Dining Options on the Carnival Legend
The choice of dining on this ship was extremely limited. The main dining room was available for open seating for breakfast and lunch (except in port where lunch was not served). Dinner was pre-reserved at designated tables, being served by the same Waiter and Assistant Waiter nightly. It appeared that the main dining room was not sufficiently designed to accommodate a full passenger capacity. As such, a small adjoining room was also being used during the dinner seatings. Persons having the misfortune of being seated in this room were reassured that they had the best “quick exit” out of the restaurant! Despite having booked two balcony cabins, we were assigned to this sub-standard seating. At our request, we did manage to be reseated the following evening to more superior location.
The main dining room food was inconsistent. We noticed that the menu would often over-promise and under deliver. One such example was the promise of prawns when 30-40 count shrimp were served. Another example was the promise of vine-ripened tomatoes when un-ripened tomatoes, clearly packaged green, were served. There were several dishes that had to be returned, namely the Coquille St. Jacques that was tremendously overcooked and the highly overstated Chateau Briand. Dessert choices were also so poor that we opted to have fruit for dessert nearly every evening.
The only free alternative dining was provided on the Lido deck where cafeteria style dining awaited! I refrain from calling this “buffet style” as calling the Unicorn Café a buffet would be an insult to any genuine buffet offered on the Las Vegas strip. The atmosphere, quality of food and despair of the employees made this a place I chose to avoid as much as possible.
A small coffee station was available to purchase coffee and breakfast pastries. I purchased two pastries, one for myself and one for my son, only once, discovering that the exterior presentation far outweighed the flavor.
Finally, one additional restaurant, the Golden Fleece, was available in the evenings for an additional $25 per person per meal. This restaurant was the only dining on the ship that met our expectations. The service and quality of food were very good.
Staffing and Customer Service on the Carnival Legend
With the exception of a handful of employees (our room steward, and the Waiter and Assistant Waiter at table 231 being exceptions), the only way describe the crew is miserable. It is completely evident that the crew members do not enjoy their jobs and enjoy the presence of the passengers even less! Smiles were non-existent. Courtesies and good manners were rarely extended. Several incidents described below set the tone of the entire atmosphere.
Upon boarding, as my children and I made our way to the Lido deck for the welcome aboard luncheon, we literally ran into our first of many wretched employees. This particular pool area waiter was carrying a tray of fruity welcome aboard drinks when he made an abrupt 180 degree turn thrusting himself directly into our oncoming path. The tray wobbled while he desperately tried to stabilize it. In the end, one tall drink tumbled to the tile floor below causing the contents to shower on myself and my daughter. One would expect a sincere apology but instead the waiter cast us a disgusted look and began to pick up the ice on the floor. Still standing in the same spot with stains on our clothes, my daughter was forced to ask if we could use one of the towels to wipe ourselves. Still without a word, he finally handed us a towel.
A second event occurred shortly thereafter in the Unicorn café, which was a cafeteria style restaurant which required the use of trays (the only free alternative dining on the ship). It was extremely crowded with most tables being occupied. Those tables that were not occupied had not been bussed. As we were aimlessly searching for a place to sit, much to horror, my huge tray caught the edge of the protruding window frames and slammed into the floor. Naturally, I felt terrible and was distraught. Fortunately, a bus girl was nearby and I caught her eye hoping for a sympathetic smile. But she didn’t smile or rescue me at all. She didn’t offer any sympathy, spoken or unspoken. I asked her if there was a towel that I could use to assist in the clean up, but she merely waved her hand at me signaling me to go away. I was so upset by the incident that I did not eat at all and left the area.
Page 3 > > More on the Carnival Legend from contributor Linda O. > >
