I Was a Cruise Skeptic Until I Spent 4 Days on Royal Caribbean's Newest Ship

I spent four days on Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas, the newest of the line’s Icon Class ships. It’s also about a foot longer than its two sisters, Icon of the Seas and Star of the Seas, making it the largest cruise ship afloat right now.

Photos: Jessica Devnani

I was there on a preview sailing out of the Mediterranean, the first time one of these ships has been based in Europe. Before this trip, I’d have told you cruising wasn’t for me. I associated it with retirees and all-inclusive types, travelers looking to eat free food and drink by the pool on repeat. When I travel, I like landing somewhere, researching it into the ground, chasing the culture, and getting a little lost. A floating buffet sounded like none of that.

On the first day of my trip, I walked the whole ship, floor by floor, to get the lay of it. Legend doesn’t read like a ship once you’re inside it. There’s a neighborhood called Central Park with real plants and gardens, as well as restaurants down both sides, each with a patio and an ice cream window. There’s an arcade, a casino, a nightclub, and streets that feel like streets. By the time I’d walked all of it, I had a running list of things I wanted to circle back to and started to worry that four days wasn’t going to be enough time.

Live shows that rival Vegas

Photos: Jessica Devnani

Legend’s AquaTheater is a domed stage built around a pool and the venue for “Shockwave: A Battle for the Beat,” a show created specifically for this ship. Before the show starts, the stage is washed in blue, with low fountains going and projected light rippling across the dome like you’re already underwater. Two tall diving boards stand over the water.

I’d heard about the dive shows cruises put on and walked in expecting synchronized swimming, some high dives, maybe a bit of aerial work. But “Shockwave” turned out to be a full production across half a dozen disciplines at a level I’d put next to Cirque du Soleil. Having competed in dance for years, I could tell just how masterful the cast was, starting with an early aerial-pole act. The performer spun on a suspended and swinging pole, holding her full body weight through every flip with nothing fixed to push against.

The act that impressed me most centered on a slackline. Two performers came out with ropes and anchored them across the pool. They didn’t just walk across them; they executed a fully choreographed routine, bouncing on the lines, jumping line to line, and catching each other midair. At the same time, dancers worked the rim of the pool, and an aerialist crossed overhead.

There was a quieter part of the show that I also loved: a duet between a male and female performer. They were alone on the thin sheet of water that covered the stage when the pool floor was raised, dancing a love story to building music. Right as the beat dropped, the waterfall came on for the first time, and they spun in the center of the falling water.

“Shockwave” set a high bar for Legend’s live shows, but the other two performances I saw cleared it. “Fusion” takes place on Absolute Zero, Royal Caribbean’s largest ice rink at sea, and closes with dozens of drones shifting into patterns above four skaters, some of whom were on the competitive circuit before joining the show.

Legend also staged a version of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” When Violet chewed the experimental gum and blew up into a blueberry, they rigged her into an aerial harness and floated her out over the audience before she dropped through a trapdoor and disappeared. The technology was striking across all three shows, from drones and robotics to projection mapping, and even more so for productions at sea.

A record number of dining options

Photos: Jessica Devnani

Legend has 28 dining venues, which, according to Royal Caribbean, is more than any other cruise ship. My favorite was Izumi, a teppanyaki restaurant where our chef, Michael, performed tricks almost as skillful as the ones I saw during “Shockwave.” My favorite bit was when he carved a fried egg into a snake and dragged it around the griddle. But that showmanship wasn’t at the expense of the actual cooking. The filet mignon I had was perfectly tender, and the lobster that came off the grill was well seasoned (Michael made sure that every single piece got a squeeze of lime before it left the heat).

I ate at the Windjammer buffet more than once. My first morning on the ship, I walked in for breakfast and was struck by the scale of it. The fruit selection alone was impressive. There were golden berries, which I’d never had before and tasted like cherries that were more tart than sweet, along with prickly pear, dragon fruit, and other produce I’d never expected to see at a cruise-ship buffet. One day, I caught the changeover from breakfast to lunch and watched a whole new menu roll out, once again amazed by the breadth of offerings.

AquaDome Market is a food hall with five brand-new stalls. I worked through a few of them, including Adobo and La Española, but Seoulmate, the Korean stall, was the one I went back to more than once (always for the beef). It’s worth noting that the food hall stays open until midnight, leaving plenty of options for late-night bites. (Room service is also available 24 hours a day.)

More to do than four days can cover

Photo: Jessica Devnani

By my final morning aboard Legend, there was still a long list of things I hadn’t done. I never got to the escape rooms, the rock climbing, the mini golf, or the gourmet milkshake shop. I’d wanted to skate on the “Fusion” rink since I skated as a kid, but my days were already full, and every evening had its own themed event stacked on top.

Normally when I travel, I plan everything from how to get somewhere, to what it costs, to when to leave. On a cruise ship like Legend, a dozen things are happening at any given time, and there’s an app to help navigate them all. Honestly, the one thing I’d have traded some of my jam-packed schedule for was more time on the balcony of my sunset corner suite just watching the water go by.

A cruise isn’t the type of trip where you dive deep into a destination. You pull into port with a few thousand other people (Legend’s maximum guest capacity is 7,600), and you usually only get a single day to explore. That only leaves so much time and space for genuine cultural experiences. So, while I won’t be booking a cruise when I want to disappear somewhere remote and not see another traveler for days, I finally understand that a cruise ship like Legend is less like a floating all-inclusive and more like a floating small town.

I’d tell a friend it’s worth it for the sheer number of options and the fact that all the logistics are handled. I’d also tell them to pick the ship with the most going on, because I met people on board who’d sailed lines where the whole vacation did amount to eating and drinking on repeat.

I still don’t think every trip should be a cruise, but I can’t say I’m not a cruise person anymore. And that’s more than I expected to concede when I walked up that slide tower alone.