juried
May 1st, 2004, 08:06 AM
Just back from the Carnival Legend 4/23/04 through 4/29/04.
Warning: This review is long and even though it sounds a bit hostile, I had a great time.
There were 9 of us total (4 adults 4 teens, 1 nine year old) in 3 Category 8 H with balconies on the Panarama Deck.
We drove to NYC, it took no more than 6 hours from NH.
The port was very easy to find, drop off all bags and dad went to park on the roof next door. Gave the bags to a porter (long shore man) easy.
First impression the ship is lovely, clean and bright against the skyline of New York.
Embarkation was easy once the line started to move. They seem to have streamlined the process with port workers going up and down the line checking documentation. When you get to the counter you give your docs and get your sign and sail card at the same time. One less line to wait in, works for me.
We boarded the Legend. She is quite gaudy. The décor is Greco- Roman meets Las Vegas. It is an acquired taste to be sure. But hell, I’ve seen worse and the cabins were less ugly, almost identical to the other Spirit class ships in shades of peach and pink.
This was a 6 night cruise to Bermuda and Newport RI.
As always we stop and get our photo taken. There are many opportunities to have your photo taken and we never pass on one! (As I tell my family “were only getting older…SMILE!”) We know Carnival hopes we will go to the photo gallery and buy them and of course we usually do! We found our cabins easily and were very pleased. The rooms were clean and the decks were adequate.
Cabin layout was very good with plenty of closet space. I am happy to say that the TV programming while still limited has improved somewhat. We did not go on the cruise to watch TV. My kids rented movies a couple of nights.
After viewing our cabin we were off to the Unicorn Cafe for the welcome aboard buffet, yes! This was terrific. The space itself is nice and seating very comfortable sofa style looking out at the ocean. The food was excellent and the variety impressive. We went to the bar and bought fountain-soda cards. The kids had a good time on this Ship. They enjoyed the disco and the piano bar, 24 hour pizzeria (excellent) and frozen yogurt, hot tubs, pools, waterslide, gym, comedy shows and room service. The nine year old loved Camp Carnival. There is plenty of public space on this Ship. Together my family enjoyed the Follies Lounge, bingo, dance classes, game shows, Piano Bar and Karaoke. Having just been on the Spirit in February I was hoping to find Arts and Craft Classes and Giant Chess on Lido Deck, but NO. I did not go to many shows (same old) The adult comedy show were hilarious. The song and dance Shows were good. The Guest Talent Show was held the night we stayed over in Bermuda, we did not see it live but watched it on TV, it was dreadful with 90% glorified karaoke. On the other hand the children’s talent show was great!
The Karaoke in the firebird lounge was a blast and the girl who runs it (I forget her name) is very entertaining and really gets the crowd going. There was a guest named Tawana (?) who was outstanding.
On to dining… We did not go to the Supper Club but everyone told us it was excellent. We had late seating at Truffles. We had to change our table the first night because they put us in the annex at a small round table that could barely fit 8 and there were nine of us, so we went to the upper level and had 2 tables across from each other. This was OK but I missed eating with the kids. It is really the only mandatory activity we share. Having dinner together gives us a chance to touch base and plan the evening or next day. Anyway our servers were terrific (Paval and Kamal). The food was very good and the service was outstanding. The dining room was lovely. The Maitre d’ was good and the waiters sang and danced, it was really fun.
My husband and I enjoyed the Casino and Gym. The Casino was large, the slots very tights but the money lasted longer at the tables (3 card poker, Caribbean stud and Let it Ride)
We went to the past cruisers and captains parties, free drinks but no sweets.
The Cruise Director was young and OK. One of the Bingo Staff (Owen) was rude to my kids on the dock in Bermuda, he pulled the Euro-snob thing with his friends, pointing and snickering, quite arrogant. Now, I know he was not on the ship and not on the clock but ill behavior denotes ignorance and in my opinion there are more qualified and courteous individuals for his job. After that incident my kids refused to buy Bingo cards from him. (f-him is what they said, and NO, not the “F” word, just f-him.)
Itinerary: The worst yet. Bermuda was a waste of time. We got off the ship and had to wait an hour in line to go through customs. We were docked at Kings wharf, which is an overpriced tourist trap. It is clean and safe but felt like a military installation. The taxis are small and could only fit 6 so we walked around. The odd thing was the tourist ladies were actually discouraging us from going anywhere, they said things like “you can take a bus but you may not make it back, or you can take the ferry but everything is closed”
It was late Sunday after noon and Carnival should not have wasted a port day. We got back on board and around 9pm 4 of us took a cab to Hamilton (capitol) for a bit of bar hopping and casino action. The Beach (bar) has maybe 12 video slots and was a total dive, the Palace was much nicer and the barkeep Roseanne was fun and friendly. The kids hit (you can drink at 18) the Blue Juice but the drinks were very expensive. Everything else was closed. It was fun but I would not return. The next day another 45 min wait through customs and 30 min for a cab for the 6 of us. We got a driver with a nice van, he was an older gentleman (72) named “Valen” he was soft spoken and took us sightseeing. We went to a church with cemetery, resorts, beach, Gibbs lighthouse, a nice pharmacy, liquor store and Paraquet Restaurant. So we got to see the beauty of Bermuda. The standard of living is very high, the streets are clean and you get the feeling that the residents do not need the hassle of the cruise tourism. I would prefer to go to a port where the locals are happy to have your business and motivated to sell you something. Another odd thing, not one person could tell me the name of the Governor.
The day before arriving in Newport every single passenger had to be seen by customs. Another waste or precious vacation time and to make matters worse, we hit some wind and waves and the ship was really rocking, 2 of the customs officials were carrying barf bags. The little paper bags were left all over the ship. So here are all these people in line with kids and strollers, wheelchairs, etc and getting nauseous. Me and my crew took a seat in the Atlantis Lounge just outside of the Customs room and waited for the end of the line.
Music: An increasingly important aspect of cruising for my family is the variety and quality of the music on board. The Jazz at the Atlantis Lounge was excellent. I do not understand why this area is the designated smoker’s area, it is an open space and you have to walk through it after dinner, yuk.
In the Casino the entertainer was great guitar player, however he should not sing. By the 4th day someone took mercy and turned down his mike.
In the Atrium the easy listening music was much better and in Sachmos the live music was the best dance/contemporary. The Piano bar was also a lot of fun.
On the Lido deck was the steel drum band with Caribbean / Reggae music and I did not hear them enough for an opinion.
The Carnival Legend Orchestra in Follies was great.
Newport, RI: We had to tender off the Legend. Again you had to wait quite a while. But Newport is nice. It is a typical New England seaport with a rich maritime history and picturesque architecture. (church steeples and mansions) For a $1.25 you could grab a trolley. We did some shopping and walked around. The best part of Newport was the visitor’s center and YES there was a Dunkin Donuts! I do not like to take tenders so I would not take a cruise to Newport, however, I will return there by car, I liked it.
The one constant about this cruise was waiting. We had to wait for everything. At the Gym much of the equipment was being used by the cruise staff, most folks waiting in line at customs and on the tenders were cruise staff. The line for the Gala Buffet was over 2 hours long.
Our phones in the cabin did not work properly and the messages were still on the machines from previous cruisers. And try as I might, I could not get it fixed.
This was a once a year trip to Bermuda for Carnival, a way to fill 6 nights before beginning their new itinerary to St. Thomas so I think we got the short end of the stick. This is our 8th cruise so I have pretty good idea of what to expect and I’m sure those new to cruising would not find anything wanting, but we noticed. It was the little things like, less silverware at the dinner table, no arts and craft classes, same old tired stage routines, lack luster lido parties, lame excursion offerings, half the arcade machines not working, constantly being held in “Q” when calling the pursers desk or room service, poor planning (most popular shows when no one is on board) and incorrect info in the capers. It’s those little things that we take for granted that were just missing. Among our party we had folks who have never cruised before and they were extremely happy with their first cruise vacation. They could not get over the food, shows and service. They compared it to the “gilded age.” I was so happy for them, I would never point just how much better it could have been.
Oh yes, our room steward was terrific, his name was Andy and he took great care of us. In fact all the waiters and waitresses on the Lido, Casino and lounges were exceptional. Mitch in the Gym great, he was knowledgeable, patient and just a nice kid. The gym and spa are lovely spaces.
An unexpected bonus on this cruise was the Red Sox sweeping the Yankees. I think the A-Rod debacle has reversed the curse. Anyway, it is a fun-spirited rivalry in April that becomes quite ugly in October.
Till next time,
Enjoy this glorious day.
Here we go again!
Carnival Legend! http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;4;23;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500
Disney Wonder 2000
Carnival Sensation 2000
Carnival Pride 2001
Carnival Victory 2002
Carnival Conquest New Years Cruise 2002-2003
NCL Dawn New Years Cruise 2003-2004 - What were we thinking?
Carnival Spirit 2004
Warning: This review is long and even though it sounds a bit hostile, I had a great time.
There were 9 of us total (4 adults 4 teens, 1 nine year old) in 3 Category 8 H with balconies on the Panarama Deck.
We drove to NYC, it took no more than 6 hours from NH.
The port was very easy to find, drop off all bags and dad went to park on the roof next door. Gave the bags to a porter (long shore man) easy.
First impression the ship is lovely, clean and bright against the skyline of New York.
Embarkation was easy once the line started to move. They seem to have streamlined the process with port workers going up and down the line checking documentation. When you get to the counter you give your docs and get your sign and sail card at the same time. One less line to wait in, works for me.
We boarded the Legend. She is quite gaudy. The décor is Greco- Roman meets Las Vegas. It is an acquired taste to be sure. But hell, I’ve seen worse and the cabins were less ugly, almost identical to the other Spirit class ships in shades of peach and pink.
This was a 6 night cruise to Bermuda and Newport RI.
As always we stop and get our photo taken. There are many opportunities to have your photo taken and we never pass on one! (As I tell my family “were only getting older…SMILE!”) We know Carnival hopes we will go to the photo gallery and buy them and of course we usually do! We found our cabins easily and were very pleased. The rooms were clean and the decks were adequate.
Cabin layout was very good with plenty of closet space. I am happy to say that the TV programming while still limited has improved somewhat. We did not go on the cruise to watch TV. My kids rented movies a couple of nights.
After viewing our cabin we were off to the Unicorn Cafe for the welcome aboard buffet, yes! This was terrific. The space itself is nice and seating very comfortable sofa style looking out at the ocean. The food was excellent and the variety impressive. We went to the bar and bought fountain-soda cards. The kids had a good time on this Ship. They enjoyed the disco and the piano bar, 24 hour pizzeria (excellent) and frozen yogurt, hot tubs, pools, waterslide, gym, comedy shows and room service. The nine year old loved Camp Carnival. There is plenty of public space on this Ship. Together my family enjoyed the Follies Lounge, bingo, dance classes, game shows, Piano Bar and Karaoke. Having just been on the Spirit in February I was hoping to find Arts and Craft Classes and Giant Chess on Lido Deck, but NO. I did not go to many shows (same old) The adult comedy show were hilarious. The song and dance Shows were good. The Guest Talent Show was held the night we stayed over in Bermuda, we did not see it live but watched it on TV, it was dreadful with 90% glorified karaoke. On the other hand the children’s talent show was great!
The Karaoke in the firebird lounge was a blast and the girl who runs it (I forget her name) is very entertaining and really gets the crowd going. There was a guest named Tawana (?) who was outstanding.
On to dining… We did not go to the Supper Club but everyone told us it was excellent. We had late seating at Truffles. We had to change our table the first night because they put us in the annex at a small round table that could barely fit 8 and there were nine of us, so we went to the upper level and had 2 tables across from each other. This was OK but I missed eating with the kids. It is really the only mandatory activity we share. Having dinner together gives us a chance to touch base and plan the evening or next day. Anyway our servers were terrific (Paval and Kamal). The food was very good and the service was outstanding. The dining room was lovely. The Maitre d’ was good and the waiters sang and danced, it was really fun.
My husband and I enjoyed the Casino and Gym. The Casino was large, the slots very tights but the money lasted longer at the tables (3 card poker, Caribbean stud and Let it Ride)
We went to the past cruisers and captains parties, free drinks but no sweets.
The Cruise Director was young and OK. One of the Bingo Staff (Owen) was rude to my kids on the dock in Bermuda, he pulled the Euro-snob thing with his friends, pointing and snickering, quite arrogant. Now, I know he was not on the ship and not on the clock but ill behavior denotes ignorance and in my opinion there are more qualified and courteous individuals for his job. After that incident my kids refused to buy Bingo cards from him. (f-him is what they said, and NO, not the “F” word, just f-him.)
Itinerary: The worst yet. Bermuda was a waste of time. We got off the ship and had to wait an hour in line to go through customs. We were docked at Kings wharf, which is an overpriced tourist trap. It is clean and safe but felt like a military installation. The taxis are small and could only fit 6 so we walked around. The odd thing was the tourist ladies were actually discouraging us from going anywhere, they said things like “you can take a bus but you may not make it back, or you can take the ferry but everything is closed”
It was late Sunday after noon and Carnival should not have wasted a port day. We got back on board and around 9pm 4 of us took a cab to Hamilton (capitol) for a bit of bar hopping and casino action. The Beach (bar) has maybe 12 video slots and was a total dive, the Palace was much nicer and the barkeep Roseanne was fun and friendly. The kids hit (you can drink at 18) the Blue Juice but the drinks were very expensive. Everything else was closed. It was fun but I would not return. The next day another 45 min wait through customs and 30 min for a cab for the 6 of us. We got a driver with a nice van, he was an older gentleman (72) named “Valen” he was soft spoken and took us sightseeing. We went to a church with cemetery, resorts, beach, Gibbs lighthouse, a nice pharmacy, liquor store and Paraquet Restaurant. So we got to see the beauty of Bermuda. The standard of living is very high, the streets are clean and you get the feeling that the residents do not need the hassle of the cruise tourism. I would prefer to go to a port where the locals are happy to have your business and motivated to sell you something. Another odd thing, not one person could tell me the name of the Governor.
The day before arriving in Newport every single passenger had to be seen by customs. Another waste or precious vacation time and to make matters worse, we hit some wind and waves and the ship was really rocking, 2 of the customs officials were carrying barf bags. The little paper bags were left all over the ship. So here are all these people in line with kids and strollers, wheelchairs, etc and getting nauseous. Me and my crew took a seat in the Atlantis Lounge just outside of the Customs room and waited for the end of the line.
Music: An increasingly important aspect of cruising for my family is the variety and quality of the music on board. The Jazz at the Atlantis Lounge was excellent. I do not understand why this area is the designated smoker’s area, it is an open space and you have to walk through it after dinner, yuk.
In the Casino the entertainer was great guitar player, however he should not sing. By the 4th day someone took mercy and turned down his mike.
In the Atrium the easy listening music was much better and in Sachmos the live music was the best dance/contemporary. The Piano bar was also a lot of fun.
On the Lido deck was the steel drum band with Caribbean / Reggae music and I did not hear them enough for an opinion.
The Carnival Legend Orchestra in Follies was great.
Newport, RI: We had to tender off the Legend. Again you had to wait quite a while. But Newport is nice. It is a typical New England seaport with a rich maritime history and picturesque architecture. (church steeples and mansions) For a $1.25 you could grab a trolley. We did some shopping and walked around. The best part of Newport was the visitor’s center and YES there was a Dunkin Donuts! I do not like to take tenders so I would not take a cruise to Newport, however, I will return there by car, I liked it.
The one constant about this cruise was waiting. We had to wait for everything. At the Gym much of the equipment was being used by the cruise staff, most folks waiting in line at customs and on the tenders were cruise staff. The line for the Gala Buffet was over 2 hours long.
Our phones in the cabin did not work properly and the messages were still on the machines from previous cruisers. And try as I might, I could not get it fixed.
This was a once a year trip to Bermuda for Carnival, a way to fill 6 nights before beginning their new itinerary to St. Thomas so I think we got the short end of the stick. This is our 8th cruise so I have pretty good idea of what to expect and I’m sure those new to cruising would not find anything wanting, but we noticed. It was the little things like, less silverware at the dinner table, no arts and craft classes, same old tired stage routines, lack luster lido parties, lame excursion offerings, half the arcade machines not working, constantly being held in “Q” when calling the pursers desk or room service, poor planning (most popular shows when no one is on board) and incorrect info in the capers. It’s those little things that we take for granted that were just missing. Among our party we had folks who have never cruised before and they were extremely happy with their first cruise vacation. They could not get over the food, shows and service. They compared it to the “gilded age.” I was so happy for them, I would never point just how much better it could have been.
Oh yes, our room steward was terrific, his name was Andy and he took great care of us. In fact all the waiters and waitresses on the Lido, Casino and lounges were exceptional. Mitch in the Gym great, he was knowledgeable, patient and just a nice kid. The gym and spa are lovely spaces.
An unexpected bonus on this cruise was the Red Sox sweeping the Yankees. I think the A-Rod debacle has reversed the curse. Anyway, it is a fun-spirited rivalry in April that becomes quite ugly in October.
Till next time,
Enjoy this glorious day.
Here we go again!
Carnival Legend! http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;4;23;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500
Disney Wonder 2000
Carnival Sensation 2000
Carnival Pride 2001
Carnival Victory 2002
Carnival Conquest New Years Cruise 2002-2003
NCL Dawn New Years Cruise 2003-2004 - What were we thinking?
Carnival Spirit 2004