Great Cruise Imagination Dec 10, 2010 3 Nt Bahamas

[sharecruises]

Better late than never review...

 

sailed Imagination and it remains one of my favorite ships

 

Embark was easy as always, cause I get there super early...yes with the brides, in fact I was there before some of them. Kiosk was ok, however, if you have an Irish/European name...Mc, O' or something like Von or Van or De La

you may need to type it in almost like a middle name LOL

 

Ship was sparkling and clean...and looked really pretty decorated for the Holidays! The Lido buffet is great on Imagination...much better than on the (horrible IMHO) Destiny, certainly a better layout. Imagination has the Mongolian wok in the front by the pool, along with a "rotisserie" that serves various meats , mac and cheese and more...also a grill for burgers and hot dogs etc, by pool...

then the 2 main buffet lines, one the taste of nations..

a circular separate salad bar, very nice and much easier to get salad and fixings that way...

on either side of salad bar there is a circular dessert station, always nicely staffed

 

behind the salad bar a large open deli with more people working there, fast service

 

and a nice pizzeria in the back....all food was great...really some of the best I have had with Carnival

 

Our cabin , an outside on deck 7 was ready about 1:30...but phew...smelled like smoke...yuck..

I would like outside cabin if it was non smoking

 

however, we got the nice room steward and told her, also had her remove the down comforters and swap out for acrylic (allergic)...she agreed to "deep clean" the room so we left and wandered the ship, went to the spa tour, hung out by the pool, went back in the buffet etc

 

when returned the smell was miraculously gone for the most part (got a few whiffs of that dingy smoke smell but air cond worked well)

 

Muster drill was best ever...held in the lounges, not up on the decks

 

sailaway was fun , with dances and music...the "reggae" band was "surprise surprise" good on Imagination....a nice change from the past couple duds

 

I relaxed on the nice Serenity deck with a few friends and we just chilled until it was time to get ready to go to dinner.

 

Dinner was at 8:15, and our group had 2 large tables for 10

 

OMG Imagination was 100 times better than the ship of fools Destiny which put 103 singles at various 2/4 tops and some in a booth, what a mess that was with a horrid matre d' and clueless "group" coordinator

 

Imag was perfect....we had great waiters and tasty hot food

 

I loved all of the food and I loved the service. Everyone was very nice with us we had some free wine as a group perk and it was delivered right away

along with some free drink coupons from our TA. No fuss, no muss,

just pleasant people who knew how to serve us. When I asked for lemon for my water a bowl of lemons was delivered and they remembered and I got that every night

 

I enjoyed shrimp cocktail, caesar salad, pork chop and had chocolate melting cake and coffee and everything was perfect. Some of my tablemates raved about Chicken a la Greque and it looked very good too

 

The waiters put on a show on Imag....they seem to really get into it ! The maitre d' was very personable and enthusiastic...he has a great voice and he sings and it is all a lot of fun!

 

Seas were a bit rougher than usual but it was December and it is the Atlantic. I personally don't get seasick (knock on wood), 2 people in our group felt quesy but over counter meds helped. They went to bed early

 

 

Skipped welcome aboard show and saw 2 comedians , one funny and one hillarious. Off to bed, nice towel animal and turndown and room got nice and cold the way I like it (as a Floridian, I love my air cond)

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Day 2...Nassau

 

We docked to a lovely sunny day....

 

went up to Lido Buffet and this was the only time it was long lines

so we went to main dining room, and they nicely took care of us

at 2 tables, letting us hold seats for others in our (small this time) singles group

 

This was a wonderful change from the rude, bossy, staff on Destiny. On the Imagination the customers are important, and are treated nicely

 

BTW....all of the staff was unfailingly smiling and very very nice...just like the "old days" IMHO. I have not seen so many happy and nice people since the last time I was on the Imagination

 

Breakfast was wonderful....best eggs benedict ever. I still had the sauce on side and added lemon but oh my the eggs were perfect, the muffins were just right not burnt.

 

Then off to Nassau....debark was super easy. Imagination is well run (unlike a certain other ship that is just a mess of mistakes, lines , and rude staff)

 

I went on a carriage ride of the city for $15 with my friend and that was fun, our driver was informative and seemed to know everyone. All the people in the Bahamas were nice and friendly and fun as usual.

 

We took the ferry over to Atlantis for $3 and it was well spent as our guide Chris could have been in the Comedy Club <grin>

 

Atlantis was lovely, crowded....the "free' part of the aquarium was not open on Sunday however, and I don't think I will go back there next time on the Glory....been there, done that various times. Atlantis must be nice if you have the money to stay there or for kids with the water park/water rides/ etc but really just walking around a pricey casino is a yawn for me since I am not into gambling at all. However, again the people were nice and friendly and seem very proud of the lovely Atlantis

 

Back on ship , time for some Serenity time, I like the serenity deck :)

 

Elegant night....I don't really notice that much what others wear but every one looked pretty nice I think, I sure didn't see anything horribly out of place :)

 

and oh the food was great...my lobster tail was twice the size of the crummy little one I had on Destiny last fall....and the shrimps were HUGE

 

OUr waiters brought extras for anyone who wanted but I was full (who can forget when my lousy waiter on destiny brought one small lobster tail as 2nds for me and my roommate to share telling us to share, like tough luck haha

 

Again the service was super, I had dessert..an apple pie I think? and coffee and our wine was brought out no trouble, no nasty waiters or complaining waiters and the maitre d was so much better too

Maitre d' has a wonderful voice and he sings and the waiters get "into" the dancing, many of them dance and it really is fun

 

then off to the show...it was "Nightclub Express"....which I have seen several times but this group was great....we had great female and male singers and really good dancers. Very entertaining

 

Great day

[falkcor]

welcome back! :)

 

thanks for taking the time to post what looks like will be a very thorough review. :D

 

just dying to ask, though... lol... no stalker this time? :eek:;)

[sharecruises]

Day at Sea,,,

 

some of us met for breakfast at main dining room again since it was so good the day before and again it was wonderful. Wonderful service, and nice staff, and super breakfast food.

 

Lazed around at serenity deck, and had the mongolian wok for lunch. It was good but even the "medium" was almost too spicy for me. I realize some love it but I prefer the buffet or the deli

 

Chocolate buffet....yummy....I love the "chocolate sushi" and again it was not crowded. They did the "swans" with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Friendly and efficient staff made a huge difference

 

I saw in the Fun Times that they had a special "Holiday" show at 3 PM in the main showroom so we went there, not sure what to expect...and what a surprise

 

they had a whole Christmasy set, the cruise director lady was dressed as an ? elf and the male and female singer were dressed up, the gal dancers wore little red dresses , all of them had santa hats on....they put on such a fantastic show of Christmas songs and carols...I was amazed

they brought up the Camp Carnival kids..the older ones did a hip hop dance routine with the 2 fun force dancer guys , the younger ones sang a song they had rehearsed

 

then the cruise director read a story and then ...Santa arrived and "snow" fell all over the beautiful set...wow

 

after the show ALL the kids in camp/audience went up for candy treats and to sit on Santa's lap (yeah the photogs rushed up too LOL)

 

that was really an unexpected treat....it was a full blown production

and I never heard of that ...not sure if they do this on all the ships. Oh Imagination had other cute touches such as gingerbread village on the promenade I think the chefs had made it ()look, don't touch)

they also had Menorahs and some decorations for those of Jewish faith

 

Then we had the "group" shared cocktail party...I did think we had too many people for the size of the lounge (Shangri La)but I did enjoy it, they brought us any drinks we wanted, miami vice, mango swirls, whatever LOL

 

One disappointment....they did NOT have a "Fun Farewell" party at all

I am not sure if this is on every sailing or if the Holiday show took the place of the Fun Farewell or if this is another cheapo measure on Carnival's part?

 

 

After the group party it was time to get ready for dinner and we met on the promenade for sushi...did I mention we also had sushi the first night?? and the sushi was fantastic this time....really best I ever had on a Carnival ship and other repeat cruisers said the same. Also the lines were not long. There are advantages of a smaller ship and I was often reminded of that.

 

On this last night they had the show at 7 pm before dinner for the late seating diners...and what a super show it was @@ Really talented cast

 

We had another super dinner, great service again.....and again a fun "show" by the waiters and maitre d sang. Loved it

 

After dinner we hit the clubs, the shangri la is nice, non smoking and yes they had a good rock band there, we danced and I preferred it to the disco. Then we took in another comedy show and it was funny, the guy had different material from first show

 

Debark....sad....enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in dining room and hung out and hung out till most had left ship then strolled off and out very easy

 

all in all it was a super trip...just too short

[sharecruises]

Final thoughts

 

my only complaints >>> smoky room but that complaint was quickly fixed

long term however, I think Carnival should not allow smoking in cabins

 

>>> NO "Fun Farewell"

 

>>> THEY DON'T SELL FUTURE CRUISE CERTIFICATES

 

This was a huge disappointment to me as I have used them on my past 2 cruises, would have saved this one and used it on the 7 night Glory...grrr

I am sure people here said "it is on all the ships" but NO it is not on Imagination

 

>>> I think Carnival is anti-Singles....the first night they had a "singles meet" at the wine bar set at 8 PM>> How stupid...since most singles eat late seating ...there was no time for anyone in our group to go to that

 

Other than that....I really love Imagination. Great food and service, and what more can you want?

 

what a change from the truly miserable food and service on the crowded ineptly managed Destiny

 

Imagination was such a great change and in many ways it made me sad. I am booked on Glory and I only hope it will good like Imagination . However, I am then on 3 NCL cruises...due to the innane group policy and anti singles policies that Carnival has begun

 

Oh our cabin....was an outside...air was good and cold *my setting LOL

it had a nice flat screen tv

it was all much much nicer than the cabin on destiny which has old big tv sitting on the dresser so you can't use the phone

the bathroom on Imagination was nice and looked "new" too. Our room steward was wonderful and left cute towel animals

and chocolates and fun times. Had room service for wakeup call and one other time for snacks and they were fast and efficient (never came on Destiny and /or never answered phone)

much much better service all in all

 

I will say that the staff on Imagination made it so great for all of us, the dining staff was wonderful with our group. We were allowed to mingle at the tables without being yelled at like on the miserable Destiny. Our wine was delivered with no fuss no muss. Food was just the best maybe best of all my cruises.

 

I tell anyone to book Imagination for a short fun getaway and a "real cruise" experience in 3 (or 4) nights.

[sharecruises]

welcome back! :)

 

thanks for taking the time to post what looks like will be a very thorough review. :D

 

just dying to ask, though... lol... no stalker this time? :eek:;)

 

Thanks LOL...no stalker or weirdos haha

 

The difference in service was 200%.

 

I loved the Imagination.

[elcuchio24]

Thanks for the Review!

[LibraByTheSea]

Who was your singles group?

[Mrs. Chernabog]

Do they have the Carnival Quest (or whatever it's called) on the shorter cruises?