Legend or Pride???...HELP!! :)

[Jules215]

Trying to choose between the Pride's Eastern Caribbean itn. vs. Legends Western Caribbean's...First 7 day cruise, ( have previously done 4-5 day)...Also, we will have to fly to either port with similar flight costs ...The Pride will cost aprox. $450 more.

 

We're in our mid 40's and will be traveling with my 11yr old son...We mainly cruise for the ship/relaxation, and while we certainly enjoy the different scenery, we will probably do few if any on-shore excursions this go around.

 

With all of that in mind, would you have a preference and if so why??...Thanks

[Irishlinny]

I would prefer the Legend because I like those ports better. But if you are talking about the one that does Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay & Freeport, that may be a good fit for you and your son. Grand Turk & HMC, you can walk right to a beach from the port...easy. Grand Turk also has a massive pool at Margaritaville. Freeport you can just hop a cab to a beach.

If you're talking about Port Canaveral, Nassau & Freeport, I would definitely pick Legend instead. Not a fan of those ports...

I personally prefer the Western itinerary because there are many choices of things to do, but if you just want to beach it, that's not necessary. Then again, the Pride is more expensive...........

[Cainam1]

Well here's my 2 cents.

 

I can drive to Baltimore but am still cruising out of Miami. (on the Valor, notthe Legend... but similar)

 

My reasoning is that with the Pride you have to sepnd a lot of time just getting down south to your destinations with the Legend you're already there. The upsot is that you typically end up with more days at sea on the Pride. Now, there's nothing wrong with days at sea... but if you are in port, you can alwasy stay on the ship (in fact it's probably pretty nice as many people will be ashore) But if you've got a day at sea..well it's a day at sea. Fewer options.

 

So Yeah I would probably take the Legend at the same price. If the Pride is signifcantly more expensive then I'd be taking the Legend, no question.

 

Oh and as an aside... the Pride is over priced IMHO. I'm going to be able to fly to Florida, get a car and a pair of hotel rooms, for less than it would cost me to sail the Pride. I think the Pride is priced in such a way that they are counting on thier passangers figuring in the savings from not having to fly to Florida. My 2 cents

[CRVW1607]

We went on the Legend on a Western Caribbean itinerary last November and LOVED it. In September, we're going on an Eastern Caribbean cruise to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau - none of which I've been to, so I can't comment on those. As for the Legend ports, we absolutely loved Cozumel (went to an all-inclusive beach resort called Nachi Cocom, which we highly recommend. Just google Nachi Cocom. Relatively inexpensive), but our favorite was Roatan (did a tour through Victor Bodden, which, again, we highly recommend). Grand Cayman was just ok (did the Reef Rays and Rum Point tour with Native Way Watersports), but that was really only because of choppy waters, and Belize, while interesting, was a bit of a let-down (we booked the Altun Ha and River Wallace tour through Carnival) because of some of the people on our tour. The other two ports and the ship itself more than made up for those two, though! We will definitely be doing this itinerary again! :D

[Jules215]

Thanks everyone!!...Those are the kinds of responses I was looking for.

 

I guess one of the reasons I was considering the Pride was because it did have more sea days and since we aren't looking to do a lot of sight-seeing that might work better...However, there's some truth in staying on the ship because you want to as opposed to having to stay on the ship because it's not docked!!...( And I do have an antsy partner at times). :D

 

Another reason I was somewhat interested in the Pride is because if we did the Cape Canaveral run we could do a day at Disney or Universal, neither of which my son has been too...But, after looking at the prices for that, I think they're ridiculous, so that part is of it is losing its appeal quickly.

 

Sometimes it just helps to have other opinions and these have been helpful.

[going2cruz]

Pride is a great ship with good people and great food. I could never give up cruising out of Florida though. The whole cruise is set by sail away....do you want blue water or tea........always do Florida if you have to choose.

[going2cruz]

Well here's my 2 cents.

 

I can drive to Baltimore but am still cruising out of Miami. (on the Valor, notthe Legend... but similar)

 

My reasoning is that with the Pride you have to sepnd a lot of time just getting down south to your destinations with the Legend you're already there. The upsot is that you typically end up with more days at sea on the Pride. Now, there's nothing wrong with days at sea... but if you are in port, you can alwasy stay on the ship (in fact it's probably pretty nice as many people will be ashore) But if you've got a day at sea..well it's a day at sea. Fewer options.

 

So Yeah I would probably take the Legend at the same price. If the Pride is signifcantly more expensive then I'd be taking the Legend, no question.

 

Oh and as an aside... the Pride is over priced IMHO. I'm going to be able to fly to Florida, get a car and a pair of hotel rooms, for less than it would cost me to sail the Pride. I think the Pride is priced in such a way that they are counting on thier passangers figuring in the savings from not having to fly to Florida. My 2 cents

 

You pegged it..............

[Jules215]

do you want blue water or tea........always do Florida if you have to choose.

 

 

Thank-you for that observation Vince!! :D

 

I think we've made up our mind, and the Legend it will probably be!!...And maybe with the $450 we've saving we can take one on-shore thingy anyway!!...( It's been a tough 18 mo. as it as been for many others)...We're happy just to be able to get on a ship, but we're definitely doing it on a budget this year.

[lorriv20]

I am sure you will enjoy whatever you do. I live in PA and have cruised out of Florida and also cruised on the Pride out of Baltimore. For me, I enjoyed driving to the port. I am not a fan of flying to my cruises when I can help it. I also enjoyed the Pride and thought she was a beautiful ship. I am not sure if your Eastern included HMC, but I would choose ANY cruise that includes HMC!

[CRVW1607]

I also prefer to drive, but I live in Atlanta, so it's not so bad. :D

 

Another way of saving money is to go in the "off" season. We saved about $500 just switching ours from May of last year to November. And don't forget to check about price reductions if you book Early Saver!

[krmckee]

Jules,

 

We loved the Legend when we went 2 yrs ago! Loved the ports and the blue water. :-) As for excursions, snorkeling at Goff's Caye in Belize was amazing!!! Never seen blue water like in Cozumel and Belize :-)

 

We are actually going on the Pride this year, but we are from NoVa and get to drive to port this time. Not sure that I would pick it if I had to fly here..... You should also keep in mind the time of year you are going and weather up North. Also, our ride on the Legend (W Caribb) was very smooth and I am anxious to see how the Atlantic treats us. As for Disney, we are also renting a car and going there but our tickets were FREE because we volunteered a day via the Give a Day, Get a Day Program they offer this year. Check it out. Finally, the Pride has a water slide your 11 yr old may love, I don't remember the Legend having one.... look at amenities and dry docking (I believe the Legend is due for one or was recently dry docked).

[CRVW1607]

Legend has a slide. I think all of them do now.

[nillachick]

Legend is awesome, we just got off on May 16. They do have a water slide, and won't be going in for dry dock until Feb 2011 for two weeks...so you should be fine!

[Jules215]

Again thanks for everyone's insight and opinions!!...We're looking to to this around Aug. 1st...(I know, I know!!...We never book early...Grrrrrrrrrrrr).

 

I see you're going on the Pride in just a few days krmckee...Maybe when you get back you could let me know your impressions, and also if you think you had enough time to enjoy Disney too...Have a great time!!

[falkcor]

Again thanks for everyone's insight and opinions!!...

 

i sailed on the carnival pride last year and had a great time - it's a wonderful ship, with a great staff and everything you'd expect. spirit class ships are something special, but both you are considering are of the spirit class...

 

if you were to drive - that's a great benefit. much less stress... but if you're not...

 

given the options proposed, i'd probably pick legend (if you plan to fly anyway)...

 

unless, you really think your party might really enjoy the disney / universal experience. i know my lil' sis was smitten with WDW... though i certainly wouldn't be, it was nice for her...

 

so i guess it somewhat would be relevant if that is a 'must-do' for you. it's a nice option, that doesn't require a special trip and accomodations, though of course you can't see it all in a day... BUT, you can say you were there / been there, done that :D

 

just for myself and without considering travel to port (which IS part of why we picked pride in round 1), i'd probably pick legend over pride in the end (plus, been there / done that, so that's a bias) :D

 

good luck! :)

[Jules215]

I'd love to live close enough to a cruise terminal to drive, but I'm in Louisville...Baltimore is a 9hr drive and Tampa 14...Both are doable of course, but I'm just not anxious to make either of those with me as the sole driver with an 11yr old...So flying it will be!! :D

 

I asked my son if he'd like to go to Disney, but he gave me a look that said, "maybe 3yrs ago" :rolleyes: ( I still think he'd enjoy it, but the more I think about it, I don't think I want to rush through just one park...And especially if he's luke warm on it)...So unless something really changes my mind I think we're going with the Legend at this point...I have friends in Tampa anyway.

 

Again thanks!!

[FlaGrl4Evr]

I'd love to live close enough to a cruise terminal to drive, but I'm in Louisville...Baltimore is a 9hr drive and Tampa 14...Both are doable of course, but I'm just not anxious to make either of those with me as the sole driver with an 11yr old...So flying it will be!! :D

 

I asked my son if he'd like to go to Disney, but he gave me a look that said, "maybe 3yrs ago" :rolleyes: ( I still think he'd enjoy it, but the more I think about it, I don't think I want to rush through just one park...And especially if he's luke warm on it)...So unless something really changes my mind I think we're going with the Legend at this point...I have friends in Tampa anyway.

 

Again thanks!!

 

 

Hi Jules, Just a thought since your son wanted to do a Disney Park. The Holiday Inn Express Busch Gardens offers a package that includes tickets to the Busch Gardens Park and/or Adventure Island Water Park. The hotel also has airport pick-up and a port shuttle. They have a kids eat free program as well. The hotel has a beautiful tropical pool area too. The hotel is next to Busch Gardens so you can walk or they provide a park shuttle. If you were flying in a day early, this may be a nice option.

 

Good Luck and have a great cruise. Cari :)

[Jules215]

Thank-you Cari, that's a good suggestion and I hadn't thought about a day there in Tampa...Might be a good substitute.

[goldenk]

We are doing the same cruise as last year, which is the Legend. My wife and I are about the same age with a 12 year old daughter. The only problem was our daughter was the at the eldest stage of the Club Carnival at 11 last year and she didn't like it. She'll be with the 12 - 14 group this year and is very excited about that alone.

 

All in all, we had a great time on the ship and every port. Can't wait to see the Sting Rays/Turtle farms of GC then ziplining in Isla Roatan. I've been on a few cruises and live in Florida, but last year was the first that I really snorkled, it was really fun, easy, very cost effective getting your own excursion, we used Capt Marvin in Cayman and it was about 1/3rd the price of the Carnival excursion, but had service. Was the highlight of the cruise last year and we intend to do something like that in every port this year. Can't wait to do it again.

 

Back to the WII fit to get my hiking legs back in shape :D

 

[Jules215]

My son will be about 10 weeks off of his 12th birthday when we leave...Oooops!!...I'd already told him he'd be in the older group this time which he was very pleased about...Shoot I should have double checked. :rolleyes:

 

Well he didn't spend a lot of time in Camp Carnival at 9, so I guess he'll just have to make his own fun...Darn, darn, darn.

[3redheads]

We would have loved to sail out of Baltimore again, but the cost of sailing Pride vs. Legend was a lot more money, even if you take into consideration airfare.

 

Plus, I love the Legend and the itinerary. My son was 11 when we went on Legend last year. He loved the ship!

[ryanpatricksmom]

I've sailed the Pride four times, and I'm booked for a fifth. Having said that, if I had to fly to the port, I would choose a Florida departure any day. I've also sailed the Legend, and we enjoyed it very much.