Carnival Legend: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[Astra2825138]

I sailed the Legend from New York City for eight days and I just got back on the 16th. Overall, this is not the best cruise I have been on and I know a good vacation when I experience one. On a scale from 1 to 10, I rate it at a 7...I have never had anything under a ten!

 

THE GOOD:

Most of the staff was wonderful. Our waiter and assistant waiter were just perfect. The food, overall, was tasty and well prepared. I found the entertainment to be amusing, fun, well organized, and well rehersed. The cruise director, Chris Jefferson, was amazing. Unfortunately, he will be going to another ship. It is a shame because he was a highlight. The Crew did a skit on the last night of the cruise that was so darn funny. The bar entertainment was also incredible.

 

THE BAD:

Where should I start? The fiasco of getting on the ship had everyone in a terrible mood. It was so disorganized that I cannot put it into words! At 7pm, none of our luggage had arrived. Finally at 7:30pm, one of our four pieces of luggage made it to our door. I ventured into the hallway to find three other couples looking for their luggage as well. The information desk said they would not help us until 8pm. My husband and I walked the hallways to find one piece of our luggage outside a door on the wrong floor. When we went to the information desk, they were rude. They offered no help and only said that someone would find it...real comforting. We walked the hallways again, finding at least five misplaced bags on each floor, none of which were ours. There were no employees, by the way, walking the hallways to help, only people who were on vacation looking for their lost belongings. A blonde woman at the information desk also stated that anything of importance should not be kept in luggage, but should be kept on us! How can we keep a weeks worth of clothing on us? We went back down to the information desk late that night to find that one of our pieces had been returned to them hours before but was not delivered to our cabin. The next afternoon, our last piece was found and actually delivered. Good thing we happened to be right outside our cabin, because it was almost delived to the cabin next to us!!! It was ridiculous. All bags were clearly marked, none of our tags had fallen off, as the information desk suggested. To make matters worse, we were not the only ones this happened to...it is not an "occasional occurence" as they would have you believe.

 

With the exception of St. Thomas, the ports of call were a waste. If you go, you will find that out for yourself. Hopefully you will go on an excursion that will make Puerto Rico and Tortola worth the trip!

 

THE UGLY:

I purchased four photos from the first formal night. They are twenty dollars each. On previous cruises, I have scanned my photo to put it in picture frames instead of using the original, etc. I actually have never given them away. Who wants a photo of my mug anyhow? haha. I found, when walking by the photo desk one day, that if you now scan your photos, Carnival's logo will appear all over them. The poster stated "Only Carnival can give you quality duplicates". It showed one clear picture and another that showed the logo all over the photo. This is another price gouging scheme from the company and I refused to buy more. On my last cruise, I purchased 300 dollars worth of photos...they didn't get it from me this time.

FYI: I scanned a photo when I got home and Carnival's logo can not be seen, which makes it an ever uglier scam!!! The scan is just as clear as the original.

[CruiseFever]

I don't understand the photo scanning thing.

 

Could you please explain why you want to scan your photos? Do you mean that you scan your photos, print copies, frame them and keep the originals in a safe place for some reason?

 

Sorry to hear you had a lousy cruise. They're supposed to be fun.

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

Chris@LifeIsCruising.com

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/26/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

Diamond Princess 12/22/04

Sapphire Princess June '05

Caribbean Princess 09/17/05

Carnival Valor 10/30/05

 

[airgirl]

Sounds like Carnival could do better in the luggage delivery situation. Hopefully if you write a letter of complaint to them they will listen.

Weird about the photos. I wonder why they would say that to you. Why would they care if you want to scan it after you go home. At $20 you should own your photo.

Any thing else you can tell us about the ports?

 

maria stallings

[Laurab23]

I was on the Legend on May 31. The pictures you are referring to must have been large ones. The ones we purchased were only $8.00 each. I agree about the embarkation being disorganized and we did get our luggage late but had it all by 7:00 pm the first evening. I really enjoyed Virgin Gorda and the Baths. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise.

[hstrybuf]

Sorry to hear you had such a bad time with your luggage. Our experience on the Legend in April was the exact opposite. We had all our luggage within several hours of boarding, with plenty of time to unpack, relax, do some exploring and prepare for dinner.

 

What the blonde woman was referring to was things like jewelry, money, passports, documents for the ship, airline tickets, medication and a least one change of clothing.

 

 

Navigator OTS 10/04

Legend 04/04

Grand Princess 09/03

Dawn Princess 01/03

Enchantment OTS 10/02

Destiny 01/02

Sensation 08/99

[finoky]

Sorry you had a bad experience on the Legend. We sailed her in March and it was the best cruise ever.

 

Tony

 

2005 Miracle April 24th

2004 Legend

2003 Paradise

2002 Paradise

2000 Destiny

1999 Fascination

1998 Fantasy

[voyagerfl]

Uh Oh !

Your Gonna Be Sorry !

I can hear THEM coming...just like the Shark in the Jaws movie.

 

As for the Luggage thing, sometimes things go wrong, it sucks, but you gotta make the best of it, so it does not ruin your good time.

In 18 cruises, the only baggage problems we've had has been with the Airlines.

 

As for the ports......Well.....all the cruise lines visit those ports and most people love them.

Now you know to look for something different next time.

 

I can understand how you feel about the picture thing. It is "Your" image & you paid for it.

I know...that all these company's claim they have Copyright on all photo's they take of you....BUT, what if you get home and decide you (or someone else) wants another copy? (or something happens to the original) Carnival does not offer a service for you to order more prints later.

 

Seeing as I now use digital cameras, it is not unusal for for me to scan prints that I get from other people to add them to my Digital photo's that I keep backed up on CD

[MACDADDY]

For a first post you really came down pretty heavy for a few misplaced bags. Sometimes things do not always go according to plan. If the only problem i have on my cruise next month is what happened to you i will rate it more than a 7. Remember the saying for mistakes and errors "that is why they put erasers on pencils to fix mistakes" and everyone makes mistakes because we are not perfect

 

7/18/2004 Carnival Legend

 

Carnival Imagination2003

Carnival Imagination2002

Nordic Empress 2001

Carnival Paradise 1999

Carnival Fantasy 1997

[staceyvols]

Isn't it stated that luggage takes hours to get to the room anyways? And you should bring a carry-on with anything you need the first several hours? We do and it works out great.

 

Carnival Legend

[CruiseFever]

I'm not going to find out the reason for the scanning am I?

 

I'm thinking soemthing to do with the scanning is what ruined it all for her. They probably wouldn't let her bring her scanner on the ship and that got her all huffy.

 

I speculate in absence of facts from the source.

 

The silence here would indicate a hit and run on this post but there I go speculating again.

 

I just don't get the scanning.

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

Chris@LifeIsCruising.com

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/26/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

Diamond Princess 12/22/04

Sapphire Princess June '05

Caribbean Princess 09/17/05

Carnival Valor 10/30/05

 

[Starz723]

Im a bit lost on the scanning of pics too. Does Carnival have a scanner on board? or would you have to bring your own scanner??

 

Im going on the Legend On July 18. I am aware that the baggage can take a few hours to arrive, I plan to take a carryon for a quick change and my toothbrush. I dont sweat the small stuff. For my ports,,Im going to either Biolumenesence bay or El yunque rainforest while in PR,,then Ive hired The Winifred for my daysail to St John while in St Thomas, and I plan on going to Virgin Gorda to swim at the baths. Hey, Im prepared.

Bring on the par-tay! Life is what you make it!

 

MY VERY FIRST CRUISE EVER!!

On The Legend! E. Carribean

I cant Wait!

 

Marge

Starz723

 

[cuevogirl]

It sounds like you allowed the baggage "fiasco " to set the tone for the rest of your cruise....on our cruise on the Pride last year they clearly stated that bags may not arrive until 8pm....guess what at 8pm I was still missing a bag ....I very calmly walked to the info desk and my bag was sitting there on the floor ...I told them it was my bag and they offered to bring it to my room for me and apoligized for the inconvience .....I told them not to worry things happen .... My husband would help me with it ...after all this was our honeymoon and I wasn't about to let a misplaced bag ruin it .....I cannot wait until our cruise OCT 6th on the legend the baths at virgin Gorda look beautiful...A cruise is what you decide to make of it ...like in life there are those who see the glass as half empty ...I for one choose to see it as half full....HAPPY CRUISING TOO ALL Bonnie

[barbpol]

I think her issue is that Carnival made it sound like you wouldn't be able take the photos you purchase on board home and scan them (in an effort to get you to buy more) but when she got home they scanned fine.

 

Whatever, it may be deceitful on Carnival's part, but it doesn't bother me. I love buying the photos on board, but I don't need many copies of the same picture.

 

Barb

 

Legend 6/04

Conquest 2/03

[CruisinMK]

Come on. Did it ever occur to you that misplacing everyone's luggage on the ship wasn't an accident? This is actually a brilliant marketing innovation on Carnival's part. What they are doing here is replicating the TV show experience of Survivor. How exciting!

 

That's right, Survivor: Carnival Legend. You should have gone with the flow and calmly explained to your spouse that you were going to hunt for sheets from the service carts to fashion toga clothing for the week.

 

Hidden cameras catch the hand to hand battles for the remaining supply of pillow mints from the service closet on day 3. On day 4, one tribe has gathered all the food, while the other tribe has all the makeshift weapons -- guess which group survives with all the food! On day 5, tribal groups conduct savage cabin raids for hand luggage supplies.

 

In a few months the editing will be done and we can all watch your experiences in the forthcoming Survivor TV series.

 

[Vidimom]

Sorry to hear you had problems with the luggage. Maybe it's the end of contract for the baggage handlers.

 

You also stated that Chris Jefferson is leaving the Legend for another ship, did he mention what ship he will be sailing on? We met Chris several years ago and he is a great guy.

 

Sensation 9/98 10th anniv.

Big Red Boat 5/99

Ecstasy 10/00

Destiny 9/01 The week of 911

Victory 10/01

Imagination 12/20/01

Imagination 2/4/02

Zuiderdam 9/6/03 - 15th anniv.

Carnival Legend 11/27/04

Happiness is being on a cruise

with the one you love!

 

Legend Here We Come 11/27

 

 

[Astra2825138]

First, the scanning. I never put my originals in frames because I have a cat that loves to knock frames over, climbs curtains and gets the ones on the wall...haha. The frame breaks, the picture gets scratched up, there ya go. So, I felt it was a con to say that scanning the photos we purchased (after we get home) would result in the logo being all over it when it wasn't true. Many people scan to give them away, which they should be able to do. I, on the other hand, scan to avoid my cats antics. haha.

 

I cruised Carnival before and had no problems. The Sensation was great. It didn't bother me that the bags didn't arrive as soon as I got on board. It bothered me that only one showed and that they were not all there until the next day! Furthermore, only one was delivered to the right place...even the last one to arrive was going to be delivered to our neighbors. How hard can it be to read a room number?? And, bringing enough for the first several hours is understandable, but not for the first day and a half...read the room numbers, it is that easy.

 

The ports, with the exception of St. Thomas, would have been pretty boring unless you go on an excursion. I would recommend the dolphin swim in Tortola, which was great. Magen's Bay in St. Thomas is a must see. And, we also did the Atlantis Submarine in St. Thomas, which was worth the money all the way.

 

By the way, most people did NOT love the ports. At one of the shows people were asked which port they liked the best and people actually BOOED San Juan. St. Thomas is a definite favorite. And, Tortola has a beach that was pretty...can't think of the name right now...something Garden.

 

Oh, and Chris, you must be speculating again...because here I am. Hahaha.

 

However, don't overlook my GOOD section either. There were quite a few good things about the cruise. Chris Jefferson is going to the Jubilee, I believe. That guy is amazing...he can sing, dance, and make people laugh. Great.

 

But, overall, on vacation I expect not to be lied to by the company I chose to travel with. I also expect that they can pull off something as simple as delivering luggage...at least by midnight on the first night.

[shirleygr]

I just wanted to comment about the whole scanning of pics issue. My in-laws went on a Baltic cruise two years ago on Celebrity and were told the pics they purchased could not be scanned, although they were told the original would be ruined, not the copy as stated by the OP. Well, they bought extras to give to my family and my sister-in-law, etc, spending lots of money on pics on board. When they got home, my f-i-l decided to take one pic and scan it, just to see if it would be ruined. Guess what? Nothing Happened! My-f-i-l was pretty steamed. I guess we can expect to see these photo scanning schemes popping up on all the cruiselines now.

 

Shirley

cruising-courtesy-kindness

 

Surprise! 4 Night to Canada on the Victory . . . July 22, 2004

 

4-Night Anniversary Cruise on Majesty of the Seas . . . January 10, 2005

 

Family spring break cruise on the Dawn . . . April 17, 2005

 

NCL Majesty 11/98

CCL Ecstasy 1/01

CCL Fascination 11/01, 4/03, 5/04

RCI Majesty of the Seas 8/03

CCL Imagination 12/03

[cricket]

Astra....I would say your batting average for cruising is wonderful, in fact better than most! I don't think rating it a 7 out of 10 is a bad rating either. Honestly though, you knew what ports you were going to visit, so as a cruiser from the past, you should have done your homework on what to do or where to go at these ports. This I feel isn't the fault of the cruise ship line. The luggage certainly was your misfortune and if I was walking in your shoes, I too would be upset . I didn't pick up anything that led me to believe this ruined your cruise though, which I think was a smart move on your part. You enjoyed the food, the ship and the entertainment , which I feel certainly overroad your baggage problems. I have been on 22 cruises and believe me, your cruise does not sound bad at all! Bad food, bad service, dirty ship, and bad entertainment would really upset me, because THOSE you cannot change! Not getting my luggage on time or problems with photos would be low on my upsetting list. I think you rated your cruise fairly and you did consider the good points.

[Evereddie]

Photo scanning. It has been customary and backed up by law that copying a photo bought from a studio or other professional outfit was a no-no. It is the same as buying a music cd and copying it and giving it away. Of course even worse if you charge for it. That being said a lot of people do it. Many people take their pics to the new scan and copy services at drug stores, Target, and the like. If an attendent catches you with a studio type portrait they might try to stop you. Most don't. I work in proffesional multimedia and there is a technique which will render a photo un-copyable BUT it is easy to spot becasue it has tiny pixels visable on the pic. If you look at a picture and it looks normal than it can be copied and will not get destroyed. It is a shame that reputable services and companies LIE to customers to combat rip-offs BY customers.

[cruisn4evr]

When is Chris Jefferson leaving? I'll be on the Legend this Thurs and want to know if he'll be on my cruise. How much is the dolphin swim? Is it hard to get these excursions since Carnival wont let you sign up in advance? Thanks!

[Crazy about cruising]

I was on the Legend on 5-31. I did the Dolphin Encounter and paid $120.00 the full swim is $155.00 I booked my tour as soon as I got into my cabin on the first day. Have a great time!