Carnival
Carnival Legend
Eastern Caribbean

Matt

Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Number of Cruises: 3rd

My Grandfather decided to take our whole family on a cruise. He left it up to me, my cousin and uncle to decide which cruise to take and to plan and book the cruise.

The embarkation was Easy, not nearly as bad as my last cruise out of NY in 2001. When we got there, we couldn’t find a porter because we where there a little early, and there were still people getting off the ship, but there were some porters carts around and we put our luggage on it and brought to the elevator, where the Port staff took it to the ship. We took the elevator upstairs and walked into the terminal. When we got in the check in line they said that it didn’t start yet, and there was an area with chairs set up for us to wait at. (Not the upstairs waiting area). When they were ready in about 20 min, we went right through security and into the check-in line. The fun-pass does make it a lot quicker, but there are not 2 separate lines for fun-pass and non-fun-pass, so you wait in the line with people who take a long time too. but we didn’t wait in line b/c we were there so early. Check in went quickly even though my dad wasn’t with us b/c he was meeting the ship in San Juan. (Business). He was also able to check in easily in San Juan. I suggest when you get on, if you are going to your room, use either the forward of aft elevators, not the midship b/c there are 2500 ppl trying to use the same 7 elevators.

We had 16 people in 4 balcony staterooms and 3 were upgraded to an extended balcony. Honestly, the extended balcony is no big thing, and is really only about 14" bigger than a normal balcony which still had plenty of room for 4 people. In the rooms there was plenty of draw and closet space for clothes for 4 people for 8 days. After we unpacked, there was plenty of room under the beds for the suitcases. I was not on the upper bed, but the 3 bottom beds were very comfortable. (By the way the drawers under the couch bed do open- you just have to lift them up a little.) the weird thing was that the pillows were different. some of them were nice and soft and had good volume, however some were like pancakes. Our room steward, Conrad was great. the room was always clean and the towel animals were always impressive. He also always had a smile on his face and was very polite whenever passed him in the hallway. The bathroom was clean and there was soap & Shampoo in the shower along with a basket of other things like toothpaste and disposable razors.

The food in the lido was good, and there was coffee and drinks available 24 hrs a day (unlike Royal Caribbean), along with the 24 hr pizza. Breakfast was the same everyday, but they had a lot of breakfast stuff, so it didn't matter. The Omelet's are good, and they will put anything you want in them, even if they have to get it from the buffet line. Lunch was good too, outside by the pool they at burgers, hot dogs, chicken, etc from the grill, along with fries, chili, and potato salad on the buffet line. Inside they had the Asian food (I didn't eat there- so I can't comment), the Taste of the Nation had a different theme every day, greek, Caribbean, etc. The Rotisserie was good, always with and oven roasted something, and other courses involving potatoes, vegetables, and some other meats. The deli was great, you could get whatever kind of sandwich you wanted on whatever kind of bread/roll you wanted. Dinner in the dining room was great. Sinclair, our head waiter at one table, and Warren our head waiter at the other table were great, so where the asst. waiters Emil and Andres. Irina, the bar waitress was also great. Dinner was great and the desserts were even better. Yes, as I’ve read in other reviews the flourless chocolate cake is fabulous, and some pudding thing later in the week is a close 2nd.

The decor on the ship was a little odd, but it didn't bother me. The yellow 'W/M' design on the wood seemed to bother aunt a lot though.

In San Juan, we didn’t book a tour, but hired a taxi to take us to El Morro, however, we never got there. I spoke speak a little Spanish, but when we got to Fort St. Christopher, he said in english "You must get out now" and he wouldn't take to El Morro, the fort you pass when entering the harbor. San Juan is just like NYC, but hotter, and with lower buildings. My dad hated it b/c it he had to get to the ship from the "international" airport and there are no highways in the city, and it took him 1 hr to go 6 miles. he said he was the only jet in the airport, everything else was an old DC-3. St. Thomas was beautiful, first we went shopping in Charlotte Amalie, then we took a tour to St. John Trunk Bay beach which involves a ferry ride, then a taxi ride to the beach. The taxis are more like open air vans with a roof, and the drivers like to scare the passengers on some of the roads. (They had the nerve to call the road we went on "St. John 20 WEST" If you take it, you'll see where it goes. But once we got to the beach, it was beautiful. The Next day, in Tortola, we went on our own to Cane Garden Bay Beach, which is across the island. If you thought the drivers in St. John were scare, you're in for another treat. its the same except the mountains are taller, and the roads are steeper, in fact, in some places they can’t see around the corner, or stop the truck, so they have to honk the horn all the way around the curve.

I heard the story of the ship almost tipping over a few weeks ago, and I noticed the Captain was not Claudio Cupisti, and that it was Captain Roberto Garibbo, who did a fine job sailing the Legend, although he seemed extremely young for such a high position (mid-late 20's?) This cruise was much rockier than the previous 2 I have been on, but those ships were both larger than the legend. The cruise director, Brett Alans was good too. He does a great Magic show too. He is pretty funny while he does his talks and during the shows and that stuff. Tori, the asst. cruise director was good too, and so where Lloyd and Mouna, the social hosts.

Overall the cruise was great. My first cruise was on Carnival, in 2001, and I was amazed. My second was on Royal Caribbean, last year, and at the time it seemed great, but that was because I had kind of forgotten about Carnival. Now that I have gone on Carnival again, I realize how much better the food and the service is aboard Carnival. Ideally, the perfect cruise would be about 75% of Carnival and 25% of Royal Caribbean.

Ask a Question About Carnival Cruise Lines