Carnival Legend Review June 6th-14th

[peaece13]

I am going to try my hand at posting a review for the first time...I really enjoy reading other members reviews so I hope this helps someone as well!

 

Day 1- Saturday June 6th

We took the Amtrak from Columbia to Tampa. It would really only take us 7-8 hours to drive to Tampa, but I had never taken the Amtrak before and my husband did not want to have to drive home after the cruise. So we boarded the train at 1:45 am and off we were to Tampa. I had not gone to sleep before we left and it was very hard to fall asleep on the train. They had very spacious seats that reclined well, I just could not get comfortable, so that made for a long rest of the night. Once everyone was up and moving around, it wasn’t as bad. We did get delayed some due to debris on the tracks. We arrive in Tampa at 1:40 pm. We got our bags and went straight to the hotel.

We stayed at the Westin Tampa Harbour Island. Now, we have stayed in a Westin before and as I read this hotel was probably not up to "Westin" standards. However, it really was a nice hotel and we had a really great view. I had no complaints, I would stay here again and I would recommend it to anyone staying before the cruise. The staff was very pleasant and we were able to check in early without hassle.

The view from the Westin in Tampa

Once we got settled in we decided to go to Ybor city. We decided to take the trolley. The yellow trolley for Ybor was a short 5 minute walk from the hotel. We paid $10 for two all day passes which would have been the same as paying for a single ride there and back. I think this was cheaper than a taxi there and back as the fare from the train station to our hotel was $6.75. So I highly recommend the trolley system. We walked around Ybor and looked at the different restaurants. There were lots of pizza places, but we were looking for a good burger and fries. We finally settled on Tampa Brewery Co. The burgers there were really good and really hit the spot, we were starving as we did not eat lunch before we got off the train. We then went to a cigar shop so my husband could get a few cigars for the cruise. Then back to the hotel.

As I had not gotten much sleep the night before as soon as I was in comfortable clothes and laying in bed watching TV I started nodding off. I think I must have been asleep by 6:30 pm, which explains why I woke up at 4:30 and decided to start writing the first day of my review so I wouldn’t forget anything. Oh, I also saw what I think was the Legend coming into the area.

[peaece13]

Day 2 Sunday June 7th

It was finally the day we were getting on the boat. I woke up pretty early at 4:30 because I had gone to be so early. I was able to see the Legend coming into view outside the window. It was really cool looking and ending up being pretty close to the hotel. After hanging out in the room a little while we went down and got breakfast at the Westin’s restaurant. It was very good, but a little pricey. We took a walk along the water and were able to see the Legend docked. I took some pictures with my phone as we had not brought the camera. We then went back to the hotel and watched part of a movie until 10:20 and then checked out and headed to the pier. We took a taxi for $3.00 per person. It was a very short drive, but worth the $6.00 because they came right to the hotel.

We pulled up at the pier and passed the luggage onto the porter and walked to the building. They were checking fun pass and ID as you walked into the pier. Of course the man kindly pointed out that we had not signed our passports so we needed to make sure we did that before we checked in. My husband was pulled aside for a handheld metal detector check. He was lucky number 15. We then walked on to another check point where we put our luggage through the scanner. We were then given our health questionare to fill out and we were able to walk right up to a counter to check in. Things went very fast and smooth we hardly had to wait in any line. It was 11:00 when we sat down to wait to board the ship. We were group number 3. They started boarding at 11:30 and we were on the ship in less than 20 minutes. We then got our drink cards and headed by the purser to put some funship certificates on our account.

Then it was up to Lido for some lunch. Of course we hit the grill. We love the grill. After lunch we walked around the ship for a while as our rooms were not open and we did not try to go set things down because the hall doors were closed. Finally at 1:30 we were able to set our things down and we did a little more exploring. We went to our room a little before muster was to start.

Our Room

Our Balcony

We waited until the actual drill signal to head to the station and I was glad we did as the line was already 4 deep. We were at the front on the end. It was a good call and didn’t hold anyone up. We went back to our room to watch sail away. We were supposed to have a meet and greet, but when I went I didn’t see any group or people I recognized. I was a bit disappointed as I had been talking to the people for a few months not. Our luggage was delivered to our room before dinner and we were able to unpack and change our clothes.

Leaving tampa

When we went to Truffles I found we were seated by a window which was very nice. When it was time to order I ordered two appetizers and a main course. However, the others at the table were first time cruisers and only ordered 1 starter. My second starter never came. I didn’t feel the wait staff did a good job of explaining dinner service. I ordered a Ceasar Salad, the sausage and linguini and the Flat Iron Steak. I did not get the salad, but the sausage and linguini was very good and the Flat Iron was good. I made sure to order it a step below the way I like it since I knew it would sit for a while. The macaroni and cheese was very good, but small. There were like 5 noodles in the cup. It takes a lot to make me unhappy, so I was not upset about dinner service, but I really do like the 2 starters with the main course. Drink service was slow and confusing.

Sunset at sea

After dinner we went to the Casino, played a game of Bingo and watched the Welcome aboard show. Our Cruise Director was Jen and she was very funny. There was comedy tonight, it was Tony Brown and he was hilarious. The comedy on our last cruise was not very good, but Tony was great.

We went back to the room and saw our first towel animal! We ordered some room service and then went to bed.

[peaece13]

Day 3 Monday June 8th

 

Today was a “Fun Day at Sea”. We slept until 8:45 and went up to the Lido deck to get some breakfast. It was really good, and I noticed that our bacon was not being served by anyone. Today was pretty uneventful. We explored the ship and hung out by the pool. I did notice that not all the chairs had something on them when we went to breakfast. There seems to be plenty of room for everyone on this ship.

For lunch I had a hotdog and chicken fingers from the grill, my husband a burger. The chicken fingers were really good. We then walked around the shops and looked around a bit. I ended up taking a nap this afternoon and my husband saw some type of whale or big animal while I was napping.

Tonight was elegant night so we got ready for dinner we didn’t have time to take any pictures before dinner because the lines were long and it was our dinner time. Tonight the food was good, but the service was not so good. We were literally the last people in the dinning room served our dessert. They were resetting tables for the next service when our dessert finally came out. Our head waiter was no where to be seen for a good 20 minutes after we got to the dinning room. So far I have been really disappointed with the level of service this cruise. Last time we had excellent service the waiter was just spectacular, but this cruise the waiter has been below average. We both had the Beef Tenderloin and it was very good.

When we walked out of the dinning room 15 minutes before the next service started the line for second seating stretched halfway down the ship. We had to push through the crowd to get to elevators so there was no taking pictures at that point either. It really hasn’t been that bad that I have been unhappy, because after all I am on vacation. I just wanted to point out the differences I have noticed between my last cruise and this one. We went back to the room to change and went to the casino for a little while. I had intended on going to the Late Night Comedy show by Tony Brown, but knowing we had to wake up early for Grand Cayman the next day I decided to go to bed around 10:30.

[peaece13]

Day 4 Tuesday June 9th

Today was our Grand Cayman stop. We had the Sting Ray and Rum Beach Break excursion booked. As I woke up this morning I saw the Valor riding along side us, which was pretty cool. We ordered some BLTs from room service for breakfast and got ready while we waited. We then took the tender to the pier at 8:00. It was a fast ride and we were at the pier by 8:20.

In port at grand cayman

Tender port at gran cayman, can get cuban cigars at upstairs cigar shop

 

We walked around a bit as we were supposed to meet the group at 9. We then found the lady holding the sign for our excursion and we were told to wait under a tend that had about 5 other excursion groups waiting there as well. This is where I thought things could be better organized. They called a group and had to keep calling and keep calling because they would find people who were still waiting in the crowd. Now, I know it is not their fault that people are not paying attention, but if we had been divided when we showed up it would have been a lot easier.

It was finally time for our group to load a bus and let me tell you these bus drivers drive fast and crazy. They do not stop for stop signs and pull out in front of cars. We made it to the pier where the boat was that was taking us to the sand bar. It would have been a really nice ride out if it hadn’t been cloudy and cold. We had a great time playing with the stingrays and then loaded up to go the rum point. It started raining at this point which made it very cold. When we got to the beach it was still raining, so we all crammed into a restaurant there and a lot of people ordered some food. We both go the Jerk burger, which was really good. Once it finally started raining we were able to walk around some, however since we had just gotten dry we really did not want to get in the water anymore.

Rum Point Gran Cayman

The ride back was much better and we again loaded the bus which was a scary ride back to the pier. Picture a regular school bus taking tight curves at 30 mph. I could laugh about it, but I really thought we were going to hit some cars.

When we got back to the port we walked around a bit and then caught a tender back to the boat. We got changed and went to sit by the pool for a bit. When it was time we got ready for dinner and headed to Truffles. Having early dinner made for little time in the afternoon, but we really enjoyed having more time after dinner for activities. We prefer indoor things on the ship so it suited us. For dinner I had the short ribs, which were really good. Dinner service was MUCH better tonight. Our server Alberto was on top of things and dinner went smoothly. We think something must have been wrong the night before because we didn’t even see him for the first 20 minutes we were in the dinning room the night before. After dinner we went to see the comedian Phat Cat in the follies lounge. He was funny, but not as funny as Tony Brown was. We then hung out in the piano bar for a while and then went to bed.

[WAcruisers]

Nice review!

[mom2girls]

Thanks for posting your review! It's bringing me many fond memories of sailing the Legend last year. I have to say that she is still my favorite ship so far! :)

[peaece13]

Thanks! I have all of my text written and now I am waiting for the rest of my pictures to upload to photobucket...as soon as they finish I will post more! Any questions just ask!

[Smartypants72]

Loving the review! It sounds like you took the Carnival excursion in Grand Cayman. We're doing a private tour and wondered how bad the tender lines were to get to the island? Thanks! We're cruising in 3 weeks on the Legend!

[pomm1972]

I'll be on her in just over 3 weeks. Question for you, what balcony room did you have?

[peaece13]

I'll be on her in just over 3 weeks. Question for you, what balcony room did you have?

 

 

We were in room 8131 which had a LOT of noise during the day. We were right under lido deck and right near the ping pong table so where was always chair sliding and banging during the day. I really did not have a problem at night and had not trouble sleeping. It was rather annoying during the day.

[peaece13]

More Grand Cayman Pictures

 

2nd Animal Towel

I woke up to see the Valor cruising beside us.

Our Excursion

The Cramped bus

On the boat the Stingray City

The Jerk Burger we had at Rumpoint Beach

[peaece13]

Day 5 Wednesday June 10th

 

Today was supposed to be our stop in Cozumel, but due to the swine flu we now had a day at sea. This day was pretty relaxed for us. We really did not do very much today so it will be a short review. We ate breakfast in the main dinning room which we had never done before. It was alright, but we stuck to the buffet after that. We then hung out in our room for a little while and then walked around the shops before we decided to get lunch in the main dinning room. I had the fish and chips, which was good. However, I went because I really love the fish and chips on the Glory and since Legend does not have a fish and chips station I decided to try this. It was not like the fish and chips on the Glory, but still good.

That afternoon we sat around the pool and had a few drinks, then it was time to get ready for dinner. For dinner that night I had a really good starter that was the beef tenderloin marinated in a peanut sauce with a noodle salad. It was so good and the peanut sauce was excellent. I had the Beef Stroganoff for the main course which was really good as well. It came with a homemade spatzel and I love spatzel. After dinner we watched the comedic juggling act and then went to watch some Karaoke. We called it a night around 12 as we had to get up for Belize the next day.

Some Extra pictures I didn't post before

[peaece13]

Day 6 Thursday June 11th

 

Today was our Belize stop and we were to meet in the Follies lounge to catch our tender to Bannister Island. We ordered BLTs from room service for breakfast and enjoyed that in our room while we got ready. There were a lot of people in the follies lounge and we just sat and waited for them to call excursion. We got on the ship and it took us right to Bannister Island.

Waiting in the Follies Lounge to tender

Tendering to Bannister Island Belize

 

Another boat tendered in Belize

Bannister Island Belize

 

This was really a nice little island. They had lounge chairs and volleyball and a few other activities that we could do. We just hung around in the chairs for a bit and then went for a swim. The manager said there was a monkey there that we could take pictures of, but he wasn’t a tourist attraction. I saw people sticking the fingers in his cage and I expected him to bit one of them, but he didn’t . I felt bad for the monkey being in a cage, but our tablemates told us that the manager said when the guests leave he lets the monkey out. Apparently people feed him things he shouldn’t eat so that is why he is kept in the cage. I ate a hamburger and fries for lunch and it was pretty good, not the best burger, but it was good. We caught our ride back to the ship and decided to take a tender to the mainland. So, we immediately walked to the other side and got on a tender headed for the mainland.

We walked around the port area for a few minutes and really did not see anything we were interested in. Now, we did not do a mainland tour and maybe that would change my mind, but Belize is somewhere I would not be sad if I didn’t return to. You could tell it was a very poor place and I would not want to go out of the gates without a trusted tour guide.

 

belize main port

 

We got on a tender back to the ship and were able to hang out for a little bit in our room. We had made reservations for the supper club with our tablemates for that night at 7 pm which was an hour later than our normal dinner.

The supper club was amazing, I have never eaten anywhere as nice as that before. We must have had 4 different waiters making sure we had everything we needed. We had our small starter from the chef which was interesting, but good. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was a chilled soup with small melon balls. Then I had the crab cake, which was excellent. Then a Caesar salad. For the main course I had a the porter house steak. This was a really good piece of meat and cooked to perfection. For dessert I had the different chocolate dishes that came in 4 different classes. Everything tonight was just perfect and well worth the extra 30 dollars. I cannot say enough about how good the supper club was., everyone was so professional and were able to get anything we asked for quickly. After dinner we headed straight back to the room to head to bed.

[peaece13]

More Bannister Island Pictures

 

 

The monkey

Me walking from standing in the water

My husband and I

The beautiful Island

The towel animal that night

[peaece13]

Day 7 Friday June12th

 

Today was our stop in Isla Roatan. We had a Discover Scuba excursion planned for today and were to meet in a lounge at 9:15. Since we were already in port after we got ready we stepped off the boat to look around for a few minutes. Didn’t really see anything we were interested in so we got back on the boat for breakfast. After the buffet breakfast we headed to Satchmos lounge and filled out our paperwork. After everyone had met we then headed off ship and got on a bus to head to Anthony’s Key Resort. Isla Roatan is such a beautiful place, but poor as well. I just cannot explain how beautiful this island was.

Anthony's Key

 

 

Once we got to the resort we met in a classroom and an instructor went over what we would be doing that day. Our guides were from Canada and California and were very nice. We got our gear and headed to a shallow area to practice some of the things you had to be able to do in order to dive. We had to be able to take our regulator out and put it back in clearing the water out two different ways. Then we had to take it out and let go and find it again. Then we had to flood our masks and clear them. This went fairly fast for our group. Each instructor had 4 people they were in charge of. While we waited for the others to finish we were able to look at the dolphin area right next to where we had docked. It was pretty cool as one swam right by us. My husband took some beautiful pictures as we waited. When everyone was done we got back on the boat and headed for the dive site.

 

Our group was in the water first and I was the third person to start descending. I felt a little pressure in my ears and it took a minute to equalize, but I got used to it quickly. The reefs in Isla Roatan are so beautiful we saw a ton of fish and a sea turtle and the actual reef itself was beautiful. Scuba diving was such an amazing experience I hope some of the pictures we took underwater turn out well. This is something that I will for sure do again and we are even considering staying at a resort on Isla Roatan. I will never be able to snorkel again after going scuba diving. We got back to the ship at 2:00 and everyone was supposed to be on board by 2:15 for a 3:00 sail away. We sat on the lido deck and watched sail away with a drink. This has got to be one of the most beautiful islands we’ve visited. We went and sat on our balcony with a sad face because it was our last island.

Tonight was elegant night so we got dressed and headed to the dinning room. I had a Caesar salad and pasta dish as a starter and the chateaubriand for the main course. It was good and service was good again. We went to the Casino for a bit and then headed to bed.

[peaece13]

Day 8 Saturday June 13th

 

Today was our last day at sea. We slept in and grabbed breakfast on the Lido deck. Went by the photo place and got some of our pictures taken from the night before. Then we went back to the room to relax for a bit. Since this was our last day we wanted to relax before we jumped back into reality. There really wasn’t much that we did during the day today. We packed our bags before we went to dinner as we knew there were things we wanted to do after dinner.

We went to the dinning room sad that it was our last night on the ship. Dinner was great and I was really going to miss our waiters Alberto and Caesar. They were really funny even though service at the beginning of the trip was a little rough. For dinner we had the prime rib and it was good and of course for dessert I had the warm chocolate melting cake.

We went to sit at the aft pool for a little bit with our great tablemates before we went to the final show. They do the Carnival Legends show where guests get to be famous singers and the person we sat with at dinner was going to be Madonna, se was really excited and nervous. The show that night was really great and it was fun to watch her and everyone else sing. ‘After the show we had one more drink in Satchamos before hitting the sack for the evening.

Another scuba pic

[peaece13]

Day 9 Sunday June 14th

 

Today was the last day, and we were sad to leave, but excited that we were going to be going home to see our son. When we woke up we were in port so we got dressed and went to get breakfast on the Lido deck. We had put our luggage out the night before and wait to be called as we were in the no hurry to get off the boat because the train didn’t leave Tampa until 5 pm. After we ate we went to the picture deck to see if there were any last minute photos we wanted to get and we watched the self assist people debarking from above. Things seemed to be going pretty smoothly there were not a bunch of people crowded around the lounge area where people were exciting. We then went back to our room and waited for our number to be called. When they did call our number we got in the elevators and went down to floor 2 and got in line. They had the elevators set so that only the ones near the Follies lounge would go down to deck 2 so you could join the end of the line. We quickly got off the boat, got our luggage and got in line to have our passport checked. We were off the boat by 9:315I would say and that was really taking our time.

My husband and I on the first day of the cruise...Can't wait for our next one!

[Perfect Stranger]

Your pictures are beautiful! I wonder what you have to do to get a towel monkey; I've never gotten one. :o

[cjkumbaya]

Very nice review, we were on the Legend last November and really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing - great photos as well!

[lindseesmom]

Sounds great and we have 7 weeks till we are on the Legend!!:o

[kyrisong1]

Thanks so much for the review, we did this one on the Legend also, and it's my favorite ship. Tampa also is a great port, loved sailing under that bridge!!!!

Thanks for bringing back so many pleasant memories.

If you ever get back to Belize try the cave tubing, it's really amazing!!!!

Carole

[peaece13]

We thought about doing the cave tubing...but we were not so sure about having to go with and independent excursion. I would really like to try zip lining at some point as well.

[myacuna]

Thanks so much for the great review!! Loved the pics and the details. We will be on the Legend in 30 days. Formal nights were first sea day and then Roatan correct?

[Lake Cumberland Cruiser]

Loved your review and photos. We will be on the Legend in September. I am counting down the days.

[Perfect Stranger]

About Bannister Island: I noticed the sign about pointy edges in the sand. Did you find it uncomfortable to walk on? There appears not to be much shade. Did you find the heat unbearable on the beach (not in the water)? Did you think four hours was too long to be there due to the blazing sun and high drink/food prices? Would you go there again?