More on the Carnival Legend from contributor Linda O. > >
During breakfast one morning in the main dining room, I had the pleasure of meeting a couple who genuinely reminded me of both of my deceased parents. Needless to say, I was delighted by their company as we enjoyed breakfast together around 9:30AM. Shortly after finishing our eggs, as we sat and drank coffee and tea together, it became apparent that the staff was more interested in clearing this section of the dining room than in the comfort and pleasure of the customers. Two waiters actually began standing directly behind us (within a foot) making it very clear that we were not welcomed to stay despite the fact that the dining room would not close for another hour.
One morning, at the excursion desk, quite a few customers were discussing what alternatives might be available since their excursions were being cancelled due to poor weather. We were among those persons. We discussed the alternative tours which were still available and asked for a few minutes to consult with the children. The staff reassured us that taking a few minutes would be no problem. When we returned 10 minutes later, the desk was closed! A ship with superior customer service, out of courtesy for the guests, would have remained open extended hours (or minutes) due to the large volume of passengers being inconvenienced but the Legend employees would never provide anything more than the absolute minimum standards!
On the last day of our cruise, we arrived for breakfast in the main dining room at 7:30AM to allow enough time to be at our designated meeting spot by 8:30AM. Although we were seated immediately, by 8:15AM we still had not been served our meals. Two dozen persons, who arrived much later than us, had already been served and were leaving the dining room. When I expressed concern to the waiter about our time constraints, he literally yelled at me. He shouted that the turnover days for the staff are very busy and stressful and that our food would come when it got there. The horror on our faces must have embarrassed the other wait staff as one of the other waiters did have the good manners to apologize to us for the behavior of his co-worker.
Shortly after this incident, we gladly left the ship, forever!
Activities on the Carnival Legend:
The activities offered on the Carnival Legend are weak. Perhaps hairy chest competitions and blaring music at the pool is considered entertainment by some, but not by me! The best activities and entertainment on board were several of the evening shows in the showroom.
Children’s program on the Carnival Legend:
My expectation for the industry’s best children’s programs was the main basis for booking this cruise. Unfortunately, the Carnival Legend fell short in this area too. My eight year old son was not at all enthused to be stuck in a windowless room (except for the skylight windows) with six and seven year olds playing board games and computer games with outdated computers. Having cruised with Carnival before (out of Los Angeles), he was expecting to have fun and found none! My thirteen year old son met a number of other teenagers on the ship and enjoyed roaming the ship with his new friends outside of the children’s program.
In conclusion, the Carnival Legend is a ship which will please only those with minimal standards.
