Legend will we like it?

[stjohnrocks]

I just booked this for Italy/Croatia next year. The itinerary looks perfect for what we want, mainly Rome, Venice, Florence plus I've heard Croatia is really nice. I am a little nervous about the size of the ship. We generally like larger ships. My favorite cruise to date was Enchantment (years ago before the stretch), my husband's is Adventure. We have 3 sea days. Several people recommended Millennium but it isn't doing the itinerary we want in 2008. Will we like Legend? Brilliance looks like a larger/newer ship but I didn't like the just one day in Rome. Legend starts/ends in Rome with two days in Florence and two in Venice! For anyone who has been on Legend did I make the right decision?

[JeffKoz]

Personally, we enjoyed the Legend this past spring...wish she was going to stay in Tampa because we'd be booked again (thankfully her sister ship Grandeur will be docked here in her place). she is smaller, but she is no more less enjoyable...

[Grumm]

I think yo'll like Legend just fine. My favourite RCI ship to date is Brilliance, but we had a great 14 nights last year on Legend. A good tip would be to sunbathe away from the pool area unless you are a confirmed reggae fan! The first couple of days were ok, but two weeks listening to "The Late, the great, Bab Marleee" songs played by the two-piece band EVERY DAY got a bit much....I suppose it would have been tolerable if they had supplied us all with some "Ganja" to get us in the mood!

 

Have a great time.

 

Alan

[MissLemon]

I think you'll really like the Legend. I have sailed nearly all over the world on her...Alaska, Med, Austraila, Hawaii and always had a wonderful time. Not until recently did we venture out try some of the larger ships - and I have to say I think I prefer the larger ones now. But if the right itinerary came along, I wouldn't hesitate to go on the Legend again. Your itinerary sounds awesome...have a wonderful time!

[Straughn]

We cruised on Legend during her first season in Alaska. At that time she was the hottest ship in the RCCL fleet because of the floor to ceiling windows in the dining room and the miniture golf course. We returned to sail on her, out of Tampa, this past New Year's. To us, she is still a wonderful ship-large enough to not seem crowded and small enough to make it easy to get around. Despite some negative comments I had read about her condition, we found her to be clean, well maintained and have a terrific crew.

[vacationhappy]

Hi -

 

I also have never been on the Legend but booked it for its awesome intineary. I really like the overnight in Livorno and Venice - Venice is spectacular at night when all of the day trippers leave. And I am excited that we are not going to feel rushed to leave Florence to catch the ship...we can actually fit in some "cafe time".

 

We have always sailed on larger ships but I think we are going to like a smaller ship for the Med. This will be our second Med cruise - on our first Med cruise, we were exhausted everyday after long days of touring and we all slept until noon on our two sea days! Also, the ship was fully booked so everything seemed crowded...in fact, we only saw one or two shows and the rest of the time we watched movies (we were on Princess). I just remember that sail away each evening was magical - we would sit out on deck with a cocktail just relaxing and taking in the sights. The ship served more as a traveling hotel and not as "the destination".

[sddsddean]

Our first ever cruise was on the Legend, so we have a bit of a soft spot for her. Beautiful ship, loads to do, the full height windows in the dining room really set it off and I think it had the best wait staff (all levels) we have had on any ship (this was back in 2003 though).

 

Simon

[seahags]

We just came off the Legend's other Med itinerary last week...we've been on most classes of RCCL ships...the Legend is Vision class and somewhat smaller, but nonetheless, very well maintained and a very friendly crew. We had a spectacular time on a fabulous itinerary!!! Have a great trip:)

[bullsfan]

We were on the Legend the last time it sailed out of Tampa before going transAtlantic. Even with the golf course being torn up the whole time (which never interfered with our cruise) it was a great ship! We found it beautiful, well maintained and very relaxing. The crew was constantly polishing and sprucing up so she always sparkled. I think you will have a great time.

[little britain]

have you read my review?? http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=29075

[Happy ks]

We're also booked on Legend next year, it looks like the same itinerary as you. We'll be on the Oct. 5th sailing, after the heat of the summer and the mob of tourists (so I hear :) ) has passed. It's our first Europe trip ever, so all I can go on is what I read and hear!

 

Originally we were looking to cruise on Brilliance, yet the itinerary of Legend cannot be beat. We're excited to see so many ports in Italy and the 2 in Croatia, especially the overnight stops.

 

We all thought about it, read about it and finally decided the itinerary was the important part of the trip, the ship will be taking a back seat this time. This cruise ship will really be more of a means of transportation this time around.

 

We have cruised on the sister ship, Vision and it was absolutely fine. Not as many bells and whistles as the newer, larger ship, but quite frankly we use so little of those things it really doesn't matter all that much to us. Also, given the port intensive itinerary, sea days will really be welcome to just be lazy days without the need for a lot of activity.

 

The Legend reviews have been mostly favorable, there are always some who can't be pleased, but that is just people ;) , you can talk to two different people on the same cruise and get two completely different stories.

[Happy ks]

Little Britian, I did read your review last week, it was very nice. We had almost the identical cabin on Vision this past Christmas in Mexico, we enjoyed it as much as you!

 

The itinerary is not quite the same, but I do envy you getting on the ship in Venice :) . It would have been lovely to arrive a few days prior and then stay in Rome a few days after the cruise. As it stands now, we'll probably do a couple days in Rome on either end of the cruise...not a bad plan either!

[stjohnrocks]

have you read my review?? http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=29075

 

Yes. It was a great review!

 

Happy Ks: We're going June 2, hopefully before the big summer crowds. We will spend some days precruise in Rome. I am looking forward to a year of planning:) excursions.

[IMNiles]

Wow, a thread about legend and our resident legend-booster, cruiser_carol hasn't shown up - haven't seen her around lately, hope everything is ok..

 

Anyway, we've sailed Legend twice and enjoyed both sailings. One was Western Caribbean from Florida and the other was just last week (same sailing as Seahags, above) in the med. You will get a wide range of opinions on the Vision class ships, and mine is that particularly on a port-intensive run like the med, you're not going to miss the extra 'amenities' on the larger ships. Plus, in my experience I have found that the smaller size of the ship allows you to forge a better relationship with the staff, resulting in generally better service. It's not that the service on the big ships is bad -- it's not -- I just find that when I get to know my bartenders, waiters, dealers, etc, I have a generally more positive experience. I like it when I can stroll up to a bar and the bartender knows my name, what I want, and remembers what we talked about last time.

 

The final proof of our fondness for Legend is that today I intend to book one of her exotic repositioning cruises to Asia in 2008. Maybe this will become an annual tradition - a sailing on Legend! :)

[seahags]

Dan, we've already booked the November repo from Rome-Dubai...are you considering that one?????????? I'd love to do the B2B on to Singapore and am mulling it over!!!!:D :D :D

[IMNiles]

Dan, we've already booked the November repo from Rome-Dubai...are you considering that one?????????? I'd love to do the B2B on to Singapore and am mulling it over!!!!:D :D :D

 

It crossed my mind, but that's 24 days and I'm not sure I could get that much time off without taking a sabbatical! We're fairly shocked by the air prices, but it looks like it could be done more economically with a roundtrip to Dubai and a one way shanghai->dubai. I'm waiting for my travel agent to call back so I can book - I was hoping for an aft, but I don't see any of those available right now.

[dam1050]

Sure sounds like a great itinerary!

 

We would definitely sail on the Legend again, having had a wonderful cruise on her back in May 2003 from Hawaii to Vancouver.

I wrote a review here on Cruise Critic -- if interested it's located at:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=1846