Review Med cruise Legend of the Seas

[karrie]

Hi, Since i got so much help from this board I thought I'd write a short review of my cruise.

Pre-cruise- We stayed 2 nights in Rome at Albergo Cesari.This was a nice hotel in a great location.Easy walk to Trevi, Spanish Steps,Piaza navona and lots of restaurants. It was a little pricey at 240euro per night but we really liked it.

For transportation we used Roma shuttle for pick-up from the airport, from the hotel and from the port. They were very good. Our flight arrived early and we got off the ship early but they arrived early also and were waiting for us.

The ship is beautiful. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The food in the dining room was good and the buffet was just ok. The pizza was very good as were the burgers. We were assigned 9:00 dinner seating and had no problem changing to 8:30.We had great tablemates and really enjoyed our dinner time.

The entertainment was good. Most nights there were shows at 7:00 for the late seating. We went most nights. The production shows were good but very loud. The comedians were great as were the other entertainers.

The highlight of this cruise and the reason we picked this one was the ports. We went to Mykonos, Rhodes, Athens, Cyprus, Egypt and Naples.

Mykonos is a very pretty island. Our ship docked but some have to tender. If your ship docks you must take a shuttle bus to town ($12 rt). I think if you tender you can walk into town. We did not do an excursion. We just walked around town an had a late lunch. I spoke to several people who did the excursion to Delos and all said they felt it was boring.

In Rhodes we did the Fillerimos mezes and wine tasting. This was my only disappointing part of the whole cruise. Perhaps because it rained this morning added to our disappointment. I just didn't think the places we visited were that interesting. The Taverna we stopped at for lunch and wine tasting was horrible. The food was 3 types of squid, tomatoes,and bread. The wine tasting was a glass of wine either red or white. In the afternoon we walked to old town. The sun came out and we had a nice afternoon walking around.

Turkey was a delight. What a beautiful country. I would love to go back to see more of it. We did a ship excursion to Ephesus, house of Virgin Mary and basillica. Ephesus was truly amazing. Our guide was wonderful, This tour included a buffet lunch which was quite good.

In Cyprus we did not get off the ship. It was a major holiday and most places were closed so we went o the spa that day.

Egypt was the stop we most looked forward to. We did a ship excursion pyramids and tombs. It was excellent. Seeing the pyramids was amazing and the highlight of our trip. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful hotel. The food was good. I did not hear of anyone getting sick after this tour. We were warned to eat only cooked food (no salads or fruits) and no dairy. This was a long day about 13 hrs but really worth it. Upon arriving back at the ship staff was there to great us with cup of water and warm washcloths. A very nice touch I thought. Dinner that night was open seating in the dining room until 10:00 and a large buffet poolside. Alexandria and Cairo are two places I never want to go back to. Both are very dirty and depressing. The vendors were very aggressive. Our no thank you quickly turned into no go away.I felt bad because they are so poor and trying to make a living but there were so many of them it was difficult. We were warned by our guide not to get on a camel because they charge one price to get on the camel and then the camel stands up an they demand another price to get down. For those that went on an excursion that included a camel ride this was not a problem.

In Athens we did not do a ship tour. There are many taxis as you leave the port. They will negotiate a price to take you around. The taxi waited while we saw the sites.This worked well for us. Our driver was very nice and informative. We went to th Acropolis,Hadrians Arch, the original Olympic stadium and Stygmata square to see the changing of the guard. We decided to no go to the Plaka and went back to the ship. All this took about 5 hrs and I think cost 80 euros each. The cost would be less per person fo more people.

Naples we did a private tour arranged by a CC member with Drive Amalfi. We drove along the Amalfi coast with many stops along the way. Our guide was great.We oped to do lunch on our own rather than a group lunch. We stopped in Ravello for this. This is a very nice little town and not crowed. We next drove through the country side to Pompeii. We had a 2hr guided tour of Pompeii arranged by Drive Amalfi. I loved Pompeii and would love to go back.

Leaving the ship was quick and easy. For those who have very early flights you can walk off with your luggage between 5-6 AM. They start calling numbers at about 6:30. We were assigned 6:45 time. We had no problem changing to a later time since our car wasn't picking us up until 6:30.

All in all this was a wonderful cruise. I loved every minute of it. The highlights for me were the pyramids and Pompeii. Please feel free to ask any questions.

Karrie

[KillaFee]

Great review! I'm always interested in getting details on Mediterranean cruises so thanks! What was the weather like in the ports? Is it nice and hot yet?

Laura

[Lisichka]

This is the same cruise I am taking in about 59 days. Thank you for your review. :)

[Lisichka]

Oh, a few questions:

 

VISAS for Turkey: does the ship arrange that too?

SHOTS: Did you get shots fo this cruise or do you feel it is ok to go wihtout getting any?

[karrie]

The weather was cool high 60 to low 70 except for Egypt. We had only one morning of rain. Visas were provided by the ship. I did not get any shots.

Karrie

[hollyanna]

You sound like you had a great cruise! I agree about Cairo... went a few years ago whilst in Cyprus, on a 3 day cruise from there, and filthy depressing place it is, and vendors like you said, agressive and are a bit touchy feely with the ladies!:eek: WE also had armed soldiers guiding our bus from Port Said to Cairo which was slightly unnerving.. this was 1993. I am sure there are some lovely places but that put me right off!

 

You said you had 9pm dinner but changed to 8.30... I will be on Navigator from Rome in July and wondered if the dinner seatings are a little later like in Barcelona? Could you explain how this worked on Legend and it might be similar on Navigator... I habe booked early seating on Navigator hoping it might be around7pm as later at 9pm would be too late for the kids?? I went on Legend twice and loved her too! Just has a little more for my kids on the Voyager class now.Thanks for you help, Hollyanna

[pmfan]

karrie...loved reading your review. Thank for taking the time to write it. :)

[AF-1]

Karri, great review, why not post this under member reviews, that way you can rate the ship, the service, the food, etc. A lot more people will go to the member reviews, especially if they are looking for input on a particular ship.

 

Cheers

[karrie]

Hollyana, The legend had fou satings for dinner at 6:00,6:30, 8:30 and 9:00.

Karrie

[EV2008]

:) Loved your review of your cruise, we will be going on this cruise next year:( can't wait, we were on a Princess Cruise 4 years ago, and loved the Med. We are going on the Legent because it stops at Egypt and I dont want to stay in a Hotel, just want to see the Pyramids and leave.

[EV2008]

:) Loved your review of your cruise, we will be going on this cruise next year:( can't wait, we were on a Princess Cruise 4 years ago, and loved the Med. We are going on the Legend because it stops at Egypt and I dont want to stay in a Hotel, just want to see the Pyramids and leave.

[v-dude]

Yes, thank you very much for the great review. Since we are just finallizing our shore excursions your review was helpful. We are sailing with Lisichka but heading over to Italy about two weeks before the cruise so are counting the days.

Thanks again

[hollyanna]

Thanks Karrie. If it turns out we have 6pm we shall just have to try change it to 6.30 otherwise no problems, we will have to work around it. Hollyanna

[cruisingal2]

Karrie- Thanks so much for the review!!! I have been anxiously awaiting a review from the Egypt sailing for this season. We leave in 3 weeks. I had the same question about visa's in Egypt. I assume from what you said that the Legend handles that... do they stamp it when you get off the ship?

 

I was uncertain about the Mykonos and Cyprus excursions offered by the ship(right now I am scheduled for that). I want to go to the Anthony Quinn beach (Ladiko) at Rhodes... will there be taxi's etc. to take us there. We are spending 1 week in Rome pre-cruise... I am excited about seeing all the history and architecture, but don't want to get "stoned" out with all the stone.... We have private excursions in Athens and Naples.... thanks to the help of the Cruise Review Board members posts!

 

Is there any avoiding the "beggars"?(for lack of better words, forgive me) in Egypt? We will be doing the general pyramid tour and the museum. At what point in the trip did you have this "contact"?

 

It appears that the Legend doesn't have a laundry room? correct? I know they offer laundry service. Drink card? How much? How many formal nights? It looked like there were 3 or 4... I would imagine on "at sea" days?

 

I appreciate your offer to answer questions, and I might have a few more! Thanks so much and I am glad that you had such a wonderful trip.

[tomko2]

Karrie, enjoyed reading your review, it brought back the memories of our cruise on the Legend last August (photos and review in the links below). We went to Delos on the RCI tour and really enjoyed it but we had done a lot of reading about Delos before we went on the trip so we were looking forward to being on the island. Share your sentiments about Cairo and Alexandra. We were not overly fussy about Cyprus but loved the old city of Rhodes.

Did you take lots of photos?

Kathy:)

[Lady Chew]

Karrie, enjoyed reading your review, it brought back the memories of our cruise on the Legend last August (photos and review in the links below). We went to Delos on the RCI tour and really enjoyed it but we had done a lot of reading about Delos before we went on the trip so we were looking forward to being on the island. Share your sentiments about Cairo and Alexandra. We were not overly fussy about Cyprus but loved the old city of Rhodes.

Did you take lots of photos?

Kathy:)

 

We also took this cruise, in September. We thought Delos was fascinating, and a great start to our tour of ancient civilizations. I know there were folks on our cruise who thought that Cyprus was a "throwaway" port. We took an excursion to the Temple of Apollo (among other places) and it was also fascinating. I'm so glad we took both these excursions.

 

Of course the Pyramids were the highlight! But, I agree, Cairo and Alexandria are not places I'm interested in going back. (If we could just "beam" to the places we want to see, that would be great, wouldn't it?!)

 

Egypt is a third-world country and there were beggars all over the place (except on the bus). You just have to keep walking, don't make eye contact, and keep your hands on your valuables. There were swarms of children at the Sphinx, you had to really be careful. Don't let anyone take your camera to take your picture, unless it is someone from your own group.

 

When we were done in the museum we got back on the bus. I was sitting in the window and was looking around. There were quite a few people hanging around to approach the tourists. There was a woman sitting against a storefront, holding a beautiful sleeping child, around 2 years old. I couldn't help but smile - and she saw me - leapt up, and held the child up to the window for about 5 minutes, over her head, with her hand out. I kept my back to her and she sat back down; as soon as I looked out the window again, even though I was careful not to look in their direction, she got up again. This went on for almost 30 minutes, until everyone was back on the bus and we left. She walked around offering the child up in the same manner to people exiting the museum.

 

I didn't see anyone give her anything. I caught a peek under her robes as she was moving around. Some beautiful gold jewelry, silk-looking blouse, nice-looking leather shoes. The child had on ... Osh Kosh!!

[karrie]

Hi Cruisingal, There is no avoiding the beggars in Egypt. They are everywhere as soon as you get off the bus. Just keep walking and don't make eye contact and they will move on to the next group. There were also many vendors in Turkey but not quite as bad. There are taxis at the port in Rhodes just make sure to negotiate a price before you get in. Mykonos is a nice place to just walk around. It's a very pretty place. There were 3 formal nights all on sea days. There is no self laundry. The prices for the laundry were very reasonable. Twice during the cruise they had a special for $20 you could fill the bag. The special did not include pressing. I know you will have fun on the cruise for me it was a trip of a life time. We stayed 2 nights in Rome and wish we had more time. It's a great city.

Karrie

[threeofus]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a lovely review. You gave us lots of important information .

We are taking this cruise in 30 days!

 

One question: we asked for main seating - will we be randomly assigned to either 6 or 6:30? I would prefer 6:30 - should I call and request it?

 

Thanks again.

[Brandis]

Great! We are boarding Legend next wednesday for the same route. Very nice to see a review of the ports.

 

Marc

[mismithco]

Hi Cruisingal, There is no avoiding the beggars in Egypt. They are everywhere as soon as you get off the bus. Just keep walking and don't make eye contact and they will move on to the next group. There were also many vendors in Turkey but not quite as bad. There are taxis at the port in Rhodes just make sure to negotiate a price before you get in. Mykonos is a nice place to just walk around. It's a very pretty place. There were 3 formal nights all on sea days. There is no self laundry. The prices for the laundry were very reasonable. Twice during the cruise they had a special for $20 you could fill the bag. The special did not include pressing. I know you will have fun on the cruise for me it was a trip of a life time. We stayed 2 nights in Rome and wish we had more time. It's a great city.

Karrie

 

Karrie,

Do you remember when the $20 per bag days were offered? Such as day 6 and day 10? I don't want to do my own laundry by hand and then the next day have them offer the deal.

[karrie]

I don't remember the exact days but one towards the beginning and one near the end. I'm sure your room steward will know.

Karrie

[Landlords1]

Thanks for a great review, . We shall board her on wednesday and are even more excited after reading your review. We have sailed on legend before so we know she is a beautiful ship , can't wait:) !

[cruisingal2]

I hope you have a awesome cruise on the 21st! One of our professors (UF) will be on that one. I will be on the June 15th sailing. If you get a chance, please post your review when you return as I savor every morsel of information! I leave on June 8th for Rome.

 

Karrie, was there an ATM onboard the Legend and did you encounter any problems getting cash? What does it dispense, Eu's or American Dollars? (I'm doing the Amalfi Drive in Naples which is the one I think you mentioned that you went with? He may take us to a grotto too! I saw where someone went to the "Emerald Grotto", and when I asked about going to that, he said we might go to the "Blue Grotto" which from what I understand, is on the Isle of Capri, which in that case we would have to take the hydrofoil over?

 

Thanks again for everyone's help. This is a trip of a lifetime!;)

[karrie]

The ATM gives dollars. I didn't need it. You can change money to euros at the pursers desk but the exchange rate is not very good.

Karrie

[Landlords1]

Hi cruisingal2, i will write a review when we return. Do you sail to different ports?