My husband and I sailed on the Carnival Legend in February 2011. This was our second cruise, and second with Carnival. Since embarkation day was also hubby's birthday, we decided to book obstructed balcony 7A.Day 1 - Embarkation DayWe live in Tampa, so we loaded the car with our bags and made the 20 minute drive to the port. We arrived at 11:40 and dropped the car off with the valet (yes, this is worth the extra money!) and tipped the porter taking our bags.Embarkation was extremely easy, and we were on board by 12:15. Since the ship had just returned from dry dock we were really hoping that we could go to our cabins early, but that was not the case. Carnival does not seem to waver on the 1:30 cabin policy. We went up to the Lido deck and had lunch, it was a little crowded since everyone boarding was there, but finding and getting food was not bad at all. The Lido cuisine of the day was Italian, and the food was quite good. Note on Lido cuisine of the day - it alternates between Italian, French, American, and Caribbean with American and Caribbean offered twice during the cruise. There is an Asian station available each day that is also quite good along with hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken fingers at the Lido pool buffet.At 1:30 we headed to our cabin to unpack, we had Room 5180. midship on upper deck. The room was spacious, lots of cabinet space for storage. Prior to the cruise I ordered cabin birthday decorations from the Bon Voyage Dept, and they were there when we entered the room, so that was a nice surprise for DH.As for the obstructed view 7A cabin-having the balcony was great! I was a bit worried since the front of the lifeboats are a bit higher than the rest, but it looked like they were placed so the fronts were not directly in front of anyone's balcony view. The rest of the lifeboat is even with the balcony floor, so you cannot look directly down but you can see straight out. I would most definitely book this type of room again, having the balcony made such a difference and I took some great pictures from it. Also, being able to see the sunrise in a different place each morning is just wonderful.Our cabin steward came by shortly afterward to introduce himself, and he was just fantastic through the whole cruise. He was so professional and attentive, I could not be happier with the level of service that we received.After the safety briefing the ship took off about an hour and a half later than scheduled, so we went back to our cabin to dress for dinner. We had drinks on the balcony while passing under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and since this was DH's birthday, we headed to the Golden Fleece steakhouse afterward. Now I am probably the first one to say this since everyone else has given rave reviews, but I was not impressed. The dining area where we were seated was dark and quiet, not festive at all. We were seated facing a window that looked out to a dark, deserted deck. We both had the filet mignon and lobster tail which was OK, but not the best I have ever had. Like I said, take my opinion with a grain of salt since most other people that have dined there loved it, it just wasn't for me.Days 2 - 7For the remaining nights we had dinner at Truffles. The dining room experience was superb, we had Your Choice Dining and it worked out perfectly for us. Each night we were seated at a table for two and the staff made sure that we were seated in the same section with the same waiter. Our waiter was from Peru he was outstanding, as was all of the other dining room staff. The waiters sing and dance each night, and there was a magician that would come to the tables and do card tricks. He was really very good.The only change that I saw from dry dock was the addition of a new adults only Serenity deck. This is a very nice area with hammocks, plush furniture and a large bar. They do not allow smoking in this area, my guess is that they don't want the furniture getting accidentally burned. I thought that maybe flat-screen TVs would be installed in all cabins, but ours still had the old model.In each port the weather was great. I was a little disappointed that we missed Belize but Costa Maya was a good substitute with beautiful blue water and the resort area was very nice. Our favorite island was Roatan. This place is just beautiful, with perfect Caribbean water, lush tropical forests and beaches with palm trees. In summary, this cruise exceeded my expectations and I give my thanks to Carnival and the exceptional staff on the Legend for a vacation that I will never forget. We are sailing the Bahamas on Ecstasy in February 2012, and can hardly wait!!!