Legend mother/daughter cruise review - Feb 5-12 with photos

[newdestination]

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us.:D I'm enjoying your pick of excursions at each port. We are cruising in October on the Legend and noticed your times arriving at each port are different. Also port order is different.

 

My question to you is how far out did you book your tours with Carnival? We will be booking 2 tours with them.

 

Looking forward to reading more.:)

 

We booked the Dolphin Swim/Encounter in Roatan 10 days before the cruise and the Luxury Yacht/snorkel/beach tour in Grand Cayman about 5 days before the cruise (Carnival canceled it on board and our $$ was refunded in the form of an onboard credit. I guess it didn't matter, but I wished they had refunded Laurie's credit card instead of giving us the OBC). We booked the Bannister Island tour on board.

[newdestination]

Kentucky60,

 

IIRC we tipped the Nachi Cocum waiter about $20. He provided good service. We really weren't sure how much to tip him.

[marshhawk]

I am so glad that I found your review again, and thank you for sharing your trip and your pictures, they are great! You even answered my question regarding the timing for the sunshine bridge! And you are giving me ideas about what excurisons to do....Cozumel is still up in the air for us. Thank you!

[newdestination]

Melwrey,

 

I hope you and your daughter are able to have a great cruise and that this year will be better for you. May the rest of your chemo go well and have a wonderful time with your daughter!

 

Carol

[smplyblessed619]

What a lovely review! My first cruise this fall will be with my Mother...I'm really looking forward to this experience :). Thanks for taking the time to post.

[newdestination]

I want to mention that we never met up with any people from our Cruise Critic roll call. As I understood the meeting was to be in the Serenity area after sailaway. We were there several times but must have missed it somehow. I’m sorry we missed meeting up with everyone because you all sounded like a fun group! I think some of you were at Nachi Cocum too? Did you enjoy it?

 

After we reboarded the ship we headed for our cabin and ordered room service. We had sandwiches, cookies, and cheesecake and it was all very good. After we ate we took a little nap in order to be able to stay awake for the evening’s activities. At 3:30 we started getting ready for the evening.

 

Shortly before 5 p.m. we headed out for the past guest party, which was held in the Follies Lounge. They served drinks (rum punch, whiskey sours, red wine, and a few others) and appetizers. The drinks weren’t very strong but at least where we were sitting, they kept bringing them around. The film about Carnival and its fleet was shown and they asked people to clap/cheer for every ship they’d sailed on. The party lasted about 45 minutes and when it was over Laurie and I browsed through the photo gallery and bought our embarkation photo, and then had some sushi. I like Carnival’s sushi but I don't know if it would stand up to a sushi connoisseur’s tastebuds, though.

 

Next we headed over to the Punchliner Comedy Club for the family-friendly comedy of Scotty K at 6:30. He was funny but it was kind of a tough crowd. I felt like he was probably going to be really good at the adults only show.

 

At 7:00 we went to the Follies Lounge for the “Gravity Defying Comedy” of Dana Tison. He was a juggler - a good one - and I have no idea how much practice it must have taken for him to do the things he did, but a lot. It was a good enough show but I must say I was disappointed in the shows in the Follies Lounge over the week. Just my opinion.

 

After the show we wandered around the ship and took some photos before dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

At 8:15 we found our table in Truffles Restaurant. Our waiters always welcomed us by name and I feel bad that we never got a photo of them. They were always so busy that I hated to interrupt them for a photo. We never saw them dance; I don’t know if they don’t do that on the Legend or if we just left the DR early and missed it. We ate there all seven evenings. Our head waiter was Ramone (or Raymond), and our assistant JayJay. I never did get the name of the lovely young woman that brought us bread, filled water glasses, etc.

 

For dinner Laurie had the beefsteak tomato/buffalo mozzarella starter and wild mushroom cream soup. I also had the tomato/mozzarella starter and the filet mignon for an entree. The food was good but we weren’t actually that hungry after a late lunch, appetizers at the past guest party, and sushi earlier in the evening. We skipped dessert and returned to the comedy club for the adult comedy of Scotty K, which we really enjoyed. Funny guy, good with improv. I’ve got to mention here the funky music they played as the comedy club manager (Ryan) came out to introduce the comedians each night. I don’t know what the name of the song is (and didn’t particularly care for it) but it gave me a horrible case of ear worm.....that song was in my head for hours afterward each night and it only got worse as the week went on.....

 

After Scotty K’s show we roamed the Legend and watched a bit of karaoke, close-up magic, and part of the sock hop. Actually we were just killing time waiting for the 11:30 comedy show featuring Marc Rubben.

 

Around 11:15 we again found seats in the comedy club. Marc Rubben is a ventriloquist and we enjoyed his show very much. Check him out on youtube. He has some great characters. Marc is another funny guy. While I was a little disappointed with the rest of Carnival’s entertainment for the week, they have really increased the number of comedy shows in a 7-day cruise. The Punchliner was SRO on quite a few occasions.

 

I wanted to stay up for Carnival Quest but was really tired and decided I’d better get some sleep (as it turned out I might as well have stayed up - didn’t get to sleep until around 2 a.m.). At midnight we headed for our stateroom and made a few preparations for our tour in Roatan. We had prebooked the Dolphin Encounter/Swim at Anthony’s Key Resort and were very excited about it. This probably contributed to my insomnia:rolleyes:

[newdestination]

We were awakened at 6:30 by a knock on the door with our room service order. Laurie had set the alarm on her watch for 6:15 but we apparently slept through it. I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes and went to the door to get our food. Laurie scrambled for some tip money for the room service attendant and we ate our breakfast while watching a beautiful sunrise.

 

 

 

The ship pulled up to the pier around 7:35. We finished packing our things for the tour and were off the ship looking for our tour group by 8:15.

 

We found the tour group, turned in our tickets, and were instructed to wait by one of the shops until everyone had arrived.

 

 

 

At 8:45 we were loaded into vans for the approximately 20-minute ride to Anthony’s Key Resort.

 

We arrived at AKR about 9:15. The resort is home to the Roatan Institute for Marine Science, AKA RIMS. RIMS was founded in 1989; their primary objective is the preservation of Roatan’s natural resources through education and research. Upon arrival at AKR we had a chance to use restrooms/change into swimwear before we boarded a boat that took us across the lagoon to Bailey’s Key, private home to a large family of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Once off the boat we were led to a beachfront cabana with lockers for our personal things. A brief orientation was given by one of the staff, we were given snorkel gear for the swim part of the tour, and then led out into the clear water to interact with a dolphin. Our trainer introduced us first to Bailey, a six-year-old female dolphin. She was not particularly into interacting with us that day. Our trainer explained that the dolphins are never punished or scolded for not wishing to interact, only positive reinforcement (fish) is used for good interaction/behavior. Since Bailey didn’t want to play, we were next introduced to Anthony, a six-year-old male dolphin. He DID want to play and we were able to touch, rub, and kiss Anthony as the trainer told us about the dolphins’ characteristics, anatomy, and behaviors. During this part of the “encounter” we were allowed to use our own cameras to take pictures of the dolphins.

 

 

[newdestination]

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Anthony posed for pics with each of us, we donned our snorkel gear and the real fun started. We were allowed to swim/snorkel with the dolphins in the enclosure, which is very large in size and surrounded with fencing that allows water to freely flow in and out with the current (as opposed to a concrete enclosure). Our trainer explained that occasionally the enclosure is opened and the dolphins are allowed to go out into the open ocean. He told us that only once had a dolphin not returned.

 

The dolphin enclosure sits over a reef. The trainer (I’m sorry that I didn’t get his name) told us that the dolphins like to play with the sea grass that grows on the reef - if we would hold some out to them they would take it. He also told us what to do if the dolphins got TOO playful for us: we were to fold our arms across our chest and turn away from them. He said they knew that meant we did not want to play. He also asked that we not approach a mother/baby. With that in mind, we spent the most incredible 30 minutes swimming with these big, beautiful animals. We could hear the clicking noises they made through the water and they were very playful. One came right up to me and gently took the seagrass I was waving out of my hand and took off with it. Laurie said later that she swam alongside one for some time with her hand on his/her back. She thought he was looking right at her and eventually rolled on his side and then took off a minute later. They were very playful, with us and with each other. It was an experience I will never forget; I can’t put into words how special it was. We were not allowed to have cameras during the swim/snorkel portion of the tour.

 

All too soon the trainer said it was time to exit the water. We handed in our snorkel gear and were given the opportunity to purchase photos the AKR photographer took of the dolphin posing with us and yes, we bought the CD ($40).

[newdestination]

Shortly after noon we were loaded back into a van for the ride back to the pier. We had given some thought to walking over to Carnival’s beach area to check it out but after the dolphin experience we decided not to. We looked through the shops by the pier and were tempted by some of the silver but ultimately didn’t buy any. Tired and ready for lunch we bought a gift for my granddaughter/Laurie’s niece Samantha, some rum cakes, and dolphin keychains with LED lights from the Dufry shop, which you must walk through to get back on the ship.

 

By 2:10 we were back on board the Legend. We dropped off our purchases and wet beach towels in our room and then went up to Lido deck for some lunch, which consisted of burgers, salads, and ice cream. After lunch we went all the way aft to the Serenity area and found spots to watch sailaway. At 3:00 the Legend pulled away from the dock and we headed for Tampa:(

 

 

 

 

We were hot so we decided to return to the gift shops as there were a couple of things we were undecided about purchasing. After noticing that the rum cakes we’d just purchased on the pier were cheaper in the Legend onboard shops (the one I bought was $4 cheaper onboard) we decided we really were not in the mood to shop and went back to our cabin for showers. Upon arriving in our room we found a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries, which we presumed were one of the platinum-guest benefits. We sat on the balcony and ate them and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon.

 

At 4:30 Laurie started getting ready for the evening (elegant night) and I listened to music on the balcony. I was in the shower about 5:15 when I heard a knock on the door and then heard Laurie say, “oh, hi” and then heard the door close. Wondering what that was about I stuck my head out and she said that our assistant steward had knocked, and then opened the door. She wasn’t really upset about it, just a little surprised that he would do that. Luckily she was dressed. I suppose if you don’t hang the sign on the door (“kroozing” or “snoozing”) they don’t know for sure when you’re in the room (?)

 

While I’m on the subject, a note about our room attendants. Our main steward introduced himself the first night, and on the third night his supervisor knocked and asked us if everything was okay with the service from the stewards. It was, and I told her so. Our stewards did a wonderful job keeping our room tidied up and providing, ice, towel animals, etc. Outside of saying hi a few times in the hall though, we never saw or visited with them (not a complaint, just an observation).

 

At 6:15 we headed out for the evening. First stop was the comedy club for the family friendly comedy of Marc Rubben. He repeated some of his material from the night before but part of it was new. After Marc’s show we went to the Follies Lounge for the main production show, “The Big Easy.” I liked this show better than “Jazz Hot”, but again they experienced problems during the show. This time there was no explanation other than “we’re having technical difficulties - please remain in your seats and the show will resume soon.” It did and they finished strong.

 

After the show we went to the MDR at 8:15. Laurie had the caesar salad, the chilled creamy bing cherry soup, and grilled jumbo tiger shrimps. I had the seafood appetizer, the cherry soup, and the grilled shrimp as an entree. For dessert, Laurie chose the amaretto cake, and I tried the WCMC cake again. Though none of it was ohmygosh to-die-for, it was pretty good.

 

 

After dinner we headed back to the Punchliner Comedy Club for Marc Rubben’s 10:00 adults-only show, after which they cleared the lounge. We got back in line to re-enter the lounge and then attended Scotty K’s 11:00 show, which was very funny. After this show they did not clear the lounge and we decided to wait up and see Marc Rubben’s second show at midnight, which was not the same show he did at 10 p.m.

 

At 12:45 we staggered up to our room and collapsed in bed after a really great day.

[pcvtmom]

Wonderful review and beautiful pictures! We did this same cruise 3 summers ago, so it brings back great memories. It was our family's "engagement cruise". Our son and our now daughter-in-law, as well as our daughter and her fiance, got engaged on the Legend cruise. Unforgettable ;-)

[newdestination]

Wonderful review and beautiful pictures! We did this same cruise 3 summers ago, so it brings back great memories. It was our family's "engagement cruise". Our son and our now daughter-in-law, as well as our daughter and her fiance, got engaged on the Legend cruise. Unforgettable ;-)

 

That would definitely make for a memorable cruise!

[divngmedic]

AKR is a great dive resort. When our daughter was 10 we stayed there and they have a dolphin camp for kids. What 10 year old girl would not want to play with dolphins all day?

 

Great review thanks.

[MochaZen]

Thank you for taking the time to write a review! The Legend and that itinerary was my first cruise and holds a special place in my heart.

 

:)

[jacksmom09]

Loved reading your review and seeing your pics!

[lorilew]

Thanks for your review. I am super excited to do the Dolphin Swim now! We leave for Tampa in 15 days!

[newdestination]

AKR is a great dive resort. When our daughter was 10 we stayed there and they have a dolphin camp for kids. What 10 year old girl would not want to play with dolphins all day?

 

Great review thanks.

 

When we got home from our cruise and my husband saw the AKR pics he looked up their website and checked prices. He may be tired of cruises but he's always wanted to get scuba certified. I'm not sure if I'm ready for scuba but I sure would love to go to dolphin camp;)

[newdestination]

Thanks for your review. I am super excited to do the Dolphin Swim now! We leave for Tampa in 15 days!

 

I hope you love it as much as we did! I was a little hesitant to book it because it was rather expensive, but worth it, IMO.

[Ehpride]

Also from Iowa, 27, traveling with mom and on the Legend. Yes, it's pop! Great review! It sounds like you enjoy a lot of the same things we do :)

[Seago2]

Aww...... This review brought tears to my eyes. I love my five sons but I had so much fun on my mother/daughter cruise with my own mom on NCL Spirit in '05...

 

What a beautiful review. What's great is that you can see how the stress just melts off your faces the longer the cruise lasts. You to from normal to rock stars:D. I have always been against dolphin swims but guess what? Checking prices right now for next week. That looks incredible. The shot of you two with the dolphin in the middle is magical.

[newdestination]

Also from Iowa, 27, traveling with mom and on the Legend. Yes, it's pop! Great review! It sounds like you enjoy a lot of the same things we do :)

 

Looks like you love the Legend:)

 

I have to remember to call it SODA when we're not in the Midwest! Have a great cruise with your mom!

[newdestination]

Aww...... This review brought tears to my eyes. I love my five sons but I had so much fun on my mother/daughter cruise with my own mom on NCL Spirit in '05...

 

What a beautiful review. What's great is that you can see how the stress just melts off your faces the longer the cruise lasts. You to from normal to rock stars:D. I have always been against dolphin swims but guess what? Checking prices right now for next week. That looks incredible. The shot of you two with the dolphin in the middle is magical.

 

Thank you so much for your sweet comments. Maybe we need to start a thread of pics from mother-daughter cruises. I might have to post a photo from my 2008 Glory cruise with my mom, MIL, and other daughter.

 

You are right; the dolphin swim was magical. We had huge smiles on our face the rest of the day and could not stop thinking and talking about it.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[Seago2]

Thank you!:):)

[newdestination]

We got up around 7:45 and decided to go to breakfast in the MDR. We were seated at a table with two other couples and visited with them. I had an omelet, bacon, and a pastry and it was nice to have someone bring it to us, as opposed to picking it out ourselves and finding a table in the Lido restaurant.

 

After breakfast we went back to our room and started packing. The debarkation info was all available on TV and we watched it as we packed. We’d inquired earlier in the week about using the Luggage Express service, but our flight home was on Frontier and they did not participate in the program. We decided to carry our luggage off ourselves.

 

Around 9:30 we headed down to Rodeo Drive for one last pass through the gift shops. I didn’t buy anything and after we left the shops we wandered around the ship and took photos in the Enchanted Forest and of the glass staircase leading to the steakhouse.

 

 

 

 

Around 11:00 we went to the casino. One of the platinum perks was a free $20 entry to the Blackjack or the slot tournament, so I signed up for the slot tournament and we blew a whole $5 on penny slots. Other than that, we spent no money in the casino. It’s not that I don’t like to gamble....I do. I’ve just never been very lucky, inevitably lose my stakes in about 5 minutes, and then am furious with myself. Besides...my husband and I have farmed for 35 years and believe me, that is enough of a gamble.

At 12:20 I took my seat in front of my slot machine. Five minutes later I’d racked up about 12,000 credits, nowhere near enough to qualify for the next round. Actually I’d have been SHOCKED had I won anything :o

 

Around 12:45 Laurie and I headed up to the Unicorn Cafe for some lunch. I had a big salad from the salad bar and Laurie had a deli sandwich. The restaurant was packed and we had trouble finding a place to sit; we finally found a couple seats in Serenity near the bar. The chocolate buffet was that day and I got in line and got several things for us to sample. I wished I’d taken a few pictures because it was really pretty. Most of it looked better than it tasted, though.

 

After we ate Laurie fell asleep. I people-watched and when I saw a couple pack up their stuff and leave one of the 2-person hammocks, I snagged it. We spent the next hour in the hammock, swinging and soaking up the sun. I ordered a Funship Special and totally enjoyed our last hour of warmth. It became very windy and started to cloud up around 3:00, and we started to get a little wave action. We packed up, left our hammock and went to our room to drop off towels, sunscreen, etc.

 

At 4:00 we attended Game Show Mania in the Follies Lounge (mainly just killing time before the 5 p.m. Fun Farewell Party).

 

We had a few extra minutes before they opened the doors of the Firebird Lounge for the party, so we played a quick game of Gin Rummy in the card room while we waited.

 

At 5 p.m. they opened the doors for the Fun Farewell party. I’d probably have missed this had I not read about it on CC. The only place it’s listed is on the tear-off sheet of the Fun Times. Apparently many people didn’t know about it because the lounge was nowhere close to full. The Legend show band performed and the drinks flowed freely...basically as many as you wanted.

 

After the party we went back to our room. I stepped out on the balcony to assess the weather and it was cool, cloudy, and WINDY. For the first time all week it was very easy to tell you were on a moving vessel. We got ready for the evening and at 7:30 headed out to the piano bar. I play the piano and usually love that venue (especially dueling pianos) but for some reason we hadn’t been there all week. However, on the way to the piano bar we got sidetracked as we went past the shops. I wound up buying some rum, which on Saturday night you can take to your room after purchase. We took it back to our room and enjoyed some before we went to dinner.

[newdestination]

By 8:15 we were in Truffles DR for our last dinner of the cruise. I ordered the New England crab cake, frog legs from the didja’ ever menu, and grilled salmon from the everyday menu. Laurie had the crab cake for an appetizer and the bacon mac and cheese for her entree. I tasted the mac & cheese and it was very good. For dessert, we both had the cappuccino pie. We enjoyed it all. In spite of my perception that the quality of the food is not as good as it used to be, I still enjoyed all my dinners in the MDR. I felt bad that we didn’t stick around to tell our waiters goodbye but after we finished dessert we waited awhile and they were busy with other tables so finally we just left. It seemed that since there were just the two of us at our table we often finished more quickly than some of the larger tables.

 

The waves were now big enough to make walking around the ship a little difficult. Laurie had had a few problems with motion sickness/dizziness during the week and had been taking some meclizine. She thought she ought to take another dose so we went back up to our stateroom. I decided to take a dose as well. I had left the television on turned to the station with the weather and sea conditions and it reported that the wind was “35 from NW.” I stuck my head out on the balcony and it was uncomfortably cold and windy. Around 9:30 we headed down to the Follies Lounge for the Carnival Legends show, which was enjoyable. Some of the “Legends” were portrayed very well, some not as well but anyone that will get up on a stage in front of that many people and try to sing gets an A for effort from me. I know I can’t do it.

 

After the Legends show was over we headed over to the Comedy Club for one last show, an adult show by Scotty K. I forgot to mention that he’d played the guitar and sang in his show last night, pretty darn well IMHO. Laurie and I were sad to think it was our last show on the Legend.

 

At 11:35 we stumbled to bed, hanging on to chairs, handrails, walls, and whatever/whoever else was handy. We ordered a room service breakfast on the card provided in the cabin and hung it on the door. When I finally went to bed I felt as if the bed was moving in a circular motion. It wasn’t unpleasant and I fell asleep quickly. Sometime towards morning I woke up and that rolling movement had stopped.

[newdestination]

Laurie and I were up shortly before 6:00 and ate our room service breakfast, which arrived exactly in the time frame specified when we ordered it. We finished packing and I stepped out on the balcony. It was clear and COLD outside. We docked around 6:45. Platinum guests had been instructed to meet in the Truffles DR with their luggage (if doing self-assist) by 7:45. At 7:30 we left our cabin for the last time and went to Truffles with our bags. We were off the ship by 8:30, at the airport by 9:00 (using van from Holiday Inn Express) and at our gate by 9:30 after a great cruise that we will always remember. Our flight left on time and we were back in Des Moines by 2:30 p.m.

 

A few things I didn’t mention elsewhere in the review:

 

*We booked the cruise through a PVP at Carnival. He was very knowledgeable and helpful. We booked a past guest rate about 2-1/2 months before the cruise and received $75 each OBC.

 

*We did not utilize the spa, gym or pilates/fitness classes, Internet cafe, Wi FI, or extra-charge restaurant.

 

*I received the backpack as my platinum gift and we did receive priority embarkation. I’m not sure that the platinum guests were indeed the first ones OFF the ship, but we were off the ship in very good time. We did not utilize the complimentary wash/fold service.

 

*I absolutely loved having the balcony. It added to my enjoyment of the cruise a lot.

 

My overall opinion of the ship itself? As I stated early in the review, the layout of the Legend was different than the Fantasy class ships and the Glory that I’d been on previously but I liked the size of the Legend. I can’t particularly say I enjoyed ALL the decor (some of those vases come to mind) but I liked the theme of the decor. The ship was clean and appeared well-maintained. All of the staff members I came in contact with were very pleasant and helpful.

 

If anyone has questions, I’ll try to answer them.

 

Thanks to everyone who read my review and commented and may all of you that have mother/daughter (or father/son) cruises booked have a fabulous time!