We had 16 family members on the Legend, which sailed from 16 - 23 Oct and 7 who were first-time cruisers. We had a few rough sea nights and rain, but we made each of our ports (Grand Cayman port was moved from Georgetown to Spotts), but some of the excursions were cancelled due to the weather.
My wife and I sailed on the Legend back in May 2009 and have sailed out of Tampa 4 times now, so we are familiar with the process of security and getting on the ship. We flew into Tampa a day prior to the cruise and all of us stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites Rocky Point. The hotel met all our expectations and would stay there again in the future. As we did on our Apr cruise, we arranged for Blue One Transportation to pick us up and take us to the port. They were there 15 minutes early, so the driver took the long way to the port and gave us a nice city tour for the folks who have never been to Tampa.
We arrive at the port at 9:45 and carnival was already letting people in the door and to go though security to check-in with carnival and get their sail and sign cards. We were all done with check-in by 10:00 and given our zone card number. At 11:20, we were all on the ship heading to the lido deck for lunch and then to our cabins at 2.