Just left Legend in/out of Barcelona
We had an incredible time with our 18mo.
The highs
- staff’s hospitality was beyond excellent. 12 out of 10, truly. Special shout out to May, Shawn, and Mischelle in Coastal Kitchen, and JR in Izumi.
- food was delicious everywhere. Coastal Kitchen replaced our use of main dining room.
- the Grove for suite guests was quiet like the old solariums even though our son and a few other kids were there
- there was so much to see. The art around the ship was very cool and the room had a book about it that was enjoyable to flip through.
- musician playing strings in Central Park in the evenings was such an elegant touch, solo harpist or quartet.
- we had a sunset corner suite at the aft and the balcony was wildly large. Our weather was so perfect we used it every day. The room and bathroom are ample too.
The lows
- felt a bit salesly with servers outright asking for a 10 on the post-cruise survey because it directly impacts their comp
- the photo package I bought in advance did not apply to the specialty restaurants and no photogs were in the suite spaces so that was a waste of money
- no one uses stairs. The elevators were packed and people were extremely pushy. The sheer volume of people could be felt evenings and seas day(s).
- no swim diapers in the pools. Our son loves swimming but could only play in the splash pad. If baby bay could have a swim diaper pool that would have been amazing.
- we couldn’t experience the shows and nightlife based on our son’s sleep schedule & not being willing to use AO but that’s an us problem!
Biggest takeaways:
- booking a suite provides a totally separate cruise experience than the masses. You have access to Coastal Kitchen, which is a small and quiet version of the main dining room with a relatively extensive menu that changes every night. The ultra-quiet grove pool, hot tub, and sun decks let you escape the masses - over 100 open chairs at prime times on a sea day with a full buffet and bar. Also at disembarkation we went from our breakfast table to the curb in 5 minutes, which included locating our bags.
- We did a few nights in BCN prior and coming from the US we definitely needed it to adjust to the time difference. Had we flown in and gotten right on the boat we would have slept through time on the ship and that would have been a major waste!
- when traveling with a toddler, like other posters have said, you’re on their schedule. We had to pivot on dinner plans and an excursion based on his sleep needs. They were pretty good about waiving cancellation fees for that. If you’re wondering about booking with a little one, we would say just do it - it was a beautiful experience for our little family.