Long review with pics of the Carnival Legend 12/13/2009 - 12/20/2009

So I was basically obsessed with these boards before my trip on the Carnival Legend and scoured them for any review I could find. I thought it would only be appropriate to give my own review of the Carnival Legend for those of you awaiting your own voyage.

To start off I am 31 years old and I went on this trip with my now finance (I will tell you about that later) who is also 31. We live in Chicago so this trip was definitely something we were looking forward to!

When we left Chicago it was 8 degrees with winds blowing at a -2 degree temperature (burr). We decided to leave on the Saturday before the cruise set sail, December 12th, because we did not want to risk any delays or cancelations preventing us from enjoying our vacation. I am actually from Florida, I grew up just North of Orlando, and we decided to spend a few days after our cruise with family so we flew into the Orlando airport and were picked up by my sister and Mom. The sun was shining and the temperature was well in the 80’s, it was absolutely fabulous.

We arrived at my parent’s house and spent the rest of the night eating, drinking and playing poker, it was a blast. You will see as I continue writing this review that we definitely play our fair share of poker, it really is a great game!

Day One - Embarkation

So onto what most of you are waiting for, Sunday, December 13th, the day we set sail!

We left Orlando at around 10:00am in one of my parent’s cars and headed for Tampa. It is about a 2 hour drive, and let me tell you, I was soooo excited I could barely contain myself. When we turned onto the street that runs along the pier I got my first glimpse of the ship.

Here is a pic of the ship as we drove into the pier.

We originally were going to park our car at the Amtrack station. It is free parking and they lock the gates at night. It is about a five minute cab ride from there to the port. We eventually decided against it though because it wasn’t our car and we felt safer parking in the garage just in case. For those of you who don’t worry as much, the Amtrack parking could be a great way to save $100 on parking.

We decided to valet our car which was a TOTAL waste of time. We had arrived at about noon and the port was so busy we had to wait for a valet to take the car, and then we had to wait in line to pay for it. If you have enough hands to carry your luggage across the street I suggest you park your car yourself when using the garage, save 15 bucks, and not waste your time.

Once we had the car taken care of we entered the port building quickly showing our verification at the door. We waited in line to fill out our medical paperwork and to get our sail and sign cards. This was my DF’s first cruise so his card was blue. I have sailed on Carnival before so I got a gold card. It was nice having the two different colors because it made it easy to tell them apart later. The lines moved VERY fast and in about a half an hour we were on board!

When we entered we were actually impressed with the décor. I have to admit that from looking at pictures beforehand I wasn’t so sure how I would like the décor. It looked gaudy and over done, but once I was there it seemed to all fit together and was actually pretty pleasant. We decided to head up to the Lido deck and try to eat something.

I just want to start off by saying that I am a HUGE food lover! I grew up in an Italian family and food is our life. I was really worried about over indulging on this trip but my DF and I actually kept the eating at a normal pace, which I am now very thankful for.

The Unicorn Café is the eating area on the Lido deck and is set up with different stations to choose from. There is a pizza station (pizza, the best Caesar salad, calzones, etc…) , Asian station (spring rolls, beef and broccoli, etc…), salad station (cold potato and macaroni salads, green salad choices, etc…), rotisserie (hot food that changes daily, different meats carved, etc…), Panini station (awesome reubens, pastrami, etc…), taste of nations station (changes daily with flavors form the different ports you visit), and dessert station. All of these are inside and have multiple tables set up around them. There are large windows everywhere and it is actually not to bad an area to eat in. It does feel a bit like a cafeteria but I guess in kind of is. There are also drink stations here with lemonade, tea, milk, water, ice, etc… Outside on the actual deck by the pool there is a grill that serves hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and all of the sides and fixings you would expect them to have with those foods. At the back of the ship on the opposite side of the Unicorn café is the ice cream and frozen yogurt station.

Our first meal consisted of hamburgers, fries, and chicken fingers which I am really mad that that is what we ended up choosing. The whole thing was a bit overwhelming at first and we just settled for that because it seemed easy. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good, I just wish I had explored a bit more.

Now I am going to warn you ahead of time that I don't have many pics of the food. My DF did not enjoy it when I took these pictures, it embarrassed him, so I only got away with it a couple of times.

Once we were done eating we decided to check the ship out a bit while we waited for our room to be ready. The following pictures are of my DF and I checking out the decks and also of the surrounding Tampa Bay area.

It was around 2:00pm ad we decided that it was time to check out our room. We were in room 7317, a balcony room toward the back end of the ship on the starboard side. We found our room easily and were happy to see it was ready and two pieces of our luggage had already arrived.

Our room was FABULOUS! We had originally booked an indoor cabin and was called and offered a great deal to upgrade two weeks before we sailed and we took it. Boy am I glad we did and I don’t think I can ever go back to indoor cabins now. The beds were soooo comfortable and we slept better than ever the entire week. There was lots of room to store all of our stuff and the safe was easy to use and worked well. We also took advantage of the fridge in the room and added some of the liquor we brought ourselves ( I know you are not suppose to bring your own, but we decided to try and it was never confiscated)

Our cabin steward came by to welcome us, his name was Rodney and he was great. We utilized our door hanger for when we wanted him to come in and turn down the beds and he did a great job the entire week! The bathroom was small but actually was adequate for what you need from a bathroom. I will warn you that the toilets are different then a regular one and are not very comfortable. There were quite a few samples in the bathroom and if you use them up and would like more of something (I did this with the pepto) just ask your steward for more and they will provide.

The balcony was the perfect size for two and we used it a lot more than I actually thought we would. We found it very relaxing to come back to the room and just sit out on the balcony and relax. My DF and I both work a lot and this was probably the most relaxed we have been in a very long time.

Here are some pictures of our room and us enjoying the balcony.

I love this pic, it is a reflection of Paul in the balcony window.

We set sail and enjoyed the breeze on our deck. We had decided to do anytime dining because we are pretty laid backed and didn't want to feel rushed every night so we took advantage of this and decided to go up to one of the decks to check out the skyway bridge as we passed underneath. Let me tell you I screamed when we went under which is very unlike me. It seriously looks like you are going to hit it, it is very deceiving. I just kept thinking "what if we hit a wave and the boat rises". I know that is silly but it was a great rush. If you don't have early dining you have to check this out! My DF was very funny also, he doesn't get very worked up often and just kept laughing.

Pics of us before we went under the bridge.

It was dark so this is hard to see.

Can't wait to read more, we're on the Legend in a few months.

Nice pictures! Your DF needs to smile more! He's on vacation!!

What time did you go under the bridge?

Maggie

After our “close call” on deck we decided to freshen up and head for dinner. Like I had mentioned earlier we had chosen anytime dining. The first night it was totally hectic and there was an hour wait. We were totally shocked because all of the reviews I had read previously mentioned little wait time. We found out as the week went on that this was only the first night because the dining room is still trying to get all of their seating and reservations together.

Because of the wait we decided to sit with other people so we could be sat sooner. We got sat with a couple from New Jersey in their late fifties/early sixties, and two women that were on a ladies vacation. It was definitely interesting conversation, but it was a bit uncomfortable. The food was excellent and I happened to get a couple of pictures this night.

This was the Flat Iron Steak, it was good but not the best beef I would have all week. Paul had the same.

This is what my neighbor had, it was the chicken pasta, se let me take a picture thus starting my DF being embarrassed when I wanted to take pictures of food.

After dinner we checked out some of the bands and clubs scattered around the ship and also checked out the casino. We played a bit of black jack and donated about twenty dollars to Carnival. we also checked out the end of the welcome show. It was really cheesy but that is why we loved it. Lots to make fun of later:D

The show also featured Jenn our cruise director. I have to say I read some horrible things about her on here and I don't agree with any of them. She was funny and had a great British accident that was not annoying as some have said. She did make announcements to the ship as a whole from time to time but it was never to much or overly obnoxious. I also loved her daytime trivia show on the TV. Her and James, an assistant director, were very funny and fun to watch.

Once the show was over we headed back to our room and found our first towel animal! We thought it was a little bit of an odd shape?????

Nice pictures! Your DF needs to smile more! He's on vacation!!

 

What time did you go under the bridge?

 

Maggie

Yeah, now that I look back he doesn't look like he smiled much. The pics totally don't capture his personality. He is very laid back and kind of just takes things in. He was totally digging finally being able to just relax. You'll see some smiles in some future pics.

Well I am pretty tired so I will post the next day of our trip tomorrow.

:) Until then!

Great review, keep it coming!! We are thinking about the Legend for our annual family cruise next fall, so your review is both interesting and helpful to us. Look forward to seeing more pictures and the remainder of your review.

Ahhhh nuts, I really wanted to see the ship pass under the bridge but we're booked for dinner at 6:00, wonder if they would let us change it for the one night or maybe we can just hit the buffet...

Anxiously waiting on your review especially since we're sailing on the Legend this weekend!

Love you review so far - can't wait to read it all!!!!

We're on the Legend in 23 days!! Can't wait to read the rest!

We got off the Legend 1/3 and had AFT 7153/ Rodney was also our cabin steward and I cannot say enough good things about him.

Jen the CD ehhhhhhhhh reminds me of a younger susan boyle, could take her or leave her.

Looking foward to more of your review !!!!

Ahhhh nuts, I really wanted to see the ship pass under the bridge but we're booked for dinner at 6:00, wonder if they would let us change it for the one night or maybe we can just hit the buffet...

Yeah, you pretty much go under right in the middle of early dinner. If you really want to see it you could leave dinner for a short time and go back I guess. I do have to say that if you are going to skip, the first nights menu was our least favorite and the buffet has a lot of what is actually being served in the dining room anyway:)

Day #2 - Day at Sea

We slept in today; we figured we would be up early the rest of the week with all of the port days. I think we got up around 9:30am. We hit the breakfast in the Unicorn Café and were actually a bit disappointed with the hot entries. The eggs were GROSS! The bacon not so great either. If anyone has ever been to IKEA and had their 99 cent breakfast it tasted like that. Here is a tip, get you eggs/omelet made for you at the warm entrée station, it is worth the wait. That was delicious and is the best way to go. Or if you are up to it check out the dining room on sea days when they serve breakfast to order. You also can’t go wrong with a bowl of cereal and some danishes.

We decided to start the day by the pool and catch up on some reading. The sun was shining and it was warm. We checked out all three pools and decided on the adult pool at the back of the ship (the aft). This pool was a bit quieter and more relaxed. There is a bar right there and tables, and there were plenty of chairs. The other two pools were very packed and that is where they play live music and games. It really just depends on what your mood is. We did use the other pools on other days when we felt like some fun.

Paul relaxing in a chair at the pool.

The blue water we saw when we woke up and looked out over our balcony.

For lunch we hit the Unicorn again and today we did explore some of the options a bit more. My DF had a pastrami sandwich, which he enjoyed very much, and I kind of went to different stations and grabbed little tastes of whatever looked good. I also had a caesar salad from the pizza station, honestly the best caesar salad I have ever had, it was so delish. I also tried one of the desserts. A word of warning, they look fabulous, but just taste okay.

After Lunch we checked out some trivia and bingo in the Follies lounge. We didn't win but had a good time trying. My DF wanted to try to play in the poker tournament that day also but missed out because it filled up fast; they only allow the first ten people to play. The rest of the afternoon we sat on our balcony and had some drinks and relaxed. We did get a drink of the day every day, I just had to try each one, and the ones I liked a whole lot I probably had a few of. The drinks are a bit pricey but they don't hold out on the liquor and they taste great! If you are planning on trying to bring your own liquor we brought raspberry vodka and it was great with the free lemonade they have.

Paul playing around in the room that afternoon.

That night was an elegant night so we started to get ready. Once you walk down to the truffles dining room level there are photographers EVERYWHERE! If there are lines and you want to take a photo just wait till after dinner, they are there till really late that night. We took quite a few really cheesy photos that night, some of the backgrounds are just horrible. We decided to buy the pics with the plain white background. We figure they looked the most professional. I will post those later when I get a chance to scan them.

Dinner that night was excellent. I started with the Pumpkin soup which wasn’t as sweet as I expected and was pleasantly surprised. I am not a big fan of eating sweet soups that taste like dessert. My DF had the Caesar salad which is just as good as the one from the pizza station. He had this every night which is weird because he NEVER eats salads and vegetables.

We both tried the spaghetti carbonara as an appetizer, it was great. For dinner we both had the prime rib, it was fantastic!!!! We also decided to split a lobster tail, we both don’t really eat seafood and had never tried it before, and we figured why not now when we can. It was okay, but not my cup of tea. For dessert that night I had the caramelized apple on puff pastry and my DF had a chocolate melting cake. I have to say I love chocolate molten cake, when you slice into it and the middle just erupts! This was not like that; it just seemed like uncooked chocolate cake. It was just okay. My dessert was great though!

Here are a few pics of our dinner that night, I snuck them in when I could!

Pumpkin Soup

Spaghetti Carbonara

Paul eating the Spaghetti Carbonara.

Chocolate Melting Cake

Carmalized Apple on Puff Pastry.

Here is a copy of the menu from that day that I found online.

After dinner we checked out the show the amazing Luba and his balancing skills. This was awesome for many reasons. It was completely Vegas cheesy but it was kind of cool how he could balance some crazy things at the same time. My DF is a lighting director and project manager here in Chicago so he enjoyed seeing the AV equipment and lighting effects they had (I love my AV nerd). The best part of the show was when Luba would finish balancing something and then say HHHEEYYYY in a Greek type of way at the end. We loved it and said it to each other the rest of the week.

After the show we hit the casino and it hit us back hard. We lost like $200 dollars and it was every disappointing. I told Paul that he should try the poker table, he plays a lot at home on the computer and in a couple of live games once a month, instead of black jack and slots. At least there he kind of knows what he doing. Well within 20 minutes of him sitting at the table he was up again and won back half of our money. I told him that his job the rest of the week was to play poker and we stayed away from the other tables from that point on except for the occasional slot and blackjack tournaments.

After the casino we enjoyed the balcony for a bit then hit the hay. Our day at sea was fun and relaxing. The next day is Grand Cayman where to both my DF and my surprise we would end up getting engaged:D

Oops forgot to post our towel animal from tht day. Not sure if it is a frog or crab????

Can't wait to hear your engagement story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im getting grey hairs for all this suspense! Keep posting :D

Day #3 - Grand Cayman

We decided to not do any excursions in Grand Cayman because we were doing them in every other port. We figured there was a lot of shops and restaurants to check out so this would be a great place to just take in the view and relax. We decided to have room service deliver our breakfast and serve as a wake-up call as well. This worked our well and we did this the rest of the week. We got ready and headed down to catch a tender. Because we didn’t have an excursion we decided to wait till about an hour after we arrived at port to go down and it was perfect timing, we walked right onto a tender from the ship and didn’t have to wait at all.

Here are some pics of us on the tender riding toward port.

Celebrity Cruise line docked next to us.

Once again my DF isn't smiling!

Once we landed on shore we started going through all of the shops. I had read online about someone who bought magnets in each port and I thought this was a great idea for some souvenir shopping so I decided to do the same. Along the way we met up with a certain pirate and couldn’t resist the popular picture with him.