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I booked two 185 sq ft rooms on the Carnival Legend for my family of five.
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My husband and I shared a windowless apartment, and my three children stayed in the ocean 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.
During the last vacation, we all stayed in the same hotel room. Once, we were all crammed into the same tiny cruise cabin.
This time, I reserved two separate 185-square-foot staterooms on the Riviera Deck of the Carnival Legend for more space and privacy.
My husband and I stayed in a windowless interior cabin that had a king size bed.
The king was actually two twin beds pushed together.
We each had a bedside table with a reading lamp.
If one of us wanted to wake up after a while, we switched off the main light and switched on the lamp.
My three kids — ages 14, 11 and 8 — share an ocean-view stateroom across the hall.
Connecting rooms were not available, so my kids stayed in their own separate rooms.
The kids’ room had two twin beds and a sofa that converted into a third bed.
It was more than enough room for the three of them.
The children’s picture windows provided beautiful natural light.
There was no window in our room and no sunlight. In the future, I will also reserve an ocean view room for adults.
The bathrooms in both cabins were identical.
Inside the bathroom, there were lots of storage cabinets for our toiletries.
Cruise staff cleaned the bathrooms and replenished our towel supply daily.
Many hotels have stopped offering daily cleanings since the coronavirus pandemic began, but we enjoyed a clean bathroom and fresh towels every day on the Carnival Legend.
There were shampoo and gel dispensers in the shower.
We also had a retractable clothes line in our bathroom for drying wet swimsuits.
Even with three kids sharing a tiny bathroom, the floor stays dry thanks to the shower’s well-designed drainage system.
I was glad to see that there was no water all over their bathroom floor.
The layout of both rooms made excellent use of the 185 square feet of space.
Thanks to all the drawers, shelves, and hangers, we can easily store a week’s worth of stuff.
Two closets had hanging rods for clothes and coats, with enough room to stow our suitcases underneath.
My husband and I had no problem keeping our suitcases and clothes neatly stacked.
Like many cruise cabins, our room had an outlet next to the desk.
It was a bit annoying as my husband and I had to take turns charging our devices.
The crew confiscated one of our power strips.
I packed two power strips to avoid using an outlet, but only one made it on board. Unfortunately, the crew seized the other one.
Carnival’s website says power strips without surge protectors are allowed, but those that are dangerous to the crew will be removed and returned to the owner on the last day of the cruise before disembarking the ship.
However, the kids had no problem bringing their power strips to their cabins.
The TV screen was so small that by the end of the trip my eyes felt strained.
A very small TV screen is not a big deal if you are not a movie watcher.
However, our family likes to relax watching shows, and by the end of the week, the small screen was straining my eyes.
Inside a table, there was a mini fridge big enough to hold two bottles of wine and some snacks.
The one downside was that it didn’t get cold enough to chill drinks.
We had thermostats in our rooms, but I don’t think they worked well.
The rooms had thermostats with moving dials, but turning them had no effect on the temperature.
Our cabin felt too cold, and the kids’ place felt too hot.
Even though we were on a Thanksgiving cruise, we decorated our stateroom doors for Christmas.
The small copper box was a mailbox where crew members could drop off our excursion tickets and other informational flyers.
On future family trips, I’m going to book two separate rooms.
Our cabins were small but offered lots of storage options that made them feel more spacious.
Next time we go on a cruise or go on vacation, I’ll consider booking separate rooms for the adults and kids so that everyone has their own private retreat.
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