Carnival Legand 1/10-1/17/2010

"Nonny" wrote in message
...

"Cruise Crazy" wrote in message
...

I prefer smaller ships and yet there were many things I did not like
about our recent cruise on Seven Seas Navigator. So much depends on the
captain and how the ship is run. Even going back on the same ship can
make for a very different experience. Once we had a change of captains
in the middle of a cruise. It DID make a difference.

. . .hence, my comments about "management" of the ships. You're right on
target. I find it surprising, if not amazing, how much latitude the lines
give their individual crews when it comes to management. It would make
sense to me if they'd have corporate folk continually taking cruises and
reporting back to the home office about deviations from a corporate
standard. For instance, no competent hotel manager/captain would permit
the elevators to be taken down for cleaning at 8:00a or would schedule an
emergency generator test that disables the elevators at Noon.

My impression of the Ryndam was that the management of the ship was
running it as much for the convenience of the crew as for the passengers.
By comparison, we had no similar "hitches" in the preceding Carnival
cruise and many of us were commenting about what a "happy" ship and crew
we sensed. My bet is that you could switch captains/hotel managers and
senior officers on the two ships and within a month that would be
reversed.

Since it's raining here and I can't go out to play, let me make another
observation. Jean commented on what a good communicator the captain of
the Ryndam was. I agree entirely. He'd get on the horn to explain what
was happening whenever something would go wrong or break. Let me give my
interpretation of that by citing briefly a fictional business model we
used to teach, called, "The Canon"

. . . long ago, England wanted to send Cornwallis a huge canon he could
use to settle the little dispute with the Colonists. The Admiralty
assigned a young officer to one of its best warships to be certain that
the huge canon was safely lashed down and would make the trip to the
Colonies without endangering the ship or rolling overboard. If it came
loose and began rolling, it could sink the ship, so this was critical.

During the transit, a large storm came up and the warship began to roll
and pitch in the waves. Despite being checked regularly by the young
officer, the lashings of the canon got loosened and suddenly it began to
roll about the deck of the ship. The ship itself was in dire danger from
the rolling canon and there was the obvious risk that the canon could roll
off the deck and be lost.

The young officer dashed out onto the rain swept deck and at the risk of
his life and limb, used more rope to first snag and then lash the huge
canon back securely onto the deck. He was bruised and bloodied by the
effort, but saved both the ship and the canon through this extraordinary,
monumental, personal effort.

The following morning, the sun came out, the ocean calmed and the Captain
of the ship called all the crew to the deck. He praised what the young
officer had done, then had him hanged.

You see, the canon should never have come loose in the first place.

While the Ryndam's captain was excellent in telling us about the ship's
problems during the cruise, his management should have prevented them from
ever happening, IMHO.


Sounds kinda like the new CEO of Toyota becoming rather good at
apologizing...

He does a DAMN good apology!

'specially after the feds shut him down over what's apparently years of
ignored safety problems over multiple car lines, with at least 19 deaths
(per the NY Times)...

--Tom

YES, Charles, they have "shrunk" the smoking areas....as an ex-smoker
who quit just 11 months ago, and we cruise Carnival exclusively, I can
tell you the smoking areas shrink every year.

Nonny consulted a Magic 8 Ball and declared On 2/1/2010 1:40 PM:
After Christmas and New Year's holidays, we enjoy taking a cruise, and
that's enhanced when the cruise is with family members. During the
fall, we knew that our daughter couldn't join us because she was
expecting her first child, but our son and his two girls were happy to
join us. Then, in conversation with a former grade school classmate,
we invited her to join us as well. George Leppla handled the
reservations, and it was done perfectly, as always. The plan
initially had been to go to Tampa for a few days at Busch Gardens
before the cruise, with our son and the girls joining us the evening
before embarkation. As luck would have it, on the 4th, I had a fall
down our stairs and broke my collar bone in a few places. The
resulting X-rays, tests, consultations etc. wasted the better part of
the rest of the week, so we dropped the Busch Gardens part, traveling
straight to the Embassy Suites Downtown in Tampa for the night before
embarkation.

Our plans were enhanced a bit by the fact that when we returned, we
planned to disembark the Legend and embark HAL's Ryndam for another
2-weeks of cruising. There were two BIG surprises on that segment of
the plans, but I'll save that for the Ryndam report.

The Embassy Suites Downtown is a $25 cab ride from TIA, but well worth
the price compared to the hassles of a shuttle. In addition, with one
arm in a sling, tied to my waist, I needed all the help we could
muster. The hotel itself was pleasant and as expected. We always try
to stay at Embassy Suites, and this was a good way to begin our trip.
Our son, Chris, had arrived earlier with the girls, so we met him in
the coffee shop for a sandwich that evening. Our last arrival didn't
get to Tampa until 10:30p, so she just headed for the room and we saw
her in the morning.

Embarkation for the Legend was smooth. The only hassle was the home
printed luggage tags. This was the first experience with them and
while I'd brought tape, we found that a stapler is now a needed
addition to the luggage. The porter had one, thank goodness, and when
the bags arrived in the cabin, all still had the tags on them. Our
friend was at the Purser's Desk, however, that evening and said she
spotted over 25 "untagged" suitcases waiting to be identified and
claimed.

Our cabin consisted of two typical beds, separated by a night stand, a
couch with mattress on it for a third person and a fold-down bunk for
the 4th. While there were 4 adults in our cabin, it was not crowded
and nobody got in anyone's way. Our son's cabin was also
comfortable. Both were very clean, tidy and well maintained. TOWEL
ANIMALS were in evidence every night, which we enjoyed.

The overall cleanliness, maintenance and appearance of the Legend was
terrific. It felt like a new ship. All the elevators were working,
there was virtually no wait to get one and our rear quarter cabin was
perfect to go right up to the Lido deck or down to the dining room.
All decks were accessible without having to go "up and over" some
feature like we had on the old Westerdam and now on the Ryndam.

Our cabin steward was invisible, but the cabin was always made up
perfectly while we were at breakfast and freshened up again in the
afternoon and turned down at bedtime. There were plenty of toiletries
in the bath and plenty of towels. The shower was always cleaned and
wiped down each day.

One of the important things, to us, is the food on a cruise. After the
Legend, I worry that other cruises will be able to live up to the
wonderful food we had. Despite what we ordered from the menu, it was
always perfectly prepared, sauces were appropriate and flavorful,
service was rapid and accurate, desserts were great, portions were
perfect for us, food was available for the grandkids and served
promptly while the adult dining was more leisurely and there was
entertainment almost every night. Everything was tastefully done, fun
and the dining room folk seemed to actually enjoy the songs or dances,
compared to the horrible "God blezz Amelica" cigarette lighter
routines from the past. At the risk of overstating our satisfaction
with the dining room, it was undoubtedly the best food, service and
entertainment we'd encountered in our cruising history, and perhaps
the opposite of what was to come on the Ryndam.

An annoyance on most cruises is the photographers forcing people to
wait in line to be admitted to a function , embarking or going
ashore. On the Legend, photographers were everywhere, but we were
never forced into a line to get our "welcome aboard," "welcome to
Tampa" or similar photos taken. During the formal nights in
particular, there were perhaps a dozen different photographers and
backdrops, but they were peripheral to the flow of the people and were
not obtrusive.

Something I've commented upon in the past is the sincerity and
attitude of the crew on a cruise line. There are happy ships,
indifferent ships and unhappy, mismanaged, ships. The Legend was a
Happy Ship in the fullest implication of the term. From the young
person wiping the railings of salt spray to the head waiter, to the
bus boy to the cabin steward, the people seemed to be genuinely happy
and appreciative of our business. The ship arrived in ports on time,
access for handicapped people to tenders or gangways was terrific and
there was never a sense of being rushed. Everything worked as it should.

Our Legend cruise ended back in Tampa on schedule, but since we
planned to just transfer to the Ryndam, we disembarked very late to
give other passengers more time and knowing that we'd just be waiting
for the Ryndam to begin embarkation. We asked our porter if he'd take
the luggage to the other terminal: just around the other side of the
Aquarium, which he did. It sure saved having to drag the cases
ourselves, and particularly since I had the broken, strapped-down
shoulder. As it was, the transfer was just a short, enjoyable walk
and we soon were in the other terminal. I'll continue with a separate
Ryndam post later on.

Thanks for your cruise report. Sorry to hear of your injury. We stayed
at one of those Extended Stay hotels in what's called the Airport area.
It was a nice hotel. Our embarkation was on a Sunday. Most of Tampa is
like a ghost town on a Sunday. We opted to take a cab to the port,
since there wasn't any traffic to speak of, we were at the port in under
20 minutes. As opposed to a stay downtown, the savings was
considerable. For any embarkation on a Sunday, a stay in this part of
town doesn't take away from travel time to port.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"The poor dog is the firmest of friends, the first to welcome the foremost to defend" - Lord Byron

View My Web Pages: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951
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"Becca" wrote in message
...
: Stu wrote:
: Well since you asked Ray, I live in a large block with a great deal of
: seniors. About 90% cruise, they mostly use Cunard, Holland, Oceania ,
: Norwegian, and quite a few take Princess because they cater to the
: older population. I'm apprised weekly of how great they treat seniors,
: I mention Carnival and they say it's for family's with kids. Like you
: said, it's our preference after all we pay the bill.
:
:
: The average age on Princess is probably younger than you think. IMO,
: the cruise line for people with children of all ages is Royal
: Caribbean. They have more activities for young folks.
:
:
: Becca

If I liked the climate of Florida year-round, we'd probably make the Space
Coast our retirement home. As it is, I LOVE snow... a northern clime's
typical winter. Hubby despises it... Even throughout the ordeal of driving
upon treacherous roadways, we still drive the 2M mile round-trip trek to
Floridian ports for some of our favorite cruises. Not disregarding any
other line, Royal Caribbean happens to have a product we both relish. Why
drive? For the best company, my husband wins, hands down.

Regarding Royal Caribbean, the children, toddler-to-teen, on RCCL sailings
have a total immersion of the cruising experience with Adventure Ocean, from
both fantasy and a nature habitat point of view. They become Royal
Promenade entertainers and guardians, swashbuckling pirates and mermaids,
interested in sea adventure and a fresh perspective toward safeguarding
natural resources. By their curiosity of how a ship operates, they can
become aware of their own personal impact of a ship's decorum.

I gleaned much more from a 12-yr-old at our dining table than from any
steward on the ship. Their eyes and ears seemed to reflect the capabilities
of a cruise line's
responsibility to its youngest and future adult travelers.

"*muz*" wrote in message
news

"Becca" wrote in message
...
: Stu wrote:
: Well since you asked Ray, I live in a large block with a
great deal of
: seniors. About 90% cruise, they mostly use Cunard, Holland,
Oceania ,
: Norwegian, and quite a few take Princess because they cater
to the
: older population. I'm apprised weekly of how great they
treat seniors,
: I mention Carnival and they say it's for family's with kids.
Like you
: said, it's our preference after all we pay the bill.
:
:
: The average age on Princess is probably younger than you
think. IMO,
: the cruise line for people with children of all ages is Royal
: Caribbean. They have more activities for young folks.
:
:
: Becca

If I liked the climate of Florida year-round, we'd probably make
the Space
Coast our retirement home. As it is, I LOVE snow... a northern
clime's
typical winter. Hubby despises it... Even throughout the
ordeal of driving
upon treacherous roadways, we still drive the 2M mile round-trip
trek to
Floridian ports for some of our favorite cruises. Not
disregarding any
other line, Royal Caribbean happens to have a product we both
relish. Why
drive? For the best company, my husband wins, hands down.

Regarding Royal Caribbean, the children, toddler-to-teen, on
RCCL sailings
have a total immersion of the cruising experience with Adventure
Ocean, from
both fantasy and a nature habitat point of view. They become
Royal
Promenade entertainers and guardians, swashbuckling pirates and
mermaids,
interested in sea adventure and a fresh perspective toward
safeguarding
natural resources. By their curiosity of how a ship operates,
they can
become aware of their own personal impact of a ship's decorum.

I gleaned much more from a 12-yr-old at our dining table than
from any
steward on the ship. Their eyes and ears seemed to reflect the
capabilities
of a cruise line's
responsibility to its youngest and future adult travelers.


Ha- we're in agreement. The Nonny family keeps it simple: George
Leppla does the picking and choosing and we're happy as clams.
However, the times he's put us on RCCL, we've had a great time, as
with Carnival.

--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

"Nonny" wrote in message
...
:
: "*muz*" wrote in message
: news :
: "Becca" wrote in message
: ...
: : Stu wrote:
: : Well since you asked Ray, I live in a large block with a
: great deal of
: : seniors. About 90% cruise, they mostly use Cunard, Holland,
: Oceania ,
: : Norwegian, and quite a few take Princess because they cater
: to the
: : older population. I'm apprised weekly of how great they
: treat seniors,
: : I mention Carnival and they say it's for family's with kids.
: Like you
: : said, it's our preference after all we pay the bill.
: :
: :
: : The average age on Princess is probably younger than you
: think. IMO,
: : the cruise line for people with children of all ages is Royal
: : Caribbean. They have more activities for young folks.
: :
: :
: : Becca
:
: If I liked the climate of Florida year-round, we'd probably make
: the Space
: Coast our retirement home. As it is, I LOVE snow... a northern
: clime's
: typical winter. Hubby despises it... Even throughout the
: ordeal of driving
: upon treacherous roadways, we still drive the 2M mile round-trip
: trek to
: Floridian ports for some of our favorite cruises. Not
: disregarding any
: other line, Royal Caribbean happens to have a product we both
: relish. Why
: drive? For the best company, my husband wins, hands down.
:
: Regarding Royal Caribbean, the children, toddler-to-teen, on
: RCCL sailings
: have a total immersion of the cruising experience with Adventure
: Ocean, from
: both fantasy and a nature habitat point of view. They become
: Royal
: Promenade entertainers and guardians, swashbuckling pirates and
: mermaids,
: interested in sea adventure and a fresh perspective toward
: safeguarding
: natural resources. By their curiosity of how a ship operates,
: they can
: become aware of their own personal impact of a ship's decorum.
:
: I gleaned much more from a 12-yr-old at our dining table than
: from any
: steward on the ship. Their eyes and ears seemed to reflect the
: capabilities
: of a cruise line's
: responsibility to its youngest and future adult travelers.
:
:
: Ha- we're in agreement. The Nonny family keeps it simple: George
: Leppla does the picking and choosing and we're happy as clams.
: However, the times he's put us on RCCL, we've had a great time, as
: with Carnival.
:
: --
: Nonny
:
: ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
: and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
: concerning what they are talking about.
: The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

For the past 20 years, we've sailed on cruises as our mainstay vacations.
Being landlocked in PA, aside from dreadful Philly yet giving due the
captivating Great Lakes region (and its wine country), a cruise vacation
seems "exotic and expensive" to some PA landlubbers.

Although we love the Royal Caribbean "super"-Voyager class and the Space
Coast, we are not determined to remain solely with one cruise line. Over
the years, beginning with our honeymoon cruise on the Carnival ***vale ships
(I seem to recall Festivale), we have been relaxing and breathing in that
sea air with robust enjoyment.

We have not had one cruise of which to bitterly complain, as others have
been known to rant. Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity... all
offered a reprieve for us. Airline foibles aside, there has been little to
speak ill. We leave our worries behind; they'll catch back up with us when
we return.

We are platinum C&A Society members now. Heck, I get a kick out of simply
having a white bathrobe in my stateroom for use.g I'll leave discerning
loyalties to others. We lucked out, on waitlist, with a promenade interior
family stateroom this last cruise. The cabin was immense (300 sq ft), the
stewards were unobtrusive and the FREEDOM OTS was our stop point prior to
the STS-130 Endeavour shuttle launch Super Bowl Sunday.

Our captain, a reclusive sort, was very apologetic on the PA system at
4:30AM Sunday, Feb 7th by alerting early risers of the intrusion to report
the rescheduling of the liftoff. The clouds would not clear for a clean
liftoff and we were left standing on the cold (41 degrees Fahrenheit) deck
in Port Canaveral, sipping our Seattle's Best.

I think it's time to place a call to George Leppla for our next
adventure...Oct 16, 2010 RCCL OASIS is out for us because we are considerate
Red Cross blood donors. Labadee, Haiti puts the kibosh on that one, as we
learned from our first FREEDOM OTS cruise. A year seems a very long time to
wait to donate blood.

Perhaps Bermuda, again? My husband insists on nixing the New York City port
terminals. I still am working on him accepting "across-the-river" Cape
Liberty and NJ as separate entities! I'll keep trying!

"*muz*" wrote in message
abs...


We have not had one cruise of which to bitterly complain, as
others have
been known to rant.

We're like you, in that during our cruising careers, we've NEVER
been on a single ship or cruise that has "ruined" our vacation.
There have been incidents where we've felt there was room for
improvement, times when the passenger mix wasn't what we
preferred, times when things have broken, times when we've had
unhappy waiters and times when we felt that we could do some
improvements to the cabin. However, it's never, ever, been to the
extent that we would not consider the same ship or cruise line
again, if George found us the right deal or the timing was to our
advantage.

We now live in Las Vegas and every single day something happens
that I don't enjoy, wish hadn't happened or was a disappointment.
Every. . . single. . .day. However, on every single day there are
many things I DO enjoy, am glad that happened and am elated to
have experienced. In my life, I've found that the good has
always outweighed the bad. That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to
eliminate the bad, but I'm a realist and understand that nothing
(outside of Mrs. Nonny) is perfect.

I'm fascinated by the folk who can take a cruise and from that
isolated experience can make such sweeping comments about their
future cruises.


I think it's time to place a call to George Leppla for our next
adventure...Oct 16, 2010 RCCL OASIS is out for us because we are
considerate
Red Cross blood donors. Labadee, Haiti puts the kibosh on that
one, as we
learned from our first FREEDOM OTS cruise. A year seems a very
long time to
wait to donate blood.

Perhaps Bermuda, again? My husband insists on nixing the New
York City port
terminals. I still am working on him accepting
"across-the-river" Cape
Liberty and NJ as separate entities! I'll keep trying!

Could you just stay aboard the ship in those ports?

--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

"Nonny" wrote in message
...
:
: "*muz*" wrote in message
: abs...
:
:
: We have not had one cruise of which to bitterly complain, as
: others have
: been known to rant.
:
: We're like you, in that during our cruising careers, we've NEVER
: been on a single ship or cruise that has "ruined" our vacation.
: There have been incidents where we've felt there was room for
: improvement, times when the passenger mix wasn't what we
: preferred, times when things have broken, times when we've had
: unhappy waiters and times when we felt that we could do some
: improvements to the cabin. However, it's never, ever, been to the
: extent that we would not consider the same ship or cruise line
: again, if George found us the right deal or the timing was to our
: advantage.
:
: We now live in Las Vegas and every single day something happens
: that I don't enjoy, wish hadn't happened or was a disappointment.
: Every. . . single. . .day. However, on every single day there are
: many things I DO enjoy, am glad that happened and am elated to
: have experienced. In my life, I've found that the good has
: always outweighed the bad. That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to
: eliminate the bad, but I'm a realist and understand that nothing
: (outside of Mrs. Nonny) is perfect.
:
: I'm fascinated by the folk who can take a cruise and from that
: isolated experience can make such sweeping comments about their
: future cruises.
:
:
: I think it's time to place a call to George Leppla for our next
: adventure...Oct 16, 2010 RCCL OASIS is out for us because we are
: considerate
: Red Cross blood donors. Labadee, Haiti puts the kibosh on that
: one, as we
: learned from our first FREEDOM OTS cruise. A year seems a very
: long time to
: wait to donate blood.
:
: Perhaps Bermuda, again? My husband insists on nixing the New
: York City port
: terminals. I still am working on him accepting
: "across-the-river" Cape
: Liberty and NJ as separate entities! I'll keep trying!
:
: Could you just stay aboard the ship in those ports?
:
: --
: Nonny
:
: ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
: and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
: concerning what they are talking about.
: The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

That was the first rebuttal question we had asked of the Red Cross. If
beforehand, we knew there was a "block" on visiting such nations, could we
simply stay onboard without any interaction with inhabitants, their plant
life, the water, prevailing illnesses, what have you.

The American Red Cross stated that it has more sweeping regulations (and
they restrict travel destinations based upon CDC recommendations). No
matter what precautions we had taken, the mere visitation to listed
restricted areas foregoes our desire to donate blood for one year.

I'm certain there are those who ~have~ donated blood without thinking of the
destinations they've traveled prior to donation. But, foretold the
consequences, we choose not to compromise their standards.

Why are we insistent upon donating regularly to the Red Cross? It's
traditional, for us. Paying it forward, so to speak. My father died of
coronary heart disease at a young age, but not before having donated more
than nine gallons of blood, via his employment as a local firefighter.
Blood saves lives. It doesn't hurt much and the reward for having done so
little is great.

On Wed, 3 Feb 2010 23:26:32 -0600, Jean O'Boyle wrote:

The Ryndam goes into dry
dock next week so hopefully she will come back smelling like my rose!

--Jean

Smell mine!


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