Carnival Legend Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We flew into Tampa 2 days before the cruise, to give ourselves a chance to get into vacation mode before hopping on the ship. Glad we did- there's lots to see/ do! We stayed at the Downtown Hyatt Regency, which was nice, but for an upscale expensive hotel, you really get nothing free. They had no airport shuttle service and we paid $10 for the 2 of us to get on a crowded shuttle to the pier, and they don't offer free parking, wifi or breakfast. Kind of a rip off, for $200/night. Anyways, we went to Busch Gardens on Sat., and had a blast. Surprisingly few lines for the rides, so we rode them ALL! And we had good food in Ybor city- recommend Gaspar's Grotto.
Embarkation: super fast and easy. We arrived around 11:20 am, and were on board by noon. No hassles with check in or security, and they had no problem with us bringing 1 bottle of red wine and 1 bottle of champagne, and 2 six packs of soda/juice. If you don't know about this policy, check it out- soda and booze is expensive on board, so why not take advantage?! Plus, see "ps" below.
When we got to the Lido deck, EVERYONE was there, so we circled like sharks and eventually found a nice older couple who let us share their 4-top. Food was better than expected. More on that later.
Cabin Review
Balcony (obstructed views)
Our room 5173: Great location- centrally located, but not too close to the elevators. Our room was apparently on of the few with a flat screen tv! Starboard side is not as interesting of a view as port side in my opinion. TONS of storage space. It felt big inside. Comfy bed. Room temp. was able to be controlled easily. Comfy couch, big enough fridge. Plus it comes with toilettries like lotion and shavers and shower gel.
We booked the obstructed view, so we were on the 5th floor, mid ship. The obstruction wasn't so bad, but you really can't look down. Advice: If you're ok with taking a gamble, book the balcony guarantee category, b/c the worst you'll get is the obstructed view, so why pay extra unless you want a really good upgrade. That said, my mistake was letting the dishonest agent at priceline.com talk me into paying extra for the obstructed. Yep, bad business, and when I called to complain (and emailed) customer service would not help or apologize. DON'T BOOK WITH PRICELINE- book with Carnival directly!