Carnival Imagination Detailed Review - 7/29/18 !!!! Pictures to Follow!

I will miss following along with your review...thanks for taking in all of the details so you could share them with us. Your writing style made me feel I was right there with you!

 

You mentioned your 11 yo DD...my youngest will be barely 12 when we sail this itinerary in March (along with my other two teens, my sister and her 3 kids.) She is gifting the cruise to us and she chose it mostly for the date/duration and therefore, price. Is there anything in particular that your daughter (and by extension, my kids+), wouldn't want to miss?

 

We do not plan to take any excursions, but simply explore Catalina and Ensenada on our own. Any tips for those ports with kids?

 

Thanks again for your engaging review!

To answer, it's important to understand a little about our DD. She loves music and is naturally curious. First and foremost, music is all over the ship. Between the DJ, two acoustic guitar performers, a guitar/vocal duo and a small band, there was no shortage of tunes on board. She's a bit goofy and would have undoubtedly been up on stage for some of the line dances and might have even been up on stage for the Thriller dance lesson. She also is a budding vocalist in her own right. She would have been doing karaoke without a doubt and may have even gotten up to sing in the Piano Bar.

We also noticed that there was a lot of activity in the Circle C club, which would have been her kid club group. We saw them out and about the ship doing a lot of activities, including their own "Elegant Night" festivities and a scavenger hunt. We also would have been mandated to attend the Harry Potter Trivia event on the At Sea Day.

If she was with us for this trip, we would have undoubtedly chosen different excursions for Catalina and Ensenada. I doubt we could have convinced her to go parasailing, and we didn't really research what we would have done if she was with us. For Ensenada, the kid is fascinated with visiting Mexico. In fact, this was sore spot when she learned we would be going on the cruise. She would have been completely happy with just absorbing the atmosphere and the novelty of being in Mexico. I would imagine she would even have taken part in a little haggling while shopping. She's all about stretching her legs when it comes to new experiences (that don't involve strapping herself to a parachute and being dragged behind a speed boat).

Awesome review...I was looking for a review of the imagination, as you indicated I hadnt found any found anythng in depth prior to yours. Im booked in December.

 

You have made my excitement to wisk my husband away on this cruise, even higher than it already was. Thank you for sharing...

 

Roberta

You will undoubtedly have a great time if you choose to do so! I'm glad you found value in the review!

I love this review! And your "mature" attitude about it all. Next time I am annoyed by someone ranting on the boards about "horrible" Carnival, I may go ahead and point out that their immaturity is the real problem here. I am sure that would go over very well, settle the debate, and help the poster gratefully see the error of their ways. :evilsmile:

 

I too have gone from Disney and a balcony on what was then the brand-new Celebrity Millennium, back to an inside cabin on the poor old Carnival Fantasy class and still had excellent results - as you note, you need to have realistic expectations of what you are getting for your hard earned $$ and decide if it's worth it for you. Some of us are perfectly fine with moving up and down the luxury scale in order to maximize our travel options, and others just can't. If you can't then don't.

I try to avoid debating on social forums, at least I do now. There were times where I didn't faithfully adhere to that principle. As such, I tried to avoid offering polemical contributions from the outset with this review. I'm a firm believer that a person's world view is greatly influenced by the Tetris Effect...you see what you look for. This means there were some imperfections that probably weren't even noticed on the trip. I was looking for something else! But for those imperfections that didn't escape notice, I wanted to offer them up as transparently as possible, and provide perspective in what they truly meant to us on the trip. At the end of the day, there were two people capable of ruining this trip for us. None of them worked for Carnival ;).

Best review. Thank you

That's very kind, thank you!

Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed this review! Been on this cruise several times (headed back next month) and I’m even more excited. Haven’t sailed the ship since they’ve added Guy’s and the Alchemy Bar, so that’ll be neat. I also think my hubby and I would love hanging out with you two (we’re huge wine lovers and foodies), so maybe we will see you onboard sometime in the future. :-)

 

 

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Funny that you mention hanging out. We have traditionally met a new couple on each cruise that we shared common interests with and ended up forming friendships with. We didn't find that on this cruise. I'm not sure if cruise demographics or just the luck of the draw, but we couldn't make any connection on this trip. We will be sailing on the Panorama though, twice over the next 2 1/2 years.

So glad you enjoyed your trip - following along was a blast! See you on the next matchbox tour. :)

If you ever make it out to another Phoenix show, please drop us a message on here! We would love to meet up and say hello!

If you ever make it out to another Phoenix show, please drop us a message on here! We would love to meet up and say hello!

Definitely! My best friend lives in Phoenix (well, Gilbert), so we'll be there whenever the next show happens. :) I'm also in several matchbox groups on FB (Katie Hartmann, I am hard to miss...LOL). Thanks for the great review!

That was one terrific review. I felt like I was back on the ship. I was on her on the front end of July in E71! You know I never saw Benny either, but I knew Camilo and he has always been a fabulous host. In Catalina I was eating at Steve's when the one bite buffet came through, with 18 people in tow. In Ensenada we had a car waiting for us dockside and had a self-directed tour of the wine country. Thank you for taking the time to write about your experience.

That was one terrific review. I felt like I was back on the ship. I was on her on the front end of July in E71! You know I never saw Benny either, but I knew Camilo and he has always been a fabulous host. In Catalina I was eating at Steve's when the one bite buffet came through, with 18 people in tow. In Ensenada we had a car waiting for us dockside and had a self-directed tour of the wine country. Thank you for taking the time to write about your experience.

Too funny how similar our experiences were! Did you notice much noise in your room?

Too funny how similar our experiences were! Did you notice much noise in your room?

The only noise I heard was from the duo singing by the bar. When they did "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" I thought Timon and Pumba were in the room with me. I simply closed the hallway door to the atrium. Problem solved.

Carol and Perlie (Take Two), the musical duo are the best! Sure do miss them on Fantasy.

And Michael, the guitarist, is wonderful, too. Thank you for the great review!

The only noise I heard was from the duo singing by the bar. When they did "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" I thought Timon and Pumba were in the room with me. I simply closed the hallway door to the atrium. Problem solved.

Brilliant!

As promised, I forgot to add two other pieces of relevant information. I actually remembered both pieces, then forgot one, but now I've remembered again. Such is the peculiarity of my mind. Trivial information sticks like peanut butter on the roof of your mouth and relevant things like to play hide and go seek.

• We purchased the social WiFi package. Normally, we would completely disconnect from the world. This time, we were cruising sans child and we wanted to have the ability to communicate with her. So we hooked her up with the Facebook Messenger Kids app on her phone, in order for her to communicate with us while spending the least amount of money on communication expenses. The reliability and the speed of the WiFi connection was as you would expect, inconsistent and slow. Which, for us, was fine since we had one singular purpose with the purchase of the plan. If you choose to purchase this and expect the ability to surf social media as you would at home, you would be extremely disappointed.
  

• The Carnival Hub app was very useful and user intuitive. It is your more portable and user friendly version of your Fun Times. My wife and I could both favorite activities that we were interested in and those preferences were reflected in the app. It was much more convenient than carrying around a folded up Fun Times in a pocket while on the ship.
  

I'm sure there will be a few more things here and there as the relevant information comes out of their hiding spaces in the deep, dark corners of my mind.

Thank you for all the great bits of info! My BFF and I will be sailing on the 3 day next month, and have never been on this ship. Your review can help us adjust our expectations accordingly. Looking forward to our relaxing getaway. Wish you and your DW were going on our cruise...I think we would hit it off!

SonoranDevil - Did you pay $20 or $22 per day for parking?

The reason I'm asking is because someone posted on a facebook page that it is now $22/day.

Definitely a great review! As others have said, I like that you set your expectations based on the circumstances. I don't normally read through the reviews completely....yours was the exception!

:')

SonoranDevil - Did you pay $20 or $22 per day for parking?

 

The reason I'm asking is because someone posted on a facebook page that it is now $22/day.

We paid $20 per day for a total of $80.

Thank you for your review. I've sailed a lot on Carnival but not from the West coast, always open to reading about new ports. Thanks again!

Thank you for all the great bits of info! My BFF and I will be sailing on the 3 day next month, and have never been on this ship. Your review can help us adjust our expectations accordingly. Looking forward to our relaxing getaway. Wish you and your DW were going on our cruise...I think we would hit it off!

We wish we were too!!!!!!

And Michael, the guitarist, is wonderful, too. Thank you for the great review!

Thank you and we agree. Both Michael and the other solo guitarist/vocalist were good. We only saw the duo when we happened to be walking through or around the atrium, but they sounded good as well!

I read your whole review and cant remember if you said you purchased FTTF.

If so, did you find it helpful?

Thank you

I read your whole review and cant remember if you said you purchased FTTF.

 

If so, did you find it helpful?

 

Thank you

We did and we did :) Keeping in mind that it was relatively inexpensive for the 4 day cruise, approximately $50. It allowed us on the ship earlier with access to our stateroom. It also came in handy the 2 or 3 times we needed to use guest services. It also allowed us immediate access to a tender when leaving the ship in Catalina. We were also able to leave the ship pretty much at our leisure upon return to Long Beach as it gave us debarkation tags with the #2 on them. We waited very briefly in the show room while the ship was cleared and we were off the ship by 9:30.

Overall, I found it helpful and useful at the $50 price point. I'm still debating its value for a longer trip but am leaning towards it being a perk I would purchase again, especially since only one person in the cabin needs it.

Thank you for that update.

I saw it last night when I signed in so purchased it. This is our 1st cruise on Carnival and as you said for the shorter cruise, I thought it would be a great time to check it out.

Thanks again, this is really a great review and give back with answering the after questions. Its the only real review Ive found on the Imagination ship.

Thank you for that update.

 

I saw it last night when I signed in so purchased it. This is our 1st cruise on Carnival and as you said for the shorter cruise, I thought it would be a great time to check it out.

 

Thanks again, this is really a great review and give back with answering the after questions. Its the only real review Ive found on the Imagination ship.

Yes, we sailed at 6:30 PM as well. We were onboard around 11:30 AM and our room, with S&S cards, was immediately available. I personally enjoyed the ability to drop off our carry-ons in the cabin prior to heading to the Lido deck. All cabins were available at 1:30 PM. When we went back to our cabin after lunch, just after 1:30, our luggage had already been delivered. This was also nice, since we were able to unpack and enjoy the rest of the day sans any other tasks.