We're home from our February 17th cruise on the Carnival Legend. Everyone is exhausted, but with wonderful memories from a terrific cruise.

This was my 12th Carnival cruise - my husband's 10th, daughter's 7th, nephew's 2nd. For the rest of our group, this was the first cruise. Yesterday morning nobody wanted to get off the ship. Embarkation went smoothly for our early arrivals, but even with Platinum / VIP status, we had a significant wait.

The cruise started a little slow. Our first-timers needed to get into the routine and figure out what, of the many options, they wanted to do with their time. One chose to relax and read more than anything else, but did go to the shows. Most of the others did many activities and all the shows. Some of us enjoyed the slot machines (and came out ahead!) To accommodate all of these varied interests, but stay in touch, we used walkie talkies. In the past, I've been annoyed by their use, so we were very conscious about turning them off in the dining room and lounges, keeping the volume down and minimizing talk time. For our group of 10, we had six "Motorola Talkabout 8500" and four "Motorola Talkabout 9500". We set all of them to the same station and security code. We never heard any other conversations and hope nobody else had to endure ours. I'd definitely recommend the 9500 ($79 per set @ Best Buy) as the reception was far better than the lower model ($59 per set). My husband and nephew were on the pirate excursion sailing by our ship and were able to radio me in the stateroom so I could get pictures. The walkie talkies also work beautifully in port so we could do shopping separately but find each other easily. Other than frustration with the 8500 model reception, these were an excellent choice and wonderful convenience. Read more