We wanted to travel by ship instead of flying to the USA, as I can't sit for long periods of time as you do when flying. Also, our Balcony cabin cost us both only $8000 for the whole cruise, which is much less than Business Class. I was not looking forward to the Carnival Legend as I had read some terrible reviews on TripAdviser, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Our balcony cabin was beautiful with marble surfaces, lots of cabin room, a big balcony on the 6th deck and a powder room in front of the bathroom that gave us room to be in the area with my husband. The ship's decor was a bit dated and reminded me of the excess of the eighties, however, the ship was very well looked after and very pleasing. Dining was buffet for breakfast and lunch on the Lido deck (9), and dinner was 3 courses in the Truffles restaurants on de is 2 and 3. You could choose to eat buffet style for dinner as well. There was a special restaurant - Nouveau - which served excellent lobster and steak and cost $45 per person. It was excellent value for money.

There was entertainment and other activities like trivial pursuit etc., but many cost extra and I wasn't interested in them.

We had an excellent Steward and Assistant which we were expected to tip, although I wonder how many Australians did that because of our aversion to tipping, however they suggested $12 per day, which we thought was reasonable. Read more