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Anyone off the Legend today!!! Just a few ???

Vidimom

By Vidimom,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Vidimom

Vidimom

Posted
Posted

I saw the beautiful Carnival Legend docked this morning in Ft. Lauderdale and will be cruising on her next week. If anyone just got off the ship, I would love to hear if the CD is still Brent Alan and all about the three ports of call. We are still thinking about excursions offered by Carnival. If any of you have the actual excursion sheets for Belize, I would love to know of the Sargaent's Goff Excursion to visit the Manatee sanctuary is offered. It's shown on the web, but I haven't been able to find out anything about it.

 

Looking forward to a full review, including the good and bad!

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marshabear

marshabear

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i sailed this itinerary a few weeks ago...posted on another legend topic on this board...look for it for info on the ports of call...i'll look up my excursion sheets tonight to see if they offer that excursion you're talking about....

 

 

 

Marsha

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welovetocruise1234

welovetocruise1234

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We just got back on Friday.. The Legend was wonderful...food better than average.

I must point out, that it is the rainy season in all 3 ports, Belize was freezing and rainy, Costa Rica rained off and on all day and it was also raining in Panama.

We booked the Goffs Caye excursion thru Carnival because I was nervous about booking indepent because of the tendering situation. HUGE MISTAKE!!! We got on the boat and it was cloudy and drizzling, the captain saidno problem it will clear up". We got to the island and it was freezing and windy and could not snorkle at all. I rented a chair and covered myself with a carnival towel. Then it started to pour and we all gathered under a hut, about 150 of us. I didn't so much as put a toe in the water. A few of us spoke up and begged to be taken back to the ship. They filled one boat completely up and took us back. More wanted to go, but they couldn't.

In short, had we known it was the rainy, I never would have booked thru Carnival. I would have waited till we got there and played it by ear. We could have booked right on the dock for way cheaper with no worries about getting back on time as everything is really close to the ship.

We realize that Carnival can't control the weather, but they should inform passengers that it will probably be raining. We paid $120 for a trip that was miserable. We got a 25% refund from Carnival because we asked. THey had a lengthy list of those who complained. I recomend yhou do your own thing. In Costa RIca we booked on the dock and had a wonderful canal tour and city tour for $20 per person. Way cheaper than the ship. In Panama, they have many licensed tour operators at the pier. I wouldn't hesitate going with them. THe ship tries to scare you into booking only thru them. Hope this helps.

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Vidimom

Vidimom

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Thank you very much for the information. We may just wait until we arrive in the ports and see what the weather is like.

 

How was the entertainment on board the ship? Anything special that is a don't miss? Was Brent Alan still the CD on your cruise?

 

Any idea of prices for tours in Panama. Have several family members that want to take a ride through the canal but all I can find is the excursion offered by Carnival. It's extremely expensive through them and some have a family of 4 which will run close to $600.00 for the one tour. Any suggestions would be appreciated. How was the shopping and were there any good bargins in the

ports?

 

We are really getting excited about the trip and can't believe that it is only 7 days (almost 6) away!

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marshabear

marshabear

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Brett (not to be confused with Brent who is the ass't CD) is still onboard....

 

the ferry boat ride through the canal costs $175 PP...i don't know of any tours offered not booked through carnival as we tend to book through the ship-the canal tour requires a 1 1/2 hour bus ride there and 1 hour ride back to the ship-wouldn't want to chance something happening on a private tour and not getting back to the ship in time...this tour takes the whole time you are in panama....too close time wise for us to book privately, but others may offer you more info if you still are interested in private tours.....

 

Have Fun!!! :)

 

Marsha

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welovetocruise1234

welovetocruise1234

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Panama was about 1/2 of what the ship wanted. Brent was still the CD. Also embarkation was a nightmare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only 2 security lines with scanners. There were lines around the building. Stood in line for about 1.5 hours. Don't know if getting there early would help as they didn't even start till 1:30. The fun pass line is just as long. Plus you don't even get on the fun pass line until you go through security. I got there at 1:30 and thats how long it took me. Maybe if you get there much later you could walk right on board.

Disembarkation was much easier. Embarkation was unreal. I have been on over 30 cruises and never, never, never have I seen it like that.

Good luck!

Also, by the end of the cruise they started running out of food items like skim milk and bananas. So if you are a skim milk (only kind I can take) fan, get a few boxes and store it in your fridge. How they ran out, I don't know, you would think they would have this down by now.

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stokerhj

stokerhj

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They didn't even start letting people on until 1:30? Was this the same experience of those who cruised the week before? My only previous experience with embarkation was the Paradise out of Miami and it seems that we were let on much earlier than that.

 

I also remember only 3 lines in Miami- one to turn in your documentation, then a short one to get your sail and sign, then one to get on the ship. Is there a separate line in Pt. Everglades to go through security? Thanks.

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marshabear

marshabear

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we too had a long process at embarkation....

 

it was our worst yet ...got to the port at about 11:30 and waited in long lines til we finally got to a place to sit...then waited til after 1pm to board...was closer to 1:30pm....there were TA's there to tour the ship- had to wait til they were well on their way for their tour before we were allowed to board.....:(

 

many people said they would never cruise from FLL again because of this wait ....then we didn't leave port til after 6pm...they said we had to "take on fuel"...go figure when the ship was coming from NYC the previous day(this was the first cruise out of FLL)...had plenty of time to refuel, you would think....of course we missed sailway, because we had early seating.....:(if we would have left on time (4pm) we could have seen sailaway then gone to dinner....oh well.....

 

once onboard, we forgot all about our long embarkation process.....it is just frustrating....to wait that long for a cruise and then to just sit and wait to board, while the ship is in plain sight too!!!! :(

 

Marsha

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Tom-n-Cheryl "Live from...." Rare

Tom-n-Cheryl

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STOKERHJ:

 

The cruise was great... with the exception of getting rained out in Barbados AND Martinique....

 

We arrived at the port between 10:30 and 11... get there early or chance waiting in a LONG LINE OUTSIDE... we were lucky and got INSIDE and were able to find a seat.... they did our doc check as we entered there - without computers... and placed a small orange sticker on our boarding pass... we were on the ship by 12:30 (boarding group 1)... there were LOTS of people waiting outside in a long line... that would be a bummer..

 

We sailed late (5 instead of 4) due to unknown reasons. The lifeboat drill was completed prior to sailing...

 

I am happy to report that getting off the ship was smooth - without the long lines I have encountered when getting off other Carnival ships. They started calling luggage tags shortly after 9. Our luggage tags were called following several others. We were on the interstate by 11.

 

Tom

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finoky Great Review Rare

finoky

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I agree about the embarkation in Ft Lauderdale. It is never fun but it was the worst ever when we sailed the Legend out of there. Just like Tom sais there are long lines of people outside. There seemed to be no organization till you make it inside the doors to the counters.

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stokerhj

stokerhj

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Hi Tom,

 

Thanks for the info. I guess they weren't kidding about it being the rainy season, huh? Did it rain every day of the cruise or was it mostly sunny with the exception of those two days? Did a lot of tours get canceled?

 

The embarkation info was helpful. I was thinking, "why try to be at the port by 11 if they won't let people on until 1:30?" Now I'm thinking, "Embarkation time is a toss-up, but we should try to be there early just in case and to avoid some of the lines." lol.

 

Good thing about smooth debarkation. We have a 12pm flight. Yes, I know that is risky but it is out of FLL, and I thought that since our ship gets in on a Monday it will go smoother since we are the only ship in port, and there won't be hoards of other cruisers heading out and for the airport with us. Thought about doing the self-debark, but have seen posts where it didn't seem to speed up the process, so why not just relax?

 

Glad you had a good time. I'm hoping that one of the Thanksgiving Legenders will write a review once they've had a chance to get settled in and unpacked. ;)

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