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I booked two 185-square-foot rooms at Carnival Legend for my family of five.
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My husband and I shared a room with no windows, and my three children had a sea view room.
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Staying in separate cabins gave our family more space and privacy during our seven-day trip.
I was looking for a November getaway so I booked a seven day cruise on the Carnival Legend for my family of five.
Last vacation, we all stayed in the same hotel room. Once, we all crammed into the same tiny cruise ship cabin.
This time, I booked two separate 185-square-foot staterooms on Carnival Legend’s Riviera deck for more space and privacy.
My husband and I stayed in a windowless interior cabin that had a king bed.
The king was actually just two single beds pushed together.
We each had a bedside table with a reading lamp.
If one of us wanted to stay up a little later, he turned off the main lights and turned on the bedside table.
My three children – ages 14, 11 and 8 – shared an ocean view stateroom across the aisle.
Connecting rooms were not available, so my children had separate rooms.
The children’s room had two single beds and a couch that converted into a third bed.
It was more than enough space for the three of them.
The children’s picture window provided lovely natural light.
Our room had no windows and no sun. In the future I would also book a sea view room for the adults.
Bathrooms in both cabins were identical.
Inside the bathroom there were many shelves to store our toiletries.
The cruise ship staff cleaned the restrooms and replenished our towel stocks each day.
Many hotels we’ve stayed at have stopped offering daily housekeeping since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but we enjoyed a clean bathroom and fresh towels every day at the Carnival Legend.
The showers had shampoo and shower gel dispensers.
There was also a retractable clothesline in our bathroom for drying wet swimsuits.
Even with three kids sharing a small bathroom, the floor stayed dry thanks to the shower’s well-designed drainage system.
I was happy to see that there was water covering the entire bathroom floor.
The layouts of both bedrooms have made excellent use of the 185 square foot space.
We could easily store a week’s worth of items thanks to all the drawers, shelves and hangers.
Two of the closets had hanging clotheslines for dresses and coats, with enough room to store our suitcases in the back.
My husband and I had no problem storing our bags and clothes.
Like many cruise staterooms, our room had an outlet next to the desk.
This was a little annoying as my husband and I had to take turns charging our devices.
The crew confiscated one of our surge protectors.
I took two power strips so I didn’t have to take turns taking them, but only one made it on board. Unfortunately, the crew confiscated the other one.
Carnival’s website says power strips without surge protectors are allowed, but those the crew deems dangerous will be removed and returned to the owner on the last day of the cruise before disembarkation.
However, the kids had no problem bringing the power strip into the cabin.
The TV screen was so small that my eyes felt tired towards the end of the trip.
The very small TV screen isn’t a big deal if you’re not a movie watcher.
However, our family likes to relax by watching shows, and by the end of the week, the small screen was straining my eyes.
Inside a table was a mini-fridge big enough to hold two bottles of wine and a few snacks.
The only downside was that it didn’t cool enough to chill the drinks.
Our rooms had thermostats but I don’t think they worked well.
The rooms had thermostats with moving dials, but turning them didn’t seem to affect the temperature.
Our hut felt too cold and the kids’ space felt too hot.
Even though we were on a Thanksgiving cruise, we decorated our stateroom doors for Christmas.
The copper box was a mailbox where crew members could leave our excursion tickets and other information leaflets.
On future family trips I will stick to booking two separate rooms.
Our cabins were small but offered plenty of storage that made them feel more spacious.
Next time we take a cruise or go on vacation I will consider booking separate rooms for adults and children so everyone has their own private retreat.
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