Legend Review 10/11/06

[haras]

Hello,

 

Just to give a little insight about who we are what type of things we enjoy on cruises. I'm Sarah, 30, he's 39 and this is my second cruise with Carnival, his first. We've cruised on Princess, Hal, NCL and Celebrity before. I think most issues are relative and if you go in with a good atitude, you're bound to have fun. Overall, the cruise was fine. I wouldn't give carnival glowing reviews, but I don't have a complaint either. I'm happy to answer any questions but please be forwarned that we attended this cruise with a poker group (i know how most hate groups) but I get so much information from the boards, I like to try to help others when I possibly can. Since we were with the poker group, a lot of our on board time was spent playing poker. Although I heard there were 2000+ people on board, you would never know it. The only time I saw a crowd was right after the muster drill.

 

Embarkation: We flew out of LA on Jetblue the night before the cruise. Arrived at JFK airport around 6 am. We found our own transportation directly to the dock for $17/pp. We hung around the airport until 10 am and then took the transfer to the pier. Arrived at the pier around 11 am and the entire embarkation took about 1 hour. Maybe 1 1/2. They had signs stating what line to stand in based on your cabin number. We saw the sign relavent to our 6279 cabin and stood in that line. That was a mistake b/c after standing there for 40 minutes, we discovered that it didn't matter which line we were in and that ours was the longest line. So...if you see this sign just keep an eye out for the line that is the shortest. Upon boarding, we heeded the advice to steer clear of the main elevators and proceeded to the aft elevators directly up to the 6th floor. Our cabin, 6270, is a catagory 9A and is a bit larger than the standard balcony cabins. The cabin is spacious with PLEANTY of closet space. I would probably bring more hangers next time or pack less. :p There was just the two of us, and we we 4 huge suitcases! But at least you know that there is pleanty of space to store 4 huge suitcases as well as the unpacked contents of said cases! Our cabin steward, Mpika, from Thailand is a burst of sunshine. Very nice and humble. I can't say enough good things about her and her services. One thing I forgot to mention is that upon entering the ship, there is a representative from the supper club standing in the atrium area. We took this opportunity to book dinner 3 times there. It was the best food and service and well well worth 30/pp in my opinion. I would suggest booking dinner there for the second sea day b/c the first sea day is the first formal night and that night is also lobster night. So the 2nd sea day it was very very busy in the supper club.

 

Another tip about the formal nights is that if you enjoy getting dressed up and want to go to the spa/beauty salon, make the appointments early! I was disappointed to find out that I couldn't get a manicure on the 6th day of sea (in time for the 2nd formal night) because I called the day before and they were all booked up. So appointments are important. keep that in mind. But since that was probably my biggest disapointment of the cruise, I won't expect anyone to shed tears for me. We had a great time throughout the cruise.

 

Sea days: Day 1, 2, and 3 are full sea days. Crusing out of New York is amazing because you get so many sea days. we had 3 sea days, 3 consecutive port days to San Juan, st. thomas, and tortola and then headed directly back to NY for anther 2 days at sea. Because we were with our group, we didn't participate in any activities aside from the wine tasting ($15/pp) I learned a lot and thought it was a great deal. We tasted 5 different types of wine along with food and it was very informative. But I did notice people doing needlepoint, playing cards (bridge) and there were golf activities everyday. I never heard an announcement for bingo or any art auctions. I meant to play bingo on the last day because it's generally a larger payoff, but I forgot to look for it and never heard anything about it. I think the big money maker for the ship is the casino. There's only one word to describe the casino and that is HUGE. I've never seen a casino that large on a ship before. They are very friendly and you can use your sail & sign card to get money (not a good idea as it's too convenient!) and also use it to put money from the slot machines directly onto your player's bank. Very efficient.

 

The food: This is probably where I have the biggest complaint. I didn't care for the food in the dining room. We ate there a total of 2 times. Once on the day of embarkation for dinner, and the second time was the first sea day b/c I knew they had lobster. Everyday thereafter was spent in the supper club (3 days) and the buffet. Except for the day we were in San Juan, we ate out at port b/c we didn't have to come back until 11:30 pm. Everything at the supper club was SOOOOOOO GOOD. My favorite entree was the rack of lamb. So yummy and tender. The starters were also very good. Everything was good. It's a must try.

 

The shows: We only saw the adult comedian and he was funny. I heard good things about the shows. I just didn't have time to watch them.

 

The ports: We've been to all the ports at least twice. In san Juan, we just walkted around and went to senor frogs to eat. It was a muggy day and the sun wasn't out and it rained in the afternoon, so we just walked around went back to the ship, then came out for dinner and to buy some souvioners.

 

St. Thomas: We took a taxi to Coki beach and snorkled. When we arrived, we paid $20 for 2 loungers and an umbrella and spent the day there being lazy, drinking beer and snorkling. We brought our own snorkle gear but saw people renting some also. The water is cool and clear and the fish are plentiful. I saw one lazy bring out a bagel and the fish came to nibble from the bagel out of her hands. Very fun experience. We were in St Thomas on a Sunday and Charlotte amalie was closed. We didn't mind so much as we've been there, and didn't intend to purchase anything. So if you plan to go there to shop, make sure your ship doesn't go there on Sunday!

 

Tortola: We've been to the baths and initially intended to go again. But after a late night of gambling and partying, it was hard to wake up at 7 am. We managed to get out of bed by 9 and was off the ship by 10 am. Unfortunately, the ship makes you return by 1:30 and a trip to the baths is 2 hours of just travel time. So...we decided to take a taxi to brewsters bay to snorkle. It was a 20 minute ride out but it's a windy road and well worth the $9 charge/pp. We got some amazing pictures of the city. The day was a little muggy so the sun wasn't shining. It was still warm enough to swim, but the waters weren't clear so I didn't see any fish. Still...it was a nice day at the beach just relaxing. We rented 2 lounge chairs for $5/each and spend a couple hours there until we had to get back to the ship.

 

That's all I can think of for now. I'm happy to answer any questions and will post more if I can think of any advice to share.

 

Thank you to everyone who helped answer my questions and I hope you have safe and pleasent travels.

[DqALEX]

Thank You for your Review. Im cruising the Legend over new Years. I can't wait

[Cruise-Crazy]

Thanks for the review, I'm going on November 16th.

[haras]

The Legend is a beautiful ship. I'm sure you'll both have a wonderful time.

It's amazing how large the ship is. I remember waking up one morning at 9 am, going up to the lido deck to get some breakfast and seeing only a handful of people! The only time we encountered lines in the buffet was when they served bbq ribs for lunch. Other than that, the layout is such that they have 5 or 6 stations making it very easy to get through the lines quickly.

 

One thing I forgot to mention is how YUMMY the pizza is. My DBF ate at least 2 slices per day. Have fun, and if you happen to be on deck 6, tell Mpicka Sarah from california says hi!

 

Thanks!

[grammyandpoppy]

We are sailing Nov 24th on the Legend. I've gotten some good suggestions from former cruisers on the foods they enjoyed and I plan on ordering from their suggestions.

 

We did the Carnival Spirit to Hawaii in 2004 and loved the ship. I am looking forward to our cruise.

[Pianogrl]

Haras....do they have tables for 2 in the supper club? & can you request one of these?

[LizaMM]

Thank you for posting a review :) Glad to hear that you had a nice time!!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Haras....do they have tables for 2 in the supper club? & can you request one of these?

 

Yes - they have a few. Go up to the supper club on embarkation day, and spot out the table you would like to have. They will reserve it for you.

 

Tom

[lcs]

Hi Haras,

 

Glad you had such a nice cruise. We are booked on a HAL ship for the next poker cruise. I was wondering if you could tell me how many tables of poker there was, how many tournements and the cost of them. Does the group offere any excursions just for this group? Is there any free "giveaway" items from CardPlayer? We've never done this before. My DH is a good poker player and I'm a beginner. But we've always read that this is a fun and informative way to cruise and play poker so we thought we'd try it. Thanks for answering my questions.

 

Linda

[haras]

Hi Haras,

 

Glad you had such a nice cruise. We are booked on a HAL ship for the next poker cruise. I was wondering if you could tell me how many tables of poker there was, how many tournements and the cost of them. Does the group offere any excursions just for this group? Is there any free "giveaway" items from CardPlayer? We've never done this before. My DH is a good poker player and I'm a beginner. But we've always read that this is a fun and informative way to cruise and play poker so we thought we'd try it. Thanks for answering my questions.

 

Linda

 

Hi Linda,

 

Our group was small and only had 9 tables. 1 or 2 (1-2 nl), a omaha game, 1 (2-5 nl) 1 (4-8 limit) and 1 (5-10) limit. Our cruise was 8 days with 4 sea days, so we had 3 tournaments. a no limit, a limit and another one. I only played the no limit. They were all $230 buy in, no rebuys.

 

There weren't any excursions that were just for the group, but I would hear the dealers mention that they would meet at the cardroom before leaving the ship and they probably spent the day in town together. We didn't join them, but did end up seeing a lot of the card players when we ate at senor frogs. By the end of the cruise, I would hear some of the younger male dealers yelling "SAAAARRAAAH" while walking around the ship. It's really fun and I'm sure you'll have a great time.

 

Be sure to go to the sail away party. #1 there's free booze! They also give away cardplayer t-shirts & visors. There will be canapes and they'll speak a little. It's a perfect place to meet and mingle.

 

I know for your cruise, there will be 30 tables! Since it's mexico and leaves from san diego, lots of people go on this cruise. If you tend to play one game, you'll inevitably see the same people at your table night after night. This was our second card player and we've also been on 3 classic gaming cruises.

 

There will also be a party at the end of the cruise (more free booze!) Ever since we did our first poker cruise, it's all we'll do now!

 

Hope this helps!

[lhall85917]

thanks for the review - we will be on the Miracle with this same itinerary in June. We enjoy reading about what others did at each of the ports and about the NYC sailaway! :D

[Sandi149]

thanks for the review - we will be on the Miracle with this same itinerary in June. We enjoy reading about what others did at each of the ports and about the NYC sailaway! :D

lhall85917, when in June will you be going? Hubby and I are going to be booking the June 4th sailing of the Miracle. Leaving from NY is absolutely spectacular but I am a native NYer so for me it's not as special as someone seeing it for the first time. I see the Verrazano Bridge, NY Harbor and the skyline every day driving to work. :)

[lhall85917]

lhall85917, when in June will you be going? Hubby and I are going to be booking the June 4th sailing of the Miracle. Leaving from NY is absolutely spectacular but I am a native NYer so for me it's not as special as someone seeing it for the first time. I see the Verrazano Bridge, NY Harbor and the skyline every day driving to work. :)

 

We are on the 12th with the CC group - any chance you can switch dates and go with us??!! We have great prices and amenities and our group is just now starting to take off!! Should be lots of fun!

[Sandi149]

We are on the 12th with the CC group - any chance you can switch dates and go with us??!! We have great prices and amenities and our group is just now starting to take off!! Should be lots of fun!

 

Nope...can't switch.....the cruise on the 12th would interfere with my son's middle school graduation. But thanks for asking me. :)

[lcs]

this was very helpful. It really did and does sound fun and I'm looking forward to it. Our 2 favorites things at one time, cruising and poker. Maybe we'll meet up on one of the cruises as I have a feeling we may do another one! Thanks again!

 

Linda