Traveling on the June 13th Legend sailing were myself, my sister, and our two 15 year old girls. We flew into Tampa the day before and stayed at Hampton Inn-Ybor City. The hotel offered a free large breakfast and free shuttle service to the cruise port. Taxi from airport to hotel was $25 flat rate. We left the hotel at 10:45 am and were at the port by 11am. The porters removed our luggage from the van, and we went inside to check in. We had already completed our Fun Passes, so we showed our paperwork and passports, and were given zone 7 to board. My sister had been wait listed for Your Time Dining, and found out at check in that she was confirmed for it. Our PVP had emailed the maitre' D earlier in the week. Boarding began around 11:45 and we were on board by noon. We headed up to the Lido deck and snagged a table and checked out the food. I had a salad, sis had items from the main buffet, and the girls had Oriental and grille items. Bought soda stickers for the girls, and then wandered around until 1:30 when we could get in our rooms. Two of our suitcases were already there, and we went to check out the other room (7197) and by the time we came back, the other suitcases had arrived. We unpacked and went up to the deck to watch the sail away. Stopped by the Guest Service desk to get extra keys made, and put some Funship dollars on my DD sail and sign account. Something had changed that day, so what happened was a limit was put on her account, and she could not exceed it. Found out later in the week that it worked--she wanted to purchase some pictures for $3 over her limit, and it denied it. We visited the arcade (via the Enchanted Forest--way cool!) and the Club 02 room where the girls would spend most of their time. It was then time to head up to the top deck to witness the sailing under the bridge. We made it! We then headed to dinner in the dining room (I loved Your Time Dining and will never go back to assigned time). After dinner we went up to register the girls for Club 02. My niece was less than a month from her 15th birthday but had no problem getting into the club. She was already on the list, so they must have expected she would want to be with her cousin. Sis and I hit the casino and the girls headed to the club. I was disappointed to find out that we could not use a bungee cord to prop open our balcony door as it was an extended balcony and the divider was too far away. I did not find the extended balcony to offer that much space, so I will not pay extra for that category in the future.

My sister is an early riser, so she was up each day for danish and coffee, but usually held off on breakfast until the rest of us ate. On Monday (Sea Day) sis and I hit the aft pool (adults only) for several hours of sun before the CC meet and greet. I was the 1st person down the slide when it opened that day. I did slip and fall when getting ready to go up the stairs again, so I opted out of any more slide rides. Sadly, only one other family showed up for the meet and greet, but we made arrangements to play cards later that day, and also were on the same excursion later in the week. My family ate lunch in the dining room both sea days--the food and service were wonderful! Sis and I entered the slot tournament--she advanced to the final so I went and cheered her on. She didn't win, but got a T-shirt. I went to the Real Whodunit-but ended up not playing. The acting was "weak" and not very convincing. We did not participate in many organized activities presented by the entertainment crew all week, other than the Past Guest party and Fun Farewell party (mostly because of the free drinks!) I did find Wee Jimmy to be very obnoxious and eager to hog the spotlight, so I was not inclined to sit through many things he was at. I was on Glory three years ago and had him as a CD, but don't remember him being that bad. He mocked my sister during the Ship Q&A on the last sea day. Also, this is nit-picky, but they really need to do better proofreading of the Funtimes (and other public signs). It was not uncommon to find several spelling or grammar errors in every Funtimes edition. Found a few grammar errors in the public notice signs that were put up around the ship, too. We thoroughly enjoyed all our dining experiences in the dining room--our waitress and waiters were all very accommodating especially with my picky eating habits. We only had one not- so- great service night, which was slow and also the waiter would not allow my sister to bring me some WCMC (I did not attend dinner that evening). Like I mentioned before, Your Time Dining was perfect for our schedules--we could time our dining time around the girls' activities. We did not do much at Grand Cayman--tendered to the town and walked around for an hour. We tendered back and some took naps, but I headed to the spa and enjoyed the peacefulness of the whirlpool while enjoying a view of 7 mile beach. I loved the design of the gym/spa area and spend alot of time in that whirlpool vs. the more crowded ones on the pool decks. The girls skipped dinner, so sis and I went alone and had a table at the railing. We were able to see what a marvelous singer the maitre d' is! We also were encouraged by our waitress to dance--that was fun! After dinner, my sister and I were headed to watch the comedian in Follies, but stopped in to listen to the sing a long and stayed in there. The piano player was very good, and it was like Karaoke but better, because everyone was encouraged to sing and you didn't have to get up on stage. Wee Jimmy had stopped in and made his 1st of many bad impressions on us but "upstaging" the piano man by attracting attention to himself. We made our nightly visit to the Late Night Bistro on the Lido Deck, then headed to bed. At Cozumel, we took a taxi to Paradise Beach ($14 per taxi) and paid for two lounge chairs. We had our own beach towels, and I will do that again. It was nice not having to worry about my Carnival towel. At 1st the waiters were swarming over us, but eventually got the idea we were not buying much. I did buy a smoothie and it was really good. The girls decided against getting bracelets for the water toys as they were crowded. I thought the water looked fine, except there were alot of fish swimming around--three circled around my niece for 30 minutes. I don't like fish, so I opted to stay out of the water after that. We did find a ladder at the end of the pier that led to "fish free" water, so we did dip into that. The girls wanted to go para sailing, so we signed them up for that ($55 per person--plus $3 service fee per person for credit card payment). The girls enjoyed their experience, and I enjoyed lounging in the hammock. We took a taxi back to the pier after about 4 hours, and I headed for the spa to take my shower. I skipped dinner and read on my balcony. Around 11:30 I wanted a cookie from the bistro, but the deck party was going on, so I settled for a piece of cake. Thursday morning I attended the Future Cruise "Travel Chitchat" presentation with the Loyalty Cruise expert. Since I was not ready to book yet, I watched us dock at Mahogany Bay while she talked, and waited for the OBC raffle at the end. I did purchase a Future Cruise Certificate that is good for five years. We left the ship once we were able and climbed up the hill to Clip N Zip zip lining. Very good experience run by very nice people. I have a fear of heights, so they put an extra harness on me in case they had to assist me in zipping. I was OK for the first part, but then I panicked and they immediately summoned a guide to come help me. They were very accommodating and nice about it. After zip lining, we went back to the ship and had lunch, then headed to Mahogany Bay beach. It was paradise! The water was so clear and warm, we never even sat in our chairs. I regret not spending more time there. We were very sad when we had to head back to the ship. I stopped and did some shopping in the beach shop, and was pleasantly surprised that the prices were reasonable. I wish Carnival would schedule a cruise with a two day or longer stop at Roatan. Once on board, we headed to dinner (mostly I went for Warm Chocolate Melting Cake)but did enjoy the black bean soup and minestrone. My daughter and I were booked through Carnival for the Belize Altun Ha ruins and River Wallace tour. The guides were very knowledgeable and funny. It was a neat experience to be able to climb to the top of the ruins (and very proud of myself for doing it!) After the ruins, we boarded our bus for a short trip to Black Orchid resort for lunch and to board our boat. We opted against eating the lunch, but did enjoy seeing the grounds. The river tour was neat (we saw lots of iguanas and other creatures), but it was HOT! The boat is uncovered and the only breeze came when we were moving. After about 2 hours on the river, we were let off at the pier. We did some quick shopping for T-shirts and magnets, then boarded the tender back to the ship. We were exhausted, but since I was also hungry, I went to Lido for lunch and fell asleep on a lounge chair (getting more sun that I didn't need). Oops! I skipped dinner that night, but met up with my family for the All that Jazz show. It was very well choreographed and presented. My sister was surprised that it had a PG rating for costumes--she said you see more revealed by the pool. Did some more reading that night, then went to sleep early (I finished five books on the cruise-and was happy that I could donate them to the library). On the last sea day I slept in, then we went to the dining room for lunch. The girls and I played mini golf (very windy) then I headed to the spa whirlpool for a couple hours. I attended the afternoon tea--very nice arrangement in the Atlantis lounge. I stopped off in the casino on my way to the Fun Farewell party, then sis and I stayed for the Ship Q&A--some interesting questions were asked and answered, but Wee Jimmy used it as an opportunity to upstage others (and mock my sister). We headed back to pack and get ready for our last dinner. We stopped by and purchased some pictures the girls had wanted (and learned that the prices are not well advertised, which is why my DD went over her limit.) We hit the casino after dinner, put our luggage out, and read on the balcony under the stars. The girls came back to drop off a soda for us, and show us their Club shirts that they had signed and all the photos of their new friends. Club 02 had a schedule of activities, but the girls mostly hung out in the "red room", played video games, and enjoyed the theme dances every evening.

We went to breakfast in the dining room on Sunday morning, as we were in no rush to get off the ship. We waiting until they were ready to throw us off (we were zone 9 to disembark), got a cab to the airport ($25 flat rate). I also noticed that since my last cruise, smoking has been more restricted to certain parts of the ship. I did not find any part of the ship to be too smoky (even the casino). Our cabin did not smell at all. The only time we encountered heavy smoke was from our balcony neighbors. We had a wonderful journey, and I fell in love with the Spirit class ships! I am already plotting my next Carnival cruise!!!