Jeanne Lowry

Age: 38
Occupation: Teacher
Number of Cruises: 7
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Name of Ship: Legend of the Seas
Sailing Date: April 7th, 2003
Itinerary: Hawaii

EMBARKING:

Went very smoothly. We were on the boat in less than 45 minutes. I would suggest that you come after 2 o'clock as there were zero lines after 2 o'clock. There were longer lines from 12-2.

CABIN: Size of the cabin was very small and we never did get a bedspread, there is limited amount of space for your belonging and the bathroom was extremely limited n area. However, our cabin stewart was extremely helpful and usually opened our door every night. What a nice touch.

SHIP:

Extremely clean and very nice. All of the areas were very well kept. The ship was not full, so there was never a wait for anything.

LIDO DECK:

Excellent food and nice area, but we had cold weather (yes, even in April); so there was little activity at the pool. The pool staff service was very very poor. But the buffets were very good as they had BBQ ribs one day, seafood buffet the next, etc. Food out there was always very good.

DINING ROOM SERVICE AND FOOD:

Service was second to none. We had excellent excellent service and the head waiter was outstanding. He came by our table of 10 every night and always deboned our meats, our lobster, etc. He was extremely attentive to our needs. Everyone at our table was impressed. (Our head waiter was Erich, our waitresses were Charito and Rochelle. Extremely well done.

Food quality was not the same. I personally felt the food was not up to standards, even for a cruise ship. Their selection was fine, presentation was excellent, but their food was not seasoned. Felt it was very tasteless. I tried two entrees every night because there was always one I didn't like, so I could at least have one good entree. You are able to order as much as you want.

I did like the fact that they did not dance every night like Carnival. In the 11 days, they only sang/dance I believe three nights. Bravo.

ENTERTAINMENT: The first five nights were Hawaiian dances and all the shows were very good. The two feature shows were excellent and the other nights were good as well. They were lacking in the Comedy section. I would have like more Comedy shows at night. But overall, they had plenty to do at night.

DAY ACTIVITIES:

Plenty to do, however, because of the cold weather, the outdoor activies were limited. They had a very nice indoor pool area and everyone hung out there. I wanted to be outside (that is why I came on a cruise) and the weather just didn't cooperate. To no fault of the line, the lack of people, made this an EXTREMELY RELAXING cruise, however, our nights were extremely active with plenty to do. I did like the horseracing which was very funny and fun. Sexy leg contest was also very fun.

CELEBRITY VS. CARNIVAL VS. ROYAL CARIBBEAN:

My husband claims that all the cruises are same. Same activities, same food, same shows; etc; however, I think they are each a little different and the following is just what I think the differences are between the three lines:

Carnival: Not as high quality of service or food, but their staff is always entertaining and the guest are definitely more lively. We always take longer cruises, so there usually is not much children when we go on Carnival. To avoid the family crowd, go during April, December and choice a longer cruise. Avoid holidays. I like Carnival the best because they seem to have the best entertainment and activities and I like the overall crowd better.

Celebrity:

Best food of them all, however, lacking in entertainment and guest excitement. If you like finer dining and quietier crowd, Celevrity is for you.

Royal Caribbean: Little bit in between Carnival and Celebrity. Food is more standard to Carnival, but service is better and the guest are a little bit more educated. Dinner conversation is more interesting than Carnival. Night activities are good, but day time can be a little slow.

PORTS:

Oahu: Rent a car. There is plenty to see in Oahu and the circle around the island does not take all that long. Allow for about 6 hours. Honolulu is also very nice, so if you don't have a car, there is still plenty to do downtown. Oahu has an excellent bus service. Better than any of the islands. If you don't want to rent a car on every Island, Oahu may be one option since they have a good transportation system.

KAUAI: Cannot do the whole island in the amount of time you are giving. Therefore, hou must pick which side of the island you want to go on. I choice the North Shore (Princeville) area and there is plenty to see. That is the green side of the island. We hiked Na Pali area and went swimming and saw two waterfalls. We had no problems getting our rent a car. Always call ahead and tell them you are with the boat. They seem to go faster for you. We were told that when the cruise boats are in town, they are the highest hotel in Kauai. Kauai is very green and beautiful.

MAUI: My favorite of all. I picked this boat for one basic reason. We would be able to spend two days in Maui. I was extremely thankful for that.

1st Day: spent 14 hours going down Hana highway. I must see for nature lovers. We visited every waterfall and swam in most of them. It was by far one of the biggest adventures. If you love nature or excitement, must go to Hana. Min. you need is 10 hours. We went the full circle--even though we were not suppose to because of our car rental agreement, but it is a must see. We only had to drive on unpaved roads for no more than 30 minutes. Well worth it.

2nd day: Went around the loop on the Northwestern side of the Island. Road are one way for two lanes of traffic and extremely scary, but boy, what an adventure. I suggest Hana highway the first day, since you have to be on the boat earlier on the second day. We went to Ioa Valley, which is very nice and then around the Western side of the Island. Took about 3 hours. Then we snorkeled. Snorkeling is better on the Big Island, but did manage to see some fish. Went whale watching and then in the town of Lahaina for a drink before getting on the boat. Beautiful two days in Maui.

Big Island: Two days there

Hilo: Went to Akaka Falls, which was very very nice and then to the Botanical Gardens, which were also extremely nice. Off the Volcano area, which is a bunch of rocks, but seemed to be highlight for most people.

ADDED BONUS: THAT NIGHT, they had a lava party on deck in which you could see the lava from the shore. Very Very nice.

KONA:

I felt this was the highlight of our trip. We rented a Kayak from Aloha Rentals and went to Capt. Cooks for snorkeling. Aloha is extremely helpful. Tell them you are on a cruise boat and they will really help you. They loaded our boat to our car and when we got to the dock, some locals there unload it for you--hand them a few bucks for their help--and then off for about a hour worth of kayaking to the reef. This was a very young reef and some of the most beautiful snorkeling I have ever done. It was like swimming in an aquarium. But wait it gets better. On our way to the reef, there were spinner dolphins around our boat and jumping up right in front of us. It was unbelievable. You must be very still and they stayed there for awhile. What a wonderful way to end the Hawaiian Islands.

5 days at Sea:

We waved goodbye to hawaii--so sad and each night, they did have music by the pool to relax. However, I will say very very few people took advantage of the upper deck. I never missed a departure and really think this is the nice part of crusing.

The 5 days are extremely relaxing. But if you like non stop excitement, not the cruise for you. I slept in most days, as the morning had nothing to do. However, the nights were full of activity. So sleep in and enjoy.

OVERALL,

Royal's service was very very nice, but if you want entertainment and nonstop action, not the cruise for you. However, the Island were so beautiful and cannot go wrong in Hawaii, I highly recommend you see Hawaii on any ship.

Overall,

Service 10 Food 6 Entertainment 8 guest excitement 3

Aloha

Ask a Question About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Ever thought about becoming a home based travel agent? Check out my web site for home based travel and cruise agents located at;

Home Based Travel Agent