Legend review 3/19/05 sailing to Exotic Western

[judyf]

CCL Legend 8 day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale 3/19/05 to 3/27/05

Belize, Limon, Costa Rica and Colon, Panama

Mother & Daughter annual spring break cruise.

 

Flight & Hotel:

 

We had problems at first with our air transportation. I had booked a direct flight to Ft. Lauderdale Airport with Southeast back in October. In December they stopped operating, back to the drawing board. I found a flight on Independence Air that was about the same price and even better day and times but flying into West Palm Beach Airport and it was a connecting flight. I left after working all day Friday 3/18 and we arrived an hour or so late in West Palm Beach at about 2am.

 

We rented a car and drove to Ft. Lauderdale with no problems till we exited I-95, then we got lost going to our hotel Amerisuites. I booked this hotel with Priceline for $50.00 per night pre and post cruise. We found a police officer at a store and stopped to ask directions, he gave us good directions. The issue with the directions I had from Mapquest is they never told me I would go through a tunnel and when I reached the tunnel I stayed to my right instead of going through the tunnel.

 

We finally arrived at our hotel at about 3:45 am. I had called and told them we were checking in late at about 2am and the person I talked to did not mark that on our reservations and Amerisuites had booked our room. They sent us to Best Western and we finally arrived at 4am and went straight to bed. At this time I’ve been up over 24 hours! Of course now I couldn’t fall asleep.

 

We set the clock for 10am and had a nice breakfast at the Best Western before heading to the pier.

 

Rental Car:

 

I booked ahead through Interval International with Hertz. Picked up car at West Palm Beach Airport. I went straight to the counter and I had our car before our luggage came out. A shuttle drove us right to the car no dragging bags through parking lot.

 

We drove from PBI airport to hotel and then dropped off car at Port Everglades before cruise and took shuttle right to the pier. Very Easy. We did the reverse when we returned and it worked out great. I was glad we booked ahead, cause a father and son was renting just before us after the cruise and he paid like $35.00 more for the one-day rental.

 

Embarkation:

 

We arrived at the pier about 1pm and we were on the ship by 1:30 pm or so. Real easy, I was expecting it to be worst from all I read. The line went to the entrance door but it went fast and smooth. Had our picture taken and dropped off our bags in our cabin. Then we went to eat of course.

 

Cabin:

 

I booked a 4A gty and was upgraded to the Verandah deck cabin 7309 a 4d. We loved the location of our cabin. We would just walk down deck 2 or 3 to Truffles dining room and then take elevator to deck 7 and we were the first cabin on the right going AFT. Easy to get to everything.

 

It was great location, never a problem with noise or kids. Lots of room in the cabin for everything us two women could bring. It was set up to make it easy to get around. There were two bathrobes provided in our cabin.

 

Saturday First Day:

 

We had a nice salad for lunch, there were lots of things to choose from, more then I remember on other CCL cruises. Next I walked around to get lots of pictures of the ship.

 

Then we went to our cabin to get ready for the drill. With the drill done we went up to meet other cc’s. We were to dress in red or wear a lei. Well I never found anyone from our roll call, but I did meet a few friends that were wearing red and leis. I Think they thought I was nuts! It was fun.

 

Stayed in this area for sail-away, I must say it was the most fun sail-away I have seen. People were in the condos across the way and had banners hanging with bon voyage and hooting and blowing whistles. It was just a fun time and got us even more excited.

 

We explored the ship some more got familiar with the layout. Then we went back to our cabin, most of our bags were delivery already so we unpacked some and got ready for dinner. Unfortunately due to no sleep the night before we headed back to our cabin after the show and a quick stop in Satchmo’s Lounge.

 

After this day I can’t remember what we did each day so I will do the rest of the review in topics.

 

More to follow tomorrow as I'm too tired to type any more tonight.

[dizzy205]

I was looking forward to hearing how your trip went, since I was watching your countdown clock go down every day! We will be going soon, 43 days:D on a different route, but I was eager to hear how your review of the ship was. Glad to hear it was good! Keep the info coming---when you have time.

 

Thanks!

Ang

[dizzy205]

I do have a question, I am sure I will have more, who was your CD? Did you like him/her?? Did they have any impact good or bad on your cruise?

[judyf]

Food and Dining Room:

 

We found the food in Truffles to be good. We ate in Truffles every evening. There were a few nights, I think 2 maybe 3 that there’s wasn’t much to my liking, but I’m a real pain when it comes to eating. I don’t eat any beef, seafood or meat on a bone. It’s got to be boneless chicken, pork or turkey for me. I ate a lot of the veggie dishes. My mother had beef most nights and said they were good. We had Earl and Marty as our wait staff and they were great, we tipped extra the last night.

 

We were assigned table # 416 on the upper level by the railing. At first I was disappointed that it was a table for two, we requested a large table. I was going to ask to be switched but my mother decided it might be a good idea to just keep what we were assigned. It worked out nice cause we could get done at fast or slow, as we wanted.

 

We had breakfast in the dining room two days and lunch once. All the other meals were in the Unicorn Café, which we found to be great and better than the other ships I’ve been on. I loved the taste of nations section. I should of eaten there every night, there was always something I would eat, but we love the dining room experience.

 

We didn’t go to any of the midnight buffets we were just too full. We did go to the Gala Buffet and took pictures it was as grand as always. It seemed smaller or maybe just not as much detail as the Inspiration’s Gala, except the dessert area, wow! If I was only hungry.

 

We did not eat at the Supper Club, I checked the menu but there just wasn’t anything listed that I would eat. We also never had a chance this cruise to order room service.

 

24-hour pizza place was great. I love the calzones and salad. Some days when we returned from port this hit the spot to hold us over till 8:15pm. It takes about 8 minutes when you order them but well worth the wait.

 

Ice cream is available 24 hour. In the adult pool area between 3pm and either 4 or 5pm there all the toppings available. We did this twice!

 

Service:

 

We found the service to be great, they were friendly and wanted to please everyone. Our room was always done up as soon as we left and our ice bucket was always full. I asked for the Legend book in the cabin as I read about here on the board and he told me to take the one in the cabin and he even got another one for my mother, we tipped extra. Dining staff was great as I mentioned earlier.

 

Ship:

 

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about the Legend. WOW! Great ship, great layout and very clean. We found the ship easy to navigate. We found it real easy to take elevator to either deck 2 or 3 to get where we wanted to go including our cabin. Real easy.

 

Compared to the few ships I’ve been on I thought Follies Lounge was set up better then any I’ve seen. Not too many bad seats as other ships and always a seat available. This wasn’t the case on other ships, if you didn’t get there a half hour ahead of time you were stuck behind a pole. We walked in most nights a few minutes before show time and always found a great seat. We loved the Legend and will most likely sail on her again out of NYC.

 

Pools, Hot Tubs & Chairs

 

Best cruise ever in this department!!! We spent most of our sea days in the adult only pool area and could always find a chair, what a surprise that was. I have never been on a cruise that I could find a lounge chair so easy! One day two boys about 9 or 10 were in the adult pool but I never saw them after that. It was nice and relaxing, loved this area. After about 4:30 or so the pool areas were empty, I do love that late seating.

 

Weather:

 

Best cruise weather ever! Sun everyday and no rain even in the ports. Isome cruises I’ve been on you could go out on lido deck casue it was so windy that didn’t happen this cruise. It was Great!

 

Age Group and Children:

 

We were surprised, there were kids but not as many as I expected. We never had an issue and even heard them. If you walked by the disco during teen time you would see some hanging out but other then that never even realized it was spring break, except all the teachers on this cruise.

 

I would say there was a younger crowd on this cruise then any I’ve taken so far and I always cruise during our school districts spring break. My mother even noticed there weren’t to many her age. I thought this itinerary would draw an older crowd and was a little worried about that from previous Legend reviews on this itinerary.

 

More to follow! I will answer all questions tonight after work.

[judyf]

I do have a question, I am sure I will have more, who was your CD? Did you like him/her?? Did they have any impact good or bad on your cruise?

 

Our CD was Brent Mitchell he was OK. We've had better the best was on the RCCL Voyager he was great. Brent I saw on the TV morning show everyday and before and after the shows other then that we never saw him.

 

A CD doesn't make or break our cruise so there was no impact.

 

Anything else I can help with let me know.

[thehittgirl]

Hi Judy!

 

I am glad you posted a review of your cruise. I'm not stalking :) ...but live in your area and remembered you were going on this ship and was looking for your review....

 

I'm interested in going on the Legend one of these days!

 

Are you suffering from PCD like I am?

[Coolcruise02]

We were getting off the Legend as you were getting on! Glad you had a good cruise. We also loved our cruise on the Legend. Great weather and a great ship. :)

[judyf]

Hi Judy!

 

I am glad you posted a review of your cruise. I'm not stalking :) ...but live in your area and remembered you were going on this ship and was looking for your review....

 

I'm interested in going on the Legend one of these days!

 

Are you suffering from PCD like I am?

 

Yes, the PCD always hits bad just after you get off. LOL I'm looking at booking the group Liberty Cruise for next April.

 

I plan to post more of the review today. we had no electric yesterday due to the floods.

[Runner Girl]

Glad you had a good time Judy! Thanks for the review.

[thehittgirl]

Yes, the PCD always hits bad just after you get off. LOL I'm looking at booking the group Liberty Cruise for next April.

 

I plan to post more of the review today. we had no electric yesterday due to the floods.

 

Great looking forward to it. Something about the Legend always interests me. I guess because I've heard great reviews, for the most part.

 

Yes we noticed quite a bit of flooding here in So Ulster too!

[judyf]

Our school district was closed today due to floods. So many roads were closed we couldn't detour around them. Still a few closed tonight and tomorrow morning too I'm told but we will be able to get around them in a timely matter.

[thehittgirl]

Our school district was closed today due to floods. So many roads were closed we couldn't detour around them. Still a few closed tonight and tomorrow morning too I'm told but we will be able to get around them in a timely matter.

 

 

My son had no school today and I am guessing it's because it's flood related. It seems like he hasn't been in school much since we've been back from our cruise.

 

One thing I noticed about your review is that we also stayed at the Amerisuites(in Miami though) and we got lost on our way. But we got there earlier....11pm. It sure was hard to sleep the night before the cruise though :D

[dizzy205]

thehittgirl:

Question, was the Amerisuites close to the port? We are sailing out of Miami in 2006 and want to stay the night before to avoid any issues. We are looking forward to staying someplace that we can get up and see the ships in port:D

 

Judyf:

We haven't been to any of the shows, did you go to any? Are they worth it? Which if any should we see/avoid? On the last cruise it was our honeymoon, we had a group of 11 so we were our own party..and the previous cruises have been rccl they were alright, before that I cannot remember. We are 33 and 34 and we like most anything...if that helps.

I can't believe it is getting so close! This is the first time DH has been on anything smaller than RCCL's Voyager type ships, how was the motion?

[judyf]

thehittgirl:

Judyf:

We haven't been to any of the shows, did you go to any? Are they worth it? Which if any should we see/avoid?

 

This is the first time DH has been on anything smaller than RCCL's Voyager type ships, how was the motion?

 

Motion, I noticed more then on the Voyager but not much, I have read the sprit class ship are narrow and tend to show more motion. It wasn't an issue.

 

I'm working on the entertainment sectuion now. Christopher Alan Graves DO NOT MISS this show, also Take 2. I will give more details on the shows in my next post (which is looking more like tomorrow now).

 

We like the shows and never miss any if possible. I don't like the guess talent show, but that's just me. It should not be a major show, I can go to Karaoke anynight. This is CCL way of saving on a show this should be an extra one added. JMHO.

[Cruiser@Heart]

We were also on this sailing. We booked a 4A gty and ended up with a 6A cabin. :)

 

We had a problem with our air travel both pre and post cruise. Our original flight was delayed for 3 hours because the coffee pot wasn't working....yep, you read that right...delayed due to a coffee pot! Needless to say, we missed all of our connections and finally arrived to the pier around 4:30. We were the last two people to board the ship (the ship's horn was sounding as we entered the Atrium). By the time we reached our cabin, the ship was pulling away from the pier! Just a little too close for our comfort! Our air was booked thru Carnival for those wondering. We started calling Carnival at 7:00 am to keep them updated on our travel progress.

 

We loved the layout of the ship. Having sailed on the Spirit a few years ago, it made getting around on the Legend very easy. We made a point of hitting the hottub in the Spa area daily (most times it was empty when we arrived) and then wandered out to lay out on the Sun Deck. Never had a problem finding a lounger. In fact, most of the time, we were the only ones there laying out. It didn't matter what time we headed up there.

 

As far as the CD went...we found him to be disappointing. Good thing we don't base a cruise on how well we like a CD.

 

We enjoyed Christopher Alan Grave's show as well as the Take 2 production. They offered a "behind the scenes" tour of the stage area. It was a nice change of pace from the traditional Galley tour. I didn't feel the other shows offered were up to the same level as I've experienced on other ships, so I only made it through the first part of these shows before heading out to other activities.

 

We had a table for two as well. My best friend and I love to sit at a large table and were going to switch (why oh why do they think two women traveling together really want to sit at a table for two?!?!?!?), but had a fantastic Dining Room team, so we decided to stay. Besides, we we're in a great spot to see lot's of "interesting" people that kept us entertained through out our meal (like the guy who spent most of the meal scratching his neck and back with his dinner fork!) Made for great stories to share with family and friends once we returned home.

[thehittgirl]

thehittgirl:

Question, was the Amerisuites close to the port? We are sailing out of Miami in 2006 and want to stay the night before to avoid any issues. We are looking forward to staying someplace that we can get up and see the ships in port:D

 

 

Hi,

 

Unfortunately the Amerisuites was near the airport. I had a really bad time bidding with Priceline(I think I may have waited too long). Out of desperation, I added the airport zone, and it came up with Amerisuites. (In hindsight, I probably should have bid on something in FLL as my husband landed there. He had to work so no Disney for him, he had to come down the day before the cruise. It was a nice hotel(esp after staying in Orlando in a 1 star-lol). It had a full breakfast included with the stay. It wasn't a great deal as we ended up paying 89.00, but not bad either. We rented a car with Alamo and it wasn't too far from the hotel. We dropped the car off, and took their shuttle to the port.

[judyf]

And the review goes on:

 

Entertainment:

 

Brent Mitchell our cruise director was okay but nothing outstanding, not even that funny. We have had better.Only saw him before and after the shows and on the morning show on the TV in our cabin.

 

The entertainment was good not great but good. We like the shows and go to every show. We try to make all the midnight comedy shows too.

 

Three nights there was a midnight comedy show, due to losing a nights sleep we missed the first one but made the other two and they were good. I really like the adult comedy shows and wish there were more of them.

 

Sat. first night there was a welcome aboard show with Brent and a comedy show with Mike Panzeca, he was good. He was also the adult comedy act the next night at midnight, we missed this show.

 

Sun. day 2 , was formal night and the first production show “Jazz Hot” it was good but we were so tried and were having a hard time to stay awake.

 

Mon. day 3, was Roger Homefield a multi instrumentalist, it was okay. My mother really liked it. I could have skipped this one.

 

Tues. day 4, Great show with Chistopher Alan, DO NOT miss this show. It’s really good with dancers like the production show. I went in thinking here’s another show like last night. “Big Bands” is in the name but don’t let it fool you. This was a really great show. There was also a midnight comedy show this night with Jeff Lamb and we both enjoyed it.

 

Wed. day 5, The Village Idiots, we both liked this show it was a combination of comedy and juggling.

 

Thurs. day 6, Boo, what an excuse for a show, this night was the guest talent show. 4 passengers did a performance and then a comedy skit by the crew. CCL should invest and get a real show for this night and have this at another time for those that like karaoke, this I could do without.

 

Fri. day 7, second formal night and the second production show, Take 2. We thought this was better than the first one but that could be that we were just too tried to enjoy the Sun. show.

 

There was also the Legend Lounge Crawl this evening which I would have done except the time it started was at 10:30 pm and we would have had to miss the show. I’m glad we didn’t miss the show. Another midnight comedy show tonight with Al Remero. He was good, but we liked the one Tues. night better.

 

Sat day 8, The show tonight was the comedian that was at the midnight show on Fri. I thought he was going to do the same jokes when he started but he didn’t , he was good. Then we had the Motown and love songs of Melinda Chatman a nice lady and pretty good show.

 

We were walking through the Casino area after the show and she was sitting there with a gentleman friend and saw us and said hi and we had our cameras in our hands talking that last day pictures and she invited us to have a picture taken. She had her friend take a picture of the 3 of us together. That was really nice of her, I would have never intruded of her like that.

 

Another really nice thing was on this day, the last sea day. It was the Sat. before Easter, there was a 5pm matinee show with Moye’, he was in the Take 2 show on Fri. and I might add he was great in the show. It was a really nice show and he got everyone in the Easter sprit. I also would like to see more things schedule for this time slot. As if you have late seating there's a little low around this time frame.

 

The two production shows were nice, we always enjoy them. In our opinion Take 2 was the better of the two, but I was having a hard time staying awake for the first one, so that could be the reason.

 

We went to Satchmo’s once and the band Blue Martini was really good, we just didn’t have enough time to see more of them. I also missed all the afternoon teas this cruise. I was enjoying the great weather we were having.

 

Did a little in the slot machines in the Casino won $50.00 one night and put it back a few days later. I wanted to see the Backstage tour on our last sea day but it was at 1:45 pm and I was having too much fun enjoying the sun by the adult pool to leave.

 

I hope to have the ports up by tomorrow.

[judyf]

Ports:

 

I booked private tours online for each of the three ports we visited.

 

Belize-Monday 3-21-05

 

I booked with Wet & Wild to Shark-ray Alley. When we got off the tender a guide from W & W was waiting there for us. We walked over to the booth and paid the balance due, 10% was charged to my credit card to hold the tour. It was $59.00 to snorkel and $49.00 if you didn’t snorkel.

 

We had about an hour to look around the shopping area before the tour left. There’s a nice area to shop and it’s got AC. We bought some retina A and supplies at the pharmacy, good prices.

 

It took a while to get to the reef on the boat. When we finally got there we got out and snorkeled following our guide and the boat met us on the other side. We didn’t have a lot of time here, must of us thought we were going to snorkel more when we reached the boat but that didn’t happen. The reef was nice and the water was low, a few of us scrapped our knees on the reef. I was worried about keeping up with the group so I didn’t get to see all that much by the reef.

 

Then we went to where the sharks and string rays were. There were a lot of sharks when we arrived about 6-9. We got into the water a few at a time as some were afraid to get in. We got to hold a string ray and feed them, it was fun. Before I got off the boat I saw the one assistant feeding the sharks on the left side of the boat , we all got off the right side, never gave it a thought. When I got in the water the sharks were no where to be seen. I asked our guide Nellie when we were going to see the sharks after having fun with the string rays. She explained that she wasn’t trained enough on how to handle them, so we weren’t able to see one up close.

 

Then we went to Caye Caulker Island, this place is so relaxing and nice. I could have spent a full day there.

 

This was a good tour and I loved the guides and they gave us lots of info on Belize during the boat ride. Just don’t book this tour if you want to interact with the sharks, if you don’t want them to be close to you then this is the tour for you.

 

Costa Rica-Wednesday 3-23-05

 

It was hot, but our ship didn’t arrive till noon. I booked our tours with Oscar Brown. I had booked the zip lining tour for me and the canal tour for my mother. We both enjoyed our tours.

 

We found Oscar’s van and we waited for everyone to arrive. It took a little while but we were one of the first off the ship. We were able to wait in a van out of the sun while he gathered everyone together. He split everyone up and I then moved to the zip lining van.

 

I will explain my mother’s canal tour first. There was a family of 4 and another family of 5, I think. Major complaint from everyone was there wasn’t any AC in their van. Also as I have read on the Costa Rica board, Oscar did stop for some private conversations. Not a real problem but enough that they talked about it on the van and my mother brought it to my attention and she doesn’t read the message boards.

 

She loved the tour, saw different sections of Costa Rica, a banana plantation, held a Sloth and went on the canal tour by small boat. The group was split up into 2 boats. She liked that they weren’t crowded onto one boat. She really enjoyed this tour.

 

My mother was a little unsure of us splitting up in port and Oscar did a great job of staying in touch with our driver Dan. Once I even talked to her on the cell phone they carried. It was a secure feeling knowing they had contact with each other in case there were any problems with the vans. Oscar even brought my mother to the store we were traveling to, as her tour was completed already. At the store I got 4 pounds of coffee, 2 large bottles of salsa and 2 large bottles of vanilla, all for $19.00 US money.

 

Now onto the zip lining tour, WOW! What an experience.

 

We had 7 of us that were doing the zip lining. Two couples, a father and daughter and me. The mother and daughter of the family went horseback riding at the same location and then said they enjoyed it.

 

We all decided to go to a closer zip lining operation at Oscar’s recommendation. Almond and Corals was an hour and a half drive away and the place we went to Brisas de la Jungla I would say was about a half hour drive if that.

 

We went up to the top and got all geared up with the safety equipment. Then we walked up to the first platform after a safety presentation. We had two guides with us and we got a little more safety instruction. I work with safety every day and I must say the safety aspect of the operation impressed me.

 

One guide goes first and the other guide follows after the group. This was a nice feeling knowing there was someone on each end. More on this later.

 

I thought I was going to have a problem with the height but with all the safety equipment that wasn’t an issue. A few in our group said the same thing.

 

There were 12 or 13 zip lines and from what I heard that's more then the Almond Corals location. There were seven of us in our group four in our group had no problems at all. Three of us had 1or 2 fast landings and a few times we came short of the platform. If this happens the guides come to rescue you as they had to do for me.

 

I had one landing that was too fast but not too bad and one that I didn't make it to the platform at all. I was hanging there over the rain forest. I will say I was really scared at this point as I had no idea what would happen. This is one of the main reasons I’m posting this info here so that if anyone else has this happen to them they will not get as scared as I was.

 

As I was hanging there quite a ways from the platform and the guide that was already at the platform was trying to get to me, all of a sudden I heard someone coming on the zip line. At this point I was really concerned, read (scared to death) that the other guide was going to run right into me. What they do is blow a whistle and that tells them the line is clear. I thought the guide thought it was clear and was heading straight for me. I knew I couldn’t get to the platform before he hit me. I was all upset over nothing as he was coming to rescue me. I almost had a heart attack! I was the first one to have this happened so I had no idea what would happen next. If this happens to you don’t worry.

 

It was funny cause after that we asked our guides how many more platforms there was, as we lost count and they didn’t tell us till we had 4 left to go. Our guides didn’t speak good English but could get the point across to us, most of the time. One thing to remember once you start there's no backing out you have to finish!

 

I'm really glad I did it as it was the highlight of the cruise but I did it once and I wouldn't do it again. How many people can say they went zip lining over the Costa Rican rain forest?

 

After we were done we went back to the starting station and they had bowls of fresh fruit and water, it was nice. They gave as all calendars from Costa Rica.

 

Now it’s time to go to the banana plantation, I will never look at a banana the same way. I believe we were told they work an 8 hour day for $15.00. There’s a lot of work involved to get those bananas to our local store for us to get for 50 cents a pound. Both my mother and I enjoyed this part of our tours.

 

On the way to the banana plantation we stopped and held a sloth and got pictures. We also saw a sloth in one of the trees while we were zip lining. Then we went to the store where my mother caught up with our tour.

 

I will post our day in Panama ASAP.

[judyf]

I don't know if anyone is still rweading this review but I wanted to finish it, so here it goes.

 

Panama-Thursday 3-24-05

 

I booked with myfriendmario there wasn’t much listed on the boards about private tours in Panama. I was impressed with his price sheet and web page so I decided to give him a try. Our tour started out at $80.00 for 2. We ended up having 15-17 and the price went down to $55.00 pp., what a great deal. This tour was the same as CCL Grand Tour and they charged over $125.00 pp, can’t remember their price exactly but it was high. This was such a great tour.

 

We were one of the first off the ship we met up with another couple from the message board that also booked with Mario. We went down an escalator and there were lots of tour guides looking to take you on a tour. At first we didn’t see Mario. I failed to get accurate directions to our meeting spot. As in the past we never had a problem they would be right there with a sign. Some of the guides swarmed around us even getting loud with each other as they offered us different tour. There was a nice lady in a uniform that I started talking to just in case we didn’t find Mario. She was very nice and was part of the official tourism of Panama. The same tour we booked with Mario would have been a little higher, I told her what we paid and they would have done it for that price EXCEPT, a $20.00 pp fee would have been added to go to the Indian Village. So we really got a great deal.

 

As I was planning plan B, Mario we found Mario, a hit for anyone booked with him go down the escalator turn right and go sort of under it towards the ship. We went straight.

 

The van they used was new and we had plenty of room and there were 15 of us and a few seats in the back were empty. The AC was so good I had to close my vent at few times and it was really hot in Panama.

 

First we drove to where we got in these big canoes to take us to the Indian Village. It was a 30 minute drive or so, can’t really remember how long as we were having such a good time seeing everything. Mario had a driver and another guide (BOB) with him. They had a map that they pulled down and showed us where we were and where we were going and they gave us lots of info during the ride.

 

Then into the canoe and up the river about 30-35 minutes seeing birds, wildlife and some wild horses along the way, it was a really nice boat ride. Mario had giving us binoculars to use and a guide to find different birds.

 

I really can’t say enough about this tour. The Indian Village was great! The kids were so cute, they were there waiting to help us take off our life vest and hang them up. I went to take a picture of to of them and a third come running up to get in the picture.

 

They put on a show for us, feed us, we had a big bowl of fresh fruit, fish and fried bananas and even offered tea. Two of us had the tea it was good, I like trying different things. Mario had water for us the entire trip, cookies and snacks on the van. We were well fed.

 

After the show you get to look around the craft tables they have set up, prices were good and the work they put into them is amazing. I got a few baskets and a hot trivet and love them.

 

Now we had the option to go to the waterfalls but we all decided to skip that part of the tour as we had to walk in water to our knees and some of us didn’t prepare for that even though Mario told us in an e-mail what to bring. We wanted more time to visit the canal.

 

It was a short ride to the canal and Mario even stopped at a store so we could buy 50 cents cans of beer. We loaded up his cooler and had a beer or two on the way to the canal. We got to see three ships at the canal, one going each direction and then one waiting to enter. We saw one go through the lock closest to us it was a great experience to see.

 

Then he took us to where we got on and we had about an hour or so to shop. As we were on our way back Mario had a few surprises for us, I don’t want to post what they were and ruin it for others on his tour but it was great. I would recommend anyone to take his tour. We tipped him well for all the extra he gave us.

 

Debarkation:

 

Debarkation went real smooth we were off the ship in no time. Waited outside for the Hertz shuttle, it took a little while 20-30 minutes. We were told there were 7 ships in port that morning, for that many ships it went fast and easy. We were getting our car at about 11 am and went to check in the hotel and we were early enough they had a room for us this time.

 

I hope my review has helped someone as I know all the reviews I read before my cruise helped me have a wonderful cruise.

 

Happy cruising!

[Loviecld]

Thank you for posting. I am going on the Legend 6/30/05. Ports are diff. from you. It sounds like you could have used a vacation from your vacation.:D I know there are so much to do, I cant wait. Let me ask you a question, What are the names of the dining rooms (for sit down dinner), and which ones are for the buffets. Thanks

[judyf]

The truffles is the sit down two stories and Unicorn Cafe is the buffet and it was good lots of things to choose from and broke up nice.

 

We had 4 days at sea this cruise so lots of time to rest.

[dizzy205]

Judy,

 

I just wanted to tell you I am still reading :D.

Also, I wanted to thank you for such a great review, very informative!

I asked you on a previous post about the CD, they don't ever make or break my cruise either. I hope the CD isn't a total wack-job, I really think that they should be seen and not heard . I much prefer the island music to corny CD's.

[judyf]

You will love the Legend, Great ship nice layout and decor. The CD was okay. He didn't bother youtoo much as some do. I feel the same way doesn't make or break mt cruise.

 

Glad I was able to help someone with the review!