Just Returned, Legend of the Seas

[itsanita]

I just returned today from our cruise. We were on RC, Legend of the Seas, Hawaii to Ensenada. I will write a review as soon as I get my breath (and my laundry done, the mail sorted etc.) But if anyone has any questions now, I will be happy to answer them. And I did save all the daily schedules.

[Murphy]

Know you are busy getting back to reality, but we leave on Saturday for the same itinerary. Can you answer these questions:
When was the muster drill?

Did you have a Meet & Mingle party, if so when and where was it?

What time did you get off the ship in Ensenada?

How long did it take to get to the airport from the port?

And finally, what was the procedure at the border? Did you have to claim all your baggage, or just your carry-ons?

TIA! and Aloha!

7 previous cruises, Hawaii on Legend scheduled May 2004, and Enchantment Oct 2004

[itsanita]

Be happy to help.

The muster drill was at 530pm on Sat, and we left port at 6pm.

The meet and Mingle party was at 5pm on one of the port days, I think it was Maui. We were very sorry, but we did not make it back to the ship on time.

Everyone had to be off the ship by 8am in Ensenada. The departure started at 5:45 am! If your transfers were through the ship, you were given a color code and time (depending on your flight and/or travel plans). When it was your color/time, you simply left the ship and boarded the same "color" bus. NO lines or customs in Ensenada. Very easy... If you were traveling independent, you could leave any time after the ship cleared (around 5"30 am), but if you were still in the port by 8am, we were told you would be escorted out of the port area by Mexican security.

We left the port in Ensenada at 6:30 am and were in the San Diago airport at9:40am. At the American crossing, we left the bus, all the luggage was taken off the bus, we each claimed our luggage and walked into the building, put it through the scaners and then went out the back door where the bus was waiting. The luggage was put back into the bus and we were on our way. We were asked if we were american, when we said "yes", they never even asked to see ID or our custom card that we had filled out. Took our bus 20 minutes..I timed it. Our flight was at 3:30 because of the horror stories we had heard about the border crossing. We were told to allow 6 hours. As it was, our wait was longer at the airport than it took to get there!!

Hope you have a great time, we sure did! We did everything we could possibly fit it the days while in the islands. Thank god for the 4 days at the end. We loved them! Gave us time to relax and truly enjoy the ship.

[spleen93]

Waiting for the review ... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Spleen

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[hardingk]

Thanks for the info. We are also sailging with Murphy next Friday. What activies/shore excursions did you do?

___________________________
RCL~Navigator 8/2003, Majesty 7/2003, Radiance 4/2003, Monarch 8/2002, Nordic Empress 8/2001
Celebrity~Century 7/2001 & 7/1998, Horizon 7/1991

Future Cruises:
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?q=Y&a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=1513051247&p=3"]Legend of the Seas 5/7/2004[/url]
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=3883087867"]Enchantment of the Seas 8/30/2004[/url]
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=2413078377&r=7333062777#7333062777"]Brilliance of the Seas 1/14/2005[/url]
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;5;7;18;00;00&timezone=GMT-1000[/img]
Till Hawaii on the Legend of the Seas!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;8;30;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Till Belize on the Enchantment of the Seas!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2005;1;14;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Till the Panama Canal on Brilliance of the Seas!

[Murphy]

Thanks so much Itsanita! You've calmed my border crossing nightmares! One more day of work and we are off to paradise for 18 days! Aloha and I'll post my review when we return!

7 previous cruises, Hawaii on Legend scheduled May 2004, and Enchantment Oct 2004

[itsanita]

Your welcome, we too were quite worried but it was not nearly as bad as we feared!

Hardingk, We did sooooooooo much. Pearl Harbor, North shore Drive, Blow hole, Diamond Head (don't need flashligh anymore and I did in flip flops without much trouble) Hanauma Bay, Chinatown, downtown, punchbowl, Road to Hana AND the Luau AND Halekala sunrise!!! and Iou needle (sp), Whale watching trip, Zodiac trip, Volcano N'l park, the winery , several Harley Davidson dealers and probaly much more that I can't think of at the moment. If you have any questions, just ask.

[hardingk]

Are the Harley Dealers located near the ships? We always get my nieces & newphew HD t-shirts when we are away, but sometimes we have a hard time finding the dealers.

___________________________
RCL~Navigator 8/2003, Majesty 7/2003, Radiance 4/2003, Monarch 8/2002, Nordic Empress 8/2001
Celebrity~Century 7/2001 & 7/1998, Horizon 7/1991

Future Cruises:
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?q=Y&a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=1513051247&p=3"]Legend of the Seas 5/7/2004[/url]
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=3883087867"]Enchantment of the Seas 8/30/2004[/url]
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=2413078377&r=7333062777#7333062777"]Brilliance of the Seas 1/14/2005[/url]
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;5;7;18;00;00&timezone=GMT-1000[/img]
Till Hawaii on the Legend of the Seas!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;8;30;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Till Belize on the Enchantment of the Seas!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2005;1;14;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Till the Panama Canal on Brilliance of the Seas!

[Murphy]

One last questions until I get to experience this myself... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

What was the weather like for the 4 days at sea?

7 previous cruises, Hawaii on Legend scheduled May 2004, and Enchantment Oct 2004

[itsanita]

As Mike mentioned, the weather on the last 4 days was very windy. I found it cool, but then I am from south florida. There were many folks sitting by the pool, but most had on sweat suites or were covered with towels or blankets. The first day was not so bad, but it got cooler as we went north.

The Harley dealers: Easiest one was in Hilo, on Hanoelehua Ave..that's the same street you take to go to Volcano N'l park, you will go right by it. The other one we visited was on the way to the road to Hana, again we passed right by it. I believe it was on rt 380 in Kahului. The one in Oahu was on the way to the North Shore in Kaneohe. A little out of the way.

[mustangmike]

Just a quick addition about the border crossing. We were on the same cruise, but a different bus. When we got to the border, a RCI rep. came on the bus and said he talked the border officials into letting our bus be able to leave the luggage on the bus, and just the passangers with their carry-ons to exit the bus and pass through the inspection area. This tells me that each bus might be a little different. It took about 10 minutes for our bus to pass over the border. Our bus left the ship around 6:30 am., and we got to the San Diego airport about 9:30. Our flight did not leave until 1:00pm, but while checking in, they offered to switch us to a 10:50am flight. It was the Amercan Airlines commuter to LAX, so I'm not sure if othger airlines will offer to do the same.

Also, I attended the Meet and Mingle. There was about 15 of us. It was in the Viking Crown lounge. Royal provided iced tea,lemonade, and some nice appetizers. There was no real organization to the party, just people talking among themselves. It lasted about an hour, and ended with several items raffled off. The assistance cruise director and another person from the ship attended, but had not idea what "Cruise Critic" was. They were under the impression that our purpose was to actually critque the cruise.

On more thing, I highly recommend not taking 800 speed film on the cruise. LAX and Royal insisted on putting our camera and film through the xray machines, even though signs stated it will damage 800 speed film. Our disposable water cameras were 800 speed, so besure and check before you buy. Also, Walmart offers an inexpensive 45 minute photo processing. At almost every port Wal-mart has a shuttle.

Mike