Our Carnival Legend Pictorial Review--August 12-19, 2012

[dz63]

Tonight was the second Cruise Elegant Night in the MDR. Again we dressed up in our fancy attire and prepared for another great meal. (Little did I know, my DH had a surprise planned!)

 

Our starters:

Penne siciliana.

 

Cream of garden fresh broccoli soup...

 

...and from the didja menu (food you always wanted to try, but didn’t dare),

Escargots

 

My DS’s all took the dare and tried a escargots. For someone who is very fussy when it comes to food, my youngest DS tried one as well. Do I need to mention, what he thought of it?

 

[dz63]

Dinner that night was the same order from everyone:

 

Chateaubriand with sauce béarnaise.

 

Then after our dinner, the waiters sang and danced.

 

Instead of our waiter Slavisha bringing us the dessert menu, be brought over a heart-shaped Happy Anniversary chocolate fudge cake. Then he and his assistant (singing in their off-key voices with accents), serenaded us with “Happy Anniversary!” What a memorable moment that was! This was my DH’s big surprise for me in celebration of our 25th anniversary.

 

 

Click on this picture to hear Slavisha and his helper sing to us.

 

My older DS’s. I think my boys look so handsome!

[dz63]

After enjoying that yummy and moist chocolate fudge cake, Slavisha brought us the dessert menu. (As if we really needed to eat some more!) Although we were already pretty full, how could we pass by on more desserts? So...my DH and DS’s still ate a warm chocolate melting cake.

 

I ate something not quite so filling—like the lime sherbet.

 

 

Our stateroom made up for the night.

 

Tonight we were greeted by a little Eskimo friend.

 

The boys cabin turned down for the night.

 

 

 

Coming up in Grand Cayman—Rays, Reef, Rum Point and a waterspout?

[PathfinderEss]

Really enjoying your review and awesome photo's. Thanks for posting.

[dawnc]

I see the back of my husband's head in the 3rd picture! Our table was right next to you!

 

Dinner that night was the same order from everyone:

 

Chateaubriand with sauce béarnaise.

 

Then after our dinner, the waiters sang and danced.

 

Instead of our waiter Slavisha bringing us the dessert menu, be brought over a heart-shaped Happy Anniversary chocolate fudge cake. Then he and his assistant (singing in their off-key voices with accents), serenaded us with “Happy Anniversary!” What a memorable moment that was! This was my DH’s big surprise for me in celebration of our 25th anniversary.

 

 

Click on this picture to hear Slavisha and his helper sing to us.

 

My older DS’s. I think my boys look so handsome!

[CJ0226]

This post brings back some good memories, this was our first cruise. Good times, good times.

 

The Legend may be an old school ship, but it was all new school to us and we loved it! We loved this itinerary too, but Belize was kinda a culture shock.

 

Wasnt sure what to think when we got out of town and hit a road block checkpoint with the military holding the machine guns. I thought that was it for us haha

[JLC@SD]

Enjoyed your review .....always like to read the reviews with lots of photos .....makes us feel like we went with you.

[AndrewD65]

I am really enjoying your review. I have sailed on the Legend twice and love every minute of it.. She is by far my favorite class of ships...

[dz63]

I see the back of my husband's head in the 3rd picture! Our table was right next to you!

 

That is really amazing--quite a coincidence. Even though our tables were so close together, we never met in person, but yet we can connect on these boards. I think the waiters sang Happy Birthday to someone at your table on the last night. Is that correct?

 

Wasnt sure what to think when we got out of town and hit a road block checkpoint with the military holding the machine guns. I thought that was it for us haha

 

OMG, that would be scary! Luckily we did not encounter anything like this when we visited Belize!

 

 

Again, thank you everyone for your kind words and comments--I really do appreciate it!

 

I'll be posting more later on tonight.

Edited September 16, 2012 by dz63

[rjrice1]

Thank your so much for the great review.... we are taking two grand kids 10 & 12. Showed them your pics and told them only "21" more Sundays..lol

By any chance do they have the movies under the star screen by pool?

We did the cave tubing with the back last year through http://www.vivtours.com

They did it in small groups.

Cathy][/b]

Edited September 16, 2012 by rjrice1

[dz63]

Thank your so much for the great review.... we are taking two grand kids 10 & 12. Showed them your pics and told them only "21" more Sundays..lol

By any chance do they have the movies under the star screen by pool?

We did the cave tubing with the back last year through http://www.vivtours.com

They did it in small groups.

Cathy][/b]

 

No, the Legend does not have the pool side theatre. However there were some afternoons when a movie was played in the Firebird Lounge.

 

BTW how did you like your cave tubing with VIV? They were our next choice.

Edited September 16, 2012 by dz63

[dz63]

Day 5—Grand Cayman

 

 

 

At 10:00 am, we arrived on the beautiful island of Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman is another tender port. Following the same drill as in Belize, all those wanting to go ashore on a private shore excursion are asked to meet in the Follies Lounge by 9:30 am in order to receive a tender ticket. We were given the number 3 and within 30 minutes we were on the tender for the short ride to the shore.

 

 

We were on shore shortly after 10:00. Today we booked the Rays, Reef and Rum Point excursion with Nativeways. We were asked to meet by 11:00 as the tour departs sharply at 11:15—so we were here early. We were so early in fact, that the representative from Nativeways had not even arrived yet! Eldon, co-owner of Nativeways arrived approx. 15 minutes later. (He is not hard to miss, as he is the tallest guy there!) In the meantime we walked around abit and looked through the shops. About an hour later the rest of those who booked with Nativeways showed up and we were off. We were put in a private van with Sharon (Eldon's wife and the other owner of Nativeways) and we were off to the marina.

 

We climbed aboard a large boat and made our way up to its upper level. The rest of the group (about 20 of them) arrived soon after. We were the only ones on the boat who booked the Rays, Reef and Rum Point excursion but since all the others booked the Rays and Snorkel we shared the same boat to Stingray City.

 

Stingray City, here we come!

Edited September 16, 2012 by dz63

[dz63]

There were four crew members on the boat. Our captain was Thomas and JC was the photographer. We found both of these guys to be friendly, funny, professional and informative.

 

Captain Thomas.

 

Approaching Stingray City—the water is such a beautiful, turquoise color and crystal clear too!

 

Can you see the stingrays?

[dz63]

Both Captain Thomas and JC were in the ocean handling the stingrays. JC took hold of a large female stingray and showed us her stinger. I couldn’t believe how large the stinger was. It was about as thick as a pencil and a good 8-10 inches long. In order to get stung by a stingray, the stinger must puncture right through your skin—oww, that would really hurt! JC also told us to notice the eyes on the stingray and how they look like the eyes of an alligator!

 

While in the water, stingrays floated gracefully all around us and we even felt their smooth, slippery hide, brush against our legs.

 

JC tells us all about the stingrays.

 

Then we all got to hold a female stingray (notice how large she is).

 

 

Then we all got a stingray massage...

 

and, yes even kissed the stingray. They say kissing a stingray will give you 7 years of good luck! Time will tell how true this will be!

 

 

Although I was brave and did let the stingray’s wing brush up against my lips, I much prefer a kiss from my DH anyday!

 

(That jealous stingray is tapping me on the shoulder!)

Edited September 16, 2012 by dz63

[dz63]

We learned the large stingrays are female whereas the small stingrays are males (and here we originally thought the small ones where the babies! Shows you how much we know!) There is really quite a big contrast in their sizes.

 

My eldest DS holds a male stingray. See how much smaller this stingray is?

 

Click on the picture below to see us handling the baby…..opps!...the male stingray.

We were also given calamari to feed the stingray. Whereas most people got a calamari piece, I actually got a whole one—eyes, slimy tentacles and all! The stingray sucked up the calamari like a vacuum! I couldn’t believe what strong suction those creatures have!

 

(Remember to keep your thumb tucked under unless you don't mind getting it sucked into the stingray’s mouth!)

JC took photos of everyone with the stingrays. The charge was $20.00 per photo, or you could purchase them all for $50. The photos looked good, so we purchased them all. JC downloaded the photos onto a disc for us.

Edited September 16, 2012 by dz63

[dz63]

We spent 30 minutes in the water with the stingrays before it was time to go. From Stingray City it was a short boat ride to the Reef. We put on masks, snorkels and fins and jumped into the warm, clear, turquoise-blue water of the Caribbean Sea.

 

 

 

Looking below we could see many colorful, tropical fish swimming around in their underwater paradise.

 

[dz63]

We spent 20 minutes snorkeling at the Reef, before it was time to get back on the boat.

 

 

Then we were off to our next stop--Rum Point Beach.

[dz63]

Arrival at Rum Point. On the pier to the beach!

 

Rum Point

 

Rum Point Beach is very scenic. Large casuarina pines gracefully cascade over the beach and lounge area, providing shade from the Caribbean sun. Netting hangs across the tree branches. I am not sure how much of this netting is to keep birds out as it is to prevent pine needles from falling onto the tables and sand below.

 

[dz63]

JC went onshore with us and led us to a picnic table that was especially reserved for us.

 

JC also brought us our lunches. He took our order early on in the day and then called the order in, so that by the time we got to the beach, our lunch was ready. Lunch was included with the price of this tour and it was all very good.

 

 

My eldest DS ordered the Traditional Style Jerk Pork.

 

The rest of us ordered the cheeseburger with fries (we had the choice of Swiss or cheddar cheese).

 

Ice tea and water was included with the lunch.

[dz63]

Although Rum Point is scenic, we were not totally impressed with the actual beach area and water. We found the actual beach area to be quite small and the water was somewhat murky and “seaweedy”--not clear like it was at Stingray City or like our last experience at 7 mile beach in 2007. I do not know if the “unclarity” of the water is typical of Rum Point Beach or if we were there on an “off day”. We also found it quite rocky entering the water which was hard on our feet. This is another time when beach shoes definitely would have come in handy.

 

 

At Rum Point Beach, we swam in the warm water,

 

relaxed on a hammock,

 

rested in a lounge chair,

 

and simply soaked in the scenic and tropical beauty all around us.

Edited September 16, 2012 by dz63

[Donh44]

Your pic were terrific. Thank you so much for taking the time to put them on here. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at them.. I think I will consider a Legend cruise in the future.

[dz63]

We spent 1 ½ hours at Rum Point Beach before it was time to head back to the cruise ship. Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our day and time with Nativeways. From all the tour operators we encountered on this cruise, Nativeways offered us the best tour guide experience. Not only did they deliver everything we expected to do on this excursion, but they were also jokey, funny, friendly, professional, helpful, and outgoing while providing us with a top-notch service.

 

We arrived back at the terminal by 4:45. Once we got there we noticed that everything was wet. Large rain puddles were everywhere. Although we had great sunny weather at Rum Point, it looked like we just missed a big down pour.

 

We got onto the tender quickly. I do not remember waiting in any line up—I guess the rain had something to do with that. Soon we were on our way back to the Legend.

 

 

Approaching the Carnival Legend.

 

Our tender arrives at Deck A.

 

The midway stairway on Deck A.

 

Looking over the front of the ship, you can see a tender going ashore.

(Looking down onto the crew deck).

 

More tenders dropping off passengers.

 

 

 

 

Well, that's all the time I have for posting tonight. Besides my internet keeps cutting out which is becoming very frustrating. I will be posting the rest of Day 5 tomorrow.

 

 

So stay tuned: More to follow!

 

Edited September 16, 2012 by dz63

[littysmom]

Thank you so much for for taking the time to post your vacation review. Loving the pictures! I have done this itinerary in the past so I know how much fun it was. This will be my first time ever sailing on the Legend. I can't wait to board her! We start our cruise Oct 21st. It will be extra special because after all these years of going on cruises.... I finally got my husband to go!! I think he plans on going,and and after the cruise say "see I told you I wouln't like it" He is in for a big shock ( I hope) I hope he has the time of his life.

Thanks again, really am enjoying this

Lisa

[arb34]

I am enjoying this so much, and really don't want it to end, just as I won't want our cruise on the Legend this coming March to end. We have a group of family and friends...a family reunion with relatives we have never met in person before coming all the way from Sweden to go with us so I am excited to share this review with them and let them see all the fun that is in store~~~ Thank you so much for taking all the time and trouble to do this!!!

[dawnc]

Yes they did sing! Monday was Colleen's birthday so my DH ordered a cake for her. I just need to get him to learn to spell check when he orders something. When the cake came to the table her name was spelled "Colean".

 

 

That is really amazing--quite a coincidence. Even though our tables were so close together, we never met in person, but yet we can connect on these boards. I think the waiters sang Happy Birthday to someone at your table on the last night. Is that correct?