Review- Carnival Legend August 11, 2015

I was on the Carnival Legend on the August 11 sailing from Seattle with my sister, my 21 year old daughter and my 16 year old niece. This was certainly a once in a lifetime trip for all of us.

General:

We booked cabin 6260, a Vista Suite on the Empress Deck. We chose that because it was at the back of the ship with an extended balcony. I posted photos in the Carnival board with photos. Here is the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2250284

The kids were originally booked into an inside cabin across the hall, but the week before the trip, Carnival called me and offered an extended balcony for $137 (total) so I bought it.

One thought: Bring an extension cord! There was only 1 outlet in both the suite and in the non-suite balcony cabin, so if you need to charge more than one thing at a time or use a blow dryer or whatever, you’re stuck without one.

The Legend itself is an older ship. It doesn’t have the Guy Fieri burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina, Italian restaurant or JiJis. Just the Lido deck, the main dining room (called Truffles), the Steak House and Bonsai Sushi. The décor was a bit strange – sort of an Asian lacquered black with gold accents in the main areas with Italian Renaissance wallpaper throughout the ship and the carpeting didn’t go with either theme. There is a covered pool and hot tub as well as an outdoor pool and hot tub. The over 21 Serenity Deck is really large with its own pool and hot tub as well. There is also the usual sports deck with mini golf, basketball and the water slide.

Because this ship goes through Alaska, there is a naturalist on board who gave several talks. Her name was Michelle and she was very informative, albeit, not a very dynamic speaker. She was sort of dry, but she grew on me. It was actually funny, because she was being herself- a scientist – the exact opposite of the usual pumped up cruise staff.

There were a few shows – a 70s music revival, a British Invasion thing and an over the top Epic Rock performance.

We ate in the Steak House the first night and the second to last night. FYI: The first and second nights, the Steak House gives complimentary bottles of wine. The Steak House costs $35 pp. We did the Chef’s Table the evening of the Juneau stop. We booked the first night at the Steakhouse and the Chef’s Table online a few months before the cruise. The Chef’s Table tends to sell out. The Chef’s Table is $75 pp. On this cruise, due to demand, there were 2 Chef’s Table evenings. The dinner was held in Medusa’s Lair – the ship’s disco. While the décor was a bit crazy, it was delicious and the people in our sitting were a lot of fun!!! I will post the menu at the bottom of this review.

Finally – the weather. I don’t know if we were just lucky, but it was gorgeous throughout the trip. Ketchikan was cloudy, but there was no rain at all and the temperatures ranged from the 60s to the 80s. We wore layers and as the day heated up, we just took off out jackets/fleeces. We brought super light and thin down jackets and they were perfect.

Sunrise was around 5:30 and Sunset was after 9:30.

Tracy Arm Fjord:

En route to the Tracy Arm Fjord, we were greeted by humpback whales surfacing and going under. It was spectacular. The Tracy Arm Fjord itself is much calmer. There is an excursion where you can board a smaller boat and go closer to the mountains and glaciers. The cost was $189 pp and we did not do this and are glad we didn’t. There was no need. To say that the scenery is breathtaking is an understatement. We cruised all day through the fjord to the South Sawyer Glacier. Everywhere you looked, no matter where on the ship you were, was magnificent. There were icebergs floating by and seals popping up – just amazing.

Skagway:

Skagway was our longest port day - 7 am to 9 pm. We don’t like doing ship excursions – we find it’s better, less expensive and more fun to book things privately. In Skagway, we reserved and rented a car from AVIS for $145 and drove up to the Yukon Territory. It's a less expensive way to experience the unbelievable beauty of this area on your own time schedule. Before we got on the cruise we bought "Murray's Guide" online for $5, downloaded it and printed a paper copy. The Guide gives mile by mile information as to what you’re seeing, where to pull off, etc. It was well worth the price. The link is www dot murraysguide dot com. Or just google it.

We picked up the car around 8:30 am and got back around 3pm. We stopped a lot along the way to take photos and then had lunch in Carcross (aka Caribou Crossing), drove to Emerald Lake and then turned around. En route, we stopped at the Yukon Suspension Bridge; where with Murrays Guide we got a 50% discount on admission (it was $9 pp instead of $18). The link is www dot yukonsuspensionbridge dot com. In Carcross we ate at The Bistro where they have bison burgers, beef hamburgers, salmon burgers and other fare. The food was good, it wasn’t busy when we were there, and we had a nice relaxing lunch. On our way to Emerald Lake we also stopped at the Carcross Desert, which is said to be the world’s smallest desert. In reality, it isn’t a desert, but the sand remains of an ancient glacial lake, and is considered a geological wonder. It was really something to see, in the middle of the mountains, glaciers and rivers of Alaska to have this expanse of sand and dunes.

When we got back to Skagway we wandered around town and then got back on board.

Juneau:

In Juneau the kids did the ship’s Dog Sledding Mendenhall Glacier via Helicopter excursion and had an amazing time. They were off the ship at 7:45am and transported with the group to board the helicopter. I believe there were two or three helicopters for this excursion, with 6 people on each (including the pilot). They flew over the Mendenhall Glacier and landed on the Juneau ice field. The pilot discussed everything they were seeing from the air along the way. Once they landed on the ice field, the walked to the dog sledding facility where they were put on the sleds in groups of 4 with a driver and ran them around the field. After they were through dog sledding, they went to the puppy area, where they played with the baby huskies. They had an amazing time. Both of them raved about this and wished the excursion was longer (it was about 2 hours).

While they were on their excursion, we privately booked Glacier Sea Kayaking from Best of Alaska. It was $95 pp with round trip transfers to their facility, gear, snack etc. Basically, you are kayaking, with a guide, in the waters around Mendenhall Glacier. The day was sunny and warm. Our guide Karl, was terrific. He explained the history of the area and led us around to wonderful viewing areas. We saw dolphins, harbor seals, bald eagles and blue herons. The mountains, glaciers and coves were just spectacular. One problem however – when we booked this we were not told that the ship also uses this company for their excursion. Private bookings usually mean private – that is - it’s you and maybe a few other like-minded people on the tour. Imagine our surprise when we got on the bus with 30 people who booked through Carnival. When we called the company on the spot, their response was not acceptable – “we never said we weren’t contracted with the ship.” Not cool. So – while our day was great – I would not recommend this company for that reason and find another company that does this tour.

After we got back to Juneau, we met up with the kids and had a crab lunch at Tracy’s King Crab Shack by the pier. OMG – the freshest most amazing crabs – we ordered crab bisque and a bucket with King, Snow and Dungeness crabs. Wow.

The ship left port at 3 pm and that night was the Chef’s Table dinner. Menu is below.

Ketchikan:

This was our shortest port day 7 am – 1 pm. We hired Ketchikan Taxi Company to show us around for a few hours at $74 per hour. The Company is owned by Dave Freeman. We were met by his niece Serena at the pier at 7 am. She’s a lovely student from Seattle who has summered in Ketchikan her whole life. We went to see the salmon returning to spawn, looked for bears (no luck), hiked a bit through Ward Cove in Tongess National Forest and then went to Potlatch Totem Park, a free, fully recreated Native Alaskan Village. It was very interesting and Serena was great at explaining the history of the area and how to “read” the totem poles and the stories they tell. We got back to town around 10 and wandered on Creek Street, which used to be the heart of the red light district and is now a street with shops. My daughter took a quick tour of Dolly’s House which was a brothel through the 1950s. Per Dolly’s will, everything was left as it was when she operated the brothel. Its cost $10 and my daughter got a kick out of it.

For lunch we went to a restaurant recommended by Serena – Crab Cracker Seafood Bar – near the pier, where we had the best sockeye salmon we have ever eaten.

Victoria BC:

We didn’t really give too much thought to Victoria beforehand. We arrived at 7:30pm and left at 11:59 pm. When we got off the ship we walked to the downtown area. There is a marked path and it took about 20 minutes. It was gorgeous - a beautiful marina and a lovely town. Apparently a lot of people from Seattle go here for long weekends. We wandered around downtown and had dinner at The Docks Seafood and Oyster Bar where we had $1 oysters. YUM. The sun set around 9:30 and we took in the view of the beautifully lit up City Hall, hopped in a taxi and went back to the ship.

Chef’s Table Menu:

In the Kitchen area - small appetizers:

Mango Sphere, Rosemary Biscuit

Salmon Tartar Cornets, Sesame Seeds (looks like a seeded ice cream cone)

Beef Carpaccio on Air Pillow, Chocolate Bacon, Apple Ribbons

Double Cooked Lamb, Tapioca

Dinner Menu:

Beet Blanket, Spiced Grape Tea with Asparagus, Cauliflower, Honey Carrot Tian, Mache, Lemon Streusel

Crab Stack with Corn Custard, Polenta Cracker, Tangerine, Passion Caviar

Duck with Creamy Quinoa, Parmesan Churros, Olive Snow, Port Wine Jus

Bisque with 2 Tomatoes, Basil, Crisp Brioche and Garlic Chip

Sea Bass with Chorizo Crust, Fried Pop-Corn Pudding, Lemon Macaroon, Lobster Foam

Wagyu Beef with Bone Marrow Souffle, Scallion & Garlic Panisse and Gremolata Crisp

Pastry:

Sea Salt Praline Chocolate, Raspberry Mojito, Key Lime Cake, Apricot Vanilla Gel and Citrus Cream

Enjoyed your review.

Keith

Hi, glad to read your review. Will be goin in another three weeks, on Jewel Ots. Will be havin lunch at Tracy's, since I've heard a lot about the place. Whats lunch with a few of my closest's friends there?:D:rolleyes: Sure am getting ansy to go, oh I can't wait!!!:)

How was it getting off the ship? Approximately what time did you leave, if you can recall. Planning on making an 11am flight home, using FTTF, prearranging private transportation and moving as quickly as I can. I know it's tight, but was hoping you could comment on your experience on departure. Thanks for your help.

Thanks for the review. We're doing this cruise next July. I liked your suggestion for Skagway. I have downloaded the guide. We were thinking of doing a tour but may rent a car instead.

Departure was very smooth. I we were off before 9am. My flight was at 2, so it didn't matter. I believe in one of the drop downs on the Carnival site, you can let them know you need to catch an early flight so you are in the first group of people off the ship.

With port days being so early, is the dining room open for breakfast?

Enjoyed your review! Just booked this cruise for August with similarly aged kids.