Sunburns, Drownings and Other Tales From the Sea - Legend 9/4/11

[vamartha]

 

 

 

 

 

[vamartha]

I am absolutely loving your review. Your pictures are amazing! Were they taken with the Lumix camera as well? :)

Every think I have posted so far including the video was shot with the Lumix. I'm very pleased with it!

[vamartha]

We ate again the MDR, we had Theresa and her wait staff and their service was impeccable. The food – ho hum. Presentation was still nice but by this point, I just wasn’t impressed by many of my food choices. This would be our last visit to the MDR for this trip.

 

Friday brought us to the Cayman Islands, a stop we both looked forward to since as we were most impressed on our last visit there. There is no finer water to be had, Grand Cayman has the most beautiful water imaginable! On our last cruise after our Stingray/Snorkel excursion we still craved more water and DH found a place to snorkel just off the Cruise Port to your right (as you exit), it had a restaurant and what we thought was decent snorkeling at the time. After further research we discovered that there was supposed to be a better place only feet down the road at the Eden Rock Diving Center, so this time we took the tender to shore and promptly headed off to Eden Rock.

 

 

Wow!

 

 

My pictures don't really do this reef justice. I had forgotten to set the camera to the Beach/Snorkeling setting.

 

 

I can’t describe how good the snorkeling was once you swam about 100 yards out to the reef. Just beautiful!

 

 

DH however will tell you a different story about his snorkeling experience! He isn’t a confident swimmer and he snorkels with a snorkeling vest. We haven’t yet invested in one for him but I bet there is one in his future! We rented him a vest and headed out to the reef. I am “little Miss Beeline” to the reef and usually he is right behind me but this time he kept lagging behind and wouldn’t really follow me out over the deeper part of the reef at all. I finally caught up to him headed back to the diving center. Turns out his snorkel vest had a leak at the seam and he felt like he was going to drown out there as he would keep blowing into the vest and it just wouldn’t hold air! The attendant swapped out his vest and promptly put it in the trash!

 

 

[megmno]

Thanks so much for this awesome review. We did these ports on the Valor last month, and I so much agree with you about Mahogany Bay being a fake town! What's the point of visiting cool new places if all you see is the Disneyland-like port?

 

We also had a terrific time on a Victor Bodden tour and at Eden Rock.

 

Thanks for the information about Chankanaab in Cozumel -- we're going back next summer on the Magic and I've started researching excursions (already :o ). That sounds like our kind of place.

[vamartha]

More fish porn! I didn't spend $300 on a camera to take pics of grass! This is the reason I bought this particular camera. You'll just have to suffer along!

 

 

 

 

This guy must have followed us all the way from Cozumel.

 

 

Well, he and a few buddies!

 

 

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review.

 

 

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[Cushing985]

WOW!!! How lucky was I to find this review! Just excellent with a great writing style. I can't believe your husband had chemo...he looks like the picture of health! Good for him.

[vamartha]

 

 

 

 

Self portrait

 

 

[CorvetteLady]

I am enjoying your review and the great pictures.

 

I disagree with your harsh criticism of Mahogany Bay. I think most cruisers are aware that Carnival built this cruise port. I don't know why you would call it Fantasyland, the beach is real, the ocean is real. Many people want to spend the day at a clean safe beach, they aren't interested in an island tour. How many people go to Paradise Beach and never see more of Cozumel then the view from the taxi? Just because Carnival built it does not mean it isn't real.

 

On my first cruise to Roatan we docked at a container port, when the tour bus went through the gates it didn't look very safe. I told many people that taking a tour was the only way to go. But since then they have developed new ports, which I think is a good thing.

 

I think it's great that you like to do your own thing but not everyone does.

[vamartha]

 

 

 

 

We spent the better part of the day here, swimming out to the reef several times and then headed back toward the port. I made a stop at the Harley Shop and pick up a T-Shirt (I actually thought the GC prices were better than the Roatan prices but Roatan had a larger selection –Grand Cayman has two locations, one on the main street and another located inside the port area) and then we went in search of the elusive Big Black Dick, er, um Rum! I remembered it wasn’t right on the main street and thought I had read that it was back a block or two but it is actually directly across the street and up the stairs of the Flagship Building – inside a souvenir store! DH actually had to inquire at another liquor store as to where we could find it and he said it was a bit embarrassing to be asking a woman where he could find some Big Black Dick!

 

While we were picking up the BBD a storm came up and we had heavy rain with some lightning. We waited it out under the patio of the Dunkin Donuts where we spotted some crew members using the WiFi before heading to the tenders and back to the ship for the last time.

 

This is how hard it was raining! Looks like a ghost ship doesn't it?

 

 

[bikerfolks]

Thanks for the review. We are leaving in 27 days and are soooo looking forward to our cruise.;)

[love2relax]

Great review. I have taken that cruise three times myself (twice on the Legend and once on the Miracle). I also am an avid snorkeler, and enjoyed every one of your "fish porn" photos. They look similar to many that I have shot myself over the years. You seem like a great couple of fun-loving folks. I hope that we run into you on some cruise in the future. Thanks for your review!

[Ljp5365]

Loved your review.. thank-you

[vamartha]

Grand Cayman is notorious for being expensive. I’ve priced taking a land vacation there and it is just extremely high. I’ve read lots of complaints about the high cost of restaurants and the islands main industry is the banking. But we had a very inexpensive day – the snorkeling is free and we rented one snorkel vest and a locker at Eden Rock for $11. I spent $27 for a shirt at the HD shop and we spent $24.99 for two bottles of rum plus got a free 4 bottle sampler pack. DH had a freezie thing at Dunkin Donuts and a beer at the port and I know we didn’t spend $70 for the day. I was really surprised at our spending at GC, I really thought it was going to be one of our more expensive days.

 

 

We headed up to Lido for a hot dog after we tendered back to the ship and after a couple of hours we went back again for dinner. We neglected to get enough sunscreen on DH’s back legs during out snorkeling afternoon and consequently he ended up with a set of pretty red legs that were starting to hurt. I had taken a bottle of spray Aloe but I went down to the gift shop and got some sunburn relief stuff with Lidocane and of course I mortgaged the house for it! $14 I think. I also hung out in the casino for a while and then turned in for the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vamartha]

 

Our last sea day was just like all last sea days. Sad as we know that our vacation is coming to a close. We bummed around the ship most of the day and stopped by the Holmes Library to print out DH’s boarding pass. We had decided to use Luggage Express for our large suitcase and they printed out my boarding pass when they delivered the Luggage Express luggage tag. The cost was $20, we put the bag out by midnight just as usual and didn’t have to look at it again until we landed in Charlotte. Painless and well worth the cost. So far no airline charges have shown up either so it was the same cost as we would have paid anyway and we didn’t have to lug the bag around or worry about checking it in at the airport.

 

We stopped and bought an FCC, can’t beat fully refundable! At least I have something to look forward to now and a good reason to still be reading Cruise Critic!

 

I again spent a couple of hours in the casino. I never win big but I never really lose a lot either. I can usually make $20 or $40 last for several hours and this night was no different. And the drinks went down smooth! Spin, sip, repeat! Spin, sip, repeat!

 

Before I knew it it was time to get the luggage out and settle down for the night and come to the realization that our cruise is coming to an end. Bummer!

 

We got up Sunday morning and once they started calling out zones we just walked right off the ship. Never waited for one minute anywhere – they send you a letter with your Luggage Express documents that says just to keep it out during debarkation and you will be expedited off the ship. Amen. Total time from leaving our stateroom until we were paying for the taxi was probably 15 minutes. After being through the “hello dolly hades” that is debarkation in Miami, this was a BREEZE! If Tampa offered a Southern or Eastern Caribbean itinerary it would be the PERFECT port! We debarked on the 10th anniversary of September 11th and had to show our passports either two or three times before we even reached Customs and we were still off the ship and inside a taxi in under 15 minutes. Amazing. Impressive!

[vamartha]

Take a couple of clothespins for the shower curtain. I got six for $1 at the Dollar Tree. They really do weight it down and make it more apt to stay inside the shower and also stay closed.

 

Take half full shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste – you get the idea. Do it today! Buy yourself new ones and take the half consumed ones and pack them! You won’t have to pack them home and if you are flying weight is always a concern.

 

Arrive early. We got to the port about 10:30 and we were having a DOD by 11:30!

 

I took a rolling backpack and it came in very handy at Cozumel and Grand Cayman when we were doing a lot of walking with our snorkel equipment and the heavy wet Carnival Beach towels. I wouldn’t waste valuable weight and packing space taking my own towels but I finally decided to do something about lugging around all that weight and a rolling backpack was great!

 

If you are paying cash for your Sign and Sail card go ahead and put down more than you expect to spend. Your cash will be safe and you will get a check in your mailbox before you check out for the difference. That can save valuable time spent from standing in line at Guest Services.

 

Serenity was nice but always had a crowd. We didn’t spend much time other than the first day there. I don’t lie out in the sun so I can’t comment on the chair hog thing. I’m always looking for shade and I didn’t have much problem finding a seat in the pool area. Of course it helps that there are three pools!

 

Use Victor Bodden in Roatan. His guides will see that you have a great island tour and while Mahogany Bay is beautiful, it was designed by an architect and landscape designer and not created naturally.

 

I never paid attention to any of the previous Cruise Directors. Wee Jimmy was different. He was funny and I enjoyed watching his call in show on TV. He really did make a difference and I was pleasantly surprised.

 

We had some exceptional service from one of the officers in Guest Services. Her name is Tijana. When DH lost his Sign and Sail Card (yes, the one that he used to lock the safe – UGG) she with a straight face told him that was just fine, happened all the time and there was a $45 fee to replace it. Of course she was just pulling his leg but he fell for it hook, line and sinker and it remains one of the highlights of the trip! DH will probably chime in on this story too!

 

Balconies are worth it for us. We like to sit out there and spend quality time with each other rather than fight the madness up on the Lido. But it is true, once you go balcony you can’t go back!

 

Our cabin was more than adequate. We had a corner cabin near the front at the end of one of the jutted out areas. I meant that we didn’t actually have a neighbor on the left and we never once saw or heard our neighbor on the right. There was plenty of storage and closet space. The TV was not flat panel but we watched a great movie on it – took us a couple of days to see the entire movie but it was good even watching it in little bites. Water for Elephants. I’m not much of a movie person but it was good. The bathroom had tons of room for storage too – more than enough for two pretty low maintenance people but I could imagine that there was enough for high maintenance ones too! I wore makeup twice the entire time and that is twice as much as I would have worn it if I was at home!

 

The bed was comfortable, the pillows huge, the lighting good and we had enough hangers – I doubled up on a few of them but I packed that way last time when I brought a garment bag. No biggie. We packed everything in a suitcase this time and between the Downey Wrinkle Release and the steam of a hot shower I didn’t iron a thing. Ok – I have a beef with the self-service laundry onboard and I will NEVER attempt to use it again. It is vacation and believe me when I say that the better deal has to be letting Carnival wash and fold something if you need it – I think the bag deal is the way to go. I tried to do two loads one night – OK - $3 per load – I don’t go to the laundry mat at home and have no idea what it costs but I was ok with $3. There is a sign that tells you that the washer takes about 35 minutes and the drier about 1 hour. And there is another one that says that each washer load requires TWO dryers. Take that as your sign as Bill Engvall says! At the end of the first dryer load the clothes were still cold and wet. Same at the end of the second cycle. Only one of the 4 dryers put out any heat – at the end of two and ½ hours I still had damp clothing. Never again. And there isn’t even one chair so you can stay with your things. I took my Kindle and basically stood for an hour reading trying to get things dry. Carnival One. Martha and the laundry – Zero. Lesson learned!

 

I was most disappointed that the interactive TV did NOT include the room service ordering system. You could review your Sign and Sail account but you couldn’t order room service. As a matter of fact we didn’t even get a room service menu until the next to the last night. There isn’t an information book in your cabin any longer – the one where the menu used to be. I went to Guest Services and asked for a menu and someone delivered a sheet of paper with the menu on it a couple of hours later. Come on Carnival – it’s now a sheet of paper – no excuse for Guest Services not having a stack of them available. Nope, I never did use it.

 

I didn’t make notes so these are random thoughts. Sorry about that!

 

I lost about 30 pounds before this cruise. I was pretty happy that I only put on a couple of pounds while on it – amazing considering the alcohol and Warm Chocolate Melting Cake I consumed. To be honest, we walked a lot, we swam a lot in the ports and I really did for the first time in my life watch what I ate. I think the exercise offset the extra calories and it is so easy to get while on the ship – just walk!

 

I’ve always wanted to cruise on a Mega Ship. Bigger and newer has to be better, right? I’m not so convinced anymore. The Legend was smaller than the Triumph but I really liked it better. My first cruise was the SS Minnow, oh, wait a minute, it was really the Carnival Holiday - since retired - but I thought it was huge. The Triumph felt big after the Holiday but I really was much more comfortable on the Legend. We never really waited in any lines – once or twice at Guest Services and a couple of times at the Asian station on Lido. Every employee we encountered without exception was polite. They have some urns. A few. One or two.

 

All in all our vacation was all we had dreamed it would be and then some!

[dobiemom]

Great review! Fabulous pics! Thanks for sharing. :)

[rach1fun]

Great review! Thanks :)

 

Sent from my HTC Liberty using Tapatalk

[blondietink]

After reading your review, I can't wait to get on the Legend on November 27th! :D

[KroozFoolz]

Really enjoyed your review and comments! and the great pictures!

Thanks for taking the time to share it with us. :)

[vamartha]

:confused::confused::confused: Great review, you said you put your cell phone on airplane mode. Were there any charges??

 

Thanks

leedm

 

I haven't gotten a bill yet but I am pretty confident that there won't be. I didn't use the phone as a phone - just as a computer with no online/data access - everything I used was installed on the phone. I used Shipmate, Angry Birds, Evernote, the clock while onboard and the camera. My Evernote didn't sync to my computer but I didn't care, it saved everything in the phone. It all synced up once I came out of airplane mode again in Tampa.

[australian_girl]

Excellent review!!!

[gmros]

I am not sailing on the Legend, but enjoyed your review very much!!! Thank you for the entertaining review, tips, and photos especially the fish porn!

[pghsteelerfan]

My first cruise I worried about how I was going to dress, stressed everything being so formal when in my real life - things just aren't that way.

 

Second one was DH's first one so I was stressed about how he would enjoy it, how he would fit in, etc. He was just coming off some chemotherapy too and was getting back up on his feet. (it went great in case you couldn't tell - I got him to go again and he looks GQ fabulous!)

 

This time - we are who we are. I am one who is happier and happier as cruising becomes less stuffy, less formal, less and less like the yesteryear of First Class Passages. Granted we wouldn't have cruising as we have it today if we hadn't had all those Grand Sailings and early methods of traveling across vast seas but just as mankind has evolved from most of the protocols of the early 1900's, so has cruising. I'm glad there are cruise lines like Seabourn and Crystal - those who choose to live a more formal lifestyle may still cruise in the manner in which they are accustomed and those of us who live us a more relaxed lifestyle have several choices too.

 

This post will ruffle a few feathers but there will be some who chuckle and say they agree. The latter are the people I want to cruise with in the future! :D

 

I'm really enjoying your review and love your snorkeling pictures from Cozumel. You certainly won't ruffle my feathers as I am also glad that cruising has become less formal since I prefer a less formal atmosphere. I'd love to meet you on a cruise in the future.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to do a review and for sharing your beautiful pictures.

[gail811]

We are not sun worshipers (watch The Big C on Showtime to get an idea why) and we spent the Day at Sea bumming around the ship. We did go to the Mixologist Contest and the Hairy Chest Contest. Oh my. They really humiliate those guys but I am guessing that a lot of alcohol is involved with the participants so they are only humiliated the 400th time or so that it is shown on the in-cabin TV! J We made a donation to Carnival in the casino and a few at the bar but I had purchased some drink coupons before the cruise via the Bon Voyage website and that took some of the sting out of the bar tab! I’m ready to start buying them again! We stopped by the internet café to double check that there was a special on minutes if you bought a package that day and there was – 20 free minutes.

 

 

 

A little off topic, but thank you for posting this. I am not familiar with the show, but am too familiar with skin cancer. We "worship" the sun responsibly also. I lost my brother 2 years ago last week to melanoma. We are of an age where sunscreen was not available (he was only 56) and we grew up in the south. I preach the use of sunscreen to my DH and sons, and use it liberally myself. I can't undo the damage done years ago, but sunscreen is my friend ;)