This cruise was kind of a last minute decision by Diane and me. When we returned from our March 6-13 cruise on HAL's Zuiderdam we were in absolute agony. It was far worse for Diane because she simply had no motivation or desire to go to work. I was afraid I was going to need to find her a shrink. I'm basically retired but help her out at the salon with tanning so my problem was I just wanted back on the ship.

So to appease her and, yes me too, I booked another cruise for 6 November on HAL's Zaandam. By July we determined November was just too far away and needed to get onto a ship sooner. When I received a notice from Carnival about an 8 night cruise at drastically reduced prices...we had to go.

If any of you have read my review of the Zuiderdam cruise, you are aware of Diane's fear of flying, riding in anything that moves faster than "the Small World ride at Disney World". The Legend cruise sailed from NYC so we traveled by train, avoiding the flying part of the fear. She popped a few of her "I fear nothing" pills and sucked down a few wine coolers and she was feeling no pain. Even the short taxi ride, which otherwise would have resulted in permanent imprints of her fingers in my leg, went without incident. Read more