July 4th on Imagination, with a trip Behind the Fun! A pictorial.

[falkcor]

Still, it was a fun time and I am happy we finally met our “stalker”.

 

i could comment on just about every part of every post - because i really appreciate your perspective (and often notice the same things!), so i won't :)

 

but i definitely appreciated your comments on the behind the fun tour. actually, i wish they'd offer the 'abbreviated' tour on 7 day sailings, for less than the 95.00 or so price on those longer sailings... why not offer options?

 

i don't want all those photos, or the greater number of 'freebies' on the longer sailings...

 

Towel animals

 

but i'd just like to let you know that i appreciate your reviews and the format...

 

and, that's my second favorite towel animal, after the monkey, of course :D

 

and hey drop me an email... linked in my signature. i've got something to send to you without hijacking any further... ;)

[breezycruiser]

Great review Grady but your reviews always are! I love your pictures!

 

I completely agree with both you and Mark about the waterworks and the rope lights. I enjoy looking at them at night and I hope they don't take them off all the ships in the fleet. It just looks weird.

[huxlemo]

Great pictures! Thanks for the pictures of the Fascination balconies. I was wondering where they were on the ship.

[tiggerman101]

at approximately the same (70 vs 73 or so) tonnage, i can't help but think that monarch OTS is a much more attractive and better designed (from the outside) looking ship than the fantasy class... almost looks like a mini - and - older (less balconies) spirit class ship :)

 

Interesting. I was on Imagination last August and Majesty of the Seas last December (sister to Monarch). They are actually very different ships. CCL's Fantasy class is the classic Carnival design with the full Promenade, etc. Majesty has the inner "Centrum" (atrium) where everything funnels off of it. It also has the pool deck with two back to back pools which are both pretty deep (as in 8 feet If I remember correctly). It was a oddly designed ship especially on the inside. I didn't feel like it "flowed" well at all. I did enjoy the pool deck:

 

 

Sorry for the tangent Grady. Great review as always. I will be on Imagination again in August for another solo cruise (4 day route).

Edited July 10, 2010 by tiggerman101

[cruisin07family]

Nice review and great pics. I guess this was the three day as opposed to the four day? I'm considering the 4 day for a couples only vacation for dh and I. In your aft cabin, could you sit in the window? We love being aft and I think it would be relaxing sitting in the window as I've seen others do in the porthole cabins.

[nooney64]

I really enjoyed your review, we will be taking our first cruise next monday on the imagination.

[mominwestlake]

Thank you Grady for the fantastic review. I love how you went deck to deck. Your pictures are great too. I am definitely going to sign up for the Behind the Scenes tour when we cruise on Sensation in March.

[ScottsSweetie]

DH and I (+kids) were on the Imagination the first week in June. We also were displaced from a fall cruise, because we also don't like cruising on ships full of kids (our kids have a fall break the 3rd week in September and that's when we like to go). It wasn't too bad this week - we actually sailed on May 31 - so no kid issues on our cruise.

 

We did, however, notice in our dining room the late arrivals almost every night. The first night, someone from the table behind us kept getting up, walking to the middle so she could see the door, looking at her watch, and sitting back down. This went on for about 25 minutes until the people she was waiting for arrived at about 8:40. On elegant night, the ENTIRE table for 10 next to us arrived at 8:45. Now, when people don't dress on elegant night, it does not effect me. But when people show up 30 minutes late and I am sharing their waiter then it DOES have an effect on my service. I wish they would have a deadline for seating people!!

 

Lastly, we had similar room on the Elation a few years ago - loved sitting in the window looking at the wake, and loved the privacy of being on that back hall! :)

[alreadypacked]

Totally freaking awesome review, Darth!!!! Thanks. My husband & I are considering a short cruise on this ship. Your photos have convinced me!:)

[chachi]

Thanks for all the pictures. I have been on Imagination twice and have only a couple of the ship. It was nice to see it again before I am back on it in August.

[DarthGrady]

Interesting. I was on Imagination last August and Majesty of the Seas last December (sister to Monarch). They are actually very different ships. CCL's Fantasy class is the classic Carnival design with the full Promenade, etc. Majesty has the inner "Centrum" (atrium) where everything funnels off of it. It also has the pool deck with two back to back pools which are both pretty deep (as in 8 feet If I remember correctly). It was a oddly designed ship especially on the inside. I didn't feel like it "flowed" well at all. I did enjoy the pool deck:

 

 

Sorry for the tangent Grady. Great review as always. I will be on Imagination again in August for another solo cruise (4 day route).

 

No, its fine! I totally agree. Ive been on Monarch twice now (Majesty's sister) and felt the same way. Better Lido design and I love the Viking Crown, but I feel like the Fantasy class flows better. Thats probably why RCI didn't stick with that layout.

[DarthGrady]

i could comment on just about every part of every post - because i really appreciate your perspective (and often notice the same things!), so i won't :)

 

but i definitely appreciated your comments on the behind the fun tour. actually, i wish they'd offer the 'abbreviated' tour on 7 day sailings, for less than the 95.00 or so price on those longer sailings... why not offer options?

 

i don't want all those photos, or the greater number of 'freebies' on the longer sailings...

 

 

 

but i'd just like to let you know that i appreciate your reviews and the format...

 

and, that's my second favorite towel animal, after the monkey, of course :D

 

and hey drop me an email... linked in my signature. i've got something to send to you without hijacking any further... ;)

 

I agree, thats why I was happy to get the $55 deal. I'm sure everything is shiny and new on the bigger ships, but its gonna be the same general points. I felt that it was a fair price, I'm not sure I would do it at $95.

 

I'll shoot that email now.

[kerrytens]

As always, another great review Grady. Thanks for posting it.

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Thanks for another great review!

[DarthGrady]

Nice review and great pics. I guess this was the three day as opposed to the four day? I'm considering the 4 day for a couples only vacation for dh and I. In your aft cabin, could you sit in the window? We love being aft and I think it would be relaxing sitting in the window as I've seen others do in the porthole cabins.

 

LOL, I guess that would have been good info to include! :o Yes, it was the 3 day itinerary. The window did have a ledge, a small person could sit in there, my wife did.

[Inklight]

We were on the Imagination just prior to her Evolutions of Fun upgrades, so I really appreciate your photos and seeing how she changed. I will agree with you about the pool ... I remember it was so crowded when we were on her (human soup cauldron I believe you called it) that we never went in it once! Guess some things never change!:D

 

Thank you for the review, it was nice revisiting the Imagination.

[DarthGrady]

Totally freaking awesome review, Darth!!!! Thanks. My husband & I are considering a short cruise on this ship. Your photos have convinced me!:)

 

Thank you. Hope you enjoy the cruise. :)

[roswellmom]

Totally freaking awesome review, Darth!!!! Thanks. My husband & I are considering a short cruise on this ship. Your photos have convinced me!:)

 

You sold me for sure. Due to a schedule mix-up, we had to cancel our Dec. 18th Dream cruise for the Dec. 24th Imagination sailing. Your review clinched our decision. Thanks!

[carncruiser1964]

Thank you so much for this review and the great pictures. We'll be leaving next Friday (Aug 20th) on the Imagination for the same cruise and are so excited. We were on her way before her refurb, so it was really neat to see the changes.

If you still have the Funtimes, I would love to see them. If you do have them could you email them to me at imprincess417@aol.com ?

Thanks again,

Loved it!

Michele

[jhale]

in my opinion, that is a HUGE design flaw of the waterworks / fantasy class evolutions of fun upgrade... what were they thinking?

 

seriously, there are SO MANY better ways that they could have designed that area, to offer maximum return on limited real estate - i can't even list them all... from a design or operations standpoint...

 

- they could have run an extra big slide from the same platform, 1/2 the line

- they could have routed the racers between the 2 (proposed) big slides

- the 'splash area' could have been a full sized pool... w/ a splash area...

- an extra full pool would be better than a splash area anyway

- but they could be incorporated anyway

- the new full pool could be the kids pool, +1 adult pool midship...

 

good intentions, poorly executed... :rolleyes:

 

Interestingly enough, they removed a pool to install the Waterworks area, and also removed a children's pool to make the Serenity area.

[Cheerose]

Darth - Sorry I missed this the first time around...

 

We are going to be in M269 on the Fascination in about 30 days. Glad to see some pictures to visualize what kind of accommodations we can expect.

 

Only thing that I am a bit nervous about is the noise from the balconies above (obviously not an issue with the Imagination).

[DarthGrady]

Thank you so much for this review and the great pictures. We'll be leaving next Friday (Aug 20th) on the Imagination for the same cruise and are so excited. We were on her way before her refurb, so it was really neat to see the changes.

If you still have the Funtimes, I would love to see them. If you do have them could you email them to me at imprincess417@aol.com ?

Thanks again,

Loved it!

Michele

 

Thanks! Hope you enjoy the cruise!

 

Sorry, I don't have the Capers.

[bfkkbc]

So thats it, hope you all enjoyed it. Ask any questions, I will try to answer them.

Grady, how would one go about booking Sandles in Nassau? Thanks:)

[Sherry84]

Grady, love your review and photos, brings back fond memories of our Imagination cruise this past May. Happy future sailings! :)

[DarthGrady]

Grady, how would one go about booking Sandles in Nassau? Thanks:)

 

We were able to get in because the wife is a part time travel agent. I don't think you can buy one day passes at Sandals. But many of the other resorts do have one day visits available.

Edited August 13, 2010 by DarthGrady