Review: Wedding Cruise on the Carnival Legend 5/22. Long w/ Lots of Photos!

[Dave0311]

This is going to be a long, photo-filled review of my sister’s wedding cruise aboard the Carnival Legend. Before I start the review, here’s some background information about us & the cruise.

 

- We had a group of about 35 people on the cruise.

- Our family consisted of me (22), our parents, our grandmother, and our uncle.

- The groom’s family included his parents, his brother (22), his sister (20), and three of his aunts.

- The rest of the people in our party were friends.

- The cruise went to Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan, and Grand Cayman. They got married in Cozumel.

- The only past guests in the group were our family and the groom. The rest were all blue cards.

- Just to make typing this easier, I will refer to the bride and groom by their names: Jessica and Jason.

 

For those who would like a cliff notes version of the cruise, here you go. Overall, I loved the cruise. This was my third time on the Legend, and each time it has gotten better. The food was very good; better than the past couple years. The weather was perfect the entire cruise, no rain and all smooth sailing. The wedding in Cozumel was absolutely brilliant and exceeded my expectations. Onboard, the staff were friendly, always said hello, and were prompt at cleaning up after guests. As far as the other passengers go, there were less kids than our usual summer cruises, but still a decent amount. Aside from a couple chronic complainers, I didn’t notice any unhappy or rude passengers. There was also one “operation bright star” on the cruise: the first one I’ve ever heard on a cruise. The Carnival Wedding people, from what I indirectly experienced, were very good and I’m pretty sure we’d all recommend them. I think that just about covers all the basics. If you want to read all the details and a fun story to follow, then stay tuned!

 

I didn’t take quite as many pictures as I had wanted, but there are still a couple hundred I want to share with you all. I may even throw in a couple of the pro shots we purchased, like this one!

 

 

If you have any questions during the review, feel free to ask. I may not have any idea about costs, but just about anything else I will try to answer. Comments are welcome too. :)

[Dave0311]

The planning for this cruise started over a year ago, before our cruise to Canada last July. (I wouldn’t be surprised if some of my details from early on aren’t 100% accurate, so bear with me.) In the beginning, we found a few cruises to choose from. Our original choices included a cruise out of the Northeast (since this is where most of us are from), a 5-day cruise on the Destiny, or a 7-day cruise on the Legend. In the end, we obviously went with the Legend.

We originally intended for this cruise to be a small family get-away, with our family and the groom’s family. Our group expanded when some of Jason’s aunts expressed interest in joining us. As word got around that Jess and Jason would be getting married on a cruise, their friends began showing interest. (As an aside, we grew up in the same town, so all the friends were friends of both of them, not just Jason’s and/or Jessica’s friends.)

As time rolled on, the list of bookings in our group grew. We did not book as a group, because it was actually cheaper for everyone to book on their own. But our travel agent did all the bookings and linked us all together so we all ate dinner together. Before we knew it, the list had grown to over 30 people! None of us had ever expected such a turnout. Needless to say we were pleasantly surprised. The more the merrier, right? :)

Fast forward to April of this year for Jessica’s bridal shower. We held the shower at Bahama Breeze to fit the theme of the Caribbean cruise. My dad and I attended to take pictures and video, and Jason’s father and brother were there as well. Besides us it was all the women. This was my first time meeting some of the girls who would be cruising with us. (But at the time I didn’t know they were going to be on the cruise.)

Once the shower was over, I knew it was only a matter of weeks before we set sail on the Carnival Legend for the vacation of a lifetime! :D

[Dave0311]

On Saturday, May 21 we headed to PHL to catch our flight to Tampa. Jason’s family had already landed in Tampa by the time we made it to the airport since they were going to visit family who lived in the Tampa area. Nearly the rest of the wedding party was on our flight, which was on Southwest.

On the flight down, the flight crew somehow found out about the wedding and made an announcement that there was a special couple on board getting married. They led us in a toast and presented Jess and Jason with a free bottle of champagne, compliments of Southwest. :)

The rest of the flight was rather uneventful, other than spotting a fire on the ground from the plane, which was pretty neat to see.

When we made it to the luggage carousel, the luggage was already making the rounds. I’ve never seen luggage arrive so quickly! Within no time, we were on our way to the Springhill Suites, which was probably about 15 minutes from the airport and 10 minutes from the ship.

The hotel had a nice sitting area and dining room near the entrance.

[Dave0311]

Our room had two double beds, a sitting area, kitchen sink and microwave, and a bathroom with separate vanity area.

The kitchen area:

Sitting area:

The desk, which had an Internet hookup (we didn’t use it):

Vanity:

Our room also had two TVs and an iHome for iPods/iPhones. Not to mention a view of the pool:

[crusing48/51]

Thank you for posting this review. I'm especially interested in how you liked Springhill Suites. DH and I will be staying there pre and post cruise. Did they have a shuttle to the port? Were there any good restaurants nearby?

 

Can't wait to hear about the wedding, and all the ports as well. Keep the review coming!

[Froufie]

Can't wait to hear more!

[mama_2_boys]

Great review so far! Can't wait to read the rest :)

[Minmounce]

I am looking forward to this review. The Legend is a strong possibility for our next cruise.

[SweetpeaOne]

Great review so far. Can't wait to read more..

[breezycruiser]

Great start! I can't wait to hear more. I'm a sucker for a good wedding story:o

[Catrin]

Great review and terrific pictures so far!

The wedding picture is fantastic!

 

Catrin

[kokopops]

what springhill suites did you stay at down there ?

[rob6465]

Son and Fiancee are planning a September 2012 wedding on the Magic. They've been debating on whether it'll be a good idea and i think it will.

[Gecko7]

We sail in 22 days. Looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm having trouble seeing the pictures, except for the first one, which looks great BTW. Thanks for sharing.:)

[Dave0311]

Thanks for the comments everyone. :) Now to answer some questions.

 

Thank you for posting this review. I'm especially interested in how you liked Springhill Suites. DH and I will be staying there pre and post cruise. Did they have a shuttle to the port? Were there any good restaurants nearby?

 

Can't wait to hear about the wedding, and all the ports as well. Keep the review coming!

The hotel did have a shuttle to the pier, but we had reserved a group of four taxi vans so we could all travel over at the same time. From what I remember hearing, it was about 20 minutes between shuttles.

 

As for food, the groom's family ordered pizzas, wings, and cheesesteaks from a nearby pizzaria. I can't recall the name off-hand, but I'll try to find out for you. The food was very good.

 

Our shuttle driver from the airport to the hotel said there was a good Italian restaurant and Chinese restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. If we hadn't ate at the hotel, I'm sure we would've checked one of these places out. If you're a drinker, there is a convenience store down the road that sells beer and stuff. That's certainly not something we're used to in NJ!

 

I am looking forward to this review. The Legend is a strong possibility for our next cruise.

The Legend is my favorite ship. This was my third time on her. The itinerary is fun too. I definitely recommend her. :)

 

what springhill suites did you stay at down there ?

We stayed at the SpringHill Suties Tampa Westshore Airport. It was right in between the airport and the pier, about 10-15 minutes from each. We were very pleased with this hotel. :)

 

Thanks again for the comments! Will continue the review shortly.

[Dave0311]

We sail in 22 days. Looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm having trouble seeing the pictures, except for the first one, which looks great BTW. Thanks for sharing.:)

Is anyone else having trouble seeing the pictures? I personally can see them, but if other people are having trouble I'll try uploading them to another site. :)

 

Son and Fiancee are planning a September 2012 wedding on the Magic. They've been debating on whether it'll be a good idea and i think it will.

Obviously I wasn't too involved in the planning of the wedding, but from what I've heard and experienced, it seems Carnival did an awesome job coordinating and setting up the wedding! My mom posts on these boards once in a while, so hopefully she'll see this review and provide more insight on dealing with the wedding people at Carnival.

[hfweather]

I'm happy to say I can see all of your pictures! Oh, I'm loving your review, I keep checking to see more of it, keep up the excellent job!

[hillhouse]

Is anyone else having trouble seeing the pictures? I personally can see them, but if other people are having trouble I'll try uploading them to another site. :)

 

I can see them fine - using FireFox 4. I've also linked to a lot of pics at webshots and never had a problem with others seeing them.

 

Keep up the good work - our group of 13 needs you to help keep us occupied until we sail on the Legend in 2013 :D

 

Dave

[tarheelmjfan]

 

As for food, the groom's family ordered pizzas, wings, and cheesesteaks from a nearby pizzaria. I can't recall the name off-hand, but I'll try to find out for you. The food was very good.

 

 

Was it Westshore Pizza? I love their Philly Cheesesteaks.

[Dave0311]

Was it Westshore Pizza? I love their Philly Cheesesteaks.

That might be it. We're all getting together with the rest of our family who couldn't go on the cruise this Sunday, so I'll try to find out then.

[Dave0311]

After everyone settled in, we began to gather at the pool.

 

 

 

Eventually we took up just about the entire pool area. Some other guests used the pool for a little while, but for the most part it was just us. Jason’s family provided drinks for everyone to enjoy in the hot Florida sun.

 

We even had a little visitor stop by:

 

 

Later on in the evening, Jason’s family bought dinner for everyone. We all enjoyed pizza, wings, and cheese steaks poolside as the sun began to set on Tampa. The food was all very good. It was also someone’s birthday (the first of a few this cruise).

 

 

We got a family picture with Jason’s grandmother who couldn’t make it on the cruise, but was very excited to meet Jessica and spend the day with everyone.

 

 

From left to right: me, my mom, my dad, Jess, Jason’s dad and grandmother, Jason’s mom, Jason, Jason’s brother.

 

The hotel staff were very accommodating with us. The rules state no food or drinks in the pool area, but they allowed us to eat outside. They even provided pitchers of water for us, which they provided on their own accord. We thought that was very nice of them to do. All they asked for in return was the leftovers. There wasn’t much left, but they got some pizza and a couple wings.

 

After a fun day at the pool, we headed back to our room to get a good night's sleep for boarding day!

 

Coming up: boarding the Legend!

[Dave0311]

The next day, we got up bright and early and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel. This is one of the points where I wish I had taken more pictures, so you could see the breakfast setup, as well as us enjoying our last meal on land for a week! Oh well…

Jason’s mom had arranged for several taxis to be at the hotel to take us to the ship. They arrived on time, loaded up all of our luggage, and off we went to the ship. The ride from the hotel to the ship took about 10 minutes.

Seeing the funnel for the first time always has to put a smile on your face.

Just to be sure, yep this is the right ship. :p

We waited for everyone to show up at the pier, and shortly thereafter we went inside to begin check-in. If I remember correctly, we got to the terminal around 10:30. Inside there were very few lines, but we decided to do VIP check-in anyway (we’re platinum).

There was only one agent checking in platinum at the time, which really wasn’t enough. When we arrived there was no one ahead of us, so we got taken right away. But the families behind us probably had a nice little wait for all of us. Had there been a couple groups ahead of us, it would’ve been faster to go in the regular check-in line.

Before you knew it, everyone was checked in.

The staff at Tampa were very accommodating and let our entire group board in Zone 1. This certainly wasn’t necessary but was very kind of them.

[Dave0311]

A couple last photos before boarding.

Okay, let’s get on the ship already!

Some of the people in our group wanted to explore before eating lunch, but not me. My first meal onboard was from the Asian buffet. All week long there was very good food at the Asian buffet. In fact, it was the only part of the buffet I ate at all week! :D

[Dave0311]

After lunch, my parents and I went down to deck 4 to try to get to our room. The doors were closed, but a little turn of the handle and we were in. As it turns out, the big door down the hall (near the aft elevators) was already open, so I didn’t feel as bad sneaking into the hallway. :p

We actually had a sort-of-legitimate reason for trying to get to our room early. Prior to the cruise, we had shipped some boxes with wedding favors in them down to Jason’s family in Tampa. The bags had a booklet with cruise tips/hints in it, taxi fare for the wedding, and some other cruise supplies in them which we wanted to deliver to everyone’s staterooms as soon as we could. These boxes were to be delivered to our room along with the luggage, so we wanted to get to work on passing them out as soon as they arrived.

Anyway, we had a balcony as always. Cabin 4224:

The first part of our gift from the Carnival Players Club was waiting for us when we entered. At first, we thought this was all we were getting. But as the day progressed more things got delivered to our room from the Carnival Players Club.

Unfortunately port-side cabins have a pretty lousy view in Tampa:

Certainly not like the starboard view, with the aquarium and scenery that isn’t industrial storage. As an interesting aside note, this was only the second time I’ve been in an even-numbered (port-side) cabin on a Carnival ship out of 12 Carnival cruises. Every other Carnival cruise except one other cruise we had an odd-numbered cabin. On the bright side, this was a new view of Tampa I’d never seen before.

After getting situated in our room, I decided to go check out some of the other cabins. As I walked to the back of the ship (which wasn’t a far walk at all), I noticed this mysterious door right next to our cabin.

Later on I would venture through this “secret” door. Okay, maybe it’s not quite as secret as the secret doors on some of the classes of ships, but I certainly never knew it existed! :D

Up next: Serenity

[pe4all]

Great review. Quick question - how did you like cabin 4224? I was literally about to call CCL and book this cabin on Miracle (sister ship) for this August. Was there any noise from below? Anything you disliked about this cabin? Thanks so much!