Legend March 2nd - 9th Review & Pics

[ComfyBlueSocks]

What a great trip! This was my 2nd cruise (1st was 7 years ago on Carnival Sensation).

 

Hopefully this picture link works:

 

http://www.picturetrail.com/gid19318179

 

My email is comfybluesocks@yahoo.com if you have questions/comments

 

Quick highlights: Love the sushi at night, the chocolate melting cake was to die for and the early mornings running on the upper deck (around the mini-golf course) and enjoying the sunrises. I tried the spa showers they were okay but the room was more convienent to shower in and the iced tea was a pleasant surprise - always plenty of fresh lemon and Splenda! Honduras was one of my favorite ports and I felt safer there than Belize despite what I had read in some reviews - although I was hit on by some pre-teen boys wanting money and cereal from the ship. We enjoyed pineapple and cottage cheese every evening after the early-show (we took it from the Lido deck after we ate in the dining room for a late-night snack) and often snuck pizza or a deli sandwich later. French toast was great ... and YES, I love to eat!! :-) One night had 2 chocolate melting cakes, 2 soups and 2 entrees.... yummo! Ate it all but was stuffed... after that I stuck with one melting cake and one other dessert. (coffee pie was good)

 

As noted on another thread Carnival's picture system SUCKS. I put that on my survey.... they waste so much money printing out those pictures. (This is an example - amounts are rounded) They took upwards of 36 "formal" pictures of us and 15 others and printed them. We bought 4 formals .... The rest were thrown away. We would have paid $5 each for most them instead of throwing them away.... We spent $80 (4x $20). If the pictures had been $5 (they printed them out anyway - might as well get something for them!) we would have bought about 15 and 10 of the others that would have been $125 for Carnival and way more value for us without Carnival doing any more work than they did.

 

On to the more detailed review:

 

March 2nd - Boarding the boat: Great weather! We got up and ate breakfast then walked over to the grocery store for some snacks. We taxied over to the port. The driver was originally from Milwaukee. He told us how Tampa has grown in the last 10 years. Used to be only one or two cruise ship and now there are many more. Although he's been in Tampa for years he has never cruised himself.

Security was easy and boarding was fast. By 11:30am we were getting on the ship. We couldn't get into our room until 1:30pm so we had time to walk around the ship and eat lunch. Lunch was roast beef and baked white fish for me and a bite of chicken marsala. Rich had a nice salad and some apple cake. I had key lime pie for dessert.

There was no more topless deck - but a nice mini-golf course instead. We found the spa and sauna and the iced tea. The iced tea wasn't as bad as the reviews made it seem it would be. Splenda too and lemons!

Once we were in our room our luggage arrived quickly. There was plenty of room for our clothes and for our personal items in the bathroom.

The muster drill taught us how to put on our life jackets and where to go in case of emergency, thank goodness we didn't need i t! The coast guard gave us an escort until we reached international waters.

We changed clothes prior to the muster drill so we were ready for dinner. Our table was 231 and despite a slight mix up the first night we were thrilled with our table! Our table mades were Isabel and Jerry celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. They are from Ontario, Canada. Our waitress was from Ukraine.

Dinner was great and included cream of aspargus soup, shrimp cocktail, rack of lamb, New York Strip with peppercorn sauce, creme brulee, black forest torte and CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE. (yes, I ate three desserts)

No early show tonight so we took a dip in the hottub and relaxed for a while. (I got a free foot massage!). Aferwards Rich watched Big Brother and I worked off those three desserts from dinner. We snacked on Reubens and pineapple!

 

March 3rd - Fun Day at Sea.

 

I woke up early and went out to take sunrise pictures and exercise then I gathered Rich and we ate breakfast.

Rich forgot to sunscreen his face and as we laid out he turned into a lobster. We spent the day relaxing. The water was so blue and beautiful.

We learned more about our dinnermates. Their room was three doors down from us - we are in 1185 and they are in 1197. Isabel is a comptroller for a company that outsources to my company! Jerry is a minister and Isabel is as well. They have two kids Robert who is 19 and Danielle who is almost 16. They booked their cruise a year ago.

Dinner was formal night and we had multiple pictures taken on fancy backdrops. We could only afford about 4 of the 36 poses/backgrounds that were taken. They were $20 each for an 8x10!

Food was lobster, shrimp and prime rib. Rich had pasta. I decided to eat two chocolate melting cakes (if one is good then two is better, right??). Two chocolate melting cakes is too much! Soup was pumpkin soup and minestrone - I tried both and also tried the chile relanos.

The show was jazzy and full of half-naked women dancers.... hey, where were the men?!?

 

March 4th Grand Cayman:

 

French toast for breakfast! The wait to tender out to GC wasn't bad at all - the biggest wait was for the tender to fill up so we could leave.

We got on the early Moby Dick tour to see the stingrays and snorkel. We chose Moby Dick in part because the boat had a bathroom - which neither of us ended up using!

The stingrays were AWESOME!! Course like sandpaper on the top and slimey like a mushroom on the bottom. They brush past your legs and are pretty heavy. They act like eager dogs and come and greet you. I can see how people can fall in love with them. They are endearing in a way I usually don't feel about anything without fur. They like the squid - you hold it like an icecream cone and they suck it out like a vacuum. 7 years good luck if you kiss a stingray... but Rich still wouldn't do it! I did!

Then I went snorkelling while Rich took pictures of my butt and hat. He knew where I was because of my white hat. There is a whole world under those waters! We bought rumcakes after an expensive lunch (almost $40 US dollars for 2 sandwiches).

Dinner was teriaki beef ribs for Cindy and jerked pork for Rich. French onion soup and chocolate melting cake! The show was balancing and comedian.

Our cruise director is Jen Baxter. I think she has a ton of energy and was a lot of fun. Rich called up and had me play trivia with Jen and I won a 24-caret-plastic -ship-on-a-stick!!

Our Maitr'd was Yusef from KY - he was our "Turkish Delight" who danced and set a great example for his staff. HELLO..........

Our room steward did his job on a basic level - we had chocolate on our pillows and towel animals. He kept ice in the bucket, but didn't give us clean glasses to drink from!

 

March 5th - Cozumel.

 

We were docked in Cozumel so we didn't have to get off the ship until 10am.

After a lot of searching and some negotiating we got a cab for $40 that was ours for 2+ hours to take us to the ruins.

We learned from the taxi driver that San Gervasio was a site dedicated to the Mayan goddess Ixchel ("She of the Rainbows"), deity of midwifery, fertility, medicine and weaving.

These ruins were bigger than we expected and we encountered several igaunas along the way - one of which hissed at me! Rich took a picture of me with the hissing igauna and he took several other nice pictures of them as we were walking.

Back on the boat we watched the drunks stumble in with a nice gentleman from Virginia named Hardy who recommended the Atlantis Submerine tour if we ever get back to Cozumel.

 

March 6th - Belize 6 months until our wedding!

 

Today we got up early. We rode on one of the first tenders to Belize. We tender far offshore here because the water is shallow from the reefs. Belize has the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world.

The path we followed with the ship is thought to be an old (now) underground river bed. Belize is the only English speaking colony in central/south America because English pirates settled it. 1/3 of the population of the countery of Belize live in Belize City. 70% of the land in uninhabitec.

Our cave tubing tour with was Reggie and we picked up our guide, Jemiah , at the side of the road after seeing one of only three stop lights in the country of Belize.

Jemiah and Reggie were awesome! We had to drop into the river after a great hike. The water chilly but felt wonderful since we were hot from the walk.

We linked together and Jemiah did a great job of keeping us moving and away from crowds. The bathrooms were much nicer than expected and we stopped at the local store to buy cashew wine!

Reggie's tour goes through 2 caves and open water float - the cruise line tours don't do that.

 

March 7th - Honduras

 

Hot! THe first impression was that Honduras was our favorite port to pull into. Built on the hillsides the Isla of Roatan is beautiful! The port itself was under major construction. You can see in a few years the port will be booming. The port we pulled into will belong to Celebrity (and its cruise lines). Carnival is building a port 3 miles away in Coral Cay.

Nola was our guide for our only Carnival purchased tour. She said the island is prosperous because of tourism. She was very thankful for the foreigners and said without them most of the island would still be without electricity and modern convienences.

She was very proud of her country's "big beautiful" airport. Isabel and I shared a smile when we drove by this "big beautiful" airport and realized how small it really was - and built out of concrete blocks. We would never have told Nola that O'Hare is probably 10x as big.

We stopped to learn about the Garifuna people. In 1635 two Spanish ships carrying slaves to the West Indies were ship-wrecked near St. Vincent. The slaves escaped and were welcomed and protected by the Carib Indians. Their intermarriage formed the Garifuna people.

We got a chance to learn the dances set to symbolize how the escaped slaves hid their faces and dressed as women to avoid being recaptured. The Garifuna people still make up 30-40% of the population.

After learning about the Garifuna people we toured the mangroves. The mangroves are important to the islands becuase they act as filters between the fresh and salt water.

An evil monkey was near the boat launch and jumped on me! There were also parrots in the trees and crabs living in the mangrove roots.

That night was our second formal night and also the "gala" midnight buffet.

 

March 8th - Fun Day @ Sea

 

This was our only really rough day at sea. We never got any rain (that I saw) but the ocean was rough. They drained the pools and closed some of the upper decks.

We went to the debarkation talk after breakfast and enjoyed watching the curtains on the stage sway 3 feet in either direction. Isabel had to get up and leave because she was feeling so sick.

After that we walked around the ship, ate lunch, packed our bags and basically relaxed.

Dinner was quiet - our waitress was even sea-sick so our assistant waiter (Sydney from India) served us. One last chocolate melting cake! The wait-staff sang us a song and we made sure to get one last meal in. (Veal for Rich and I and Rich had a fancy orange souffle dessert while I had cappucino pie and choclate melting cake).

 

March 9th- Debarkation

 

We chose to do the non-self-assist because we were going to share a taxi with Isabel and Jerry and they could not carry their own luggage off because they are Canadian. We slept in, ate breakfast and lounged around until about 9am when we moved onto the promenade deck where we were off the boat by about 9:30 and had our luggage and were through customs by 10am. Not bad at all!

After getting our rental car we said good-bye to Isabel and Jerry and went to the Holocaust Museum. All the exhibits were touching, but there was a GREAT history of Pope John Paul II.

[reno3]

Thanks for the great review. We are going to the ruins in Cozumel also.

Can you tell me more about them?

Did you just get a cab at the pier?

If you don't mind...the cost of the cab?

Did the driver wait for you?

How long did it take to see the ruins?

Did you go on your own or hire a guide at the ruins?

[tinkerbell_82]

Thanks for the review and pics! That monkey did look pretty evil!

[jessandpaul]

Thanks for the review! I loved the slideshow.

 

We have booked Gerry for Cozumel. What did you think of his services?

 

Thanks!

[ComfyBlueSocks]

Hi Reno,

 

The taxi ride was $40 (they tried to get us to pay $60 but we talked them down).... the driver was great and I tipped him $10 so the total was $50. Cost us $6 each to get into ruins.

 

We had the taxi for 2.5 hours and we were at the ruins about 1.5 hours... we probably could have stayed there a bit longer but we were eager to do some shopping as well. The driver took us for a short tour of the island before we went to the ruins and waited for us while we walked the ruins.

 

We did NOT have a guide at the ruins... there was a group with a guide and we listened in a bit, but were more interested in going at our own pace. I suppose a guide would have been interesting to get the full history. I had read up on some of it and the taxi driver told us about some of the history as well.

 

They were larger and more spread out than I expected. Since I saw very little mentioned about them I thought it'd be a 20 minute visit... but we didn't even hike up to one site.

 

The gift shops have some....uh...graphic displays of the fertility nature of the ruin site. (ha)

 

Have Fun!

 

Cindy

 

Here is link to more San Gervasio Ruin pictures.... That is me posing in front of an igauna (they are all over the ruins!)

 

http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid19324677

 

 

 

Thanks for the great review. We are going to the ruins in Cozumel also.

Can you tell me more about them?

Did you just get a cab at the pier?

If you don't mind...the cost of the cab?

Did the driver wait for you?

How long did it take to see the ruins?

Did you go on your own or hire a guide at the ruins?

[ComfyBlueSocks]

Hi JessandPaul... I didn't use Gerry in Cozumel. I had a taxi driver named Pedro I picked up off the pier. He did a great job considering I was paying him to drive me to the ruins and he gave us a personal tour as well!

 

Have fun! We had a great time in Cozumel and on the Legend.

 

Cindy

 

Thanks for the review! I loved the slideshow.

 

We have booked Gerry for Cozumel. What did you think of his services?

 

Thanks!

[ComfyBlueSocks]

And I didn't post the truly evil picture.... here is the EVIL monkey on my shoulder!

 

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1182/3933036/19324895/309943177.jpg

 

 

Thanks for the review and pics! That monkey did look pretty evil!

[maxamuus]

There is a Holocaust Museum in Tampa?

[ComfyBlueSocks]

There sure is! It's supposedly one of the best in the country (behind DC). I haven't been to any others in the US, but it was a good way to spend a couple of hours.

 

It is family friendly as it doesn't have the pictures of the piles of bodies, etc like the European ones I have been to.

 

http://www.flhm2.org/?CFID=12403640&CFTOKEN=32034730

 

 

 

There is a Holocaust Museum in Tampa?

[maxamuus]

It is family friendly as it doesn't have the pictures of the piles of bodies, etc like the European ones I have been to.

 

Yeah i visited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp this last summer. It was a eye opener to say the least. I was shocked to learn is it was used for refugees threw the 50's. Then it was turned over to the Munich police department and they bull-dozed much of it in the 60's because it was a eye sore. I couldnt believe so much history could just be bulldozed.

[Missk226]

Hi my future husband and I were going to go on the Tulum tour but we were worrried about time constraints, etc. The ruins you mention seem to be a great compromise are they well known in the area? Meaning if we hail a cab they won't look at us like we're crazy when we ask for San Gervaiso right?

[ComfyBlueSocks]

I visited Dachau in highschool (about 14 years ago). It led me to take several history classes in college on the Holocaust and WWII.

 

The FL Museum is really good.... but I hear the one in DC is a "must see" if you like that era's history.

 

I am Catholic so I was surprised to find the AWESOME exhibit on Pope John Paul II. Really well done...

 

I like to balance any trip with a combination of relaxation (beach) , excitement (cave tubing, snorkeling with stingrays) and learning (Mayan Ruins, Holocaust museum,etc)

 

We even found not far from Tampa is a "Sponge" Mecca.... more sponges than I expected to see and we happened by it on our way to find Manatees!

 

http://www.tarponsprings.com/

 

 

 

Yeah i visited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp this last summer. It was a eye opener to say the least. I was shocked to learn is it was used for refugees threw the 50's. Then it was turned over to the Munich police department and they bull-dozed much of it in the 60's because it was a eye sore. I couldnt believe so much history could just be bulldozed.

[ComfyBlueSocks]

I would have loved to have gone to Tulum... but I am saving that for when I am not cruising and have to travel so far (it's a 7 hour trip and our ship was delayed because the ship's Tulum tour ran late!).

 

Yes... San Gervasio is well known on Cozumel by the taxi drivers. I didn't know that so I printed out this site:

 

http://www.mayasites.com/gervasio.html

 

And I took it with me and showed it to the driver (pointed to it) before I realized he spoke English really well and it probably wouldn't have been needed. (heh heh). :-)

 

You can see ruins - admittedly no where near as large as Tulum, but you also have time to shop, beach and/or booze if you'd like.

 

Have fun!

 

Cindy

 

Hi my future husband and I were going to go on the Tulum tour but we were worrried about time constraints, etc. The ruins you mention seem to be a great compromise are they well known in the area? Meaning if we hail a cab they won't look at us like we're crazy when we ask for San Gervaiso right?

[maxamuus]

Socks -

 

At the risk of really taking this thread off course just one good recommandation for you. If you ever find yourself in Amsterdam be sure to catch the Dutch Resistance Museum. i stummbled across it, but was a fascinating museum.

[ComfyBlueSocks]

Thanks... I will put it in my book of places to see! Thanks....

 

 

Socks -

 

At the risk of really taking this thread off course just one good recommandation for you. If you ever find yourself in Amsterdam be sure to catch the Dutch Resistance Museum. i stummbled across it, but was a fascinating museum.

[poptart]

I enjoyed your review! Excellent picture/slide show. Thanks for sharing.

[jessandpaul]

Thank you!

[krogerlady]

I loved your review!! I have read many many many on three different forums, and yours was by far the winner, and it wasn't even for my destination, Alaska!! You covered every point that a newbie might wonder about, it had the human angle, you talked about the food, and obviously you love the cake, and the pictures....and I love photography in general, you pictures were outstanding!! Now if I can only find a review like yours from the north passage on the spirit I will be in heaven!! Thank you again...and hey...its 6am, and I have a sore throat, so you made my day!!

Jayne

[TVMet]

Nice to hear Jemiah and Reggie in Belize are doing good. We used them twice and had friends use them once. It was a great time and a longer trip down the river than many tours.

[reno3]

Hi Reno,

 

The taxi ride was $40 (they tried to get us to pay $60 but we talked them down).... the driver was great and I tipped him $10 so the total was $50. Cost us $6 each to get into ruins.

 

We had the taxi for 2.5 hours and we were at the ruins about 1.5 hours... we probably could have stayed there a bit longer but we were eager to do some shopping as well. The driver took us for a short tour of the island before we went to the ruins and waited for us while we walked the ruins.

 

We did NOT have a guide at the ruins... there was a group with a guide and we listened in a bit, but were more interested in going at our own pace. I suppose a guide would have been interesting to get the full history. I had read up on some of it and the taxi driver told us about some of the history as well.

 

They were larger and more spread out than I expected. Since I saw very little mentioned about them I thought it'd be a 20 minute visit... but we didn't even hike up to one site.

 

The gift shops have some....uh...graphic displays of the fertility nature of the ruin site. (ha)

 

Have Fun!

 

Cindy

 

Here is link to more San Gervasio Ruin pictures.... That is me posing in front of an igauna (they are all over the ruins!)

 

http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid19324677

 

Thanks for the information. Tulum is just too long of a trip. We have a 13 yr. son and wants to see ruins. We are going to the SG and then to Paradise Beach. I will book the taxi for 2.5 hours also. That way we can take our time and then he can take us to PB and then we will get another taxi at the end of the day back to the pier.

Thanks again:D

[anaslile]

Loved your review!

 

Question: How difficult was it to get the early tenders? Like you, I have my own thing planned in Grand Cayman and Belize, and both want me to get early tenders. Did you just have to show your confirmation to the pursers and they told you where to go, or?

 

I can't wait, 27 days until I'm on board the Legend myself!

[mumofsons]

Reno3

I can highly recommend the Altun Ha Ruins in Belize if you are going to be on the Legend. Carnival has two or three different tours to these ruins. They are a smaller scale but very impressive. We did the Altun Ha and Wallace River tour and we saw the ruins, had lunch and then did the river tour which was very good - you see lots of monkeys, iguanas and crocs. We enjoyed it so much we are taking our 14 and 12 year old sons on it this year. once the tour is finished you still have time to do a little shopping as well.

[ComfyBlueSocks]

Hi,

 

We didn't have any problems getting off the boat...

 

In Grand Cayman we just went down when there was an announcement and we got in line. No one even asked….. Since we didn't have our Stingray tour (MobyDick) set up until later we weren't worried , although we ended up changing our tour to the early one because we were off the boat and there.

 

Belize we went to the Follies Lounge and told them we had a private tour -- we went to the lounge when they announced the Carnival Tours to meet (7:45am) they gave us a sticker and we ended up on the first tender.

 

We were not tendered in Cozumel although I hear some boats are at times because the Carnival Pier was damaged during hurricanes last year.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Cindy

 

Loved your review!

 

Question: How difficult was it to get the early tenders? Like you, I have my own thing planned in Grand Cayman and Belize, and both want me to get early tenders. Did you just have to show your confirmation to the pursers and they told you where to go, or?

 

I can't wait, 27 days until I'm on board the Legend myself!

[ComfyBlueSocks]

What a nice compliment! The "review" was copied from my daily journal I kept.... I figure 30 years from now it's the little fun things I will want to remember (like how good the french toast was or the way the Maitr'd greeted us every evening) more than the big things....

 

I am jealous you are going to Alaska! You'll have to post a review when you come back. Enjoy yourself!

 

Cindy

 

I loved your review!! I have read many many many on three different forums, and yours was by far the winner, and it wasn't even for my destination, Alaska!! You covered every point that a newbie might wonder about, it had the human angle, you talked about the food, and obviously you love the cake, and the pictures....and I love photography in general, you pictures were outstanding!! Now if I can only find a review like yours from the north passage on the spirit I will be in heaven!! Thank you again...and hey...its 6am, and I have a sore throat, so you made my day!!

Jayne