Here ya go.....another Legend review, another perspective

[summercruisin']

While we were eating dinner, Chef Panda came through the dining room looking for the people who would be enjoying chef's table the next night. He stopped at our table, and when he found out it was DS's birthday, he gushed all over him and made him feel special. He asked DS if there was anything he wanted, and he couldn't think of anything. He then asked us if we had ordered a cake, and we told him we had. He looked at DS and said, "there's no cake, so you get anything you want...what do you want?" I knew that DS and DD both REALLY wanted cake, so I told him so, but he seemed so eager to do something special for DS.

 

I finally told him it would be nice if the magician stopped by our table. We had seen the magician in the MDR on the first elegant night, but he stopped at the table next to ours and didn't visit ours. Well, Chef Panda pulls out the cell phone (I'm telling you....he's awesome!) and asks whomever answered if the magician was in the MDR. Then he said, "well I need you to page him and have him come to table 199." Wow.

 

We wrapped up our conversation, and about 15-20 minutes later the magician showed up still adjusting his jacket. I jokingly asked him, "so did you get called out just to come to our table?" and he not-so-jokingly answered, "yes." :eek::o I felt bad!

 

He got it together pretty quickly and started doing some tricks for DD and DS. In the middle of his "show" the cake came, and the servers sang "happy birthday."

 

 

The magician took a picture of the cake for us before they cut it (and he didn't make my camera disappear!). Somebody stuck their thumb in it! LOL

 

 

After that the servers danced

 

 

and DD was thrilled to find herself on top of a table again!

 

[summercruisin']

Pretty soon we headed back to our cabin to find our newest towel animal friend.

 

 

 

 

I have to say, this is the first birthday DS spent away from our extended family, and we are VERY family-oriented. I still live in the town I grew up in, the town my mama is buried in. My sister lives less than a mile away and we talk almost every single day. Her two kids and my two kids think of both of us as their mamas almost. Our dad lives about 8 miles from us, and our brother just a few miles further off of the same road. We are very close, and it is a big deal to spend a birthday away. But DS really enjoyed it. Carnival sent him a card first thing in the morning, Victor Bodden's people remembered it, the CD did finally give him a warm 'happy birthday' while I was on the phone with him (and DS smiled and thanked me for calling in, because he knew that was a real challenge for me), and then Chef Panda, the magician, and the rest of the dining staff just topped it off. You can't tell by the pictures I've posted, but we don't really don't get to see DS smile very often...a real, genuine smile (he is diagnosed with depression among all the other things). And this is something I live for. Just wanted to put that out there....it was a great day for him.

 

 

Well, I'm headed to bed before long, but I will give you a sneak peak of what's to come...

 

 

Friday was our stop in Grand Cayman, and we decided to do a Carnival excursion (because I couldn't find a way to book it in advance online). We planned to go to Dolphin Cove for an encounter (our first time ever!) and then to Stingray city (DH and I had been here before, but not the kids). This day offered a test of patience, a few new things, a very autistic moment and the reactions from strangers that come with that, an hour of fun on a rooftop (I'll fill you in!), a different kind of monkey, and a final treat from Chef Panda. And I have pictures to capture it all....well, almost. See you tomorrow.

[PrettyBrownGirl86]

Wow, really enjoying your review.

 

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

[Andoria]

Yay I caught up on this review while sipping my morning coffee. I can't wait to read more!

 

Would you mind sharing how much the Belize excursion cost? Thanks.

[HopeILuvCruisin]

I am glad that youm entioned something about the armed guards. I actually have been reading government warnings all day about Hondoras, both from Cananda -High alert, and the United States-Be wary, and I posted a question on the Caribbean Roatan thread regarding this too.

 

 

What is the status of Roatan? I am a little leary about going now :(. We have a tour booked w/ Victor...

[CBCGirl]

What is the status of Roatan? I am a little leary about going now :(. We have a tour booked w/ Victor...

 

I have heard the warnings about Honduras as well, but with all that I have read the warnings mainly apply to the mainland and not Roatan. Mainland Honduras is not a very safe place to be, but from all I've read about Roatan its fairly safe. You mainly have to worry about petty theft.

[ncbeachteacher]

Honduras is Honduras. Roatan is an island and more isolated and insulated from the periodic civil unrest that occurs on the mainland. Carnival seems to keep a strong pulse on that issue and has in the past not made port when it is problematic. I have never worried or felt threatened in Roatan. I would recommend that you go on your tour and not worry about it!

 

Armed guards/police with machine guns is the norm in most Central and South American countries. To most Americans, it can be alarming the first couple of times you encounter policemen with uzis, AK 47's, or whatever. I have adopted the thought that I like seeing security/police officers in the places I travel. It would be the ABSENCE of them that would make me worry!

 

When my oldest daughter got married in Mexico, we were stopped at a checkpoint on our way to our hotel. The driver got out and the doors to the suburban were opened, and machine guns were pointed at us as we quickly put our hands in the air. (Several folks were downright frightened! Me being one of them!) Showing them our passports got our driver back and away we went. The next time, no one flinched and we got along in record time.

 

Once, in Belize, we had policemen board the bus we were riding to our excursion. That was several years back though. We have been several times since and haven't had that "level of security" since.

[summercruisin']

Totally forgot that on Thursday evening, we actually also fit in the show that night - The Big Easy. Looking back, I don't know how in the world we did it all! Anyway, it was a good show, better than the first in that the performers seemed quite a bit more polished this evening. One of the singers belted out a Christina Aguilera song.....amazing. Just a little FYI if you are going with young kids, though, let me warn you that this one IS a little risque. I usually am not a prude at all when it comes to nudity (our kids went to the beach at St. Maarten....you know the one....when they were almost 9 and 3. We've never made a big deal out of it), BUT after the fairly tasteful show earlier in the week, this one seemed a little too much. I think it was the whole pimps and prostitutes look that went on for about the first 1/3 of the show, and especially the simulated sex on a pool table that made me a little uncomfortable with this one. But, neither kid said a thing (I'm pretty sure DD didn't know any of it was inappropriate anyway, and DS would be too shy to say something).

 

So Friday came all too soon (don't hear that very often!), and it was our last port day. Friday's stop...Grand Cayman. We decided to book the dolphin encounter and stingray city tour, and we booked through Carnival so that we could get on a tender with little wait and because I couldn't find the same tour offered privately. I did use a coupon code to get a discount (actually on both Carnival excursions), so I felt a little better about the expense.

 

Since I ordered tickets in advance, they were delivered to us early in the week. For the Grand Cayman excursion, we were told to meet in Follies lounge, I think at 10:15 so we didn't have to get up too early. We got breakfast in the buffet (as always....never did get to the MDR for breakfast on this trip!) and headed to the Follies Lounge just in time to get in line with our tour. This began the first of many examples of today's theme (apparently).....wait and wait.

 

In Belize, having booked with Carnival and been scheduled on a tender that met us at the ship to take us directly to our tour, we practically walked right off the ship (started in the Follies Lounge, went down a few sets of stairs, "dinged" our cards, and got right off). This time, we got stuck doing a lot of standing. It took more than 30 minutes to move from the lounge to the tender.

 

We had a two-story tender, and boarded from the top, which was filled by the time we got on, so we headed downstairs to the bottom.

 

 

They packed the tender before leaving, so loading it and getting back off at the port took a while.

 

 

Goodbye, Legend!

 

 

US Coast Guard in port

 

 

Hello, Grand Cayman!!!

 

[summercruisin']

double post...sorry!

Edited August 5, 2012 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

When we got to the port, it was pretty chaotic and we were directed to wait under a tent nearby.

 

 

and we waited and waited. We sat here at least another 30 minutes. No one told us any further direction or what the hold-up was, so we just waited. I did walk to a kiosk and buy a few bags of chips (later I was glad I did that!). Finally, someone came and gave us armbands and a little later a man with a sign told us to follow him to the bus. Our very large group followed him through the crowd and boarded several air conditioned buses. They were comfy, although one guy had to sit on a fold down chair in the middle of the aisle, and it really looked like it wasn't going to hold him!

 

We had about a 15 or 20 minute drive through the island, during which the driver gave some information about Grand Cayman. I couldn't hear most of it, because there was a group of kids behind me talking loudly (I was near the back with DD, while DS and DH were near the front). I did hear him say some wealthy man bought a resort and turned it into his personal home :eek:. Must be nice!

 

We arrived at Dolphin Cove (or in a parking lot nearby). To get to the building from where we were dropped off, we had to down a pathway through a wooded area with birds all along. We got left behind a little and had to rush to catch up, but I did get a few pictures. Pretty birds!

 

[marshhawk]

Thanks for coming back! My DH who never reads CC is also loving your pictures and story, and trust me if we can't book the tour we want in Belize, we are all over that island! that you went to.

[CarnivalCruiseLover]

I am so excited about our upcoming Legend cruise on September 9th. Reading your review makes me even more anxious to board the ship!

[breezycruiser]

Reading the way you speak of Madelyn and Jadon makes me happy. It brought tears to my eyes to read of how much he enjoyed his birthday and to see him smile.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[summercruisin']

well, I have put together another post 4 times now, and each time something has gone wrong.....either with photobucket refusing to connect the pictures or my internet going out. UGH! So, I'm going to try again tomorrow!

 

Thanks to everybody for your kind words!

 

Shenika, thanks a bunch! I do love those kids like nothing in this world.

[summercruisin']

Um...I am at my comp freaking out cause that person in the background looks exactly like me!!!! OMG. I'm here tilting my computer every which way to get a better look. weird and scary.

 

 

That's kind of funny in a creepy way! Wish you (instead of your doppleganger)could have enjoyed our port with us!

[summercruisin']

Yay I caught up on this review while sipping my morning coffee. I can't wait to read more!

 

Would you mind sharing how much the Belize excursion cost? Thanks.

 

 

thanks! For adults it was 85 before I used the coupon code; for kids it was 40, but DD was free (kids 5 and under go free on this tour! yes!). The coupon code got us 10% off, so I was happy with the total (under $200 for four of us). HTH

[summercruisin']

Reading the way you speak of Madelyn and Jadon makes me happy. It brought tears to my eyes to read of how much he enjoyed his birthday and to see him smile.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

thank you. I can't tell you how much we cherish his smile, especially when it stems from real happiness, however brief. This picture, taken while on the Dream two years ago (the one you missed :() shows about the best we usually get without forcing a smile.

 

 

Totally different boy than the one on this year's cruise, I think!

[moore1987]

Love Love love the review!!!! I did the exact same tour with victor!!

I'm interested to see if you stop by Cozumel also!! I'm Belize we did cave tubing and it was the best we booked with Major Tom. I highly recommend

 

Enjoying all the photos!! Did you say you were from nc??

 

Excuse the spelling sent from my phone

[marshhawk]

summercruisin' i am only posting this comment here to bring your review back to the first page. more people need to read this review! and you know i'm loving it!

[itravelalot]

Thank you for your review! We did the Legend last September but it seems you did much better excursions than we did..lol I am glad you had a wonderful trip and I am feeling your joy along with you as your son does new things and smiles that beautiful genuine smile.. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the review.:)

[summercruisin']

all right...a few more bird pictures from Dolphin Cove in Grand Cayman

 

 

 

 

The bird walk was pretty cool, but it was kind of dampered by the sign asking for tips at the end of it. Something about dropping me off in a parking lot with no direction and no choice other than to walk through the wooded path and then asking me to pay additional funds for that just didn't set right with me. But we moved on.

 

After the bird walk, we crossed a street, entered a building that had a store in it, and went out the back door where we were left on the shaded porch for another 15 minutes or so. This wasn't so bad, because it was shaded and we could catch glimpses of the dolphins! So exciting!!!! This is something I've waited a long time to do, so I was excited.

 

Next, we were directed to sit on benches closer to the dolphin area where we would leave our stuff. There was no shade at all in this area, which wouldn't have been so terrible except we were told when we got off the bus to please not apply any sunscreen because it needs to soak in at least an hour or it will wash off in the dolphins' area and could make them sick. Thankfully, we had put sunscreen on DD while waiting under the tent back at the port. DS, DH and I just left our shirts on for protection. Some people used their Carnival beach towels to cover up.

 

The problem is that we were again left here with no further direction for a long time...at least 30 minutes sitting under the very hot sun with no shade or protection. Thankfully, we don't burn easily, so it wasn't too bad for us, but for fair people it could be a real problem. So, if you do this tour, I strongly suggest you put your first layer of sunscreen on before leaving the ship!

 

I did get a few pictures of the area.

 

Looking out over the dolphin enclosure...

 

Here's the very hot deck we had to walk out on barefooted and then sit on while waiting our turn to play with the dolphins. To be fair, they did dump buckets of water on it after we got out there, but it was still uncomfortable.

 

 

There was a very small shade to keep the platform where the trainers would stand cool.

 

 

I sinfully coveted that shade :o

Edited August 6, 2012 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

After what felt like a very hot eternity, someone came along to have us sign waivers. We waited while the clipboard got passed around for that. Then the same guy started giving us some instructions, but he was very distracted by someone or something behind us and he couldn't focus on what he was saying. After baking in the heat, it was difficult to focus on him and be patient too. He would pause between word, start over numerous times because he lost track of his train of thought, and he just wasn't saying anything helpful. Finally another girl came along, indicated that he was new, and gave us better directions before leading us out onto the deck. Finally! The real fun!

 

They divided our group in half. The first half went down three or four steps (with a rail) onto a platform about four feet wide. The second half (that's us!) sat along the deck with our feet in the water. And then the dolphins came! Woohoo! We worked with two dolphins, and the first group did the same thing we did a few minutes later. We first held our hands straight out and grasped their flippers to "dance" with them. DD LOVED this, as you can tell by her face! By the way, I had to hold her the whole time, as the water was too deep for her.

 

 

DS enjoyed it too.

 

 

Then we put our cheeks out for a "kiss" and then kissed the dolphin as well.

 

 

DS had said he wasn't willing to kiss the dolphin, but it could kiss him. He didn't really look comfy with that either.

 

[summercruisin']

DH kissed the dolphin

 

 

and then got this reaction! :eek: LOL

 

 

After that, we stuck our hands out and got to rub the dolphin as she went past us twice (belly up).

 

That was it. Waaayyyyyyyyyyyy more waiting than interaction! I can't say I wasn't just a little bit disappointed with the way Dolphin Cove runs their encounters. It was just not organized well. It was almost like they weren't expecting us.....like we dropped in on a surprise visit or something.

 

Next, it was time to head to the second part of the excursion, stingray city. Like I mentioned earlier, I had done this before and really enjoyed it (but it had been years!), so I was looking forward to this part too. Plus, DD had pet some stingrays at an aquarium at the beach about an hour from our house, and she LOVED it, so she was really excited for this part.

 

We walked along a dock saying goodbye to the dolphins...

 

[summercruisin']

We walked a short way to get to a boat...

 

 

which we boarded to head out to Stingray City.

 

 

It was about a 25 minute ride, if I remember correctly, and the kids really enjoyed the boat ride.

 

 

But DD did start to get a little nervous as we approached...

 

 

When we got close, the "captain" passed around waivers to sign again and then gave some instructions. He was pretty amusing and informative, but in giving good info (don't panic or try to "escape"; don't step on the stingrays, etc.), he made DS a little nervous. Funny, the captain said that baby stingrays were a little less predictable and a little more jumpy/reactive, so DS to this day likes to talk about those vicious baby stingrays! :p

[summercruisin']

Despite the nerves, when the kids saw the words-can't-explain-how-gorgeous-it-is water, they relaxed a bit.

 

 

It helped seeing several other boats there and lots of people already in the water.

 

 

We set anchor, and the stingrays started coming to check us out.

 

 

Unbelievable! DS jumped right in! In fact, DS was the first of our family to get in the water (surprising in general, but even more so since only moments before he was saying he would not leave the boat unless I could hold him the whole time! :rolleyes: He even volunteered to jump off the side where it was deeper (about 6 feet) instead of taking the steps on the front where the water was waist deep!

 

 

I could barely believe what I was seeing...my calm DS with big ol' stingrays right beside him!