This review is on Legend of the Seas, from Southampton on 22/05/06, we have sailed on Legends sister ship Splendour before so we knew the layout of the ship, but have never sailed from Southampton before. Following the route given by another cc reviewer we found Southampton docks easily and quickly, arriving at the docks at 11.30am we were directed where to drop of the luggage and where to return to park, very easy, parked the car and walked the 100yards to the terminal, having printed the sea-passes of on-line (this is a fantastic invitation saving lots of queues and time) we walked straight up to the desk were processed and told that we could board straight away, walked straight on the ship, found the Windjammer, where they were serving lunch and was eating lunch by 12.15pm, this is the very best we have ever boarded a ship, so top marks to RCL for the embarkation. We had just finished lunch when the announced the cabins were ready, so found our cabin and was very pleasantly surprised, there had been a good few comments on the fact that Legend was showing her years and in places was very tatty, we did not find this, and our cabin was spotless and looked lovely with the new bedding that has just been replaced, very soon the luggage arrived, and it was time for lifeboat drill, the necessary if tedious drill was carried out more quickly than any other ship I have been on and we were released to start enjoying our cruise.

I had been a bit apprehensive about whether the first couple of days at sea would be a waste of holiday time, but they weren't infact the two relaxing sea days were fantastic,one gripe the sun loungers on the pool deck were a bit like sardines in a tin squashed together, but I suppose that meant more sunbeds for everybody, We tended to go to the solarium pool where there was more space, and we always managed to find a bed maybe not exactly where we wanted, but we always got one. The only problem there was the groups of young teenagers 14-16year olds who would hog the hot-tubs for hours, and even when asked by other passengers if they would mind giving somebody else a chance could be quite rude, the deck staff would talk to them but then just walk away and leave them there, even when it was stated quite clearly in the rules that no under 16's were allowed in these hot-tubs and that the maximum time in the hot-tub should be 15min. This was the only real problem I had with the whole cruise. We were 2nd seating for dinner which was our 1st choice as we like to be able to relax and not rush if we have been ashore during the day. The dining room was very nicely laid out and we had a table for eight right by a large window. The service was 1st class always and the food of a pretty high standard, it is three years since our last cruise and I liked the way the menus were laid out now, instead of seven or eight courses it was laid out in three courses, although it was pointed out to us on our first evening that we could have as many course as we wanted from each section. Our food was always hot and the waiting staff could not be faulted and were always very eager to help, we had a couple of young teenagers at our table who sometimes did not like what they ordered but were to polite to say, this was always noticed by out waiter who would offer to get them something else from the menu. The menus themselves were very comprehensive.

We took organized excursions in most of the ports, and although we thought the were expensive, on the whole they gave reasonable value for money, my one flaw is that I feel they try to pack to much into each trip, I would have rather have had more time in certain places ie: The Panthenon in Rome where we only had five min to look around. and maybe not visited so many different places on the one trip. Entertainment, overall I was not overly impressed by the standard of the shows, although to be fair we only went to two of three, we did enjoy the BeatleMainacs, they were very good, and we attended some of the entertainment in the lounges, but on the whole we preferred to have a drink in the viking lounge in the evening. Disembarkation went as smoothly as embarkation, we were called at 8am and were of the ship, in the car and on our way home by 8.20am. Read more