Very LONG Review Legend 8/30-9/6 LOTS of pictures plus comparison to Royal Caribbean

[3redheads]

In June of this year, we decided to save some money and try some new ports. The Legend fit that bill and we booked it. The ports were Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan, with 2 sea days.

 

Booking the airfare took a little longer because we couldn't find a nonstop flight at a low price. Typically, we check Travelocity.com and cheapair.com, but couldn’t find a fare less than $250. On a whim, I checked Southwest and they had non stop flights! Plus, if the fare dropped, they would issue a credit for future flights. Over the course of the next month and a half, the total price dropped $240! We now have a credit with Southwest and we ultimately paid $175 a person!

 

Our only concern was that the flight leaving Tampa to Washington DC on the final day of the cruise left at 10:55am. It turned out to not be an issue. More about that later!

 

Previously, as a family, we’ve been on 5 Royal Caribbean cruises and one Disney cruise. The ships we’ve sailed on RCCL are the Freedom, Mariner (2xs), Serenade and Grandeur. We’ve stayed in an Owner’s Suite, Grand Suite, Junior Suite and two highly coveted aft balcony rooms.

 

We are a family of 4, DH and I, plus our DD (16) and DS (11).

 

We flew into Tampa the Saturday before our cruise and stayed at the Intercontinental for $77 a night. They offered complimentary shuttle service from the airport to the hotel. Very nice hotel and right across the street from a mall.

 

We knew the lines would be long at the local restaurants on Saturday night, so we made reservations at PF Changs prior to arriving. Thank goodness we did! The wait was 2 hours! If you get a chance, this restaurant is fabulous! Great food!

 

Sunday finally arrived and I wanted to be at port early! We took a taxi to the port, which took about 10 minutes. We were in line in no time. By 10:30 am we were inside the port authority area and assigned boarding number 3. I was concerned about what time we would board because the agent told us there were THREE weddings!!

 

Working on uploading photos...be back in a few!

[jerseygirl79]

Cant wait to read the rest of your review. Legend was my first ship and I have very fond memories of her. I'm contemplating RCCL Explorer of the Seas. I've never cruised RCCL an I'm interesting in trying a new line. But my main reason is she sails from NJ, and I wouldn't have to fly.

 

Looking forward to your comparison.

[3redheads]

Cant wait to read the rest of your review. Legend was my first ship and I have very fond memories of her. I'm contemplating RCCL Explorer of the Seas. I've never cruised RCCL an I'm interesting in trying a new line. But my main reason is she sails from NJ, and I wouldn't have to fly.

 

Looking forward to your comparison.

 

The Explorer is the sister ship the Mariner of the Seas, which is my FAVORITE ship! You can't go wrong! We're actually closer to NJ/NY than Florida, so we'll have to try a sailing out of those areas soon! Still waiting for the photos to upload..taking FOREVER!

[maxxdout]

beverage in hand with snacks:D

[3redheads]

Up to 65% on uploading 65 photos! Finishing the writing portion of the cruise.

Will try and hurry!

[3redheads]

 

 

We boarded by 11:30am. The Port of Tampa is a well oiled machine. Very efficient.

 

My first impression was it was a pretty ship. Lots of dark wood and urns. The décor did not bother me in the least.

 

We made our way up to the Unicorn Café on Deck 9. It is very different from the buffet area on Royal Caribbean. On RCCL, the buffet is all the way in the back of the boat and there are lots and lots of windows. My first impression of the Unicorn Café was that it looked like a restaurant. A bit closed in. I admit that it was a little confusing figuring it out, but it quickly became one of our favorite areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[3redheads]

One thing I did like about Carnival was that you filled your own glasses. On RCCL, they pre-fill them and leave them out. I loved the crushed ice and my favorite drink became my mixture of iced tea and lemonade, mixed.

 

For those not familiar with the offerings in the Unicorn Café, here’s a list of the stations:

 

24 hour pizza

Salad station

Sushi station

Dessert station

Hot food station (very similar to what is offered in main dining)

Asian Station (my favorite)

Sandwich station-hot and cold

Another station which offered Indian one day and Italian…didn’t get anything from there

 

If you walk all the way through the Unicorn Café, you’re out on the pool deck and you can get hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, ice cream and frozen yogurt.

 

Here are two stations in the Unicorn Cafe:

 

 

[3redheads]

We went down to Truffles Restaurant to check out our table (#281), but they would not allow us in. On RCCL, they allow you in to the dining room. It really wasn’t a big deal.

 

At 1:30 we found our room, 8G balcony room 6232, the one with the extended balcony. We estimated it to be about 100 ft long, but I was never good with measurements, so I’ll post pictures. I was worried that the 4 of us would be crowded, but we weren’t!

 

Here are a two pictures of the balcony:

 

 

 

Looking down:

 

 

 

The beds:

 

[3redheads]

Bathroom and storage:

 

 

A few freebies in the bathroom:

 

razor

samples of shampoo for redheads, brunettes and black hair

Pepcid

toothpaste

 

Storage-room enough for the luggage of 4 people!

 

 

 

[3redheads]

We had the muster drill. No big deal. It didn’t last long. I think it started around 3:30pm.

 

At 6pm, we went down to the Main Dining Room. Our waiter was Allan. I wish I could say the food was fabulous, but it was just ok. The Warm Melting Chocolate Cake was everything I read about. Here are some of the things we had at dinner the first night:

 

Shrimp Cocktail

 

 

I cannot remember what this is, looks yummy!

 

 

My ribs, with corn. Good!

 

 

Son's chicken nuggets:

 

 

The infamous and delicious Warm Chocolate Melting Cake, a dessert which I quickly became addicted to!

 

 

Off to take a break! Will finish some more of the review later. I have lots and lots of pictures from the excursions! Plus, I have a breakdown of what I liked better about Carnival and what I liked better about Royal Caribbean.

[jerseygirl79]

Great! Can't wait for you to return. Hope you enjoyed your first Carnival experience. It really is a great service and product for the money.

 

Since you love WCMC like I do, any signature not to missed desserts on RCCL?

[Celandine]

enjoying your review so far, I'm looking forward to the rest.

 

I'm trying my first RCI cruise in December, sort of a post-cruise-cruise (a 4 day after my 7 cay on the Carnival Liberty)

[remharri]

Loving your review and pictures! (Especially the food, but then again it is lunch time for me) I might have to take a trip on the Legend sometime here soon. :D

[RaMar]

Loving the review and photos. Our first carnival cruise was on the Legend and this brings back memories. We've done 3 cruises with RCCI, and we just loved the Legend so much.

[pknapper]

We are taking this cruise in June and can't wait to read more. :D

[crusinpsychRN]

Can anyone tell me what might be disabled on my computer? I can't see pictures.

[jerseygirl79]

Can anyone tell me what might be disabled on my computer? I can't see pictures.

 

That happens to me when I'm at work. I get red X's. I know they have all kinds of filters at work.

[3redheads]

Monday

 

Sea day and first Elegant Night. Relaxed most of the day and spent some time by the pool. It was very crowded! I had lobster in the MDR. It was very gamey tasting. I guess there isn't anything that stands out about today. Don't worry, lots and lots to come!

 

Tuesday-GRAND CAYMAN

 

We have been to Grand Cayman several times and just didn’t want to do the Stingray Tour again, so we read about Royal Palms Beach, near the port and decided to make a day of it, on our own. The taxi ride was $20 each way for all 4 of us. You are crammed into a bus with about 15 other people. When you can't imagine they will jam more people in there, out come the "jump" seats. Luckily, it was a short ride.

 

Here's what you see when you get to port, all the excursion companies lined up. To get your own taxi, you need to go out of the gate to the right:

 

 

We arrived and Royal Palms seemed like a nice beach. It was only 9:30am, our time, so it wasn’t crowded at all! We rented two beach chairs and an umbrella.

 

 

 

 

 

The jet ski rental was near us and the rates were $65 per 30 minutes for one person and $95 per 30 minutes for two people on the same jet ski. They did a fair amount of business. You could also rent kayaks or go parasailing. Our area was near the jet skis and within a couple of hours, the beach was packed. The jet skis were coming in and going out. Some of the less experienced drivers didn’t glide in and there were a few near misses of jet ski vs. swimmer.

 

 

We decided to leave when the beach got crowded:

 

 

There were 3 ships in port this day.

[3redheads]

Here's a picture of Legend at port:

 

 

We booked supper club, The Golden Fleece for Tuesday night. I wish I had taken some pictures! The club itself if beautiful and the staff is fabulous!

 

I had the surf and turf, hubby had a large steak and my daughter had the large lobster. Unfortunately, I got a migraine towards the end of dinner and had to leave, but hubby brought back a fabulous cheesecake.

 

 

My daughter, enjoying the supper club:

 

 

She went to dinner with us protesting that she wasn't hungry. Well, she ate everything! I wish I would have been of the right mind to at least remember what other items I ordered, but you know what a headache can do to you!

[The Wolverine]

we were on the Valor, that same day you were in GC

 

it was pretty cool seeing The Valor, The Conquest, and The Legend all next to each other.

[Jeans*Fanatic]

Great review soo far!! Love the details and the pictures!

[3redheads]

Wednesday-COZUMEL

 

In the past, we’ve visited Paradise Beach on our own, but read about the Isla Pasion by Twister excursion offered through Carnival. It was $65 a person and worth every penny! You go in a speedboat to Passion Island. It’s about a 30 minute ride and you are harnessed in. You wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into, but you soon find out! At speeds of 60 mph, your captain will turn the boat and do a 360 degree turn. You will get soaked and I highly recommend that if you’re prone to seasickness, take some Bonine or Dramamine.

 

Here is a youtube video of it:

 

You are taken to Isla Pasion/Passion Island. The very beach that a Corona beer commercial was filmed. It was paradise! There were less than 100 people on the island and it was breathtaking! They offered a water trampoline and buffet lunch, plus drinks. Their guacamole is to die for!!

 

Here are some pictures:

Not a person in sight!

 

 

No one in sight either way!

 

 

The water trampoline got a lot of use once people started coming to the beach:

 

 

Paradise!

 

 

This was a 5 hour excursion and we enjoyed every minute of it! They rented segways for $8 for 15 minutes, but only to RCCL passengers. Apparently, a Carnival passenger hurt himself last year and complained to the powers that be and it is no longer available to Carnival passengers.

 

Those beds seen in the first picture are free of use. There are also floating mats which are included.

 

The lunch was tasty and there is a small shopping area. We're not big shoppers AT ALL, so we didn't buy anything.

 

This was a fabulous day and what a day at the beach should be!

 

Here is the crew of our boat and my family:

 

 

Great crew!

[3redheads]

Thursday, BELIZE

 

We originally booked a private excursion through Major Tom for cave tubing, but I got concerned about making it back to ship on time. I was very, very interested in the Land Rover and Cave Expedition offered through Carnival.. It was a steep price for all 4 of us-$99.95 per person, but worth every cent!!!!!

 

In Belize, their water is so shallow, the ship anchors far away from shore. Instead of having to take a tender, the excursion speed boat picks you up at the ship at we were on our way by 8:45 am.

 

We went down a river in Belize. It was breathtaking! Here are a few pictures:

 

Our guide for the first leg of the journey, Aubrey.

 

 

Look closely:

 

 

 

 

 

After about 45 minutes, you dock at a spot where you will go on the next leg of your excursion, the Land Rover Tour, the best part of the whole excursion.

 

Near the docking area, on the way to the Land Rovers:

 

 

[3redheads]

You are in an open air 4x4, which is stripped down to the bare minimum. CAUTION: if you have children, make sure they don’t ride in the back because during your ride to the muddy jungle, you go on a main highway and get up to speeds of 60 and there are no seatbelts.

 

Once you get to the jungle, you caravan through a very narrow area which has ruts full of mud and water waist deep! You do drive your own vehicle, so you need to know how to drive a manual transmission. The guide even got stuck. There were a few scary moments, but the adrenaline was pumping! Here are some pictures, but they don’t do justice to how deep the water/mud was:

 

He really got stuck. Took a few moments to get him going again.

 

 

This mud is nothin'!

 

Getting deeper:

 

 

No windshield wiper on my side:

 

 

I'll leave this picture big so you can see how deep the mud is, look at the truck behind us:

 

[Name Of The Game]

Enjoying the review!