Overall, we have to give this cruise a high rating. My wife and I were reluctant to cruise on Carnival due to its "frat party" reputation. We had read on Cruise Critic that things had changed. As usual, the Cruise Critic reviewers were right. We have cruised on Holland America, Royal Caribbean and Princess. We found the Carnival Legend to be not much different. The ship decor seemed a bit dated to us, but, we understand that the ship is due a refit in the next year or two. The food was outstanding. The quality of the food is the one thing that impressed us the most. I don't think we had a bad or even mediocre meal on the entire cruise. Since it was our 40th anniversary, we had dinner at the Supper Club and paid the extra $30 per person. The meal was one of the best we can remember - and we eat out a lot. The service in the main dining room was outstanding. The variety in the Unicorn Cafe was excellent. Our only derogatory comments relate to the maintenance of the passenger areas of the ship and the attitude of the lower echelon staff. After having said, above, that we understand the ship is due for an overall; we found quite noticeable paint splotches, scratches and wear marks throughout the ship. We found room service trays still on the floor hours after we had originally seen them. The floors in the Unicorn Cafe were often wet and we saw a few people slip but not fall. Although, in general, the staff were friendly, we felt that they were a bit sullen, possibly from overwork and a reduction in take home pay that we understand, not from crew members, has occurred on the cruise ships. The recreation areas on the ship seemed to us rather limited. The pools were small by today's standards and very, very crowded. Our room, 8250, was under the promenade on the 9the deck and we occasionally heard chairs being moved about but it was not a problem. We will certainly be cruising with Carnival in the future.

First Port: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Tuesday, September 1, 2009 Read more