Carnival Legend Jan 2-9, 2022 Review (Studs and Duds Edition)

[pogoism9]

Studs

 

The Ship

 

She's stunning with the new livery. I love the Spirit class, and Legend is a very nice ship. Still like the Pride more, but those old Spirits have so much character and charm (not to mention a great layout)

 

The Passengers/Masking/Etc

 

We ran with around 1,400 this week. Everyone seemed so nice and happy to be there. I never saw anyone not wearing a mask when they should be, at least in most of the public indoor areas. I can't speak for the shows, since I did not really partake, but the staff was very vigilant about enforcing masks, and I never heard a single passenger challenge them on it. Carnival was also very vigilant when it came to the staff and covid. There were several times where shows/activities were cancelled due to covid related issues. First one that comes to mind is the piano bar. Believe it or not, I felt extremely safe onboard, and the guests I spoke with echoed that more times than not.

 

Embarkation

 

It's always just so damn easy in Baltimore. We got there at 11:30ish for a 12pm appointment, but they had not started boarding yet. We were on the ship around 1pm. Reasonable amount of waiting. Also of note, it was around 60-65 degrees on Jan 2.

 

Staff

 

Our room steward was the man. We made sure to take extra care of him this morning. We had YTD, so our wait staff changed a lot, but our dining room service was always great. Casino servers were a little sparse at times, but that didn't really bother me much, as I went in knowing that there could be staffing challenges due to covid. Staff was always cleaning and/or repairing something (also see Duds below).

 

Steakhouse Night 1

 

The first night we hit the steakhouse, the service was very fast, and the food was amazing. Night 2, see Duds below

 

Bonsai Sushi

 

Been on 4 cruises with Bonsai and never tried it until this week. I feel like it's a hidden gem of sorts. Worth every penny (and the prices are good), and the food was probably my favorite across the whole trip. The servers were also among the best of the week too.

 

Piano Bar

 

First time I went into the piano bar. The performer (Dara Jazzlyn) was awesome. She's uber talented and very personable. Overall the whole thing exceeded my expectations. She's moving to Panorama in March, which stinks. Her accent will melt you, and I mean that in the greatest way possible

 

Princess Cay

 

I had heard that it was a decent enough port, but nothing too great. Aside from the rocky beach, I thought it was great. We had a really great time on the stingray encounter (it was cheap too!). I'm also a smoker, and it honestly was a breath of fresh air to see smoking areas every 15 feet (yeah yeah throw your rocks at me people 😇)

 

Duds

 

Monday's Weather

 

This was my 7th cruise, and January 3rd was the absolute worst weather I have seen on the ship. It was cold, super windy, and mother nature was basically telling us to piss off all the way down the coast

 

Cabin 4112

 

I have actually heard a lot of great things about the obstructed view interior cabins, so I was excited to try one out. Well, the room itself was fine, no complaints there, but it's directly on top of the arcade now, which "closes" at midnight.....except I spend the majority of my night trying to fall asleep with constant noise over and over from the Jurassic park game, and several times it was endless kids screaming. If noise bugs you even a little, steer clear of 4102-4114 (port side)

 

Steakhouse Night 2

 

The second night in the steakhouse was almost the polar opposite of the first night. They were busier, and the staff was doing the best they could, but service was extremely slow. They must have been short staffed. Our server was very good, but she was clearly overworked at that point. Had the Filet/Lobster. Wasn't super impressed. Going to stick to the strip from here on out.

 

Constant Repairs

 

I know they constantly have to work on a ship while at sea, but it just seemed off that a ship that is fresh out of dry dock had to have so much fixed after 7 weeks in service. I have never witnessed the level of seemingly broken stuff that they had to fix. I'm sure a couple of things were due to the weather on Monday, but repairs were all over the place all week. We even had one of the roof panels on Lido end up broken after day 2

 

Freeport

 

Enough said

 

Nassau

 

See Freeport above

 

Other Notes

 

The Maitre d' (Dessi Kostova)

 

She was very good. I'm sad to say that she broke all of our hearts on the last night. She seems to be retiring after 20ish years, and she was extremely emotional as she was telling us this. It was very genuine and heartfelt,. You could tell she loved her staff very much. There weren't very many dry eyes during her speech. I really hope she moves on to bigger and better things.

 

Debarkation

 

Took a little longer than I am used to, but I can honestly say, they were SUPER organized during the process, and were actively turning the "cheaters" away

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by pogoism9

[pogoism9]

[IntrepidFromDC]

14 minutes ago, pogoism9 said:

Thanks for the well-laid out review and pics!  I think the piano bar singer hits a lot of notes flat.  Maybe it was the recording.

[pogoism9]

5 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Thanks for the well-laid out review and pics!  I think the piano bar singer hits a lot of notes flat.  Maybe it was the recording.

 

It has to be the recording, she was really good. 

[cruisingguy007]

Nice concise review and some great photos and video. Wow, some rocking and rolling for sure; need some draminate just watching those waves..lol. Thanks for taking the time to share! 

[pogoism9]

2 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Nice concise review and some great photos and video. Wow, some rocking and rolling for sure; need some draminate just watching those waves..lol. Thanks for taking the time to share! 

 

There is so much hate these days, I wanted to be as objective as possible.

[bmarts]

Looks like a great time 

[cocomango]

Wow thank you so much for the review and the videos!

We were on Legend as well.so this was like a flashback. Will have to come back and comment later.

[mfrometa]

On 1/9/2022 at 4:40 PM, pogoism9 said:

Studs

 

The Ship

 

She's stunning with the new livery. I love the Spirit class, and Legend is a very nice ship. Still like the Pride more, but those old Spirits have so much character and charm (not to mention a great layout)

 

The Passengers/Masking/Etc

 

We ran with around 1,400 this week. Everyone seemed so nice and happy to be there. I never saw anyone not wearing a mask when they should be, at least in most of the public indoor areas. I can't speak for the shows, since I did not really partake, but the staff was very vigilant about enforcing masks, and I never heard a single passenger challenge them on it. Carnival was also very vigilant when it came to the staff and covid. There were several times where shows/activities were cancelled due to covid related issues. First one that comes to mind is the piano bar. Believe it or not, I felt extremely safe onboard, and the guests I spoke with echoed that more times than not.

 

Embarkation

 

It's always just so damn easy in Baltimore. We got there at 11:30ish for a 12pm appointment, but they had not started boarding yet. We were on the ship around 1pm. Reasonable amount of waiting. Also of note, it was around 60-65 degrees on Jan 2.

 

Staff

 

Our room steward was the man. We made sure to take extra care of him this morning. We had YTD, so our wait staff changed a lot, but our dining room service was always great. Casino servers were a little sparse at times, but that didn't really bother me much, as I went in knowing that there could be staffing challenges due to covid. Staff was always cleaning and/or repairing something (also see Duds below).

 

Steakhouse Night 1

 

The first night we hit the steakhouse, the service was very fast, and the food was amazing. Night 2, see Duds below

 

Bonsai Sushi

 

Been on 4 cruises with Bonsai and never tried it until this week. I feel like it's a hidden gem of sorts. Worth every penny (and the prices are good), and the food was probably my favorite across the whole trip. The servers were also among the best of the week too.

 

Piano Bar

 

First time I went into the piano bar. The performer (Dara Jazzlyn) was awesome. She's uber talented and very personable. Overall the whole thing exceeded my expectations. She's moving to Panorama in March, which stinks. Her accent will melt you, and I mean that in the greatest way possible

 

Princess Cay

 

I had heard that it was a decent enough port, but nothing too great. Aside from the rocky beach, I thought it was great. We had a really great time on the stingray encounter (it was cheap too!). I'm also a smoker, and it honestly was a breath of fresh air to see smoking areas every 15 feet (yeah yeah throw your rocks at me people 😇)

 

Duds

 

Monday's Weather

 

This was my 7th cruise, and January 3rd was the absolute worst weather I have seen on the ship. It was cold, super windy, and mother nature was basically telling us to piss off all the way down the coast

 

Cabin 4112

 

I have actually heard a lot of great things about the obstructed view interior cabins, so I was excited to try one out. Well, the room itself was fine, no complaints there, but it's directly on top of the arcade now, which "closes" at midnight.....except I spend the majority of my night trying to fall asleep with constant noise over and over from the Jurassic park game, and several times it was endless kids screaming. If noise bugs you even a little, steer clear of 4102-4114 (port side)

 

Steakhouse Night 2

 

The second night in the steakhouse was almost the polar opposite of the first night. They were busier, and the staff was doing the best they could, but service was extremely slow. They must have been short staffed. Our server was very good, but she was clearly overworked at that point. Had the Filet/Lobster. Wasn't super impressed. Going to stick to the strip from here on out.

 

Constant Repairs

 

I know they constantly have to work on a ship while at sea, but it just seemed off that a ship that is fresh out of dry dock had to have so much fixed after 7 weeks in service. I have never witnessed the level of seemingly broken stuff that they had to fix. I'm sure a couple of things were due to the weather on Monday, but repairs were all over the place all week. We even had one of the roof panels on Lido end up broken after day 2

 

Freeport

 

Enough said

 

Nassau

 

See Freeport above

 

Other Notes

 

The Maitre d' (Dessi Kostova)

 

She was very good. I'm sad to say that she broke all of our hearts on the last night. She seems to be retiring after 20ish years, and she was extremely emotional as she was telling us this. It was very genuine and heartfelt,. You could tell she loved her staff very much. There weren't very many dry eyes during her speech. I really hope she moves on to bigger and better things.

 

Debarkation

 

Took a little longer than I am used to, but I can honestly say, they were SUPER organized during the process, and were actively turning the "cheaters" away

 

 

 

At the steakhouse on the 1st night, was the free bottle of wine a decent selection? I know you also have the option of 50% off other wines. Did you happen to have the Cheers package?

 

Thanks for all your help.

[pogoism9]

1 minute ago, mfrometa said:

At the steakhouse on the 1st night, was the free bottle of wine a decent selection? I know you also have the option of 50% off other wines. Did you happen to have the Cheers package?

 

Thanks for all your help.

 

it was the house wine. My brother drank it, as wine is not for me. I had DOU, but not cheers.