Writer Robin Fowler based this independent review on her 8-night Southern Caribbean cruise departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Legend is a feast for the eyes, with over-the-top design that leaves no detail unembellished. Décor celebrates the world’s great legends and historical figures, from images of Jason and the Argonauts in the Golden Fleece Supper Club to the Gorgon with snakes for hair in Medusa’s Lair dance club. Club Merlin Casino has a medieval theme, the Follies Lounge resembles a Mediterranean courtyard, and every inch of the Firebird Cabaret is decorated in the Russian style of a lovely lacquered box.

The 88,500-ton Legend carries her 2,000-plus passengers to distant Caribbean ports you might not expect to reach on eight-day cruises from New York and Fort Lauderdale. Itineraries generally feature three ports plus four days at sea to enjoy the ship’s resort ambience.

Why Legend?

• Rooms with a view: With 70 percent of all cabins equipped with balconies at reasonable fares, more passengers have a chance to fit this luxury into their budgets.
• Family fun: The line for the corkscrew waterslide on the aft deck is likely to contain as many adults as kids, all shouting, “Let’s do it again!”
• It’s party time: With four days at sea on eight-day itineraries, passengers appreciate the shipboard amenities as much as the ports of call. The music is loud and the conga line is long.

Who should go
Many of yesteryear’s partiers bring their kids along now, and there’s room for all ages on Legend. From honeymooners to kids and their parents to retirees, there’s a party for everyone. It’s a mood best suited for gregarious travelers.

Who shouldn’t go
Port-a-day devotees looking for a cultural or educational experience might be disappointed. Likewise, there may be better choices for passengers who like to turn down the volume and turn in early.

Heard on the deck: “Our kids would be so mortified if they could see us at karaoke! They would just die.”

Hits and misses

• Don’t miss: Be poolside for the very funny Men’s Hairy Chest competition, which involves Tarzan yells, macho flexing, and the occasional set of pasties.
• Best part of the ship: Get an idealistic look at the Caribbean through the rose-colored glass that soars over the Golden Fleece Supper Club, situated at the top of the ship’s nine-deck neoclassical Greek atrium.
• Best experience: Carnivalesque versions of TV hits like “Fear Factor” and “Survivor” give passengers the chance to be stars. Karaoke is sometimes scheduled twice a day, and the showroom fills up for a weekly passenger talent show. You might be surprised at their hidden talents -- or not. But all efforts are appreciated.
• Best shipboard activity: Who doesn’t like to sneak a look in other people’s closets? A behind-the-scenes tour of the Follies Lounge dressing room lends a new appreciation for the Vegas-style revues performed by the ship’s singers and dancers.
• Needs improvement: There’s plenty of information on shore excursions and shopping ashore at port and shopping talks, in the ship’s daily newsletter, and nonstop on in-cabin TVs. But you may have to scout for information on how to get around independently if you plan to sightsee or sunbathe on your own.
• Activities to skip: In rough seas, avoid almost anything that involves exercise when the ship is in a hurry. The ship’s speed allows her to visit distant ports, but she does have a schedule to keep.

How to meet the captain
The captain greets guests for the first 30 minutes of his welcome-aboard cocktail party on the first formal night. Be sure to collect your share of free cocktails and hors d’oeuvres before he begins introducing his senior officers. The captain also conducts vow renewal ceremonies during the cruise.

Heard on the deck: “If you need me, I’ll be here or there or in the room. Or somewhere.”

Truffles Dining Room
The two-level Truffles Dining Room offers an elegant meal service. Look for a half-dozen starters nightly (we especially liked the chilled soups) and a half-dozen main course selections, including such favorites as chateaubriand, prime rib, filet mignon, broiled lobster, and grilled Pacific salmon with dill mousseline. A couple of salads and several desserts are available, and vegetarian, low-carb, and spa selections are recommended. Wine suggestions are also provided by the sommelier. Passengers are free to order multiple entrées, and many do. Tables are assigned at two dinner seatings, and waiters sing or dance almost nightly. Breakfast is served daily, and lunch is available in the dining room on sea days -- both are open seating.

Heard on the deck: “You can have five appetizers at dinner if you want, but honey, I’ll take care of dessert.”

Golden Fleece Supper Club
The Golden Fleece Supper Club, an alternative dining venue with an extra fee, gives Carnival the gourmet credentials that sometimes prove elusive in the cruise industry. Many passengers are perfectly happy, however, with the meal service in the Truffles Dining Room and Unicorn Café and see no reason to pay extra unless there’s a special occasion to celebrate. But like a great shore excursion that makes the cruise special, an evening in the Golden Fleece is worth the expense. Situated under a soaring rose glass dome at the top of the ship, passengers are seated under the stars or at windows with sunset and sea views. Perfect service, ambience, and menus make this supper club well worth an extra $25 per person. Start with lobster bisque or French onion soup and follow with a New York strip, filet mignon, or porterhouse steak. Other faves: Lobster tail, crab claws, and Chilean sea bass over spinach and mango salad.

Unicorn Café
There are lunch stations for every palate at this casual, medieval-themed buffet on Lido Deck. Move between them for a little of this and a little of that: Overstuffed deli sandwiches, Asian selections, American-style chicken and beef, and “Taste of Nations” cuisine that changes daily, from Caribbean to Italian to Greek and more. There’s a salad bar, patisserie for desserts, and an ice cream parlor. The breakfast buffet has meats, grits, waffles, and pancakes, plus cereals, pastries, fruit, and egg stations where your preference is made to order.

Seaview Bistro
This alternative dinner buffet in the Unicorn Café sometimes includes one or two main courses available that night in Truffles, along with selections unique to the Lido Deck. Helpful waiters make the buffet experience more reserved. Choices may include chicken breast wrapped in bacon and tomato, slow-roasted sirloin, and fusilli pasta and grilled seafood. Try the coffee mousse cake for dessert.

Other dining options

• Pizza: A 24-hour gourmet pizzeria on Lido Deck offers old favorites as well as less common but scrumptious combinations, like goat cheese and mushrooms.
• Poolside grill: Just outside the Unicorn Café is a poolside grill serving hot dogs and hamburgers. It’s a favorite among passengers who don’t want to cover up to come inside.
• Room service: 24-hour room service has a limited but tasty menu of sandwiches, salads, and desserts. Sandwiches include roast beef and brie on a baguette, shrimp salad on a French roll, and chicken fajita wrap. Our order arrived in 25 minutes.
• Midnight buffet: There’s always a late-night buffet in the Unicorn Café, often including crêpes, deli sandwiches, and fruit specialties. Other items might include a hearts of palm salad, onion focaccia sandwich, pineapple upside-down cake, and peach cheesecake. Truffles hosts a lavish display one night per cruise, where culinary artworks -- dolphins carved from ice, flowers carved from fruit -- are situated among finger foods and dessert delicacies.
• Afternoon tea: Cakes and tea are served to the strains of classical or piano music in the Atlantis Lounge most afternoons at sea.
• Legend Café: Coffee drinks, milkshakes, cookies, and cakes are available at nominal fees. Hours vary daily.

Best dining

• Dish: Our votes go to the filet mignon in the Golden Fleece Supper Club, lobster tail in Truffles Dining Room, and lasagna at the “Taste of Nations -- Italy Day” buffet.
• Dessert: It’s an argument as to which is best -- the crème brûlée trio or a selection of mousses, both served in the Golden Fleece Supper Club. Order both.
• Restaurant: Dinner at the Golden Fleece is well worth the $25 extra charge at least once during the cruise. And the chef is likely to deliver a few surprises -- perhaps a special appetizer or extra dessert not on the menu.
• Dining seminar: Passengers line up by the score for a tour of the galley, but make time to attend a dining seminar. Short and lightly attended, they last only as long as it takes a talented artisan to carve a lovely flower into a watermelon -- about five minutes.

How to…

• Get a table for two: If all else fails, ask for a cozy booth-style table for four -- to yourselves -- on the less-crowded balcony level of Truffles Dining Room. Even if the ship is full, there will likely be a few extra tables in this large restaurant.
• Celebrate a birthday or anniversary: Special-occasion packages can include wine and champagne, photo and bar coupons, fresh flowers, canapé trays, and cabin decorations. To place an order, visit the ship’s Formalities shop.
• Change seating: See the maître d’ to change tables or seatings. Families generally prefer the early seating, and the party crowd can be found at the late seating.
• Dress for formal night: You’ll see everything from glitzy loungewear to long formals and tuxedos perfect for the portraits taken at several photo stations on formal nights. Most men choose dark suits, and most women choose black cocktail dresses, sometimes complemented by newly purchased tanzanite.
• Dress for casual nights: Slacks and sundresses are ideal -- no shorts are allowed in Truffles at dinner.

Cabins are spacious and attractive, decorated in shades of red and gold, with plenty of storage in warm wood cabinets. Most contain 185 square feet of living space. A high percentage of oceanview cabins have balconies, which add an extra 40 square feet. Interactive television allows guests to check their accounts, order shore excursions, watch free and pay-per-view movies, preview dinner menus, keep current on world news, and catch up on recorded shipboard activities they may have missed during the day. Rooms also are equipped with minibars, refrigerators, safes, and hair dryers, and twin beds convert to queens. Bathroom amenities include an extra toothbrush, toothpaste, and razor, and there are shampoo and soap dispensers in the shower. Cabins with ocean views offer use of terry cloth bathrobes, and all cabins are provided beach towels for use on the ship and ashore. Beware: Lose a beach towel and you’ll be charged $22. If you want to take home a new beach towel or bathrobe as a souvenir, the cost is $22 and $39, respectively.

Cabins for guests with disabilities
Cabins with wheelchair access are available for guests with special needs, and all are situated near elevators. All guests with special needs should contact an Expedia sales agent when booking a cruise.

Tips:

• Gratuities of $10 per person, per day are automatically added to shipboard accounts, but passengers can adjust the amount at the front office.
• Valet services are available for laundry and pressing, but not dry cleaning. Launderettes are also situated around the ship.

Bars, lounges, and casino
Legend houses a whopping 16 bars and lounges, each with its own style of décor and entertainment. The caliber of music is refreshing -- you’d pay to hear it back home. The art deco sing-along Billie’s Piano Bar often features favorite rock tunes adapted to the piano -- just the right way to lure Legend passengers off the Promenade. Satchmo’s Club, originally intended as a New Orleans-style jazz club, is the place to rock the night away on the dance floor. Other popular meeting spots include a cigar bar, various poolside bars, and a sports bar. Musicians are sprinkled among the clubs, styles including instrumentals, guitar, calypso (usually at the pool), jazz, and disco. Smoking is permitted in specified bars, the casino, and on the starboard side of the Lido Deck.

The casino is always active. Guests take advantage of free gaming lessons and flock to slot tournaments where a $20 entry fee gets you 100 spins and possibly a $500 first prize. Chips and coins can be charged to your shipboard account. The décor is medieval but the gaming equipment is definitely 21st century.

Swimming pools
Legend has four outdoor pools, the busiest being a party pool with live, and loud, calypso music, and a 200-foot-long waterslide that’s hugely popular with kids and adults alike. A quieter pool attracts families, a wading pool is reserved for small children, and, on the back of the ship, there’s an adult-only pool and bar. Hot tubs at the three larger pools are often crowded, but you may be able to enjoy the spa’s overlooked indoor hot tub all by yourself.

Heard on the deck: “My deck chair is by the pool next to the girl in the bikini reading the Bible. No, over there by the older woman with the big tattoo.”

Shows
The two-story main showroom, Follies Lounge, has a backdrop reminiscent of a Mediterranean courtyard. Downstairs seating consists of large sofas with small tables for beverages, while the balcony is filled with comfy high backs. If your view of the stage is interrupted by roving waiters with flashlights, take a seat in the balcony -- no bar service is available there -- but avoid the first row of balcony seats as they’re fronted by a railing that impedes views. Otherwise, sight lines are generally good throughout this 1,170-seat theater. Two Vegas-style production shows are scheduled during each cruise, one that emphasizes the talents of the singers in the cast and the other showcasing dancers, although the elaborately costumed singers and dancers perform at both. Other shows include comedians, jugglers, and vocalists. The busy show lounge is frequently in use, with such events and activities as a backstage tour, dance lessons, port and shopping talks, passenger participation shows, and bingo.

Shore excursions
Rather than coping with a crowd at the shore excursion desk, cut to the head of the line by making reservations from the interactive television in your cabin. Confirmation is instantaneous, and you may beat other passengers to the last tickets. Popular excursions -- often the more active ones -- do sell out. Book your favorites soon after embarking.

Weddings and vow renewals
Wedding packages must be booked before the cruise departs, and can include tuxedo rentals, receptions, photography and videography, catering, wedding cakes, floral arrangements, live music, and an officiant. For vow renewals, inquire at the purser’s desk when you embark. Legend boasts her own small but pleasant wedding chapel.

Looking for…

• Quietest spot: If there are few children onboard, settle into a window-front chair in the Enchanted Forest, a hallway fancifully decorated as a forest path which leads to youth facilities and the 24-hour arcade. Otherwise, the Holmes Library is a well-appointed and quiet hideaway, although its Internet café can get busy at times.
• Liveliest spot: Friends meet for late-night drinks and dancing at Satchmo’s Club, a New Orleans-style dance hall.
• Best view: An adult-only deck for topless sunbathers is among the highest points on the ship and offers expansive ocean views. Its deck chairs remain empty much of the time, although you may find a few pre-teen boys skulking around the stairways in hopes of catching views of a different kind.
• Best drink: The exotic Fun Ship combines vodka, light rum, apricot brandy, amaretto, and fruit punch. Buy it in a 16-ounce souvenir glass for $6.25 and refill it for $4.50, or order an 8-ounce special for $2.95.
• Best show: “Jazz Hot,” a Vegas-style review, emphasizes the talents of the cast’s four vocalists. Also featured are a dozen lavishly costumed dancers accompanied by the ship’s 10-person orchestra.
• Best activity: On sea days, dancers teach classes that range from swing to Latin, “Saturday Night Fever” moves, and even Austin Powers styles on the main stage of the Follies Lounge.

Tips:

• Fountain cards allow unlimited soft drinks at a price of $32 for children and $44 for adults.
• Use two-way radios to stay in touch with family and friends. Rent them from the shore excursion desk. They work anywhere on the ship and up to two miles apart in port.
• Film can be developed for $6.48 per 24-exposure roll. Printing is also available from any digital media.
• Purchase an Internet time plan on embarkation day and get up to 20 minutes free. Plans cost $100 for 250 minutes, $55 for 100 minutes, and $25 for 33 minutes. Also watch for occasional daily specials of five free minutes if you purchase an equal amount of time.
• Rent an IBM ThinkPad for $20 per day.
• If you need extra cash, the ship will cash one personal check from a U.S. bank for up to $250, and cash advances are available on Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.

Spa and salon
While spa treatments may seem pricey, you’re likely to feel you’ve gotten your money’s worth at Spa Carnival. Port specials are worthy bargains if you’re staying onboard ship. (The Spicy Lime and Ginger Body Glisten with a 25-minute aromatherapy massage, normally $141, was reduced to $99 on our cruise.) The salon offers hair and nail services to get you ready for formal night, starting at $30 for a blow dry and hairstyle and $15 for a nail polish, and there are makeup parties with free makeovers. We loved the spa’s leather benches with feet shaped like platform shoes.

Fitness areas
The gym features a full array of exercise equipment -- weight machines, free weights, and cardio equipment -- all available in a light and airy setting with sea views. Or try the jogging track with views overlooking the pools and sea. Exercise classes are held regularly, some free (step, aerobics, circuit training), and some with a $10 fee (kickboxing, cycling, Pilates, yoga). Passengers can also get their metabolisms checked ($30 for a one-hour consultation), receive advice from a personal trainer ($75 per session), and book a session in an Alpha Capsule that combines heat, vibration, and aromatherapy ($45-99).

Tip: Carnival’s Golf Academy at Sea offers private lessons with clinics, putting contests, and a digital analysis that compares your swing to those of the world’s top players. Lesson packages range from $45 to $99, and golf excursions are available at top country clubs for $175-195, including golf club rentals.

Clothing, cosmetics, fragrances, and liquor are found in Legend’s shops, and there is an unconditional one-year guarantee on fine jewelry and watches purchased on the ship. One-day specials include gold and silver chains by the inch, fashion rings, and T-shirts. Free champagne is served at auctions of fine art by Peter Max and other painters, but we didn’t see anyone asking for seconds of the rather bitter bubbly.

Ashore, recommended merchants pay Carnival a promotional fee but also give passengers a 30-day guarantee valid for repair or exchange of defective items purchased (not including buyer negligence or regret). Passengers register their purchases on a form available at the purser’s desk.

Heard on the deck (from the cruise director): “The guavaberry liqueur on St. Maarten is nine times more potent than Viagra.”
Passenger’s reply: “Is that guaranteed by Carnival?”

A free children’s program divides kids by ages (2-5, 6-8, 9-11, and 12-14), with activities that include slumber parties, movies, and scavenger hunts for older kids and cartoons and games for youngsters. Teens enjoy mocktail parties, disco, and a special shore excursion. Parents or guardians of children under 8 must sign their children in and out, but older kids are free to come and go. Babysitting is available from 10 PM to 3 AM, and for infants on port days. Babysitting fees are $6 per hour for the first child, and $4 per hour for each additional sibling.

From late April though mid October in 2005 and 2006, Legend departs New York for the Eastern Caribbean with calls at San Juan, St. Thomas, and Tortola. A special sailing Sept. 26-Oct. 4, 2005, features past cast members of the hit TV series, “The Apprentice.” From late October 2005 through early April 2006, Legend sails from Fort Lauderdale on alternating Southern and Western Caribbean routes. Ports of call are St. Maarten, Barbados, and Martinique on the Southern Caribbean itinerary and Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama on the Western route.

• Cruise line - Carnival
• Ship name - Carnival Legend
• Type of cruise - Fun/Casual
• Total cabins - 1062
• Private balcony cabins - 750
• Decks - 12
• Passenger capacity - 2124
• Total crew - 930
• Officers nationality - Italian
• Ship size - Large
• Year entered service - 2002
• Tonnage - 88500
• Ship length - 963
• Registry - Panama