DH and I are in our early/mid thirties. This was our second cruise. Our first was 5 years ago doing the med on Princess (either Grand or Golden Princess, I can't recall). We chose the Carnival Legend based on itinerary, price, and the reviews on CC. I did quite a bit of research on line and found that the best price offered was actually on the Carnival website. I called a local TA to discuss deals to see if they could do better. They couldn't but they could match the price so I gave them the business. Also, booking through a TA in Ontario covers you through TICO (a little protection in case things go amiss). I booked us a balcony guarantee and was pleased to be upgraded to an 8H (worth $210 more per person at no extra cost to us).

Leading up to the cruise I read these boards diligently and asked many questions. The main advice I got from the boards was bring a bungee cord for the balcony door, eat lots of chocolate melting cake, bring a power bar and don't book excursions through Carnival. Well I learned that a bungee cord is not needed as the wedge for the main door works well on the balcony door, a power strip is useless unless you use a ton of things that plug in, and the melting cake is average at best. I'll comment on the excursions further down.

We arrived at Tampa airport around 10am. We obtained our luggage quickly and grabbed a cab to port. This was very easy as you walk out the door and the cab guy there grabs you a cab within seconds. It was $22, which was more expensive than the Carnival transfer ($9 each), but we didn't have to wait for anyone and we arrived on our own instead of in a hoard of people. We got in line right away and the line started moving within a few minutes. We were silly though and didn't let the porter take our bags because we didn't understand that he was taking them on to the ship, we though he was just looking for a tip to bring our bags over to the curb for us. Our bags fit through the scanning equipment though on the way in so we were able to keep them. We were quickly moved through security, paperwork, etc. then were told to sit in the terminal until we could board the boat at 11:30. At 11:30 they started calling numbers and we were quickly allowed onto the boat. We went right up to our room to drop off our luggage and nobody said anything about that. We then went to have lunch on the lido deck at the buffet. It was a nice lunch, but nothing spectacular. We then took a tour of the whole ship. In fact we found places that we never saw again but it was nice to explore. At about 1:15 we went to our cabin and unpacked. The cabin was awesome. Very spacious and well laid out. We relaxed in the cabin and had a great nap. We woke up at the start of the muster drill (really who could sleep through that?). We were a little slow getting to the drill and ended up missing it altogether. When the drill was over we headed up to the Avalon bar for the cruise critic meet and greet. We were adorned in our red leighs (okay just I was, DH isn't into that). We met many other CC'ers which was fun. After that we hung out in the sun then went to dinner in the dining room for the late seating. We were looking forward to meeting other couples but were disappointed to have a table of 4 and the other couple didn't show up. Our head waiter was Junior. He rarely spoke to us at all the whole dinner. Every other table got their food way before us (45 minutes elapsed before we got our first course). When the meal came it wasn't very good - warm Caesar salad, room temperature ribs, and overcooked chocolate melting cake. I had spent months waiting for this melting cake and well, it was just okay. After dinner we had full intentions of going to the welcome show, but we made the mistake of swinging by our cabin and fell asleep. Day at sea: we slept in a little (7:30ish) then hit the buffet for breakfast. It was tasty. I was thrilled to find chocolate milk on the buffet. We then went to the adult's only pool area and snagged some chairs (I was well aware of the chair hogger posts). We watched chair huggers show up, save chairs then go to the buffet. Their efforts were no necessary as there were plenty of chairs all day it seemed. DH laid on his chair and read a book for hours. I decided to go make us some friends. I ended up connecting well with a couple in the hot tub from Georgia/Florida. They were really cool and we agreed to connect later to discuss excursions. The weather was perfect, the service fantastic and a great day all in all. I can't really remember the rest of the day. Lunch at the buffet, nap, reading, exploring, etc. I attended the shopping talk but got the impression they were trying to steer me a certain way to get themselves a kickback. They threw a bracelet into the crowd and some older, heavier ladies almost scrapped it out over it - quite funny. I felt the boat moving a lot while in the follies lounge the morning, but nowhere else much. That night was formal night. There was a wide range of clothing - hats on at dinner, shorts, to tuxedos. Our other couple showed up this night. We tried hard to connect with them but found we had little in common. The dinner was great - especially the lobster. Junior was slightly more talkative, but not much. I was envious of the other tables with their great tablemates and waiters doing tricks and making jokes. This night we again planned to do a show then crashed in our room. Read more