Carnival Legend trip Report 10-24-10

[RMM34667]

Maybe ya want to share a few details on this lucky machine?? I'll let you know if it's still hitting!! I sail in 6 days and would love to find it.

 

Oh since so many of our fellow traveler visit this site often you can make it a treasure hunt. Give us just hints..

[Eeyoregon]

Bondsman- we were on the same cruise with you! Probably passed each other in the casino, I'm sure. Loved the review and photos - we were in 7302, aft cabin. Did you go to the costume contest?? My wife (and friend) were the Tiki Drinks and I was the Tacky Traveler with the Carnival Funnel hat on.

 

LOL! I was one of the Towel Animals. It was an amazing cruise. I hope to write a reveiw too...have been down with a BAD cold for the past 5 days.

 

Jerry: Thanks for writing a review...I'm reliving it all through you! It was fun and I'm glad that I at least met you and Peaches a few times around the ship.

 

Gina

[BettyPC]

I had to read out loud - your adventure with the slot machine. Jerry Jerry.... Great review. Can't wait to see where we go next!

[billh65]

Our chief steward was Edwin Gomez and his assistant was Raisa. They were awesome. After the first day Peaches and I had figured out what we needed on a daily basis, just a few things that we wanted that were not in their daily routine. I related those things the Edwin and from then on, they were flawless. There was one day, things were not done properly and I mentioned it to Edwin and he said he did not work our cabin that day. Carnival had put them elsewhere on the ship. I thought something was up as we had not seen them the previous day and that explained why things were not done properly.

 

We were in 8160 for the 11/17-24 cruise. Gomez Edwin was our chief as well, but assisted by Caesar from Lima, Peru who told us he was going to a different deck. They were both hyper attentive all 7 days ... and Edwin always greeted me with "Mr. Bill" when we saw him. Talked to Caesar on afternoon. He has a 20 year old son in Lima studying computer engineering, and a 16 year old daughter going to university next year he proudly told me. He is looking forward to being back home for vacation on January 18. Makes you appreciate their hard work all the more when they spend so much time from their families to make a living. We extra tipped both of them.

[lillian marie]

Great review, glad you guys had such a great time. We're on the Legend again in the spring.

[bondsman]

Maybe ya want to share a few details on this lucky machine?? I'll let you know if it's still hitting!! I sail in 6 days and would love to find it.

 

Oh since so many of our fellow traveler visit this site often you can make it a treasure hunt. Give us just hints..[/quot

 

I really don't know how to tell you. As you are walking the aisle along the slot machines, it is about midway. There are, I believe six machines in the row. You will face it towards the aft end. It has three barrels with an oval picture on them along with the standard bars and such. The ovals are double and triple. When you hit a jackpot a wheel similar to the wheel of fortune will come up on a screen up above the playing surface. When that wheel shows you will push a round button that is located on the panel next to the button you press to play two dollars. It is the third machine from the left. There is support column about five feet behind you as you are playing it it. There is an ash tray with two cigarette butts in it sitting between the machines and an older lady playing the machine on the end to the right.

[creek42]

excellent review!....THE LEGEND is one of my favorite ships, I hope to do it again soon, it is a beautiful ship!

[bondsman]

I guess my last post that would put us about 15 miles off shore. We awoke the morning of the 25th to the knock of the pastry and coffee guy. The later in the week it got the more disheveled they looked. I guess the word got around it was always Peaches that answered the door and they were fighting over who was going to make that delivery. It was always great to hear that knock on any account. Coffee and pastries on the balcony was great.

 

Monday was a sea day and was spent just lounging around the pool.

 

Around 1:00pm the El Capitaino announced we would passing Cuba around 2:30pm. That was a sight I had not seen in about 15 years. I used to fly for a living and flew over Cuba going to the Caymans on a regular basis. About 2:30pm we got Cuba in sight and it stayed in sight for about an hour. It was good to see Cuba because of all the memories it brought back. I had never seen Cuba from sea level, only from the air.

 

The next morning we arrived in Grand Cayman. We were wide awake to see it come into sight. The pastry and coffee guy had come bearing gifts earlier. It was especially nice to see Grand Cayman come into sight. I have many fond memories of Grand Cayman. Peaches was chomping at the bit to get off the ship and that required going down to deck 2 and waiting in a cattle line for awhile.

 

Grand Cayman is a tender port so getting off the ship is more of an endeavour than when the ship can actually dock. After awhile it was our turn to get on the tender and go ashore. It was about a 5 minute ride to the dock. The water was smooth, so, no problem mon.

 

I booked a Stingray City tour with Capt. Marvin. I knew Capt Marvin from back in the day and knew booking straight with him would result in a smooth tour and return to the ship. It was good to see Marvin after all these years. I am quite sure he didn't recognize me, as it had been 15 years and he is now 93 years old. Peaches and I spoke with him briefly, got a picture with him, then joined the rest of our group at the dock. Marvins boats are docked in a canal right behind his house. Marvin was one of the founders of Stingray City, going back to the 50's when he was a fisherman. After a days fishing they would stop a sandbar where the water was about 3 1/2' deep and clean their catch. All the debris was thrown overboard and fed to the rays. After awhile the rays became acclimated to them and became like pets. That is how Stingray City got started.

 

The ride is about 30 minutes to Stingray City. We were in a 30' sport fisherman. The ride was a little choppy, which was surprising since we were in the bay area. There were about 20 other boats there of all shapes and sizes. We spent about 45 minutes with the rays, then moved over to a couple of snorkling areas. We did the normal ray stuff. Kissing, touching and feeding them, as well as getting a back massage. The ride back to Marvins was uneventful as was the ride to the dock.

 

After retuning to Marvin's office in downtown Georgetown, We decided to get a drink at a bar at the port shopping area. On our way over to the bar, there was some discussion as to what time we had to be at the dock to get a tender. We decided we had about an hour and a half, plenty of time for a drink. On the way to the bar I told Peaches " you know what, let's just go back to the ship and get a drink onboard. She agreed and we went back to the tender dock. We thought we had to be back onboard by 4:30pm, As it turned out, we had to back onboard by 3:30pm. We made the next to the last tender out. Good thing we didn't have that drink.

 

 

The link below will show the stingray video.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mike&Shell]

Great review and photos.... We missed Caymen on our cruise last week. But overall "SUPERB"

[bondsman]

More pictures of Grand cayman,

 

The wall. Behind the wall is a small tan building with a red stripe around the top. That building, back in the day was a liquor store. In the evening alot of the fisherman and such would buy their drink of choice in that store and drink it on that wall. When I was flying to Grand Cayman, I would join them many nights. There was many a tale told sitting on that old wall. I would tell tales of flying and they would tell tales of fishing. Our backgrounds were as different as the day is long, but that didn't make any difference, at that place in time, we were just folks, working for a living.

 

Capt. Marvin, himself

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bondsman]

Still more Pictures of Grand Cayman,

 

 

 

 

 

 

[trvlqueen]

Great review and pics! thanks for taking the time to post them ... Legend looks like a beautiful ship! I hope I can take a run out of Tampa one of these days ... :rolleyes:

[Ruggled]

There is support column about five feet behind you as you are playing it it. There is an ash tray with two cigarette butts in it sitting between the machines and an older lady playing the machine on the end to the right.

 

Now that's funny..I bet that lady is still there when I am on the Legend on December 19th! :D

[bondsman]

Now we are on the way to Cozumel.

 

Hang tight, I have to go to the jail. I hope to get some more done tonight.

[bondsman]

On to Cozumel.

 

Cozumel came into view around 6:30am. Cosidering we are approaching from north east we will have the island in sight for a long time. We docked around 9:00am, I think.

 

We have an excursion booked through Carnival to the Dolphinaris. I have had a life long hankering to swim with flipper. We met our tour guide at the port and rode to the dolphinaris in a mini van. The dolphinaris located about a ten minute ride from the port.

 

The Dolphinaris is well laid out and seems to be very efficient. They really have a great program. The tour cost about $120.00 and included lunch, which was very good. After taking a shower (if you have any type of lotion on) and listening to a 20 minute speech it was time to get into the dolphin lagoon. BEWARE, THERE ARE NO CAMERAS ALLOWED, I will get into that in a little while.

 

The trainer was knowledgable and spoke good english. Trainer goes over everything you are going to do, there is however, no way you can remember all the things he said. We thought we were going to really screw things up. As it turns out, the trainer walks you through everything when it is your turn, so, no worries. Basically, you get a hug, a handshake a kiss and a couple of other things. You will have a floatation vest on so you can just kinda hover in the lagoon. You will also be given a mask for viewing them underwater. You will spend about 45 minutes in the lagoon. Alot of the time you will spend just floating with the dolphins swimming around you. They will be close enough to touch most of the time. While all of this is going on the staff is taking pictures and video. The last thing you will do is have the dolphin ride you around the lagoon. The dolphin will come to you and turn over on his back, you will grab his pectoral fins and away he goes. You really have to hold on firmly because this guy is flying around the lagoon. It is unbelievable how fast he is going. He basically follows the outline of the lagoon (which is irregular in shape). It is amazing how he can pull you around the lagoon following the shape of the lagoon going the speeds he is going. The dolphin is about 8' long and weighhs 650 pounds and is 20 years old. He eats 35 to 40 pounds of fish a day. There was a girl and a guy dolphin in the lagoon with us. It is primarily the guy that does all the stuff with you.

 

After we were done with our swim, we were led into the photography room. This is where the shock comes in and also why you cannot take a camera. We were given the usual spiel about why it is so important to buy your photos and video. Ok, here is the shocker. One, yep, that's right, one photo is $30.00 and it is on a cd disk, not even printed. Since Peaches and I are obiviously seperate people, that would have been $60.00 for one picture of each of us. You cannot mix and match pictures of different people in a single package. The least expensive package is $70.00 and consists of three pictures on a cd. The package to include all of your pictures and a video is $350.00. That is per person. Needless to say we have no pictures of our dolphin experience, unfortunately. I don't mind paying someone a fair price for thier services but, we thought they were absolutely ridiculus. We then ate lunch in their outdoor pavilion, which was very good.

 

I thought The Dolphinaris did an outstanding job. However, I can't reccomend them because of their photography policy. I don't blame them for not allowing cameras however, their picture pricing makes this place very unattractive. We had some friends that did a dolphin swim at Roatan and they allowed a camera.

 

After The dophins, we went back to the port and hung out at Fat Tuesdays until time to board the ship for our trek to Roatan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bondsman]

More pics of cozumel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bondsman]

Still more pics of cozumel.

 

 

 

The dolphinaris. The far lagoon is where we swam.

 

 

 

Fat Tuesdays, as seen from the pier

[Honeyroastedmelnut]

Hang tight, I have to go to the jail.

 

That has to be one of the funniest lines I have seen in a while!! :D:D

[bondsman]

That has to be one of the funniest lines I have seen in a while!! :D:D

 

Believe it or not this business can be quite humorous as well as quite sad.

[MochaZen]

Thank you, Thank You, Thank You, Jerry and Peaches for your review. The Legend will always hold a special place in my heart because that was my first cruise. One day, my beau and I will sail on her again.

 

Until then... I'll just have to keep reading your review and smiling!

 

Warm Regards,

[RMM34667]

thank you! it is great reading your review! Four day till I look for the slot machine with the oval barrels and the support beam behind me about five feet!!! Our CC Meet and Greet is in the casino before it opens so I'll be scoping that out!

 

Love the pictures. Again thanks!

[sjcruiser]

Awesome review and pictures. I loved the one of the dog laying in the sand.

I'm glad someone, anyone has made out pretty good on the slots. If I don't win, I wish anyone else good luck and congratulations when I hear the coins clanking or the bells ringing!!!

[bondsman]

thank you! it is great reading your review! Four day till I look for the slot machine with the oval barrels and the support beam behind me about five feet!!! Our CC Meet and Greet is in the casino before it opens so I'll be scoping that out!

 

Love the pictures. Again thanks!

 

Don't forget to look for the old lady at the end.

[bondsman]

Awesome review and pictures. I loved the one of the dog laying in the sand.

I'm glad someone, anyone has made out pretty good on the slots. If I don't win, I wish anyone else good luck and congratulations when I hear the coins clanking or the bells ringing!!!

 

 

Peaches and I are partial to animals. We try to take pictures of some in every country we go to. I have one coming up of a dog in the water on Roatan.

[clearwatergirl]

thank you! it is great reading your review! Four day till I look for the slot machine with the oval barrels and the support beam behind me about five feet!!! Our CC Meet and Greet is in the casino before it opens so I'll be scoping that out!

 

Love the pictures. Again thanks!

 

I'll be looking for the same slot machine!!!! Can hardly wait till sunday.

woo hoo!!! :D:D:D