Review of the Legend, September 18-25. Ready to go again.

[galawdog]

Okay, I've been doing some soul-searching, looking for some legitimate criticism so this won't be one of those reviews that's as gooey as the Chocolate Melting cake. Okay, here it is: I didn't like my crab cake one night at dinner. Therefore, I want compensation, and I'll never sail Carnival again. How's that for hard-hitting journalism?

 

CARNIVAL LEGEND, September 18-25, 2011: Tampa, Cozumel, Belize City, Isla Roatan, Grand Cayman, Tampa.

 

No food porn or other pictures, but please read cruisecritic.com’s review by "cuted126." She and her husband were on the same sailing, and published tons of delightful photos.

 

BACKGROUND: Dear Wife and I are 49-ish. (Well, I’m 50 for another week, and she is 48. Therefore, we are 49-ish). This was my fifth Carnival cruise, and her sixth. All previous cruises were on Fantasy-class ships, except for our honeymoon in 1987 on the brand-new Jubilee. So, this was our first experience on a Spirit-class ship. It will not be our last.

Many of our previous trips have been with Dearest Daughters, now in college. Last year on the Elation and this cruise were by ourselves.

 

Our non-Carnival cruises were on the NCL Leeward and the Norway in the mid-1990s. The Norway (rest her soul) remains our favorite ship ever. There will never be another one like her.

 

CRUISING IN SEPTEMBER: If you haven’t tried it, I recommend it. We’ve cheated the tropical weather two years in a row, with smooth seas. The fares are very reasonable, and the ship has a very mellow feel to it. Very few kids, and the ones who were there were extremely well-behaved.

 

PRE-CRUISE: Driving from North Georgia, we certainly wanted to get into Tampa a day early. We chose the Hampton Inn Rocky Point for its cruise-park package. I considered it a bargain for $109.00 plus tax. The hotel was clean, and it is adjacent to a Bahama Breeze restaurant. When combined with included breakfast, shuttle to/from the port and safe parking, it was an excellent choice. The hotel and the Bahama Breeze are on the water, so it helped ease us into a nautical mood. We were booked on the 11:00 shuttle to the port, and we were picked up around 11:15.

 

EMBARKATION: Wow. My worst complaint is that we arrived at the x-ray machine so quickly that I had not taken time to remove my camera, keys and change from my pockets. This is surprising since we arrived at the port around 11:45. I expected a much longer line.

 

We each took a bottle of wine and a 12-pack of soft drinks with us in our carry-on. (Thanks to Cruise Critic’s endless discussions on this subject. We ran into several folks whose wine was confiscated from their checked luggage).

 

The port agents didn’t even look at the wine (bottled Tuesday and aged in a truck), but scrutinized the Coke and water bottles carefully. Total time from getting off the shuttle to walking aboard the ship? 18 minutes. Wow.

 

OPERATION RUM-RUNNER (checked luggage): An unmitigated success. Did it affect our bar tab? Not really. Would I do it again? Yes. It was worth it just for the anticipation of opening our checked suitcase to see if we were successful. We did our rum-runner-happy-dance on the balcony.

 

CABIN: 4173. Many cabins on this deck have obstructed views, but we chose a mid-ship balcony cabin that wasn’t close to a lifeboat. Immediately across from our cabin door was a window that looked down into the atrium lobby. This was a handy way to get a feel for what was going on downstairs. Decks 4 through 8 are essentially identical, with no public spaces. I saw no need to pay an upcharge to be on a higher deck. Deck 4 is closest to the show-lounge, the main dining room and all other public spaces other than those on the Lido deck.

 

The cabin itself was spotless, and our steward did his job nicely. The major difference from a Fantasy-class cabin was the couch and a small table. This was a nice feature.

 

We are now badly spoiled by having had a balcony cabin. It will be hard to sail without one again. We saw fewer shows than normal on this cruise, and attribute that primarily to the late-evening lure of the balcony and a good book.

 

We used a bungee cord to keep the door open one night as we slept. It does cause the air conditioner to cut off, so I don't think we ran up the power bill. It was nice to go to sleep with the sound of the sea.

 

CRUISE DIRECTOR: After following John Heald on Facebook for the past several months, I have much respect for the job that these folks do. They put up with tons of wackily unreasonable complaints, along with the reasonable ones.

 

Wee Jimmy was our CD, and he was wonderful. He was the most visible CD of any we can remember, and not just because of his girth and propensity for wearing a kilt! He seemed to be everywhere, all the time.

 

FOOD: If we were on a land-based vacation, we certainly wouldn’t eat three large, sit-down, meals per day, but eating certainly seems to occupy a lot of time on a ship. We both thought the food was very good. Service in the main dining room was wonderful. Valentin and his assistants were very efficient and friendly.

 

 

Service in the MDR for breakfast was pleasant and quick.

 

Our evening tablemates (early seating) were a family from North Carolina and Hawaii. I should probably say something nice about them, since they’re going to read this......Seriously, we enjoyed John, Misty and Brooke's company each and every night. While I wouldn't rule out trying Anytime Dining in the future, we have always been blessed with wonderful dining companions.

 

PORTS: We love this itinerary, since it allowed us to see three new ports. We don’t usually book Carnival’s excursions, as they can all be duplicated for half the price. If we preferred day-long bus trips to ruins, we would probably go with Carnival, but we usually do quick things and hop back on the ship.

 

Cozumel: Been there several times, so we just took a quick meander through FakeMexico. We then found the familiar beachside massage tent. The ambiance is wonderful---a quiet tent with an overhead fan and a nice breeze. Thirty-dollar-make-you-holler. Wonderful.

 

Belize City: Surprisingly delightful. The tender process was remarkably efficient. We visited the Wet Lizard bar (run by an expatriate from Atlanta). Then we arranged for a city tour. $20 per person as opposed to Carnival’s $49.00. Because this day was Independence Day in Belize, our tour route was altered due to a parade and celebrations. Consequently, we saw parts of the city that aren’t usually on the tour. Lots of poverty, but lots of polite, friendly people who were excited about their national holiday. Back to the Wet Lizard after the tour for chips, fresh salsa and the local brew (Belikin).

 

Isla Roatan: We wanted to do a zip-line, so we were hiking "over the hill" to arrange something. Then I saw "Clip&Zip" just off the FakeHonduras property. For $40 per person, we had a wonderful zip experience. It’s not as long a tour as the one offered by Victor the MonkeyMan, but neither of us wanted to pet Victor’s monkey.... Plus, we were able to walk over to Mahogany Bay and look around. Carnival's millions were well spent on this port area. We were back on the ship before noon, turning this port into a virtual day-at-sea.

 

Georgetown, Grand Cayman. Our least favorite port. We took our usual independent tour of the island with a local cab driver, seeing the dolphins, the rum-cake store and Hell. Before heading back to the ship, we stopped at Margaritaville. Beer and a strawberry daiquiri? $17.90. Wow.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: I’m amazed at the CruiseCritic readers who want to leave Carnival because the Lido band on most ships is now two folks instead of three. Our guys were more talented than most, with one of them being a steel-drum virtuoso.

 

The show band was excellent, and the female singer was clearly more talented than one of the females who sang in the production shows.

 

GYM: The two-story gymnasium was fabulous. The machines were in good working order, and we enjoyed our early-morning workouts.

 

OVERALL: The ship was gorgeous. We were always able to find a lounge chair near the pool. The urn-oriented decor of the ship is amusing. The ship feels so much larger than a Fantasy-class ship, even though it has only 200 more berths.

 

We are preparing to book the same ship for approximately the same week for 2012. That is proof of our enormous satisfaction.

[gelo7]

Nice review.

[RenoNanaOz]

Love it, can't wait for our turn!

[DalovelyDamanda]

The show band was excellent, and the female singer was clearly more talented than one of the females who sang in the production shows.

 

We just got off the Legend on Sunday and had a great time too!

 

The four singer in the big productions in the Follies (Nick, Rachel, Meghan and some other guy) were HORRIBLE. We went for the big Jazz production and didn't go to any other shows after that if they were singing. The band however was great! Too bad the singers weren't. BUT the singer with the band in the Firebird for the final night (Fun Farwell) was Ashley and she was really good! I was surprised they didn't use her instead of the other production females!

 

We LOVED Wee Jimmy! He was so funny and down-to-earth.

 

Great review!

[Eileen2]

Thank you for a well written and informative review. We will be on the Oct 23rd sailing and thank you for the heads up re prices in Grand Cayman.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Okay, I've been doing some soul-searching, looking for some legitimate criticism so this won't be one of those reviews that's as gooey as the Chocolate Melting cake. Okay, here it is: I didn't like my crab cake one night at dinner. Therefore, I want compensation, and I'll never sail Carnival again. How's that for hard-hitting journalism?

 

CARNIVAL LEGEND, September 18-25, 2011: Tampa, Cozumel, Belize City, Isla Roatan, Grand Cayman, Tampa.

 

No food porn or other pictures, but please read cruisecritic.com’s review by "cuted126." She and her husband were on the same sailing, and published tons of delightful photos.

 

BACKGROUND: Dear Wife and I are 49-ish. (Well, I’m 50 for another week, and she is 48. Therefore, we are 49-ish). This was my fifth Carnival cruise, and her sixth. All previous cruises were on Fantasy-class ships, except for our honeymoon in 1987 on the brand-new Jubilee. So, this was our first experience on a Spirit-class ship. It will not be our last.

Many of our previous trips have been with Dearest Daughters, now in college. Last year on the Elation and this cruise were by ourselves.

 

Our non-Carnival cruises were on the NCL Leeward and the Norway in the mid-1990s. The Norway (rest her soul) remains our favorite ship ever. There will never be another one like her.

 

CRUISING IN SEPTEMBER: If you haven’t tried it, I recommend it. We’ve cheated the tropical weather two years in a row, with smooth seas. The fares are very reasonable, and the ship has a very mellow feel to it. Very few kids, and the ones who were there were extremely well-behaved.

 

PRE-CRUISE: Driving from North Georgia, we certainly wanted to get into Tampa a day early. We chose the Hampton Inn Rocky Point for its cruise-park package. I considered it a bargain for $109.00 plus tax. The hotel was clean, and it is adjacent to a Bahama Breeze restaurant. When combined with included breakfast, shuttle to/from the port and safe parking, it was an excellent choice. The hotel and the Bahama Breeze are on the water, so it helped ease us into a nautical mood. We were booked on the 11:00 shuttle to the port, and we were picked up around 11:15.

 

EMBARKATION: Wow. My worst complaint is that we arrived at the x-ray machine so quickly that I had not taken time to remove my camera, keys and change from my pockets. This is surprising since we arrived at the port around 11:45. I expected a much longer line.

 

We each took a bottle of wine and a 12-pack of soft drinks with us in our carry-on. (Thanks to Cruise Critic’s endless discussions on this subject. We ran into several folks whose wine was confiscated from their checked luggage).

 

The port agents didn’t even look at the wine (bottled Tuesday and aged in a truck), but scrutinized the Coke and water bottles carefully. Total time from getting off the shuttle to walking aboard the ship? 18 minutes. Wow.

 

OPERATION RUM-RUNNER (checked luggage): An unmitigated success. Did it affect our bar tab? Not really. Would I do it again? Yes. It was worth it just for the anticipation of opening our checked suitcase to see if we were successful. We did our rum-runner-happy-dance on the balcony.

 

CABIN: 4173. Many cabins on this deck have obstructed views, but we chose a mid-ship balcony cabin that wasn’t close to a lifeboat. Immediately across from our cabin door was a window that looked down into the atrium lobby. This was a handy way to get a feel for what was going on downstairs. Decks 4 through 8 are essentially identical, with no public spaces. I saw no need to pay an upcharge to be on a higher deck. Deck 4 is closest to the show-lounge, the main dining room and all other public spaces other than those on the Lido deck.

 

The cabin itself was spotless, and our steward did his job nicely. The major difference from a Fantasy-class cabin was the couch and a small table. This was a nice feature.

 

We are now badly spoiled by having had a balcony cabin. It will be hard to sail without one again. We saw fewer shows than normal on this cruise, and attribute that primarily to the late-evening lure of the balcony and a good book.

 

We used a bungee cord to keep the door open one night as we slept. It does cause the air conditioner to cut off, so I don't think we ran up the power bill. It was nice to go to sleep with the sound of the sea.

 

CRUISE DIRECTOR: After following John Heald on Facebook for the past several months, I have much respect for the job that these folks do. They put up with tons of wackily unreasonable complaints, along with the reasonable ones.

 

Wee Jimmy was our CD, and he was wonderful. He was the most visible CD of any we can remember, and not just because of his girth and propensity for wearing a kilt! He seemed to be everywhere, all the time.

 

FOOD: If we were on a land-based vacation, we certainly wouldn’t eat three large, sit-down, meals per day, but eating certainly seems to occupy a lot of time on a ship. We both thought the food was very good. Service in the main dining room was wonderful. Valentin and his assistants were very efficient and friendly.

 

 

Service in the MDR for breakfast was pleasant and quick.

 

Our evening tablemates (early seating) were a family from North Carolina and Hawaii. I should probably say something nice about them, since they’re going to read this......Seriously, we enjoyed John, Misty and Brooke's company each and every night. While I wouldn't rule out trying Anytime Dining in the future, we have always been blessed with wonderful dining companions.

 

PORTS: We love this itinerary, since it allowed us to see three new ports. We don’t usually book Carnival’s excursions, as they can all be duplicated for half the price. If we preferred day-long bus trips to ruins, we would probably go with Carnival, but we usually do quick things and hop back on the ship.

 

Cozumel: Been there several times, so we just took a quick meander through FakeMexico. We then found the familiar beachside massage tent. The ambiance is wonderful---a quiet tent with an overhead fan and a nice breeze. Thirty-dollar-make-you-holler. Wonderful.

 

Belize City: Surprisingly delightful. The tender process was remarkably efficient. We visited the Wet Lizard bar (run by an expatriate from Atlanta). Then we arranged for a city tour. $20 per person as opposed to Carnival’s $49.00. Because this day was Independence Day in Belize, our tour route was altered due to a parade and celebrations. Consequently, we saw parts of the city that aren’t usually on the tour. Lots of poverty, but lots of polite, friendly people who were excited about their national holiday. Back to the Wet Lizard after the tour for chips, fresh salsa and the local brew (Belikin).

 

Isla Roatan: We wanted to do a zip-line, so we were hiking "over the hill" to arrange something. Then I saw "Clip&Zip" just off the FakeHonduras property. For $40 per person, we had a wonderful zip experience. It’s not as long a tour as the one offered by Victor the MonkeyMan, but neither of us wanted to pet Victor’s monkey.... Plus, we were able to walk over to Mahogany Bay and look around. Carnival's millions were well spent on this port area. We were back on the ship before noon, turning this port into a virtual day-at-sea.

 

Georgetown, Grand Cayman. Our least favorite port. We took our usual independent tour of the island with a local cab driver, seeing the dolphins, the rum-cake store and Hell. Before heading back to the ship, we stopped at Margaritaville. Beer and a strawberry daiquiri? $17.90. Wow.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: I’m amazed at the CruiseCritic readers who want to leave Carnival because the Lido band on most ships is now two folks instead of three. Our guys were more talented than most, with one of them being a steel-drum virtuoso.

 

The show band was excellent, and the female singer was clearly more talented than one of the females who sang in the production shows.

 

GYM: The two-story gymnasium was fabulous. The machines were in good working order, and we enjoyed our early-morning workouts.

 

OVERALL: The ship was gorgeous. We were always able to find a lounge chair near the pool. The urn-oriented decor of the ship is amusing. The ship feels so much larger than a Fantasy-class ship, even though it has only 200 more berths.

 

We are preparing to book the same ship for approximately the same week for 2012. That is proof of our enormous satisfaction.

 

 

Galawdog -

 

Loved your review! We are also from North Georgia and sailing in October of next year.

 

Couple of questions -

 

Did your stay at the Hampton include transport to the port and back to the hotel to get your car? Also, there will be 6 of us so I'm curious to know if they will charge extra since there are so many of us? You may not know since there was just the 2 of you - we are a long way from being able to cruise with just 2 of us - our youngest will be 7 on Friday!!! Oh well, that's what you get when you start a 2nd family I guess!

 

Also, entertainment wise - we sailed on the Dream in April and loved a band on that ship - Blackjack. They were in the Ocean Plaza and there was lots of dancing and interaction with the band and passengers. We spent most of our time there because they could play anything! Does the Legend have anything similar? My kids are really hoping so because all of us - ages 47 down to 6 loved hanging out there every night and dancing and cutting up!

 

Thanks in advance! You should wait and cruise with us in October!

 

We are from Dalton by the way!

[Heirloom]

Thanks for your review ! Enjoyed it because....

 

.... our THIRD Legend sailing coming up this December. You think we kinda like it ?

[BeachLovers2]

Great review. We are on Legend just after Thanksgiving. Loved the positives. Everyone can find something to complain about - if that's the kind of person they are. I'd rather enjoy my cruise and since I'm not cooking or cleaning - I will just relax and have a good time.

[connieh1968]

Great review...simple, yet imformative.

 

We go next September...which I agree, best time to go! We live right here in Tampa, so very easy for us to get to the port and back.

 

Never been on the Legend tho. Sooo looking forward to it.

[vegadog2]

We will be on the LEGEND for HOLLOWEEN.

[fla_momuv3]

Thanks for an informative review! We'll be on Legend New Year's Day 2012.Cannot wait. I agree with you about Grand Cayman. Most expensive port we've ever experienced.

[KRW71]

Thanks for your review. Do you have pictures to share too?

[galawdog]

GeorgiaMomOf4 asked: "Did your stay at the Hampton include transport to the port and back to the hotel to get your car? Also, there will be 6 of us so I'm curious to know if they will charge extra since there are so many of us? You may not know since there was just the 2 of you - we are a long way from being able to cruise with just 2 of us - our youngest will be 7 on Friday!!! Oh well, that's what you get when you start a 2nd family I guess!

 

Also, entertainment wise - we sailed on the Dream in April and loved a band on that ship - Blackjack. They were in the Ocean Plaza and there was lots of dancing and interaction with the band and passengers. We spent most of our time there because they could play anything! Does the Legend have anything similar? My kids are really hoping so because all of us - ages 47 down to 6 loved hanging out there every night and dancing and cutting up!"

 

Yes, our Hampton Inn (Rocky Point) provided airport/hotel/port shuttles for those who flew. We drove, and they provided complimentary shuttle service for us as well. I do believe there is an extra charge for more than two people per room. So, if your gang is in two rooms, shuttle for four people would be covered. I am not positive about that, so you may want to call the hotel.

 

As to your entertainment question, the showband played several late nights in Satchmo's, which is a smoking-friendly lounge. We're not smokers, but it was well-ventilated and didn't bother us. The band was fantastic, and I even got to do a short duet with Ashley, the singer. When the bandleader offered me a six-month contract, I thought it best to sit down....

 

 

 

[rhcpchika1]

Thanks for your review!

 

I am anxiously awaiting April1st!

[cuted126]

Great review! Glad you had a good time!!!! Thanks for the compliments on my pics! :)

[cuted126]

We just got off the Legend on Sunday and had a great time too!

 

The four singer in the big productions in the Follies (Nick, Rachel, Meghan and some other guy) were HORRIBLE. We went for the big Jazz production and didn't go to any other shows after that if they were singing. The band however was great! Too bad the singers weren't. BUT the singer with the band in the Firebird for the final night (Fun Farwell) was Ashley and she was really good! I was surprised they didn't use her instead of the other production females!

 

We LOVED Wee Jimmy! He was so funny and down-to-earth.

 

Great review!

 

Understatement,lol!! When they started singing,I looked around to see if anyone was as shocked as I was! Those vocals were bad. I actually thought the guy with the blondish hair was okay,but the other ones:eek: YIKES!

[FloridaLaura]

As to your entertainment question, the showband played several late nights in Satchmo's, which is a smoking-friendly lounge. We're not smokers, but it was well-ventilated and didn't bother us. The band was fantastic, and I even got to do a short duet with Ashley, the singer. When the bandleader offered me a six-month contract, I thought it best to sit down....

 

 

 

What kind of music did the "showband" play? thanks in advance!

[galawdog]

 

What kind of music did the "showband" play? thanks in advance!

 

 

The Showband played a good mix of 70s (Doobie Bros.), 80s, some 60s ("Land of 1000 Dances"). Some slower dance songs ("Unchained Melody"). Really good saxophone and horn section. Lots of music without needless patter between songs.

[galawdog]

Well, we just booked again for next September. Gonna try to cheat the hurricanes again.

[RedbirdFL]

Thanks for posting a fun review! We'll be on the Legend in May and are really looking forward to it!

[tandtmk04]

Okay, I've been doing some soul-searching, looking for some legitimate criticism so this won't be one of those reviews that's as gooey as the Chocolate Melting cake. Okay, here it is: I didn't like my crab cake one night at dinner. Therefore, I want compensation, and I'll never sail Carnival again. How's that for hard-hitting journalism?

 

CARNIVAL LEGEND, September 18-25, 2011: Tampa, Cozumel, Belize City, Isla Roatan, Grand Cayman, Tampa.

 

No food porn or other pictures, but please read cruisecritic.com’s review by "cuted126." She and her husband were on the same sailing, and published tons of delightful photos.

 

BACKGROUND: Dear Wife and I are 49-ish. (Well, I’m 50 for another week, and she is 48. Therefore, we are 49-ish). This was my fifth Carnival cruise, and her sixth. All previous cruises were on Fantasy-class ships, except for our honeymoon in 1987 on the brand-new Jubilee. So, this was our first experience on a Spirit-class ship. It will not be our last.

Many of our previous trips have been with Dearest Daughters, now in college. Last year on the Elation and this cruise were by ourselves.

 

Our non-Carnival cruises were on the NCL Leeward and the Norway in the mid-1990s. The Norway (rest her soul) remains our favorite ship ever. There will never be another one like her.

 

CRUISING IN SEPTEMBER: If you haven’t tried it, I recommend it. We’ve cheated the tropical weather two years in a row, with smooth seas. The fares are very reasonable, and the ship has a very mellow feel to it. Very few kids, and the ones who were there were extremely well-behaved.

 

PRE-CRUISE: Driving from North Georgia, we certainly wanted to get into Tampa a day early. We chose the Hampton Inn Rocky Point for its cruise-park package. I considered it a bargain for $109.00 plus tax. The hotel was clean, and it is adjacent to a Bahama Breeze restaurant. When combined with included breakfast, shuttle to/from the port and safe parking, it was an excellent choice. The hotel and the Bahama Breeze are on the water, so it helped ease us into a nautical mood. We were booked on the 11:00 shuttle to the port, and we were picked up around 11:15.

 

EMBARKATION: Wow. My worst complaint is that we arrived at the x-ray machine so quickly that I had not taken time to remove my camera, keys and change from my pockets. This is surprising since we arrived at the port around 11:45. I expected a much longer line.

 

We each took a bottle of wine and a 12-pack of soft drinks with us in our carry-on. (Thanks to Cruise Critic’s endless discussions on this subject. We ran into several folks whose wine was confiscated from their checked luggage).

 

The port agents didn’t even look at the wine (bottled Tuesday and aged in a truck), but scrutinized the Coke and water bottles carefully. Total time from getting off the shuttle to walking aboard the ship? 18 minutes. Wow.

 

OPERATION RUM-RUNNER (checked luggage): An unmitigated success. Did it affect our bar tab? Not really. Would I do it again? Yes. It was worth it just for the anticipation of opening our checked suitcase to see if we were successful. We did our rum-runner-happy-dance on the balcony.

 

CABIN: 4173. Many cabins on this deck have obstructed views, but we chose a mid-ship balcony cabin that wasn’t close to a lifeboat. Immediately across from our cabin door was a window that looked down into the atrium lobby. This was a handy way to get a feel for what was going on downstairs. Decks 4 through 8 are essentially identical, with no public spaces. I saw no need to pay an upcharge to be on a higher deck. Deck 4 is closest to the show-lounge, the main dining room and all other public spaces other than those on the Lido deck.

 

The cabin itself was spotless, and our steward did his job nicely. The major difference from a Fantasy-class cabin was the couch and a small table. This was a nice feature.

 

We are now badly spoiled by having had a balcony cabin. It will be hard to sail without one again. We saw fewer shows than normal on this cruise, and attribute that primarily to the late-evening lure of the balcony and a good book.

 

We used a bungee cord to keep the door open one night as we slept. It does cause the air conditioner to cut off, so I don't think we ran up the power bill. It was nice to go to sleep with the sound of the sea.

 

CRUISE DIRECTOR: After following John Heald on Facebook for the past several months, I have much respect for the job that these folks do. They put up with tons of wackily unreasonable complaints, along with the reasonable ones.

 

Wee Jimmy was our CD, and he was wonderful. He was the most visible CD of any we can remember, and not just because of his girth and propensity for wearing a kilt! He seemed to be everywhere, all the time.

 

FOOD: If we were on a land-based vacation, we certainly wouldn’t eat three large, sit-down, meals per day, but eating certainly seems to occupy a lot of time on a ship. We both thought the food was very good. Service in the main dining room was wonderful. Valentin and his assistants were very efficient and friendly.

 

 

Service in the MDR for breakfast was pleasant and quick.

 

Our evening tablemates (early seating) were a family from North Carolina and Hawaii. I should probably say something nice about them, since they’re going to read this......Seriously, we enjoyed John, Misty and Brooke's company each and every night. While I wouldn't rule out trying Anytime Dining in the future, we have always been blessed with wonderful dining companions.

 

PORTS: We love this itinerary, since it allowed us to see three new ports. We don’t usually book Carnival’s excursions, as they can all be duplicated for half the price. If we preferred day-long bus trips to ruins, we would probably go with Carnival, but we usually do quick things and hop back on the ship.

 

Cozumel: Been there several times, so we just took a quick meander through FakeMexico. We then found the familiar beachside massage tent. The ambiance is wonderful---a quiet tent with an overhead fan and a nice breeze. Thirty-dollar-make-you-holler. Wonderful.

 

Belize City: Surprisingly delightful. The tender process was remarkably efficient. We visited the Wet Lizard bar (run by an expatriate from Atlanta). Then we arranged for a city tour. $20 per person as opposed to Carnival’s $49.00. Because this day was Independence Day in Belize, our tour route was altered due to a parade and celebrations. Consequently, we saw parts of the city that aren’t usually on the tour. Lots of poverty, but lots of polite, friendly people who were excited about their national holiday. Back to the Wet Lizard after the tour for chips, fresh salsa and the local brew (Belikin).

 

Isla Roatan: We wanted to do a zip-line, so we were hiking "over the hill" to arrange something. Then I saw "Clip&Zip" just off the FakeHonduras property. For $40 per person, we had a wonderful zip experience. It’s not as long a tour as the one offered by Victor the MonkeyMan, but neither of us wanted to pet Victor’s monkey.... Plus, we were able to walk over to Mahogany Bay and look around. Carnival's millions were well spent on this port area. We were back on the ship before noon, turning this port into a virtual day-at-sea.

 

Georgetown, Grand Cayman. Our least favorite port. We took our usual independent tour of the island with a local cab driver, seeing the dolphins, the rum-cake store and Hell. Before heading back to the ship, we stopped at Margaritaville. Beer and a strawberry daiquiri? $17.90. Wow.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: I’m amazed at the CruiseCritic readers who want to leave Carnival because the Lido band on most ships is now two folks instead of three. Our guys were more talented than most, with one of them being a steel-drum virtuoso.

 

The show band was excellent, and the female singer was clearly more talented than one of the females who sang in the production shows.

 

GYM: The two-story gymnasium was fabulous. The machines were in good working order, and we enjoyed our early-morning workouts.

 

OVERALL: The ship was gorgeous. We were always able to find a lounge chair near the pool. The urn-oriented decor of the ship is amusing. The ship feels so much larger than a Fantasy-class ship, even though it has only 200 more berths.

 

We are preparing to book the same ship for approximately the same week for 2012. That is proof of our enormous satisfaction.

 

 

My family and I was on the same Cruise. :) We were in 4195 and had the same wait staff ..... they were VERY good. Valentine seemed alittle scary the first night... stressed.... but he turned out to be good! lol Glad to read what you said about the "kids on the cruise" because mine was two of them. :) We also did the Zip n Dip and loved it. I'm planning to write a review as well.... just looking for the time. I'm ready to go again.

[okwriter]

Very funny review. ;)

 

Nicely done. Legend is a great ship!

[galawdog]

Almost two months post-cruise, I need to confess that DW had left a ship's banana in our backpack. She didn't tell me, and she didn't declare it. Maybe if she's convicted, she'll win on a peel. heh.

[crusinpsychRN]

No problems with food temps?

[galawdog]

No problems with food temps?

 

No problems. There were just a few dishes that weren't very tasty.

 

I failed to mention in my original post that I tried the "Vegetarian Indian" entree two nights. Excellent. Huge quantities of very freshly prepared and delicious Indian food.