My rambling picture review-Imagination 9/7-9/11!

[skvacay]

This is my first Cruise Critic review. I don’t see many on the Imagination so hopefully this will be helpful to some people! I am not really up with all the ‘aft’, etc terminology so don’t kill me! J

 

A little background…. I am 26 and traveled with my boyfriend (27) and two of our friends (both 25). We are from South Florida and left out of the Miami port. An easy, 2 hour drive for us.

 

This was second cruise, both times on the Imagination. My first trip was for college spring break with my girlfriends, so this was a much different experience, being tied down and all ;)

 

We were in an inside cabin, R21, right under the Pizza buffet area. It was decent location but I will DEFINETLY be springing for at least a window room next time. I hated not being able to tell if the sun was out or not! I felt very closed in.

 

My BF and I both work 2 jobs and this was our first vacation in 2 years…MUCH needed. I booked it about 7 months prior after finding a fantastic price through the Carnival site. My friends decided to book and come with us about 2 months before we left. We traveled Monday, September 7-Friday, September 11th (my birthday!)

 

I was worried that the trip wasn’t going to be long enough but it ended up being the perfect amount of time for us.

 

Monday, 9/7/09

 

We got to the Port of Miami around 12, dropped off our (blushing) 6 pieces of luggage, paid the $80 in parking, and were on our way! Yes, I am an over packer, and yes, I learned my lesson!! I didn’t wear half of what I brought!

 

First view of the ship

 

 

Boarding was SO easy. We had our fun passes printed out, went right through security, got our sail and signs, took our cheesy picture and were on! Seriously, maybe 30 minutes total. It was great. Once we were on the ship I put some cash down to pay my gratuities and an extra $200 for other expenses (aka booze).

(BTW, we did sneak in some alcohol of our own without any problem. Unfortunately I am more of a beer drinker so I needed to bring a LOT of mixers in order to make a drink I liked: a big bottle of rum, pineapple juice, sprite zero, grenadine, and 6 small bottles of OJ. We also brought a box of wine haha

 

 

After day one I had my fair share of my rum concoction and didn’t drink it from then on. I think we had one glass each of the boxed wine. Our room was at the very bottom of the ship, so half the time it was just a pain in the butt to go down, make a drink, and go back up. I was on vacation and had no problem buying drinks onboard. I also ended up spending a lot less than expected.)

 

 

We boarded and got a DOD right away! We did a little walk around of the ship, took some pictures, and familiarized ourselves with where everything was. Oh, and got lunch! Here are a few pictures of the ship…

 

Pool/hot tub area

(I think that putting in a second (adult only) pool would have made this ship just that much better. It was always so crowded. We only went in once)

 

 

 

Atrium and Atrium bar

 

[skvacay]

How do I post the next installment of my review?? Not sure what I am supposed to click on.

Thank you!

[sharecruises]

Review is off to a great start :) I Love the Imagination

[alreadypacked]

How do I post the next installment of my review?? Not sure what I am supposed to click on.

Thank you!

 

Just click "Post Reply." Really enjoying your review so far! Keep it coming--lots of pictures please!:D

[navybaby1113]

Enjoying the review so far!

[skvacay]

Gym.

(I went twice and was impressed with the amount and condition of the equipment. I didn’t take any classes but they were offering some. Spin was $12; I thought that was a little step. I also didn’t have any spa treatments. I would have liked to, but I have a hard time spending that kind of money.)

Serenity Deck.

(One day there were a few obnoxious people, being loud, smoking (not allowed on this deck), but besides that it was a relaxing area perfect for a nap.)

Slide

(There were 2 smaller racing slides that were fun, but we all got stuck in the big one! I’m sure little kids would go down much faster.)

Sports Deck

(Running track and mini golf—we didn’t use either but our friends golfed and said it was fun)

My first lunch. An awesome veggie sandwich from the Deli, salad from the salad bar, and fruit. The salad bar was great. I had a salad every day I think.

[skvacay]

Miami Port

During the first day we took it easy… did a little lounging in the sun, tried a few slots (won nothing), had some drinks, did some unpacking in our room, and then got ready for dinner. We had the late seating in the dining room in the very back of the boat. We were put at a table for 4 with our friends. I had been hoping to sit with more people because I wanted to get to know some other people, but it was fine. Our table was right near where all the food was coming out, kind of a bad spot. We also had a server with NO personality and slow service. Dinner was an almost 2 hour affair every night. I was disappointed as I always read about other people’s great dining experiences, and I LOVE food! L

The first night I ordered the Cesar salad to start (it tasted a little too fishy for me) and pork chop with the Mac n cheese. That Mac n cheese was soooo good, as was the pork! After months and months of reading this site I was SO excited for dessert…chocolate melting cake! It did not disappoint. Unfortunately I had just had a couple cavities filled, so my teeth were really sensitive to the sugar and I was only able to eat about half. But it was fabulous! My BF had the fried shrimp app (loved it) and the Flat Iron Steak (a little overcooked but he liked it)

 

After dinner we all did the Welcome Aboard Show (nothing great), had a few more drinks and called it a night.

This is my BF and I walking around before bed. Ladies, bring a sweater if you get cold easily. It was FREEZING inside!

 

[skvacay]

Tuesday, 9/8/09

Key West day!!! Sadly we had a short day here. We were off the boat at 9 and had to be back on by 1pm. After a yummy breakfast at the buffet (I loved the breakfasts. I managed to get a pretty healthy meal in me each morning, with a side of bacon J ) we got off and grabbed the little trolley thing into town. We didn’t have to wait at all to get on, and the driver was entertaining and gave lots of interesting information.

Some pictures from the drive…

Me and my boyfriend, happy to be on vacation!

Houses

Rooster! They are everywhere J

My boyfriend and I love Key West. It’s our kind of place. We spent 5 days here 2 years ago so were planning on just doing some walking around, shopping, and get a few drinks. We did just that.

It poured for about 20 minutes but cleared right up

 

[skvacay]

First I had to go to Kino’s Sandals after a few girlfriends told me about it. You have to check this place out! They make these leather sandals in this shop and they are cheap! About $12 a pair. I got two pairs; one for me, one for my mom

Then it was on to Willie T’s. A friend told me they had the best mojitos ever, and as a mojito lover I had to check it out. It didn’t disappoint. Friendly bartender and decorated with these signed dollars everywhere. We had to do one of our own of course.

 

Then it was a quick beer at Hog’s Breath and back to the boat L

Look at that cloud! It rained every day, but never for long.

[skvacay]

Back on the boat we did some relaxing on the Serenity Deck, got lunch and I went to the gym to get a little cardio in.

A few random pictures…

 

That night was the formal night. I don’t really recall anyone being underdressed. The Captain’s Cocktail hour was nice. One waiter even went out of his way to get me a beer as I didn’t like the drinks they were serving (they had champagne, wine, whiskey sours and I think one other mixed drink). I liked the captain, he sounded like Dracula haha

The dinner was nice, but slow service again. I was uninteresting and had the flat iron steak. I am not a big seafood eater and prime rib is too fatty for me. It was a nice dinner. My BF did order a lobster for us to both try, I had one bite and he ate the rest.

I ordered the cheese place and Gran Marnier soufflé for dessert. The cheese was fantastic but I wasn’t aware of what a soufflé really was. It tasted like total eggs to me, I didn’t like it at all!

 

 

[skvacay]

After dinner we went to the midnight comedy show. We had some good seats but people decided it was ok to just stand in front of everyone so we left halfway through. It just wasn’t any fun not being able to see anything.

 

We tried out the piano bar but (sorry) the singer was boring to me and the seats in there were very uncomfortable. Our friends called it a night but my boyfriend and I had a LATE night in the club!! It was a blast. Great music, if you like rap and hip hop. Which I do!

 

Pizza at 3am was a lifesaver that night!! Haha

 

 

Wednesday, 9/9/09

 

Cozumel Day!!! I was so excited for this day. It was also my BF’s first trip out of the country! We had booked the Deluxe Sail and Snorkel excursion through Carnival, as did our friends. I got a workout in that morning (surprisingly I was not hung-over!), grabbed some pizza for lunch, and got off the boat around noon.

 

 

We walked around the shops where the boat docked, had a drink, and met up with our excursion at 2pm.

 

Our boat

 

 

This excursion was the highlight of my trip! Well Mexico was in general, but this was my favorite part of the day. For about $50 a person we boarded a catamaran and set sail. It took us out to this beautiful spot and we snorkeled for about 40 minutes. It was mine and my BFs first time snorkeling and I was scared at first, but the water was only about 25 feet deep and crystal clear! Amazing! WE saw lots of fish. One of the worker guys on the boat (all of which were SO much fun!) had an underwater camera and took this awesome picture of me and my BF surrounded by fish. We bought that one in a heartbeat.

After snorkeling the party started! All you can drink beer and margaritas were flowing, music and dancing were going on, just a fun time all around! We next stopped off at a private beach area with lots of fun water toys. The current was crazy that day though, and the water wore me out! But the slide in the water was a blast. We were on the island about an hour, then back on the boat for more dancing and drinking!

 

[skvacay]

 

 

[skvacay]

Once we got back to where we were picked up, the four of us changed and got a cab. We asked him to take us into town to an authentic Mexican restaurant. He took us to La Mission. It was airy and beautiful in there, and we had the BEST meal!! Queso, steak tacos, and lots of beer and margaritas! For my BF and I, we each got the tacos, the Queso appetizer, and 3 drinks each for only $30!

 

Something interesting that happened when we first got to the restaurant…my friend noticed about 5 minutes after we got there that she had left her purse in the cab (with her money, ID, sign and sail car and camera). Our BFs went looking for the cab. The manager came over, we let him know what happened, and within 10 minutes he tracked down the cab driver and got my friend her purse back, all items safe! We were so grateful. I really believe that if we had asked the cab driver to take us to the usual tourist spots (Senor Frogs, etc) she never would have seen that purse again. The manager was so sweet. Then to top it off, as we waited about 30 minutes for out BFs to come back, he kept bring us free chips, salsa, etc.

After dinner we had planned to hit up Senor Frogs for drinks but it was already getting late. We went to a few shops and got a cab back to the ship. We were all pretty tipsy but I somehow got a second wind, took a shower and was up until about 2am! FUN DAY AND NIGHT!!!

Oh, BTW, they had the Mexican party this night. I must have been showering when it was going on, but there was a lot of food set up.

Also, believe it or not, I was CUT OFF at a bar this night! I had accidently knocked over my drink and the bartender cut me off. I thought it was silly seeing as I am not driving anywhere and am a mature person, I wasn’t acting out or anything. Needless to say I avoided that guy the rest of the trip (this was in the Cigar Bar)

[Nunu]

Something interesting that happened when we first got to the restaurant…my friend noticed about 5 minutes after we got there that she had left her purse in the cab (with her money, ID, sign and sail car and camera). Our BFs went looking for the cab. The manager came over, we let him know what happened, and within 10 minutes he tracked down the cab driver and got my friend her purse back, all items safe!

 

That's awesome. Fun review girl!

[skvacay]

Thursday, 9/10/09

Day at Sea. Woke up feeling pretty crappy. We went to the Debarkation talk, which I know we could have found out about later on but I was glad we went. It was very informative.

Did some laying out in the hot hot sun, tried out the slides, got some burgers for lunch and went to the Love and Marriage Show. Hilarious! It was a pretty laid back day. We also did a trivia game and walked around the shops.

 

My BF and I decided to pass on the dining room that night. We didn’t really want to spend 2 hours there on our last night. Thinking back I wish we had gone, because I like nice food, but oh well! I had pizza and a salad instead J After we ate we went and got our luggage packed and put it outside our door.

We went to the second midnight comedy show that night, sat in the VERY front row. It was my birthday that night at midnight so we got lots of attention. The guy was so funny!!! He had me cracking up, and I am not a big out loud laugher!

Took one last shot of the whale tail…loved that thing! Then off to bed.

Friday, 9/11/09

Debarkation Day. Had breakfast in the dining room that morning. I wish we had done that more as it was much more relaxed and quiet.

We did the number calling thing, forget what that is called. We were one of the last numbers but were still off the ship and through customs at about 10am. We found our car and headed home. Luckily it was a Friday and I had the weekend to recover and get back to reality!

Final thoughts on a few things…

The Ship

I liked the Imagination a lot. I think next time I will do a larger boat, but it was nice and had lots of fun places. As I mentioned before, a second pool would be a great addition. My main complaint with this ship was the cleanliness of the Lido buffet area/tables. You would walk by them at noon and there would still be dirty trays filled with breakfast food. I’m sure they were working as fast as they could, but it was kind of gross.

The Staff

First of all, I loved our cruise director Karl!! My BF joked that I had a crush on him. He was short but cute! Haha He was also fantastic at his job. Lots of energy but not annoying. He hosted the Love and Marriage show and was so funny. He’s great!

We only went to dinner twice, had a different waiter each night, and each night received good service, but not much of a personality. Didn’t ruin anything for me though.

We met our room steward the first day, I believe his name was Harry. We gave him an extra $10 bill (on top of the automatic gratuities) upon meeting him and asked him if he could keep our collapsible cooler filled with ice for us. We still had to leave him notes asking him to do so, as he never did on his own. He also never said hello or anything to us. I feel like we got really unlucky with our service, unfortunately.

The Food

So this was probably what I was looking most forward to. I love food and planned on gaining at least 5 pounds! I only gained 1 though, probably because it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. It was not bad at all though, don’t get me wrong! I just set my standards too high I think. We tried a lot of everything. Pizza was tasty, the hotdogs were ok, and fries with cheese were very good! We did not try the Mongolian grill. My BF loved the Deli’s pastrami sandwiches and like I said before I loved the salad bar. I also ate about 2 of the soft serve cones a day! They were by far my favorite thing! J

We ordered room service one night, at about 2am. I ordered the roast beef and brie sandwich which was very good and the chocolate cake which was probably my favorite dessert of the trip!

Funny story about room service…the night before Mexico I put a room service order on my door for a bagel, coffee and a banana for 10am. So I hear someone knocking on the door with a tray of food. I ask him ‘is it 10am’?? he says (very chipperly) ‘no, it’s 6am!’ I had gone to bed 3 hours prior!! They had brought the wrong food to the wrong room! Not a fun way to wake up, but funny to think back on.

Ok so I have been rambling and I apologize! I didn’t want to leave anything out J please feel free to ask me any questions, hopefully I can answer! I would recommend this trip for a quick getaway and short, but fun ports! Have a great vacation, wherever it may lead you.

[skvacay]

Yea, we got lucky!! Thanks :)

[Nunu]

Yea, we got lucky!! Thanks :)

 

We loved Key West as well, we did it as a road trip before our destiny cruise last month. Great atmosphere.

[LoveTravel23]

Man girl you made me get sad seeing all that food especially the Warm Chocolate Cake which I miss dearly!!!

 

Glad u enjoyed your cruise & I might be doing this exact same itinerary but on the Destiny in Feb....now work hard & prepare ur next cruise =)

[skvacay]

Man girl you made me get sad seeing all that food especially the Warm Chocolate Cake which I miss dearly!!!

 

Glad u enjoyed your cruise & I might be doing this exact same itinerary but on the Destiny in Feb....now work hard & prepare ur next cruise =)

 

 

I will be, believe me! Vacations are too few and far between for me and that needs to change :)

[skvacay]

We loved Key West as well, we did it as a road trip before our destiny cruise last month. Great atmosphere.

 

 

I agree about the atmosphere. It's so laid back! I wish more towns were like it.

[JMeans13]

I loved your review! I appreciate the detail and honesty :D. It looks like y'all had a blast!!!

[mississauga]

Skvacay, you did a great job with your review. Thanks for sharing!

[junebug8]

Great review and pictures! You and your BF are a cute couple.:)

 

BTW, what kind of camera were you using? Your photos are nice and clear.

[aqusis]

Thank you so much for this review; loved the pictures. We are sailing on the Imagination 10/26/09; our 9th cruise but first Carnival and I'm so excited to try it out. Cozumel is our favorite port and I'm actually excited that we're arriving later in the day we we will be there in the evening. we've done a land vacation there several years ago and I love it in the evenings there after the bulk of the ships are gone.

[skvacay]

I loved your review! I appreciate the detail and honesty :D. It looks like y'all had a blast!!!

 

I'm happy you enjoyed it! I was really looking forward to writing it after reading so many on these boards. We did have a blast!