Legend 7/5-7/12 Mega review with lots of pictures!

[cespo]

Thanks for the great review and the pictures are beautiful. We have 36 days until we set sail and can not wait, even more so after seeing your review.

Can not wait to see Belize and Isle Roatan pictures.

Thanks again

[Maxax]

We were on this same cruise with you guys! I keep wondering when I'm going to see myself in one of your pictures! Keep em coming...its great! And we had a terrific time too! We always do!!!

[cruisinsly]

Love the pics with the helmet dive. Thanks for posting.

[oceanoffire17]

I thought I recognized you and your daughter. My family and I were on this cruise as well. And, we visited the sting rays with Moby Dick. Ah, the Barney Bus! If you look to the left of your husband in the picture below, you can see me, the brunette with glasses and pooka shells necklace.

 

Can't wait to skim through the rest of your pictures and see if I'm 'hiding' in any others. =]

 

 

 

I'd also like to add that no on in my family likes the warm chocolate melting cake either. We can't figure out why everyone raves about it.

[Janchris]

Once again I must say what a wonderful review and gorgeous pictures.....they are so professional. You must be a photographer...if not, you should be.:D

 

The food looked so inviting and the underwater helmut walk looked fantastic. DH has always wanted to do this excursion but for one reason or another never had the opportunity because of bad weather when in port. One question please....my husband is a little claustrophic so do you think this helmut will bother him? Thanks for any info you can provide.:confused:

[ronrythm]

Can you tell me more about the 'stations' and layout of the Lido? Are the food stations in one big area like a cafeteria or are they spread all over the Lido deck between pools or on the other side of the pools? DH and I were on the Carnival Inspiration and Sensation a few years ago and we only saw a food line with stuff like hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. Is it possible we missed the other food stations? I will be on the Legend in a couple months. Thank You.

I have photos of all the different stations for lunch on the lido from the 6-28-09 t0 7-5-09 sailing at http://www.ronrythm.com/Legend091.html Lido photos start near the bottom and go to the second page. I started taking photos at the aft starboard area and worked my way forward.

Enjoy

Ron

[3redheads]

My son is 11 and weighs 70 lbs. I know they want the kids to weigh 80. Do you think this will be a problem for him?

 

Thanks so much for the review! Great job!

[medcruiser8]

I'm loving your GREAT review, especially the part about the helmet dive! We are sailing on the Legend a week from tomorrow and are considering doing this adventure on Cozumel. Can't wait to read about Belize & Roatan.:)

[Irajiii]

Youe reviews are great got me wanting to do the helmet dive , we are leaving on the Legend Aug. 9 first time on Carnival but our 12th cruise, our 20th anniversary, dh is taking his tux and I am taking my long own for elegant night, hoping to get some good pictures while we aree dressed up, usually dh only takes a suit, but being our anniversary, we thought what the heck and take it, we are looking forward to it,

[RAVI360]

AWWWWWW....great review....keep it coming

[winakork]

scraphappy,

 

Grat pics of the helmet diving. What type of camera were you using?

[poly3503]

Hey there!

 

My husband and I sat behind you on "Barney" on the way to Stingray City. Our daughter is in one of your photos and she commented on it to you. Have to say we are really enjoying your report. We're reliving the trip by reading it.

 

We took advantage of the anytime dining and will do that again. We don't want a structured time and we actually had the same waitstaff for the last six nights of the cruise. Nemours and the entire dining staff were awesome!

 

Can't wait for the next chapter !

Thanks for taking the time to write the report!

 

poly

[scraphappylady]

Hi. I am taking the Legend cruise on 8/9 and was concerned with what to wear on some of the excursions. We are doing the Stingray City in Grand Caymon, Snorkeling in Cozumel, Lost World Canopy in Belize and Pirates, Parrots and Monkeys in Isla Roatan. Will we need to take our passports with us? What is the best way to carry all of our belongings? Should we have a waterproof pouch or will a backpack do? Do they have lockers we can put our stuff in? Should we wear bathing suits or carry them with us?

 

Thanks.

 

Each time we left the ship, we took laminated copies of our passports with us, as well as our driver's licenses (photo id), just in case. I copied and laminated them at home before we left.

 

We just took backpacks - handy for those wet towels - and a waterproof pouch that I picked up at Walmart beforehand, for our non-waterproof camera (came in handy in the Belizian rain). Many places have lockers for your stuff, like our helmet dive in Cozumel. Others, like our Moby Dick stingray tour, had a section of the boat where we piled our backpacks. Since no one could go anywhere without the boat, we just took a quick peak inside to make sure everything was still there when we got back on board.

 

We found it easiest to put our bathing suits on under our shorts and tops each morning, rather than try and change later. (With the guys, their trunks were their shorts.) You'll want to bring your Carnival towels along, but you really do dry off quickly in the heat. For us ladies, we just had easy to pull on clothes (elastic waists, and in Mandy's case, short skirts) to put back on when our suits were dry.

 

 

Greetings..

Great review we are going on Oct.25th...I have never done a helmet dive and it lots great. How does the helmet attach to keep out the water? I'm not great at snorkeling, so this might be an alternative, without drinking the sea water.

We were thinking of shopping downtown afterwards...is it walking distance back to the ship...

Thanks

 

The helmet is open underneath, but when it's on your head, the air pressure inside keeps out the water. They do tell you that if you look downwards, the water will start to come inside. Just look up again and it goes back out. And you shouldn't turn your head or you might get dizzy - just turn your whole body. Really not hard at all.

 

From where we were on the helmet trek, you could walk the 3-4 blocks to town (according to the map). Getting back to port is a short (under 10 min) taxi ride, though.

 

Once again I must say what a wonderful review and gorgeous pictures.....they are so professional. You must be a photographer...if not, you should be.:D

 

The food looked so inviting and the underwater helmut walk looked fantastic. DH has always wanted to do this excursion but for one reason or another never had the opportunity because of bad weather when in port. One question please....my husband is a little claustrophic so do you think this helmut will bother him? Thanks for any info you can provide.:confused:

 

Thanks for your wonderful comments! That's why I use digital - take 1,000 pictures, delete 999!! I actually culled these review pictures from among the 1,700 or so we took on this trip (that includes the kids' camera)! :eek: And a few of the underwater ones I sent through Photoshop to take away so much of the blue (now you know my secret!)

 

It's hard for me to say how your husband will do on the excursion. For some reason, my husband has an unusually large head (better for his big brain, he says :p), and the helmet was pressing just at the tip of his nose. It didn't bother him, but he usually doesn't have a problem with small spaces. The rest of your body is open to the water, though, so that might help. And he might be so caught up in his surroundings that he doesn't notice the helmet as much. There were support divers around us the whole time, so if he starts to feel uncomfortable, they can take him right up, no problem.

 

I thought I recognized you and your daughter. My family and I were on this cruise as well. And, we visited the sting rays with Moby Dick. Ah, the Barney Bus! If you look to the left of your husband in the picture below, you can see me, the brunette with glasses and pooka shells necklace.

 

Can't wait to skim through the rest of your pictures and see if I'm 'hiding' in any others. =]

 

I'd also like to add that no on in my family likes the warm chocolate melting cake either. We can't figure out why everyone raves about it.

 

Cool!! I love it when people find themselves in my pix! Kinda like "Where's Waldo." Let me know if you see anymore of you in any others!

[scraphappylady]

My son is 11 and weighs 70 lbs. I know they want the kids to weigh 80. Do you think this will be a problem for him?

 

Thanks so much for the review! Great job!

 

You might want to try and get an answer before you go. I guess the limit is because the helmets themselves are 70 lbs each. As I said, my son was just over 90 lbs and said by the end of the trek, even underwater, his shoulders were beginning to get sore from the weight. Not enough to bother him once he got out, but it might on your son.

 

scraphappy,

 

Grat pics of the helmet diving. What type of camera were you using?

Thanks! It's a Pentax Optio W60 - 10 megapixel. I treated myself to it before my last cruise in March. It's a little pricey if you don't normally take a lot of underwater pictures, but way better than the disposable ones. So far, I seem to be getting my money's worth. I got it through Amazon. I'm normally a Canon devotee (my other camera is my workhorse - a PowerShot S2-IS), but the new underwater Canon wasn't out at the time I took my first cruise.

 

Two drawback I've noticed with the Pentax is that since there's no viewfinder, just the screen, it's harder to see what you're aiming at underwater, and it has a slower shutter speed than some, so fast moving fish are a challenge. But with my 8GB, hd sc card, I have some 3,200 pix to go, even with two cruises worth of pictures still on the card. Shoot away!

 

Oh, and get a spare battery. I don't remember how much the extra one was, but it's worth it. Each battery takes around 2-3 hours to charge.

 

Hey there!

 

My husband and I sat behind you on "Barney" on the way to Stingray City. Our daughter is in one of your photos and she commented on it to you. Have to say we are really enjoying your report. We're reliving the trip by reading it.

 

Hey, I remember you guys! Hi!!! This review is MY way of reliving the trip, too, so glad you're enjoying it!

[Irajiii]

Well, we just booked the helmet dive, dh is a scuba diver so he told me this will give a fell how it feels, so I am looking forward to it, it looked so neat, thanks the reveiw was great. leving on aug. 9.

[scraphappylady]

Our next morning, we docked in Belize. We were up early, since we had to meet in Follies around 8 am for tendering. Since the sun was supposed to rise at 7:26 am (according to the Capers) we had ample opportunity to walk around after breakfast and take sunrise pictures.

 

 

Valor ahead of us.

 

 

Valor

 

 

Small outlying islands

 

 

 

[Irajiii]

Hi, we are almost neighbors we are not far from Pottstown, maybe an hour.

[scraphappylady]

If you want to call it "sunrise." I'm not sure we actually saw the sun this day. Since we had a Carnival excursion, we were given a round colored sticker with a number on it and had to wait in Follies until our number was called. Those who had independent excursions were given a different sticker and were told they could begin leaving the ship around 9:30 am. Not sure how that went, since we were called fairly early, in the second group, for the second tender over.

 

Follies

 

 

Follies

 

 

By now the early morning excursions were taking their toll.

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

It was hard to make out the city on shore, since we were tendered so far away from land. I later found out why. Apparently, all around the shoreline are miles of reefs and very shallow water. The ships need to dock out that far in order to protect those reefs. It was just a little disconcerting at the time to watch our ship (and Valor and Enchantment of the Seas, too) getting smaller and smaller.

 

 

 

 

Although it might have been the weather, my impressions of Belize were not too favorable, and didn't really improve much during the day. Of all the ports we went to, it was my least favorite. Perhaps if the weather had been better, or we had gone to a different part of the country, I might have changed my mind.

[Irajiii]

The under water helmet dive can you talk or hear any one talk in the helmets.

[Lindys]

We leave on the legend on Oct 4 you got me so pumped up don't know if I can make it till then. Anyway all the hard work you are putting into this review I thank you for!!! One more thing go Steelers!!!

[scraphappylady]

We had the Altun Ha mayan site and river Wallace excursion planned for Belize, and while I didn't much care for the country itself, the ruins were fascinating. We met up with our tour guides

 

 

then took an hour long ride through the countryside to get to the Mayan ruins. To say the people are poor is an understatement.

 

 

Most houses were on stilts, to protect against the tropical storms, and some didn't even have walls. Our guide, who spoke English very well, lives in a village we passed through on our way to Altun Ha. He said his village only got electricity hooked up seven years ago. On our way to the ruins, he gave us an overview of some of the economic and social workings in Belize. One thing I found fascinating to learn, living as I do near Lancaster, PA, was that Belize, too, has a small Amish population. If I remember correctly, he said about 2% of the population is Amish.

 

As we approached Altun Ha, the clouds opened up and it was raining steadily as we pulled into the parking lot. No one really wanted to get out, even to go to the restrooms. Our guides took pity on us and gave us a brief overview of the site as we sat on the bus, trying to wait out the rain. After about 10 min, though, we had to get going. A few enterprising young men had set up an impromtu umbrella rental stand and were mobbed. We got one with a spoke or two missing, and considered ourselves lucky.

 

We sheltered under a nearby gazebo while listening to another brief talk and liberally applying bug spray, then headed over to the ruins. Fortunately, as we walked, the rain slackened and then stopped altogether, allowing us some nice pictures.

 

 

 

 

[scraphappylady]

 

Now which one does this look like . . .

 

 

. . . Mandy or Tim?

 

 

We only had about 45 min at the site, and could not climb the structures, since they were wet. Apparently, limestone is very slippery when wet. Quite the liability hazard, I guess. The kids were jealous that other tour groups were allowed to.

 

Although Jon and I were fascinated by the site, the kids were somewhat disappointed - they had envisioned much higher, more grand structures. But they did enjoy listening to our guides talk about the Mayans who might have occupied the site. Because so little is known about the Mayans, our guides cautioned us that much of what they were telling us was based on scholars' educated guesses. It was sad to learn, too, that some scientists estimate that around the site there could be up to 1400 more unearthed ruins. Belize just doesn't have the money to fund further digging right now.

 

After our tour, we headed to a local restaurant, the Black Orchid. While Jon and the kids opted for the $5 hot dog and fries, I went with the $9 grilled chicken, rice and beans. Out of this world! The portions weren't huge, and the meal was not included in the tour, but mine tasted wonderful. Not so much the hot dogs, I was told. For drinking, we stuck to our own bottled water, just in case.

 

The other part of our tour was a boat ride on the river Wallace. The goal of the trip was to see more of the wildlife of Belize, including monkeys and maybe manatees. As we waited to board, more clouds were gathering and I just hoped they would hold of until we reached port again, especially since the boat had no covering.

 

[scraphappylady]

As we started out, it seemed as if I would get my wish.

 

 

Vultures in nearby trees

 

 

Bats roosting under a bridge

 

 

 

[bobandkelly]

Hi. I am taking the Legend cruise on 8/9 and was concerned with what to wear on some of the excursions. We are doing the Stingray City in Grand Caymon, Snorkeling in Cozumel, Lost World Canopy in Belize and Pirates, Parrots and Monkeys in Isla Roatan. Will we need to take our passports with us? What is the best way to carry all of our belongings? Should we have a waterproof pouch or will a backpack do? Do they have lockers we can put our stuff in? Should we wear bathing suits or carry them with us?

 

Thanks.

 

I know that scraphappy said that they take laminated copies of their passports. But if you should have a problem and not make it back to the ship you will need your passport to fly to the next port or home. A copy will not work.

 

That said we've always taken ours in our backpack. We've always met other people from the ship and kept and eye on each others stuff while swimming. Most places do have lockers to put things in. The waterproof wallets/pouches work good from what I hear. We have not used them.