So we never finished our Big Nude Boat 2020 Review.  The excuse I’ll use is the pandemic but it might just be that I forgot…  So let’s sum up our last nude cruise.  We were really excited about this cruise.  Unfortunately, none of our friends were on this cruise with us.  We made friends on a daily basis, but not any that we spent a lot of time with.  I’m going to be real critical of this cruise because I am comparing it to the 2018 cruise we took.  Overall, this cruise wasn’t nearly as good as our 2018 cruise.  Partially because of destinations and partially because of the cruise organizers and Carnival Cruise Line.

Carnival Problems:

• The ship (The Carnival Legend) was in dis-repair.  It had been used for Alaskan cruises and has a moving dome that can enclose the sunning deck with a glass cover.  It was cold and rainy but they never extended the dome.  When we ask, they said it was broken.
• No heat in the Hot Tubs.  Can you imagine a ship full of Nudists and not a single working Hot Tub?  That’s unacceptable.
• Excursion Problem – We had scheduled two Beach Excursions.  Nude Beaches are what we really wanted to concentrate on.  The second nude beach required a water taxi to get to it and the weather was too rough to shuttle people so Carnival substituted to another beach they owned but they didn’t have enough space for all the people they booked.  They give you a slip of paper telling you when to be in line to be transported.  We were scheduled for 10:30 but they waited until 11:15 to leave and take the last of the people to the new location.  When we got there, there were no chairs available and the line for the food was over 45 minutes.  We told them to take us back to the ship.  They wouldn’t give us a refund right away, stating that they had to confirm something or other.  The refund wasn’t as important as the fact that we missed the most important part of our cruise (to us).   Also, you’re on an Island and you now have nothing to do.  It made us very angry.  Carnival did nothing to help the situation other than begrudgingly giving us back our money.

Bare Necessities Problems:

• On our 2018 cruise they had a fellow named Barry that was like a 2nd Cruise Director, announcing the unique events and providing his unique style to the cruise.  He wasn’t there.  Rumor was that he was no longer with the company.  This position made the cruise special and added to the value of the cruise (Nude cruises are more expensive than standard cruises).  They should have had a substitute at least.
• No Nude Massages.  The cruise line had complained to them in 2019 that them bringing on their own masseuses hurt the ship’s massage business.  I get that, but they didn’t offer the same type of service as the private masseuses.  If I was Bare Necessities, I would have pushed back on that since they were chartering the whole ship.

What DID we like?

• A lot more Karaoke sessions than 2018 and anybody could get in to sing a couple of times if they wanted to.
• The shows were pretty good.  Generic entertainment from the same dancers and singers all week but they were talented.  The comedians were funnier on this cruise.
• The passenger Talent Show is always amazing and it was this year as well.  Especially since clothing was optional for the performers.  Barry would have been a better MC…

I understand that cruise industry is in serious trouble right now.  I follow some Cruise YouTube channels and they really haven’t been in business for about a year.  I’m guessing that start-up will be slow, but I hope they raise their standards when they are back in business.  Bare Necessities should consider partnering with another cruise line if things aren’t improved.