Review of our Spring Break cruise on Carnival Legend

[PaulMedik]

Ouch.....

 

Great review and pix so far.....;)

 

 

Jessemon,

 

Ouch is right! The boys and Karen about died laughing at me when I was geared up. Cave Tubing dot com was very careful to yell 'Butt's Up' to protect the family jewels Belize, but they sure snagged them in Roatan;

 

 

It really did just look painful. Kelvin was careful as he situated each strap of the harness.

 

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Karen also dove right off when her time came. She was more noisy than the boys, but she didn't hesitate;

 

 

As Karen got used to zip lining, she was soon swinging upside down;

 

 

Kelvin caught us on each zip and assisted us on to the platform safely;

 

 

Britt had a good time, but he stayed kind of stiff on each zip;

 

[jessemon]

Jessemon,

 

Ouch is right! The boys and Karen about died laughing at me when I was geared up. Cave Tubing dot com was very careful to yell 'Butt's Up' to protect the family jewels Belize, but they sure snagged them in Roatan;

 

 

It really did just look painful. Kelvin was careful as he situated each strap of the harness.

 

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Double ouchie......Good thing you already have kids.....:eek:

The good thing is that is probably cheaper than a vassectomy.....

[picklebongo]

I cancelled my aft balcony on the Dream because it was my impression there was no overhang and I'd be completed in the sun. I wish I had seen your photos beforehand because that is not the case, certainly not on this ship. I'm thinking about rebooking. Your boys cabin was next door and the door was able to be unlocked and they could then use your balcony, right?

[Coolcruise02]

Really enjoying your review! Great job. :)

[mnsawyer]

You definetely have quite a fan club with your fabulous reviews...myself included. Loved the pre-cruise photos of Clearwater Beach. We loved that area and have stayed further south on Gulf Blvd.

 

Your cabin is an aft cat 9A?

 

 

Thanks so much for taking hours and hours of your time to post your family's vacation. You have a lovely family.

 

The ATV tour in Belize looked fun and glad you clarified about the helmets...it was my first thought when I saw your photos.

[PaulMedik]

Double ouchie......Good thing you already have kids.....:eek:

The good thing is that is probably cheaper than a vassectomy.....

 

 

I could never have a vasectomy. :o I guess if I ever need one, I'll just return to Roatan! :D

 

I cancelled my aft balcony on the Dream because it was my impression there was no overhang and I'd be completed in the sun. I wish I had seen your photos beforehand because that is not the case, certainly not on this ship. I'm thinking about rebooking. Your boys cabin was next door and the door was able to be unlocked and they could then use your balcony, right?

 

picklebongo,

 

Dream's aft is anybody's guess at this point. From the renderings and early pics I've seen, the aft balconies all appear similar.

 

The partial overhang aft balcony cabins will not have full sunlight all day either if you're worried about too much sun. The ship's direction changes and the sun's track through the sky determines what cabins get full sun and which cabins get none.

 

Yes, our boys cabin was next door and the balcony partition was removed.

[PaulMedik]

You definetely have quite a fan club with your fabulous reviews...myself included. Loved the pre-cruise photos of Clearwater Beach. We loved that area and have stayed further south on Gulf Blvd.

 

Your cabin is an aft cat 9A?

 

 

Thanks so much for taking hours and hours of your time to post your family's vacation. You have a lovely family.

 

The ATV tour in Belize looked fun and glad you clarified about the helmets...it was my first thought when I saw your photos.

 

 

mnsawyer,

 

Thank you.

 

The aft corner wrap on Spirit Class ships including the Legend are Cat 11 suites. The boys cabin next door was an 8A when we booked, but later reclassified as an 8I.

 

The aft corner wraps on Conquest class ships are 9A.

 

Our boys were surprised when I didn't have them wear helmets. They've grown up wearing helmets and it comes natural to them to wear one. In the summer they'll frequently wear them after riding for hours without thinking to remove them.

 

My parents always insisted that I wear my helmet too which was unusual for my generation. I got my first motorcycle for my fifth birthday and new helmets over the years as I grew out of old ones. I wonder why they wanted to protect my head when all my friends parents trusted they would'nt wreck? :eek::D

[PaulMedik]

Karen got a quick pic of us as she zipped from the platform;

 

 

No matter how hard I tried, I could only leave the platform backwards and usually spent the entire zip trying to get turned around to land. I guess it's because I was trained that way and have practiced it too many times to change. I was taught to 'sit down' and go;

 

 

 

Karen became quite the show off;

 

 

Kelvin getting a pic of us walking out a bridge to a platform;

 

 

The boys are insisting that we string zip lines all over my Dad's farm so they can use their paintball guns while zip lining. Bryson first had the idea after this zip;

 

[PaulMedik]

Some of the trees have platforms on more than one level;

 

 

It's hard to imagine a jungle zip line experience without having actually experienced it. Picture your wife flying through the air toward you from a huge tree in the distance. Got that picture in your head? Me neither. But I do have that picture on my computer;

 

 

I couldn't picture my middle child flying through a break in the forest to a distant platform either, until we visited Roatan;

 

 

Britt on zip number eight swinging just as stiff as he did on the first one;

 

 

I am glad Karen didn't stay upside down as she neared the gap in the jungle. I'm sure her head could withstand a few tree smacks, but it might mess her hair up some;

 

[CptJimandPriateSteph]

Paul I love the review. Really getting me ready for my Oct cruise on the Legend. Thanks for your hard work...

 

 

Steph

[PaulMedik]

We noticed that our tour van was parked under a platform. We didn't know when we parked there that we would be zipping in to that platform later in the day;

 

 

 

What is with her hanging upside down every time? Can we say 'showoff?' ;

 

 

 

If your internet connection is broadband and you don't mind watching video that is a little bit shaky, you can click the links below. OK, a lot shaky but I made the videos with my Kodak camera and the platforms tend to shake quite a bit.

 

CLICK HERE for the first video. In the video you will see us on the ninth zip line crossing a field. We also cross a road in the distance.

 

CLICK HERE for the second video.

 

CLICK HERE for the third.

 

CLICK HERE for the final video. It's the shortest zip and is just me carrying the camera as I zip into the parking area platform.

 

I don't think Cruise Critic forums support displaying video within the forums via embed commands. If they did, I would do so, but if I embed and the option isn't available then it will crash the thread.

 

 

After we returned to the staging area, Kelvin assisted us in removing the harnesses;

 

 

As soon as the boys were out of their gear, they headed back to the monkey cage;

 

 

'Lan,' as Britt and Spencer referred to this monkey, immediately latched on to Spencer's lanyard;

 

[PaulMedik]

Paul I love the review. Really getting me ready for my Oct cruise on the Legend. Thanks for your hard work...

 

 

Steph

 

 

Steph,

 

I'm sure you will all have a blast!

 

 

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While the boys were playing with the monkeys, I found Cruise Critic members PunkinsDad and ChrisRN were also on a Victor Bodden tour and taking advantage of the scenery props for pics at Victor's place;

 

 

I am sure when the Saints and Sinners return from the Legend this fall, we'll have photos of them participating in photo ops in Roatan. Maybe we can convince them to share their photo oops as well as their ops?

 

After we left the zip line area, we took a scenic drive to the beach break part of our excursion. We didn't plan to swim or go on the beach and figured we would just check it out and see what it was like. Th drive to the beach area and the areas we were in prior made us feel like we were in St Thomas except that our driver was nice and not bitter about everything like people we met in St Thomas.

 

Ann took us to a hotel / resort that she recommended as having free access to the beach;

 

 

We passed through a remodeling area of the hotel on our way in and Ann spoke of the plans the hotel contractors were working on;

 

 

When we entered the hotel courtyard, we realized that Roatan had more areas of beauty than we expected;

 

 

As we got closer to the beach, everyone picked up their pace while watching the view ahead transform;

 

[PaulMedik]

I had to step back for a minute and take in the mirage I was witnessing;

 

 

A swim up bar at the edge of picturesque caribbean waters? I thought Grand Cayman was our first port stop and not part of Roatan;

 

 

Pretty soon I hear Bryson say they are going to go check it out closer;

 

 

 

[myacuna]

Paul,

 

This is a fantastic review!! Thank you for taking the time and providing all this detail. My fiancee and I will be on the Legend in July for our honeymoon, and I think that you may have convinced me to do the zip-lining! I am so scared of heights, but FI wants to do it, so I think I may have to go for it

 

-Julie

[CMM]

Wow thanks for this great review.

 

cave tubing.com

Did you get to try and buy the cashew wine? Was there a stop for food?

Do you recommend wearing socks/sneakers for tubing?

 

Zip lining. Was the harness system pinching or uncomfortable for any of you.

 

Thanks again!

[PaulMedik]

After Britt came back from checking out the water, he asked if we had changed plans yet from checking out the beach to enjoying the beach. As you can see, he was ready to peel his shirt off as he asked the question;

 

 

 

I did hear him the first time, but I didn't answer right away. He's not normally bad about pouting, but I think he was about to;

 

 

As soon as I agreed, his shirt was off and he was already coming back out of the water to ask for his goggles. Bryson wanted to go just as quickly, but he had some sunburn from Cozumel and didn't want to take his shirt off without sunblock;

 

 

Pretty soon I was assuming my Grand Cayman pose, but I was in Roatan;

 

 

If not for the slight elevation change in the distance in this pic, this could easily be Seven Mile Beach. It could also be Megan's Bay on St Thomas;

 

[PaulMedik]

Paul,

 

This is a fantastic review!! Thank you for taking the time and providing all this detail. My fiancee and I will be on the Legend in July for our honeymoon, and I think that you may have convinced me to do the zip-lining! I am so scared of heights, but FI wants to do it, so I think I may have to go for it

 

-Julie

 

 

Julie,

 

Do the zip line. Be the showoff like Karen and you'll have a blast!

 

 

 

Wow thanks for this great review.

 

cave tubing.com

Did you get to try and buy the cashew wine? Was there a stop for food?

Do you recommend wearing socks/sneakers for tubing?

 

Zip lining. Was the harness system pinching or uncomfortable for any of you.

 

Thanks again!

 

 

CMM,

 

Thank you.

 

Yes, CaveTubing dot com is the website in Belize.

Boddentours dot com is the website for Roatan.

 

We didn't try to buy cashew wine. David told us where to buy it in Belize, but I didn't make a note of it. It was good wine, but I'll stick with my Manichewitz concord grape wine.

 

They sold snacks / drinks at the ATV site. We stopped there on the way to the cave tubing site and on the way back from cave tubing. We bought chips and drinks for each of us. Our large breakfast held us over pretty well.

 

Water shoes are recommended and available for rent at the cave tubing site. I wouldn't consider renting shoes. I did see the shoe rental area and all of the shoes looked new and may have been new. Personally I prefer my Nike running shoes for water sports involving rocks. Unlike many people, I grew up in a family where we wore shoes from the time we got up until we went to bed. If I go to someone's house and they don't allow shoes to be worn, I carry a clean pair with me and wear them. I also wear socks with shoes by habit. I do not wear socks with sandals nor with clogs so I've not embarassed my boys too much with my footwear habits.

 

My personal recommendation would be to wear comfortable running shoes with socks.

 

The harness system at Victor Bodden's was not the heavily padded rescue harness type I was used to. They use nylon mesh and I expected it would pinch and be uncomfortable especially while zipping, but it was not uncomfortable at all. The only uncomfortable part was having my whole family laugh at me as Kelvin fastened mine on. It was not physically uncomfortable.

[jb1677]

What is the name of the hotel/resort in Roatan? It looks beautiful.

[PaulMedik]

I carried our Olympus underwater camera with us, but didn't expect to get to use it;

 

 

The water was every bit as clear as Grand Cayman. Britt gave me the thumbs up to indicate I was aimed properly;

 

 

If not for the bubbles, you couldn't tell Britt was in five feet of water holding on to my feet;

 

 

There was a steady wind that caused a ripple on the surface or visibility would have been perfect;

 

 

A BlackHawk heli buzzed the beach while we were there;

 

[PaulMedik]

What is the name of the hotel/resort in Roatan? It looks beautiful.

 

jb1677,

 

Infinity Bay Spa & Resort. The pics don't do it justice.

 

 

 

 

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I heard the Blackhawk in the distance and wanted to get the boys reaction as it buzzed us. I missed their surprize reaction, but got a decent pic;

 

 

If the wind hadn't been blowing so steadily, the surface would have been smooth and would have been perfect;

 

 

I kept trying to get a shot of the resort from underwater, but the ripples wouldn't allow me;

 

 

I could get my foot, but not the resort;

 

[PaulMedik]

We walked down the beach for a pic with a volcanic rock formation in the background;

 

 

 

As we walked down the beach we passed an area with an abundance of lounge chairs and people leaving all at one time. As we came back by I looked closer and noticed some Carnival towels and spoke with one of them and discovered they were on a Carnival beach break excursion called Tabyana Beach Day;

 

 

The resort we entered through, Infinity Bay Spa & Resort, does not rent chairs to cruise passengers. Other resorts do for a fee of $10 or $5 depending on which one you choose. Ann offered to take us to any of the available resorts and we opted for the FREE one simply because we didn't plan to do anything other than look at the beach. Opting for the free one proved to be a good choice because we certainly didn't need a chair.

 

We enjoyed our walk down the beach from Tabyana;

 

 

We used Infinity Bay's shower to wash off then posed for one last pic of the tropical paradise;

 

 

Karen had to have a pic by the pool. On the way out she stopped by the office and picked up a brochure. I suspect she's gonna be planning to return their some day. Of all the places we've been, she's never stopped and got a brochure;

 

[PaulMedik]

We stopped along the way back to the ship for some pics. I'm not sure what the purpose of this building will be when finished, but it was pretty;

 

 

Is this St Thomas, St Martin or Roatan? It's Roatan;

 

 

Really. It is Roatan;

 

 

The mountain top road had beautiful views in every direction;

 

 

While I was taking pics in every direction, Ann had escorted Bryson down to the light house looking building for closer inspection;

 

[PaulMedik]

We also stopped for banana tree pics;

 

 

When we got back to the coast line, we had great views of our ship across the bay;

 

 

 

The steady waves provided a perfect relief for the ship;

 

 

Sorry for the angle. All of these pics are from my back seat window while moving at highway speed;

 

 

Our side of the ship;

 

[Kissyfur19]

I am totally impressed by Roatan....and now want to go there! Wow!

[PaulMedik]

She might be our smallest Carnival ship yet, but she's not too small;

 

 

 

We had to take a slight detour at the port shops for Karen to check out the offerings of DI;

 

 

She found a four carrot ring on sale for $1400 and had him down to $1250 in very short order. I think Britt's plastic bottle drum playing would have done the man in if Karen stayed much longer. I saw him calculating a price of $287

 

 

 

While Karen was haggling, I bought $97 worth of Roatan money for $5 US for the boys to display as souvenirs.

 

Bryson and Spencer went ahead to the ship while Karen, Britt and I shopped. After we lined up to reboard, we enjoyed the scenery around us;

 

 

We had a great day in Roatan and look forward to our visit next year on Carnival Dream. Carnival's port in Roatan will be operational by then. I hope it's as pretty. It's always good to walk up the gangway after a busy day ashore;