NOOB LEGEND (wait for it) -ary Trans Atlantic Review

[JohnTRN]

We had one of our few lunches in the MDR today. It is really nice to be catered to! Sat with two couples we did not know and had a good time talking to them.

 

(My lovely wife bears with me wanting to sit next to a window)

 

(Hmmm, are those seas running a little higher today???)



 

(Truffles Main Dining Room (MDR), Promenade - Deck 3)



 

(Yup, no doubt about it. The seas ARE starting to run a little higher)

 

LCR with 20 people today, so we had a $60 pot. As grandma used to say, “It beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!”. Talk about your cheap entertainment!

 

Reading, a nap, walking about 2 miles on Deck 3, dinner, kicking back on the Serenity Deck and a show in the Follies finished the day. We saw an entertainer named Marcus Anthony who did a great show, consisting mostly of MoTown hits. It was very good!

 

This was another day we set clocks ahead. Have not mentioned it every night, but we are taking baby-steps on our way to the International Time and Date Line.

 

[JohnTRN]

Day 9 – 15 April

 

'Fun Day at Sea'

 

(We are definitely in the Mid-Atlantic! And what is that coming up? Could it be the Azores and Ponte Del Gada?

 

Today dawns a gray, drizzly day. There is not going to be much, if any time spent on the Serenity Deck today! We tried sitting under cover on the Serenity Deck for a while, but it was pretty chilly.

 

(Wind and seas are still up a bit)

 

Today is our CC Cabin Crawl, thanks to Dianne, our Cruising Canuk! Here's a link to how she organized our Cabin Crawl, for anyone interested in setting one up: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=37767924&highlight=cabin+crawl#post37767924

 

Our fellow CC Cruisers volunteered to open their cabins and play host to about four good sized groups of people. I don't remember how many souls we had . . . probably 30 or 40; of course, you have to count the hosts too, as they formed another group. You really don't realize how much difference there can be in cabins, even comparing obstructed view to obstructed view. Some of those layouts are REALLY sweet! Or is that, “suite”?

 

We bit the bullet and called both of our children today to see how they were doing. I don't think they were really missing us. Of course, we DID take off and leave them . . . Tried the first call on the cabin phone and could not complete the connection; called Guest Services to make sure we didn't get charged with a call that did not complete. Ended up just using the one cellphone we set up for International Calling and it went very smoothly.

 

The drizzle has mostly stopped, however, it remained cool and windy. We tried the Serenity Deck again with our Kindles, wrapped up in towels, still did not last long.

 

We had dinner with another couple from our Cruise Critic group and really enjoyed talking to them and getting to know them. All in all, we have a great group of people.

 

There are movies showing every night, that can be viewed in one of the theaters or on your cabin television; hmmmm, seems like they may be Pay-Per-View in your cabin. Tonight we went to the Follies Lounge to watch 'Life of Pi'. I had read this excellent book sometime ago and the movie was probably every bit as good as the book.

 

This was another night to set clocks forward.

 

Edited October 3, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

Day 10 – 16 April 2013

 

‘Fun Day at Sea’

 

 

Woke up to another of “Pooh’s Blustery Days”! (Winnie the Pooh reference, for those of you without children or grandchildren) Another gray and drizzly day, with 25K winds. By the way, Knots Per Hour = 1.15078 MPH; 25KPH = 28.7695 MPH. That puts another perspective on these winds!

 

 



 

(We passed this three masted schooner)

 

Today, we had a conflict of interests. LCR was scheduled at the same time as the Passenger Talent Show. We skip LCR to watch our fellow passengers and several CC friends perform and a good time was had by all.

 

(NOOB Hint –Your cruise line does a great job lining up activities on-board and ashore. On-board activities range from free to expensive (remember Chef’s Table?). Activities ashore will all cost. Guess what, you CAN organize your own excursions at ports and do it for much less.)

 

Another CC member had organized a full-day tour for our stop in Ponte del Gada. She had extended a limited number of invitations through our Roll Call, to fill her vehicle. I also organized an excursion for this port, which grew way out of control; not in a bad way, just more than I had anticipated. Jody and I didn't want a full day tour. We enjoy walking the streets of these old cities and wanted time to do that after the tour. There was also minor concern about the possibility of running late and missing the ship. Azores Tours offered multiple ½ and full day tours of the island in 8 passenger vans; minimum four. I chose a ½ day tour that started early in the morning. I extended invitations through the Roll Call and soon had my minimum, then a full van. More people expressed interest. I took it on myself to contact Azores Tours to inquire about a larger vehicle and adding more people. Before long, I had filled a second van, with more people expressing interest. The short story, I ended up with around 30 people from the Roll Call, with Azores Tours offering a 40 passenger bus. This is how we came to meet Bill and Pam at the Meet and Greet (remember that back on Page 1?). We would add them to our tour, as well as some other new friends who heard about the excursion.

 

Initially I planned to collect and hold the cost of the tour from cruisers sometime early in our cruise. That was going to mean I would be holding somewhere between 120 and 240€. Now, we’re up to 30 people and I’m going to be holding 900€! One of the CC Members came to my aid in the form of an email. It was pointed out to me that I was generously taking on a big responsibility in organizing this tour for all of these people and an even an even larger one by planning on holding the money, and I didn’t need to do that. I backed off from the original plan of collecting money and told each cruiser they would pay the tour operator at the end of the tour. Good idea!

 

I ended up making up a small ‘flyer’ with a reminder of the tour for the people that I knew were going. Jody and I wandered the ship dropping them off in cabin mailboxes.

 

(An example of one of the many, long hallways on board the ship)

 

(Are you lost? Don't know your stem from your stern, your front from your rear? Blue arrows (left side of placard) point to the front of the ship; Red arrows (right side of placard) point to the rear.)

 

(NOOB Hint – If you do organize an activity, get your minimum and invite others to contact the tour operator to see if they can join the tour.)

 

(NOOB Hint – If you DO organize your own activities in ports, pay close attention to your times: when the ship gets in and when it leaves! The ship will NOT wait for you if you are out on a private excursion. They WILL wait on passengers delayed on ship sanctioned activities.

 

I participated in a ship organized activity today . . . paper airplane flying in the main lobby. I’ve made some mean paper airplanes in my years and had a good feeling about this contest. I got beat by a 10 year old boy! No ‘Ship On A Stick’ for me today!

[JohnTRN]

(NOOB Hint – ‘Ship On A Stick’. This is a small, plastic, replica of the Legend that looks like a trophy and is much coveted.)

 

 

We also figured out what the smell in our cabin vault was today. I pulled everything out of the safe, with the goal of Fabrezing the small piece of carpet in the bottom of the safe. You will never guess what we found under the front lip of the safe!

 

 

(NOOB Hint – there is a strip of rubber added under the front ledge of the safe, as things apparently used to migrate to the front of the safe, under this lip and get lost. Thoroughly check your safe before you depart the ship!)

 

We would later share our discovery with Cruise Director John Heald. What?! Well, I guess you’re going to have to read on to see just what that means, aren’t you? I’ll get around to that part of the story.

 

(This is one small area of the Lido - Deck 9 Buffet Dining Area. Where all the cool kids sit)

 

(Not a bad way to spend part of the day)

 

Today would see the end of our four day stretch of ‘Fun Days at Sea’. It’s been a thoroughly relaxing time and we enjoyed the activities with CC Friends, wandering the ship, reading, eating and shows. Here’s a thought for you . . . Stop and think about what a trip like this costs you each day: remember to include room service, daily maid service, three meals a day (sit down, fine dining, each one if you desired), organized activities, multiple selections of daily entertainment, bed turn-down service AND travel from Tampa, Florida to Barcelona, Spain with stops at some popular destinations! What would you spend if you were paying for each of these things individually!? This is great!

 

(Getting ready to head of to the MDR)

 

(NOOB Hint - Brought your own wine on board? (remember those two, 750ml bottles?). Your room steward will keep you supplied with wine glasses. Feel free to take your glass of wine to dinner. You can also take your wine bottle for dinner, where it will be uncorked, poured and stored with your name on it for something like a $20 Corking Fee.)

 

We closed the day by watching Game Show – Couples Edition. What a hoot!

 

(NOOB Hint – some of the shows and programs the ship does will be available the next day on your cabin television. Doesn’t seem like the ‘big’ song and dance numbers were replayed, but the Legend’s Shows, MC’ed by John Heald would.)

 

 

Edited October 5, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

A couple of photos I forgot to post.

 

The "Do Not Disturb" sign, can be used on this side to request the steward to take care of your cabin.

 

Your Room Service Breakfast card will get replaced by the steward each day you use it. You can hang it on the door knob, where it frequently seems to get blown off . . .



 

Or, you can just park it on the mailbox outside your cabin door. Communications from the ship staff, or other cruisers can be put here for you.

 

Next entry is our Port Call of Ponte del Gada, The Azores. Bunch of pictures to wade through and some writing to do. Will try to get that going soon!

 

John

[debee1015]

We also figured out what the smell in our cabin vault was today. I pulled everything out of the safe, with the goal of Fabrezing the small piece of carpet in the bottom of the safe. You will never guess what we found under the front lip of the safe!

 

 

If you get a packet of Splenda or equal or some other white powdery sugar substitute poured and aligned in a straight line and roll the single dollar bill and take pictures with those I'm guessing "tabacco" filled "hand rolled" "cigarettes" you can take some interesting and funny pictures called, 'What we did on vacation'.

 

Or maybe that only works in Vegas.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

I think that's wacky tobacky!!

[JohnTRN]

If you get a packet of Splenda or equal or some other white powdery sugar substitute poured and aligned in a straight line and roll the single dollar bill and take pictures with those I'm guessing "tabacco" filled "hand rolled" "cigarettes" you can take some interesting and funny pictures called, 'What we did on vacation'.

 

Or maybe that only works in Vegas.

 

That would make a fun, fake picture. We had no need to fake what we found in our safe on this trip. Thank for your input though.

 

John

[thrillfan]

I have enjoyed your review. Your pics are great. I will be on the Legend in Dec. More please.:D

[JohnTRN]

I have enjoyed your review. Your pics are great. I will be on the Legend in Dec. More please.:D

 

Thanks! Glad you like it. Life is getting in the way of more review this week, but I'll have some more coming soon.

 

John

[thrillfan]

Thanks! Glad you like it. Life is getting in the way of more review this week, but I'll have some more coming soon.

 

John

If life could could just sail smooth like a cruise (without rough seas):)

[JohnTRN]

Hey all. A quick trip out to SoCal interrupted the flow, so let me get back to this trip!

 

Our port stop today is Ponta Delgada, Azores. Ponta Delgada is one of the primary cities on the island of São Miguel in the group of islands called the Azores, a possession of Portugual. We would also visit Ribeira Grande during our stay.

 

We arranged a tour through Belazorica Tours (http://www.azores-tours.com/en/azores-tours/). We chose the 4th Tour (half day) Fire Lake: Ponta Delgada City» Ribeira Grande City» Liquor Factory» Ribeira Grande Hotsprings» Old Hotspring» Fire Lake Views» Lagoa Village» Ceramic Factory» Ponta Delgada City. Another CC Bunch was going on the 1st Tour (full day) Seven Cities & Fire Lake. As mentioned above, we like walking about the old cities and had a slight concern about getting back in time. The other group did fine with their time and had a good time. I can highly recommend Belazorica and Francisco.

 

OK. So this is the one that grew way out of control. I started out wanting to be sure we had enough souls for an eight passenger van and ended up with a 40 passenger bus instead. I started posting this disclaimer in my CC Roll Call posts, "Disclaimer: I'm another passenger, not a tour operator. This tour is operated outside of Carnival. Getting back to the ship before it departs is your responsibility." This is also where I originally planned to collect and hold the money for everyone! Cooler heads prevailed!

 

We were met by our tour guide, Francisco, in the cruise terminal with a sign with my name on it. How cool was that?! Followed him through the terminal to the bus area where our bus pulled up, we loaded and were off. By the way, it was a beautiful day and stayed that way the entire day. You just can't request that kind of weather! Francisco gave us history of the area as we traveled and very good information about each area we visited. Very personable.

 

The Carnival Legend docked at Ponta Delgada

 

 

First stop was a local ceramic factory. We got to see ceramic products being 'thrown', then hand painted and fired. It was fascinating to see the designs applied in a red pigment, which turned blue when the product was 'fired'. The blue and white floral pattern is their product trademark.

 

 



 



 

Hand painting the 'red' pigment

[JohnTRN]

Note the red pigment has turned blue after firing

 

From the factory, we would drive through beautiful farm land, up and over the mountain, stopping at an overlook for the volcanic crater lake, Lagoa do Fogo. The top of the mountain was shrouded in clouds and we drove through the mist as we topped the mountain and began our descent to the overlook.

 

 

You can just make out a tall white building in picture center. The Legend is on the next point 'above' that building.



 



 

Lagoa do Fogo - Fire Lake



 

[JohnTRN]

See that little straight line near the top? That's the road we just came down.

 

Francisco, from Belazorica Tours



 

My 'Eight Passenger Van' that grew!

 

Next stop was Caldeira Velha National Monument. We took a short walk, maybe half a mile, along a trail to the hot springs. New construction was underway; looked like they were building a concession stand/visitor center. Sections of the path were a little rough, but no problem. Francisco made sure to caution us not to stick our hands in the water, telling us about a tourist who received severe burns when she dropped something in the water and reached in after it.

 

 



 

Edited October 16, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

And we need protection from a hot cup of coffee in our country!

 

Yes, that water is BOILING hot! No rails. No Fences.



 

This was a hot springs . . . and nobody brought a swimsuit!



 

 

From the hot springs, we would go to Ribeira Grande, a seaside community on the north side of the island. We’ll make our ‘Liquor Factory’ stop here, as well as see a neat old church. I was a little disappointed, as the ‘Liquor Factory’ was apparently an outlet for the liquor factory and we did not see the manufacture of anything. On the upside, there were free samples of each of the liquors and we all came off a little tipsy. Oh, and of course, we bought some of the caramel liquor we had sampled. Go figure. Going to be good in coffee! We just walked back onto the ship with our purchases, no questions asked. From there we walked a short way through town, past "Teatro Ribeiragrandense" to ‘Church of Our Lady of the Star’ and out to our bus. This looks like it would have been a nice city to wander through.

 

In case you need a pharmacy, look for the blue cross. Not the green cross you find in SoCal!

 

[JohnTRN]

More Ribeira Grande

 

The 'Liquor Factory' . . .

 



 

Ribeira Grande, the river that runs through the town of the same name and a park along it's shores



 



 

Teatro Ribeiragrandense



 

Ribeira Grande City Hall

[JohnTRN]

More Ribeira Grande

 

Church of Our Lady of the Star

 

Plaza below Church of Our Lady of the Star



 

View from Church of Our Lady of the Star



 

View from Church of Our Lady of the Star

Edited October 16, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

The interior of Church of Our Lady of the Star

 



 



 



 

'My' Eight Passenger Van!

[JohnTRN]

After we got back to Ponta Delgada, the first item on the afternoon agenda was lunch. It’s all about the food, remember? I’m going to have to ‘review’ our trip to St. Maarten sometime, so I can explain that . . . Francisco had recommended ‘Mercado de Peixe’ for lunch. It was a short walk down the waterfront from where the cruise ship docked. We ended up running into some of our ship’s CC bunch, who had the same idea. Lunch was quite good. Jody had ‘Fried Fork Beard’ and I had ‘Blackened Rock Fish’.

 

 

Afterwards we wandered through Ponta Delgada, until it was close to time to return.

 

Sao Sebastio Church

 

The street mosaics everywhere were beautiful. This was one of the Legend Crew, taking a break.



 

Picturesque, narrow, winding streets



 



 

[JohnTRN]

Leaving Ponta Delgada

 

The Ponta Delgada cruise port and water front. ‘Mercado de Peixe’ was toward picture left

 

And we bid a fond farewell to a beautiful port



 



 

I apparently forgot to get a shot of the map screen arriving; here we are leaving



 



 

It's hard to get a better cabin view!

[JohnTRN]

Leaving Ponta Delgada

 

Our favorite waiter Rodrigues.



 

Junior Hostess Nicolletta. She was great!



 

Hostess Jessica. Another great Carnival employee! (She's the one on the left . . .)



 

After a quiet dinner in the MDR, we enjoyed the singing of Brett Cave, who did Elton John, Billy Joel, Beatles and more of that era. Very good!

 

OK. So the joints I found in the safe . . . yes, they were authentic. So, we stopped by guest services and left a note for John and Calvyn. John Heald was our Cruise Director and Calvyn is his assistant. They do a show each morning which is a hoot to watch. They talk about the upcoming day, recent events, read letters from guests, take calls and call some guests that send letters to them. The note I left explained that we were on our first cruise and enjoying the ship, staff and food. Told them we thought Carnival went a little over the top by supplying spliffs in the safe. Naturally, they had to call on that one. We had fun talking to them on the phone, John acted innocent about what we had found (‘in England, a joint is a chunk of meat) with Calvyn explaining things to him. For ‘participating’ in the mornings show, we later got a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne. The champagne was traded to a fellow cruiser for a SOAS (see earlier post).

Edited October 16, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

Correction: Ponta Delgada should have been Day 10 - 17 April 2013, not Day 11. And now I have 'Day 12' in this description and can't change it!

 

Day 11 – 18 April 2013

Fun Day at Sea

 

 



 

 

Two more days at sea before we make port calls in Spain. Got up to a nice sunrise and a bit of wind.

 

The John and Calvyn Show was entertaining this morning. They read the note we had left at Customer Service last night and immediately called the cabin. Chatted with John Heald about our unexpected cabin complimentary items and said he’s sending strawberries and champagne.

 

The best seat in the house!

 

Today everybody had to report to the Firebird Lounge and turn in passports for the pending port calls in Spain. We waited a bit to let the crush go by and stood our turn in line. Who do we get, but Calvyn. He starts checking names off his list then exclaims, “Hey! You called in to the show this morning!” Got to chat about our cabin complimentary items some more.

 

Not much to report today. Other than wandering the ship, visiting, eating and reading, we got together with CC Bunch for LCR in the afternoon. Only one more game of LCR after today. Neither of us took the pot today, again.

 

The Main Lobby/Bar

Edited October 16, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

The wind has been picking up as the day has gone on. I had hinted about weather in an earlier post when it was starting to get windy. I had forgotten that it was after Ponta Delgada that it really picked up. Wind in the evening was blowing anywhere between 38-41 Knots (44-47 MPH) with gusts to 54 Knots (62 MPH) by bedtime!!! You can feel the rocking of the ship and people are staggering about a bit. Little white convenience bags have shown up in the bathrooms; I snag one as a gift for my brother. Told him I brought him a hand puppet from Spain.

 

You can see a short video of the sea state by going to YouTube:

It should be done loading in the next 15 minutes.

 

 



 

 

As we were getting ready for bed, we started hearing the chairs scraping on the deck above us. I thought the wind was blowing them around the Serenity Deck, so naturally I popped upstairs to see the carnage. Turns out it’s the crew pulling them all to the center of the deck and stacking them. Move along, there’s nothing to see here!

 

You can really hear the azipods growling in the surging seas.

[JohnTRN]

Day 12 – 19 April 2013

Last Fun Day at Sea

 

 

We had a lazy day today. Slept in, skipped breakfast and didn’t get out until lunch. Still some pretty good motion to the ship. Winds are still blowing like crazy; 47 Knots when we got up.

 

Had lunch in the MDR today. Asked for a seat by the window and got one at the starboard-stern. Ate with some of the CC Bunch and I felt lousy afterward. Not because we at with some of the CC Bunch and I don’t think it was seasickness, as much as it was the heavy vibration coming through the deck from the azipods. They are still grumbling their way across the Atlantic and you could really feel it in the lower MDR. With me being a little puny, we skipped our last day of LCR.

 

I had to do a little laundry so I would have enough clothes for our last couple of days in Spain. Was able to get an open washer in one of the ship Laundromats and did a small load.

 

After dinner entertainment was a magic and dancing show that was quite good. Guy by the name of ‘Justin Illusion’ put on a good show. We came back from the show to find strawberries and champagne from John Heald in our cabin.

 

 



 

[JohnTRN]

Day 13 – 20 April 2013

Malaga, Spain

 

There’s going to be a lot of pictures. I’m now somewhere close to halfway through my almost 1700 pictures. Had a hard time keeping pictures to a minimum for this posting.

 

 

This 'Tall Ship', the Sea Cloud, came in with us. Malaga in the background; The Cathedral of Málaga just visible to picture left



 

Terminal de Cruceros - Cruise Terminal

 

We’re in Malaga! It’s an overcast day with mild winds and smooth seas. Breakfast and a relatively early start out see us hitting the docks by 8AM. It’s going to be a walking day and we’re ready to go. Don’t really have a formal walking tour for this day, but have a guide book and a will to walk. Plus, you can see all kinds of interesting things to see. We want to see the Castillo de Gibralfaro, the Calabaza and walk in the old city.

 

I took a picture of the area we would want to return to, in the event we became lost, or needed to take a taxi back to the ship. As it would turn out, we were in sight of it a good deal of the time.

 

From the ship we walked down the pier to La Farola: Malaga's beloved lighthouse. Built in 1817.



 

Another view of the Tall Ship 'Sea Cloud', with the Cathedral of Málaga visible in the background.

Edited October 17, 2013 by JohnTRN