Review of our Spring Break cruise on Carnival Legend

[tiggerman101]

Nice review. You pics and detailed reports convinced me to change my Spirit aft balcony to an Aft Balcony Suite today. Thanks? :D

[gail811]

tiggerman101....you will NOT regret that decision! I had 8273 on our Alaska cruise and spent most of my time on the balcony soaking it all (the scenery) in! If 4237 is available grab it; much more overhang and in Alaska it tends to rain or drizzle often!

[cantw82cruise]

 

I think I'm going to treat myself to the Olympus waterproof camera :)

 

Karen you might also want to look at the 1030 SW. It's good for 30 ft down instead of 10 ft and had a lot more features. I am getting mine on Friday.

 

John

[sbnuggie]

wow, the review kinda just stopped. Nothing since 4/25. Hope PaulMedik didn't come down with the Swine Flu ;)

[DarthGrady]

Hey Paul, great review so far man. The pictures are great to see, especially since the wife and I are gonna be in an aft wrap on the Spirit next week!

[spikester]

Paul, great review so far, I can't wait to see the rest.

I am going on the legend in Aug. Unfortunately not an aft balcony, but inside 1a. :D

 

Thanks for the info on the tenders in Belize. On the freedom, they tried to give me a #8 tender ticket, but I said, hey I am platinum. And they told me to just go get on the one that was boarding. Although another guest did make a crack about the "cutting". I think other people might have cut the line, not everyone had tender stickers.

 

I can't wait to hear about Roatan. I was there about 7 years ago, and HATED it. I hear it is better now. I hope.

[imamyjamie]

Paul - I was on the same cruise with you and I'm loving your review & pictures. I never thought to get pictures of all the food:D. What a good idea. You are doing a good job of describing the Legend experience. My family had a good time, but my daughter didn't enjoy Camp Carnival. Other than that it was a perfect vacation. I wanted to let you know that not only did I enjoy your review, but in one of your pictures I saw my father in law, who was with us. What a riot actually seeing someone you know in someone else's pictures. Thanks for the review.

[KarenMF]

Karen you might also want to look at the 1030 SW. It's good for 30 ft down instead of 10 ft and had a lot more features. I am getting mine on Friday.

 

John

 

Thanks John - I don't foresee needing to go down that far - I stay near the surface and really want it more for kayaking and times I just don't want the camera to get wet.

 

and anyway - I already ordered the other one :D

[RAE6]

What a great review!! I am also enjoying this...we will be doing this ship in Oct 09. Can't remember the cabin #'s now will have to look them up. Haven't done my port plans yet. Still trying to find about the options, go thing I now know about the Belize tender time.

[krninco]

I'm so tired of reading swine flu posts. I can't wait for Paul's next installment...

[DGP1111]

Paul, I know I say this every time, but I'm sincerely grateful to you for the excellent entertainment (yes, it truly was just that) provided through your cruise reviews. But it's not only because of your savvy use of perfect words and photos . . . if it wasn't for all the actions, and reactions, of your entire family, there wouldn't be that source.

 

So, to the entire quintet . . . thank you, thank you, thank you!!

 

p.s. You may remember you got me super excited about Half Moon Cay in an earlier review, and I'll be making my third visit there in a few days. For this particular 'chapter' you turned me on to some new ideas for my next stop in Cozumel (which is enough months away to hopefully be past the current situation).

 

Take care!!

[jennbill]

C'mon Paul, sleep can wait.

 

We're so ready for more pics.

[czechgal]

I'm so tired of reading swine flu posts. I can't wait for Paul's next installment...

 

 

I second that, especially the 2nd, 3rd and fourth threads on the same thing when there is a sticky at the top. :mad: Can you tell it's a pet peeve? :confused:

 

COME ON PAUL>>>>>WE WANT MORE!:D:D:D

 

Lisa

[caesars79]

Paul, the suspense is killing me...:D

[ellbelle]

Paul- I have also enjoyed your review and look forward to your next installment!

 

I really liked seeing your 9A cabin, so much so I now have one on a 36 hour hold for a B2B June 2010 sailing on the Freedom. There are only two cabins that can accomodate three, so I thought I'd better get serious if I wanted that type of cabin. The room appeared to be roomy enough even with the couch made for your youngest, so would probably work as well with our then 14 year old.

 

Happy Sailing!

 

Cheryl

[NOLA_Cruiser88]

FYI his cabin is not a 9A its a Cat 11 suite. The Spirit class ships have suites in the back not regular rooms with extended balcony's

[grumpytilicruise]

Paul,

 

Can't wait to hear more about your cruise. We sail on the Legend in June and I want to hear more from you. Making my list of things I want to do and places I want to hit while in port.

[ellbelle]

FYI his cabin is not a 9A its a Cat 11 suite. The Spirit class ships have suites in the back not regular rooms with extended balcony's

 

 

Thanks for the info NOLA. Do you have experience with the 9A cabins on the Conquest Class Ships? I know that are an odd shape, does that make the room feel too small? I really like the extended balcony and being aft. I may go ahead and deposit that anyway, and we can always upgrade to Cat 11 but most of those cabins are midship.

 

Thanks to anyone that can help!

 

Cheryl

[PaulMedik]

Paul- I have also enjoyed your review and look forward to your next installment!

 

I really liked seeing your 9A cabin, so much so I now have one on a 36 hour hold for a B2B June 2010 sailing on the Freedom. There are only two cabins that can accomodate three, so I thought I'd better get serious if I wanted that type of cabin. The room appeared to be roomy enough even with the couch made for your youngest, so would probably work as well with our then 14 year old.

 

Happy Sailing!

 

Cheryl

 

 

Cheryl,

 

We had a 9A aft wrap on Freedom in April '08. The 9A wraps on Conquest class ship have huge balconies similar to Spirit Class Cat 11 Suite balconies. The 9A cabins are smaller and less well appointed than the Cat 11 Suites. Freedom 9A cabins do have flat screen TVs and DVD players vs CRT & VCRs on Spirit Class. Here's a shot of our 9A aft wrap balcony on Freedom (6452) ;

 

 

We also did a B2B on Liberty this past summer in a 9A aft wrap (6483) and both ships comfortably slept three with Britt on our couch in both ships. On Freedom, your 14 year old would be more literally 'at the foot of your bed,' than on Legend, but you'll likely spend your time on the balcony instead of your room.

 

CLICK HERE for review of our cruise on Carnival Freedom.

CLICK HERE for review of our B2B cruise on Carnival Liberty.

[Cathisme]

Paul,

 

I can't thank you enough for taking all time to post!!!! I know how much time it takes to do this. I will be sailing on the Legend on June 21, 2009 and was not sure if we had made the right choice, now I know we did. We will be in a "penthouse suite" anyone have any info on this suite??:rolleyes:

[PaulMedik]

Thank you all for your commentary and patience with my work schedule.

 

The ATV / 4-wheeler aspect of our excursion in Belize is the one my boys have talked quite a bit about since we returned. We have a 4-wheeler of our own, but we keep it at my parent's farm and the boys don't get to ride as much as they would like. They also don't get to ride all at one time so they really enjoyed having their own individual 4-wheelers on the excursion.

 

As we left the covered boarding area for the 4-wheelers, the guide at the front stopped to make sure everyone was in line and ready to roll;

 

 

Britt rode with me though he would have very much preferred to ride his own. He was allowed to ride his own, but I wasn't ready to allow him to do so. Ruts made by 4-wheelers tend to cause the steering to be unpredictable and difficult to handle at time. Britt is strong for his age, but I opted to not allow him to go it alone. If we had been riding in a field or an area without ruts, I would have been more inclined to allow Britt to drive his own.

 

We were lined up at the front of the pack on the first four 4-wheelers and we had to stop a few times for the rest of the pack to catch up;

 

 

Riding ahead of the pack also allowed for the guide to stop a few times and get pics of us on the trail;

 

 

 

Karen also had a few opportunities to get off and stretch;

 

[PaulMedik]

The ATV trail varies from dense shaded areas with smooth trail to areas heavily rutted out. Our pace was quick at times and had enough zip to it to make the boys happy. Some areas of the trail are improved via primitive bridges;

 

 

The rough areas of the trail require two hands on the handle bars so I wasn't able to get any pics. Some areas are also swampy and the Honda ATVs performed as expected and whisked us through them without getting stuck.

 

As I recall, this pic is just around the corner from a swampy area where we spun our way through;

 

 

We returned to the boarding area well ahead of the rest of the pack;

 

 

Britt wanted to go around the trail again on his own (Nobody else was back yet so we may have been able to do so) ;

 

 

I'm not sure of the total time involved, but we had plenty of time afterwards for additional pics while waiting for the rest of the pack. The trails have several optional routes along the way to keep everyone moving and provide additional challenges as needed. ;

 

 

 

We were in Belize during the dry season so the trail was not overly wet nor did we get much mud on us. The guides said that riders frequently return from the trail covered in mud from head to toe. I suspect that if the boys had been covered in mud, it would have made it an unavoidable repeat excursion for us; they would be insisting that we go there again next year.

I wouldn't describe the tour as an ultimate ATV experience for experienced 4-wheeler riders, but I would recommend it as a fun family excursion.

 

Having worked in emergency medicine for 22 years now, I have seen way more than my share of ATV accident injuries and deaths. The trails we traveled are dangerous if not handled carefully and even then accidents can occur. The initial training by the guides began with questioning of each rider to determine familiarity with the rigs and instruction as needed for those less experienced. I feel the guide's actions were sufficient for our safety needs and can only assume novice riders were adequately prepared.

 

Helmets were available for any one who desired one. I am an advocate for wearing helmets on ATVs, but I considered the potential exposures involved in wearing helmets previously shared with unknown individuals, and opted to not require them for my family for this excursion.

[PaulMedik]

After the ATV excursion, we loaded back up in our bus and headed for the Cave Tubing site;

 

 

We were issued head lamps as we exited the bus. As you can see, the boys weren't too sure why we needed headlamps;

 

 

We then began our trek to the river;

 

 

As we neared the river, we were issued innertubes by our cave tubing guide Jimmy Corez;

 

 

Our bus was divided into groups prior to leaving the parking area and our individual guides accompanied us throughout the hike to the river, on the river, and then back.

 

Our first river crossing offered a taste of the 'refreshing' water we were about to tube in;

 

[PaulMedik]

While the actual cave tubing is quite relaxing and low impact, the trek in to the river has a few challenges along the way for those less active;

 

 

 

Cave tubing is not all about riding a tube on a river through a cave. Before you can ride, you first to have to walk and carry your tube through a few caves. Crossing a bridge in a cave while walking and carrying a tube is a memorable experience. They are similar to putt putt golf courses that have caves, mountains and rivers, with the exception that these are the real deal carved out by Mother Nature and only slightly enhanced by man;

 

 

When we arrived at the 'port area' for cave tubing, we witnessed a carnival of activity;

 

 

Cave Tubing dot com guides were busy lining their charges up for the river. They had explained in great detail about how we would be positioned for our river tubing experience with safety being their number one priority;

 

[PaulMedik]

The color ORANGE provided entertainment throughout our river tour;

 

 

 

Cavetubing dot com linked us all together and guided us the whole way; the ORANGE folks were tossed in, tossed about, and frequently tossed in the water;

 

 

Jimmy was asked what he would be doing since he wasn't in a tube. His answer was that he would be walking, pulling, pushing, tugging, dragging swimming diving and doing whatever it took to make our trip safe and enjoyable. Jimmy was very true to his word;

 

 

The cave entrance is ominous with various rock formations, rock strata, and dangling roots greeting our entry;

 

 

The water in this area was fifteen feet deep, crystal clear, and 'refreshing.' Refreshing, in Belize means COLD;