A Young at Heart Review; Legend 2/7 -2/14/2010

[TigerStar]

Love your review. What a wonderful way with words you have!

 

We will be on the Legend in June and your review has helped.

[AryMay]

Test failed. Frustrated, couldn't get webshots to verify my membership. 'Going to bed.

 

Keep trying...you'll get it. I use Picasa to keep my photos sorted on my computer and then transfer them to an online Picasa album when I want to post them. (Picasa is a Google program.)

 

Its not as easy as just copy and pasting the photo. Here are the steps I take:

 

1. Open the photo in whichever program you choose (Webshots, Picasa, etc.)

2. Right click on the photo...when the menu pops up, click on "Properties" at the bottom.

3. A little box will show up with information about the photo. In the middle of this box will be the URL (address) of the online photo.

4. Highlight this address and copy it.

5. Back in your review on CC click on the photo icon (the one with the mountain). Paste the URL into the box that pops up. That should put the photo into your report.

6. There is a limit on how many photos you can put in each post (5 or 6 I think.) If you want to post more photos that that then just start a new post.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing your photos and "meeting" you through your picture! Thanks again for wonderful review you've done!

[Delta Dear]

NO box pops up when I click on the mountain.

[Delta Dear]

I think I finally have it working.

 

Morgan on Day 1 and then on Day 7 waiting to be called to disembark.

 

 

[habby]

Delta Dear

 

Congratulations! I admire your persistence (and look forward to seeing more photos).

[AryMay]

Yay!!! You got it. Looking forward to LOTS more. ;)

[chadci]

LoL #2 looks like me most days and I'm only 34

[Delta Dear]

Cozumel scenes from the Bar Hop Tour

 

 

 

[Delta Dear]

Here is the Enchanted Forest, Deck 3. Be sure to go there.

[Delta Dear]

I need a BREAK ! Actually, a cruise would be even better. I am going to grab some lunch. More photos to follow now that I know what I am doing after hours and hours and hours and posts and posts and posts.

 

You know the old adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

[SeaDays]

One of the finest reviews we've read. It was like traveling with you. Thanks.

 

We, also, found the Legend to be a classy ship with reminders of more elegant times. Been on her twice.

 

SeaDays

[Delta Dear]

How'd you like to be in Roatan right now? This is a shot taken in the West End.

 

 

 

Here we are in Belize with cousin Bill, his wife, Cathie, Morgan and me, Jane.

 

[Delta Dear]

Having a balcony is a wonderful thing. No further words are needed.

 

[Delta Dear]

No doubt about it, we had a wonderful time. We are sorry we didn't discover cruising a lot earlier in life.

[BooBooMonkey]

I'm so happy you have the pictures working! Great so far!

I'm definately looking forward to more.

:D

[Goobaroo]

Jane's Lesson 5: No matter what, appreciate the time you have on board. You are on vacation. Be flexible, be friendly, and have fun. Let your inner child enjoy the wonder of it all. Life is too short to be uptight, or to complain. Be grateful for the experience.

 

Ms Delta Jane:

This should be required reading for everyone who goes cruising ... Let me correct myself, this is more than a VACATION lesson, but a valuable LIFE LESSON we should all take to heart!

 

Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, so happy that your trip was everything you hoped it would be! Yours was a unique adventure, beyond the stadard "buffet and snorkeling" stories! We are crusing on Legend in September, I am the "travel planner" for my family, which means I stress out a bit over making the best choices for our excursions, etc. You reminded me to just "chill out" and pick something that sounds fun ... It is ALL FUN once you get out there!

 

You're a gem!

AND may I add you both look years younger than you are "on paper"!

 

Cheryl

[kerrytens]

Yeah! Delta got the pics going ... love it! Keep them coming please.

Miriam

[Delta Dear]

Before I post any more photos, some of you have asked for a photo of our daughter. I want to thank you for your supportive comments about our Cindy and your desire to honor her by walking in her memory.

 

In addition to the efforts to find a cure for Breast Cancer, I believe we must raise awareness of the rising incidents of cancer in young women. Breast self exams must be done diligently. Don't let anyone say, " You are too young, it is........." Cindy was diagnosed at age 31 at Stage III. She said to me at the time, " Mom, I think God gave this to me so that I can help other young women. If this can happen to me, it can happen to them."

 

Cindy was a wonderful daughter, wife, and mother of two incredible children. The smile you see was the smile she always had. She was an inspiration to all who knew her. She continues to be my inspiration.

 

 

[jojocmcla]

Still use magnetic strip cards.

 

Anyone know if Legend has keypad safes yet or do they still need a magnetic strip card?

[jojocmcla]

Jane, you've done such a wonderful job, capturing the essence of our trip together. My husband and I were in Jane & Morgan's Scrapshare group. She was one of the few that I had met prior to the cruise. And, let me tell y'all she is as nice in person as she "sounds" here on CC. She, Morgan, and their friends Dona & Tony were always so upbeat. They're just neat people.

 

We, too had a wonderful trip. We had sailed previously on the Fantasy in 1993 to celebrate our 25th anniversary. This year, we will celebrate our 42nd. We loved the Legend. We didn't think it was too gaudy, as some have reviewed. The food was very good. I, for one, enjoyed the Pumpkin Soup. And, my husband & I each had two servings of the escargot the night they were on the menu! Bitter & Blanc Bread Pudding was delicious. I'm probably one of the few people that didn't have the Chocolate Melting Cake. But, I heard it was yummy. Our room steward Michael was wonderful. He always had a smile and a greeting. And, he made the cutest towel animals. One night we got back to the room and there wasn't a towel critter on the bed; and I was so disappointed....until I looked up and saw a towel monkey hanging from the light fixture! The next morning I said, "You made us look for him didn't you?"

 

We usually ended up having breakfast on the Lido deck. Being from the South, I was hesitant to get the grits; but I must say, they did them good. A lot of restaurants just can't make good grits. Loved having omelets made to order. Oh...try mixing the orange juice with the passion fruit-guava juice...really refreshing! Both for breakfast & lunch, the Lido deck always had a big variety of foods. For lunch you could always get various salads, pizza, sandwiches, soups. It was fun to take your tray out on the deck and visit with friends.

 

Bar Hopping in Cozumel was so much fun! Greg was a hoot! At Coconuts, I found a hammock and chilled for a while. Never drank "shots" before; but I tried one of each of them on the tour. The Mojito at Rasta's was really good, as was the shrimp cheviche. Just remember, if you go on this tour...you're on a primitive side of the island...there is NO electricity. So, you must have cash, since they can't do credit cards...NO electricity! Wish we'd had a little more time @ each place to just take off and walk the beaches. The water is so beautiful. I think the whole crew of us had a blast! Some drank the alcoholic beverages...some didn't...but we all had a good time together.

 

And, I'd never done karoake, either, until the cruise! We didn't get into the lounge in time to watch Morgan; but Tony's "Put the Lime in the Coconut" was great. And, our own "Madonna" was super, too. It was interesting to watch some of the "wanna be's." Some weren't!

 

I think the crew did an excellent job the last day or two, with the incident of getting back to Tampa late. Hey, there wasn't anything they could do about it. So, we just had, basically, an extra day on board. I thought things were handled very efficiently. We will definitely cruise Carnival again.

[::Goodie::]

Great review, Jane! And thank you so much for sharing your daughter with us, as well as your stories and photos. (See you on ScrapShare, xoxo, Goodie)

[freckles147]

Jane's Lessons, from spending a Week on the Legend.

 

Lesson 1. Pack early. You never know when you might have to grab and run 48 hours earlier than you had planned. I spent so much time reading CC boards, I had not packed when we heard the snow forecast. Fortunately, I did have most things on the bed in the spare room so I did have a jump start. I didn't leave anything significant behind, thank goodness. OOPS, I take that back. I forgot my toothbrush ! Hampton Inn, then Walgreens to the rescue.

 

Lesson 2. Take medications for extra days; you never know when you might have a day or two delay. My husband had a kidney transplant six years ago and is also diabetic. He takes a great number of medications daily. I am very diligent about making sure he has the full supply of meds, in divided compartment case, for the lenght of our time away from home.

 

When it was apparent that a number of people were going to be arriving back home one or two days later than they had planned, it make me take note to always have serveral EXTRA days of meds. You never know if you might need them. By the way, I took meds for the rest of the day and a day's full supply of meds whenever we left the ship. The last thing I wanted to do was miss the ship and not have Morgan's meds, they are too critical for him to miss.

 

Lesson 3. Be prepared to meet someone who knows someone you know from somewhere in this small world of ours. Here's a fascinating story.

 

We were seated in the MDR near a table of six children ranging in age from maybe 4-12. Their parents and a set of grandparents were seated nearby at a different table. Each night, I noticed how well behaved they were. They were having lots of fun, but not at the expense of other diners. ( As an retired elementary teacher for 36 years, I tend to pay attention to children and their behavior. LOL)

 

One afternoon the children and their fathers stepped on the atrium elevator with me. I asked if they were having fun, and asked where they were from. One dad said, " Albany." " I said, "New York ? We lived in Schenectady, NY for 21 years.Schenectay is 12 miles west of Albany. He laughed and said they were really from Schenectay and Scotia, but he always just says Albany because those names are too unfamiliar to most.

 

Well, we struck up a quick conversation but the floors were reached and that was it. Later one afternoon, the whole family was on the Lido Deck having ice cream cones. I stopped to talk again as the son-in-law introduced me to the others I had not met. His wife asked when where our children went to high school and what years they graduated. As soon as I said, '87 and '88 she said her cousin was in the class of '88.

 

She said his name and BAM, I knew exactly who he was because he and our son were in classes together from 1st grade on. They played Little League and Babe Ruth together etc. Wow, talk about a small world. By then my husband joined us as did my close friend, from Albany, who came on the cruise with our group, too. You just never know what you have in common with fellow passengers so, don't be shy about talking to strangers. I know, your mother taught you not to talk to strangers, but on a cruise, it's OK.

 

Lesson 4 For the wives. If you have a husband who insists he pack for himself ( fine with me, ) and insists he has EVERYTHING he needs, take that with a grain of salt. Several items were not packed that should have been. The most significant item was that Morgan did not pack the pressure stockings he should wear to keep his leg from swelling, especially when traveling. I was NOT happy the he'd left those at home. A few of the shirts he packed were the ones in the pile of shirts that didn't fit very well. Of course the pile of preferred shirts was still at home. G r r r r r.

But, nobody was the wiser except me. Next time, however, I'm either packing key things of his in my bag, or I'm doing a double check before we leave.

 

Lesson 5 No matter what, appreciate the time you have on board. You are on vacation. Be flexible, be friendly, and have fun. Let your inner child enjoy the wonder of it all. Life is too short to be uptight, or to complain. Be grateful for the experience. I have been dreaming about the cruise almost every night since our return. What does that tell you?

 

 

 

Jane,

I also was very impressed with your review. I've been on the Legend before, but still can't get enough information as I am SUPER excited about my upcoming cruise (we leave on the 21st!). Thank you for the reminders with your lessons - most people don't have the ability to share so honestly. The tiny bit I wanted to share with you (regarding the part that I highlighted above), was that you made me do a double take. I'm military so I haven't lived at "home" in 4 years, but when I saw Schenectady in your review it made me smile. I too grew up there & it isn't often a place that people tell you they are from. I also fall into the habit of telling people I'm from Albany or the classic "I'm from New York, no not NYC".

 

So, thank you for being so candid with your review. & thank you even more for reminding me of home & putting a smile on my face for the day :)

 

-Jen

[Delta Dear]

Hi Jen,

Oh, wow ! So, you caught my misspellings right away. LOL.

I'm sure if we tried, we would find someone we know in common. My husband and I were both in the Sch'dy School System for years. He taught at Martin Luther King, then he became Ass't Principal at Steinmetz Middle School. I taught at Paige for one year, Yates for a year or two, then Lincoln and Elmer Ave.

Our children attended Elmer Ave., Central Park Middle, and Linton. They finished Linton in '87 and '88. We moved from Sch'dy to Dover, DE in 1990.

Feel free to email me at janelschool@aol.com if you want to do a connection conversation, or if you want me to answer any other question. the snow that we escaped in Feb. was, "Sch'dy snow." LOL I KNOW you remember that. Thanks for connecting, we still love that area, we cherish those 21 years that we lived there.

[cruising grandma]

Jane.......what a fantastic review!! You are a wonderful writer. My DH and I will be cruising on Legend along with Jen on the 21st of this month, and can hardly wait to experience everything I have read in reviews of the Legend..

 

I would like to know how to contact the person for the barhop tour in Cozumel. I have heard how beautiful the other side of the island is, but have never been.

 

My sister and I were both diagnosed with breast cancer last summer. She is five years older than me. Hers was found through a mammogram(could NOT feel it, and mine was self exam felt. We will also be walking for the Cure. This disease has no age limit......I was 60 and my sister 65. Please everyone........get your mammograms and do monthly self exams. If you feel anything suspicious, get it checked out. Mine was stage II and my sister's stage 0.

 

Again, thank you for a great review and hope to meet you and your husband on a cruise someday!!

[Delta Dear]

Hi Cruising Grandma,

Thank you. I'm so happy you enjoyed my review. I enjoyed writing it. I am sure you will have as wonderful a time as we had. Tom of the Bar Hop, is wonderful. He will respond to your emails, your questions etc. very quickly. Be sure to tell him that Jane of the Legend sent you. He teased that he was going to put me on his payroll because I pumped up the tour so much.

Be sure to let us know all about it when you return.

 

 

info@cozumelbarhop.com.

 

Cozumel Tours - Bar Hop around the best bars on Cozumel Island

 

Early detection and early diagnosis do make a difference. Thank you for your reminder about BSE, also.

I'd love to meet you on a cruise someday, too. Since I purchased the certificate for a future cruise, I know we will be going somewhere. What do you have planned after the Legend ?