Since most of these reviews cover basically the same information, Ill be comparing this experience with the last Carnival cruise which was 1996 Elation and my last cruise with was 2006 RCCL Explorer. Ill throw in some personal observations along the way and give some port perspectives too.

I will say that Carnival has improved GREATLY from our 1996 cruise - they must definitely take into consideration the passenger comment cards. I liked the smaller size of the spirit class ships, passenger wise, but the pools and how crowded they got on sea days was not at all appealing and our family of 4 did not use them. They seemed like people soup. We did lay on the deck both days in whatever limited shade we could find and there were PLENTY of deck chairs to be had. Other areas flowed nicely and elevators were rarely crowded and our sailing was full. You just cant beat the inside promenade we experienced on the Explorer.

The crew on this ship was some of the BEST I have experienced. Everyone was personable and happy. To me that is HUGE! I have been on cruises where it is obvious the crew and staff are not happy. Not so on the Legend. Our cabin steward we saw only a couple of times but he was extremely efficient. Our kids were in an inside cabin on deck 5 and while I've seen all the towel animals I can probably see, they came "home" one night to the "privacy please" sign hanging from their bathroom door with a towel monkey inside sitting on the toilet!!! That definitely got a laugh out of our young 20 somethings! We had a balcony cabin on deck 8 aft and what everyone says about that is true! We loved it and don't know how we will do anything else in the future. Our cabin was just below the deck 9 promenade and it got quite noisy with chairs moving around and people going up and down stairs early and late. It didn't really bother us that much. Read more