Thread: First time cruiser.

I'll be on the Legend 11/2/08 and have never cruised before. Anyone have any suggestions on the best interior cabins? My travel agent got us in a interior gurantee, which I still don't understand. Anyone been on the Legend lately? I would love to know what the interior cabins are like? I'll be traveling with my husband who isclaustrophobic and I hear the cabins can be small. How much time do people really spend in their cabins? Also, when should we get to the port for embarkation(is it a long wait?) Thanks for any help!

Originally Posted by MJG2007

I'll be on the Legend 11/2/08 and have never cruised before. Anyone have any suggestions on the best interior cabins? My travel agent got us in a interior gurantee, which I still don't understand. Anyone been on the Legend lately? I would love to know what the interior cabins are like? I'll be traveling with my husband who isclaustrophobic and I hear the cabins can be small. How much time do people really spend in their cabins? Also, when should we get to the port for embarkation(is it a long wait?) Thanks for any help!

Hi MJG,
First of all, welcome to CLF and congrats on booking your first cruise!! I haven't sailed on the Legend myself but Carnival does have really good size inside cabins on all their ships.

A guaranteed cabin means the cruise line will put you in whatever inside cabin is available at the time of sailing. But if either of you are prone to motion, I would change from a guarantee to a cabin you pick yourself. I would try to get something more midship and a least something that is on the 4th or 5th deck, as you will feel less movement there. It costs just a little more to do that but I feel it is worth the money.

And an inside cabin shouldn't be a problem for you hubby because most cruiser's don't spend that much time in their cabin anyway. There is so much to see and do on the ship, that you are mostly in your cabin to just shower, change, and sleep.

As for embarkation, I always try to get to the port around 10:30 and get in line to board early, which usually starts around 11:30. They have you go up to the buffet to get some lunch first and then you can go check out the ship until your cabin is ready, which is usually 1:30. If you don't board early, then I would suggest getting there around 2:00 pm and the lines shouldn't be very long at that time.

If you have anymore questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I know I had a million questions before I took my first cruise and I'll be happy to help you anyway I can.
Janice

Originally Posted by MJG2007

I'll be on the Legend 11/2/08 and have never cruised before. Anyone have any suggestions on the best interior cabins? My travel agent got us in a interior gurantee, which I still don't understand. Anyone been on the Legend lately? I would love to know what the interior cabins are like? I'll be traveling with my husband who isclaustrophobic and I hear the cabins can be small. How much time do people really spend in their cabins? Also, when should we get to the port for embarkation(is it a long wait?) Thanks for any help!

Hi MJG, welcome to CLF, and congrats on booking your first cruise. I have not sailed on the Legend, but I have been on her sister, the Miracle.
When you reserve a Guarantee cabin, you have no say as to which stateroom you will be assigned. You are giving the cruise line sole right to assign one to you. It is possible to get a stateroom of a higher category than the one you paid for. As Janice stated, the best staterooms are located midship.
If your husband is clustrophobic you should call your TA, inform him/her of this and change the Interior stateroom to either an Oceanview or a Balcony stateroom. Interior staterooms on the Legend are 185 sq ft.
The first picture below is an Interior cabin on the Legend's sister ship, Carnival Miracle, which has a capacity for three people.
Pictures 2, 3, & 4, are pictures of a Balcony cabin on the Miracle. I do not have any pictures of an Oceanview stateroom.

(Post edited)

Originally Posted by MJG2007

I'll be on the Legend 11/2/08 and have never cruised before. Anyone have any suggestions on the best interior cabins? My travel agent got us in a interior gurantee, which I still don't understand. Anyone been on the Legend lately? I would love to know what the interior cabins are like? I'll be traveling with my husband who isclaustrophobic and I hear the cabins can be small. How much time do people really spend in their cabins? Also, when should we get to the port for embarkation(is it a long wait?) Thanks for any help!

I've been in some inside cabins on Carnival ships that were a bit smaller (the Jubilee, the Sensation, the Paradise, and the Ecstacy). We usually book insides to save money and also to give my hubby a dark cabin at night as that's what he prefers. Even with three people (including a little one), we've managed it. And we do try to spend much of our time out of the cabin and about the ship. Usually just going back after whatever post-dinner show we see, watch a little tv and go to sleep.

One tip: keep the light on in the bathroom and the bathroom door ajar...or else have a small flashlight for each person for any 3am trips. Also, many people like to keep the in-cabin tv on with either the sound off or tuned to one of the audio channels. I can't remember if Carnival has one with a channel that shows the outside of the ship (Princess does, which is great for passengers with inside cabins to know if it's morning without referring to their watches).

The last couple of cruises we selected a cabin and marked our booking "no upgrade," so we don't risk getting stuck with an undesirable location. On my first cruise, we were upgraded to another inside cabin that was up a couple of decks, but ended up under a dining room. Heard vacuuming late at night. So I would recommend talking to your TA and asking for a midships cabin (just in case one of you tends to get motion sickness). Have a deck plan in front of you. Talk to your doctor about some remedies and try them out ahead of time on land. Bring at least two of them with. I took ginger (candied and Altoids) on our last cruise, which is a typically rough seas one, and took the ginger as soon as I started feeling woozy.

As for the embarkation time, we've only started cruises from San Pedro, Miami and Seattle, so I'm not sure about other places. We are the type who are trying to get there by 11am (one time we left home about 9:30am with an hour drive). We lucked out timewise our last time, got to the pier by 12:15pm (darn traffic on the San Diego freeway) and found absolutely no lines whatsoever. We were in our cabin with carryons unpacked by 1:15 and ready to explore the ship. The funny thing is that the docs said not to arrive until after 1pm.

I was on the Legend this past April and am sailing with my rock group November 2, 2008. A few in the group have those cabins as well. They won't be assigned til after final payment.

We had a balcony and my kids had an inside that was connected. The room is small... with no windows... being attached to our room made it feel bigger, like we had a suite and the light from our room helped them out. There are plenty of lights to turn on, but when they are off it is really dark. It probably isn't the best choice for someone that is claustrophobic. I would suggest getting at least an ocean view cabin... but this depends on you both... The room will be under 200 sq feet and that includes the bathroom.

The ship is really pretty.... we had a blast last April and am really looking forward to November.... feel free to pm me or email with other questions.

Dolores