Legend Review 8/16 - 8/24

[KellyGA]

We are going on the September 18 Legend cruise and will be in St. Thomas on Thursday, September 21. I was planning on booking with Godfrey tours but am now concerned after reading your experience. ALSO, I can't tell the difference between Tour 1 ($25) or Tour 2 ($20). We were in St Thomas many years ago and are not that interested in shopping. We were hoping for a tour that would go around the island and show us (or re-show us) all of the island highlights. However, I'm not sure that the Godfrey tour does this. Can you let me know and if you think they'd be reliable (or anyone else reading this)? I'll try to bookmark this page (found it by accident). I definitely check the roll call thread for Carnival Legend's Sept 18 sailing. Thanks so VERY much!!!! AK

 

Let me start by saying that this was my second time on the Legend and it was an awesome cruise. That being said, here's my review:

 

Embarkation (Weds., 8/16) My DH worked until noon. I picked him up and we drove into Queens and parked at my brother's house. Car service picked us up at 1:15. We were at the pier a few minutes before 2. The pier was not crowded at this point. We had no trouble getting a porter who took our stuff immediately. There was no line for security and a small line to check in. We were on board by 2:30 pm. We went straight to our room. Drop off our stuff and went up to the Lido deck to have lunch. The Unicorn Cafe was busy, but not too crazy. We found a seat by the windows and ate. We had a drink and wandered around on deck. After the muster drill we met up with our fellow Cruise Critic members by the Avalon bar, aft. Don't remember the exact time, but we left port a little late. Awesome to sail out of NY Harbor. Weather was perfect. We went back to our cabin and by 7 pm all of our luggage, including the rolling cooler had arrived! Went to the liquor tasting in the gift shop and bought our Amarula. We had late seating for dinner, table 162. We had a great wait team and another couple to share our dinner with. With that being said, didn't love the location of this table. All the way in the back, and right over the motor. Made the dining room more noisy than ever. Maitre'D was great. The Welcome aboard show was okay. Not the best I've seen. The comedian, David Sayh was also just okay. Went to the Casino and closed it at 3 am.

 

First Sea day (Thurs., 8/17): Slept through all the breakfast options until 12 noon. Didn't miss much as we had some light rain. Ate lunch in the dining room - great ribs! Went to the Champagne Auction, stayed for about an hour and left. Champagne was good and the female auctioneer was good. Went to the shops for the Tanzanite giveaway. Didn't win :( Went up on deck and read for awhile. Not hard to find a lounge chair as long as you didn't want to be right by the pools. Captain's cocktail party was okay. The hors d'oeuvres were passable. Music was nice, we actually went up on stage to dance. Captain Volpi was funny and charming. My DH ordered 3 lobster tails and our waiter brought them one right after the other. I ordered grilled chicken (which wasn't on the menu).Take II was wonderful. All four singers were great! The late night comedy was David Sayh again. He was funnier R rated, but still not great. Closed the Casino again. :0)

 

Second Sea day (Fri., 8/18): Slept through all the breakfast options again. Ate lunch in the dining room. Beautiful day! Went up on deck. Again, no problem getting a chair as long as you didn't want to be right by the pool. Watched "Fear Factor" and the Ice Carving demonstration. Could miss the former, loved the latter. Met up with Cruise Critic buddies again :0)! Back out for more sun. Went to Karaoke, not the auditions for Legends, but just plain, old Karaoke. Great time. The guy leading Karaoke was great! Dinner was great - Showtime was Trent Webb singing country and a female magician, Becky Blaney. He was really good, she was okay, a better comedian than magician. Went to Medusa's Lair for 70's and 80's night. It was packed. Had a blast!

 

San Juan (Sat., 8/19): Had a beautiful partial sea day. Arrived in San Juan about an hour early. Had no trouble getting off although it was crowded. Took a taxi to El Morro ($7). We were at El Morro well before 3 pm. Couldn't get all the way there as there was a religious music festival going on. That was actually kind of neat. Thousands of young kids into music and Jesus, all having a great time and not causing any trouble. A feel good experience! Loved El Morro. Beautiful vistas...interesting history. Walked down to San Cristobal. Got there just before closing so didn't get to look around much. Did our own walking tour of old San Juan and went back to the ship for dinner. Dining room was empty so we were able to eat quickly and head back out. Went to Senior Frogs. We weren't as enthralled with SF as we had been in Cozumel. Stayed about an hour and headed back to the ship. Sail away deck party and Mexican Buffet were fun, but a little crowded.

 

St. Thomas (Sun., 8/20): Actually made it to breakfast on the Lido deck. Had book Godfrey Tour #1. Was picked up by Timothy, not Godfrey, at 9 am and went into Charlotte Amalie. Spent 2.5 hours shopping. Sales people even more agressive than I remember as we were the only ship in port that day. Timothy picked us up at 11:30 to bring us back to the ship for lunch. We were told to be back out on pier for pick up at 12:30. We ate on the Lido deck, which was a little crowded, but not too bad. We were back outside at our pick-up point at 12:22. Timothy never came back to get us. And he had already taken our money. By 1:15 all attempts to locate him or Godfrey had failed. It was during this time that we discovered that Godfrey does not drive on Sundays, even though he booked us for a Sunday. He had "given" our booking to Timothy, a friend of his. Another driver, Roy, felt badly for us and took us on an abbreviated tour of the island for free. When we got to Coki Beach, there was Timothy. My DH confronted him, listened to his story, and got our money back, including tip. We then paid Roy. We had about 1.5 hours at the beach. It wasn't too crowded and the water was great! Paid a dollar to use the restrooms and changing areas of Coral World. Back on the ship by 5:30. Got cleaned up and went to Kamikaze Karaoke at 7. It wasn't that great. Wonderful dinner again and then on to Singin' With the Big Band with Christopher Alan Graves. This tribute to Sinatra and Sammy Davis was terrific. Followed up by the Late Night Adult Comedy of Greg Ray. He was funny!

 

Tortola (Mon., 8/21): Beautiful day. We went with Firsttime Cruiser and her DD to Patouche Charters in Road Town by Taxi. We were there by 8:30. Very easy off the ship. Joe met us, got us fitted with snorkelling gear and we headed out, just the 4 of us and Joe on the Oil and Water. WOW! What an awesome exprerience! He pointed out highlights and history as we headed to Virgin Gorda. Turns out his aunt and uncle live across the street from me! We got to the Baths just a little after nine. We tendered and swam to shore (maybe 25 yds?) We had a private tour through the Baths long before the crowds from the ship arrived. We swam back to the boat, got our snorkel gear on and Joe gave us a snorkel tour, pointing out and identifying different species. Fantastic. All this and beverages for $60. Would do it again in a heart beat!! Best excursion of the cruise. We sailed back to Road Town and walked back to the ship, shopping a little along the way. Back on the ship by 1:30. Went up to the Lido Deck for lunch. Definitely the most crowded day up there. Everyone back on and eating at the same time. A little tough to find seating. Lines were pretty long as well. Got cleaned up and did some wandering around the ship. Some more deck time during sail away. Past cruisers party was okay. Same video as we have seen. Not that many people walking around serving drinks and appetizers however. Carnival Legends show was packed. We got there at 10:15 and had trouble finding a seat. We sat all the way upstairs. The show was very good. We knew Elvis, so that made it even more fun.

 

Third Sea Day (Tues., 8/22): Missed breakfast again. Beautiful day! Did Belly dancing with Pip on Lido deck, that was fun! Met up with Cruise Critic buddies at Avalon bar again. Got into the hot tub and pool on Lido deck aft (adults only). No kids. Sheer heaven. Second formal night - picture taking venues were crowded. Dinner was great! The Jazz Hot show was fantastic. Late night adult comedy with Will Marfori was very funny. We went to take pictures of the Grand Gala Buffet and later went back just to get desserts.

 

Fourth Sea Day (Weds., 8/23): Missed breakfast again. Light rain plaques most of the day. Played Bingo for the first time and lost, of course! Follies stage tour was good, but not really a tour. It was more of a Q&A, but interesting. Did the Austin Powers dance class for the 4 th time. You'd think I'd know the stupid dance by heart by now! :0) Met with CripCruiser and her DH on their huge balcony for drinks. Weather got nice by late afternoon, so we went back up to the adult only pool and hot tub and spent several hours in relative solitude. Heavenly! Last dinner was sad. Got a little teary eyed during the song. Went to pick out our photos (it was packed!) Finally went to pack so we didn't make it to the Talent Show.

 

Debarkation (Thurs., 8/24) Got up at 7:30 and got dressed. Went to dining room (finally made breakfast). Crowded but we didn't have to wait at all. Back to our room to gather our stuff. Headed downstairs at about 9:30. The self assist people were leaving in droves. By 9:45 they were all off. Then they let the non assist people off without calling luggage tag colors. We were right there and off by 9:45. We had a porter and our luggage before 10 am. We were in a cab by 10:05 and back to Queens by 10:45. Easiest debarkation I've ever experienced.

 

Cruise Director: Trevor Block - okay but not visible.

Social Hosts: Jen, Marc, Arthur and Pip - more visible than Trevor

Our room steward and wait staff were outstanding. Room was great and in a good location. Lots of kids and teens on board, but we were not once bothered by or annoyed by them. Seemed to be fairly under control.

 

Loved this ship, adored the people we met, and would sail the Legend again in a heart beat. I'm jealous of those of you with upcoming cruises on her. Enjoy!

 

Any questions? I'd be happy to respond.

 

Debarkation: