Legend - My long review

[jpmaximus]

Day Three- Grand Cayman!

 

We woke at the crack of dawn (actually I think it was pre-dawn!) to get off the boat first thing. We made it off around 7:30 and realized it was only 6:30 AM their time. Oops. We hung out for half an hour not really knowing what to do because nothing was open. At 8 our time stores started opening and we started shopping! We bought the standard tourist stuff and made our pictures made with a set of parrots not far from the port (and they bite, be careful!). We found a great store near the bakery that was the second floor of a concrete block building on the opposite side of the ocean. They have free calls to the US and free internet!

 

Our shore excursion for the day was the Rum, Reef and Rays tour through Native Way. It was $45 each and a lot of fun. They picked us up at 8:30 their time and we got back just in time for the last tender. We took a short bus ride to get on our boat. We really liked that there were only 25 or so people on the small boat for the tour.

 

Our first stop was on the stingray bar. We were the 3rd or 4th boat there and many more came. We each held a small stingray (male, about 1.5 feet across) and the braver ones held the females that were 3-4 feet wide. I had one chase me around the area and try to give me a hickie on my ribcage. So if your dog started barking around 11:00 am on Tuesday, that was me with my super sonic screech (I got back on the boat lol)

 

Snorkling was fun, saw a few fish, took lots of pictures with an underwater camera. Will post pictures later on if any turn out. They also took us to Rum Point beach to a little club there that was nice and quiet. Lunch is included in the price, you should get the blackened mahi mahi, it was very very good!

 

Back on the boat we were dead tired and slept until it was time to get ready for dinner. (BTW, all the Grand Cayman pictures are on her camera, I'll have to do a separate post.)

 

Food time! We had the black bean soup and cold cumber soup. Michelle said the black bean was pretty good, and the cucumber one was a little weird, more milk than cucumber.

 

Sushi Sampler - pretty good, better than what the cart offered

 

Chicken Quesedia (sp??)- pretty good

 

roasted chicken with the white sauce, very good

 

This is either the perch, the snapper or the mahi mahi - it came with a little bread bowl of tomato sauce that I didn't care for. The orange sauce was really good.

 

Our tablemate's samon (notice how she offered her plate for a picture? they knew me well!) She said it was really good.

 

Oops, out of picture space..will continue in another post.

 

I had the Salmon my last night onboard the Legend. It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!

[TanIslandGirl]

Hi Kim,

I will be here waiting for more pictures and more of your review:) .

We will be cruising on the Legend Feb '08 for the first time .

Sounds like you had a great time, cant wait to see & hear more from you.

[mossrelief]

Hi Kim & Chris,

Love the pictures Kim! I didn't even think of photographing the food. Been really busy since we got back - can't believe I haven't downloaded my digital photos yet, but did drop off 35mm rolls and disposable water cameras yesterday and will try to post some pictures in the next few weeks, after I get caught up.

 

How did you all like your cave-tubing excursion? We did the cave-tubing excursion through Carnival and had a great time. In fact, we did all our excursions through Carnival and loved every one.

 

In Grand Cayman we did the Aqua Boats/Snorkeling which was FANASTIC! Mucho fun speeding around in the 2-seater boats and snorkeling around the Cali shipwreck!:D

 

Then we did Tullum in Cozumel. Fun taking pictures and took our suits and went swimming on the beach there. Was kinda surreal swimming with a view of the ruins. Wouldn't you know that would be the day I forgot to take a water camera.:(

 

As I said, went cave-tubing in Belize, and of course, took a ton of pictures.::D

 

Then did Kohunlich in Costa Maya, which was also a wonderful photo op.:) The site was much larger than I expected. Bus ride was a bit long but it was worth it and got to see a lot of the countryside.

 

Loved the ship and food. Had a cat. 11 suite with a whirlpool which was great for sore feet at the end of the day. All around a GREAT VACATION!!!:D

[jixjix6305]

Inquiring minds want to know...

does the legend still have the garfield slot machine that plays music, which you can hear when the casino is closed? The tune is stuck in my head...

[DqALEX]

Thanks for your review. I liked the Legend a lot. I felt it wasen't over the top like the Miracle

[cantwaitforvacay]

Thanks for the great review...please post more! I'll be on the Legend on SUNDAY and I'm soooooo excited!

We are also taking the Rays Reef and Rum point tour and I'm worried about getting back on time. I guess there won't be time for shopping afterward? I really want to get some rum cakes...but would I have to carry them all day if I shop in the morning? Do you think they will deliver to the ship like they do with liquor?

[jmkoilers]

Keep that review and pics coming, we leave this Sunday and cannot wait!! Great to hear that you had a fantastic time and hope you left us some food. The photos really look great! Looking forward to enjoying a week of sun and fun, oh yeah food and drink too!! Thanks for your review.:D

[StarWarsGal]

Great!!!! I really enjoyed reading about your trip. Thanks for sharing your pics. My first cruise will be on the Legend on 8/26. I can't wait.

 

I have notice a lot of you are going before August. Please make sure to let the rest of us know how your trip goes. :rolleyes:

[beachlover02]

We are going in Jan 2008, do you have any pics of the rooms

[CBussey64]

Please post a link to all 900 of your pics ... I'm a picture - a - holic and taking our first cruise on the Legend March 08 and would love to see them all. Great review, keep it coming. :D

[Stircrzy]

I wasn't planning on the Legend...but now I might!

 

Great review and photos, keep 'em coming!!

[cruisebie]

Man! All these pictures sure are hard on the pre-cruise diet! I hope you don't post one of the warm chocolate melting cake or I might just lose all control and book the first ship out! Oh well, I guess I will just have to think of this as the reward at the end of my dieting road. :D

 

Great review and absolutely wonderful pics! Keep 'em coming! Can't wait to hear the rest.

[WeatherGeek]

Please post a link to all 900 of your pics ... I'm a picture - a - holic and taking our first cruise on the Legend March 08 and would love to see them all. Great review, keep it coming. :D

 

Ditto, pictures please :D

[dallas52]

we are leaving sunday the 13 also, great review but was wondering if u can recall the store where u can call the US froms name? thanks love the pics also:)

[neatokimmo]

You really need to keep on your tour guide for the RR&R tour. When I say we were on the last boat, we were one of the last 5 people back. I had a fantastic time on the excursion but that stressed me out!

 

Thanks for the great review...please post more! I'll be on the Legend on SUNDAY and I'm soooooo excited!

We are also taking the Rays Reef and Rum point tour and I'm worried about getting back on time. I guess there won't be time for shopping afterward? I really want to get some rum cakes...but would I have to carry them all day if I shop in the morning? Do you think they will deliver to the ship like they do with liquor?

[neatokimmo]

I'm trying to reply to all the posts that have questions, if I skip someone just ask again!

 

We were in an inside cabin, number 7265. Here are the pictures before they spilt up the beds. Once they were spilt they put one on each side of the wall and put the nightstands in the middle so you had plenty of room to walk in the middle.

 

Something I liked about the bathroom, no ceramic tile. Dirty grout lines make me wonder what is making it dirty. Even though this bathroom reminded me of a fancy camper I liked it.

 

The shower:

 

 

The toilet, it was angled:

 

The sink - I loved the shelves all around the mirror, plenty of space for 2 girls worth of bath junk.

 

 

The room before they spilt up the beds:

 

 

Three closets, 2 hanging ones, 1 of shelves. There was also a mini fridge cabinet thing that held the TV and safe plus a desk that you can't see in the pics.

 

 

 

 

 

We are going in Jan 2008, do you have any pics of the rooms

[neatokimmo]

I asked my friend and she couldn't remember the name of it either.

 

Off the boat, walk across the street to the shopping center. Turn left and start walking towards the bakery. I think it's right before it. There is a large sign that says the best store is upstairs or something like that. It will be on your right and it was the only store I saw in that direction that was on a second floor. I hope that helps!

 

Here are 5 more pics, I don't have the web space to host all 900 so I'm having to pic and choose.

 

More stair-art:

 

Looking into shopping area:

 

 

more stair-art

 

one of the pools

 

 

another pool pic

 

 

 

 

we are leaving sunday the 13 also, great review but was wondering if u can recall the store where u can call the US froms name? thanks love the pics also

[neatokimmo]

Day Four - Hooray it's Cozumel!

 

Have I mentioned yet how much I love Cozumel? I don't know what it is, I just like it a lot.

 

We took a $14 taxi to Mr Sanchos first thing off the boat. We were the 3rd & 4th person there and it was pretty quiet all day. This place has great chips/salsa/guac/margaritas and it's about the same price as Applebees.

 

The BEST part of Mr Sanchos was something I wasn't even expecting. Hurricane Wilma washed out quite a bit of the beach and exposed a couple of large rocks 3-4 feet from shore. Around those rocks, TONS of fish, all sizes/colors, little, big, blue, yellow, pink, turquoise, black.....all kinds. I am waiting to hear from Kitty (from roll call, hi Kitty & Matt!) she took all sorts of underwater pictures. You could literally just float face down (with goggles, they have them in the stores) and just watch them swim around. Oh and they LOVE leftover chips and squished up. It was a great time.

 

About Mr Sanchos, they have a nice building that you can change in and they also have fresh water showers. There is a pool, I do not know if it was fresh water or not, it looked nice. There is a full resturaunt and bar. You can eat at tables on the beach that have umbrellas over them if you don't want to eat inside. If you look at the margarita menu, I had the one on the bottom left of the list. It looked like applesauce, it was really good!

 

If you are looking for something unique to buy, there is a painter in the Mr Sanchos shops that paints 11 X 14 ceramic tiles for $30. It's a great item, I wish I had got one too. They also have blankets 2 for $5, not the good type that you'd use on the sofa but great for kitty beds.

 

And here is one tip that I didn't remember reading on cruise critic. BRING PACKING MATERIALS!

You need to bring 11 X 14 bubble mailers (Walgreens runs specials for less than $1 each all the time) for tile and art that can break. To keep them from being picked, I packed both my formal dresses in the bubble mailers not knowing how handy they would be later on. I also had tons of foam wrapping from an entertainment center I had just bought that I had crammed in the corner of luggage to keep things from bouncing around. It was great for my shells and wooden pieces. But I wish I had brought a flatten US Priorty Mailer box to slip my free art pieces from the auction in. They made it ok but my freebie placemat picture of the boat got a little warped.

 

I only had my camera on the boat, so here are some far away pictures...look at the pretty water!

 

 

 

 

leaving...sniff sniff

 

 

and later that evening...

 

[cuyahoga11]

OMG, you have me salivating. Keep it coming

[neatokimmo]

Day Four - night time

 

Dinner time! We had fried shrimp and they were very similar to Long John Silver shrimp. I did not like the sauce it was very strong but the shrimp were ok.

 

 

I order another fish dish, this is also either snapper, mahi mahi or perch. It's whichever one came with the fried veggies. VERY good!

 

 

Michelle had the veal and she said it was good:

 

 

One of our tablemates had the veggie meal that night (sorry can't remember the name) and she ordered something else. It did look pretty gross close up:

 

 

We both had key lime pie, not the best I've ever had but I liked it!

 

 

Sorry no pics of the choco melting cake, I think I'm the only one who doesn't like it. I don't eat cake batter either, it's a raw egg creepy-out-ness.

 

That night was the juggler, he was a hoot. He was this little guy who moved so fast all my pictures of him are a blur! He used pins, rings, things like that. Afterwards I think this was the comedian night. He was funny but not dirty (42 4 letter words in a row isn't funny to me) so that was good. We also hit the casino (of course) and called it a night.

 

More tomorrow, I have to head to bed, I hope you all aren't tired of me, I have three more days to go.

[GreytRacer]

You're killing me! :eek: I have over 3 months before my Legend cruise!

 

Keep 'em coming! I love this thread! :D

[sln88]

That night was the juggler, he was a hoot. He was this little guy who moved so fast all my pictures of him are a blur! He used pins, rings, things like that. Afterwards I think this was the comedian night. He was funny but not dirty (42 4 letter words in a row isn't funny to me) so that was good. We also hit the casino (of course) and called it a night.

 

Are there any of the shows that would be ok to take a 10 and 13 yr old to? A juggler sounds safe enough, but you never know. Or, is there an age limit for these things. Our only cruise with the kids had Disney shows, so that was ok to do with them

[TakeMeAway1001]

Kimmo~

Great review, I love seeing the pics. The ones that make it look like we were the only ones on the boat amaze my coworkers, they keep asking if I was sure the ship was sold out. It was nice to meet you and Shelle and I am continuing to say a prayer every night that you will soon have a little one in your arms :)

[m steve]

does anyone remember the cigarette and liquor prices on the ship? Could you post what you remember or what you bought. Interested in scotch, vodka and rum.

[TakeMeAway1001]

Absolute Litre 2 for 19.99 which was very cheap compared to our prices here in MA. I also saw the Scotch my EX drinks (Glenfiddich) sorry don't know the spelling for $24.99 which he says was a great deal. That is all I remember off hand, I know the Cruzan Flavored Rums were super cheap too :)