and an upper (pullman bed). Compared to some of the other cruises I took, the beds and pillows were extremely comfortable. The bathroom is small, which is what to be expected on a cruise ship. There is a decent amount of closet space for clothes. The room was pretty quiet. If people were outside your room screaming you can probably hear that. The only complaint I have about noise was that you could hear people (I would assume children), running on the lido deck all night long. The noise wasn’t too bad, but who lets their kids run around the ship at 2:00am on the day we arrive in New York? Also, our neighbors were constantly slamming their door.

 

Entertainment: The cruise had a different show each night in the Follies Lounge. We have sailed on Carnival before and have seen the same types of shows several times before. Even though the “Las Vegas Style Shows” have different names, they all feel the same. I watched the first one titled “take 2” and decided to skip the next Las Vegas show. The variety shows were not too good either. There used to be some comedy shows during the early evening, but there were not any on this cruise ship. We didn’t see any of the midnight comedy shows, so I have no comments on that. There were two talent shows on the cruise. The first talent show was titled “Carnival Legends”, which involved people singing songs from famous singers (Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Madonna, etc). The second talent show was called “Carnival’s Got Talent”, which is similar to “American Idol”. Both shows were good and were extremely crowded. It was standing room only for both talent shows. There were people standing on the stairs and in the every open space.

There was nobody in the Piano Bar for this 8 day cruise. The band that played on the Lido Deck (Kolorz) played the same songs everyday. They played music before we left New York and played the same songs all 8 days. There were a few other singers throughout the ship. I didn’t listen to them that much, but they all sounded pretty good.

 

Casino: The casino was located on Deck 2 in the middle of the ship. I didn’t really do too much gambling, but my dad played a lot of craps during our cruise. I played a version of blackjack called, “fun 21”. My winnings were about $50. I found the staff in the casino to be friendly. My Dad won a lot of money playing craps. The only problem was that a lot of people didn’t start playing until the 2nd to last day or real late at night. The casino had a lot of smokers.

 

Internet/Internet Café: I brought my laptop with me on this cruise (gray dell laptop). You can sign up for internet access in the Internet Café, or by using your laptop, anywhere you can find a hotspot on the ship (I got a better signal during embarkation, outside the ship). There are three plans to choose from. You can pay $.75 per minute, pay $55 for 100 minutes, or $100 for 240 minutes. If you sign up during the first day of the cruise you get an additional 20 minutes for free. The internet speeds are not too fast. Websites take awhile to load and I noticed that they load faster on my laptop than the desktop computers in the cafe. I’m not complaining about speed, because you’re supposed to be on vacation. You can now use your laptop or use the computers in the café, the minutes are transferable to both. One thing that really surprised me was how long people were using the computers in the café. I’d spend 5 minutes checking my e-mail, and there would be people in the café for at least two hours.

 

Cruise Director: Our cruise director was Trevor Block. We saw him during the welcome aboard show, and past gust party, and then we rarely saw him again. We would hear his announcements on the P.A. system everyday, but almost never see him at the shows or throughout the ship. I can remember seeing previous cruise directors talking with guests near the casino and other areas. This was Trevor’s last cruise prior to leaving for a vacation. I think his vacation started midway through our voyage. During the final show, I was expecting Trevor to at least thank us for sailing on Carnival. At the conclusion of the show, he just went in the back.

Trevor’s assistants did most of the interaction with the crowd. They were decent, just not spectacular. One of our assistant cruise directors somehow missed the ship in New York and boarded in San Juan.

 

Ports – We didn’t really do a lot in the three ports except get off the ship and look around. It was hot when we were at the 3 ports, but not too bad.

San Juan (3:00pm to Midnight): We arrived at San Juan at 2:00pm, which is an hour early. The cruise ship docks in Old San Juan. We got off the ship and walked to the nearby shops. We spent a few hours looking at the different shops. My other family members did most of the shopping. Personally, I just wanted to walk around and then get back on the ship. I’m not a big fan of shopping.

St. Thomas (7:00am to 6:00pm): The ship docks in a shopping area called Havensight. When we took the paradise, we took a taxi and went downtown for shipping. This time we decided just to shop near the ship. Since we were in St. Thomas on Sunday, all the shops closed at 1:00pm. This meant that we had to do our shopping before the shops closed. There were some deals at the stores near the ship, but the “super shopper” said to go downtown for the best deals.

Tortola (7:00am to 2:00pm): This is a small little island, which is part of British, Virgin Islands. We got off the ship and walked around for an hour. There really isn’t any shopping to do in Tortola, except for a few stores. We should have taken a tour, but none of us could agree on a tour to take.

 

Debarkation: The cruise arrived at the cruise terminal at 8:15am. This is normal for the Legend. Since my parents were part of the Carnival Platinum club, we were able to get off early. We waited in the Dream team sports bar and a staff member came and escorted us off the ship. They were also doing the self-assist debarkation at the same time. It wasn’t too hard getting of the ship. If don’t feel like taking all of your luggage with you, you will be debarked according to color (luggage tags). I’m not sure how that process went, but I’m sure someone else can comment on it. My Dad wanted to get off the cruise as early as possible because there is usually a long line for taxis and we had an early flight (1:55pm). We stood in line for about 10 minutes and waited for a taxi. We were on our way to LaGuardia. I took one last look at the people standing in line and then one last look at the cruise ship.

There were massive flight delays at O’hare, so our flight back home was not too fun. We had to fly standby on an earlier flight, which almost landed at the same time as our scheduled flight.

 

What I liked:

• The 24hour pizzeria. If I didn’t like the selection at dinner, I could take the elevators to the lido deck and grab a slice of pizza. Caesar salads and breadsticks are also available. You must ask for them.
  
• The deli is open to 11:00pm. If I didn’t feel like pizza after dinner, I could always get a sandwich.
  
• The sports bar had HDTV. They actually showed sports and not wheel of fortune, like the Glory.
  
• The size of the ship. The Carnival Legend is part of the spirit class of cruise ships. The ship has a tonnage of 88,000 pounds. Even though this ship is not as big as the Carnival Glory, which I took in August of 2003. I found the layout on this cruise to be better. The ship is big, but not too big. You can actually see the same people more than once.
  
• The friendliness of the cruise ship staff. Whenever I would walk around the ship the crew would often say, “Hi”. It’s a nice touch that made the cruise more enjoyable.

What I didn’t like

• During the life boat drill, the speaker near our section wasn’t working (muster station A, life boat 3). The crew did nothing about it. In fact one person said “There is nothing I can do right now”. I knew what to expect since I have cruised before, but first time cruisers need to hear this information. This was probably the only, “bad” experience I had on the cruise.
  
• Our cabin door was extremely hard to open. It seemed like the door was stuck or something. We probably should have had the cabin steward look at it.
  
• The door to the balcony sometimes would not close all the way. If you didn’t slam the balcony door, it would sound like a tornado was coming.
  
• The carpet was stained on our hallway. Walking back to the cabin I noticed that the carpet needed to be replaced. Maybe the next time the Legend is in dry dock they can replace the carpet on the 8th floor.
  
• During the night, the cruise ship had a tendency to shake, rattle, and roll. I’m not really sure what the cause of this was, but it actually made sleeping easier.
  
• The elevator doors were dirty. There were stains and dings and dents on most of the elevator doors.
  
• The TV stations were from Denver. It’s great if you are from Denver.
  
• There was nobody in the piano bar.

What extra things should you bring on your cruise?

• Hair Dryer – My mom said the hard dryer in the room was bad. If you have room bring your own
  
• Powerpack– There is only one 120v plug in the room. If you are going to charge or plug in a lot of things at once maybe you should bring one. A cheap trip-lite should be fine. If you have a lot of extra room in your luggage, consider brining this.
  
• Soft drinks – The prices of drinks are not cheap onboard. Expect to pay $1.75 for can of coke or sprite. If you have room and are near a convince store, purchase a 12 pack.
  
• Sea Sick medication – I haven’t been sea sick for awhile on a cruise. But, there are some people that can get really sea sick. The purser’s desk has some medication available.

Conclusion: I wasn’t really intending for this review to be this long. I started to write this review during the 2nd formal night. I really enjoyed this cruise, it was neat to go out of a different port besides Florida. The staff, crew members, waiters, were all very nice. They made this cruise a little bit more enjoyable. Our next cruise maybe the “fall foliage” cruise in Sept of 2007. This cruise leaves from New York and goes to Boston, and Portland, with two stops in Canada. I hope you enjoyed my review. You can e-mail me at jmbocke@gmail.com

I wish I would have posted on this message board prior to leaving for New York. Instead I spent time reading bad reviews.

[LizaMM]

Thank you for your review!! I can't wait to see your pics!

 

I am glad to hear that you had a good vacation! I have never sailed a Spirit Class ship and I really appreciated your comments about the layout/size with the Glory. I have tended to gravitate toward the larger ships but after reading reviews (such as yours!) I am very glad that my next cruise will be on the Legend and I am really looking forward to trying the Spirit Class!!

[lhall85917]

There are some strange appetizers, but I’m a picky eater so some people might find them to be normal.

 

LOL! I feel exactly the same way!! I thought I was the only one! Thank you for your detailed review, it is so helpful when others share their experiences. :)

[SnowWhiteNYC]

I agree that the menu is sometimes a little "different" for a picky eater, which I am. Three nights I had grilled chicken that they brought for me because there was nothing else I was willing to try. It was always very good and very hot.

 

I found the desserts on Lido to be somewhat different from those in the dining room... :0)

 

Would cruise this ship again in a heartbeat. I enjoyed all the shows except the magician/comedian. Found them different enough from the 6 other ships we've done.

 

I think Trevor's vacation started with our cruise, not during :0)