Legend 20 years later

[mfs2k]

The last time we sailed on Carnival was in 2013, yet we’re Platinum because of our cruise history from 1986-2013.
Since 2013 we’ve done some all-inclusive Caribbean land vacations, sailed on Celebrity twice, and sailed on Virgin once. 
My wife and I want to go to Europe in September and I booked a very good deal on Carnival Legend (10 nights) from Rome to Turkey, Greece and Italy with a small deposit. 
 

I have two concerns I’d love to get reassurance or honest feedback on. 

1. We sailed on Carnival Legend in September 2004 for an 8 night Caribbean cruise from NYC when the ship was relatively new, so it will be exactly 20 years later we’ll be on her again. Obviously I expect the ship to be dated and older but will I spend 10 nights regretting I’m on an old ship and not something newer and bigger?

2.  Most of our cruises and land based vacations have been all about warm weather, days at sea, or days at the beach. This cruise has 7 consecutive port stops after two days at sea and it’s exhausting just to think about. I’m not 30 anymore. We’re 64/65 and in fairly good shape but I’m not sure if this is biting off more than we can chew. My wife loves to sleep in on vacation and I’m going to be waking her at 7am or earlier every morning to go on excursions or explore ports. 

So I’m asking you pros…Are we going to love this vacation or regret it?

I welcome your subjective opinions. 
Thank you. 
-Michael 
 

Edited January 11 by mfs2k

[Joanne G.]

1. I have not been on the Legend, but I spent a total of 30 days last summer on 3 cruises the Pride in Europe, which is the same class as the Legend, so I presume it's of comparable age.  I had no complaints about the maintenance, though of course the appearance, including the somewhat dated decor, made it clear that it wasn't a brand-new ship.  I liked the smaller size - fewer people getting on and off the ship, a buffet area that wasn't a madhouse, and ample outdoor walking and seating areas to enjoy on port days.  I didn't care about it not being newer and bigger, as I booked my cruises for the ports, not the ship.  

 

2.  This one is very personal.  I, also, am a senior citizen, and I had multiple ports, at one point 6 in a row.  I am in reasonably good shape, but I had concerns about fatigue.  This is what worked for me:  I did Carnival excursions in all of the ports, as the ease of planning reduced my stress.  I did very little after dinner, skipping shows on the evenings before early shore excursions and going to bed early.   (And I was usually so tired that I went to bed early even when I didn't have an excursion the next day LOL.)  I booked my excursions well before the cruise, so that if there was a choice of two times, I could pick the later one.   (I also saved some money booking early, as the prices went up significantly closer to the cruise.)    I'll add that on the Carnival excursions, the meeting time (usually in the theater) was typically 30 minutes before the stated start time for the tour, so factor that into your choices.   

 

If your wife loves to sleep in, then perhaps arranging private tours to start at a suitable time would be a better choice for you.  I was on different itineraries than yours, so I don't know those ports.   You may find that some ports are suitable to explore on your own on foot without any kind of tour at all, or with nothing more than a taxi ride to the city center of the port  - or maybe to a beach!   I never used that option, but it appeared that taxis were always readily available upon exiting the ship.  

 

In making your decisions, pay attention to time changes, especially losing an hour as you enter a new time zone to the east.   Carnival adjusted ship time to match the port times on my cruises, so I assume you will encounter that, too.  It wasn't fun to set my alarm for an early wake-up call after setting my travel alarm clock an hour ahead.  (But on a round trip cruise, it was great to get that time back.)

 

An option to consider if you have an early excursion is a room service breakfast.  I never did that, but it may save some time in the morning.  Some people find the main dining room less busy than the buffet.   But I always ate breakfast at the buffet before my excursions, and I never found it overly crowded.   

 

In every case, even when I groaned at the sound of the alarm, I enjoyed my excursions and was glad I had booked them.  I had done a lot of research on itineraries in Europe on all the major cruise lines, and Carnival always the best value.  If you and your wife consider all the options for enjoying these ports and pick what works best for you, you are much less likely to regret this vacation and instead return home with great memories.

 

 

Edited January 11 by Joanne G.

[jsglow]

We did that exact same cruise on Legend's sister 18 months ago.

 

1) She'll be the same ship you remember and will just be out of drydock to do the European season this summer. She's PERFECT in that role as the ports you are visiting aren't set up that well for 5,000 pax disembarking each day. We love the fact that Carnival takes a Spirit Class ship over each year. And in my personal view, one cruises Europe to visit/explore exotic places, not for the ship. After dinner each night we'd have one glass of wine and call it; often in bed by 9:30p. See #2 below.

 

2) Yes, the cruise can be a bit of a grind. 7 straight 'high impact' ports will take it out of you. We did it at age 61/60. 7am alarm clocks and 15,000-20,000+ steps are the norm every day. We also were extremely busy for 4 days in Rome before the cruise so were grateful for those two sea days at the beginning. We even had a conversation the last morning in Naples that we needed to 'buck up' one more time as that was Pompeii day and we would possibly never get back. Again, it takes endurance but we're folks who never got to travel to Europe during our professional careers so taking advantage while we're 'young and healthy enough' is important to us. I personally watched a very elderly man with two helpers make it up the steep Acropolis steps in what was clearly a 'one chance' deal for him. We're glad we had the opportunity in our 'youth'.

 

Enjoy. You and your wife should have a great time. 

Edited January 11 by jsglow

[jsglow]

And you'll notice here @mfs2k that all the 'cool kids' here are from Wisconsin. @Joanne G. and I became 'pen pals' while she was reporting on Pride's repairs during her cruise in the Baltic. We only missed each other at Heathrow by about a week. Always trust Sconnies. 😎

[mfs2k]

4 hours ago, jsglow said:

We did that exact same cruise on Legend's sister 18 months ago.

 

1) She'll be the same ship you remember and will just be out of drydock to do the European season this summer. She's PERFECT in that role as the ports you are visiting aren't set up that well for 5,000 pax disembarking each day. We love the fact that Carnival takes a Spirit Class ship over each year. And in my personal view, one cruises Europe to visit/explore exotic places, not for the ship. After dinner each night we'd have one glass of wine and call it; often in bed by 9:30p. See #2 below.

 

2) Yes, the cruise can be a bit of a grind. 7 straight 'high impact' ports will take it out of you. We did it at age 61/60. 7am alarm clocks and 15,000-20,000+ steps are the norm every day. We also were extremely busy for 4 days in Rome before the cruise so were grateful for those two sea days at the beginning. We even had a conversation the last morning in Naples that we needed to 'buck up' one more time as that was Pompeii day and we would possibly never get back. Again, it takes endurance but we're folks who never got to travel to Europe during our professional careers so taking advantage while we're 'young and healthy enough' is important to us. I personally watched a very elderly man with two helpers make it up the steep Acropolis steps in what was clearly a 'one chance' deal for him. We're glad we had the opportunity in our 'youth'.

 

Enjoy. You and your wife should have a great time. 

Awesome. Thank you. And I didn’t know about the dry dock schedule. That makes me feel better. 

[mfs2k]

10 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

1. I have not been on the Legend, but I spent a total of 30 days last summer on 3 cruises the Pride in Europe, which is the same class as the Legend, so I presume it's of comparable age.  I had no complaints about the maintenance, though of course the appearance, including the somewhat dated decor, made it clear that it wasn't a brand-new ship.  I liked the smaller size - fewer people getting on and off the ship, a buffet area that wasn't a madhouse, and ample outdoor walking and seating areas to enjoy on port days.  I didn't care about it not being newer and bigger, as I booked my cruises for the ports, not the ship.  

 

2.  This one is very personal.  I, also, am a senior citizen, and I had multiple ports, at one point 6 in a row.  I am in reasonably good shape, but I had concerns about fatigue.  This is what worked for me:  I did Carnival excursions in all of the ports, as the ease of planning reduced my stress.  I did very little after dinner, skipping shows on the evenings before early shore excursions and going to bed early.   (And I was usually so tired that I went to bed early even when I didn't have an excursion the next day LOL.)  I booked my excursions well before the cruise, so that if there was a choice of two times, I could pick the later one.   (I also saved some money booking early, as the prices went up significantly closer to the cruise.)    I'll add that on the Carnival excursions, the meeting time (usually in the theater) was typically 30 minutes before the stated start time for the tour, so factor that into your choices.   

 

If your wife loves to sleep in, then perhaps arranging private tours to start at a suitable time would be a better choice for you.  I was on different itineraries than yours, so I don't know those ports.   You may find that some ports are suitable to explore on your own on foot without any kind of tour at all, or with nothing more than a taxi ride to the city center of the port  - or maybe to a beach!   I never used that option, but it appeared that taxis were always readily available upon exiting the ship.  

 

In making your decisions, pay attention to time changes, especially losing an hour as you enter a new time zone to the east.   Carnival adjusted ship time to match the port times on my cruises, so I assume you will encounter that, too.  It wasn't fun to set my alarm for an early wake-up call after setting my travel alarm clock an hour ahead.  (But on a round trip cruise, it was great to get that time back.)

 

An option to consider if you have an early excursion is a room service breakfast.  I never did that, but it may save some time in the morning.  Some people find the main dining room less busy than the buffet.   But I always ate breakfast at the buffet before my excursions, and I never found it overly crowded.   

 

In every case, even when I groaned at the sound of the alarm, I enjoyed my excursions and was glad I had booked them.  I had done a lot of research on itineraries in Europe on all the major cruise lines, and Carnival always the best value.  If you and your wife consider all the options for enjoying these ports and pick what works best for you, you are much less likely to regret this vacation and instead return home with great memories.

 

 

Thank you. 

[jsglow]

One huge piece of advice @mfs2k, if you can take steps to adjust your body clock before you fly over it will be a big help. We were close to being on European time in terms of our sleep schedule before we ever boarded a plane. The overnight flight isn't easy and you won't get more than a nap but if you can pre-adjust, going to bed that first night in Rome will feel pretty normal and you'll feel 85% on day #2. This year we were lucky to get the one daytime flight from ORD to Heathrow.  Made a big difference as we never had to attempt to sleep on the plane.

[kctwinmommy]

I can't answer your questions, but I can say I'll see how we feel after our Med cruise this spring. We have port days pretty much every day of our 22 days. LOL! We have 2 nights in Venice and 1 night in Florence, but otherwise we're in a different port every other day. The one good thing is our cruise has long days in each port, like 9-13 hours. So we can go into town, walk around (which is what we plan on doing in several stops), and go back to the ship to relax if we want, and then go back out again. Of course, we will have a few stops where we plan on doing long, full day tours. But we will definitely pace ourselves as we go along.

 

We did a RC European cruise, not the same though, as it wasn't as long. But you definitely do more stuff on these cruises than a typical Caribbean one, at least for us. On Caribbean ones, we tend to do more low-key, relaxing type activities. European ones typically involve a lot of walking. LOL!

[Joanne G.]

10 hours ago, jsglow said:

One huge piece of advice @mfs2k, if you can take steps to adjust your body clock before you fly over it will be a big help. We were close to being on European time in terms of our sleep schedule before we ever boarded a plane. The overnight flight isn't easy and you won't get more than a nap but if you can pre-adjust, going to bed that first night in Rome will feel pretty normal and you'll feel 85% on day #2. This year we were lucky to get the one daytime flight from ORD to Heathrow.  Made a big difference as we never had to attempt to sleep on the plane.

I considered that daytime flight from ORD.  But I was concerned that the arrival at about bedtime London time wouldn't feel like bedtime to me.  I pictured myself pacing around a hotel room for hours in the middle of a London night.  I didn't think of adjusting my body clock in advance.  Interesting!  I'm glad it worked well for you.   We are lucky flying out of ORD that we typically have multiple options to get to Europe, especially to a major destination such as London.  The OP is from New York.  If that means New York City, he will also have various options.  

 

My method is to pick a flight as late in the evening (as close to my bedtime) as possible, in order to improve the odds of getting some sleep.   I still typically only doze periodically, sadly.   Then upon arrival, I resist the urge to nap and just power through the day.  I get outside and do a lot of walking, and I go easy on caffeine and alcohol.   I go to bed at close to my normal bedtime local time.   The next morning, I am usually rested and ready to go.  

[sparks1093]

We've been on Legend twice and she was comparable to Pride. Décor not to our taste but tolerable for 7 days. The key with any port intensive itinerary is to pace yourself as much as possible. We've flown to Germany a couple of times and haven't had too many issues with the time change. We took the night flight and dozed on the plane but no matter how tired we were when we landed we made it a point to stay up until 8:30/9pm. Woke up fairly rested the next day and were good to go. Coming back was a different story, but by then vacation is done. 

[mfs2k]

5 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

The OP is from New York.  If that means New York City, he will also have various options.  

Yes. We’ll fly from JFK or EWR so lots of options. Most likely we’ll take a late night flight and an Ambien will help us sleep. That’s what I do from LAX to NYC so hopefully the plan works. 

[Prometheus1]

I was on Legend for two weeks in November. Yes there were some issues with a sewage smell a few days in several areas of the ship (not just a whiff but full on yikes- fans set up in the hallway, but she is 20+ years old), the food was good some days and less good other days but overall she is a great ship, the crew was fantastic, easy to find your way around and the beds were comfy- I think you will be fine and can't wait to hear what you decide to do.

[mfs2k]

On 1/15/2024 at 11:11 AM, Prometheus1 said:

I think you will be fine and can't wait to hear what you decide to do.

We booked it (Sept ‘24). Learning the ship will be recently out of drydock is reassuring. Hopefully they address the major issues mentioned above. 

[Frank12]

We sailed Legend a few years ago and she was in great shape.  CCL keeps em up pretty good! 😜

[MaisonRose]

On 1/11/2024 at 6:57 PM, mfs2k said:

Awesome. Thank you. And I didn’t know about the dry dock schedule. That makes me feel better. 

I’m on the Legend near the Azores, port in Barcelona next Sat, Apr 27, 2024. Extended balcony. OK cabin tho bathroom still has shower curtain, molded aqua sink & bright blue floor. It doesn’t clean up very well and word has it that the dry dock is to address accessibility issues, like more elevators for the in-between floors. This is « the word « on the ship. The Legend is really long in the tooth but frankly over the last week I’ve grown fond of it.

For me..downsides…I have not had one decent cup of tea because the hot water spigot  does not provide boiling water (MSC is best for that). The MDR food is good, but the Lido food is pretty low standard.

I was invited to a special Diamond meal on the Lido deck and the salmon was inedible.

We are at 83% occupancy and yet two couples can’t pass comfortably in the public spaces. Perhaps that will be fixed in dry dock.

Mostly Americans, very relaxed tho formal night people really stepped up all sparkly.

The Casino is packed most of the day: something I’ve never seen before.

The daily activités are plentiful with, for example, at least 4 Trivias a day.

The plentiful staff are sweet, great really, and the passengers are quite happy. There are plenty of elevators, well located. I love Sea Day Brunch with big menus and hours in the MDR to 11:30 which is cool. But on some sea days breakfast closes at 9:30.

This transatlantic is my first Carnival cruise. On a European itinerary the things I’ve covered here might not affect your experience. But I hope you can gauge my comments to what you’ll need to enjoy that special voyage you are planning. Have fun. 

[jimbo5544]

On 1/11/2024 at 8:26 AM, Joanne G. said:

1. I have not been on the Legend, but I spent a total of 30 days last summer on 3 cruises the Pride in Europe, which is the same class as the Legend, so I presume it's of comparable age.  I had no complaints about the maintenance, though of course the appearance, including the somewhat dated decor, made it clear that it wasn't a brand-new ship.  I liked the smaller size - fewer people getting on and off the ship, a buffet area that wasn't a madhouse, and ample outdoor walking and seating areas to enjoy on port days.  I didn't care about it not being newer and bigger, as I booked my cruises for the ports, not the ship.  

 

2.  This one is very personal.  I, also, am a senior citizen, and I had multiple ports, at one point 6 in a row.  I am in reasonably good shape, but I had concerns about fatigue.  This is what worked for me:  I did Carnival excursions in all of the ports, as the ease of planning reduced my stress.  I did very little after dinner, skipping shows on the evenings before early shore excursions and going to bed early.   (And I was usually so tired that I went to bed early even when I didn't have an excursion the next day LOL.)  I booked my excursions well before the cruise, so that if there was a choice of two times, I could pick the later one.   (I also saved some money booking early, as the prices went up significantly closer to the cruise.)    I'll add that on the Carnival excursions, the meeting time (usually in the theater) was typically 30 minutes before the stated start time for the tour, so factor that into your choices.   

 

If your wife loves to sleep in, then perhaps arranging private tours to start at a suitable time would be a better choice for you.  I was on different itineraries than yours, so I don't know those ports.   You may find that some ports are suitable to explore on your own on foot without any kind of tour at all, or with nothing more than a taxi ride to the city center of the port  - or maybe to a beach!   I never used that option, but it appeared that taxis were always readily available upon exiting the ship.  

 

In making your decisions, pay attention to time changes, especially losing an hour as you enter a new time zone to the east.   Carnival adjusted ship time to match the port times on my cruises, so I assume you will encounter that, too.  It wasn't fun to set my alarm for an early wake-up call after setting my travel alarm clock an hour ahead.  (But on a round trip cruise, it was great to get that time back.)

 

An option to consider if you have an early excursion is a room service breakfast.  I never did that, but it may save some time in the morning.  Some people find the main dining room less busy than the buffet.   But I always ate breakfast at the buffet before my excursions, and I never found it overly crowded.   

 

In every case, even when I groaned at the sound of the alarm, I enjoyed my excursions and was glad I had booked them.  I had done a lot of research on itineraries in Europe on all the major cruise lines, and Carnival always the best value.  If you and your wife consider all the options for enjoying these ports and pick what works best for you, you are much less likely to regret this vacation and instead return home with great memories.

 

 

Nice insightful post

[jimbo5544]

On 1/11/2024 at 9:27 PM, jsglow said:

One huge piece of advice @mfs2k, if you can take steps to adjust your body clock before you fly over it will be a big help. We were close to being on European time in terms of our sleep schedule before we ever boarded a plane. The overnight flight isn't easy and you won't get more than a nap but if you can pre-adjust, going to bed that first night in Rome will feel pretty normal and you'll feel 85% on day #2. This year we were lucky to get the one daytime flight from ORD to Heathrow.  Made a big difference as we never had to attempt to sleep on the plane.

Totally agree.

[jimbo5544]

We did a two week journey cruise on the Legend 6 months ago.  Love the ship.  The Captain gave daily talks and he displayed a love for the ship (and the Spirit class) as well.

[Joanne G.]

Last summer on the Pride, the cruise director was Frankie Portero.   I just sailed with him again on the Magic earlier this month.  He said during the Q & A, in response to a question about his favorite ship, that he loves the Sprit class ships due to their layout and smaller size.  (But as we were on the Magic, he diplomatically said he loved that ship, too.)

[jimbo5544]

10 minutes ago, Joanne G. said:

Last summer on the Pride, the cruise director was Frankie Portero.   I just sailed with him again on the Magic earlier this month.  He said during the Q & A, in response to a question about his favorite ship, that he loves the Sprit class ships due to their layout and smaller size.  (But as we were on the Magic, he diplomatically said he loved that ship, too.)

He frequently is tied to ships from Tampa (near his home) so he has had a ton of Spirit class experience.  All that said, I agree with both assessments.

[movtarget]

I was just on the Legend for a 7-day mid-march. The ship shows her age, but I’m a “go with the flow” kind of guy. I really enjoyed the trip. I have to believe that after dry dock she’ll look slightly “freshened”, but you know the age of the ship and what to expect.The fatigue/energy strategies for port-intensive cruises are really good.

 

Now that my obligatory “on topic” portion of the post is completed:

 

This thread is the reason I hang out on Cruise Critic. Fantastic input and idea/experience sharing. Thank you fellow posters!

[n6uqqq]

If they do to the Legend what they did to the Pride then it won't be too major. Card room on deck 2 near the coffee joint was removed and became Carnival Adventures store. Night club was converted to only deck 2 with lower portion removed and converted into 5 new staterooms and a dedicated chefs table. I saw this on the Pride and they did a very good job with this. On deck 2 by the atrium a Dream studio room was created for private photo shoots. I think the rest was the typical stuff like carpeting, fixing things, etc. Hopefully they see fit to add the big screen by the pool near Guy's and Blue Iguana Cantina. One last thing, if you like the hot tub up front in the spa area, say your goodbyes!

Edited April 21 by n6uqqq