Legend of the Seas Asia

[Krakatoa]

For anyone about to cruise on the Legend of the Seas in Asia, you may not know that the Legend has reinvented itself for the mass market in Asia,soon to be based in Hong Kong.
The Legend is now aimed at the Asian market dominated by Star Cruises and has been strongly discounted to get the ball rolling.
From my observation the majority of cruisers enjoyed the cruise and I feel this type of cruise will appeal to the Asian market.
If you wish to broaden your culture horizons, this could be the ship for you.

[tom13]

We allready booked our cruise in October 2010 out of Hong Kong.

It is no problem for us i saw that the prices for our GS was cheaper then 2 months ago when we booked.

my TA speak to RCCL to get the price reduced.

[Aussie Bruce]

Originally Posted by Krakatoa

For anyone about to cruise on the Legend of the Seas in Asia, you may not know that the Legend has reinvented itself for the mass market in Asia,soon to be based in Hong Kong.
The Legend is now aimed at the Asian market dominated by Star Cruises and has been strongly discounted to get the ball rolling.
From my observation the majority of cruisers enjoyed the cruise and I feel this type of cruise will appeal to the Asian market.
If you wish to broaden your culture horizons, this could be the ship for you.

Thanks for the information. We are on the Legend for a three nighter out of Singapore on Dec. 4. Have you been on one of the recent Asian cruises? Would appreciate any more information.

[Baby Cruiser 60]

We are on the 6 nighter out of HK on the 2nd of March and it will be interesting to compare the RCCI product to the Star (NCL) type product. We picked up a GS very very cheap way back in June. I still cant believe the price.

I hope it is like Star in some ways because the Asian crowd loves the casino and there is always plenty of room on the upper decks of SS Virgo anywhere you go.

[Krakatoa]

I have just returned from the Legend 23rd. Nov cruise. I booked this cruise last June and being new to RCCL I read all the boards and reviews that compared RCCL with Princess. Believe me the L of S is now nothing like any Princess ship in my experience.
Unknown to me the change took place a week before I boarded. This was not the cruise I was expecting.
The ship itself is very basic, no speciality restaurants and one tiny coffee shop. There were about four or five large tour groups who took over some of the public rooms for their own functions during the day.
I found the food in the dining room very good and apart from a coffee and a sticky, I never ate in the Windjammer.
Talking to some of the crew about the change indicated to me they were not too excited about the Asian mass market regarding their gratuities .
This could add a new dimension to the tipping controversy, ref. the Brits and the Aussies. I did not see many big tippers on this cruise. I believe RCCL will add the tips to the fare price.
As this was only a four day cruise I got off lightly, and will put it down to experience.

[Aussie Bruce]

Many thanks Krakatoa for the report. It should be an interesting voyage. We are only for a few days as part of a Singapore trip. With the Asian influence did that extend to the menus and the entertainment?

[Albert Ross]

Originally Posted by Krakatoa

Unknown to me the change took place a week before I boarded. This was not the cruise I was expecting.
.

What is this 'change' you are referring to please?

[tom13]

Originally Posted by Albert Ross

What is this 'change' you are referring to please?

he thought the legend is the oasis or a freedom class ship when i read the legend had no speciality restaurants and is so small

no rccl fault with changes it was your fault you don´t checked which ship you have and what it have

you can not compare the legend with an freedom class ship

[Krakatoa]

First for Albert Ross. The "change" is explained in my first post. I do not do cruises that are aimed at particular markets whether it is the European market, the American market, the British market or the Asian market. This was my second Asian cruise this year and my third Asian cruise will be in March.
For Aussie Bruce. As before the dining room food was very good, standard cruise ship menu. I never watched any of the shows but there was a very good band performing in the centre area, whatever they call it, with dancing every night. On the last night the staff organised a great rock n roll party,all good entertainment

[Aussie Bruce]

Originally Posted by Krakatoa

First for Albert Ross. The "change" is explained in my first post. I do not do cruises that are aimed at particular markets whether it is the European market, the American market, the British market or the Asian market. This was my second Asian cruise this year and my third Asian cruise will be in March.
For Aussie Bruce. As before the dining room food was very good, standard cruise ship menu. I never watched any of the shows but there was a very good band performing in the centre area, whatever they call it, with dancing every night. On the last night the staff organised a great rock n roll party,all good entertainment

Thanks again for your help. Sounds like fun. We were on Legend last year from Rome to Singapore and had a great time.

[scrozuk]

Will admit that the LoS was the first Royal Caribbean ship I went on in 2006. It's a nice understated ship, can't remember any speciality restaurants on there, it isn't that big!!

Bit of a pity she's now been repositioned into Asia, last time I saw her was in Civitivecchia (sp) Italy last year when we pulled in on the Independence.

Funny part I remember was thinking how big Legend was, then you stick Independence next to it and, well.. !!!!

Hope that the Asians market get to enjoy her, she's a nice ship. Can't think of all the changes that she would need for the asian market, apart from the cuisine.

ScrozUK

[Gone_Again]

Does anyone know what major changes is/has happened? We are booking a 13 night cruise from Hong Kong for Sept 2010.

Not sure what to excpet now with the changes? I'm assuming maybe the food and the language on board? Any info would be great.

[Albert Ross]

Originally Posted by Gone_Again

Does anyone know what major changes is/has happened? We are booking a 13 night cruise from Hong Kong for Sept 2010.

Not sure what to excpet now with the changes? I'm assuming maybe the food and the language on board? Any info would be great.

This is an immersion cruise

Many of the services and products onboard have been tailored to meet the needs of those guests; including onboard programming, food & beverage, retail items onboard, and entertainment. Additionally, the primary language used onboard will, in some cases, be the local language.

[JohnPaulla]

Just booked on a 6 day Asian Spice for January on L of S........been informed that there will be NO formal evenings..........sounds like the Casino will be the "in" place ..........

[seahags]

Originally Posted by Albert Ross

This is an immersion cruise

Many of the services and products onboard have been tailored to meet the needs of those guests; including onboard programming, food & beverage, retail items onboard, and entertainment. Additionally, the primary language used onboard will, in some cases, be the local language.

Albert is correct. We were booked on the Legend for an Asian cruise this coming February (this was probably 18 months ago, now) when RCCL made the decision to change the itineraries to shorter, immersion cruises. We were given several options to change and are now on Azamara in Feb. The Legend is a lovely ship, despite the lack of specialty restaurants, and has a wonderful crew. We were on her for 24 days last May, and the prior year in the Med. I suspect that many of the menu items will be altered to be more in line with the Asian market, and have, as Albert reports, heard that the primary announcements will not be in English. Headliner showtimes and theater productions will be oriented to the Asian market as well.

As long as you are aware ahead of time that you are on an immersion-type cruise it should be a wonderful experience! Bon Voyage!!!

[electro]

I will be on this ship out of Tokyo May 10, 2010.
Anyone else on this cruise?

Can anyone confirm that there are no formal nights?
We will be travelling all over Japan and the less stuff we need to bring with us, the better.

Lois

[enyaw]

I'll be on the Legend out of Shanghai March 28th. I booked at an incredible price earlier this year -- and now the ship is sold out! My TA told me that this would be an immersion cruise, and that made it even more exciting to me!

Using frequent flier miles -- and a cheap rate, you can't beat this exotic cruise! I'm anxious about this cruise and will give a full report this spring!

[Aussie Bruce]

We have just returned from three night cruise on the Legend out of Singapore. Happy to answer any questions from those booked in the future on Asian cruises.

The ship had 1890 on board - and 1100 were from Singapore and about 170 Malayasians. School holidays so there were about 400 children and amazingly well behaved and you did not notice them.

The food was similar to what we have experienced before on the Legend with added Asian dishes. Same in the Windjammer which was packed for breakfast.

Production shows in the theatre were similar to other RC cruises and the specilaity acts were very good. Three gauchos from Argentina were great as was a woman whose surname was Gentille who was billed as a female Liberace and who spoke fluent Chinese so she really wowed the Asian audience.

There was a rock and roll show on the last night which was very popular even though it was held in the Atrium which was a bit restricted. The tropical weather is a bit unpredictable and I guess that is why it is held indoors. The voyage itself was smooth.

The Cruise Director was Bobby Brown who is on for the China and Japan cruises. He is excellent and his wife Becky is also top class. Very friendly to all.

The ship docked in Penang and the port for Kuala Lumpur and as we have been to both several times we did not do any tours.

Because it is cruising the same route each wek, everything went smoothly and they have the embarkation and disembarkation running like clockwork.

The bars were largely empty as not many seemed to be drinking BUT the casino was full on whenever we were at sea. Seemed to be more tables packed in and they were all busy every time I looked.

The serving staff would be missing the tips as Singapore is a non-tipping country but I believe the company makes up for it when sorting out the end result.

Any questions, happy to try to reply.

In short, a good fun cruise if you like a taste of Asia but do not expect all the bells and whistles you get on the bigger ships.

[Baby Cruiser 60]

Thanks for the review Aussie Bruce as I have said it sounds like a typical Asian cruise with the majority hitting the casino and leaving the rest of the ship to those who arn't that way inclined.

Good to hear about the food and your experiance with the Wind Jammer being full. This is a match with our experiance with the similar eating area on Virgo, always being full at breakfast. I enjoy the dining room anyway.

I am looking forward to helping the bar staff out with a few tips while I am onboard good to hear there will be plenty of room.

Two questions, one, I understand from the threads that the pools are sea water is this correct?

and two, did you have a formal night?

John.

[Aussie Bruce]

Cannot help you Baby Cruiser with the pool water. Did not get time to have a swim.

The first night was a "formal" night. We boarded at 11 am, sailed at 4pm and had a Captain's cocktail party at 7.45 pm between dinner sittings - 6pm and 8.30 pm. From the whole ship I guess about 100 turned up. No fighting over drinks or savouries. Waiters were chasing you rather than the other way round. The Captain made his usual little speech, introduced the officers and that was it. No formal dinner suits on view - except on the officers. I had a jacket and tie and so did about half the men while the ladies were all dressed up.