Just off "Legendary" cruise!

[lizjoemom]

Hi all, just thought I would post a quick mini review and some observations about our cruise. We just got off the Legend yesterday, suprisingly, not in Tampa but in Port Canaveral! But it was all good, Carnival got us back to Tampa in relatively short order, anyway here are my observations about the cruise:

Background: Our 10/11 th cruise, 2nd with Carnival.

We cruised with my bro. in law and sis in law and their two kids. They have about 9 cruises under their belts, and this was their first Carnival cruise.

 

Embarkation: Easy. Arrived at the port around 11:30, unloaded bags, gave the car to the valet (125.00) and entered terminal. We were on the ship by 12:30 eating lunch. Pools were open and life was good!

 

Rooms: We had two rooms, one inside for the kids and a balcony across the hall on deck 7 (Verandah). We find that Carnival has the roomiest cabins in our affordable categories out of all the lines that we have cruised on. Three closets, two banks of drawers in the kids room, drawers under the couch in our room, didnt even use a lot of the space. Beds are extremely comfortable. Steward was great, always had what we needed and never bothered us.

 

Food: Formal dining: we had a table for eight tht was in an out of the way dining room, so we didnt get to see alot of the singing and dancing (except for our own waiter and one other), but that was OK. The dining room is beautiful. The food was very good, aside from a couple of mediocre entree's, most of the food was excellent. We didnt do the Steakhouse, but it looked good.

Unicorn cafe: Excellent, I love the way its layed out, you hardly have to wait on line at all for what you want. The kids loved that there was always pizza, chicken, hamburgers and fries available whenever you wanted.

Room service: we only got continental breakfast (coffee, bun etc) but we ordered for both rooms everyday and got it exactly on time (except on debarkation day, but that was from all the confusion).

Overall, we were impressed with the food, and the service it was very good.

Entertainment: OK, comedians were good. Saw one big show, not sure about my in laws, it was good. Deck party was fun and packed! At first I missed the sail away band, but it was good that they had a DJ and he played appropriate music at the appropriate times and the younger people love the DJ! We didnt really see any of the deck games as we spent all of our time at the forward pool. And the people on board do love their karoake! We didnt participate, but it was fun to watch and listen sometimes. The kids didnt really participate in the kids clubs, we had two boys age 12 and 13 and one girl age 10. They went once but the boys werent impressed and of course my niece wanted to be where ever they were. Despite that, they met some other kids and had a great time!

 

Ship layout and public areas: I personally love the decor on this ship. I believe that just like a vegas casino that the decor should be over the top on a cruise ship! and this ship was over the top! I loved the artwork and the "Legend" themes throughout. I thought it was very easy to navigate, we never had to wait for an elevator, and even though it was afull sailing the ship never felt crowded. We never had a problem finding chairs anywhere, we stayed at the forward pool, always had chairs, on the upper deck there was always plenty of chairs. Unicorn cafe, beverage areas where always clean and there was plenty of staff cleaning tables. At the shows there were plenty of places to sit and even at the deck party, we never felt cramped.

 

Ports of Call: Awsome! Paradise Beach in Cozumel, Cavetubing with VIV in Belize, Mahoghany Bay Beach, and Snuba in Grand Cayman. Beautiful weather all week, it just doesnt get any better.

 

Disembarkation: Considering the situation getting diverted and all, I would say that it went pretty smoothly. There was a little confusion at Port Canaveral, but they got us back to Tampa quickly and we were at home by 2:30, which I didnt think was bad.

 

Overall, everyone in our group agreed that it was one of the best cruises we have ever been on and my in laws have been sold on Carnival and would take another one again in a heartbeat!

[SooZ1138]

We are sailing the Legend in 13 days (woohoo!!)

How was your ride back to Ft. Lauderdale? Was it a rough ride?? Our Roll Call was keeping up with your trip! It's comforting to know that if something rolls through when we are to go, Ft. Lauderdale is always a safe alternative. :)

[Andoria]

Thank you for the review!

[lizjoemom]

We are sailing the Legend in 13 days (woohoo!!)

 

How was your ride back to Ft. Lauderdale? Was it a rough ride?? Our Roll Call was keeping up with your trip! It's comforting to know that if something rolls through when we are to go, Ft. Lauderdale is always a safe alternative. :)

 

Actually, we were diverted to Port Canaveral. The trip was a little rough, but considering we went straight through the storm in between the keys and cuba, it wasnt bad. The captain had the ships throttle up all the way, sailed all night at about 24 k. which is supposedly the highest speed we could go! My in laws cabin was on the first deck and they had waves hitting their window!

[crusinpsychRN]

Nice review even with the weather and the PC problem.

 

How were food temps?

[lizjoemom]

Nice review even with the weather and the PC problem.

 

How were food temps?

 

Everything was hot and or cold as it should be. We found the food to be very good, with the exception of a couple of entrees that were just ok, it was all pretty good.

[lizjoemom]

One more comment about the food, if there was a question about what to order, we asked the wait staff, they were very helpful in picking what was good. A couple of times they suggested that we order something else instead of say the fish.

[javamom]

Do you remember what night was the deck party?

[lizjoemom]

I believe the deck party was Wednesday or maybe Thursday, I just asked my daughter, she doesnt remember either. It was fun though.

[wafflestoo]

Hi, We were on the same cruise as you and your family. We cancelled our flight in Tampa due to the suggestion of Carnival. What time did you make it to Tampa? Just wondering if we would have made our 1:30 flight. We changed our flight to Orlando, but had to spend a night in Orlando. Just feel lucky to be home.

 

Meg

[lizjoemom]

Hi, We were on the same cruise as you and your family. We cancelled our flight in Tampa due to the suggestion of Carnival. What time did you make it to Tampa? Just wondering if we would have made our 1:30 flight. We changed our flight to Orlando, but had to spend a night in Orlando. Just feel lucky to be home.

 

Meg

 

Since we didnt have a flight, we just left the ship when they called our luggage tags, we had #9 and our in laws had #18! They were almost the last ones off the ship. We got on the buses by 12:00 and were in Port Tampa at around 2:00 (the buses flew!). Our in laws arrived a few minutes after we did. You were probably best to change your plans as even if Carnival had gotten you to the airport before your flight, the airlines may not have let you on cutting it so close. I thought it was a great cruise despite the surprising ending, how about you guys? Did you all have a good time?

[wafflestoo]

We had a great cruise. Great food, great entertainment, great excursions. No complaints at all. The last day was a bit disappointing, but you can't help what Mother Nature shells out... I am hooked on cruising

[lizjoemom]

We had a great cruise. Great food, great entertainment, great excursions. No complaints at all. The last day was a bit disappointing, but you can't help what Mother Nature shells out... I am hooked on cruising

 

Was this your first Carnival? It was for my in laws and they loved it!

[wafflestoo]

We did a cruise last year and our boys (12 and 16) loved it. They begged us all year to cruise again... so we complied. Husband and I didn't expect to like it as much as we did last year, but really, what is there not to like? I think that when you have kids it is the best bang for your vacation buck!

[vivavegas]

Nice review! Thanks for sharing your experiences!:)

[geekohio]

Great review! I will be on the Legend on Sunday, so its always great to see such positive reviews :)

[crusinpsychRN]

Since we didnt have a flight, we just left the ship when they called our luggage tags, we had #9 and our in laws had #18! They were almost the last ones off the ship. We got on the buses by 12:00 and were in Port Tampa at around 2:00 (the buses flew!). Our in laws arrived a few minutes after we did. You were probably best to change your plans as even if Carnival had gotten you to the airport before your flight, the airlines may not have let you on cutting it so close. I thought it was a great cruise despite the surprising ending, how about you guys? Did you all have a good time?

 

I think the question might have been how you got home at 2:30 when you show you live in Jersey Shore!

 

Can't wait to go soon!

[lizjoemom]

I think the question might have been how you got home at 2:30 when you show you live in Jersey Shore!

 

Can't wait to go soon!

 

Ahhh!!! You caught that! Actually we own a second home in Palm Harbor Florida which is about a half hour away from Tampa!

[mj]

Thanks for your review.