Legend Review - Aug. 9-16

[caggfamily]

We just returned from the Legend. We've been on several other Carnival ships, but this was our first spirit class ship and I think it is my favorite. Not too big or too small.

 

FYI, my family consists of myself, my DH, and 2 DDs ages 13 and 11. We were traveling with my DH's sister, her husband and their DDs ages 16 and 17. All of us have cruised several times before.

 

We booked 2 extended balcony rooms (7195 and 7199) for the adults and 2 inside cabins across the hall for the kids.

 

Embarkation:

 

We stayed at the Marriott Waterside the night before our cruise. Very nice and close to the pier. We were able to see the Legend from our room. We caught a cab at about 10:15 Sunday morning and were in the terminal by 10:30. We had to wait in a short line and it took a bit longer than usual b/c there were 2 weddings on the ship that day and they had to let the wedding party/guests board first. We were in boarding group 2 and were on board shortly after 11:00.

 

We went straight to the purser's desk to get extra room cards for the kids and to get on the list to have our balcony divider opened. There were 2 people ahead of us when we got there, about 20 behind us when we left, so get there soon if you need to. It took a very long time to make extra keys and they only wanted to give us each one extra per room, but with some persuading, we were able to get two extra made per room so we could go back and forth b/w our room and the girls'.

 

We weren't hungry when we got on board b/c we had had large buffet breakfast at the Marriott so we wandered around and explored the ship. We walked by the deck where our cabins were but the door was still closed. We bought some drinks and purchased soda cards for the kids. When we did decide to get a bit to eat around 1:00, the lido deck was packed. Not everyone was eating, but they were hanging out in the a/c waiting to get into their rooms. Finally found a place to sit, ate and then went to our cabins around 1:30. I guess since we were among the first to board, we had all of our luggage by mid afternoon except for my teenager's suitcase. I told her not to worry, but since all of us had all of our bags, she still fretted. The rest of us unpacked and hung out on our balconies. Around 4:00 my daughter spotted her suitcase on a cart down the hall. My husband had securely attached all of the luggage tags with clear packing tape and zip ties, but somehow hers had still gotten ripped off. Fortunately, her name was on her luggage tag and someone had retagged it. Now that all of us had our luggage and had unpacked, we began to relax.

 

I've got to go but I'll write more later. Feel free to ask questions.

[Delta Dear]

Looking forward to the rest, thank you for posting.

[cjkumbaya]

Nice start to your review, we were on the Legend last November and really like the Spirit Class ships. Thanks for taking the time to share - looking forward to more.

[caggfamily]

Dinner:

 

We opted for first seating and had a nice table by a window in the corner on the upper level in the dining room. Our head waiter was Jayson and his assistant was Adhi. Both were great and efficient. The girls all liked to have Shirley Temples with dinner, but sometimes it's a problem getting quick service since the kids were using their soda card. However, we tipped our bar waiter Tude well throughout the week, and he always made sure the girls' drinks were waiting for them when we arrived. We brought 4 bottles of wine with us and bought a bottle one night. Jayson said he had to charge us the corkage fee the first night. After that he said as long as his boss didn't notice, we were fine so we didn't have any other charges.

 

Overall, the food was very good, and although there were some things no one liked (the cherries jubilee for instance), for the most part, everyone found things they liked. My older daughter ordered flat iron steak almost every night, and my younger daughter ordered some things off the kids menu (mostly desserts) but usually found an appetizer or pasta on the main menu that she liked. The chocolate melting cake was a hit and I enjoyed the capuccino pie. I also was fond of the chilled fruit soups!

 

We ate one breakfast in the dining room and again, everyone seemed to enjoy what they got. I had the eggs benedict and they were great.

 

We ate in the supper club one night to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. The supper club's atmosphere is fabulous, and as we ate at 6:00 and it was still light out, we had a nice view. The only problem was later because of the open floor plan, we heard competing music from the piano downstairs and the music they piped into the dining room. The $30 is a bit steep, especially for my 11 yo, but overall it was worth it. My biggest complaint actually was that the portion sizes were too huge! My daughters and I each ordered the filet mignon and I must say they were about 3 inches thick and huge! The 3 of us could have shared one and still had some left over. The lobster bisque appetizer was fantastic, much better than what was in the main dining room. My nieces had the lobster, which was presented stacked high on their plate. They definitely go to great lengths to distinguish what you get in the supper club from the main dining room. We had many servers, and each dish was visually arranged. In between one of the courses they sent out either a small asparagus soup or a small baked seafood dish with cheese. The kids and I really liked the seafood. We had ordered a birthday cake for my BIL so none of us was hungry for dessert but we ordered some anyway. I had a sampler with various chocolate dishes on it. The only one I remember was the tiramisu which was great. The chef also sent out some assorted truffles. We took those back to the room with the leftover cake and had them the next day - yummy! I felt bad not being able to eat more of the food in front of me but I enjoyed what I had - However, I was so full after dinner that I didn't even really want breakfast the next day.

 

First day at sea - later

[cyndij]

Thanks for your review on the Legend. We are sailing her in Nov. Were you able to get a cruise rate at the Marriiott Waterside? I would like to stay there, but online the prices are pretty steep.

[raytownlady]

Thanks for posting your review I am currently researching our next cruise and the Legend is one of the ships we're considering so I'll be anxiously waiting on your review.

[blue ray]

Thanks for the reveiw my husband and I are going in Oct. it is our 25th wedding ann. and we are going without our boys !!! We have been on 3 different cruise lines but never Carnival we cant wait . How did you get so lucky to get a window seat in the dinning room , I did ask for a table for 2. Our room is just down from yours, our room is 7227. Please post more!:p Marla

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Great review - keep it coming! I really like the Spirit class ships also.

[vdarrell]

We are booked in 7195 and 7199 in October(first cruise) were the cabins nice.

Do you have pictures?

Waiting to read more:)

[caggfamily]

First, to answer some of the questions. Regarding the Marriott, we did not get a special rate :( we chose it for the location and b/c my SIL was using Marriott points. I think we paid around $189 but it included full breakfast for the 4 of us.

 

As for photos, I must say I didn't take a lot. Since I've been on many cruises, I don't often take photos of the cabin. I may be able to find one or two of the balcony - I'll check. As for the extended balcony, let me just say that you appear to get an extra foot or so in depth. For two people I don't think it makes a lot of sense, but since there were 8 of us traveling together, when we had the divider open b/w the balconies, there was plenty of room for all of us to be out on the balcony enjoying a drink or playing a game. The cabin location was ideal. We were near the main elevators/staircase so it was a quick 2 flights up to the lido deck/buffet. I liked to go up in the morning, get my breakfast and bring it back to the room - fyi if you try this, order your coffee/drinks via room service so you don't have to schlepp drinks down the steps!

 

Back to the review - we went to the opening night show. I was afraid the kids would be bored but they got the audience involved and it was quite funny. As for the cruise director Jen, she was just okay - told the same tired jokes and didn't really offer anything new or special.

 

First sea day - kids slept in. I slept with the curtains open so I wouldn't sleep too late. I got up about 8:30 and had some peace and quiet on the balcony for a bit. Nothing really eventful. My 13 yo went on a scavenger hunt with her kids club and her group won. My 11 yo checked out her club but wasn't interested and my teenage nieces never go to the teen club, so we spent most of the day by the pool and waterslide.

 

Grand Cayman - I've been here on many Western carib. itineraries and while it's nice, I'm not dying to go again. We'd done the stingrays before, so this time we opted for the royal dolphin swim at dolphin discovery. I had tried to book something similar through dolphin cove, but even a few months ago, ALL of their slots were taken - maybe they sell them to the cruise lines? Anyway, I booked this myself via dolphin discovery's website. I chatted online with someone very helpful, and if you book ahead you can save a lot. Carnival offers an excursion to dolphin discovery but they only offer a dolphin encounter, which I'd done before. Now that my girls are older I wanted them to get to swim with the dolphins. We had a ball. They did the usual itneractions (kiss, handshake, belly rub, etc) but we also got to swim being pulled by two dolphins and did a foot push where the dolphins propel you out of the water - very fun.

 

we visited the turtle farm and the kids had fun holding the turtles. after the excursion we were too tired to go to the beach so we just went back to the ship to relax.

 

I'm trying to remember which show was which night, so forgive me if I get confused. I already talked about the first show. Another night was a jazz show which I didn't see, but I heard it was pretty good. Then there was the amazing Lubo or something who did some cool balancing things, but frankly it was boring after about 10 minutes. I wish I'd left. Unfortunately I missed the best show of the week b/c my daughter wasn't feeling well - everyone loved the juggler who was good and entertaining. Another night there was a motown show which could have been good but wasnt. i expected the dancers/singers but it was just one guy. he was fine, but didn't do much to appeal to younger people. at one point he even said, here's a song for you young people, so the kids perked up - he then played an old Lionel Ritchie tune I think from when I was in high school! I think you get the idea. One night was the Big Easy show where all the singers and dancers were involved and it was really elaborate and great. I heard that they haven't been performing it long but it was worth seeing. The last night was the Legends show which of course is only as good as the passengers. Most were mediocre, some were awful but at the end this older guy came out and nailed a Frank Sinatra tune - it brought the house down.

 

Next up, Cozumel

[CMM]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Your observations are especially interesting as we will have our 13 & 15 year olds with us on the Legend.

Thanks for sharing!

[lazydayz]

Thanks for sharing. Our Legend cruise is only a month away and we are excited.

[cespo]

Can't wait to read the rest....We board the Legend in 18 days

[Lake Cumberland Cruiser]

Really enjoying the review as we board on Sept. 6th. Can't Wait.:)

[caggfamily]

Cozumel

 

FYI - I rarely book excursions through the cruise line as I've found over the years that I can almost always find something comparable or better for less money. Cozumel is a great example. My DH and I made the mistake of doing a beach break through the cruise line - the beach was okay but when we got there we saw we could have purchased just a wrist band for the beach w/o the free drinks package that we had to book through the ship - the drinks were watered down and lousy. Anyway, lesson learned.

 

When in Cozumel we always take a cab to Paradise Beach. We've been there several times over the years and it has never let us down. For $10 per person, you get a wrist band that lets you use all of the water floats, including rafts, kayaks, water slide, iceburg and several water trampolines. My kids love the water toys, while I am content with a nice raft to float on. The food and drinks are also good, and while not cheap, they aren't too $$ either. We got off the ship as soon as we were able to and went straight to Paradise Beach. When you arrive, they greet you and assign a waiter to your group who will bring you food/drink and whatever you need. He led us to a front row spot by the water, with umbrellas that provide plenty of shade. As the day went by and the sun shifted, more of us wanted shade, so they sent someone to our area and he dug a hole in the sand, planted a new umbrella and pulled up some lounge chairs for us! There are also lots of things to do if you are interested. My girls got their hair braided on the beach and we took them parasailing for the first time. Everyone had a great time but with the heat we were all ready to go by mid afternoon. I spent the rest of the day napping and relaxing on the balcony.

 

Belize

 

I was very excited about Belize b/c I had never been there before. My SIL and her family opted for a beach break through Carnival. They liked the idea b/c it picked them up straight from the ship and took them directly to the private island - no tendering involved. It was exactly what they wanted and they had fun.

 

Belize is about a 20 minute tender ride so it adds a bit of time to your day. We opted for a trip booked through Coral Breezes Tours, operated by Hammerhead sports. It included snorkeling, beach time on Bannister Caye and a manatee watch. It was a great choice for our kids. Once we got started it was fun, but we got very frustrated about the tendering process and tendering tickets on Carnival. The capers said that you needed tendering tickets. If you were on a Carnival booked tour, there was no issue as they would give them out when people met in the various lounges. It said that everyone else could get tickets starting at 9:30. Our tour started at 8AM Belize time, which is 2 hours behind ship time. We figured if they weren't giving out tix until 9:30, it would take more time to get on a tender and it would likely get us to shore too late for our tour. What was frustrating was that my DH called the purser's desk to explain the situation and he kept getting different answers. They do this EVERY WEEK - how can they not know the procedure? One piece of advice was that we were all to be packed and ready to go at 7:30 AM in the main lounge. This made no sense since that would only be 5:30AM local time. My DH decided to go by himself around 7:00 which is when the first tour group was to meet to see what was up. First he had to wait for someone to show up at all and then again he got several different answers of what to do. Finally, someone told him that if we showed up when we needed the tender tix, we could get them. I think we all showed up at 9:00 ship time, and they assigned us tender group 4. We waited about 5 minutes and were on our way. Once we let go of the frustration of the tender tix, we relaxed and looked forward to our tour.

 

Next up - snorkeling in Belize

[RAE6]

You said your SIL and family did the private island tour thru the ship, can you tell me what island it was? I know there is some confusion on the boards about if Carnival is still doing Bannister Island or not and we will be on the Legend in Oct so I was wondering if they visited another island?

Thanks!

[caggfamily]

RAE6 - it's funny you ask about the name of the island, because when my SIL booked the beach break, it just said "private island." After snorkeling we were on Bannister Island and heard them do a last call for Legend passengers. We later found out that Carnival took my SIL and her family to Bannister Island, and we may even have been there for a while at the same time! So yes, at least for our week, the beach break is to Bannister.

[RAE6]

RAE6 - it's funny you ask about the name of the island, because when my SIL booked the beach break, it just said "private island." After snorkeling we were on Bannister Island and heard them do a last call for Legend passengers. We later found out that Carnival took my SIL and her family to Bannister Island, and we may even have been there for a while at the same time! So yes, at least for our week, the beach break is to Bannister.

 

Thanks, I hope it is still the same. And I am enjoying your review. Keep it coming :)

[Milehimax]

Thanks for the reveiw my husband and I are going in Oct. it is our 25th wedding ann. and we are going without our boys !!! We have been on 3 different cruise lines but never Carnival we cant wait . How did you get so lucky to get a window seat in the dinning room , I did ask for a table for 2. Our room is just down from yours, our room is 7227. Please post more!:p Marla

 

 

Funny, this is our 25th anniv. also. Also leaving the kids at home. come on October...:D

[Delta Dear]

Please give me some advice abou the tender schedule. My husband has a cousin who lives in Belize. When we go , we plan to have his cousin meet us and spend the day with him. He'll show us around, I don't know how far they live from the port, but we will be with him most of the day.

 

Since the Belize time is two hours earlier than ship time, I'm not sure what time we need to tender. We are an older ( 67, 71 ) couple and my husband moves slowly in the morning. Let's say we leave the ship at 9:30, ship time. What time would we need to 'tender' back ? Are those return tender tickets timed as well ? We are too old to run to catch anything ! LOL. ( maybe it's not the age, it's the condition we are in.) LOL

 

Thanks. We don't go until Feb. 7 -14 . Looking forward to the Legend after reading so many great reviews including yours.

[caggfamily]

Belize - We got to shore just before 8am local time and quickly found Hammerhead sports. Although we worked hard to make it on time for our tour, others were not so prompt. We spent a long time waiting for everyone else to show up. I guess they build that into the tour. B/c of the time difference, we knew we wouldn't have a lot of extra time to spare b/c the last tender left at 2:00 local time (4 ship time). I know this is why some people prefer to book ship tours, but trust me when I say that these guys are very aware of the ship times and all of them knew our last tender left at 4 and the Valor's left at 4:15. We had about 25 people on our boat, although we dropped off a few at Bannister Island. Then we had a short ride to the snorkeling sight. They took the time to explain how to use the equipment and made sure everyone had the proper gear. Then they took us in the water in groups of about 8 - we were with another family of 4. Their equipment seemed clean and in good condition, but we brought our own vests and snorkels, just using their flippers. Once in the water our guide, "Mr. Big" led us around and pointed out various kinds of fish. Once we got started, we saw quite a lot of colorful fish and even a beautiful ray of some kind. He pointed out some camouflaged fish we wouldn't have seen and found a sea anemone that everyone got to hold. It was fun but we traveled pretty far and by the end of the snorkeling time, my girls were exhausted. We then headed for Bannister Island. We were scheduled to have 2 hours there but b/c of our late start, we only had 1 hr. That was fine with us b/c we had had plenty of beach time at Cozumel the day before and we were tired. We changed into dry clothes and spent the time in the shade eating. The restaurant was okay, but the mixed drinks that I looked at were like $10.00. My one daughter got a burger and fried, my other daughter got chicken strips and fries, and we shared 2 sodas. My husband had a beer and the total was $32, so it wasn't exactly cheap. Bannister Island is a very small sandbar, with little shade. You could only access the water from one end of it, but it was nice enough. My girls found a few hammocks in the shade to relax in and soon enough the hour was up.

 

We then went into the mangroves in search of manatees, which I understand are very shy. All of our guides worked very hard to point them out and we actually had a few glimpses of them. It was fun and relaxing and we saw some cool fish that kind of skimmed on the water. We then headed back to the port. We caught a tender about 3 ship time, so we were not the last tender.

 

Roatan:

 

I had really been looking forward to visiting Roatan and I wasn't disappointed. We arrived at 8am ship time, which was only 6am local time. We walked right off the ship and quickly found the Victor Bodden tour kiosk. We were taken immediately to our vehicle, which was a large airconditioned minivan and were introduced to Lionel, our guide for the day. I can't say enough good things about Victor Bodden tours. We found out about it here on cruise critic and it lived up to our expectations. Lionel took us around the island and we went to a school where Lionel and Victor went when they were kids to drop off school supplies we had brought. We could have brought them into the school and met the kids, but we really didn't want to interrupt their day just to drop off some supplies. Instead we gave them to the school's director and wished them well. After a tour of the island we went to Victor's and did the Mayan Canopy zipline. There are many different zipline tours on the island, so you need to research them to make sure you get what you want. My DH and I had been in Puerto Vallarta, and it was fun but very high and involved lots of climbing. My one niece is terrified of heights so she only wanted to try it if we could assure her it wouldn't be scary. This one is a great choice for beginners for two reasons - it is not very high and you don't have to do anything once you are on the zipline. Some of them you have to wear a glove and be able to brake. With my youngest being 11, I wanted something easy. My DH also researched the safety (he was an engineer) and this one has many safety features. Like I said, the best part was that once you are hooked on, you just have to hang on. The guide at the other end stops you every time, and if you don't quite make it to the end, he comes out and pulls you in. It was easy, fun, and a good introduction to ziplining. There also wasn't much walking. We had to climb 64 steps at the beginning and then a few more in the middle, but the course was designed so you mostly went from one zipline to another. The guides were young, friendly and very helpful. At one point while we were on the ziplines, one of my nieces started to feel funny and I realized she was dehydrated. I spoke out loud that it was too bad we didn't bring any water with us. Our guide immediately got on his phone, called someone at the base who climbed up and ziplined to us with a large bottle of cold water - needless to say, that was exceptional service! My niece immediately felt better and we were on our way. At the end of the tour, we tipped our guides generously and went to see Victor's monkeys, which was one of the highlights. Some of the guests had brought small boxes of Raisin bran and it was fun to see the monkeys rummage through the box to find the raisins. I had a box of cheerios, which the monkey quickly rummaged through and dropped b/c there weren't any raisins! however, my DH had a bottle of water that the monkey was interested in and as soon as he poured some into his hand, the monkeys climbed all over them. The monkeys clearly love the tourists and aren't shy about jumping on you or using you to jump somewhere else. They had plenty of high brances to go to if they didn't want to itneract, but most of them were very interested in us. At one time I had at least 2 monkeys on my head and shoulders. We spent a lot of time with them and everyone who wanted to had a monkey climb on them.

 

After that was over, we didn't have much time left. Unfortunately, Carnival is only in Roatan from 8-2, which in my opinion is not nearly enough time to truly explore the island. We had Lionel drive us to Tabayana beach so we could at least see it. We stopped at an area where the locals go and it was beautiful. We didn't have time to swim, but that will definitely be on my agenda if (when!) I return.

 

Next - last day at sea - please feel free to ask any questions.

[golfgang4]

Great review...which company did you end up booking the zipline excursion with? Several companies go through Bodden's...did you book through them directly? What price did you pay? We are taking our two girls...8 and 10...do you think they would do okay there? Thanks!

[caggfamily]

delta dear - you'll have to check for february but for our trip, Belize was 2 hours behind ship time. If you leave at 9:30 ship time, you shouldn't have any problem getting a tender b/c they will have opened up all of the tenders. We only ran into problems b/c we wanted to leave the ship earlier (9am) b/c of our tour and Carnival uses the earlier tenders for their own tours. As for returning you do not need a tender ticket. The last tender left Belize at 4:00, 2pm local time. To be safe, I always try to be back at the port by 1/2 hour before the last tender leaves. As long as you are in line for a tender by the posted time, you'll be fine. Enjoy!

 

golfgang4 - we booked the mayan canopy zipline through victor when we booked the tour guide for the day. It was $45 per person in addition to the private tour guide. We didn't have to pay anything until we arrived. There also isn't a set time for the zipline tour. We just went there when we were done touring the island. I think this zipline is perfect for small children. It will give them a thrill but it isn't very high. Like I said in my review, this one is nice b/c you don't have to do anything to participate like brake - the guides will strap them in and they can just hold on and enjoy. Have fun

[caggfamily]

Last sea day - we relaxed most of the day. Some of us went to the water slide, some stayed on the balcony. There was an ice carving demonstration, but we didn't go. My DH took my girls to the galley tour while I was in the spa with my nieces and SIL. Pretty much the same tour as always, but my kids loved it and they did some kind of napkin folding lessons as well. Spa was nice but overpriced as usual. I had a fabulous masseuse and everyone enjoyed their treatments. My only complaint was that no one really greeted you or told you what to do other than, wait here. I arrived early b/c I wanted to rinse off in the showers. I'm used to being given a locker/robe when you check in but not here. I had to find my way back to the front desk and tell them I wanted to shower. They took my sail and sign card and gave me a key for the locker. No one showed me where it was other than pointing down the maze of hallways/doors. I finally found it but when I opened the locker there weren't any robes, just stacks of towels around the locker room. I'm not especially modest, but I didn't really want to sit wrapped in a small towel while waiting for a treatment, especially since the waiting area was by the whirlpool and the gym and open to everyone. So I opted not to shower and returned my key to the front desk. When I asked about robes, they said they didn't provide them - you have to bring your own from your cabin! First of all, i've never heard of having to bring your own, and second, if that is there policy, why don't they put it on your reservation card so you know? It was very frustrating, but once I had my massage I was good as new.

 

We spent mostly a quiet evening - dinner and then the show. We hung out for a bit and finished our packing. since we had a late flight we decided to let them take care of our bags. I'd heard it was hard to get an elevator so we didn't want to schlepp our bags. We put them outside by midnight. They were serving breakfast until 9 so we made sure we were out of the room by 8:30. As with the first day, it was hard to find a table b/c many people were waiting in the cafe for their number to be called. Eventually though, it started to empty and we were fine. We were group 9 (I think there were 20 groups). We enjoyed our breakfast and relaxed until they called our number. When we got downstairs to leave though, the line was ridiculously long, so we got out of the line and relaxed in a lounge where we could see the line. Eventually they called all of the numbers and basically told everyone they had to leave. We left and easily found our luggage (it was the only luggage left in group 9!). We had a lot of bags, so we got a porter, which I highly recommend. There is a special immigration line for porters, so if there is a line you get through quickly, but for us, it really helped trying to get a cab. There was a line to wait in for a cab, but our porter just got us one immediately and off we went.

 

Very easy, and enjoyable. I highly recommend the Legend.