LEGEND March 20-30,2015 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[Hoopster95]

Thanks for this! We board Legend on the 14th & this is just what I needed to keep me going until it's time to pack & head to the airport............

 

You're doing the Canal Phoenix? I'm jealous... My bucket list was Jewel this coming year through the PC until RCI did what I feel that questionable re-deployment of EoS to Alaska instead of Jewel through the PC... no Canal transits at all by Royal 2016/17!!! :confused::(

 

Take note of the next few photos as I get to the aft of the ship past the Solarium... I figure an absolutely perfect place to hang out and soak the rays as you go through the locks and Gatun Lake deck 9 aft behind the Spa/gym :D:D

[BecciBoo]

Thanks so much, its so refreshing to have another review with a different approach, although all the reviews, Darth and others have been wonderful. I like yours!

 

This is really getting my juices flowing!:eek: So ready to cruise!!:rolleyes:

Can't wait to see more....again

 

Thx!

[mattpro]

Looking at your pictures of the Legend brought back some fond memories and some not so fond.

 

I took my first RCL cruise 5/5/2012 on the Oasis as a Gold member and after having one of those "free" kimmelweck roast beef sandwiches at the Park Café I was hooked.

 

3 hours later we wound up booking a GS on the Indy 2/21/2013, but alas no Park Café - no roast beef sandwich - bummer - rookie mistake - thought all ships had the same things.

 

So 9/21/2013 back on the Oasis in a GS (platinum now) and I get my roast beef sandwich and all is right with the world once again.

 

Then I looked what I paid for the cruise and that "free" delicious roast beef sandwich got very expensive. (You can tell that at this time I didn't book these cruises - my honey of 13 years did the honors.

 

So we did 3 more GS cruises in Dec & Feb on the Indy and my honey says we can do a 10 night Southern Caribbean GS cruise on the Legend for 1/2 the price of a 7 day cruise on the Oasis and they have a Park Café so you can get that sandwich you like.

 

Great

 

So, on 3/17/2013 we head out on the Legend (diamond now)

 

Then some bad things started to happen.

 

Did not have water in our GS for 3 of the first 4 days and had to shower in the Spa, naturally missing the first formal night, which my honey was really pschyed to attend for dinner and pictures.

 

Since RCL knew that when we boarded the ship there was no water we started getting the royal treatment - meeting all the officers Derrick (head of guest rooms, Dominique head of all the restaurants and Captain Hansen.)

 

Luca, the CL concierge, arranged for us to have dinner in Chops gratis for not being able to attend formal night - met his fiancé, which is now his wife (Carolina) who was doing promotions for future cruises.

 

Dominique had the waiters falling all over us for breakfast & lunch (deck 5 on sea days) and the MDR with a table for two us (actually a 4 top) right below the Captain's table.

 

Captain Hansen's Birthday was on March 15th so he invited us along with 6 other passengers (4 Pinnacles & 2Diamond+ that were the son and daughter in-law of another Pinnacle.) Now my honey loved this, but I'm not into 2 1/2-3 hour dinners, no matter how great they are. As a smoker this is too long, so I had to check the weather for the Captain a few times in between course.

 

The only reason we were at that table was because of the plumbing problems on that ship. The Legend is OLD - with matching infrastructure.

 

With no promenade you are not going to get a cup of coffee without calling room service. The Park Café in the Solarium was supposed to be open to midnight, which means they closed at ten of the hour.

 

Oh, and that roast beef sandwich that was the hook to get me on the cruise. Different beef (think very, very grizzly), different aus jus and different roll. Wasn't a happy camper.

 

But then the good again. Stopped into the casino (very, very small with limited table games) to kill about 1/2 hour. Sat down at the Caribbean stud with a new dealer who just came on from Romania. Long story short. 3rd hand she deals me a straight flush and I recover $2200 after tip and I was gone in a flash.

 

Unfortunately the bad again. When we departed the ship our flight back to D.C. was canceled and we had to stay an extra day in FLL. Not that that is so bad, except my honey said for me to make the arrangements for our return.

 

Evidently, I did pretty bad. We haven't talked in person to one another since and I've been on 16 solo cruises since then, with 2 more scheduled next month.

 

None have been or will be on the Legend.

 

None have been or will be in a GS.

 

You'll have to use your imagination as to why not.

 

But the good news in all this is - even if you have a "bad" cruise it is still a GOOD cruise and I'm more hooked on cruising now than ever and it's not because of that damned "free" sandwich , which I truly did love.

 

Sorry for diversion, but it was the picture of the Caribbean stud table that brought back a flood of memories and I just typed away.

[Hoopster95]

Up the stairs to deck 9 you reach the very extensive wall of fame for the Legend with 4 full walls commemorating Legend's first calls into the many ports she has visited over the years. Legend has logged the most miles of any RCL ship in the fleet and has visited the most varied amount of ports in her travels as well.

 

 

 

 

On either side of these walls are the equal sized DL and CL. I would see these later as I was eager to see the Solarium and outdoor aft areas of the ship. So off the the Solarium I went... I loved the feel of this Solarium, a beautiful space. Because I'm a sun/tanning guy, I barely spent any time here at all during this cruise (we enjoyed mostly 80 degree weather every day except the final day) but I would've enjoyed this area in any foul weather.

 

 

 

 

***CHAIR HOG ALERT!!!! I hit the gym and jogged every sea day morning... towels were proudly out displaying their "entitled reserved for the entire day" as early as 7am. Because I never hung out here I don't know whether there was any enforcement, but on pool deck there was with the pool deck staff regularily going around and removing towels. Truthfully, I never saw anyone get mad, nor did I see anyone reserve and leave loungers empty for hours on end, so kudos to all my fellow cruisers out at pool deck.

 

 

[phoenix1181]

You're doing the Canal Phoenix? I'm jealous... My bucket list was Jewel this coming year through the PC until RCI did what I feel that questionable re-deployment of EoS to Alaska instead of Jewel through the PC... no Canal transits at all by Royal 2016/17!!! :confused::(

 

Take note of the next few photos as I get to the aft of the ship past the Solarium... I figure an absolutely perfect place to hang out and soak the rays as you go through the locks and Gatun Lake deck 9 aft behind the Spa/gym :D:D

 

This is our second trip on Legend doing this cruise. We were on the last PC cruise she did in '99 before she headed to Europe & eventually Australia for the millennium. It's a great trip. Make sure you do whatever you have to to cross it off that list..........

[Hoopster95]

The Park Cafe is located here within the Centrum, All the familiar favorites are available as per all the other Park Cafe's in the fleet (breakfast burritos/grits/oatmeal/yogurt for breakfast, roast beef sandwiches/made to order salads/soups/etc at lunch). I agree with mattpro's post that the Kimmelweck sandwiches weren't the best I've ever had. In fact I didn't dine much here as the Windjammer on Legend was awesome!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The staff was asked at the Capt's Corner I believe if the Solarium roof is ever opened, and the reply was once per year for the purpose of a test to ensure it still functions. Have any of you previous Legend cruisers seen the roof opened?

 

 

[LMaxwell]

The double story glass windows in the dining room on Legend are just beautiful. Wonderful sea views throughout this ship in many of the venues.

[Hoopster95]

To get to the gym, you have to go through the Solarium on the port side and enter the front entrance of the spa. You can also get to the gym by going up on deck 10 past the Legend's Links mini golf, down the stairs to the aft deck and through the the gym from the back door... more on this soon

 

 

 

 

The gym is very small in comparison to even Vision or Rhapsody, again another visual sign that this is a smaller ship than her sisters. I never found it busy with people waiting, but if you count the number of machines in the photos for 1800 passengers I would expect there would be the odd sailing with more gym rats that would suffer a line-up to use the equipment.

 

 

 

 

[Hoopster95]

The double story glass windows in the dining room on Legend are just beautiful.

 

Agreed... I felt in the MDR view kind of like Quantum's Two70, albeit Two70 windows are even double the height of Legend's and wrap around.

[Hoopster95]

I had already known about this aft area by seeing pictures provided by both DarthGrady and LMaxwell (nice segue hey LMax? hehe). So heading out of the back door of the gym you enter onto the aft "sports" deck. Obviously no volleyball or the like played here, it's primarily a regular lounger/sunbathing deck. Take note of the stairs at the far right of the 2nd picture below behind the gentlemen walking across....

 

 

 

 

For the most part, this area was used by sun bathers wanting quiet away from the more hectic pool deck, but in the mornings the fitness staff ran stretch/yoga class out there as well as the spinning classes. I did my streches/abs out there too, a super nice luxury with the aft view and being outdoors. From here you get your first vantage point looking back at the ship to top deck and the rock wall as well as down to the aft of the ship

 

 

 

 

In the 2nd picture above, you see in the far right a set of stairs that head up to deck 10. Here we are in the pictures below, and with a view back down at the "sports" deck with a great view

 

 

[Hoopster95]

And here we are on deck 10 aft, just opposite to the top of those stairs that head down to the gym and aft sports deck. Here's the entry to Legend's Links mini golf (9 hole) and a great view of the back of the ship.

 

 

 

I don't ever remember seeing this sign on the other ships, not that I made a point of looking for it, but you can buy socks to climb the wall if you need to.

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, I made it to the top and rang the bell (I have proof with a pic!!! lol).... this wall is so very much smaller than anything on Voyager Class and above, took under a 60 seconds to get to the top. I went up twice but didn't challenge myself on the the more difficult coloured paths... I just wanted to say that I conquered the wall on this ship

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Here's a few more pics of Legend's Links as I walk over to the starboard side heading forward. The 2nd photo below gives a really good perspective of how tight the jogging track and shuffle board area are to the the railings in comparison to the newer/larger ships

 

 

 

 

 

Just past Legend's Links, and in between Links and the Solarium is what I consider a huge waste of space as a deck full of rarely used loungers in the middle of nowhere. I thought this was an odd space, hardly anyone ever there. Also, the windows looking down into the Solarium were filthy, but this photo below came out really well and shows an excellent perspective of the Solarium from above.

 

 

 

 

And finally making my way forward on the port side, the pic below shows a great perspective of the Solarium roof and again the tight space of railing/jogging track. The stairs up to the Viking Crown on both sides are both closed off and now dead ends as they both enter into crew area of Chops now. There's not much an advantage or use of being up there even for views of sailaway for example, so I never once saw anyone up there.

 

 

 

Breaking it here for the evening... g'night everyone

Edited April 3, 2015 by Hoopster95

[schwpaul]

Thank you very much for taking the time to post this review. I love the pictures.

 

Paul

[LuCruise]

Thank you for posting the amazing pictures! Looks like a great tri!

[copi2boys]

Thanks for the memories! We sailed her Februray. Loved the aft deck that almost no one knew about until about the 3rd day. Just whets the appetite for more.

[DutchCruiseFan]

Great pictures and thanks for bringing the memories of Splendour back.

Seeing your photos the ships are 100% identical:D

[adjoankora]

Hey CC family!

 

I just got off of Legend's final Caribbean itinerary... likely forever for RCI. Once Legend completes it's 3 Panama Canal sailings and heads off to Asia/Oz, I feel she will be gone from North America forever, never to return and she may follow the path of Splendour being sold off within the next couple of years. I guess this review will be more so for the Oz/Asian contingent on this forum so they can see what they can expect.

 

I came back to a monster 12 hour workday yesterday :eek::eek: and photobucket is super slow this morning, so bare with me as I try to get my photos prepared to share with you all over the week ahead. I going to stick more so with the ship rather than the ports of call this time, and hopefully I can do proud DarthGrady, LMaxwell, Trainman and many others who have provided superb reviews and info about Legend in the past.

 

Here are a couple of teaser photos for now, the 1st above from St Thomas (Havensite pier), and secondly the view of St Thomas from my aft D1 stateroom 6628. Stay tuned! :D

 

 

 

So looking forward to your photos and reviews. We are booked on Legend beginning October 11 (Singapore). We are in a Panoramic Ocean View cabin. Would love to see a photo of this cabin type if you have one. Thanks so much for the time you are putting in to share with all of us!

[Peterh]

Thnx for the pics! Will be sailing on her in 6 weeks to Hawaii:)

[KroozFoolz]

 

 

The staff was asked at the Capt's Corner I believe if the Solarium roof is ever opened, and the reply was once per year for the purpose of a test to ensure it still functions. Have any of you previous Legend cruisers seen the roof opened?

 

 

We were on the March 9-20 sailing before yours. This subject also came up at our Capt's Corner - We were informed that if the solarium roof is opened, only very, very short people will be able to play the miniature golf course. :p

 

I am enjoying your pictorial review and comments. We really enjoyed our 11 days/nights on Legend of the Seas last month - one of our best cruises ever!

I look forward to more pictures!

[Hoopster95]

Thank you so much for the kind words everyone. Really glad you're enjoying the pics.

 

Moving forward port side I get my first full view of the pool deck. Pool deck was very well used on all days, including port days for sailaway. I really enjoyed my time here on all sea days as this was my #1 handout all late morning to late afternoon until close to dinner for the most part.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The skylight in the pic below opens up to the Windjammer outdoor seating area. Unlike the aft seating area on Radiance Class, Legend has an outdoor eating area here directly facing the pool. In the 3rd pic above you can see it to the left of the big screen as well. This was a superb place to have breakfast or lunch, with a view of the pool deck and whatever is going on, and of course the live music when it's on.

 

[Hoopster95]

Continuing forward on the port side, here you can see the contour of the jogging track and the much more ample spacing to the railings, with more loungers on both sides. The glass seen here is Adventure Ocean & "Optix" Teen area on deck 10 forward

 

 

 

 

At the front of the ship you'll see a very small "deck 11" that leads up those stairs. There's space for maybe 6-8 loungers. The glass looks down into the Windjammer. The deck plans call this area "The Observatory" but that name does not at all suit this little deck at all imo.

 

 

My first view out over the bow of the ship. This siteline facing forward and over the bow is so very important to me on any ship for any cruiseline, having had some of my very best memories and videos going into and leaving ports from this vantage point

 

 

 

And here's the "Observation Deck". The windows with the blinds again look down into the Windjammer and I never once saw them open

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Finishing off the outer deck, and right behind the big screen is this odd artwork quite inconveniently placed right behind the big screen out of site. Just in case you want to know what this sculpture is.....

 

 

 

 

And my last shot from deck 10 from immediately beside the big screen. Note the pool from here, and the great amount of space of very shallow areas just to sit and lounge in. These areas were extremely well used.

 

 

 

Entering into this deck 10 area forward is Adventure Ocean and the teen areas. AO was locked up so no pics there, by I did take a couple from inside Optix... I can see it being a cool hangout for teens.

 

 

[kandj05]

Hoopster, do you happen to have any pic's of your stateroom? Did you say you stayed in an aft room? I think I remember your girlfriend pointing to an aft room.

[Hoopster95]

Heading out of the Teen Otpix & Adventure Ocean entries, here you see the hallway back out to the "Alien" sculpture behind the big screen or down to the Windjammer... down we go and out to the pool deck and my first view of the pool bar. This bar was always super busy, and I felt that the service really lacked... not that those guys back there weren't working at 100mph, but I found they skipped people in order, and plain didn't listen to directions when you specifically asked to use a preloaded coupon on your seapass.

 

 

 

 

This pool was by far and away the strongest most chlorinated pool I have ever experienced on any RCI ship... WOW! You only need to open your eyes underwater once and they''ll sting for 15 minutes. Nevertheless, I really loved this pool deck with tons of room for plenty of loungers and just the right amount of water for cruisers to lounge in or take a dip

 

 

 

 

Here is the shallow "kiddie" pool end. On this side of the barrier the water is only about 8-10 inched deep. The "adult" side towards the big screen the water is only about 5 feet

 

[Hoopster95]

Hoopster, do you happen to have any pic's of your stateroom? Did you say you stayed in an aft room? I think I remember your girlfriend pointing to an aft room.

 

Getting there.... All the above explored and photos done before about 2:30pm when I finally went to the room!!! :eek: Stateroom pics coming up soon :D