Imagination cruise: Lobster and other things

[Barba21885]

Just got back from Imagination and was surprised that lobster is still on the menu in the dining room but now for a fee for $20. That is new to us since our last cruise July 2015. Still a bargain if you love lobster but I didn't indulge.

 

We did notice some lost services..ever so minor. Didn't think that the food selections were as good as before and there was very minimal activities offered during the day. Could be because we are used to 5-7 day cruises.

 

It was our first time without a balcony and we had a room with a large window. We did not miss the balcony at all.

 

We did not get off the ship in Ensenada because of personal preference. We thoroughly enjoyed Catalina. We rented a golf cart from the first kiosk we came to. They only take cash....$40 for one hour with a $40 cash deposit. We took advantage of the offer of an extra $10 donation to the island's military vets.....and we used the golf cart for 1.5 hours...plenty enough time to make stops, etc. We were refunded our full $40 deposit even though we were over by 10 minutes. There is another kiosk renting golf carts without the veteran donation....and they take credit cards but there is an upcharge for using credit cards.

 

Our only complaint was that the cruise director was hard to understand over the PA....and his name is Donkey....a nickname that I personally thought was pretty silly. We spent two days lounging on the deck and I never saw him...even on the Ensenada day when so many were off ship. First time a cruise director didn't come around to see those that stayed on ship and spent the entire time on the Lido.

 

For every other cruise I have been on I have been able to purchase my ship-shaped magnet. The Imagination did not have the ones shaped like a ship....so I had to settle for a square one. Not the end of the world...just an alteration in a tradition.

Edited October 16, 2016 by Barba21885
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[MCFTJCH2V]

Yeah, they took the unlimited lobster off the menu for the shorter cruises. Sad.

 

They did that for all cruises back in the early 90's. The customers balked, and it was soon restored.

 

These days people say good, I don't like lobster. And the cutbacks continue.

[fshstck]

....and his name is Donkey....

 

Sorry about your luck, mediocre at best.

[dacsmom]

I believe it was mid-late 2015 that lobster was removed from the MDR menu for cruises less than five nights.

[jdemps]

did you take a pic of the fun times by any chance? the thing we love about Carnival is the activities they plan. even the silly ones are sometimes fun. bummed that you said there weren't very many available.

[Karnyval]

The surcharge lobster from the steakhouse selections is superior to the lobster on the regular menu on ships that have both, and obviously superior on shorter cruises that don't serve lobster.

 

The shorter cruises replaced lobster with scallops and other choices not found on the longer cruises.

[GradUT]

did you take a pic of the fun times by any chance? the thing we love about Carnival is the activities they plan. even the silly ones are sometimes fun. bummed that you said there weren't very many available.

 

Jdemps--here's a link (below) to a thread from March in which they post copies of most, if not all of the Fun Times from the Imagination. (You'll have to scroll through a lot of photos first.) There will be some changes due to the fact that March Madness was a big thing on their cruise. On our cruise on the Imagination in August, we found plenty to do but what we most enjoyed was just relaxing and reading on the Serenity Deck, which we did on the Sea Day and when everyone else was in Ensenada.

 

We had a great 4 days on the Imagination. I especially enjoyed the entertainment, something that is lacking on some cruise ships. Do NOT miss the Epic Rock show!!! And the comedians were funnier than I expected them to be. While we did not see Donkey around the ship, he was at lots of the shows and I thought he was very personable. Perhaps the OP had trouble understanding Donkey because he's Australian, but I used to live in Australia, so it was no problem for me.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2337806

[jdemps]

I looked at those fun times. Thanks!

 

Is there still a white party on night one? We do those on NCL and it's kinda fun.