My wife & I, along with our 4 children (23, 20, 19 and 15) just returned from a fantastic week aboard the Carnival Legend (May 13-20). With 99% sun (it rained for about 5 minutes when we were on the ship in Cayman) and temperatures around 90 every day, we couldn't have asked for a better vacation.

ARRIVAL Arrived in Tampa around 11:00, everything went extremely smooth and it took no more than 45 minutes after the bus ride to be on the ship and trying to find a spot to sit in the Unicorn Cafe for the luncheon buffet.

THE SHIP By 1:30 we had our lunch and started to explore the ship which has a great, simple layout. With our cabin on 1 Riviera Deck forward we knew that all we had to do was get to either 2, 3 or 9 for anything we would want. The ship was extremely clean, well kept, a somewhat toned down look for a Carnival Ship but pleasant. While the ship was supposedly sold out, the only crowd we encountered was the first day at lunch. My daughter was looking forward to the O2 club for 15-17 year olds, but found that there were only 8 young adults that age on the entire ship, and it seemed those under 15 numbered at most 25-30. On the ship, the service was extremely friendly, especially our cabin attendant and our dining crew of Alberto and Jose. Alberto (this was his 1st week on the Legend and after the 1st night we may have gotten more attention since he only had us and 1 other table) remembered our preferences by the 2nd night and always brought us something extra to try - extra lobster, soups, you name it, one night we had 3 extra desserts! As for the food, it was very filling and there was a great variety. We had chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, steak, lobster, pasta dishes, shrimp cocktail, salads, veal, duck, salmon - anything you can think of. On deck and at dinner we tried almost everything and were never totally disappointed since there was always something else we would order if we didn't like our first choice. The 24 hour pizzeria had the best pizza, the hot dogs were huge, but the only problem was trying to find milk after breakfast. We found that next to the coffee creamers, there were pots of milk, so we would empty them. One very big disappointment was the entertainment. Maybe we shouldn't have sat up close. The dancers took 2 shows to try and keep in step, and the singers never impressed us at all. They were very, VERY weak, had no range and the shows production left a lot to be desired. But the 2 late-night comedians I saw were great! I'm told that I didn't miss much at the early shows, especially Fat Cat who thought he was great - too bad he wasn't. For the Welcome Aboard, Past Guest, Captains Reception held at the Follies Lounge I was not impressed at all. On prior cruises, the parties were in a lounge where you could mingle, order whatever you wanted at the bar and music played. This time it was have a seat, get handed ready made limited selection drinks, little variety of munchies, listen to the orchestra for about 15 minutes and leave. Maybe the change was because there are so many return cruisers, or else Carnival is looking for a cheap way out. Either way, a waste of time - in my opinion. Read more