Review of our Spring Break cruise on Carnival Legend

[PaulMedik]

Britt also wanted a pic of him jumping from the pier;

 

 

 

After the boys came out on the beach and learned we had lunch at the Palm Pavillion, they insisted we return there for dinner. Oh well, what's another margarita going to do to me?

 

 

I had a burger. I forget what they called it, but it was large and very tasty. If you like burgers and are in Clearwater, go there and try one;

 

 

Unlike some beaches, Clearwater doesn't have 'stay off the dunes' signs;

 

[PaulMedik]

Keep it coming Paul. I love your reviews too. Looking forward to this one as I'll be on the Legend in October with the Sinners (I'm of course, the token saint, LOL).

 

You talking about flying out of Huntington always makes me think of that area. My kids were both born in Gallipolis, OH and we were always headed to Huntington to shop I think.:p

 

 

bsdmhutch,

 

You'll all have a great time on Legend. She's designed perfectly for groups of both Saints and Sinners alike.

 

 

 

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Here's a daylight shot of Palm Pavillion from the parking area;

 

 

We didn't stay at the Palm Pavillion Inn, but we may on our next trip to Clearwater. If anyone is interested in a 'Mom & Pop' type hotel for precruise in Clearwater, I'd recommend Palm Pavillion or La Sal Suites. Both are better options than a hotel in my opinion.

 

This pic isn't real attractive, but it is a nice looking Hotel;

 

 

We sail most often out of Miami and our precruise stays are normally on South Beach. While walking around Clearwater and having a city park right beside our Motel, I noticed there were no homeless people or people laying around in the park all day sleeping. After we finished eating we were walking back through the Mandalay park to our Motel, we found out why we don't see drunk people laying around Clearwater;

 

 

The Clearwater PD arrests them, or otherwise handcuffs them and takes them in to custody;

 

 

Regardless of where they took them; jail or drunk tank, they are better off there than laying in a public park.

 

The municipal pool is across the street from La Sal Suites. We didn't go there, but did get a pic from the back side;

 

[PaulMedik]

Anyone planning to stay in Clearwater Beach needs to plan to visit the Pier 60 area. Each evening it comes alive with street vendors and street entertainers.

 

The area is just behind this sign;

 

 

We spent hours watching this guy turn blank sheets of paper in to works of art. Each one was sold before he finished painting it;

 

 

 

 

[PaulMedik]

 

Anything that keeps Britt's attention for long, has to be good;

 

 

This picture really needs audio. It's hard to imagine the music he was able to bring out of those five gallon plastic buckets;

 

 

This guy 'Dallas' juggles knives, hatchets, and plays with fire and basically puts on a great show;

 

 

His show ends with him breathing fire as hundreds of onlookers have gathered;

 

[gail811]

Gail,

 

Thank you.

 

The Carnival Legend is all that we've read about her being. I was anxious that she wasn't going to live up to the hype, but she did.......well in every way except for the smooth ride part. She did have a good excuse though; we had some VERY high winds and some high seas to go along with it.

 

ps: You're going to have to move your Dream cruise up by two months and sail with us! If not then I guess you'll be reading about our Dream cruise this time next year. We're really looking forward to that ship.

 

What cabin do you have for your Dream cruise Paul? Sorry, can't change ours; we have 10 cabins booked on the Empress Deck....we have 7459 for ourselves. I can't wait for the first pictures of these cabins/decks to see if we made a good choice.

[alexw]

this review is simply amazing so far!!!!

[PaulMedik]

After our precruise stay in Clearwater Beach, we woke up Sunday morning and packed up our things and headed to Channelside. I dropped Karen, Bryson, and Britt off at the port with our luggage and Spencer and I drove the rental car to Marriott Waterside for return. I looked all over and couldn't find anything with Hertz on it. After parking on the sidewalk I asked one of the valet attendants and they said just pull up and park in front and they'd take care of it. I verified he knew it was a rental and that I was returning it and he said that's what they do.

 

I took a pic of the Mazda RX whatever SUV parked in front so I could prove where I left it and handed over the keys and left. (I haven't heard anything from Hertz so apparently they did get it back);

 

 

While walking to the port I got a call from Karen. Apparently I only gave her copies of the FunPass for our room and not one for the boys. She had two copies of one FunPass and none for the other. She was denied entry to the port;

 

 

As Spencer and I got closer, Bryson called and said they still wouldn't let them in;

 

 

When we were right beside the ship, Karen called and said they told her that we would have to bring proper cruise documents or a funpass or would not be allowed in. It was hard to get concerned with the ship looming so large right beside me so I told her to relax and that I'd be there soon;

 

 

When I arrived at the port I presented my copy of the FunPass that Karen had two copies of to the port officer and told him we printed out three copies of the same funpass, but they were booked as well so they would have to do some checking and let us in. The first two people the officer spoke with refused to look it up, but he took the third one aside and chewed them out well. His efforts worked. They looked up the names on the manifest and granted us all entry. ( I bet the first two have relatives that work at the Original Hooters)

 

We read on CC all the time that all you need is a completed FunPass. I would add that you need one for each booking and not three of the same FunPass;

 

If the officer hadn't got someone to check the manifest, Britt and I would have been sailing alone;

 

[gail811]

And we just had 4237 on the Miracle, our friends were in the adjoining cabin, 4239....we loved the layout and adjoining cabins. Only downside was that they would not open our balcony divider!

[PaulMedik]

What cabin do you have for your Dream cruise Paul? Sorry, can't change ours; we have 10 cabins booked on the Empress Deck....we have 7459 for ourselves. I can't wait for the first pictures of these cabins/decks to see if we made a good choice.

 

 

Gail,

 

We have 9A aft wrap 6479. The boys want an interior room for themselves instead of a balcony beside ours. Why? I have no clue, but that's what they want. They say they liked the one they had on Freedom because it was so dark.

 

When you find pics, be sure and send some my way!

 

 

 

______________________________________________________________

 

 

It just took a minute or so to check the manifest and verify the names then we entered the terminal and took the escalator to the second floor. We were immediately directed to VIP sign in and received our S&S cards;

 

 

We got our cards at 11:15 and then went to another VIP waiting area and had time to punch a hole in my S&S card then boarding began. We had boarding photograph by Carnival Photogs and we were on board at 11:30;

 

[Nezmo]

Great stuff Paul.

 

I spent a day in Clearwater last year. Loved the beach. Also went to Frenchy's and saw the fire breather act. It was July and the water was VERY warm.

[TrqoisWtrs]

Great reveiw Paul. Love the nice pics, instead of some of those that are so huge you are constantly scrolling left and right. :)

 

What Olympus digital did you get? I just bought the Tough 8000, so was curious since you included those underwater pool shots. I have to wait until September :mad: to try mine out snorkeling. :D

[superrupe]

Great review! We will be in the Clearwater in May after our cruise so this review has a lot of great ideas! Thank you. Also, we love flying Allegiant! Last Sept. we got each way to Vegas from Kansas City for $29 a person. Awesome review!

[cjkumbaya]

Fantastic start to what I know will be a great cruise (we were on the Legend in November of last year - loved it). Can't wait to read more. Thanks so much for sharing - really like the photos!!!

[Sanger Cruiser]

I am hanging on by a thread. You are helping feed my addiction. We leave on the Legend Jan. 3 so I can't wait for you to finish.

[nashwl]

Great Review so far and you arent even on the ship!

 

 

Great to see some fellow Mountaineers on CC as well :).

[NOLA_Cruiser88]

Im booked in 4237 next year on the Lengend for honeymoon.. Looking forward to seeing your pics of it..

[TakeMeAway1001]

Another stellar review Paul, thanks for sharing!

[vacruizer]

It's been a rough week at work - you really made my night, Paul, when I sat down and saw you had another review started! Can't wait to read the rest. Your reviews are great reminders of all the things in life we should be thankful for - family, being able to travel and cruise, beautiful beaches, the list goes on. :D

[PaulMedik]

......

 

What Olympus digital did you get? I just bought the Tough 8000, so was curious since you included those underwater pool shots. I have to wait until September to try mine out snorkeling.

 

 

Cruisin*tigger,

 

It's the Olympus Stylus 1050SW.

 

If you plan to use it for snorkeling I'd recommend a few trips to the pool to practice using it. I didn't practice before the cruise and I'm sure it can take better pictures than what I got with it. It has a lot of settings and adjustments and being familiar with them would have helped.

 

It would have also helped for me to not have a mustache so I could get a seal on my snorkel mask so I could see the LCD view finder. As it was, I just aimed and hit the button without seeing what I was aiming at. I'm glad it was digital instead of film or I would be broke from developing bad pics.

 

 

 

 

Thank you all for your kind comments. I'm still uploading pics to webshots and the transfer from my MacBook was made via CDs, then a flash memory stick. Not the best way to transfer files and keep them organized. The MacBook is nice for surfing and for uploading pics to, it's TERRIBLE at sharing the pics with other computers.

 

 

____________________________________________________

 

 

Just before boarding we posed for the Carnival photogs to do the traditional boarding photo;

 

 

We normally head for Lido after boarding but decided to slip through a few closed doors and drop our carry on luggage off. Our rooms were 4237 and 4239. Every crew member we encountered on the way there greeted us with smiles and 'welcome aboard' comments. We discovered our rooms were already clean;

 

 

 

We quickly dropped off our carryon items and headed up to the Lido buffet. I opted to try a little bit of many things;

 

 

Britt hit the pizza station and Bryson hit the burger grill;

 

 

As you can see by the way he is setting, that's his second trip to the grill;

 

[PaulMedik]

After lunch we headed back down to the room and checked out the balcony. As you can see, Britt is describing the size to Karen as she came out;

 

 

Our balcony afforded a nice view of the Florida Aquarium;

 

 

And a nice angle of the American Victory docked behind us;

 

 

 

Since the rooms weren't occupied yet, I took the opportunity to get a few pics of rooms nearby. This is 4235 the cat 11 on the port side beside our room;

 

 

[PaulMedik]

4233 an inside cabin near ours;

 

 

This hallway just steps down the hall from our door leads to a stairway to the Promenade deck wrap around balcony;

 

 

And here's the boys coming out the door and the end of that hallway and down the steps to Promenade deck;

 

 

The steps from another angle;

 

 

The Promenade deck at the aft of the ship. It's a public area outside of the second level of Truffles Dinning room;

 

[irb33785]

We live just south of Clearwater Beach and I have enjoyed seeing it through your eyes. For those who go to Frenchy's be sure to have the she crab soup. It is the best ever! Palm Pavilion is the sight for the Hospice Beach Stroll, May 2nd. A 3 mile stroll on the beach which starts at 9, registration at 8. If you're visiting that weekend before your cruise, it is a great way to start your vacation. I'm sorry you had a bad experience at Hooters. I hope it was just an off night. We have eaten there many times but not recently. At least you found the best on CB!

 

Keep posting. Our first Carnival is on the legend for Saints & sinners 5. I love the cabins.

[beachbum6264]

We live just south of Clearwater Beach and I have enjoyed seeing it through your eyes. For those who go to Frenchy's be sure to have the she crab soup. It is the best ever! Palm Pavilion is the sight for the Hospice Beach Stroll, May 2nd. A 3 mile stroll on the beach which starts at 9, registration at 8. If you're visiting that weekend before your cruise, it is a great way to start your vacation. I'm sorry you had a bad experience at Hooters. I hope it was just an off night. We have eaten there many times but not recently. At least you found the best on CB!

 

Keep posting. Our first Carnival is on the legend for Saints & sinners 5. I love the cabins.

 

Don't mean to hi-jack, but I grew up on Indian Rocks Beach (20th Ave. Parkway).... miss it, want to be back!

[cruisebie]

Your review is wonderful. :) I feel like I'm right there on the ship with you. The Legend is one of my favorites, I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip.

 

I was glad to see your positive comments about Allegiant. I booked our airfare with them to FLL for our June cruise on the Freedom. I've been a little worried about it since they only do one flight a day, but I figured what the heck, I could always just rent a car and drive down if something happened to cancel the flight.

[newt98]

great job with the review paul. you will be busy all week.;)