Western Med June 2013 - Legend of the Seas - review

[Cachecruiser]

Hello everybody!

 

My husband and I just returned from a nice cruise aboard the Legend of the Seas in the Western Med. Our itinerary: Genoa (Italy), Marseille (France), Barcelona (Spain), Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Valencia (Spain), at sea, Civitavecchia (Italy), Genoa (Italy).

 

I will write a short review of the cruise, for example the ship itself, ports of call, our shore excursions etc. But first I give you some pictures of the newly renovated Legend of the Seas.

 

If you've got questions don't hesitate to ask and I will be happy to answer them.

 

Stay tuned...

[Cachecruiser]

Pool deck

 

007 Skyfall on the screen

 

Whirlpool

 

Deckchairs

 

Pool

 

Jogging trail

[Cachecruiser]

Schooner Bar

 

Casino

 

Casino

 

Tables near the poolbar

 

Viking Crown Lounge

 

Anchors Aweigh Lounge

[Cachecruiser]

Large Interior Stateroom #6035

 

Mechanic fixing the door

 

Towel pet

 

Cocktail show in the Centrum with Gio

 

Game show in the Centrum with Cruise Director Mercedes

 

Evening show in the theatre

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Love your pics of the Legend. We will sail on her transatlantic in October. I am looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Thank you!!:)

[Cachecruiser]

And the last pictures from the ship.

 

 

Centrum

 

Music in the Centrum

 

Music in the Centrum

 

Centrum elevators

 

Shops

 

Pool deck by night

 

In my opinion, the newly renovated ship is in a good shape. There is a little bit of patina on some places, like missing wood on the railing at the aft deck and on the floor in the Windjammer, old furniture in the stateroom etc. But everything was clean and tidy.

 

@DragonOfTheSeas: Thank you. I'm sure you're going to like the ship and will have a great cruise.

[drarill]

Great pictures!! thanks for sharing!!:):)

[Travel R]

Thanks for posting, and looking forward to reading the review.

 

I'll be on her in less than two weeks!!!

[Cachecruiser]

Genoa

 

We had an alternate embarking port. Most people embarked in Civitavecchia - but for us, Genoa worked well because we decided to arrive by car all the way from Germany. We pre-booked a parking garage nearby the cruise terminal and started our roadtrip the day before cruising. We used the opportunity for a nice, short visit in Luzern (Switzerland).

 

At 9:30 am, we arrived at Genoa and got the first problem. The parking garage was closed because of "safety issues" and the guy waiting in front of the garage told us to follow him to a place somewhere within the harbor surroundings. The place was neither a regular parking area nor a parking garage and the place didn't look very secure. The requirement to hand over our car keys and the way the guy behaved, made it easy for us to decide leaving the place and look for another parking garage. Fortunately, there was free space in a secure parking garage with an excellent and professional service and a shuttle bus to the cruise terminal. This is "Park Torre Sud Porto Genova" and we highly recommend it.

 

Check-in at the cruise terminal was easy and there was no line because of the alternate embarking port. The luggage was tagged directly at the cruise terminal by RCI staff and was carried away directly out of the shuttle bus by terminal workers. We filled out the usual form and got our seapass cards at 11 am.

 

After boarding the ship, we were told that our staterooms will be ready at 1 pm. We decided to enjoy the sun at the pool deck until Windjammer opens for lunch time. After lunch we had a look at our stateroom and were able to access it. After a short rest and refreshment we decided to walk into Genoa city center.

 

There is no shuttle service but it's a very easy walk taking about 10 minutes time to get to the city center from the cruise terminal. You'll get city maps and info brochures at the info point free of charge. There are street signs you may follow - either walk along the water line or cross the road and go through the old town.

We had a nice walk through the old town, took some pictures and found some geocaches. Muster drill was at 16:30 pm, so we returned to the ship by that time. Muster drill was hold in the theatre. In my opinion there were about 200 people embarking this day.

 

After being dismissed from the muster drill and returning to our stateroom we met our stateroom attendant for the first time and had some requests. First of all, the A/C was noisy and very windy. The A/C-controller did not allow for a proper regulation of the fan. It seemed turning the knob had no effect on the temperature either. The attendant told us the noise is normal and we had to live with it. Our second request was to remove minibar items. This stateroom has no minibar so all the bottles and cans are on the small desk. He said that he can't, because in the evening the missing items would be listed and we would be charged for it. The safe didn't work as well, because of low batteries, and he told us that we have to call the pursers deck and ask for a mechanic.

Our first suitcase was brought to the stateroom but not the second one. DH had a Leatherman in the suitcase and this is equal to a weapon for ship's security and people are not allowed to keep it in stateroom. That's ok for us, but nobody informed us and only after calling guest relation desk we found out, that our suitcase can be picked up in the security area. We went to deck 2 in order to reclaim the luggage - of course, the Leatherman remained at the security for the entire cruise.

 

Finally dinner time. We pre-booked first seating at a large table. We got one for 10 people on deck 4 of MDR. After arriving we discovered that no other guests were seated at this table. We had a tasty dinner but service was not as expected. The assistant waiter seemed to be very insecure and didn't had an eye for guests needs, e.g. we had to ask him for another bread or fill up the glasses with iced water.

After dinner we skipped the show and decided to have a drink in the Viking Crown Lounge. This used to be our favorite place for an evening drink because of the amazing view. But after renovation this area is divided into 3 places, Viking Crown Lounge, Chops Grille and Izumi. The best view is reserved for Izumi, and thus the lounge is very small now and not as charming anymore as we knew it from other RCI ships. Also, you can smell the steaks and fryings from the special restaurants. However, the drinks were good and after this exciting arrival day we enjoyed ourselves.

 

 

View from the ship

 

Harbor

 

Streetview

 

Square

[Cachecruiser]

Marseille

 

We arrived in Marseille at 8 am and decided to have a late breakfast in Windjammer and not to leave the ship before 10 am. Windjammer was very crowded and it took some time to find a free table. Selection was good and the food was tasty, usual breakfast stuff from cold to hot - with an additional area to order freshly baked omelets. They don't call out numbers - instead one have to queue up for getting the eggs or omelets.

 

After leaving the ship we got the city map for free in the cruise terminal. Staff told us that buses are on strike so it was not possible to take bus line #35 to city center. On the picture below you can see the distance between city center and cruise terminal. We decided not to walk but join the line of guests waiting for a cab. A lot people queued up, but cabs arrived every minute so we didn't had to wait for a long time. We shared a cab with another couple and the cost was 17 EUR in total to Vieux Port. This is a nice spot for starting Marseille DIY.

 

We walked around the old port and discovered the old town by walking along Canebière, a very famous street with shops, banks and restaurants. We had a tasty lunch with some very sweet and delicious pastries on a nice square close to Le Préfecture.

 

Weather was very hot and sunny, but although there is a short train shuttle available we decided to hike all the way up to the cathedral Notre Dame de la Garde. This is a very nice cathedral on top of the hill and from where you have an amazing view over the city and the coast. Don't miss it!

 

Many pictures later, we went back to city center, crawling through the small alleys of the old town, found some geocaches and had a nice afternoon. All on board was at 5:30 pm so we grabbed a cab back to the ship at 5 pm.

 

In our opinion Marseille was - after Genoa - the weakest port of call during our cruise. Wether this is because we are not so francophile in general or we were looking forward to our favorite cities Barcelona and Rome - we can't tell. However, we had a great day.

 

In the evening it was our first formal night. We dressed up and arrived at MDR, discovering that there were no other guests on our table again. Our head waiter arrived and asked us to change the table for the next days because there was a larger family they wanted to seat at our table. Because we had no tablemates and do not want to sit with two persons on this big table we agreed. Some minutes later she came back and told us we will stay at our table and some other guests will share it for the next evenings. On top we were told that our waiter has changed tables and got a new one - in total we got three different waiters and two different assistant waiters. He did a good job and dinner was very tasty again. In my opinion this confusion is because of the different embarking ports. They had problems to manage their tables efficiently. Some tables were empty the whole cruise, others, like ours, were only seated by a few people. In general, MDR wasn't very crowded and cruise staff had no stressful job.

 

This evening the Captain's reception was hold up in the Centrum and the R-Bar. Guests got a glass of champagne for free. The captain told some interesting informations about the ship and the cruise and introduced some of his staff such as Cruise Director, Chef de Cuisine, Chef from housekeeping etc. Guests were able to shake hands and make photos with him.

 

After that we headed for a bar. Because Viking Crown Lounge doesn't appeal to us on this ship anymore we tested the Schooner Bar. There was a piano man singing famous songs, also requested songs from the guests. Schooner Bar is a small area between the Centrum and the Casino. You were able to hear loud music coming from shows in the Centrum or from the piano - quite bothering when choosing a table near the entrance. Drinks were good, service a little bit slow although there were not many guests.

 

Harbor

 

View from Vieux Port to Notre Dame de la Garde

 

Streetview

 

Canebière

[Travel R]

Beautiful pictures.

 

What were some of the choices for the dishes?

 

I believe that they changed to the menu during your itinerary - is that correct?

 

Sorry to hear about the few obstacles, but glad to see that it did not affect you or your enjoyment of the cruise.

 

In NHDisneyLover's review (also from Germany) she also mentioned a similar issue with the parking garage when arrived in the port.

[dln929]

Lovely review and photos. Keep up the good work! I am interested in what you have to say about the other ports you visited, thanks.

[Cachecruiser]

Beautiful pictures.

Thank you. :) I will tell DH because he is the man with the cam in his hand.

 

What were some of the choices for the dishes?

For starters they served salads (e.g. caesar salad, mixed salad), soups (e.g. asparagus soup, pumpkin soup, onion soup), special dishes (e.g. shrimp cocktail, escargots on formal night, spinach dip, pastry with mushrooms). For main course they served meat in different varieties (e.g. roast beef, ribeye steak, slices of turkey). And the served seafood such as big shrimps and scallops (they also let combine you this to Surf'n Turf) and a variety of vegetarian food (e.g. moussaka with eggplants and tomatoes). Every evening it was possible to order pasta, black angus steak oder an indian curry. Side orders were baked potatoes, mash potatoes, rice, sweet potatoes, variety of vegetables. For dessert they served beside others crème brûlée, chocolate soufflé, different cheesecakes, puddings and some sort of ice creme. This used to be the standard menu for the last years - but I'm sorry, I can't recall all of it.

 

I believe that they changed to the menu during your itinerary - is that correct?

Yes, that's correct. Our waiter told us the Legend of the Seas was one of the last three ships which received the new menu from RCI. They started with it on our last evening in Civitavecchia, the first evening of the next "original" cruise (main embarkation). The menu was all new and had the motto "Mojo", I will write more about it in my review.

 

Sorry to hear about the few obstacles, but glad to see that it did not affect you or your enjoyment of the cruise.

No, it didn't. Maybe my review sounds much more critical than it was in reality. We boarded this special cruise with several embarkation ports and so we were prepared for some inconveniences and hey, it's vacation, don't stress yourself and feel good. We had a great time. :)

 

In NHDisneyLover's review (also from Germany) she also mentioned a similar issue with the parking garage when arrived in the port.

I read it and we didn't know wether there is a trick behind it?! But I'm glad it worked out well for both families - and cars. Business as usual in Italy, I guess.

 

Lovely review and photos. Keep up the good work! I am interested in what you have to say about the other ports you visited, thanks.

Thank you. :) I will write again as soon as possible.

[PCWalton1]

Thank you for the review and some pictures of the ship. We will be on Legend for the Panama Canal in November and it is great to see what the ship looks like.

 

Bill

[Cachecruiser]

@PCWalton1: Thank you for reading my review. I'm sure you will have a great cruise. Panama Canal, how exciting, maybe someday we will have the opportunity to do so as well. :)

[Cachecruiser]

Barcelona

 

This was one of our two favorite cities we were looking forward to. We love Barcelona and visited it 6 years ago for a short day trip and planned our day in advance. We pre-booked our tickets for Sagrada Familia to skip the line. I recommend this because the length of the line was around the whole block when we arrived - hundreds of people. We pre-booked our entrance time between 11 am and 1 pm and the elevator for the tower for 11:15 am.

 

We arrived Barcelona at 10 am and wanted to leave the ship as soon as possible because of the pre-booked tickets. So we went to MDR for breakfast about 1,5 hours earlier, thinking we have enough time before leaving the ship. But service was very slow, the waiters didn't ask for order and roamed through the room instead of serving the table. We went to the buffet in the MDR but there was no good selection, not even bread was available, only pastries and some sort of cereals and fresh fruits. After a small breakfast we headed to the gangway at 10 am discovering that authorities hadn't cleared the ship yet. It took another 20 minutes and we got nervous because of our pre-booked tickets. We left the ship in a hurry, grapped some information brochure and a city map for free from the info point. I like to mention, that this information brochure was the best compared to the other ports of call. It informed exactly which metro line oder bus number one have to take to the most interesting sights of Barcelona. Fortunately, the local bus service called “T3/Blue Port Bus” waited directly in front of the cruise terminal. We bought two round-trip tickets for 3 EUR each and arrived at the Columbus Column a few minutes later. We walked straight to the next metro station, bought a metro ticket including 10 rides (or 5 each, because the ticket is shareble) for about 9 EUR at a ticket machine. You may pay with credit card. A lady from the local metro service stood right next to the maching helping us to select the proper ticket as the machine was in Spanish only.

 

Arriving at Sagrada Familia we were happy about our tickets and skiped the line. We arrived in time for the elevators, so next time we would count in more time between leaving the ship and entrance time.

Sagrada Familia is such an magnificent cathedral! It’s really worth the entrance fee. In our opinion it's the most impressive construction site we have ever seen and the constructors did such a great job the last years. We were amazed how well they advanced since our last visit.

The view from the tower is beautiful as well. The elevator only goes up - you have to take a narrow spiral stair down to the cathedrals ground floor.

 

Parc Güell is another lovely place built by Gaudi. We took the metro to Lesseps station and choosed one of the bus lines written in our information brochure. We took the line, which drove all the way around the hill, to the back entrance of the parc. Bus line 116 would be the better choice as this line brings one directly to the main entrance of the parc. We rode this bus line to get back to the metro.

 

Other great areas we visited after having lunch at Pans&Company - a local sandwich chain - were La Ramblas, El Barri Góthic, the old town as well as the “old” Catedral. It’s very easy to get lost in this small enchanted alleys, we wished to have more time in this place to discover everything. The gothic cathedral in Barri Gothic is worth a visit too. All on board was at 9:30 pm and time was flying in this nice city. We will come again to spend more time in Barcelona.

 

Back onboard we missed dinner and the Windjammer closed at 9:30. That’s a pitty for those guests who decided to spend the whole time in the city. But a good choice for us hungry guys was the quiet Park Café in the Solarium. They served hot dogs, soups and some desserts which was fine for us after this sunny day with lots of kilmeters walking through wonderful Barcelona.

 

We visited the Guest Relation desk, because we haven’t got the port information paper with our Cruise Compass by then. The lady gave me one in German, but in general the port information paper is quite poor. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to answer additional requests about the next port Palma (e.g. where we will dock, wether there is a shuttle service). Ok - the Legend of the Seas doesn’t cruise through the Western Med that often, so the staff is not familiar with all the ports yet.

 

 

View from Sagrada Familia

 

Inside Sagrada Familia

 

Sagrada Familia

 

Parc Güell

 

La Ramblas

 

Placa de Catalunya

[Cachecruiser]

We got so many beautiful pictures from Barcelona, so it was very hard to decide which one to upload, thus I added a couple more.

 

 

El Barri Gothic

 

El Barri Gothic

 

Cathedral outside

 

Cathedral inside

 

La Ramblas del mar

 

Columbus column (with a local soccer tricot, because Barca won the national championship)

[jessicalorene]

Nice start to your review! We took a cruise a few years ago that was an alternate embarkation point in Valencia Spain and we did not prefer it ... I'm glad we aren't the only ones!

[Cachecruiser]

In my opinion it depends in what you are expecting. Wether you like starting your cruise with All aboard-Party, having the same tablemates in MDR every evening and having none of these little flaws in organisation by the staff, you may not choose an alternate embarkation port.

 

For us it was ok, because we booked the cruise very late for a fantastic low prize and were prepared for some little inconveniences.

[Cachecruiser]

Palma de Mallorca

 

We had breakfast in the Park Café. Not a crowded place, very quiet and tasty food (e.g. sandwiches, paninis, english muffins with eggs, porridge, fruit salad, croissants). The ship docked from 9 am to 8 pm, a lot of time to get an overview of Palma.

 

Local bus service is just outside the cruise terminal. Can’t remember exactly but the price was very cheap, only about 2 EUR per person one way. There is a short ride for about 15-20 minutes to get nearby the spots of interest in the city center. But be carefull with the return by bus. Returning line starts from the same station where they dropped us, not from the station on the other side of the street. For us and some other cruiser we met later that day it was not logical. But I think it is not a round trip line, just only port to city center and back.

 

In Palma we visited the Cathedral, there is an entrence fee of 6 EUR per person. It’s amazing too, also the old town and it’s nice squares and alleys. You may have lunch in one of the lovely tapas bars, spending a good time without stressing yourself because Palma is not a city alike Barcelona or Rome full of sightseeing spots. But it’s cute as every other spanish city we visited during this cruise and we can say, we fall in love with Spain.

 

We missed Dinner again and went to Windjammer. Dinner there was delicous as well, there were several dishes such as boeuff stroganoff, ham, gratins with potatos, a fresh salad bar and pasta as well as pizzas. Topped by a variety of desserts such as tiramisu and a death by chocolate cake with which we closed our dinner.

 

This evening Crown&Anchor’s Welcome Back-Party was hold in the Anchors Aweigh Lounge. They served sparkling wine, wine and a non-alcoholic cocktail, also fingerfood and canapés such as spring rolls, pumpernickel with cheese and shrimps and of course some sweet little delicacies. Although we came directly from dinner, we tried the food. Hey, it’s a cruise and calories don’t count on cruises - as we learned on our cruises before.

The captain gave us some informations abouth the Quantum of the Seas, and the cruise director and her entertainment staff honored the person with the most Crown&Anchor points on board. After a special dancing show the party ended and the next show, called The Quest, was announced. We attended this show during our last cruise so we enjoyed the show from a table backwards not getting involved in the action. It was very funny, the entertainment staff did a great show and animated the guests very well. So after the Quest nearly everyone headed to the Solarium for the pool party with DJ Di Hant.

 

 

 

Cathedral La Seu

 

Inside Cathedral

 

Placa

 

Streetview

 

Patio

 

Old wall

[Travel R]

Palma seems like a nice little town to visit, but we are still undecided about what to do in that port - or to do nothing. With a 9 and 13 year old in-tow, it is hard to find something that everyone will enjoy.

 

Interesting you keep on missing the MDR (which means you are having fun), but they should make the seating a little later for nights with late port launchings. Personally, I like buffets, but my DW is not a "buffet person."

 

Once again, great strories and pictures.

[Cachecruiser]

In Palma we saw many families coming from a beach nearby. You can take the local bus service, I don't know the station or any detail information, but they arrived at the same station we did.

 

For us a city with less interesting spots to prepare in advance it's very easy. We do some geocaching, finding thus nice spots we've never heard about. But I know that this is not everyones interest.

 

Maybe for next cruise we will try MTD, when there are many ports with late all on board-time again. But actually we love having the same table and tablemates during the whole cruise, having nice conversations about our different experiences in port or taking a drink together etc. But in this case this time dinner was not what we expected. :-/

 

I hope I will finish my report this weekend. Stay tuned... :)

[xxHadleyxx]

It IS funny that we ha so many of the same experiences and reactions! My husband chuckled at the photo of the mechanic working on the door--we think it is even the same guy who worked on ours :)

 

I probably would not have felt so safe leaving the car had I not actually called RCI's offices in Genoa and they told me that was the company they used--and then I looked up reviews and they were all positive (and many written in German--and I always figure if Germans are okay with their cars there it must work out well :D ). But it was definitely a "hmmmm" moment dropping it off; I don;t blame you at all for deciding not to. I'm glad you found a good alternative without much trouble.

 

Oh, and we agree with you that Marseilles was the least interesting port. Fine, but nothing all that exciting or an atmosphere that draws me to really wanting to go back.

[Cachecruiser]

Yes, I have to grin while reading your trip report. :D

 

And although there were many affinities, some things changed, e.g. the singers you loved or some trivias you made.

 

In my opinion there were many newbies among the stuff this cruise. Some of them looked very insecure or didn't keep track of things. And not all of the guests were polite and appreciative, keeping in mind that it's vacation and not time to anger about peanuts.

[Cachecruiser]

Valencia

 

It was late the day before so we slept long and had a short breakfast in the Windjammer. I didn’t felt well and notized an upcoming cold. I’m sure the reason was the A/C. On ship, I’m cold sometimes and thus I never went to MDR without a pashmina or a cardigan. We bought two tickets for the shuttle service from RCI for 12 USD per person, although we knew there was a local bus service. We didn’t felt like dealing with timetables or bus stops, just wanted to be on autopilot this day.

 

We didn’t planned anything for Valencia upfront, we just looking for a stress-free time in the old town and strolling through Jardines del turia. The gardens are located on the old river bed which once ran through the city and one can have a nice and relaxed walk there escaping the hustle of the city. Within the parc the Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias is located - a futuristic architectural complex housing several museums.

 

But first, we went to the old town. Everything is in walking distance. There are nice squares and alleys, very cosy. We forgot to get a city map in the cruise terminal so we headed towards the tourist information at Placa de la reina. Both, the cathedral and the bell tower, are worth the visit right at this square. Visiting the top of the Bell tower costs a small fee (2,50 EUR) but we climbed up because a geocache is hidden up there. The view from the top made amends for climbing up all the steps on this hot and sunny day. When we went downstairs the ticket lady was gone - new visitors had not to pay, so maybe you get lucky too.

 

After a nice coffee break in a café behind the cathedral - with some extraordinary prices for a cappuccino. But hey, they had free wifi and we wanted to send some holiday greetings via email and fb - we left the old town towards the gardens.

 

It was a very nice afternoon, strawling around and discovering a lot of spots in the gardens. We had a tasty lunch with tortilla and cervezas in a café in the gardens. We miss this “Dos cervezas por favor!”.

 

Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias is an amazing and spectacular area. It forms an unbelievable contrast to the old town, we almost thought we were sometime in the future. We took quite some time looking around, taking some cool picutures. Above all we forgot that last shuttle service was going at about 4:30 pm and we wouldn’t reach it in time. We met another couple from the ship and shared a cab back to the harbour. It costs only 6 EUR per cab. To get from the harbour to the city center, the prize would be no more than 15 EUR per cab, I guess. The Shuttle service from RCI isn’t worth the prize in Valencia.

 

The other couple told us they got the same issues with the A/C as we. They asked two times for a fix and because they were told this is not possible, they got an uprade from an ocean view to a balcony stateroom. If we only had known...

 

After two days not eating in MDR, this evening was second formal night, so we dressed up and went to our table. No tablemates again, but a new waiter (third one) introduced herself, because our second waiter was off sick. She did a great job and was very strict to her assistant waiter, told him to arrange plates in the right way etc.

 

“Majority Rules” game show was hold in the Center. We didn’t made a good job, but it was funny however. We ended the day with a nice cocktail in the R-Bar.

 

Nice facade

 

Streetview

 

Square behind the cathedral

 

Bell tower and cathedral

 

View from the bell tower

 

Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias