Cruise Ship Review: The Carnival Legend

As one of the "Spirit" class of Carnival cruise ships, the Legend is well stocked with many balcony staterooms. Unlike the older ships in Carnival's fleet, this class of ship marked the industry wide decision to begin offering the type of staterooms that are most in demand. This has lowered the price of balcony staterooms and created far fewer staterooms with any type of obstructed views.

The Carnival Legend is a truly magnificent ship.

This ship is a real looker. It very attractive on the outside because of the size and variations in the sight lines. It is also a well dressed ship on its interior. Nearly every public space on most decks are designed to be very pleasing to the eye. From the accent lighting to the brass and wood decor, the Legend has been created to make the passengers enjoy just sitting and looking around at the detail.

With a passenger capacity of a little over 2,100, the ship is not overwhelming in size.

While the Legend offers many of the amenities of much larger ships, it is a medium sized cruise ship. It is easy to navigate from one end of the ship to the other and does not seem like a monumental walk to accomplish it. There are relatively no long lines or overcrowding anywhere on the ship.

If you have heard of the spectacular atriums that await passengers who board many cruise ships, the Carnival Legend will not disappoint.

When you step into the Legend, you will be surrounded by an enormous atrium that soars far over your head to the top of the ship. It is adorned with glass elevators and brass accented stairways. Plenty of staff will be available to answer questions and give you guidance if this is your first cruise.

The duty free shopping is well stocked and easy to access.

Like most cruise ships, the Legend has a variety of shops available for guests to enjoy shopping while at sea. These shops are closed when the ship is in port. The items are available without the duty being added that is extra when not buying outside the national boundaries. On most items, this can represent a decent savings over what will be paid in other ports or back in the United States.

The buffet, dining room, and fast food areas are comparable to other cruise ships.

The service in the dining room was a little lacking. It is not set up for all tables to seem convenient for serving or dining. This rather crowded set up caused the wait staff to be continually bumping into guests at many tables and slowed them down. compared to other cruises, it just was not the same type of relaxed eating environment. The buffet line and fast food areas were quick and the food was good.

The staterooms are excellent.

While not above and beyond other ships, they are clean and in great condition. The attendants are available and do a good job. Like all ships, the staterooms are maintained twice per day. The only downside that was noticed was that the glass on the balcony was not ever clean.

The ship had a collision when we cruised on it.

When trying to depart Cozumel, the crew did not compensate for the weather conditions and the Carnival Legend slammed into the side of the Royal Caribbean ship Enchantment of the Seas. This was a little disconcerting and left the side of one deck unusable for passengers because of the shattered glass and deformed deck. It also created a several hour delay while both ships had to be inspected before the cruise could continue. Several videos are available on U-Tube of the accident. Carnival did get the damaged area repainted and repaired as much as possible at the first port where the ship could dock at a pier.