Thanksgiving on the Legend - a quick review

[kabuka]

To start, this is my 4th Carnival cruise (8th cruise) and I was traveling with my DH who had never been on a cruise and my mother who has cruised more times than I can count (more than 25) but never on Carnival.

 

First and foremost, the Legend is a beautiful ship. I was pleasantly surprised at the subtle tones and the "legendary" theme. I knew my husband would love it no matter what, but I was worried that my mom would be "shocked or disappointed" at the Carnival experience. Let me just say she used to say "I am not interested in cruising on that Carnival line!" Yes she may be a bit of a snob. Even she was inpressed with the decor and layout of the ship. There are elements that are overdone, but heck it is a cruise ship! The Legend Lobby is beautiful if not a bit smaller than I would have thought. It seems that this ship was designed to fit more staterooms in it, so the volume of empty space in the atrium was less.

 

My DH and I were upgraded to an extended balcony 3 days before the cruise. We were excited at the time, but once I realized the location I was worried. Our room (8164) was located on the Panorama Deck right below the Lido bar. The noise was terrible, and I would rather have had our smaller balcony on the Upper Deck. I will definitely be weary of upgrades from now on! My mom was on the Riviera Deck and had a window. The best part of her room was the appearance of being at water level. It isn't of course, but it just looked that way. Also, she had a great room steward. Ours on the Panorama Deck seemed a little lost. We didn't get ice daily as we requested and two days we didn't get towel animals and one day we didn't get our Capers and chocolates. We didn't bother complaining since I know the staff was much overworked - I will explain at the end.

 

The food was pretty good. We all noticed that the food seemed to have an Asian flare. Everything was on the sweet side, and many days the side dishes were asian inspired including wantons stuffed with spinach on the Prime Rib night and fried rice served with the American Style short ribs. By the end of the cruise we were tired of the flavorings. I also notice that none of the main dishes came with more than 2-3 pieces of vegetable, some had none. When did this happen? I thought it was standard to serve vegis with the main dish.

 

Our waiter was awesome. Levente from Romania has been with Carnival 10 years and it shows. He was attentive and entertaining without coming off as groveling for tips. I appreciate that and am more inclined to tip someone that anticipates my needs with little difficulty.

 

Since it was my DH and my first real vacation since we got married, we wanted a lot of alone time. Unfortunately, since it was Thanksgiving and there were over 650 kids on the cruise - YES I SAID OVER 650 - we spent most of that time in the room or the casino. We didn't see many shows except what was replayed on the cruise TV channel. The cruise director seemed pretty funny and everyone seemed to have a blast at the various games and parties. Oh, and we gambled every day and broke even. I think of that as a success on a cruise ship. Most days we won something, and instead of walking away, we would give it back - if you know what I mean.

 

The only port I want to mention here is Roatan. I was worried with all the posts regarding the civil unrest, but what a pleasant surprise. We took a taxi tour with Diana & Cynthia and really enjoyed the day. I think it was Diana's sister or sister-in-law that drove us around the island. We didn't have any idea were we wanted to go, so she just drove us around the main road. We stopped a few places for pictures and went to a beach (don't remember the name). My mom got a little tired so we decided to call it a day after only about 2 hours, but the tour could have lasted all day if we had wanted to snorkel or stay at the beach longer. The tour was $25 pp - a great deal for an entire day. Yes the island is developing, and there appears to be poverty - but the people of the island are rich in heritage and pride for their island. It was so nice to go to a port that wasn't overrun with jewelry stores. Roatan is what the Caribbean used to be, beautiful islands, beautiful waters, beautiful people - no commercialism.

 

The Carnival Legend is definitely a ship worth sailing again. I will however NEVER sail on Thanksgiving again. I am sure the crew of any ship, but particularly the Legend on this holiday week had their hands full. The cruise director announced on the last day that there were over 650 kids on the ship and I absolutely believed it. I have never noticed or been really bothered by kids on an cruise, but I couldn't help it on this cruise. Maybe I am just getting old, but the kids running up and down the cabin halls were intolerable. Did parents forget to teach their kids how to act in public? At any given moment, the elevators served as rides for the kids instead of a means of transportation from the lowest deck to the Lido for lunch. Even Camp Carnival held a scavenger hunt that apparently encouraged kids to run screaming through the public areas counting chairs. Hmmm.... I don't know what else to say but "WOW the Carnival Legend was awesome" and "never again on Thanksgiving."

 

Everyone enjoy their Legend-ary experience! Happy sailing!

[newt98]

thx for the review. we had 600 on our last cruise and it wasnt bad. maybe the holidays brought out their worst.:(

 

mike

[AllenF]

We were on this cruise also........and Yes I must agree too many Kids for us also but I did expect alot because of the holiday. Still a good vacation and carnival met my expectations as usual.

I know kids will be kids but happened to the Parents :confused: we found a few to be just as rude as their children. I did meet some good parents also but they were far outnumbered unfortunately.

[kabuka]

We were on this cruise also........and Yes I must agree too many Kids for us also but I did expect alot because of the holiday. Still a good vacation and carnival met my expectations as usual.

I know kids will be kids but happened to the Parents :confused: we found a few to be just as rude as their children. I did meet some good parents also but they were far outnumbered unfortunately.

 

I totally agree with you that some of the parents were clearly not in the mood to "parent." I think it is possibly the result of the idea that Camp Carnival can "be the parent" for the week, but that isn't the intent of it.

 

I learned an important lesson about holiday cruising. No matter how crazy it was, I will always have a good time on a cruise. It really is all in the frame of mind.

 

Allen, we looked for you.... but couldn't make it to the Lido deck for the meet and greet. Glad to hear you had a great cruise, too.

[airhead22]

I just wanted to second your recommendation for Cinthia and Diana in Roatan. We had Cinthia as our driver and she was delightful. We spent the day at the Mayan Princess resort, and it was beautiful. I kept in touch with Cinthia during the unrest, and she is trying so hard to help her island become a desired port.

[sa_girl]

Thank you for your review. We sail the Legend in 13 days and really looking forward to it.

 

With regard to the kids we learnt our lesson last year on the Victory which we sailed over new year. Not only were the children so badly behaved but quite a number of the adults were just as bad it almost put me off cruising for life and at the time we thought we'd never sail Carnival again. It was especially noticeable, as the week before we sailed on NCL Pearl and it was an amazing cruise. However we are trying Carnival one more time, cost and itinerary, but not when the schools are closed for the holidays. Only hope we have a better type of adult on the cruise as well.

[dhyland326]

Can you describe more about the noise in your cabin? This is the exact same cabin we will have in January, and I have been worrying about the noise level as I am a light sleeper. Thanks!

[kabuka]

Can you describe more about the noise in your cabin? This is the exact same cabin we will have in January, and I have been worrying about the noise level as I am a light sleeper. Thanks!

 

We could hear the music from the Lido deck. Not everyday or all day, but it was definitely there. We also heard the movement of deck chairs, although we were already up when that happened. If you wake up earlier than 7:00 am, the deck set up shouldn't wake you. The music lasted until about midnight on the latest nights. We could on occasion hear the running children as well. I am sure on the average cruise that element might not exist.

 

My suggestion is that if you are a light sleeper and like to go to sleep early, invest in ear plugs. If you like to stay out and about until 11:00 or so you should be fine.

 

No matter what, it is still a vacation and still a cruise - much better than work and home to me. I am sure you will have a great time. :p

[dhyland326]

That noise all sounds managable to me; I'll just bring ear plugs for the mandatory afternoon nap, just in case. Or maybe just an extra DOD with help. =)

 

I'm so excited about going on my next cruise vacation that I don't think I'll be sleeping much anways! Thanks for your help!