Legend March 1-8, 2009 long review

Legend March 1-8, 2009

We arrived in Tampa at 11pm on Feb 28. We took taxi from airport to Tampa Hyatt Regency for $25 for the 3 of us. It was a very quick ride at that time of night. We had my in-laws picking us up on Sunday to go to the ship. They picked us up at 10:45 we spent several minutes trying to arrange luggage and 5 people in a 1999 Buick Century-we made it. It was a very cool and rainy morning. The rain stopped by 10 am but it didn’t really warm up. Arrived at terminal at 11:20 and unloaded luggage. Porter had stapler to help with luggage tags (I had already taped them, but we also stapled) FIL parked car in parking ramp across the street. We walked in terminal by 11:30 and headed straight to check in. While we were checking in they announced general boarding for all. YEAH!!!! My husband and I had cruised previously on Carnival (3day Ecstasy) and were amazed they knew we were previous Carnival cruisers. We skipped the picture and headed straight onto the ship.

What a beautiful ship!!! We absolutely loved the theme and artwork. You board the ship on Deck 2 across from the pursers’ desk and next to Club Merlin. (MIL was very happy to immediately know where the casino was) We headed up to Lido deck and went to the Unicorn Bar. We ordered drinks and went to the buffet. We met a very nice couple from Calgary and visited with them. Our 10 yr son was ready for ice cream and we got someone to turn on the machines. At 1:30 we decided to head to our cabins, we found our luggage had already been delivered and met our cabin steward, Julia. She was awesome!!! We unpacked and headed to the pursers’ desk to change cabin assignments. We booked boys in one cabin and girls in another (inlaws booked us at the senior rate which saved us some $$$) No problem changing cabins and S&S cards. We made another trip 5 minutes later to get ds card punched for lanyard and get our cabins on the list for opening the balcony partitions. We learned later that they only have 25 devices to hold the balcony partitions open and it is first come first served. We went to the muster drill which went very smoothly and then waited to set sail. All our smuggled booze made it on!! We stayed on our balcony until we got closer to the Skyway bridge. Let me tell you it was the worst weather. I think it was 40 mph winds and it was cold!!! I watched from the gym while dh and ds braved the sun deck to film it all. That was only the beginning of the rough seas we would experience. We were late seating dinner. We have really enjoyed NCL and Princess anytime dining, so were a little hestitant going back to late seating. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We had the best wait staff-Livia from Hungary and Eka from Bali. We were their only table for 2nd seating. We got some much personal attention and we were usually done eating in 1 hr and then had to wait for the waitstaff show to start. Before dinner I signed ds up for kids club. I was told only 20 kids 9-11 yr old and only 50 kids under the age of 11.

We were rocking and rolling the first night at sea. It was the worst seas we have ever been in. We did not get sick, but it was a little concerning to have Julia, cabin steward, pushing the seasick pills and the “barf” bags were taped to the walls and at the elevators. The entire night we thought we might actually get rocked out of bed. We were beginning to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into. DS slept like a rock and we decided that his sofa bed was rocking him to sleep with the direction he was sleeping. DH and I took turns going to the gym the first morning. Gym was ok buy not as big as the NCL Star last year. I enjoy riding bike and they had plenty to choose from. No bikes or treadmills with TV’s. I think there were 10-12 treadmills. I watched a woman fall on the treadmill due to the rough seas and skin the **** out of her knees. We had a late breakfast in the dining room. Great omelettes!!! We found the arcade and played some games. We then found table and chairs at pool in the shade to hang out for the afternoon. We played TV theme show trivia-I won. I won a “ship on a stick” and lanyard. I love to play trivia so we tried to play as much as we could. Dinner Monday night was 1st formal night. Believe me we did not go formal. We got in line for pictures at the shortest line we could find. Every dinner was great. The best soups each night. FIL likes to order just about 1 of everything at each dinner and finishes them all. I am not a lobster fan so I had prime rib-very tasty. Inlaws took ds to show and they really enjoy the Legend singer and dancers.

Tuesday-Grand Cayman/sea day. We woke Tuesday, looked out balcony and realized land was getting farther away and not closer. I guess due to rough seas we were turned away by port authority and not allowed to drop anchor and tender. We were now heading to Cozumel and told we would arrive Wednesday at 8 am. We had missed Grand Cayman on our Disney cruise so we kinda expected this might happen. We were refunded our port charges and taxes of $20 per person. We had booked a sting ray city excursion after we boarded and they refunded those tickets. I know we kept busy, but can’t remember every detail of the day. Lots of activities to choose from. DS did not like the schedule of kids club. He would rather be able to just play PS2 or Wii and not get involved in the scheduled activities. DH and ds did play bean bag toss (corn hole to us Midwesterners). They offered this couple times per day. Sometimes by the pool and sometimes in the lobby lounge. It was fun to watch and every age group got involved. At dinner, ds said he was tired and left to go to sleep. He knew we wanted to go the show later in Follies. When we got to cabin after dinner, he was sound asleep. We left and made the mistake of not leaving a note. We went to show and left because the act that was supposed to be there was not able to get on ship in Grand Cayman. When we got back to cabin, ds was gone. I panicked!!!!!! We had walkie talkies with us, so I took off to the buffet and left dh in cabin. After about 10 minutes he realized there was a message on our phone. DS was picked up in hallway and sign into kids club. I went to kids club and got him and then back to pursers desk to find out what had happened. I guess ds woke up and wanted to find us at the show and stopped a waiter in the hallway, waiter took him to pursers desk and pursers decided safest place for him was kids club. They said they paged us, but we did not hear in the show. When we got back to cabin ds said he was not feeling well, I took he temp and he had 103 temp. He ran a temp for the next 48 hours.

Wednesday-Cozumel. MIL and I did the Mexican cooking class at Playa Mia resort offered thru the ship. Best time ever. We cooked, drank XX and tequila. That was the most fun and would recommend it to anyone. We met the nicest mother and daughter from Fort Wayne, Ind that we shared a taxi with and cooked with. FIL, dh an ds(loaded with ibuprofen) headed to a beach. Not sure where they ended up but they had a great time. DS attempted dinner but ended up not eating. Livia and Eka were very concerned about him.

Thursday-Belize. Inlaws had been before and did not want to get off ship and stayed with ds who was really not feeling well. DH and I shopped in the terminal and then ventured out of the terminal for less than 5 minutes. Back in terminal for me to buy a knock off purse and then we drank at a bar. Long tender ride in Belize. DS and I did not go to dinner. I took him to infirmary and the nurse took his temp and listen to his chest. He told us we could see the doc for $80, but he thought it was viral. Gave us Tylenol to alternate with ibuprofen and sold us some cough medicine. Livia and Eka sent chicken soup done to ds. I had the best BLT from room service. DS broke fever late tonight.

Friday-Roatan. We had decided to get off ship and head to Fins and Flippers for a couple of hours. It was raining and the sky looked very gray. We were surrounded by taxi offers and it was very suffocating. We got on ferry to go to Fins and Flippers and they told us $25 per person and we left. I know they were not happy, but I was not willing to pay that with the rain coming down. We ended up hiring a cab and guide for $10 per person to see the island. We enjoyed our trip and learned a lot about this beautiful island. When we were ready to set sail we watched a family of 4 run to meet the ship and an older gentlemen taken out in a stretcher, his wife following him with luggage and they got into an ambulance and the ship left. This was our 2nd formal night. We went to the show after dinner and enjoyed it.

Saturday-at sea. Went to the gym again and just really lazied around all day. MIL and I did the “On deck for the cure” walk and enjoyed that. We had received a letter to meet with the purser about our recent visit to the pursers’ desk. I decided to check it out. They wanted to talk to us about how they handled the situation with ds. I was taken to the head pursers’ office (it reminded me of the principals office and I thought I was in trouble) I told them I was very pleased with how they treated ds and that he must have felt very safe to ask for help. I told them that we did not look at our phone for a message right away and maybe they could communicate with a note on our door. We moved on to other topics-talked about the balcony doors that they did not open until we reached Cozumel. They told us because of the weather it was dangerous. That is when I learned they could only open 25 doors. When they doors are open they do block half of one balcony. I asked about Grand Cayman. The purser told me that 3 ships docked on the opposite side of Georgetown and that the port authorities would not let any ships anchor and tender. He said the Legend lost $250-300k that day from excursions. He asked when we would cruise again and if we would cruise Carnival and recommend it to others. I would definitely cruise Carnival again and told him it all depends on the economy. He was afraid I would say that. Before dinner that night, Julia our cabin steward, explained that on Sunday every cabin door would be opened at 8 am to ensure that everyone was up and ready to depart. We went to the show that night which was the guest impersonating celebrities and we enjoyed it.

Sunday-Tampa. We got up at 7 and went to breakfast in the dining room at 8:15. We left all our packed luggage in our cabin. We grabbed our luggage at 9:00, waited for an elevator and walked off the ship by 9:10. Easiest ship to embark and disembark ever.

Any questions I would be glad to answer.

thanks for the review. i hope we have better weather, we sail on Sunday!

acouple of Q's:

Are the hair dryers supplied in the rooms adequate?

Did you go to West Bay Beach in Roatan? if so, were there public restrooms etc?

Thank you so much for the review! Sorry the weather wasn't better for you! :(

I'm looking forward to sailing on the Legend this August (my very first cruise, ever!), and I love reading all reviews. :)

Thanks for the great review . . . I'm sorry the weather didn't cooperate for the cruise. Sounds like you made the best of it.

thanks for the review. i hope we have better weather, we sail on Sunday!

acouple of Q's:

Are the hair dryers supplied in the rooms adequate?

Did you go to West Bay Beach in Roatan? if so, were there public restrooms etc?

Hair dryers are weak. I had read earlier if you have long hair take something to hold the on/off switch on to dry hair. I let my hair go curly and only dry for minute. We stopped at Bananarama beach and there were public bathrooms. We did not stop often because it was raining.

Thanks, I'll bring my own hair dryer!

Thanks for the review. Sounds like Carnival's staff was on top of things. Too bad the weather sucked and your son got sick, though.

Enjoyed your review.........we sailed on the Legend last month and had a great time, and EXCELLENT weather. Sorry you had a few rough seas.........

Thanks so much for your great review.

We're thinking about taking the Legend in Dec and was wondering if you thought a room on the port or starboard side would be better for views in Tampa and other ports. We've never cruised out of Tampa and love the water view when leaving port so generally get a portside room.

Any recommendations?

I'm sailing the Legend in June - the cooking in Cozumel sounds great! I might give that a try - thanks for mentioning it!

I'm sailing the Legend in June - the cooking in Cozumel sounds great! I might give that a try - thanks for mentioning it!

This class was the most fun. 20 people total. It was at the Playa Mia Beach resort and there was beautiful facilities and beach to hang out at. We paid $85 per person for the carnival excursion. We left at noon and we could stay until 4:30. We were done cooking, drinking and eating around 3:15. My mil and I were paired with a very nice mother/daughter from our ship and we ended up sharing a cab to get back earlier. The cooking class room has big sliding doors that look out onto the beach. The chef/teacher Luis was the most fun. We cooked rice pudding and cookies and created dessert with that. We cooked grouper for our main course and then we made a appetizer called harraches-thick tortilla with potatoes, churizo (sp?), lettuce and tomates. We were the best chefs. After cooking we were taken to the 2nd story of the building and served our own meals. It was truly one of my favorite excursions in my 11 cruises. The tickets tell you to bring swimsuit and towel and you can enjoy the beach after. My dh, fil and ds had gone to a beach to snorkel and I wish we would have known how nice the facilities were and they could have been there too.

We made another trip 5 minutes later to get our cabins on the list for opening the balcony partitions. We learned later that they only have 25 devices to hold the balcony partitions open and it is first come first served.

???

What is this, a "partition" between two balconies for adjoining cabins? Or the cabin and the balcony?

???

 

What is this, a "partition" between two balconies for adjoining cabins? Or the cabin and the balcony?

The wall between the adjoining balcony. We have cruised on Princess and NCL and the "wall" can be opened between the balconies. The Legend balcony wall is opened and latched to the railing.

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. I found it very helpful and informative.

Did you need to form a team to play trivia?

Was flexible dining offered to you?

Was there bottled water/power bars in the gym?

What did you think of the Hyatt?

Thanks again!

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. I found it very helpful and informative.

 

Did you need to form a team to play trivia?

Was flexible dining offered to you?

Was there bottled water/power bars in the gym?

What did you think of the Hyatt?

 

Thanks again!

You do not need a team to play trivia. There is usually more than one time listed each day to play different types of trivia. It was dh and myself. You answer the questions and then you check your own answer sheet. They give prizes away at the end to the winner. My fil booked this cruise and they prefer late dining, so we did not even ask about flexible dining. We really enjoyed being the only table for our waiters, we got excellent service all week. No bottled water or power bars that I saw in the gym. Only drinking fountains. We arrived at the Hyatt at midnight and went to sleep. My husband used the gym Sunday morning. It was a very nice room, but we did not really see much of the hotel. We did not eat there, we were saving our appetites for the buffet on board the ship.

Thanks for the great review!!!:)

thanks for the review. Sorry you had rainy weather and your son was sick.