A "Legendary" Cruise Review: Carnival Legend Sails the British Isles

Image: Carnival Legend © Keith Henderson

More often than not if a cruise itinerary features the British Isles, the cruise line offering it is high end and fares are pricey. Not so with this Carnival Legend sailing out of Dover, England for a 12-day cruise to several ports around and near the British Isles. When our friend Keith Henderson saw the itinerary, which included stops in five countries that started with Norway (Stavanger), then Scotland (Invergordon, Edinburgh, and Glasgow), Northern Ireland (Belfast), Ireland (Dublin), and France (Le Havre) before returning to Dover. It was to be their first visit to Norway, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, and he knew it was the cruise he and his wife were destined to take.

Upon embarkation, a weather related itinerary announcement was made by the cruise director. Keith relates that, "Due to a large fierce storm forecasted for the North Sea, a decision was made to change the itinerary of our cruise. They had been spending the last day finding cruise ports to switch with. They were competing with other cruise lines trying to do the same thing with their ships that needed to be diverted from Norway as well. He announced that instead of starting our cruise by heading north to spend a day crossing the North Sea before visiting Stavanger in Norway, we would now be heading south to go around England to visit Liverpool, England on the west coast. We would visit all of the same ports as originally planned except for the cancellation of Belfast in North Ireland, which Liverpool replaced."

Keith continued, "The order of the ports visited and dates would be changed though. We had not made any real plans for Belfast, so we did not miss seeing that port, but it would have been nice to visit as we have not been there before. We were actually really happy to hear the news about our visit to Liverpool as we are big Beatles and British Invasion music fans. Liverpool is the home to so many of those groups." The altered itinerary was a win-win in that regard and fortunately the Hendersons were able to reschedule the private tours they'd booked for other ports.

Keith has been kind enough to share the experience with us, so Welcome aboard Carnival Legend for a unique cruise.