Jump to content

LONG Carnival Legend Review w/ Pics! Western Caribbean 7/19/09 sailing


maggiepie11

Recommended Posts

Who are we?

 

I’m Rebecca (29) traveling with my husband Brent (28). We live in a Boston suburb, have been married almost 5 years, and have a 4-legged child named Gus waiting for us at home. This was my 8th cruise (5th on Carnival) and Brent’s 5th cruise (3rd on Carnival). We haven’t typically cruised multiple times in one year, but our last cruise was in February on Carnival Liberty, and we’ve already booked our next one on the brand-spanking new Carnival Dream in January 2010! We’re going to try to cruise every 6 months from now on, as it seems to be good for the soul. This is my first time writing a cruise review, so I hope it’s helpful and you all enjoy! I decided to break it up by topic rather than a day by day journal.

 

Pre-Cruise in Tampa

 

This was our first time sailing out of Tampa, so we were excited to experience this port. We flew down a day early on Saturday and planned to just kick around Tampa for the day. We’ve always done this in the winter to prevent any New England weather from interrupting our flight plans on the day of and risking missing the sailaway, but in the summer, truthfully we could have flown down on Sunday. Tampa was ridiculously hot and humid. We took a cab from the airport to our hotel, Marriott WaterSide which is the closest hotel to the port—about a half mile. The cab was a flat $25 and it took about 20 minutes in spite of the construction traffic on the highway. The hotel was absolutely beautiful, and we got a room with a balcony from which we could see the port and the Carnival Inspiration which was currently in port. We were also overlooking a mini-channel where small recreational boats paraded all day and gave us some people and boat watching opportunities.

 

We dropped off our bags and walked along the Riverwalk up to the “Channelside” complex which is right where the cruise ship is. It’s basically an outdoor area with bars and restaurants. I assumed there was some good shopping there, but it was literally just bars and restaurants, with the exception of a randomly placed bowling alley and IMAX movie theatre. The walk was only 10-15 minutes to Channelside where we had lunch at Margarita Mamas. From our table we were looking directly into one of the cabins on the Inspiration! After lunch, we walked back to the hotel and got walking directions to a nearby Walgreens – 15 minutes in the other direction—to pick up some carry-on water and soda. It was brutally hot, so we took an afternoon nap with the blasting AC in our room. We decided not to get fancied up for dinner, and the restaurants in the hotel were too nice to wear shorts and tshirts aside from a sports bar which looked nice, but we weren’t in the mood for bar food. There just wasn’t much to do near the hotel, so we lamely took a cab about 10 minutes to the Westshore Mall, a typical shopping mall with Saks 5th Avenue, Macys etc. We figured we’d stroll the mall and find a restaurant. We tried to get into Maggiano’s Little Italy, but there was a 90 minute-2 hour wait, so we got creative. They had a carryout window so we got our food to go, found a taxi, got drinks from the vending machine at the hotel, and enjoyed our Italian dinner al fresco out on our hotel balcony overlooking the water. It was genius and we really enjoyed it. We watched a movie on tv and went to bed.

 

I woke up around 530 and decided to peek out the window to see if the Legend was approaching, and there she was coming around the corner! We went out on the balcony (in our underwear) and took some pics! Haha it was very dark out for 530am so the ship was all lit up and was clearly much bigger than the Inspiration that had been in port on Saturday. Once she docked around 6am, we watched some morning news before showering and getting ready for the day. We hit the hotel starbucks and enjoyed our iced lattes outside on the lower patio by the water where the hotel was playing some great 90s music. The ship was in the background and it was a great start to the day, but then, we were on vacation, and the world always seems like a happier place when we’re on vacation! We decided to explore the hotel pool just on a whim and were kicking ourselves that we didn’t check it out the day before—we could have spent all day by the pool as it was beautiful! It was huge, and the breeze was heavenly, and it too overlooked the water. We sat up there for a bit before checking out and grabbing a taxi to the port.

 

Our view from the room:

 

5fab880e.jpg

 

Brent and our makeshift romantic italian dinner on the balcony:

b80ed06f.jpg

 

The Legend pulling into port at 530am!

67247e2e.jpg

Our early view of the legend over morning coffee on embarkation day:

e73b8069.jpg

 

Marriott WaterSide Hotel Pics:

7e3a6a15.jpg

 

The beautiful pool area 8f1ca295.jpg

 

The next post will be on embarkation!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Embarkation

 

We contemplated walking, but with our luggage and the heat, we decided we’d rather be fresh as daisies getting on the ship! The taxi driver was unimpressed by our short drive and charged us $8 for the ½ mile. Oh well. I didn’t realize the Tampa port only supports one ship at a time, which actually made the area much less chaotic than the Miami port for instance.

 

We left the hotel at 1130am, and by 1145 we had passed through the first ID check as well as security and were filling out our medical questionnaire in line for our sign and sail cards. This line took about 25-30 minutes to get through, but no biggie. We were on the lido deck by 1230! They warned everyone getting on early that the cabins wouldn’t be available until 130 or 2pm, but between lunch and exploring our new home for the week there was plenty to keep us busy.

 

That first day is the most annoying day in the cafeteria on any cruise in my opinion. Because the ship isn’t fully operational yet, EVERYONE is in the cafeteria, whether they’re eating or not, so toting your carry-on luggage and your food tray and not being able to find a place to park is extremely frustrating. Notice I said tray (singular), not trays—it was afterall just the first day and we were trying to slowly ease into the cruise diet! I’ll cover the café layout and food in separate sections later. The moral of this paragraph is a plea for future cruisers to courteously give up your table if you’re done eating. We totally chewed and screwed as we were eager to go explore the ship, after our first ceremonious trip to the self-serve ice cream machine at which time we sent a picture message home to mom and dad, partly because they’re frequent cruisers and so excited for us, and partly gloating that that was the first of many ice creams to come.

 

 

Arriving at the port:

7f1f187a.jpg

 

 

Waiting in line for our sign 'n' sail cards:

d9ad4927.jpg

 

 

9th Deck View of the Kiddie Pool outside the Aquarium (next to port):

3b176f35.jpg

 

 

9th Deck view of ChannelSide:

589c4084.jpg

 

 

Approaching storm that delayed us 45 minutes:

0c10078b.jpg

 

 

And just a few minutes later, we were in a rain-whiteout! This it taken from the same view as the previous picture:

6647d67c.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned! The next post will be about the ship!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Ship

I have to be honest—I’d read so many reviews and heard from so many people on our sailing that said the Legend was their favorite ship and they’d sailed her 4 times, so I had high expectations. I’ll mention the negatives first, but don’t despair—there are some great positives to come!

 

It could be a sign of the economy, but on all my past cruises we’d see the maintenance crew out painting the ship in every port. This time we only saw them at the very last stop, and truthfully, the ship was showing it. It showed lots of wear and tear, especially on the outside. There were rusty spots on the exterior, very noticeable from our balcony, and even the décor around the pool areas were looking really shabby. It could be that the finishes were starting to patina, but unlike a fine wine, it didn’t seem to be getting better with age. There were little mosaic tiles missing from the sides of the hot tub and lots of little examples like that. I was reading that another Legend cruiser was noting the same thing on John Heald’s blog, which makes me sad for the ship, but glad that I wasn’t losing my marbles.

 

 

On the inside, I found the décor to be the least impressive of all the carnival ships I’ve been on, but that’s strictly just a matter of personal taste and preference. I like the shimmery glitzy style Carnival is known for, and the Legend is a much more masculine, refined, reserved style. She has lots of deep mahogany and burgundy tones, lots of dark brown and black with metallic pewter finishes. The thing that struck me the most odd is the neon yellow-green lights carried throughout the décor. It wasn’t ugly by any means—just coming off the Liberty in February which was one of the prettiest in my opinion, left the Legend with lots to live up to. If you’re soon sailing on the Legend, don’t worry about my gripes here—they played NO part in our vacation and we had a fantastic time, but I did want to give my honest feedback.

 

On the plus side, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the layout of the spirit class ships! Unlike the other classes which run in straight lines for the length of the ship, the Legend’s floor plan (and other spirit class ships) kind of curves around the ship rather than following a straight line. It’s like a right-handed ship because the promenade area’s walkway is on the starboard side—you don’t have walkways on both sides for decks 2 and 3. The other cool thing is that there are randomly placed one-level stairways between decks 2-3 and 1-2 where all the activities are. It seems like there are just nooks and crannies filled with lounges, bars, and walkways as you explore her. This might be a little out there, but the other great thing is that they have a lounge on the 1st floor in the very front of the ship directly under the main theater (Follies) where all the big shows happen every night. That 1st floor lounge (Firebird Lounge) was where they had karaoke every night, and because it was right under the theater, it got lots of foot traffic and made for a better karaoke week with standing room only at times as it got so much interest! More to come on that later.

 

 

My pics of the ship aren't the best I've seen--sorry about that!

 

 

The staircase just outside Follies Theatre:

52ab8ca6.jpg

 

The atrium looking up--hard to get a good angle!

f4b2db33.jpg

 

One pool area:

e71fe364.jpg

 

Another pool area:

82cce08d.jpg

 

Lobby Bar (from the elevator--those aren't ghosts--it's a reflection!)

a10d7584.jpg

 

Not a great pic, but this is another random staircase from deck 3 to deck 2. It's also a good shot of the general color scheme of the ship. What you can't really see is the waterfountain located between the staircases. I was just fascinated by all the nooks and crannies on this ship!

d755cb18.jpg

 

 

I have a couple more pics of the ship, but am limited to 6 pics per post. Stay tuned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Follies Lounge:

 

38809d0e.jpg

 

Atrium looking way up:

 

6e34d966.jpg

 

Jen, the cruise director!

 

540f0bf4.jpg

 

Terrible picture of the "enchanted forest" which was a hallway with little port holes and interesting decor on deck 3. I think it leads to the kids camp area.

 

a9a5af43.jpg

 

 

Ok, the next thread is on our cabin!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our Cabin

We stayed in cabin 6236 on the port side aft (that’s the back left for you land-lovers!) It was exactly the same as all the other balcony rooms we’ve stayed in, but we were particularly fond of our cabin stewart, Protus (although I’ve forgotten how to spell his name) and his assistants. They were so on top of their game this week as the room was in great shape and they were never under foot. Not to mention the grand variety of towel friends that came bearing the capers and chocolates every night! Despite being 1 room away from the elevators and stairwells, it was remarkably quiet in this area of the ship.

 

Assuming the ship docks in the same position every week, if you’re on the port side you’ll have the best views in Cozumel and Roatan (Belize doesn’t matter because you tender a million miles from land). The views you won’t have are in Tampa and Grand Cayman—though I really shouldn’t complain about a view of Seven Mile beach!

ef1722a3.jpg

 

c1eb9311.jpg

 

3304c359.jpg

 

681a1b76.jpg

 

24e182f2.jpg

 

fadd15ae.jpg

 

 

The next post will be on breakfast and lunch in the Unicorn Cafe!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Breakfast and Lunch at the Unicorn Cafe

 

We did the buffet style breakfasts in the Unicorn Cafeteria everyday, as well as lunch most days except excursion days in port. I’m not a huge breakfast person in general, but I just don’t see how anyone could be disappointed with the breakfast buffet on the Legend. It had everything you could ask for, although their offering did change from day to day. Scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, sausage links, ham, hard boiled eggs, biscuits and gravy, grits, oatmeal, custom omelettes made to order, bagels, toast, pancakes, muffins, pastries, fresh fruit, cereal, sliced deli meats, cottage cheese. If there are other breakfast foods I missed, it must be an oversight because they had EVERYTHING (except waffles, but come on people, if the above list doesn’t please you, then I’d suggest some St. John’s Wort happy pills).

 

The Legend’s Unicorn café seemed to offer much more variety than the Liberty, which was nice, though IMO, lunch is still the least impressive meal in the great lineup of food choices offered by Carnival. At lunchtime, the café offers 7 separate stations not including the 2 grill lines outside by the pool. At the grill, you can get hot dogs, fried chicken strips, French fries, nacho chips, chili, cheese sauce, sautéed onions and mushrooms, and all the fixings for a great burger. Speaking of burgers, here’s my biggest food gripe—the burgers are cooked well done only. I literally pushed and pushed the cooks on it—I tried charming, I tried humor, and I tried a tantrum and none of them produced a burger cooked anything other than well done. So I skipped the grill line this week. Back to the inside stations…

 

1) Salad Bar: pretty standard salad bar, but they also have cesar salad at the end by the salad dressings.

 

2) Full Deli: they have a menu list of suggested sandwiches, but they’ll customize any type of sandwich, wrap, or Panini. Three of our favorites were the fresh mozzarella and roasted red pepper pesto Panini, the turkey wrap, and a grilled ham and cheese. J

 

3) Rotisserie: this was where you could get various hearty items like carved roast beef, turkey, and all the typical hearty accompaniments – potatoes, veggies, gravies, and occasionally pasta. This line was a little heavy for us at lunchtime so we never picked up anything at the rotisserie, but it tended to have the longest line most days, so it was a ship favorite during our sailing.

 

4) Taste of the Nations: in this line they’d feature a different region every

day. On day 1, they had Italian, but again—this line tended to have heavy stuff for lunchtime in bathing suits. They also didn’t have the stuff I associate with the various nations. For instance, I couldn’t tell you the concoctions they had on Italian day where I might expect pasta, chicken parmesan etc they had exotic types of fish in various “Italian seasonings.” Hard to explain, but might be perfect for a gourmet foodie. The other days featured French, Mexican, American, Indian, and on the last day instead of a nation, they featured a chocolate station where you could skewer fruits and snacks for dipping in melted chocolate. That line was the craziest of the whole week so we skipped it.

 

5) Asian: Surprisingly, I got Chinese food a lot on the Legend. I like Chinese food, but I tend to be picky because we have some GREAT Chinese food back at home. They had white and fried rice every day along with rice noodles daily. In addition, they had a different stir-fry or 2 featured everyday in different sauces all the time. Some had seafood, some vegetarian, some meats like chicken, beef or pork. You’d also find things like spring rolls, hot/sour soup, eggdrop soup, and other common stuff you’d find in a Chinese food restaurant. They also had about 10 sauces at the end for extra flavor.

 

6) Pizza—this was located in the cafeteria, but it was open 24 hours a day. The pizza was ok. They also have made to order cesar salads (with chicken even!), cheese and garlic breadsticks, and a few flavors of calzones. They’ll take about 8 minutes.

 

7) The seventh station is the dessert line which is located between the deli and the rotisserie. Too fancy for my taste ,but the presentation sure was beautiful. On the first day, they had these cupcakes with colorfully swirled frosting piled 4 inches above the cupcake. I saw people walking around with 5 on their plate! You’ll find things like keylime cheesecake, tiramisu, carrot cake, cookies, etc in this line.

 

Sorry-no pictures of food in the unicorn café. I’ll try to remember to photograph the daytime food next time!

 

Another non-food comment about the Unicorn Café though. I found the layout to be bad, at best. The walkways were extremely narrow. The location of the free drink station (ice ,water, lemonade, iced tea, coffee) was maybe 3 feet from the counter at the dessert station and in that 3 feet, there was supposed to be 2 way walking traffic, people getting drinks, and people getting dessert. That was on one end of the drink station—on the other end you had people getting out of elevators and entering the café. It was chaos and gridlock. Also, the “walkway” along the windows on either side was extremely narrow as well and this is going to sound stupid, but if you’ve been on the spirit class or are going soon, I KNOW you’ll know what I’m talking about. They have these triangle shaped decorative frames on painted mural type artwork between the windows. However, the frames project out about 6 inches in the walkway, and Brent and I both wacked our shoulders at various times and we saw others doing the same. So, watch your head and shoulders!! This isn’t a good picture of the cafeteria overall, but I found it online (thanks karcarttravel.com?) to show you the triangle things I’m talking about along the windows. Looks like this pic was taken late at night. J

ship%20unicorn%20cafe%20modified.JPG

The next post will be on Dinners in the main dining room!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dinner at Truffles Dining Room

We booked the Legend because it offered YourTime Dining (My Time Dining, Anytime Dining, Flex Dining—just getting these keywords in so it’s more searchable as I have lots of comments about it). We’re fun people, but we’re introverts, ok, borderline anti-social. Brent is very shy, and I’m, well—intolerant. I’m working on it. J But for us, the first night or two on cruises in the past has brought unbearable anxiety about our dining request for a private table for 2, which is extremely difficult to get. In fact, on our last trip, we had a private maitre’d connection I’ll leave nameless here who assured us he got us a table for 2. Sure enough, the first night, they sat us at a table for 4, and were joined by probably the most incompatible couple carnival could have possibly found, which turned out far more awkward for us than a large table with 8 strangers. It was like a bad episode of WifeSwap! Anyway, that’s the worst part about cruising for us—trying to figure out how to enjoy the quality of the main dining room privately. I’m getting worked up again!

 

Ok, no need to worry ever again, because Carnival’s YourTime dining option saves the day. We ate dinner at nearly the same time every night, but were able to walk right in and request a table for 2. For those who scoff at not having the same waitstaff all the time and missing out on that part of the experience—we had only 2 waitstaffs all week, so we had nearly the same opportunity to interact with familiar faces as the early and late seating guests. Not only that, but if it’s that important to you, you can request your favorite waiter every night. We ate around 7pm each night which felt more natural to us than 6 or 8, and it allowed us to get a bit more into each night than the late seating which we’ve always done in the past. I’ve toyed with how much I should play up the YourTime dining because I want to make sure enough people try it so Carnival keeps up with the program, but I also want to protect our hidden gem so we don’t have a wait for a table next time. J Kidding, kind of. There was only one night where we went to the dining room and we were told we’d have a 10-15 minute wait for a table for 2. She gave us a pager that works anywhere on the ship, and it actually beeped within 5 minutes so the wait was negligible. All other nights, we walked in, requested a table for 2 and they took us right in. You also have the option of sitting at a table with others if you want to meet new people. On my comment card, I said I will LITERALLY only book cruises where YourTime dining is available. We preferred Carnival’s YourTime 100% over Norwegians flex dining plan.

 

And without further adieu, the meals! The food in the dining room was great as always. Don’t be afraid to order more than 1 thing if you can’t decide or if you’re just dying to try something new. We did that with starters once or twice, but never ordered more than one meal. Your server would never be judgmental to your face, so order whatever you like! J Here’s my biggest tip that I actually have to credit the cruisecritic boards for. I believe this came from a thread called “what are your best not commonly known Carnival pointers?” I’m not a fancy dessert person, and the warm chocolate melting cake is just too bitter and rich for me. However, they have a children’s dessert menu if you ask for it, and once I tried the banana split I knew I’d found my dessert for the week. 3 scoops of icecream – vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry – with a sliced banana, hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry!

 

Here she is in all her glory:

3955fc9a.jpg

 

Here are all our dining room meals (except we forgot our camera one night—sorry!)

Sweet & Sour Shrimp - really good!

27630ac9.jpg

 

The Indian Vegetarian Dish--Brent loved it although it looks kind of gross with the curry drips on the side of the dish!

e6807756.jpg

 

Warm chocolate melting cake--don't forget to double the ice cream--that's rich!

ee4e2e23.jpg

 

Black bean soup - very tasty!

a5caaa4f.jpg

 

Short Ribs - Brent's favorite dish at the Main Dining Room all week!

2af1985a.jpg

 

More pics to come in the next post--limited to 6 here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seafood Newburg - my favorite of the week (though it was hard to choose!) This tastes much better than it looks. It's shrimp, scallops, clams and mussels (i picked out the clams and mussels) in a tasty sauce with saffron rice and a puff pastry.

 

a505a3fa.jpg

 

Penne Mariscos - pasta with shrimp and scallops in a tomato cream sauce. delish!

 

08795821.jpg

 

Cheesecake

479adf8a.jpg

 

Enchiladas - Brent loved these too!

fa166448.jpg

 

Tiramisu

d98844f0.jpg

 

 

 

The next post is about the Supper Club!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Golden Fleece SteakHouse (Supper Club)

 

 

We booked a 7pm table at the supper club on Wednesday (Cozumel day), which made it the best day of the week. Cozumel is our favorite place in the world, and to cap it off with an extraordinary dinner at the Supper Club was only appropriate. We had a table on the second level with great views outside as the sun was setting. On this class of ship, the supper club is located in the whale tail funnel. In fact, in the pictures you’ll notice the pink casting of light—that’s from the red tinted glass on the front of the funnel. It’s a beautiful setting with great music and service. They have a staircase from the lido deck café up to the supper club, but they’re freaky clear glass stairs that are suspended over the million story atrium—no thanks!!

 

First, they brought a cart over with eye candy of the menu selections. In addition to the normal menu they were featuring a ribeye steak for a limited time. Our server brought over a basket of yummy looking breads to choose from—brent picked a great wedge of focaccia and I got ciabatta. They also brought a tray of spreads for the bread including butter and a tomato bruschetta spread which was delicious. There was also an eggplant spread of some sort. After we ordered, they brought us each a different little bite from the chef. I couldn’t tell you what mine was, but it had seafood in it and was quite good. Brent got a clear green broth made with asparagus that he said was good too. It was bordering too fancy for both of us, but both were tasty. We ordered 2 starters each. He got a warm bacon and spinach blue cheese salad and a crock of great looking French onion soup. I got the shrimp cocktail and lobster bisque, which was the best lobster bisque I’ve ever had.

 

 

For dinner, Brent ordered the limited time ribeye with a three peppercorn sauce along with some creamed spinach. I debated, but ended up with the lobster tail—a 12 oz. lobster tail—and a baked potato which came with sides of butter, sour cream, chives, and bacon bits! Next time I’ll do the surf n turf with filet and a smaller lobster tail, as this size lobster tends to be a bit tougher, but it was still delicious.

 

 

For dessert, Brent got some sort of apple tart and I got fresh fruit with mango sorbet—both were great! Then just when we were about to pop, they had one parting gift—a tray with white and milk chocolate truffles, candied pineapple, and an almond cookie with a fresh raspberry.

 

 

Brent, looking dashing, don't you think?

e78f692a.jpg

 

Here I am, making my first public appearance in the review :)

 

73b73565.jpg

 

17d51f89.jpg

 

My monster shrimp cocktail

55f41d6f.jpg

 

Brent's french onion soup that he is still raving about.

982fefd4.jpg

 

The rest of our meal pics will be in the next post.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is the warm bacon/spinach/bluecheese salad:

 

758b3c4d.jpg

 

My 12 oz lobster tail

76b47371.jpg

 

Brent's ribeye steak

07bf7f40.jpg

 

Apple tart for dessert

ebc45c43.jpg

 

Fresh fruit and mango sorbet dessert

2e59aa73.jpg

 

 

I seem to have misplaced my picture of lobster bisque. Trust me, it was delightful!

 

My next post will be on Entertainment, but I need a break. I'll be back later tonight. There's lots more to come on all our ports of call and onboard activities! I have the review written--it's just a matter of getting photobucket to cooperate. Talk to you again soon!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Entertainment

We enjoy the main shows at night, and went to all except one, and we fully regret missing it because we caught the tail end and it was awesome. The Welcome Aboard show is not representative of the singers and dancers and frankly I’ll skip it from now on. Also, we really disliked the first big production show called “Jazz Hot.” Neither of us like that style of music, and the whole production was just slow and lackluster. However, they saved the best for last with “The Big Easy” which Jen, our cruise director was building up to all week, with good reason. We thought that was one of the best shows we’ve ever seen at sea. The music was great—the set and the costumes were great—awesome show! Some of the songs featured were At Last by Etta James, Proud Mary by Tina Turner, and Queen of the Night by Whitney Houston (in the movie Bodyguard). I’m forgetting some other great ones now, but this show is not to be missed for those of you heading out on the Legend soon.

 

We saw a balancing act by a dude with a ponytail in a sparkly outfit. He spun swords on his forehead and stacked like 30 wine glasses on glass plates on his head. Oddly entertaining. We saw a “physical” comedy show, which was juggling more or less, but bizarre juggling. He juggled while on a pogo stick. He juggled while spinning a stainless steel kitchen sink on a 6 foot pole resting on his chin. He juggled on a 6 foot tall unicycle. Again, oddly entertaining. Our favorite non-production show was a comedy show by a guy who’s apparently known on Comedy Central. He was an average joe looking white guy with a heavy southern accent—sorry I can’t remember his name because he was great! I loved how he told a million random stories but at the very end of the show he tied them all together for some great laughs. One thing they didn’t offer was a hypnotist this time, and that was the highlight of the entertainment on the Liberty so we were kind of bummed. The show we skipped and wished we hadn’t was a Motown singer who turned out to be amazing and really interactive with the crowd—taking requests on the spot. He ended the show with some marvin gaye favorites including “lets get it on” which we were glad to have seen, though standing room only in the back of the Follies theatre.

 

We spent a lot of time at karaoke—watching not singing—but it must have been one of the best karaoke ships of all time. There was a steady group of regulars along with some random newcomers each night with a good mix of car wrecks and rockstars. Our favorites were a group of 3 brothers in their 20s who quickly developed a following by the female guests of all ages. One was actually a great singer, but any lack of voice from the others was easily made up for in good looks and stage charm, and when they ever got up and did the Backstreet boys early in the week (I’m guessing as a joke), their fan club was born. They’d throw in harmony sometimes, and given that there were only 2 mics for 3 of them, the one not singing that verse would entertain with backup moves or an impromptu, yet perfectly timed slide on the knees across the stage. These guys were priceless and we were so happy to have unpaid entertainment for the week. So, Vince, Carl and your less-of-a-ham brother from Pittsburg—if you somehow stumble across this review and are reading this, you don’t’ know us, but we sure did enjoy your participation at karaoke! For those who have never checked out karaoke, you should stop by sometime if only to see the bizarre karaoke community that is 100% supportive of anyone with the guts to get up and sing whether good or bad, they’ll clap and cheer you on unconditionally. I haven’t made the transition to really feel part of that community yet as I still want to mutter under my breath, roll my eyes, and make snarky comments when the American Idol worst-ever reel people get up there time and time again. Yet the crazy crowd still gives them a “woohoo” during the 8 bar musical interlude. J

 

Kidding aside, the karaoke lounge was non-smoking which made it our favorite place on the ship at night. We desperately wanted to check out Billie’s piano bar because we’d heard it’s a lot of fun, but that bar along with most others on the ship were thick with smoke, and I just couldn’t cope. The other place we’d have loved to spend some time was the sports bar which was a great size and could have been a lot of fun, but it was attached to the casino and smoky 24-7.

 

Jen from Liverpool, England was our cruise director. She’s got one of those funny raspy voices that others thought was annoying in other reviews, but we enjoyed her. Her “thing” was doing the queen’s pageant wave to say hello throughout the ship and as she took the stage which always made me chuckle. She’s short with red hair and always did this little troll-like ho-down dance as the band would play music to get her on and off the stage. She’s a funny lady and we liked her.

 

Art Auctions

Typically, we come home from the Caribbean with some bling—we always end up jewelry shopping for some reason—seems like the thing to do in the Caribbean. This time, though, we decided to invest in some bling for our house and hit up the art auctions. We got involved early in the week which makes it more fun because you start to build a relationship with the art staff, and you also get to learn a lot about the various artists, types of art, and get a sense for what you might like to own or invest in. It’s free to attend, and they have bottomless free champagne, and even if you’re not planning to buy anything it’s still fun to go. They raffle off a lot of art pieces for free—nice ones—as well as some free spa treatments and such. The more you interact, clap, cheer, and just get obnoxious, the more tickets you get for the raffles, so participate! I found it exhilarating to watch people put up their bid card and buy a high ticket item. I felt genuinely excited for them and their big purchase.

 

One thing Matt, the art director, introduced to us on the first day was his mystery program. The way it works is he selects a few pieces for the week by the best artists to make available at crazy prices. He expects the crowd to bid on the artwork without seeing it or even knowing who the artist is or how much the art will cost. Everyone has to bid on it, and then when he turns it around if you don’t like it you don’t have to buy it. So, there’s nothing to lose, and everyone should participate. Some amazing deals came across the block in his mystery program with upwards of 60-70% off retail price. We were interested in collecting art by Romero Britto, and as it happens, Matt had included a Britto work in the mystery program. We were so torn because it was an amazing deal (62% off retail) and was exclusive to Parkwest gallery. But, I had fallen in love with a different work by Britto. We stopped by the art gallery that night and mentioned our dilemma and he offered up the piece we wanted at the mystery program price if we did the deal by 9pm that night, so we did!! I’m so excited. It should be arriving in about 4 weeks, framed in all its glory. Now if only I could have kept my bid card down when that Michael Milkin painting came up in the mystery program later in the week. I’m sure it was some involuntary muscle spasm that caused me to raise my card. J Or, I got bit by the art bug. Nonetheless, we couldn’t be happier with the art we collected and can’t wait to proudly display them at home! I highly recommend at least checking out the art auction on your next cruise.

Next up is my review of our Ports of Call! Stay tuned!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Background on the ports

We had just done the eastern Caribbean in February, and we like to alternate, hence we decided on the Western itinerary. We’ve been to Belize and Honduras in the past and were indifferent about going back, but I could do 6 days at sea and go to Cozumel and be happy. It’s our favorite place in the world!We love sea days, so we tend to prefer itineraries with only 3 ports of call, and this itinerary has 4. Port days tend to go by faster because you have an agenda to hit. When you have 4 days that go by fast and then just one sea day left, it seems to make the vacation go by too fast. Maybe it’s just in my head, but we maintain we like cruises with 3 ports instead of 4. J

The weather forecast looked like we were going to get a lot of rain in our ports of call for the week, so we were worried, but in all stops except Belize, it was sunny as could be with fluffy clouds only put in the sky for decoration, so we got very lucky. I heard the eastern Caribbean was not so lucky this week.

Grand Cayman

We decided not to take an excursion in Grand Cayman because by far the biggest attraction all leads to the stingrays, and I wasn’t ready for that—I need more time to psyche myself up. I HATE snorkeling where fish are rubbing up against my legs, so I figured I’d be even more freaked out with stingrays, although the more photos and video I see of it—they really do look like affectionate little critters so maybe next time. Anyway… short of doing the stingray tours, the only other thing of interest is 7 Mile beach. The last couple times we did the beach, it was kind of ho-hum where we got dropped off, so we just decided to do a little souveneir shopping and then get back to a nice empty pool area on the ship to enjoy the extra space and quiet time. I had heard the tender process in grand cayman was total chaos so we didn’t attempt to be the first off the ship. We waited about 45 minutes after the first tenders started taking early excursion people. The gangway is in a different location nearly everyday, so this first day we walked all the way to the front of the ship and just took the elevator down to A where the gangway was. Turned out the line was from deck A up around the staircase in deck 1 up to deck 2. So stepping out of the elevator we would have needed to go around and back up 2 flights of stairs to get at the end of the line. (now I see why people said it was chaotic). However, there was an old woman holding up the line to our right with nobody in front of her and the gangway to the tenders to our left so one of the crew members just directed us to scoot ahead to the tender so we didn’t have to wait in line. It felt wrong, but oh so right. J At least it really was unintentional. I know some people gripe about having to tender, but I love the tender ride in grand cayman—it’s short enough to not feel like a hassle, and the view of the ships is gorgeous and the nice breeze and the beautiful water—it’s great!

So, we got to the island and just walked around looking for t-shirts and gifts for friends. The island is an hour behind ship time, so they may not be open if you get off the ship early. I can’t remember if we were there at 9 our time and the shops were supposed to open at 8 local time or if we were there at 10 and the shops were supposed to open at 9 local, but in any case, some of them were running late opening so we were kind of just kicking around for a while. It gave us time to pose for a picture with Big Black Dick, and of course pick up a sample pack of Big Black Dick rum. (I think the person who took our picture didn’t get the point of posing there since he cut off the statue in the picture—oh well!) I’m not sure if it’s true of all cayman stores, but where we bought our booze, they took our cabin info and delivered the rum to the ship for us. That was nice—we didn’t have to carry it back and check it in. In Grand Cayman, expect to pay $15 on average for adult tshirts. Another stop I made was at a store that sells designer cosmetics. I’m a huge fan of MAC cosmetics, and the ship’s shopping guru said the bargains were great and it’s tax and duty free, so I wanted to check it out. They opened 30 minutes later than posted time because the workers were all getting dolled up putting their makeup with the store samples, and there were no prices on anything so I was annoyed (doesn’t take much—I know, I know) and didn’t end up getting anything.

After shopping we hopped on another tender (we had no wait—we walked right on and waited maybe 5 minutes for more people to fill up the boat). We changed into our swimsuits, got some lunch, and hit the heavenly quiet pool area for the rest of the day. It got busier and busier as excursion people came back, but we enjoyed it while it lasted. J The day was uneventful, but we enjoyed taking it easy.

 

Our view from our balcony of seven mile beach:

e6891547.jpg

 

Look at that water! Taken from the tender boat:

36c181c2.jpg

 

Here we are with Big Black Dick! No need to try to be mature--I don't care what anyone says-this is just funny.

ddd507e7.jpg

 

I love taking pics of the ship from the tenders:

2abec8f7.jpg

 

d217e9d9.jpg

 

Again--from our balcony--looking down at the tender boats:

290fd532.jpg

 

Next up is Cozumel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cozumel

I think I may have mentioned a few times already, but we both love Cozumel and were really excited to get back there. In the past, we’ve done lots of jewelry shopping—my wedding ring came from Cozumel! We also did the dolphin encounter 5 years ago before the more elaborate dolphin excursions became available. We decided to check out a beach, as that’s one thing we’ve never done in our trips to Cozumel. We booked the Twister Boat to Passion Island (Isla Pasion). The excursion says 5 hours, but that’s about 3 and a half hours on the beach. We didn’t get to Cozumel until 10am, but our excursion started at 10am to make the most of the day. We got off the boat at a new port to us—I think it’s Puerta Maya. It’s very long, but is right in a new downtown area with brand new walkways and shops and lots of lush, tropical plants and stuff, so that new area is beautiful. There’s a Fat Tuesday and a Three Amigos right at the end of the port. So we immediately met our group and signed a waiver before meeting our guide Pepe, and our boat driver (captain, I guess?) Willie. They were both funny and adorable. This tour leaves from the area right next to the boat, so there’s no other transport needed which was nice. They suited us up with life vests and helped us board. We got all harnessed in with over the shoulder straps and headed over. Most of the ride is just going really fast – 55mph I think they said and catching as much air as possible on the waves. They also tease you a bit by turning the wheel so we tip right or left making you think we’re about to start twisting, but it’s just a tease. It’s about a 20 minute boat ride to the island, but before you get there they stop in the lagoon where it’s safer to play. They warn you before they start doing the twisting, which is just going straight really fast, then turning the boat hard to the right and then suddenly turning back left which makes you stop moving forward and turn the boat 360 degrees. That sudden turn makes the water kick up and soak everyone like a shower. I was scared before the first one, but once I did one, it was a blast. We happen to be on a boat with a family from Mississippi—a couple adrenaline junky guys aged I’m guessing 19-21 who kept egging the driver and guide on to do better… “come on Willie—I seen better ‘an that in a fishin’ boat!” after each 360 twister. “Come on, Willie… m’ grandmaw can do better ‘an that!” They were hilarious. During our straight shots right before the twister the whole boat was chanting “go will-ie! Go will-ie! Go will-ie!” which made him bust out his arsenio hall dance moves and pretend to start taking his shirt off like a stripper. These guides were so much fun. So, on the boat ride—yes, it was scary during the buildup, not knowing how hairy the tricks would be, but once we made it through one, we were chanting for more with the rest of the group. The boat trip alone was worth the $65pp.

 

However, this excursion wasn’t over—when we arrived at Passion Island, our boat guides turned us over to our island guide for the day. They took an arrival photo (lame)—we were windblown and looked like wet rats—not the best time for a photo, but anyway… she walked us over to where we’d spend the rest of the day. This island is tiny, but perfect. I was told it’s where they’ve filmed many of the Corona commercials, and now having been there I believe it.

 

First we claimed a spot on the beach—thinking it would get busy soon—and dragged our beach loungers right up to the ledge where the water met the sand. It didn’t take us long before hopping into the water which was amazing—it was like room temperature, but still refreshing. The sun was hot, but there was a constant breeze that felt great. Then we were like fish the rest of the day—hardly getting out of the water except to eat and get a break from the sun. We didn’t take advantage of all the stuff passion island had to offer like volleyball and kayaks or the other add-ons for a fee such as open air massages on the beach. Nor did we try out the hammocks in the shade that sure looked relaxing. We did check out the outdoor shops where they were selling tshirts, hammocks, blankets, silver jewelry, and some amazing Mexican pottery—even hand painted sinks! Good luck getting that home, though. Unfortunately, the ONE disappointment of the trip is the price gouging at these shops. We would have loved to take home some souvenirs of our day at Passion Island but I think they were trying to take advantage of people. Cozumel is the cheapest of all the western Caribbean stops for tshirts and traditional souvenirs. In fact, I bought a tshirt for $5 when we got back. On passion Island they were charging $25 for tshirts, $30 for a tiny salt and pepper shaker and so on. If it were a little more, I wouldn’t have cared, but they were clearly price gouging, so beware—don’t shop on passion island—wait til you get back to downtown Cozumel.

 

Included in our $65pp was an open bar (limited to things like beer, rum punch, sex on the beach, margaritas on the rocks, etc.) as well as a mayan buffet lunch. The food and bar was set up in a giant, shady, open air, palm thatch roof hut with tables and chairs in the sand. The food was amazing! They had from start of line to end of line… salads, chopped fresh veggies like tomato and cucumber trays, cole slaw, Mexican rice, mahi mahi, lightly breaded chicken, nacho chips, pico de gallo salsa, the largest bowl of fresh guacamole I’ve ever seen, sliced fruit trays, and the most delicious fresh coconut macaroons I can’t even begin to describe. Oh my god, did we feast. Everything was delicious. I’ve never liked guacamole but found a new appreciation for it here—I guess everything tastes better in paradise.

 

I should also mention the mens and ladies restrooms on the island were very well cared for. I had my doubts about going to the restroom on a secluded island where running water alone is impressive—I figured it would be gross in there, but I was pleasantly surprised! They have an attendant there at all times tidying up after all guests. That attendant was impressed that I responded to his greeting in Spanish, so we chit chatted for a minute. The people in Cozumel are so warm and friendly. During the day, they have a photographer snapping pictures, and as you meet 15 minutes before heading back to the boat, they show you all the pics and give you an opportunity to buy them. We did get one for $12 because it was the best day ever and we felt compelled to take something home. The boat ride back is similar, except you start with more twisters in the lagoon by the island first before speeding back wind in your hair. We did some souvenir shopping by the port when we got back before sadly getting back on the ship. What a day!

Our escort into the port:

5adf4e38.jpg

 

On our 2 minute walk from the end of the port to the twister boats:

0441fd5e.jpg

 

The infamous twister boats:

41585b13.jpg

 

Arriving at Isla Pasion:

c8b2e2bc.jpg

 

Food/Bar Hut:

fcfb1064.jpg

 

mmmmmmmmmm...

5cc50c6c.jpg

 

 

More pics to come in the next post...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hammocks for relaxing in the shade:

16ec74fc.jpg

 

Here's the money shot--looks just like the corona commercials, right?

0968b79b.jpg

 

happy as clams: (I swear we had swimsuits on--they just happen to be missing from this photo!) hehe

58621ede.jpg

 

00ced7e6.jpg

 

0ba45f84.jpg

 

 

Notice, there's hardly anyone around in these pics! That's how it was! Contrast that with the Tabyana excursion in Roatan a couple posts down the road. Both were great, but very different. mmm... that was my last pic of Isla Pasion. More pics of downtown Cozumel to come though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a nice shot of the Legend from where we pick up the Twister boats:

e5f70549.jpg

 

From the twister boat dock looking at downtown Cozumel:

b92d15cb.jpg

 

Shopping area in the new Puerta Maya port:

fed4d6f4.jpg

 

From the port looking back at the ship. It's quite a long port:

4ba7da8f.jpg

 

Please tell me someone is noticing our tans progress throughout the week. PS: Go Sox!

4a707534.jpg

 

We took this shot of a catamaran excursion returning from their trip. They had music blaring and one of the catamarans had the electric slide going on out front. They seemed to be having a GREAT time. I'm glad Cozumel was good to them too. haha Yes, the water IS that spectacular!

 

d87bdbf9.jpg

 

Ok, Belize is next, but don't get excited. haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks... this is a great review, love the pics! I am counting the days. We leave on the 16th for our first cruise. Your review is making us chomp at the bit with anticipation. I can't wait to read more.;);)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Belize

Belize is another stop where you have to tender in. It seems crazy how far out they drop anchor though—it was a 25 minute tender ride. It was dry on our balcony, but we could see the rain way off in the distance over the port where the tenders drop you off. It rained on the tender boat ride, and let up by the time we got there, then the sun turned the port into a steamy sauna. The port area was thick with people as there were 3 cruise ships arriving around the same time.

Our last time in Belize, we did the cave tubing excursion (not booked through the cruiseline) and we had a great time, but it’s not an excursion we’d do multiple times. So this time, we were only there to wander around, do some souvenir shopping, and potentially find a place for lunch near the port. We quickly realized we wouldn’t last until lunch as the port area was miserably hot and busy. The exact same tshirts ranged from $8 to $25 from store to store. In one store there were no prices, and the guy wouldn’t even tell me the price of a single shirt—only wanted to sell me 2 shirts until I started to walk out. It was just really frustrating. Then when I started getting too hot and cranky and just wanted to buy a shirt no matter what it cost, the stores had size Small and 3X but nothing in between. At the far end of the port there are outdoor tents with more vendors, but at the end of that walkway there’s a fence with vendors, tour guides and taxis reaching their arms thru the fence, whistling and hustling you to leave the port for 50% off everything. Since there are armed security guards at the doors, we decided to stay inside the fence. In fact, we decided that was enough of Belize so we hopped on the tender, at which point it rained again until we got back to the ship where it was bright and sunny—it was metaphorical. We got some lunch on the ship and laid out by the pool. My advice on Belize—if you’re not doing an excursion, don’t get off the ship!

 

I have one stinky picture from the tender as we were leaving the port:

e8c616e7.jpg

 

That's all I have to say on belize. Moving on... the next and last port is Roatan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Save $2,000 & Sail Away to Australia’s Kimberley
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...

If you are already a Cruise Critic member, please log in with your existing account information or your email address and password.