Another review-legend of the seas

[lizzy77]

Legend of the Seas. Hong Kong - Brisbane 18 nights

 

We have cruised over 320 days on many ships and many different cruise lines and usually we pick a cruise by destination and this was one that had a couple of different ports visiting 2 ports in the Philippines, Kota Kinabalu Sabah, Bali and then Darwin, Cairns and Airlie Beach ending in Brisbane. It is quite long and I stress that this is my personal opinion of our cruise and I understand that not everyone will agree with it and that's fine with me.

We embarked in Hong Kong and after reading some horror stories from previous reviews we were on the ship in no time. Everything was run very smoothly and the "cabins were available at 1pm as advertised.

We had a mini suite 8542 on deck 8 mid ship which was a great position close to the central lifts with the pools, Windjammer Cafe and the Solarium cafe above us. I always take time in selecting our cabin as to what's above and below us for noise and we had no noise at all. Our cabin was very soundproof, was very spacious with a couch and 2 chairs and 2 footstools all next to the balcony and a desk with another chair at the end of the bed. Our bed was king size and comfortable and we had loads of cupboards and hanging space. The bathroom was plenty big enough and we had a bath with the shower over it. Unfortunately we had a drain blockage a couple of times which resulted in us standing in water after draining the basin and for all of the cruise we had a terrible smell in the bathroom coming up from the drains. After the 3rd complaint we thought they had fixed the problem but it quickly came back and was so bad we could only go in there when we had to. It was obvious the problem needed more than pouring disinfectants down it, but that was all they did. Very unsatisfactory and was enough to make me very upset as every time I complained the maintenance made me feel that there was nothing wrong. We had a kettle in our cabin to make tea and a drip filter coffee machine. Our balcony was very roomy and was deeper than normal balcony suites but it could have done with being cleaned more often. We had a change in room stewards half way through the cruise and the cleaning in our cabin improved but was not up to standards we have had previously on all cruises. Our room steward cleaned our bathroom, probably to try to get rid of the awful smell, but skimmed over everything else. Benches weren't wiped down and the sliding door had few cleans. Unfortunately the TV system was very old and antiquated and offered few choices. They really needed to lift their game there.

Our first impressions were, the ship is tired and shabby. It's 20 years old and it's showing its age. It is in the smaller ship category which we found to be too small for our liking after our previous cruises and the choices of reading areas, bars and entertainment areas were few. We had to go full steam ahead a few times and the ship was rattling and shuddering. We have never been on a ship with such bad vibrations all throughout the ship. We were on deck 8 so I hate to think what it was like on Deck 2. Their computer system must have had gremlins in it as lots of people had problems with their sea pass cards opening their cabins. Some people had to continually get a new card for no obvious reason and they had no idea what the problem was. They may have tried to improve the ship with the last refurbishment but they certainly didn’t replace the plumbing and the workings of the ship. I think it's time RCCL sold it off and realised Australians are not prepared to put up with the tired old ships anymore.

 

As soon as we boarded we were informed that there had been Noro on the previous cruise and it was on our cruise as well though they didn't stop the self service in the buffet so it couldn't have been a major outbreak. They were continually disinfecting tables and handrails, however they used the same cloths over and over?? The majority of the cruisers were Australian with about 400 from other nationalities with the age group pretty much in the much older category. There were few children on board and those that were, were extremely well behaved and they seemed to enjoy the kids activities and kids club.

We had pre purchased a drink card when they had the online special for the Ultimate package for $23 U.S. pp, an absolute bargain compared to $67 U.S. on board. As well as alcohol it included coffees, teas, water and the fresh orange juice available at breakfast. The self serve coffee was the usual, really awful stuff so if you wanted a decent coffee you had to go to the Cafe. We were led to believe our Ultimate drink package included everything in the other drink packages, however it didn't include cans of soft drink, only pre mix which was always flat and the bottled water includes Sparkling water but doesn't include Evian. Nor does it include the mini bar in the staterooms. The wine by the glass had a very limited range as they ran out of so many and we found it very frustrating that not all bars had the same wines and it was difficult to find a decent red wine other than at the Specialty restaurants. The only red we liked was available in Chops Grill at $12 per glass but nowhere else and they wouldn't get it for us in any other area. The white wines were better than the Reds in our opinion and as the cruise went on there were few choices which was very disappointing. We would never pre purchase a drink package again till we have been on the ship to see exactly what was available, so be aware.

Overall we found the food to be quite good. The buffet did get monotonous but they always do and the one night we ate there for dinner we found it was not for us and we preferred to eat in the restaurant for dinner. We had My Time Dining and the restaurant food was very good. We usually ate between 7 and 7.30pm and never had to wait long. The Romeo and Juliette dining room is very lovely with huge windows for ocean views and a very pleasant atmosphere, though this would be the first ship we have been on that didn't have bathrooms outside the dining room. The solarium was a great place to get healthy options for breakfast, lunch and snacks. We ate at Chops Grill twice and the food was excellent. The steaks were all they said and more, though they managed to muck up our second booking which was for our friends special anniversary and how they handled that was an absolute disgrace. No apologies what so ever as the booking had been pre confirmed twice. Chops Grill was busy most nights but the Japanese restaurant Izumi was just not working for them and was just taking up whole lot of space that should have been better utilized. We went to the Chefs Table and we were a little disappointed. The courses were spread out too long and we were eating main course after 10pm which was way too late. Wines were included with each course and were well matched to the food but small in quantity and no refills were offered. We felt that at $90 U.S. It was way overpriced however we got a much better deal by pre-booking online. The coffee shop was far too small so we couldn't expect to get a seat whenever we went there. It had seating for about 30 at most. The library was in the coffee shop area, but if you blinked you would have missed it. It was obvious they used the library area to make room for the coffee shop in the refurbishment and I didn't think it worked, especially as people chose to stay and play board games It seemed to me that in the refurbishment of the ship in 2013 they tried to fit in areas that they have on the big ships and it just didn't work.

As regular cruisers we found little of interest for us throughout the day and we had lots of sea days. The cruise director Keith and his assistant Belle, were not the best we have had. There were all the usual pool deck activities and having lots of sea days and great weather, the outside areas were busy all day so seating was a premium. We found it strange that they had so many activities and events in the Centrum area which was far too small when they had 2 large and very good entertainment lounges. The Anchors Away Lounge was definitely under-utilised and a huge waste of space on a small ship.

We don't normally go to many shows but we did a few on this cruise and enjoyed the ones we saw. The highlight shows were Jane Cho who played the Electric Violin, amazing, and the Aussie Beatles who brought the house down with their version of the Beatles and the next night the Rolling Stones.

The captain was pretty much invisible. He attended the few functions he was expected at, including Master Chef, and we heard from him occasionally when he provided no more than our situation and the weather.

We don't normally do Ship's tours but we did 2 in the Philippines which we felt were reasonably priced and were good value as it can be an unsafe area and there is little to see around the port area. The weather in Asia was extremely hot and humid which we expected and it seemed that the air conditioning really struggled at times. It didn't matter what setting we put it on, it didn't make any difference and we were convinced they turned it down in the middle of the night as our cabin got so hot about 3am!! We had 2 lots of friends in Grand Suites who complained constantly about their air conditioning and it mysteriously started to work the day before the cruise ended. The days before we reached Brisbane, it was all systems go with staff cleaning all over the ship, obviously for the next 2 day cruise which was going to be for mainly local travel agents.

We have sailed with RCCL a few times before and it seemed on every ship they lack in providing information on Ports. They need to improve on this and provide guests with local maps and information as not everyone does Ship's tours. They charged $15US pp for the shuttle into town in Darwin, which was ridiculous as it’s only a 10-15 min walk if you don’t mind the heat. We shared a cab, which were available outside and it was $7 for 4 of us each way into town.

Arriving in Brisbane disembarkation was organised for all passengers to be off by 8.30am. It was quick and easy and the ship offered a shuttle service to the airport which would have cost the 2 of us $60 U.S. or $82 Aus. We got a taxi for just over $30 Aus. There were plenty there and we waited only 15 mins.

In summary, we still had a great time. A cruise is what you make of it. We enjoyed most of the food, loved the staff, had wonderful cruising companions, however, would we go back on Legend? Most definitely not. We have much better choices in Australia now and Brisbanites should still fly out of Sydney if you want a decent ship. I can however see that she will have cruisers willing and happy to sail out of Brisbane with no flying.

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your review.

 

Keith

[Hawka]

was that the one that got into brissy on the 8th dec??

[goodycruising]

Thanks for taking the time to do your review. I have been reading a lot about Legend, and there are some people that have been happy, but overall your comments are coming up pretty regularly.

 

I am amazed with the fact that is that it is not cheap to book it. There will be a lot of demand in Brisbane, and compared to some of the other ships that do sail from Brisbane it may be fine in comparison.

 

Toilet & drainage issues seem to be a regular, as well as air conditioning. They can really take a lot of enjoyment from the experience. Some cabins may be fine in some areas, but it seems to be coming up at different decks and cabin types.

[Royalty X]

Thank you for the review. I don't think it's a case of RCI giving us older ships. They've proven that's certainly not the case with the ships we're getting (Voyager, Explorer, Ovation). However, I think it's more a case of people wanting other options from Brisbane (or something other than Sydney), other than P&O, and Legend is the only ship in the fleet (bar the Empress, once she returns next year) that is small enough to access the Brisbane cruise terminal. She's still newer than the P&O options. :)

[Aus ATC]

Thanks for the review Lizzy77,

 

We did 14 nights on Legend earlier this year, also in a JS. It sounds on balance we had a better experience, but many of your points ring true as well. We had read the reviews before we went, set expectations low, but were overall pleasantly surprised.

 

It seems the plumbing is an ongoing problem. Friends of ours were on Legend in September, and had a badly blocked toilet. There were in an aft balcony, and after the problem was badly handled for a few days were eventually moved/upgraded to a GS. They got the perks as well!!

 

Aus ATC

 

IBERIA Tilbury to Sydney 1964! (too young to remember though)

[lizzy77]

was that the one that got into brissy on the 8th dec??

 

Sure was.

[Hawka]

Sure was.

had a friend and her hubby on that cruise too

[cheznandy]

Lizzy77, thanks for your review.

 

Appreciate you taking the time to write it.

Toilets and drains are always a problem, every cruise we have been on there is usually a toilet not working, thankfully, rarely it has been ours......did I just jinx myself:rolleyes:

Think I will have enough to worry about on the Explorer with Noro, squalls.....and nudity:eek:

 

Chez

Edited December 15, 2015 by cheznandy

[vrogers]

Thanks for taking the time to write the review.

[cassamanda]

Appreciate you taking the time to write the review.

Having sailed on Legend in September i can understand some of your comments. Glad to gear that food and service in the MDR has improved as it was pathetic on our cruise with many passengers complaining. Fir example, an Apple pie that was a quarter inch think and tuff as leather that you could use it as a frisby:rolleyes:

Agree that the CD was a bit hit and miss.

However we did enjoy the ship and had a great cruise. Hopefully with time in Australia a little bit of Rhapsody may just rub off.

Hugh

[coolcruiser86]

Thank you so much for your review! I am excited to see what the reviews look like over the next couple months. I'm interested to hear 1) how the demographic of the ship changes as the Brisbane locals take part in the cruise [i.e. younger families or still more of an older crowd?] and 2) does the "tiredness" of the ship improve?

 

Thanks again for taking time to review the ship and your experiences!

[Kinkacruiser]

Enjoyed your review Lizzy. I think we have a good deal sticking with Princess.

You've certainly been around since S.America 2011 :) Hope you're both keeping well :)

[joandian]

Great review Liz.

 

I've found many of your points, especially the airconditioning shutting down, across the whole fleet. I think there is major cost cutting involved in recent years. They seem to have cut the port maps about 3 years ago and yes, we miss those too as they were always so handy.

 

We have never been on that class of ships as we always thought they would be too small (and old).

 

Hope to see you on a cruise soon!

Jo

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the review.:D

[Guest012]

Great review Liz enjoyed the read :) our cabin too was very stuffy in the night around 0200 to 0500am when the air con magically started up each morning ...John used it as an alarm clock....lololol :) ...... must say we didn't have too much vibration down on 2 when he powered up.....just hellish cabin creaking ........... cheers

Edited December 15, 2015 by badgerbill

[SeaDog-46]

Thanks Lizzy77 for your review.

 

Did a 14 day cruise on Legend of the Seas to Singapore from Sydney last June & a 15 day Norwegian / Baltic from Copenhagen last year. The food was marginally better on the June cruise but it was still only mediocre.

On boarding both times the Windjammer buffet was jam packed as I don't think the main dining room was open. Compare this to my last cruise on Statendam in September on boarding in Seattle when the lido had plenty of space as the dining room was open.

My main gripe with Legend & maybe all RC vessels is they close off the buffet & only open it for meal times. This reduces available space & causes queues that just did not happen on Statendam or previous cruises on Diamond Princess, Pacific Dawn [2008] & Volendam. On these ships the buffet is open at all times to just sit or have something to drink.

The Windjammer is a great space but is better used as a lounge as on HAL ships, Pacific Dawn, Eden & Aria. On Legend most of the upper parts of the Windjammer windows are opaque due to a film that has been applied & you can't see through them.

Our inside cabin on the first cruise had NO amenities except a multi use gel & a tablet of soap. Compare this to a HAL vessels where you get 3 dispensers - shower gel, shampoo & conditioner plus tablet of soap & bottle of moisturizer all by Elemis. A folder with information including pen, paper & postcard of ship. A bowl of fresh fruit of your choosing, use of a bathrobe, DVD & an ice bucket. What you would expect in a 4 star hotel.

On the second cruise on Legend from Sydney in a balcony cabin there was a kettle & coffee machine.

A self serve soft ice cream machine was available on Legend but only a sorry tub melting in the buffet. Statendam had ice cream available from a freezer area in the buffet for lunch & dinner. Food was better on Statendam but portion sizes & selection have shrunk in main dining room. Had lunch in Pinnacle & dinner at Canaletto for $10 US extra - well worth it for the food.

Seven types of Egg Benedict made to order & several fruit juices including fresh orange were available for breakfast on Statendam. Only a lemon cordial on Legend.

Although Statendam is a few years older & about 20,000 grt smaller she is in better condition. We had no AC, drain or toilet problems on either ship. The bathrooms are bigger with the bathtub with 3 grab rails & mat on Statendam. There is more bathroom storage space on Legend.

The whole ambience on Statendam was better but that could have been due to nearly all passengers being repeat HAL cruisers on a longer cruise. There was a large library & specialty coffee ship, several times larger than Legend - but no longer on Pac. Eden/ Aria. The sliding roof over the pool area is moved as required on HAL but I did not see it open on Legend.

I cruise for destination but I will not return to RC - the experience was not as good as on Pacific Dawn in 2008 - do you remember Cheryl?! Nor as good as Diamond Princess - Anna.

Given a choice out of Brisbane I would go Pacific Eden over Legend of the Seas.

[lizzy77]

Great review Liz.

 

I've found many of your points, especially the airconditioning shutting down, across the whole fleet. I think there is major cost cutting involved in recent years. They seem to have cut the port maps about 3 years ago and yes, we miss those too as they were always so handy.

 

We have never been on that class of ships as we always thought they would be too small (and old).

 

Hope to see you on a cruise soon!

Jo

 

 

Hi Jo. Lovely to hear from you. We were so disappointed with Legend but we are booked on Voyager Jan 30 and Oasis for 14 nights in April. Hopefully they will be better or its back to Celebrity and Princess. See You on a ship somewhere.

[cheznandy]

I cruise for destination but I will not return to RC - the experience was not as good as on Pacific Dawn in 2008 - do you remember Cheryl?! Nor as good as Diamond Princess - Anna.

Given a choice out of Brisbane I would go Pacific Eden over Legend of the Seas.

 

Oh, I remember John, the Pacific Dawn was like 5 star back then:p

That first cruise that P&O returned to Tahiti in over 20 years or so, we were treated like Kings...and Queens.

 

I remember the first night, Geri and I sat in the spa's at the aft of Aloha, in the rain, thinking this is the life, when a steward called out from the deck above asking if we wanted champagne while in there, of cause we said yes!!

We had our lanyard/cruise card wrapped around the railing, we didnt even have to leave the spa.....it just got better from then on!

 

 

Chez

xx

Edited December 16, 2015 by cheznandy

[Guest012]

Oh, I remember John, the Pacific Dawn was like 5 star back then:p

That first cruise that P&O returned to Tahiti in over 20 years or so, we were treated like Kings...and Queens.

 

I remember the first night, Geri and I sat in the spa's at the aft of Aloha, in the rain, thinking this is the life, when a steward called out from the deck above asking if we wanted champagne while in there, of cause we said yes!!

We had our lanyard/cruise card wrapped around the railing, we didnt even have to leave the spa.....it just got better from then on!

Chez

xx

 

Omg I had forgotten about you and Geri doing that cruise...followed your blog green with envy even though we hadn't long returned from their ourselves......:D:D:D

 

 

sorry for the thread hijack......... and thanks John for the heads up on the P & O ladies... cheers

[Aus Traveller]

Oh, I remember John, the Pacific Dawn was like 5 star back then:p

That first cruise that P&O returned to Tahiti in over 20 years or so, we were treated like Kings...and Queens.

 

I remember the first night, Geri and I sat in the spa's at the aft of Aloha, in the rain, thinking this is the life, when a steward called out from the deck above asking if we wanted champagne while in there, of cause we said yes!!

We had our lanyard/cruise card wrapped around the railing, we didnt even have to leave the spa.....it just got better from then on!

 

Chez

xx

That's the life. :D

[cheznandy]

sorry for the thread hijack......... and thanks John for the heads up on the P & O ladies... cheers

 

Thread hijack.......don't be silly, that doesnt happen on this board.....and if it does, no one has to apologise. oh thats right you are the boss:p

 

That's the life. :D

 

I know, and I have never been offered a drink in a spa again, funny how those good memories stick.

 

Chez

[joandian]

Hi Jo. Lovely to hear from you. We were so disappointed with Legend but we are booked on Voyager Jan 30 and Oasis for 14 nights in April. Hopefully they will be better or its back to Celebrity and Princess. See You on a ship somewhere.

 

 

 

I hope you have a great trip on Voyager and Oasis. We enjoy the Voyager class but Oasis was way to large for us. A stunning ship with many different areas to explore but way too many people. We were always queuing. Even with reservations for MTD we had to queue for at least 30 minutes. Loved experiencing the ship but won't cruise on that class again. Having said that we are booked on Ovation next year so that will probably be the same.

[MicCanberra]

I hope you have a great trip on Voyager and Oasis. We enjoy the Voyager class but Oasis was way to large for us. A stunning ship with many different areas to explore but way too many people. We were always queuing. Even with reservations for MTD we had to queue for at least 30 minutes. Loved experiencing the ship but won't cruise on that class again. Having said that we are booked on Ovation next year so that will probably be the same.

 

I have a feeling I will be the same but we have booked onto the Ovation as well to see it for ourselves.:D

[Guest012]

oh thats right you are the boss:p Chez

 

Lololololol.. :eek::D:D..... alas due to "technical difficulties" I felt the need to renounce my post patrolling position....sad but necessary......the lovely Louise is most likely overseeing with others again.... :D:D