Just off the Imagination today (9/03/10) - Mini Review

[alreadypacked]

Hi everyone! DH and I just got off the Imagination 4 day sailing this morning. We had a wonderful time, and of course, can't wait to sail again!

 

We booked this cruise somewhat last minute, about 3 weeks prior, and had an ocean view cabin on the Main deck. After this sailing, the Imagination is going into dry dock. I did see a few signs of wear and tear, but it didn't really affect us. For instance, a section of the glass wall/railing by the Waterworks was boarded up (Tried to upload a picture, but upload failed--not sure why).

 

Food

Notable selections from the Lido buffet are the Mongolian Grill (awkward set-up of the veggies and noodle fixins compared to the Freedom, though), and the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern Taste of Nations, which had Falafel, rice pilaf, minute steaks in gravy, hummus, tziki, and chicken souvlaki on pita. Yum!

 

Deli sandwiches were delicious as always. The only pizza I really care for anymore is the goat cheese and mushroom pizza. The other pizzas aren't as good as they used to be, in my opinion. The calzone is very good, but small. Order two.

 

In the MDR, DH had the most delicious and tender flat iron steak. I had the tilapia, which was very tasty also. The duck appetizer, Caesar salad, crab cake appetizer, onion soup au gratin, lobster tail, prime rib, and Indian vegetarian entree were all delicious! As were the WCMC and Cheese dessert platter.

 

More to come....

[steelerfan27]

Sounds like you have a lovely time. I look forward to reading more. I will be staying with my son and daughter-in-law all weekend so I hope you come back and write more before I go home again.

[alreadypacked]

VIP Priority boarding

This was my first platinum cruise, and the VIP priority boarding perk is excellent!:D We arrived at the port around 11:10am. There were no lines at the security checkpoint, so we breezed right through. At the top of the escalator, an employee directed us to the VIP check-in lounge.

 

We were waited on immediately upon entering the VIP lounge and had our sail and sign cards in less than 5 minutes, I kid you not. The agent then directed us to follow this other agent onto the ship. Wow! We were on the ship 10 minutes after walking into the terminal building!

[alreadypacked]

Entertainment

 

We enjoyed the shows, Living in America and Shout in the main showroom. Karaoke with Chris in the Xanadu was fantastic. I've never been all that into karaoke, but he was a terrific host with lots of energy and very funny--had some really talented singers too.

 

The piano bar player, Tom had a good voice and played well, but his repertoire consisted only of oldies, which I like, but I missed some of the other popular piano bar regulars. No Bon Jovi, Prince, Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queen, etc. Also, he didn't have a playlist that you could browse. And, the piano bar never got crowded--a few times DH and I were the only people there. I think the piano bar suffered in part from a poor location, as it is not on the Promenade deck.

[alreadypacked]

Service

Our MDR waiters, Denis from Croatia and Vincent from India took excellent care of us.

 

As did, room stewards, Henry and Made (from Indonesia, I think).

 

Casino Bar bartenders Walter from India, Irine from Indonesia, and Rexce from the Phillipines were wonderful. We enjoyed talking with them a lot, and probably spent more $$ at the bar beacuse of them than we normally would at any one bar.

 

Interesting note: Rexce's wife is also a bartender onboard, but she worked several private receptions and we never got to order a drink from her (there were at least 3 wedding receptions on this cruise).

 

I have no complaints about service, and we did the auto tips as well as tipped extra to everyone in cash.

[iowagirl411]

VIP Priority boarding

This was my first platinum cruise, and the VIP priority boarding perk is excellent!:D We arrived at the port around 11:10am. There were no lines at the security checkpoint, so we breezed right through. At the top of the escalator, an employee directed us to the VIP check-in lounge.

 

We were waited on immediately upon entering the VIP lounge and had our sail and sign cards in less than 5 minutes, I kid you not. The agent then directed us to follow this other agent onto the ship. Wow! We were on the ship 10 minutes after walking into the terminal building!

 

I haven't sailed from Miami on Carnival for a while & this will be my first VIP on Carnival. I'm having trouble picturing the layout at the terminal. You mentioned that VIP begins at the top of an escalator. What all happens before this escalator?

[alreadypacked]

I haven't sailed from Miami on Carnival for a while & this will be my first VIP on Carnival. I'm having trouble picturing the layout at the terminal. You mentioned that VIP begins at the top of an escalator. What all happens before this escalator?

 

When you first enter the terminal building, you will be on the ground floor, going through the security checkpoint (metal detector and X ray machines). Then, you go up an escalator to the right. At, the top, you will be directed to the VIP lounge, which is a short walk from the top of the escalator.

[alreadypacked]

We played the 5 game bingo ($20 for 3 cards), but didn't win. It was fun, though. We had a great time playing the slots in the casino. We are real low rollers and only play the penny slots, lol! DH started playing with $20 on the first day and lost some, then won it back, lost a little again, then won etc. Amazingly, he was able to play on that same $20 the entire cruise!

 

Key West

We stayed on the ship for quiet poolside relaxation while everyone was in port. It was wonderful. It was nice having the pool practically to ourselves. DH played the TV show theme music trivia and won a medal!

 

Cozumel

Skies were overcast and it was very sticky and humid. Thank goodness for the cloudy skies or the heat would have been unbearable.

 

We opted to just hang around Puerta Maya. We went to Panchos Backyard and had the best (and huge) margaritas ever along with the most delicious chips, pico de gallo, and guacamole. Yum! I loved the atmosphere there, and our waiter, Jose took excellent care of us. Can't wait to go back!

 

We went back to the ship and cooled off in the cabin for about 2 hours, then headed back off the ship--this time to Three Amigos. We had steak nachos and jalepeno poppers--very yummy--and Dos Equis and Tecate beers.

[gargoyle999]

Thanks for your review! We'll be on the Imagination for the first time is just over 2 months so it's always nice to read the recent comments. :)

[alreadypacked]

Random observations

I had not been on a Fantasy class ship since May 2007, having most recently sailed on Conquest class ships. One thing I noticed was the lengthy wait for an elevator. Most of the elevator banks contained 4 elevators, versus the 6-elevator banks on the Conquest class. I would not have thought this to matter since Fantasy class holds fewer passengers, but it seems like it did.

 

I really enjoyed the outdoor table seating on the side of the Lido buffet and behind the buffet. It was shady and cool and a great place to enjoy breakfast or lunch.

 

There were more children on this sailing than we had anticipated, being so close to the start of the school year, but most seemed well behaved. We did observe one group of teens at the casino bar on the Promenade yelling, "gimme soda" to the bartenders without so much as a please or thank you.:eek:

 

Although the Imagination is going into dry dock, I noticed that the public restrooms looked like they had been updated somewhat recently. Many had the auto-flush toilets, and the ones that didn't had the flush button in a higher, more user-friendly spot.:)

 

On the pool deck, I noticed that there seemed to be fewer staffmembers patroling the deck with the bins to collect the empty glasses, plates, and silverware from around the loungers. On the Freedom recently, I could barely set my empty glass down before someone appeared to collect it.

[playmaker]

Sounds like you had a great time. I will be on the Imagination is less than 3 months and I can't wait!!!!!!!!!

[alreadypacked]

Room Service

I forgot to mention in my food section that we ordered room service several times and everything was always fresh and tasty. I especially liked the steak and brie sandwich, the pastrami sandwich, and DH liked the turkey sandwich and caesar salad.

 

Note: steak and brie comes with mustard which I don't care for, so I just ordered it "no mustard" from then on, and they always got my order right.

[BC Todd]

Thanks for the great review. We are so looking forward to our cruise in December.:)

[gargoyle999]

Room Service

I forgot to mention in my food section that we ordered room service several times and everything was always fresh and tasty.

 

How long did it take from order to delivery? I need to get some BLT's with extra bacon from room service at least once or twice a cruise. :)

[alreadypacked]

How long did it take from order to delivery? I need to get some BLT's with extra bacon from room service at least once or twice a cruise. :)

 

In the afternoon, it only took about 15-20 minutes. Late night took longer--around 45-50 minutes. When I ordered late night, they informed me that they were very busy and that it would be 45 minutes to an hour.

[oncruisecontrol]

I think the piano bar suffered in part from a poor location, as it is not on the Promenade deck.

 

 

What deck is the piano bar on? What's it near?

[gapearl]

Thanks for your review. I sail on the Imagination in 3 weeks and can't wait! Since there was no lines at security when you checked in at 11, I'll probably try to get there around the same time. We're flying in the day before so that will be no problem. Thanks for the heads up there. If you are able to upload any pictures, I'd love to see them. I'm glad you had a good time!

[alreadypacked]

Thanks for your review. I sail on the Imagination in 3 weeks and can't wait! Since there was no lines at security when you checked in at 11, I'll probably try to get there around the same time. We're flying in the day before so that will be no problem. Thanks for the heads up there. If you are able to upload any pictures, I'd love to see them. I'm glad you had a good time!

 

Can't seem to upload pictures at this time. I got a new camera recently and saved the pictures to my computer and they won't upload to cruise critic like the pics from my old camera. DH says I may need to re-size them. He's going to show me how to do it.

[bonniemari]

We were on the cruise before you and we also had a great cruise. The VIP check-in staff were really on the ball.

 

Did you manage to meet John the bartender in the Pinnacle Bar? That was my favorite hangout before and after dinner. A girl has to have her martinis. It got to were John didn't even need my card anymore. He would just ask what kind of martini I wanted and after the first night he always remembered my folio #. He was just a nice guy. We got into an interesting discussion of pets and how we Americans regard our dogs as opposed to people (him included) in India. I have a DBIL from India and he and my sister are crazy about their 2 dogs. He got an extra nice tip at the end of the cruise.

 

I also noticed that they were a little slow on cleaning the tables on the lido than on the other ships I have been on. Hopefully they will get those 2 or 3 elevators that didn't seem to be working repaired while they are in drydock

 

ETA-11:15 must be a good time to check in cause we also were on the ship in no time.

[hunnypot1]

Did they have the meat carving areas during lunchtime (turkey, ham, beef)? On my last cruise (on the Elation) this was located outside the Lido next to the Mongolian Grill.

Does the Imagination have this?

[alreadypacked]

Did they have the meat carving areas during lunchtime (turkey, ham, beef)? On my last cruise (on the Elation) this was located outside the Lido next to the Mongolian Grill.

 

Does the Imagination have this?

 

To be honest, I'm not sure about the meat carving station. I would assume that they did, since I've seen it on all other CCL ships. I usually made a beeline to the Mongolian and didn't really notice.

[alreadypacked]

What deck is the piano bar on? What's it near?

 

The piano bar was on Atlantic Deck 8 near the dining room. I think a lot of people missed it, because it wasn't on the Promenade Deck with all the other nightlife venues.

[ATL2LAS]

This will be my 6th time on the Imagination coming up since 2001. Did they say how long the drydock would last? After the Evolutions of Fun that they did a few years ago, Im surprised that they are going back so soon. I hope its just for a little cosmetic refreshing:D

[alreadypacked]

This will be my 6th time on the Imagination coming up since 2001. Did they say how long the drydock would last? After the Evolutions of Fun that they did a few years ago, Im surprised that they are going back so soon. I hope its just for a little cosmetic refreshing:D

 

Several crewmembers told us dry dock would be 2 weeks. According to the Carnival website, the next sailing on the Imagination is September 17. That would be 2 weeks, as we got back on September 3rd.

[ATL2LAS]

Thats good news. I really love this ship.