legend review 5/13 - 5/21

[dizzy205]

Legend May 13-May 21 San Juan, St. Thomas, Tortola

 

This is random, not an organized review, so bear with it :D thanks!!

 

My (Ang) 4th Carnival trip, DH's (Tom) first.

 

Embarkation--NY was a nightmare. No organization, felt like a big airplane hanger. We were herded into a big square, both sides filled up, then the middle, with only one opening in the middle to get into where you go through metal detectors and get your sign and sail. So, naturally the middle went through first leaving those who were in line first, last. No Biggie really, just used to more organization. We go through the metal detectors with most or our booze in our rolling cooler. Side note, don't fill the cooler with ice, use bags of ice, we made a mess :eek:

We got our sail and sign cards, mine was gold, DH was blue and red.

Another side note-- NO ONE said welcome back to me ever this trip.

 

We didn't leave at 4pm, it was more like 6:30pm. We should have packed parka's it was so cold. We waited to see the Lady, since this was DH's first time out of NY. The we went to the comforts of the balcony, where we had cold weather gear.

 

First thoughts--The ship is so pretty. I heard all sorts of "urn issuses", I didn't even give it a thought.

 

Cabin--5122 forward, extended balcony. It was a nice room. I liked the fact that there was ample space for everything. I still like the shower doors on Royal better though. The room was big enough, we were ajoining with friends, so it made the room seem bigger somehow. The balcony was bigger than I thought it would be. We liked the cabin, the bed was comfortable, everything was clean. Make sure that you change your phone message to YOU and not the previous owners. We were Bob and Stella for a day or so before we knew.

 

The ship--Long and narrow. Many places to drink, many places to read a book quietly. Designated smoking areas. We didn't find out until day 3 that the upstairs lounge in front of the dining room was smoking, and the downstairs was not. The glass elevators were beautiful and so was the bar area in front of it. The singer at the bar was the worst we have ever heard. He and the Casino singer must have had a bet on who could sound worse and for how long :cool: . The Casino, I might add was much larger than I imagined.

Slots were tight, we stuck to the Poker room.

 

Cabin Steward--Stefania. She was nice, she always made sure we had what we needed, eventually. DH was not impressed, he had to ask more than once for something, on more than one occasion. She was always friendly, always stoped to say hi. Our cabin was always neat and clean. We had our luggage much faster on this ship than any others we have been on. Kudos to Stefania for that!

 

Room Service--Not a very big menu. Only cold items that I can remember. We ordered breakfast every day. It wasn't until the last day we ordered room service for breakfast, did I find that if I wrote in bacon, I would get it. So try it, maybe it will work for someone sooner! Most days they woke us up. We would put a time on the paper, they would come 10-15 minutes early. Can't complain, they weren't late!! At least we had an alarm clock that worked!

 

Dining room--We were traveling with 2 other couples. The couple we were ajoining cabins with had the same table. The other couple did not. After the first foo foo drink, we went to see the maitre'd Thom. He was very accomodating and put us all the same table, 6 people, late seating, table 308 upper dining room. Wow piece of cake! We got to table 308, we met Park and Martin. Park had zero personallity but Martin made up for it. It was BLAZING hot at table 308. I am not sure that we even enjoyed anything that first night, maybe we were tired, maybe it was the heat. So we try again on night 2. Again, swealtering hot. It was formal night, and I had on a tank type top, and poor DH and the other men in suits. I had my hair up in a matter of minutes when we sat down. It was unbearable. We couldn't get water fast enough. Another night of misery at dinner. That is supposed to be one of the highlights! Next day, we see Thom again. We ask to be moved again, perhaps somewhere that others say is cold, and maybe we have a chance at a good meal, since the last two days not one of the 6 people ate because it was too hot to enjoy it. Again, Thom came to the rescue! We were at table 119 I think maybe 219, anyway it was on the lower tier, much cooler. What a great change! We then met Jesus our waiter, and Juti our assisant waiter. They were fantastic. The first thing they did was introduce themselves, we told them our names and they never forgot them. We were going to try to get into the supper club, but decided to stay with our great waiters instead. The food was good as it turned out. Comperable to other lines.

 

Pool and cafe areas--We chose to stay in the adult pool area. The music was terrible but that is the sacrifice you make for adult area, bad music, no kids. Please, I like kids, but I just wanted peace for my vacation. The last vacation we went on was Disney with my stepson. So just a little peace is all I ask for. Anyway, nice pools, nice hot tubs. The security was enforcing the no children rule too which was a plus. Although there was one family who were trying to stay there, and question why, but they evenually adhered to the rule and left. We didn't like having to go through cafe, pool, cafe, pool for everything. The upside to that was that you could go to the cafe in whatever you were wearing or not wearing. No shoes, no shirt, no issues. This I remembered I liked from Carnival. The food at lunch time was good. The pizza great! Do remember while crisping in the sun, the food stops at 2:30. You can get pizza and those really yummy reubens if you are too late for lunch. The waiters were always attending to you. We didn't go too long without a cold drink. I suggest the Mango Daquari--not too sweet, but really good.

 

Stormy weather--The first 2 sea days were great! Sun, sun, sun.

 

San Juan- rain. Only got off the ship to go to the pharmacy. We also walked through the liquor store, ofcourse, and made a purchase.

 

St thomas--nice for the first few hours, we were going to do the skyride, and then it started pouring...so just alittle shopping and back to the ship.

 

Tortola--We did the Virgin Island Sailaway, no sun but a nice sail. We did swim in the water.

 

Back to the stormy weather-- the Captain was tring to get in front of the storm. We got some choppy weather, we have film of the lightning. The ship was rolling nicely at around 3am. This was not the worst weather I have encountered, this was the worst for DH. He did ok, surprisingly. He has motion issues so I was happy to see he didn't get sick. This will be the last time on a ship of this size. He won't go on anything less than the Voyager Class size ships from RCCL. I liked being rocked to sleep, to me it was great! I miss that on RCCL.

All in all a good trip, nice weather, good friends, lots of fun and relaxation!

More later! Any questions, let me know!!!!

[MrPete]

Good reading. Sounds like my cruise. OOPS!

 

Still sorry we didn't connect. We may have crossed paths though, cause we hung out by the rear pool the first couple of days. DD wasn't going in water till it warmed up, so she was the kid going around the top of the ledge of the pool ruining her knees.

 

I forgot about those singers. That guitar guy was horrendous, and that chick that played piano in those gowns with that 30's look going. OMG:eek:

 

More stuff I can blame on Brett Allans, being he's the one in charge of "entertainment". I made sure I created my own, and only went to the two production shoes.

 

Looking forward to your "more later"!

[richardyc]

not sure if this is weather related, I took the voyager last yr, the ship came back on sunday, and I was back to work the next day. I took the Legend 3-4weeks ago, came back on friday(thank God!), and it took me 3 days to feel "normal," so no more under 100k tonnage ship for me, unless I am cruising the Alaska's inner passage. ;)

[bphman]

It is a function of the weather, Richard. We were on the Zenith and had very smooth sailing and felt nothing when we returned. Went on the AOS last year and rocked and rolled for days after returning. Remember, no matter how big a ship is, the ocean is bigger.

[Tamhugh]

We were on the Explorer for our first cruise a few years ago and hit a rough patch leaving San Juan. Even the crew was sick and they were announcing to watch out for the "puddles" in the promenade. We are sailing on the Legend in a few weeks and it will be the first cruise for my parents. My mom's friends keep telling her that she won't feel any motion and I hate that! She will panic at the first little roll! I have tried to convince her that she will definitely feel it, it just won't bother her unless it gets bad.

 

Tammy

[jerseygirl3]

To those of you who think a larger ship is the only reason for less movement, I hate to be the bearer of bad news; it doesn't. It has to do with the draft and stabilizers. You may think that the larger ship sailed smoother, but it's probably that you had calmer seas.

[popcorngal]

To those of you who think a larger ship is the only reason for less movement, I hate to be the bearer of bad news; it doesn't. It has to do with the draft and stabilizers. You may think that the larger ship sailed smoother, but it's probably that you had calmer seas.

 

Jerseygirl3 is right. The size of the ship has very little to do with how much movement you feel. We were on the AOS and it rocked like crazy! Anytime, especially springtime on the Atlantic, you run the risk of rough seas. Just look at what happened to the Dawn! I've done two roundtrip trans-Atlantic crossings and I can tell you the Atlantic can whip up into a frenzy in nothing flat. I'm not trying to scare anyone, but you need to be aware of this going in. Rough seas can happen anywhere at any time.

[corina27]

There is another review on this board about this cruise and the reviews couldnt be more opposite!!

Im glad this one was better!:)

[dizzy205]

It is a function of the weather, Richard. We were on the Zenith and had very smooth sailing and felt nothing when we returned. Went on the AOS last year and rocked and rolled for days after returning. Remember, no matter how big a ship is, the ocean is bigger.

 

That is so true, but you can't convince my husband.

[dizzy205]

Thanks! I did like the ship and vacation. Mostly becasue of the good friend and fun time we had together. So what if it was rocking, it's a good story when you get home.

 

This is rotten, but....Did anyone go to the party when we were leaving PR? We did, lots of booze flowing.....There was this guy and lady--I use thes words loosely..Anyway there was this guy sitting in front of us with at least 3-4 inches of crack exposed. Ofcourse I pointed it out, it was captured on film..If I had any computer skills I would load it up somewhere, but I don't, I only have it in an email from my friend who had a digital camera. It may not have been that funny, booze and all. We saw him again a few days later. From across the ship you could see the same 3-4 inches accross the ship!

The more later part will come most likely Thursday when I have more time.

Have a good day!

[BelizePlease]

I forgot about those singers. That guitar guy was horrendous, and that chick that played piano in those gowns with that 30's look going. OMG:eek:

 

Awww...are you talking about John at the Lobby Bar!? Ok...so we were usually a few drinks in when we sat by him...and I'll admit he wasn't great...but he sang every single song we requested!! :D

[MrPete]

So could I , but they wouldn't hang around to hear it. Nor would anyone pay me!:)

[macrec]

I was also on this cruise and had a fun time. I didn't know the water got rough at night until my friend told me when I woke up in the morning. I was rocked to sleep and she told me, that my snoring sounded like the ships horn (nice friend). Of course, she has snored so loud her upstairs neighbors have heard her.

 

As for boarding the ship, we managed to get there very early so we did the pre, pre-boarding and the boarding for us went very smooth and quick. I would suggest to anyone going out of NY, if you can get there by 11:30 or so to do so. You may have to sit and wait for awhile but getting on the ship is a lot faster and smoother.

 

Speaking of seeing 3 - 4 inches of a "crack" - did you all get to see "thong" man on the shore excursions? I hear there were 2 different men wearing thong bathing suits. I know for sure one of them should NOT have been wearing a thong. Our tablemates at dinner said the other guy looked pretty good. My only question - why couldn't we get the good looking one, at least one of the days. Some people are not made to wear thongs out of their house and where there are children. So let me tell you, 3 - 4 inches of "crack" is nothing if you ask me.

 

We actually hung out at the casino bar. If you liked the guy or not, it turned into a sing-a-long and they are always fun. Isn't that what vacation is all about - doing stuff that is fun and getting some rest.

 

I would sail the Legend again or a different ship leaving out of NY in a heart beat, just need to get the money to go.

[jfritz126]

I also was on this cruise and we had a blast!!! I saw the one "thong" dude on our trip to the Virgin Gorda baths. What a sight!!!! We all really enjoyed this cruise. Yes....there were some adults who didn't quite know how to act after many drinks!!!!!! But when they got to be too much we just moved to another area. This ship is large enough for that. We were lucky and had great waiters. We really had nothing much to complain about. Maybe some little stuff but nothing worth getting upset about.

 

One last note......the infirmary people on this ship were fantastic!!! We had the unfortunate pleasure of using them and they couldn't have been any better!!