Carnival Legend Review
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Cruise Review: Carnival Legend Western Caribbean /Central America 2/21 - 3/1/2006 8 nights
Party consisted of myself, wife, 9 and 13 year old daughters. Previous cruises include NCI Norway, Carnival Imagination (both adults only) and last 3 years with daughters on Carnival Spirit twice, and Royal Caribbean Splendor of the Seas. This was the 4th cruise we booked through a specific Internet agency, and have had nothing but positive results with them. Originally was going to pass on getting trip insurance, but after the storm a few weeks before where several NE airports were shut down for up to 3 days, discretion became the better part of valor. I used insuremytrip.com which compares costs and features from multiple insurance providers. One of the big advantages is coverage of emergency medical evacuations which I read can run to tens of thousands of dollars and may not be covered by HMOs when outside the U.S. Worth looking into and not that expensive.
We flew from Rochester, NY to Fort Lauderdale on AirTran the day before. The flight was full - somewhat surprising on a Monday - but one of the few non-stops available from Rochester. We had reservations at the Ramada Cruise Port which included a free shuttle. You have to get your luggage - long wait - before they will dispatch the van. It didn't take too long to arrive but made a couple of other stops which resulted in everyone sitting shoulder to shoulder to the hotel. The Ramada was a two-story hotel with no elevators which was a challenge with the amount of luggage we had. We had dinner at the bar that night and the buffet breakfast the next day. It was obvious they were severely under-staffed and the service suffered accordingly. The pool was nice and we took advantage of that. Weather was sunny and in the 80's. We decided to forego the free 1:00 shuttle to the cruise port - which looked like it was again going to be packed - and instead paid for a taxi around noon for $14 plus tip. Next trip I'll just look for the best hotel option and plan on taking taxis.