Review - Imagination Feb 14-19, 2005

[jujub]

Hello! Just got home from my first cruise (ever) on the Carnival Imagination out of Miami. I traveled with my boyfriend, best friend & her husband, and two single girlfriends. We are all in our mid-30's and like to have fun!

 

PRE-CRUISE DAY

We did the smart thing and flew in to Miami (from Boston) the day before. My BF and I got in around 11am, bags were instantly off the plane (amazing) and hopped in a cab. At least in Miami there's no guessing what you'll pay - it's all by zone, so a cab to South Beach was $28 - just as it says on the taxi window. I found our hotel on tripadvisor.com - the Atlantica. Great location and can't beat the price ($79). Granted, the rooms were small and not many amenities, but they were clean, location was the BEST (between 2nd&3rd on Collins), the hosts were wonderful and best part was were were in our room by 11:30am!! We freshened up and walked down Ocean Drive and had lunch outdoors. Weather was in the mid 70's and cool when the sun was behind the clouds, but still better than Boston weather! Took a long walk and back to the hotel to shower and change - time for happy hour! Went to the Clevelander for some people watching. Our friends called to say they landed fine (they took a later flight) and their hotel was horrible. They booked online at the Baymont Inn near the hotel. Their first room had dirty sheets and a maggot on the dresser!!! Second room wasn't even made up. Finally after many complaints they were moved to another part of the hotel that was entirely different - like another property. They got suites and said it was great. NOTE to anyone booked there!! Anyway, we planned to meet at the ship after embarkation - cell phones ready :)

 

CRUISE DAY 1

After a leisurely morning, we found a nearby liquor store and stocked up. Bought a case of beer, bottle of rum and vodka, and two 2-liters of soda. Brought an extra suitcase and piled them all in. Ready to depart the hotel and noon (we really took advantage of this place!), jumped in a cab and in 10 minutes were in front of the ship! So exciting. A porter greeted our cab and was so nice - looked up our cabin number (we had an oceanview guarantee) and found we were in room E233 (Empress Deck) and our friends were just cabins away, which was great. He loaded our bags and were went into the terminal. The lines weren't too bad at 12:15pm - we sailed right through. Very organized. We were on the ship at 12:30! Saw the signs that cabins wouldn't be ready until 1pm, but we decided to check it out for ourselves. Sure enough it was ready and we dropped our carry ons and changed into our swimsuits and looked around. Plenty of room for everything. I brought a ton of stuff and everything fit without a problem. Our friends called and said they were on the Lido deck, so we headed up there. Met our room steward in the hall - Qxijin, who was fantastic. A real sweetheart and we showed him where we needed him to put some ice and slipped him $10 and for the rest of the trip he was at our beck and call (although we didn't need much!). Went up to the Lido, grabbed a burger from the buffet (decent) and found our friends. Had several "drinks of the day" and enjoyed the sights. 4pm on the dot had the muster drill. No biggie - took all of 20 minutes and went back to partying! We had a late seating (8:30pm) so we enjoyed being outside till the last minute until changing.

Dinner was enjoyable, although never phenominal. Our waiter was Miguel from Haiti and he was always pleasant, but tended to rush us (in my opinion). Our backwaitress was Kristina (lovely) and bar sever was Marlon (we loved him!).

We brought wine to dinner with us (our own) each night - were charged a corkage fee twice ($10 per bottle). Still better than buying although with six at the table, we did that too.

We checked out the disco and hit the hay - a long day!!

(to be continued)

[jujub]

Day Two (fun day at sea) - hit the buffet (let's say Denny's has nothing to worry about!). Pretty bland, but it hits the spot. We did have room service send us coffee and juice (ask for extra cream - they bring a thimble-full). Met our friends on the sun deck - chairs weren't really an issue the entire trip - you could always find one even though it was packed. We dragged our friends to bingo in the Dynasty Lounge and that was fun. Hit the casino (love the slots and Caribbean Stud Poker), but it was always smokey. I broke even... Lunch at the pool grill (became addicted to the burgers).

We changed and got some great pics of the sunset. Tried the pizza - it's good but I've certainly had better. We had to wait for it to be ready. They don't push the other menu items here, either, and felt as though you were putting them out. Oh well - no time to fret about stuff like that! This was formal night - we got all decked out and upstairs for our prom photos! Felt like prom night very funny. Lobster dinner was actually spiny lobster tail. We're all from Cape Cod/Boston, so granted we were prejudice, but it was pretty good. Our waiter wasn't too accommodating about "extra" anything, but we just asked for it anyway -with a smile. Hit the disco hard that night - it was a good time. Tomorrow, Grand Cayman!

[jujub]

Booked our own excursion via Soto's. Snorkling/Stingray city. Three of us went. Took the tender - not a problem. Got over to Grand Cayman at 8am. First impression was not what I thought it would be - it was very touristy. We walked down to where our van was and greeted the driver. Had to wait for others and were underway in 15 min. Drove a bit and saw some more of the island (sad when you see a Burger King across from the beach!) - lots of hurricane devestation. Arrived at Soto's and boarded our boat. Then waited for 45 minutes for others to arrive. Not too happy about that. They of course plan on that so it didn't take away from our tour time, but I wished I slept in longer! Snorkling was good -not great - but I love the feeling of being in the water. Stingray City was interesting. I didn't like the fact that so many people are doing the same thing at the same time... but I don't think there's too much else to do in the little amount of time you have in port. We boated back to Soto's, boarded their van and were taken back to the pier area. The three of us went to Breeze's - a fun looking bar/restaurant across from the pier and waited for our other 3 friends to join us. A couple drinks and food later, by BF and I decided to tender back and relax for a bit. Met everyone back on deck 2 hours later to watch the boat sail off... another great day, another fun night - seeing a pattern??

More to come...

[Gamecock Jeff]

Thanks for the review! I am leaving on the Imagination a week from today (the 28th) and visiting the same ports as you. I am 31 and my GF is 24 and we are really looking forward to the trip. I am anxious to hear if you enjoyed your stop in Jamaica.

 

Thanks!

[jaymah2004]

We (me 27, GF 25) are also going to be on the Imagination next Monday (2-28-05). It sounds like any of the bad reviews of this ship that i've read in the past were written by bitter old maids. Thanks for the good review. See everyone next week...

[LarryF]

Jayma...is there a roll call posting for the 2/28 Imagination in the roll call board?

[jaymah2004]

Larry, not that i know of...seems like no one is too interested in their cruise! I for one am, never been before, but can't wait. You on the other hand seem to be an ole salt at this. No offense meant by the "ole" part :)

[jujub]

Glad my review is helping! You'll have a great time - I truly believe it's what you make of it.

 

I'm sick with a cold, so this won't be as lengthy as my previous posts, but as for Ocho Rios, we had an independent tour planned. Unfortunately, we all partied too hard the night before and no one was interested in getting up at 7am!! BF & I slept till about 8:30am (since this was a docking port - no worrying about catching a tender to the pier). The port area is nasty - I'll be honest. Nothing beautiful going on except the water was turquoise. You get off at this old sugar cane packing plant and there's all these cranes, etc. Walk up a path and you're on a street that appears to be in the middle of nowhere and then you get accosted by locals. "You wanna taxi mon?" "You wanna smoke, mon?" That's all you hear. KEEP WALKING - SAY NO - DON'T ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION! If you want to hire a cab, ask a uniformed guard standing by the main gate and they will beckon one for you. I heard $50 for the day is the good rate. Anyway, we decided to walk a bit and took a left out of the "port area." More locals, more unsightly views, but we stopped at an info station and asked about going tubing (down the white river). She said a taxi would cost about $40 to get there and tubing was another $25 each. We decided to pass since we could have done that and more with our guide. We turned into the Margaritaville marketplace, which you can roam around a bunch of nice shops and the locals aren't allowed in (there's a turnstile). We browsed a bit and ventureed into Margaritaville. Well, true to form, we decided to just hang there - they had a pool with a waterslide, a private beach with volleyball court, etc. It was a blast. Our couple friend met us there and we partied with other familiar shipmates and played volleyball. The waterslide is soooo much fun I never laughed so hard. Food is okay - drinks are better. DJ/live band and fun people watching. Yes, I realize we could have done/seen more but we just weren't up to it. Talking to others, it seems like the ships tours are a good way to go. You avoid all the local stuff.

You need to return to the ship by 3pm - we got there about 10min of 3pm and there was a HUGE line - really the only time we stood in line for a while, but we were feelin' pretty good, so "no worries mon."

The ship has a Reggae Sail Away party which is not to be missed - live reggae band, dancing, etc. Good time.

[Tammy0930]

Thank Goodness......I have found some fellow cruisers for the 28th!!!! I will be there with bells on!!!!

[LarryF]

For those of you going on the 2/28 Imagination next week there is a roll call on the roll call board. Here is the link....http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=139096

[michelebern]

Just curious :)