Legend 5/9/2010 review with pics

[ChuckLL]

I've going to try my hand at writing a review of our May 9 cruise on the Carnival Legend. I've never done this before so we'll see how it goes.

 

This was our 8th cruise. Our 4th cruise out of Tampa. Our 2nd cruise on the Carnival Legend. We haven't cruised in over a year and half due to the economy having me essentially broke. I finally decided to take this cruise before I went the rest of the way to the poor house. Plus I figured I had the choice of taking a good vacation or having a nervous breakdown. For some reason I thought the vacation would be more enjoyable than the nervous breakdown.

 

In order to have more money to spend on the cruise I had debated just driving to Tampa on the morning of the cruise; however, this would be about a 5 hour drive from our home in Georgia. I was a bit leery of taking a chance on something happening during the ride so I opted to get a motel in Zephyrhills. It was small but very clean.

 

On the morning of the cruise we stopped by the Hillsborough State Park. We stayed at the park a couple of hours walking the nature trails and viewing the rapids. Then it was on to the terminal.

 

 

We made it to the cruise terminal around 12:15 or so. Honestly, this is the latest that I've ever arrived at port. The line was somewhat long, but the staff did an admirable job of keeping things moving. Within 30 to 45 minutes my feet were finally once more on that most special place: the deck of a cruise ship. I grabbed me a hamburger from the grill and a beer and found me a seat.

 

The cabins were supposed to be ready by 1:30, but they were open sometime before then. We were sitting on our balcony by about 1:15. I was eagerly awaiting the muster drill. I know many dread it, but for me the muster drill means that the ship is not long from leaving the dock. The sooner the ship left the dock the better. I didn't want to take a chance on someone stealing the ocean before we got out there. That may sound crazy, but after the year I've had I don't discount anything.

 

Finally, the muster drill arrived. I do like the fact that you know longer have to lug your life vest along. It seem to make things go a bit quicker. I was amazed at the number of folks who were in the wrong muster area. Seemed to be more this go around than any cruise before.

 

Soon the muster drill was over and it happened. The Legend gracefully eased away from the dock and began inching her way toward sea. I smiled, took a swallow of beer, leaned back in my chair and sighed. My cruise had really started.

 

We had Your Time dining which begins at 5:45 and runs to (I think) 9:30 so after exploring and reacquainting ourselves with the ship we showered, changed, and headed to the dining room. As I said at the beginning this our 8th cruise, but it would be the very FIRST time that we have dined in the main dining room. I was impressed. We got a table for two without any waiting. Let me pause here just a second. Instead of doing a complete day-by-day deal I think I'll go ahead and cover the entire week's dining experiences and get them out of the way. Then I'll get to the ports of call and what not. By the way, some may be wondering why this is my first time in the dining room. If so, don't bother asking. I'll answer/explain at the end of the review.

 

Now back to the eating. We dined in the main dining room I believe three nights. We dined in the Golden Fleece two nights. I had only intended to go once just so I could say I had been, but it was so good that I had to go back again. For two of the nights we just ate at the Lido buffet. All of the food, from the Lido on was very good. Probably better than any of the previous cruises. The service in the main dining room and the Golden Fleece was excellent. We did have a different wait team each night in the main dining room, but it really didn't matter as all of the staff were attentive and polite. One night in the dining room I had thought about getting the grilled pork chop but part of me wanted a flat iron steak. I finally opted decided to do both. I'm not sure that I would try that again. I did manage to eat them both AND they were very good; however, I was so full that I thought I would have to roll back to the cabin.

 

I wish that I would have thought to take some photos, but I did not. I did, however, take a few in the Golden Fleece. Below is the chocolate sampler. With the chocolate sampler I would very much appreciate it if someone could tell me the name of the item in the center. It is the second from the left and the third from the right. My wife is tired of me calling it "sex", but until the proper name is known I can come up with no other more appropriate name.

 

More to come.

[mugsey]

I am going on this ship Aug 22nd... What is the Golden Fleece? I am reading Percy Jackson the Lightening Theif series with my 11 year old and they just got the rescued that "Golden Fleece" soo funny. He will love it... Hope you had a great trip, sounds good so far! Anxiously a waiting the rest... Give over the tips!

[Skywench]

I was on this same cruise with you. Hope you enjoyed your cruise as much as I did mine!

[kimba9615]

I can't wait to read the rest of this review. We are on the Legend August 22nd also!

[lulamc]

I leave in 20 days - can't wait - anxiously waiting for more of your review :)

[ChuckLL]

I am going on this ship Aug 22nd... What is the Golden Fleece? I am reading Percy Jackson the Lightening Theif series with my 11 year old and they just got the rescued that "Golden Fleece" soo funny. He will love it... Hope you had a great trip, sounds good so far! Anxiously a waiting the rest... Give over the tips!

 

The Golden Fleece is the steak house (formerly called Super Club). The price for eating at the Golden Fleece is NOT included in the cruise price. It costs an additional $30 per person. I was skeptical at first but left feeling that I got my money's worth. Here are some more pics of the Golden Fleece and the food there.

 

[4evercruiser]

I absolutely LOVED the Legend!! My husband and I are sailing her for the 2nd time in November. We got married on the ship last year. I was very impressed with the ship's layout. I would definately recommend eating in the Golden Fleece Steakhouse at least once during your cruise. The food is outstanding, definately worth the extra $30pp. Cannot wait to read the rest of the review.

[ChuckLL]

I want to talk now about the ship. The Legend has some dents and dings here and there if you look closely, but the crew has done a good job keeping her up. In my mind she's a very beautiful ship. I've been on four different ship classes and the Spirit class is without a doubt my favorite. The layout is wonderful. It's large enough to have variety and places to find some solitude while small enough that you don't have enough passengers to populate a small state.

 

Before I talk about the crew and staff here a few photos of the ship:

 

 

Now on to the crew. I can't say enough about these folks. They are great. I've been on some good cruises staffed by some good people, but I think Legend's group this sailing beat them all. Everyone was friendly and helpful. No one was "in the way" for lack of a better term. It amazes me how they can do their job of keeping the ship running and clean without interfering.

 

Everyone (at least almost everyone) brags about the stateroom stewards. I'm no exception. I've always been lucky enough to get great stewards, but this time I was astounded. I saw the steward once on the first day when she introduced herself. She asked if I would be having the early seating at dining. I told her that we had "your time" and would probably be eating around 6 each night. We did at around 6 the first and second nights then went to the cabin for a few minutes before doing anything else. Both nights the cabin was made when we arrived after dinner. On the third night we ate early on the lido. We spent the time we would normally be eating dinner on the balcony. No steward showed during this time. A little after 8 we headed to the show. No steward was seen during our journey to the show. When we arrived back at the cabin the steward had worked her magic. As we had broken routine how did she know when to tend to the cabin? It is one of the mysteries of the universe. Also this was the first cruise that we got a towel animal every single night.

 

 

So to recap the review thus far on a 1 to 10 scale with 10 being the highest (compared to our previous cruises)

 

Breakfast - 10

 

Let me stop for a minute and talk about breakfast specifically. Breakfast itself was only okay. It wasn't the best that I've ever had on a cruise ship. So why did I rate it a 10? The answer is simple: chocolate muffins. Everyone talks about women and chocolate. I guess when it comes to chocolate I'm a woman trapped in a man's body. I love those chocolate muffins. On all of my previous cruises they tended to rotate the mornings that they served the muffins. On this cruise they had them every single morning and added about 5 points to their score. Chocolate in the morning, chocolate in the evening, ain't we got fun!

 

Lunch - 8

 

Lunch on the lido was pretty good. Everything I sampled I finished and I'm a somewhat picky eater. Except, as we've established, when it comes to chocolate.

 

Dinner - 10+

 

The main dining room and the Golden Fleece was beyond compare. Even the couple of lido dinners that we tried would probably rate near 10.

 

Ship - 9

 

The only thing keeping the Legend from getting a 10 is the fact that I once sailed on the Miracle. I do love that Miracle.

 

Staff - 10

 

Wonderful and friendly people working hard to make our vacation a success. What could be better.

 

More to come...

Also forgive me if I tend to ramble and jump around a bit. This is the first time I've attempted a review.

[maggieworkman]

In your pictures, what is the room with the pink walls and the fake brick spots.

 

And where did you get the chocolate muffins? With the continental room service breakfast or at the Lido buffet?

 

Thanks,

Maggie

[ChuckLL]

In your pictures, what is the room with the pink walls and the fake brick spots.

 

And where did you get the chocolate muffins? With the continental room service breakfast or at the Lido buffet?

 

Thanks,

Maggie

 

The room is Sachmo's lounge. I liked the looks of that place for some reason. I took the photo while waiting to debark at Roatan.

 

I got the muffins at the buffet. I only used room service once and it was for chocolate cake (also quite good). Nope. I lied. I used room service twice, but both times it was indeed for chocolate cake. To keep in the spirit of the review both times room service was very prompt and courteous. I also tried the Legends Cafe one day. Guess what I got? I'll give you a hint: it was some kind of cake. If you guessed "CHOCOLATE cake" you guessed correctly and it might be a sign that I have an addiction to chocolate.

[jimbo5544]

Nice review and pics so far. Keep it coming!

[ChuckLL]

I guess it's ports of call time. Our first stop was in Grand Cayman. We've been to Grand Cayman two or three times. We've always either done the stingrays or stayed on the ship. The one thing that we've never done, believe it or not, is visit Seven Mile beach. This time I decided to remedy that. We waited a little while to get off the ship in order to let the tender line thin a bit. When finally did go down it didn't take long for us to be on a tender and on our way to land. Once ashore we looked around a bit then caught a bus to Cemetery Beach. There was a few people there, but we began walking south and within seconds had beach to ourselves. We just strolled along the beach admiring the beauty until we reached Calico Jack's. Then we caught a bus or taxi or something back into town. All I know was that it was packed, but it did get us to where we were going.

 

It's kind of funny. When we got to the ship my wife said her feet felt like we had been to TWENTY Seven Mile Beach and we had walked all of it, but I was so caught up in it that it didn't seem like much of a walk at all.

 

 

 

 

[CruzCrazy]

I really like the way you are writing this review with the intermingling of humor. I love the Miracle, too, having sailed her twice...and I'm also addicted to chocolate. One of the first things I do when I board is to head for a burger and a beer. I agree that the chocolate muffins at breakfast were wonderful. I also like the French toast. If you say you liked the French toast, I might start to think we are soulmates, LOL.

 

Anxiously awaiting the rest of your review!

[ChuckLL]

I really like the way you are writing this review with the intermingling of humor. I love the Miracle, too, having sailed her twice...and I'm also addicted to chocolate. One of the first things I do when I board is to head for a burger and a beer. I agree that the chocolate muffins at breakfast were wonderful. I also like the French toast. If you say you liked the French toast, I might start to think we are soulmates, LOL.

 

Anxiously awaiting the rest of your review!

 

Awww. I really wish you hadn't mentioned the French toast. I had forgotten about it which I think may actually be a sin in some religions. If not, it should be.

 

The French toast actually causes me to reduce a point from the breakfast score because they did NOT have it every morning. On one morning without French toast I substituted a pancake. The first bite reminded me that I liked the French toast. Luckily I had a chocolate muffin to calm me.

[ChuckLL]

I don't know if I'll write any more tonight. It depends on my wife's demands. If not, I'll be back tomorrow with Cozumel.

 

Until then here is Grand Cayman from our balcony and the Legend from the tender.

 

 

[CruzCrazy]

Awww. I really wish you hadn't mentioned the French toast. I had forgotten about it which I think may actually be a sin in some religions. If not, it should be.

 

The French toast actually causes me to reduce a point from the breakfast score because they did NOT have it every morning. On one morning without French toast I substituted a pancake. The first bite reminded me that I liked the French toast. Luckily I had a chocolate muffin to calm me.

 

 

That's so funny. I was also upset that they didn't have French toast every morning...my husband actually accused me of pouting...imagine, pouting on a cruise ship! I tried the waffles, but they left me pining even more for the French toast. It was at that point that I stumbled upon the chocolate muffins....bliss restored...

[ChuckLL]

Okay, I'm here for a little longer. Cozumel was our next stop. We had been to Cozumel three times before. Once we visited Tulum which was really nice. Once we hired a driver and traveled to the "Wild Side" of the island. Once we just stayed on the ship. This time I didn't have an excursion planned but still wanted to get out and move around some. We got off the ship and walked around the tourist area. We stopped in the Three Amigos and had drink. I got a pretty good margarita. The view from the Three Amigos was very nice and the staff seemed friendly.

 

 

 

 

 

Come to think of it we didn't really come across any of the vendors in the tourist area that were as pushy as on previous visits. Of course they may have just been fearful that I hadn't had my chocolate muffin that morning.

 

By the way I'll give a "thank you" to anyone who can tell me what the below structure is. My wife wondered about it the entire time we were in Cozumel.

 

 

I'm also curious how long these two guys were able to handle the heat in their pirate outfits.

 

[ChuckLL]

The next stop was the one I had been waiting for: Roatan. It seemed to take longer to dock here than at other ports. Maybe it was the wind. Maybe something else. It doesn't matter as we finally did dock. We had yet another beautiful view from the balcony.

 

 

We had never been here before and had a tour scheduled with Victor Bodden Tours. I researched the CC boards and a lot of people recommend requesting Tex as the guide if you book with Bodden Tours. I had booked kind of last minute though so I didn't request anyone.

 

For those of you who don't know, the independent tour operators are not allowed into the tourist complex at Roatan. If you have an independent tour book you have to walk out of the complex area and up a fairly steep roadway to get to the area where the independents are located. As soon as my wife saw the walk required she gave me "that look". I've gotten "that look" many times during our marriage. Nothing good generally comes from "that look". As a matter of fact, "that look" usually means that my life will be somewhat miserable for the immediate future.

 

By the way, did I mention that my wife doesn't like hills? Or mountains? Or roads that twist along and over hills or mountains? She DISlikes those things as much as I like chocolate. By the way (again), did I mention that Roatan has hills and mountains (well, almost mountains) and roads that twist along them?

It was about this point that I discovered that "that look" also comes in a double-barreled version. Yep. Double-barreled like the shotgun but not nearly as nice.

 

Thankfully we finally reached someone holding a "Victor Bodden" sign. Unfortunately he directed us to another guy farther down the road. Much to my surprise "that look" now also apparently comes in a Gatlin gun version. Before I could learn much more about "that look" we reached our guide who turns out to be...Tex.

 

I told him that he had many recommends on CC. He just laughed and joked that I was putting him under too much pressure.

 

I explained that I was mainly interested in some photo ops so he first took us to a little spot on the water where I could get a few shots. Then took us to his home. Below is from his backyard.

 

 

We watched the dolphins swim awhile before hitting the road again.

 

 

Then we went to Victor's Monkey Business. Remember "that look" that I mentioned earlier? Well, my wife loves animals and the look below made "that look" disappear completely.

 

 

When we got done there her exact words were: do whatever you want for the rest of the day because I'm happy.

 

More of Roatan to come....

[TWINMAKER]

Keep the ledgend story coming as we only have 2 wks till we sail.

[ChuckLL]

I did forget to mention that Victor's Monkey Business has more than just monkeys. There are several different birds and animals there. Here is a photo of me and a parrot. For anyone confused the parrot is the green bird and I'm the blue and white striped shoulder and the tuft of grey hair in the upper left corner. I can't speak for the parrot, but I think I came out very realistic looking.

 

 

With "that look" holstered we are able to get on with our tour. Tex took us to several spots to get photos. He constantly told us that if we saw anywhere that we wanted to stop to let him know because it was our tour and he was there to make sure we enjoyed ourselves. And enjoy ourselves we did. Tex was very knowledgeable about the island, but honestly there were several times that I just wasn't listening because I was so in awe of the scenery. As soon as I get done rambling I'm going to post just a handful of the hundreds of photos that I took, but take my word for it, these reduced photos and my poor photo skills just doesn't do this place justice.

 

After several more photo stops (some requested and some thankfully picked by Tex) he took us to a resort/condo area with a nice beach where I had a beer and my wife had a Coke. It was very reasonably priced especially when compared to ship prices. I THINK the 2nd, 3rd, and last photos in my next post were taken at this beach. With our relaxing break over we hit the road again eventually returning to the dock. Despite the required pick-up area being outside the port compound Tex was able to drop us off INSIDE of the compound area.

 

The total price break down was:

Tour - $80 ($40 per person)

Monkey Business - $10 ($5 per person)

Drinks - $6 (If I remember correctly this included a beer for me and sodas for the wife and Tex and tip)

Tip for Tex - $20

 

For a total expenditure of $116. I can't remember how much time was involved. I think maybe 4 hours or so total. Regardless, the scenery and fun was priceless. Shoot, just the smile on the wife's face when that first monkey jumped into her arms at Monkey Business was worth the price. Though I did think her tear-filled laughter when the monkey stole the eye-glasses from my pocket and jumped to the top of the door was maybe a tiny bit much. Needless to say I recommend Roatan, Victor Bodden Tours, Monkey Business, and Tex very highly.

 

To be continued next post...

[ChuckLL]

And now, without any more rambling on here are some photos...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next it is on to Belize.

[BarleyJack]

Wow Roatan looks amazing. Now I'm thinking I made a reservation for the wrong shore excursion :(

[TigerStar]

Loving the review. I cannot wait! 4 Monday mornings left till we board the Legend!

[Tokyo Mom]

I'm really enjoying your review and pictures. We'll be on the Legend in July and I can't wait. It looks like you had beautiful weather. I had to read your paragraph on "the look" to my husband, who laughed out loud. He's seen "that look" many times himself and knows exactly how you feel.

 

Thanks! Michelle

[kittycrusin08]

Great review, love your humor. I will look for the chocolate muffins in November when we sail the Legend. Did they have the little cinnamon swirl pastries? I love, love, love them!!!! Keep writing your review just like the first part.