yet another legend 3/28 review (long!)

[kimpossible]

first of all, i want to preface this unorganized review by telling you that we were on our honeymoon, so if it seems like we spent a lot of time not doing organized activities, that's why! i'm so sorry i didn't know about the cruise critic gathering before the muster drill or we would have attended--i was so busy in the days leading up to the wedding/honeymoon that i didn't even think to check the roll call boards to see if anything was going on.

 

tony did a good job with his review, so i'll just add stuff that i noticed.

 

my husband (teehee!) and i actually went down to ft. lauderdale on 3/24 and stayed in sunrise for a few days before the ship sailed. we went to 4 spring training games in ft. lauderdale and jupiter, and those were awesome. if you like baseball, you should try to get to spring training one day---i actually had a conversation with matt morris, and i know that when i heckled scott rolen, he really heard me! fab!

 

getting there: we had rented a car from hertz in ft. lauderdale, and they had a free shuttle to port everglades, so we planned on returning the car to hertz a little before 10a on sunday, boarding the bus (which we had been told that it left every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour), and being at the port around 10:30. however, once we sat down in the port shuttle waiting area, a hertz rep came over and said that they won't start running the shuttle until 11a (turned out to be more like 11:15). i am highly anal about time, so i was a little perturbed about this, as was another couple needing to get to port. we decided to just call a taxi and we would share it, but when we went into the hertz office to use their phone, the man in there said we'd be better off waiting on the shuttle--that no taxi was going to be able to get there for another 45 minutes or so due to the port traffic. so we sat and waited from 10:00-11:15. during this time many other cruisers from various ships came and waited as well--many more than one shuttle would hold. you would imagine it would be first-come, first-serve, and that the people who had been there for over an hour (us and the other couple) would definitely get on the first shuttle, but that almost wasn't the case. as soon as the shuttle got there there was incredible shoving and pushing to get on, and had my husband not made a huge effort to get us on, we probably would had to have waited another 30 minutes. i was pretty annoyed with all of the waiting people--they were rude. one lady walked around and looked at everyone's ship tags and made comments about the cruiseline they were using. she made tons of disparaging remarks about carnival.

 

embarkation: when we got to the terminal (around 11:30), it was mass chaos. the shuttle let us off at the are where the legend was boarding, and there was just a huge mass of people everywhere--no discernable lines or anything, and no carnival reps to be seen. we found the porters, gave them our bags, and tipped them--there are big signs everywhere saying that they are salaried employees and tipping is not necessary, but i didn't want to risk it. we tried to find a line, and wound up just standing in a mass of people that eventually became kinda a line. when they finally let us inside the terminal, check in was pretty calm and fast. we were on the ship by 1:00pm. though we had been given a sheet of paper telling us that our cabins would not be ready until 1:30, we gave it a try anyway and it was thankfully ready. we went immediately to funvision and bought our shore excursions, and then spent the rest of the time before the muster drill having lunch up on the lido deck and exploring the ship.

 

the legend: i think the ship is beautiful. i love waterhouse paintings and they are EVERYWHERE! it is definitely not a subtle ship, but i really enjoyed it. it's well-organized and lovely. my favorite area was the firebird lounge, which is tucked away. definitely make a point of going there sometime if you're ever on the ship. i also liked the library area, though i'd rather see real books than the fake ones anytime.

 

cabin: we had 5242, with a balcony. it was our first balcony, and we loved it. it was a great room, plenty of space, great and very private balcony. took a bungee cord, tape, and a magnet and left the door open all night. (the magnet trick, by the way, impressed my husband very much---he was impressed with my research and the cruisecritic resourcefulness!). i was so glad we splurged for the balcony!

 

food: we ate in truffles (dining room) in the late seating. though we had requested a table of 6, we got a table for 2. at first we thought about changing that (on our last cruise, one of our favorite things was meeting our tablemates!), but soon decided not to due to the number of rude people we encountered on our cruise (more about that later). we wound up really enjoying our private dinner table. the food was wonderful, and our waitstaff was great. my only complaint was that the iced tea was always really "off" tasting---like it had been sitting around steeping forever. best thing i ate all week: bread pudding with cherries and vanilla sauce. oh my gosh it was good. we ate dinner in truffles every night except 1 night, when my husband really wanted to watch the ncaa semifinal game involving duke. that night we ate in the unicorn cafe, and that food was good, too. the unicorn is a lot better at lunchtime, though, when there are tons of choices--deli, international, asian, rotisserie, etc. don't miss the chicken tikka wrap at the deli station, the fresh fruit selections, or the pizza! yummy pizza! rude people alert: there were lots of rude teenagers in the food lines, and also plenty of rude adults, who would jump in line ahead of you, yell at the grill staff, never say thank you for everything, bump into you repeatedly while in line, as if that would make the line move faster, etc.

 

room service: oh dear lord. the food was fine from room service, but the service was AWFUL. i had to wait "in queue" for room service on the phone for more than 15 minutes every time i called. and it always took 45 minutes to an hour. in the morning, we liked to sleep in and eat breakfast on our balcony, so we would put those hang tags with our breakfast orders on them out the night before. when you order that way, you specify a time period in which you want the food delivered. we gave them 30-minute time periods each time, and they NEVER had the food there on time. what a pain. we finally stopped doing that and just went upstairs for breakfast. the room service on the legend was a huge disappointment.

 

shows: we didn't see any shows! aren't we awful! i heard they were mostly good, but we spent the time sitting out on balcony or doing other stuff. i didn't feel like we really missed out on much---we're not huge "show" people. we did go to karaoke in the firebird lounge, which was a blast and the hostess at karaoke was wonderful fun. i highly recommend that! we also spent some time in the sports bar, where my husband was able to catch up on scores and i was able to play trivia games.

 

carnival past guest party: this was pretty fun! we had 3 free drinks apiece (melonballs for me and rum punch for my husband) and they brought around hot appetizers about 8 times while we sat there. it wasn't a big time investment, it wasn't hugely crowded, and we felt like it was a fun experience. rude people alert: the people next to us arrived late, and then literally shouted at the waitstaff the entire time they were there.

 

cruise director: i thought he was creepy and bad. i didn't like him one bit. he is entirely devoid of charisma and he seemed bored with everything--he was like a bad robot. a couple of times we saw him on tv he was also really snide---he was making fun of stupid questions and mocking some people. i just don't think that's appropriate. i love magic shows but specifically didn't go see his because by then he was giving me the heebie-jeebies. really, they could do so much better.

 

pool: wow, the pools on the legend are beautiful. i loved them. the actual pools and hot tubs themselves were never too crowded when we went to them, but the decks were another story. by 8:30am every morning every single decent deck chair was saved (by decent i mean marginally around the pool enough that you could go back and forth between them without stairs, etc.). that was really, really annoying, because honestly most of the time we never saw anyone actually USING the chairs! after being really disappointed on the first sea day, when i went to lay by the pool at 9a and found not a single chair available, i got up at 7:30a the next day to get down there. would you believe that a good 3/4ths of the chairs were already reserved then!? that is INSANE! carnival really needs to find a way to combat this problem, because obviously printing "do not save chairs" on the chairs and in the capers isn't working. rude people alert: ALL the chair savers!

 

excursions and ports: we booked all of our cruises through carnival because we're so new at this. next time i would probably try to book some on my own to save money and due to some of the issues discussed below, but as i was planning a wedding and everything before we went on the cruise, i honestly just didn't have time to deal with it. the funvision booking system is really easy to use. bonus points for that.

 

st. maarten: we booked the pinel island snorkel tour. the tour rep was late getting to the pier to meet us, so there was a little confusion initially, but then we boarded a bus to drive to the french side of st. martin. no offense to anyone, but we drove through some crappy parts of down---it seemed really ramshackle. the bus driver was a crazy man and the roads were awful and i actually feared for my life on the way to the tour. we also got stopped for about 10 minutes because of road construction. we arrived and then they put us all on boats to take us over to the island. they packed so many of us on the boats! ocne on the island, they distributed the snorkels, masks, and flippers, gave us some safety instructions, including what signs to use if we had problems, and we headed over to snorkel. it was so beautiful---like swimming in an aquarium! we were the first ones in the water, so it was brilliantly clear. our guide, monique, let us feed the fish and seriously, we were surrounded by them! it was awesome. my husband's wedding ring fell off mid-snorkel and monique dove down and got it for us. whew! from then on the wedding rings stayed in the safe during our excursions! we snorkeled for about 1.5 hours and then we were tired. we got out of the water and dried off, and it was just about time to catch the boat back to the bus. i give the pinel island tour an a-. sure, there were a lot of people, but many of them didn't snorkel very long, so it wasn't too crowded.

 

barbados: for barbados, we had booked the 5 star catamaran and sea turtle snorkel. it was expensive--$90 each, but i wanted to see the sea turtles so badly, and the tour included lunch. we were allowed to get off of the legend at 12 noon, but that's also when our tour was supposed to meet in the terminal, so that was a little confusing. barbados was the WORST with regards to getting off of the legend. there were lines on deck 1 running the whole length of the ship. we went downstairs at 11:30 and still didn't get off of the legend until 12:30. we went quickly to the terminal and looked for our tour rep, but we didn't see anyone. i asked a carnival rep where we were supposed to go, and she hurridly put us in a line and on a van. i asked her several times if we were in the right place (no signs) and if this was the right tour. the bus took us over to a tiami catamaran and when we got there, i asked the tour personnel there if we were in the right place---showed them our tickets and everything. and they said yes, yes, get on the boat. so we did. it felt like there were a zillion people on the catamaran. seriously, when we got on there was no available place left to sit. we had to sit on a table. the crew was borderline rude---i went to get my flippers from one of them, told them my shoe size was a 10, and he said with a snort "are you sure? looks bigger to me!" still, i was determined to have a good time and a good attitude. we sailed out a ways to a cove with some shipwrecks and then we went snorkeling. GREAT snorkeling--very deep and clear, lots of different fish. the shipwrecks were cool, even if they were put there on purpose. we were allowed to snorkel for 45 minutes and then back on the boat. then we motored right up into a beach area, where we were allowed to go up on the beach for 45 minutes. at this point, i got a little concerned, because our turtle excursion had said nothing about a beach visit, AND there had been no mention of food yet. but i sucked it up. we didn't go up on the beach (honestly, didn't look all that great, there were tons of people trying to braid hair and sell things out of briefcases, and i just wanted to relax in the sun), but took advantage of the almost-emtpy catamaran and actually went up and sat on the mesh area up front. they called the all aboard and everybody hopped back on. then we motored back to the dock area. wait a minute, no lunch, no turtles? we asked someone else on our cruise and sure enough, everyone had put us on the wrong excursion. i was SO disappointed. i wanted to see sea turtles so badly. i put on a happy face for my husband (we HAD had a great snorkel, after all), but i was pretty upset. when we got back to the legend we went immediately to the purser's desk and explained. we had paid $89 each and then were put on a shore tour that cost everybody else $59 each. the purser was polite but pretty much said that it was up to the shore tours manager whether they would credit us any money, and that she wouldn't be back on duty until the next day. we were told she would call us. she did call us, and we were credited the difference in price, but no one ever even said that they were sorry. it was pretty disappointing. still, the excursion was pretty okay if that's what you had booked--i give it a C+. good snorkeling, WAY overcrowded, and the tiami staff we had were pretty crappy. WAY. also, rude people alert: well, honestly, we were so overcrowded on this one that EVERYONE was pretty rude, but this one lady spilled 2 full glasses of soda on a man and his digital camera, and did NOT EVEN SAY SHE WAS SORRY OR HELP HIM CLEAN UP! i was astounded.

 

martinque: we took the fun, sun, and sailing adventure in martinique. someone must have been looking out for us, because this day was fabulously fun. we got on a catamaran the same size as our tiami the day before, only this one only had 30 people on it. FABULOUS! we lounged around and the very sweet crew brought us sodas and rum cake and cookies and chips and we sailed out to the anse noir cove. on the sail over, one of the crew members came around and chatted with everyone, and offered to help us take pictures. we got to the cove and got our snorkel equipment and went down to snorkel. at first, it was a big nothing. kinda murky water, no fish to be seen, and then my husband grabbed my hand and pointed---SEA TURTLES! there were about 8 of them total that we saw that day, and i was able to dive down and swim right along side of them. there were so few of us in the water, it was seriously like we weer the only ones there. it was awesome. we never did see many fish, but we had such fun following the sea turtles around it didn't matter. several people told us if we swam out around the outside of the cove there were a bunch of fish there, so we headed out there after about 40 minutes of snorkeling with the turtles. on the way i saw a sea turtle, so i dove down to swim with it and on the way up to the surface was suddenly shocked with a stinging sensation all along my left calf, left arm, and shoulder. when i came up i said to my husband--hey, i just got really stung by something, i need to head in a bit, and he put his head under for a second to look around and confirmed my suspicion--jellyfish! my husband calmly took my hand and we headed back toward the inner cove area where the boat was. on the way we both got stung several more times---they were TEENY TINY jellyfish, almost completely clear, there was just no avoiding it. we went back to the boat at that point--we were a little pooped from all of the turtle-following---those suckers move FAST! the ship's crew took us on the dingy into the beach area at anse noir and we walked around a little while. it was lovely--i had never seen a black sand beach before. then we all got back on the catamaran and went to the bat cave. again in the dinghy we were taken in small groups to look at the bats--absolutely amazing! there must have been thousands of them. it was so cool. then we got back on the catamaran and headed back toward the legend. i had been paying NO attention to time, but at this point we heard the ship's whistle blow---it was 1:30 and we were supposed to be leaving martinique at 2! we didn't get back to the pier until 1:57, and we were met by a carnival rep who was none too happy. we all got off the boat, grabbed our shoes, and were hustled back onto the legend, much to the amusement of the people on their balconys and on the decks watching the scene! and so that is how my husband and i were officially the LAST people to board the legend in martinique. we were certainly glad we had been on a ship's tour at that point---they had to wait for us!!!

 

all in all, we had a great time. we really did see a ton of rude people (a 2-person table next to us arrived every night at 9-9:15 pm---for AN 8:15 SEATING! and there were constantly beer cans left in the elevators, etc), but we had a great time just being together and having fun! it's late, so i'm going to stop here, but if anyone has any questions just let me know.

 

thanks for reading!

kim

[CruiseFever]

Awesome.

 

Between you and Tony I think we've got it made on the review of this sailing!!

 

Thanks!

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

 

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/04

Star Princess 10/04

Carnival Spirit 12/04

 

[finoky]

Kim I really enjoyed reading your review. It kinda felt like I was there! I see we both really loved the cruise director....ugh! Congrats on getting married and I wish you many years of happiness together.

 

 

Tony

 

2004 Legend March 28th

2003 Paradise

2002 Paradise

2000 Destiny

1999 Fascination

1998 Fantasy

[nosnobunny]

Hi Tony! Kim's right on about the CD. He's the worst we've ever had. I hope Carnival replaces him soon because he adds nothing to the cruise.

 

Other than that, it was a great time!

 

Beth

 

Carnival Legend March 28, 2004

 

[jdvmd]

Won't add too much more from the other reviews. We arrived around 1:45 p.m. and gave the bags to the porter. The line to get through security was probably about a 10-minute wait. We went to the Skipper's Club check-in and were processed immediately. There were some awful long lines for FunPass and not-completed FunPass.

We, too, were placed in the different dining room. We didn'tcare for it. The only good thing was we were close to the door and could slip out to the bathroom etc. This was probably some of the worst dining room service, we have ever had and we have cruised 18 times, this was the fourth on Carnival. Our kids had to go get their own soft drinks from the bar. The bar guy never came around to us for some reason but made over some other kids like crazy. We always had to ask for water, sometimes bread. Always for iced tea. Meals were average to good but the was always overcooked. I saw someone's comment card sitting on a table at the buffet and they commented about the overcooked meat. Breakfast was the same everyday with some variations on the pancake variety. We ate at Golden Fleece twice. The first time it was just my husband and myself -- this was one of the top five meals I have ever had in my lifetime. Superb! We had a 6 p.m. time. Later in the week, we took our friends and were placed in an 8:45 p.m. time slot -- it was night and day comparisons and we had the same servers. I had the same thing and it wasn't nearly as good. Service was also off.

The pool grill was nice and we loved the chicken and steak sandwiches. Loved the pizza and calzones!

We were a party of nine and everyone enjoyed themselves. The kids loved the water slide. I did see some rude people in some of the buffet lines. All the teens I saw were well behaved considering this was spring break, much more behaved then on some other cruises. We didn't have any of the sitting in the floor of the elevators riding up and down or knocking on doors at all hours of the night.

We got off in each port doing our own tour. Barbados, $25 and $20 for Martinque. St. Maarten, we went to Orient Beach.

This cruise was very relaxing and I wouldn't hesitate to go again. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously. The only real problem was the dining room but obviously you can eat so many different places on the ship that it wasn't a big concern.

We didn't go to the casino or spa and never ordered room service so I cannot comment on those aspects.

Happy to answer any questions anyone may have.

[Huey]

Could you recommend which evenings would be best to reserve dinner at the Golden Fleece? Thanks.

 

Laura

 

Carnival Fantasy - 04/90 - Honeymoon! * Imagination * Victory * Destiny * Triumph * Golden Princess 04/02 * RCCL Brilliance 04/03 * Carnival Legend 04/13/04

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

We felt the same way about Brett Allens (Sensation Cruise Director in the past)... seemed somehow "odd"...

 

Of course, we did NOT care for the "amazing" John Heald either... his whole routine seemed to "packaged"... perhaps it was because we had read about all of his accessory characters on CruiseCritic.... so it seemed FAKE...

 

We just got off the Glory, and found Mark Price refreshing.... he can even carry a tune!

 

hmmm... seems like this is "new thread" material...

 

Tom

 

Spring break Glory with the boys. March 20th, 2004

 

Sensation - July 1st, 2004

 

Inspiration - Dec. 2nd, 2004

 

Miracle Spring Break, March 20th, 2005

 

 

 

MIRACLE.......3/05

INSPIRATION..12/04

SENSATION.....7/04

GLORY.........3/04

SENSATION.....1/04

SENSATION....10/03

GLORY.........7/03

SENSATION.....7/03

INSPIRATION..11/02

PRIDE.........7/02

FANTASY......10/01

FANTASY......10/00

FANTASY.......8/00

SENSATION.....6/00

DOLPHIN IV....3/00

FANTASY.......9/99

 

[steveNcindy]

Thanks for the review - love reading the Legend reviews as they bring back the great fun we had and helps cure the Post Cruise Blues.

 

Congrats also on your marriage and many many happy cruise filled years together.

 

Carnival Legend 02/04

 

Our Cruise Pics

http://community.webshots.com/user/stevencindy

 

[deadbug]

We absolutely loved John Heald...And we absolutely could not stand Brett Allens.Feel kinda bad that he has such bad rap on these boards, but hey...

 

Carnivale, Elation, Facination, Destiny, Paradise, Legend

[hstrybuf]

Thanks for the review and congratulations!

 

 

Navigator OTS 10/04

Legend 04/04

Grand Princess 09/03

Dawn Princess 01/03

Enchantment OTS 10/02

Destiny 01/02

Sensation 08/99

[pgmrdev]

Can someone explain the magnet, etc. I can understand the bungee cord for keeping the door open, but the magnet has me puzzled......

<html>

<head>

<title></title>

</head>

<body>

<font color="#FF0000">Grand Princess 2-2001</font>

<font color="#0000FF">Grand Princess 12-2001</font>

<font color="#FF8000">Carnival Paradise 3-2002</font>

<font color="#FF00FF">Carnival Destiny 10-2002</font>

<font color="#008000">Golden Princess 10-2003</font>

<font color="#0000A0">Carnival Legend 6-8-2004</font>

</body>

</html>

[Foo7595]

Wonderful review - thanks!

 

I guess it's true about the long waits for room service on the Legend We had absolutly great, fast room service on the Triumph. Who wants to wait 45 minutes for an afternoon cup of coffee!? And I'm getting really concerned about this "Brett" fella - anyone out there who has actually enjoyed him as the CD?

 

Lisa

 

[jdvmd]

We booked the Golden Fleece for the third night (Tuesday, left on Sunday) and did this after embarking. The time slots were wide open at that point. When we tried to book on Wednesday for Thursday, they told us they were completely full for parties of four for the rest of the week. If you are a party of two, you have more luck. Ironically, when we returned from our Barbados fun at around 6:30 p.m., we called and were able to secure the 8:45 p.m. slot. I would definately try to get earlier. We liked the 6 p.m. time.

If you booked on the first formal night, they were offering you a complimentary glass of champagne with your dinner.

I would say try to go earlier in the week. We know of several people who ate there the first night and ate every night in Golden Fleece. They were greeted by name.

I saw numerous children of all ages who were very well behaved. We didn't take ours however.

Would recommend the filet, 9 ounces. The spinach salad is also their speciality. If you get the caesar salad, it is the same as in the pizzaria. Presentations are spectacular.

And the cruise director.........Didn't like him one bit. I tried to talk to him once and was totally blown off. He didn't say a word, smile or do anything. He is just irritating.

[Starz723]

Thank you for your review. Ill be sailing the Legend on July 18, 2004 out of NYC. I sure hope by that time they have a new CD. I am in the music industry as a profl singer. I MC alot with my band. Yes, I do the same thing over and over, BUT, I love my work, its my passion, and each time I entertain a new crowd, its like doing it for the first time. Just like when I was on Broadway: I perform like its my last day living. It boils down to getting the right people for the job. A person that loves their work will always give 110%. There are plenty of talented, charismatic types of people out there. If it works, you dont fix it..Obviously there are alot of people here that think it should be fixed.

 

Carnival, are you listening?? We take these boards seriously..We can easily spend our $$ where there is nothing but raves about a Ship.

 

I look forward to my cruise and even sing at the karaoke lounge, its my passion!

 

Congratulations on your marriage, many happy years.

 

Marge

Starz723

[isa1166]

Hi there, I was on the Legend on 3/28 and I had posted a review in the thread for the people traveling on 4/13. I too felt that the CD was super creepy... I also remember hearing that he is actually Head cruise Director for the fleet, is that true? Well here's my review...

Day 1- Embarkation / Day at Sea

Finally, the day we were so eagerly anticipating had arrived. After a quick ride to Port Everglades (first time sailing from this port). It seemed very chaotic, there weren’t enough signs or Carnival reps. Indicating where the lines were going (the lines were very long). At one point there was a huge line of people that were incorrectly on line at the Skipper’s Club desk. They weren’t very happy to have been waiting for so long without knowing that they should have been somewhere else. My husband left the line for a bit and came back to tell us that there was a glass door right behind the Skipper’s Club desk that lead to a large room where people were waiting to check in. We walked right into the air conditioning room and immediately went through the line for check in. I felt bad for the people waiting on the other line, but like I said earlier Port Everglades is not very “user friendlyâ€. Unless you know your way around, it can be very confusing. Regardless, once you get past the check in line – it is smooth sailing. We boarded the ship at approx. 11:30 and were able to have access to our cabins. We were on the Verandah Deck – forward. We unpacked and proceeded to Lido Deck where my husband had a cheeseburger with his name on it. Did I mention that once you board the décor of the Atrium is overwhelming. Very beautiful and it grows on you after a couple of days but definitely a bit over the top. Plenty of urns!!

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the lunch buffet was in full swing and there were many options. The Taste of Nations buffet was open as was the Deli, Pizza Shop, one area always has meat, chicken & ribs. By the way, the grill area where you get hot dogs and hamburgers also has steak sandwiches and chicken sandwiches.

 

Hot Chocolate – Great!!!! (Except on the last night where if you don’t eat at the Truffles Dining Room) You have to make it yourself (Instant)

 

Day 2 Day at Sea

The Lido Deck offers a buffet breakfast, they also have an omelette station and they will make fried eggs for you, on request.(This is available every morning) Travel and Adventure Talk on this day was very informative, however, you do not need to spend 1 hour listening to the Cruise Director talk about the Ports of Call, etc. Because there are 3 days at sea before you reach your first Port, just wait and hear the taped session, in it’s entirety in your stateroom while getting ready for dinner or just resting in your cabin. They will play it over and over again and you don’t need to spend time there, when you can be enjoying your vacation somewhere else. Tonight is Formal Night (Lobster) preceded by the Captain’s Cocktail Party – Basically, this party is just an opportunity to shake hands with Captain Claudio Cupisti on your way into the Follies Lounge. Once there they have small selection of “free†drinks (Champagne, Mellon Balls, fruit punch, wine) and appetizers (croquettes, chicken nuggets, beef wrap). Our waiter was pleasant, it was his first day back from being on vacation for 4 weeks, so he seemed a little off but he met expectations. The Legend has plenty of seating for 4 and for 2, we tend to like having dinner by ourselves so that was perfect. The show tonight was good, it was Christopher Alan Graves in Singin’ with the Big Band a tribute to Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. It was very nice. If you enjoy the Dancers, this show does not have much of that. Mostly singing.

There was a midnight Late Night Adult Comedy show with Mrs. Hughes, which was o.k.

Taste of Nations: Caribbean

 

Day 3 – Day at Sea

Shopping Talk – If you can avoid the talk but drop by towards the end, you can catch up on tv with what you missed but pick up the coupon at the very end of the talk that will entitle you to a free Charm Bracelet from Diamonds International. The bracelet will then entitle you to pick up charms at different ports of call in the Caribbean. Charms can be obtained from the following ports: Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Juneau, Key West, Ketchikan, Las Vegas, Mazaatlan, Nassau, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Vallarta, Skagway, St. Lucia, St. Maarten & St. Thomas. They also raffle some things including a tennis bracelet at the end of the talk. One of the activities today is their version of Survivor (Owen is one of the Activities director and apparently he is supposed to be the son of a famous rock star and supermodel, he looks a little like Rod Stewart but people were guessing all week long and he would just deny it) We never knew who he way, let me know if you are able to figure it out. Tonight there’s a special Old Time Dress Up in the Lobby from 7:30-8:30 and 9:30-10:30 They’ll have one area set up and will take pictures of you dressed up in old time costumes (definitely different and worth it)… If you are interested I suggest you do it on this day because people don’t realize that this is going on and you can usually get it done with a small wait. They repeat it on the 6th Day and the line gets pretty long with people that missed it on the first day. There was a pre-dinner show A Tribute To Broadway with Jason French. It was o.k. The show tonight was The Magic of Brett Alans(Cruise Director) and Roger Homefield (Multi-Instrumentalist & Vocalist)

Taste of Nations: Japanese

 

Day 4 St. Maarten

Today is the Shopping Day! Check your caper because you will have free items at participating stores. We did the Explorer Cruise and Island Tour for $59.00 pp. In my opinion, nothing more than a very expensive ride. This tour takes you on a bus to a Marina where you get on a two floor Catamaran you sail over to Marigot (Marina Royale). You get off and do a little shopping (there’s a very strange, unpleasant odor on this side of the island. You then get back on a bus and they take you back to downtown or the ship. Not a lot of bang for our money! We were dropped off in Philipsburg and did some shopping – we paid an additional $3 pp to get back to the ship. We had lunch at Taloula Mango’s which was good, a bit pricey but it was right by the beach and very nice. I heard others raving about the Golden Eagle Catamaran tour which is $79pp.

The show tonight is called Jazz Hot and has a lot of dancing. The singers are Jason French, Chaundra Cameron, Trent Webb and Kathy Vepley. The show was spectacular. There was also a Midnight Adult Comedy with Jeff Laub (we didn’t make it, so I don’t know if it was any good)

Taste of Nations: Indian Food

 

Day 5 Barbados

(Our favorite port of call) We did the Barbados Coast to Coast tour and it was great. We took a bus at the Port and it took us all over the island. $45pp. It makes 2 stops which provides a great opportunity for picture taking. Truly a great tour. I also heard that the Atlantis Submarine tour and the Island Safari Adventure were good. I actually won at the Love, Sex and Romance Game. This game is no more than answering questions as per Dr. Ruth. It was fun. We were fortunate enough to have a great group of passengers entertain us on the night of the Talent Show. There was an amazing latin singer named “Armando†and he was great. Great buffet tonight with fun and games on deck at 11:30.

Taste of Nations: Mexican

 

Day 6 Martinique

We didn’t have anything planned and figured we would just take a cab to the beach. Wrong: The taxi cab drivers wanted $12/pp just to take us to a ferry that would charge us another $5/pp to take us to the beach. We decided to just shop at the port and head back to the ship. I later heard from others that the snorkeling tours were great and also one couple we met rented a car for $70 and toured the island on their own without any trouble. I wish I would have thought of that and I would have done it. The view of Martinique was spectacular from the ship so maybe next time. Today is your second chance for the Old Time Dress Up. Now that we are officially on our way back home, depression starts to set in. L. What a treat tonight, we were fortunate enough to catch the act of Hypnotist Jac Rene and what a great time that was. We even went to the late show which was even better. Kudos to Carnival for signing him on. I hear he’s going to be on the Spirit ship soon. Hopefully he’ll be on for your cruise as well. If you go to his show, jump up and down and make him pick you. You will not regret it. You can also try to sit in the first 2 rows and if someone on stage does not go under and you do at your seat he will come get you. For all of you country western fans Trent Webb does a Late Night Show that is really good. Tonight is the Buffet Gala, it was worth seeing, here’s my tip: It is scheduled to be open for viewing at 11:30, however, we showed up at 11:15 and walked right in, no line no waiting. Now we made a mistake and did not come back for the eating portion of the event (11:30-12:30 is just for picture taking) until 12:45… the line was really really long and the desserts were almost gone by the time we got to them. I suggest, getting to the buffet by 12:15.

Taste of Nations: French

 

Day 7 Day at Sea

 

Look for toppings during the afternoon in the Lido decks lounge. The chocolate truffles are to die for and you can make yourself a nice ice cream with toppings. Debarkation talk: Enjoy the rest of your cruise this information is also replayed all the time on the tv in your cabin. By the way, did I say that ABC, CBS and NBC can be seen in your cabin while we are at sea…. For all you Survivor, Apprentice fans you don’t have to miss your shows. I wish I would have taken 2 hours out of my time to watch my shows. My not so reliable vcr did not tape my shows. My husband did the backstage tour on this day and was very impressed, he liked it so much he wants to get a job as a stagehand for the Carnival Legend Dancers. Should I be upset? Heck no, free cruises. YIPEE! The show tonight was the comedy of David Sayh (***) and Love Songs and a tribute to Motown by Melinda Chatman. Melinda was seen walking around the ship with the hypnotist (they might be cozy) and were very friendly, she said she would recognize my daughter while on stage and she sure did. She really took the time to meet and greet the fellow passengers which made her very personable. Very nice! She’s sang background for Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and other Motown greats. She was also the answer to a question on Who wants to be a millionaire recently.

 

Day 8

Debarkation was fine, we did not go to the debarkation area assigned to us, we stayed in the cabins and when our color was called over the speakers, we proceeded to Level 2. If you want to leave in a hurry get a porter and they have a separate line where you breeze right through. If you don’t have any money left over, (like we did) you can make the short 15-20 minute line. Now, it’s back to reality and to planning our next cruise. If you have any questions, send me an email isa1166@aol.com. I have all of the capers and can answer any questions you may have. I also have the Camp Carnival capers for the 6-8 age group.

 

Misc. Tips

q Don’t buy your pictures until the very last night. Portraits are expensive so if you are on a budget, just take a few (reduce temptation). An 8x10 is $20, so if you start buying pictures from the very beginning you can end up with a pretty hefty amount of money spent on these portraits. Keep in mind, you can take your own pictures at any of the very many beautiful spots on this ship and enlarge on your own and save a ton of $$$$$.

q Towels can be checked out at the pool. You can exchange wet for dry towels at the pool at any time as long as they are returned by 8:00 p.m., if you take advantage of this, you do not have to take your room towels up and down with you all day.

q I saw people bringing Sodas and Water on board. I wish I would have done that as a Coke on board is $2.88

q If you are a past Carnival Guest, make sure they now as you will receive a complimentary souvenir pin in your cabin on the 4 or 5 day.

q The information binder that is in your cabin has 2 really nice postcards of the Carnival Legend – Don’t forget to take them home.

q The Shop on the Legend has pins for Barbados and St. Maarten – they also have shot glasses for the Ports of Call. The prices are compatible with what you can get at the ports.

q No passport needed for Barbados

q I have the Caper for the 6-8 kids Camp Carnival. My daughter chose not to go but she had so much fun with her new friends at the pool that it didn’t matter. If you want any information on activities. Email me and I will gladly answer any questions that you may have.

q For $15, you can fill a Carnival bag with dirty laundry and it will be washed, dried and folded for you. (Day 6/Martinique day)

q Cruise Director: Brett Alans, he’s actually head cruise director for the entire fleet (but I’ve seen better) He had a nervous laugh that was a little scary by the end of the 8th day. There was actually an assistant cruise director by the name of Brent and he was GREAT! He’s actually getting his own ship in a couple of months, he’s getting a well deserved promotion to cruise director.

q For those of you concerned about the smoking on board. Everyone seems to be very aware of the smoking etiquette, you are allowed to smoke on one half of the ship while on the Lido Deck, no smoking in the Follies Lounge. However, the Casino, the Cigar Room and Disco’s are smoke central…

 

Have plenty of small bills at the ports – Taxi Cab Drivers will have no change for you so that you are forced to tip. Same applies to sidewalk vendors.