The Legend was our 14th cruise overall, 4th on a RCI ship. There were roughly 1800 passengers, maybe 70 children under 17. For us, the passengers were notably older, clearly a majority over 65. Not a problem, just an observation. The Legend is an older ship, not in appearance, but in design. A small area on Deck 5 for shops, a nice main dining room, and a fairly small casino on Deck 4 were the main gathering points. The spa was nice as well, and again, fairly small compared to the new designs.

Good points: The crew was amazing, always with a smile and a greeting. They didn’t bother you with drinks and photos, and the PA broadcasts didn’t start until 10:00am and were fairly limited during sea days. This made for a very relaxing atmosphere. I wasn’t overly impressed with Paul Rutter, Cruise Director – he had a somewhat arrogant air, but always said hi. His assistant, Mo, was a riot – always with a smile and joking around. The two RCI shows were top shelf with four of the best singers and 8-very energetic dancers/acrobats that we have seen on the high seas. The comedians, juggler, and invited singers were good and entertaining, but we’ve seen better acts. The food was plentiful and diverse, but Pebbles said some of the fish meals were rather plain tasting. I stuck with beef and pasta entrees and was very happy with what I was served. If you are a chocolate lover, you will be happy with the dessert selections and varieties. The beef sandwiches and soups in the Park Café were to die for; it’s in the Solarium Pool area on deck 9.

Needs improvements: 1) The men’s steam room in the spa – would easily cook a lobster in 30-seconds. Normally, I like to steam away for 20-30 minutes. I could go no longer than 5, usually 2-3 minutes, even after 10 days. And it would take 2-3 ice cold showers and several minutes of sitting in the locker room just to cool off. I asked the front desk at the spa to tamp down the temperatures a few degrees, to no avail. And I wasn’t the only one as virtually all were getting out after a minute or two. 2) The Legend is one of the ships that offer Valet luggage services for a fee. We signed up and Pebble’s baggage tags and tickets came through, but mine didn’t (we were using different airlines due to schedule issues). When I went to Guest Services, I was told Southwest declined the service even though they were listed as a participating airline (at Ft. Lauderdale). That’s ok, blips happen. The problem was Guest Services didn’t give me any “normal” disembarkation tags for my bags or schedules. Had to hit Guest Services 3-times to get this straightened out. And 3) the mid-ship elevator doors were clearly on steroids. People were getting hammered and left behind as doors closed with lightning speed. On day three, Pebbles was entering the port elevators on deck 4 and the door closed just as she stepped in and nailed her left arm, requiring ice to bring down the swelling. Use caution when entering the mid-ship elevators. Read more