My review-Imagination 10/29

[jjdmom8]

In one word...EXCELLENT! We flew into Miami the morning of,arriving at a little after 10 am, saw the Carnival rep as soon as we got to baggage claim,got on the greyhound shuttle bus, rode to the port, checked in (Lines looked long but moved very quickly) and were on the ship eating lunch a little before noon. Our cabin was ready before 1 pm. Our luggage arrived very quickly, and we were completely unpacked before the "life boat drill". After the drill we headed up top to watch us sail away. After turning around, there was a Medical emergency that required us to pull back into the port briefly and a fellow guest was loaded into an awaiting ambulance and taken away. Never heard was was wrong but I hope that whoever it was is ok.

DINNER:

We had the 5:45pm dinner seating, although I had requested the 6:15, but it all worked out great. We had a friendly, funny, pleasant group of 3 other couples that we ate dinner with every night. We dined in the Spirit dinning room and our head waiter, named Raul, was one of the best!!! The food was good, especially for the seafood lovers (which I am not) but since I found out that you can order Filet Mineon any night if there is nothing on the menu you want, I had filet 3 nights.

 

CABIN:

We booked a inside gty and ended up with an outside cabin with portholes. Couldn't see alot out the portholes but at least we knew when it was daylight. Our cabin Steward, Rodney" was by far the best cabin steward we have had so far on any cruise. He talked to us daily, gave us tips on things to do in the ports, acted very interested in how our vacation was going. I had accidently forgot to pack our toothbrushes and the gift shop on board did not have any. We mentioned this to him during one of our conversations and a few hours later he knocked on our door and handed us a new toothbrush. That was above and beyond and very much appreciated! Our cabin was always made up very nice and we had great towel animals at night.

 

Cruise director:

Jeff Bronson. He was very funny and entertaining. One funny incident was in the Dynasty Lounge after one of the afternoon events, we pointed toward the windows and said " Wow, did you see that Whale? and wenton and on saying right there, right thereand people were running over to the windows and then he said, yep, right out there is were they would be.

 

HALLOWEEN EVENTS: Jeff Bronson was dressed up as Batman for Halloween and entered via a guidewire high up and landed on the back of the stage. Has lasers everywhere, it was very neat. There was alot of guests dressed up for Halloween. The turned one on the lounges into a haunted house and had costume contest. The promenade deck was decorated to the hilt as were the bars throughout the ship. Much more extravagant than anything on the Sensation on July 4th. Alot of the waiters and bartenders and others were dressed up all day.

 

SHOWS:

The shows were entertaining but nothing any better that ones seen on previous Carnival cruises. The newlywed not so newlywed game was a total blast. We laughed so hard it hurt. One of the better ones we have seen. Bingo, was a total waste of money as usual. The comedy shows were pretty funny.

 

CASINO:

No complaints here. First night I hit on the slots for $600. and went back later that night and turned $20 into $100. DH lost about $80.00 and gave up. Rest of the cruise I only played a little and won nothing else.

 

HORIZION BAR & GRILL:

 

The breakfast buffet was good and the same items every day. The lunch buffet was ok. We only hit the Midnight buffet a couple of times and the food was good. We had lunch on both sea days in the dinning room and it was a mini version of dinner. Different selections of food than offered on the buffet on the Lido deck.

 

WEATHER: Rough seas on Sunday (sea day) made for a long night. Worst rocking we had seen. They had the bags out all over the ship and I heard that alot of cruisers were sick that night, including me. I had to leave dinner, yes, I missed Prime Rib on Formal night and me and the toilet in our cabin got to know each other. First time I had got sick like that. I went by the Information desk and got some of the pills they have for nausea and I believe they did help.

 

GRAND CAYMEN:

 

Rain Rain Rain. All the water shore excursions were cancelled. We didnt let it stop us, we picked up a poncho for $5 at the pier and kept going.

We went to the Turtle farm, Rum Factory, and Hell. I was a little disappointed in Hell, as I was expecting a bigger area that it actually was, since they call it a town. The Devil inside the store was funny though. Our bus driver narriated the entire trip, pointing out interesting information about the island. We also saw the 7 mile beach (from the bus) and got out at the Shell house briefly. After that we shopped downtown. We thought that the prices were a little steep as we had a hard time finding even a t-shirt for less than $20.

 

JAMAICA:

 

Sunny beatiful weather. Very green island. We toured the Enchanted Garden, and then climbed Dunn's river falls. The Falls was the best! I recommend climbing it to anyone that visits Jamaicia. The only time we got hassled was exiting the falls you have to walk through a flea market type set up and the locals are grabbing you and trying to get you to look at their stuff. I did get a t-shirt that said "I climbed Dunns river falls, Jamaica" He started out with a price of $25 and I ended up paying $8. We only had 30 minutes to shop in one of the shopping malls before heading back to the ship about 1/2 before sail time. Definitly a place I want to visit again.

 

DEBARKATION:

A breeze. We chose self assist and were off the ship before 7:30am. moved right to the airport via the Carnival shuttle. Customs was not bad at all, but we did not got near our dollar allowances and did not purchase alot of liquor.

 

SUMMARY

 

If we ever sail on this class ship again, we will probably sail the Imagination. A beautiful ship.

 

Hope I have covered everything and if not let me know!!! Cant wait till next cruise!

[GranysT]

jjdmom, Thanks for a great review,very informative. I haven't personally been on the Imagination,but have been on both the Fascination and Sensation. We loved the Sensation,and do enjoy that class of ship a lot.

[BettyB2]

thanks for the review! Sounds like you had a great time besides getting sick on formal night:( I am looking into a smaller ship for our next cruise and I really like the itinerary. thanks again

[gypsyrose]

Thanks for the great review. Sounds like you had a great time. Even making jokes about getting sick;) Great attitude.

[gymbrat33]

Thanks for the review. I'm glad that you had a wonderful time. I also love the Imagination. I've sailed on it twice.

[workn2cruise]

Glad you had a great time! We loved the Imagination too. I'd love to sail her again.

[misfit cruiser]

Great review! I love your positive attitude, and that you didn't let a little problem here and there ruin your trip.

 

Our first cruise was on the Imagination - we had such a good time! Nostalgia. :)

[cubdaddy]

Thanks for your review. We were on the Imagination for 9 days prior to yours. We were kind of stuck due to Hurricane Wilma.

 

Click on my link below for our review. We also loved this ship and had a great time!

[emmysmommy]

Thanks for sharing your review. Sorry for the rough night! My DH and I originally planned to go on the Imagination last year. I hope to book it later next year - I like the smaller ships and the ports.

[emmysmommy]

Darn - double post demon struck my pc!

[DollyXX]

Could you tell me how formal formal night is? I love to dress up and DH has a tux, but don't want to stand out.

[musicexpressdj]

Thanks for the review. I leave in 4 days for the Imagination for a professional Disc Jockey convention/cruise. I think I am going to need a vacation to recover from my vacation!:D

[hole_fan]

Thank you for posting! We leave this Saturday on the Imagination and cannot wait!

[NEWYORKER58]

dolly

i was on the imagination oct. 26-29 and i saw one man with a tux and most men didn't even have suits on. i saw people in the dining room with shorts and capri's. i myself wore a coctail dress and the men i was with wore dressy dark suits and some of the others with us also wore cocktail dresses however by the time the show came very few of us even bothered to stay "dressed". this was the most casusal ship i have ever been on. of course every sailing is different and since you are a group maybe all of you will dress- which is as it should be but i saw no one making any attempt to in any way enforce any kind of dress code or any enforcement to any rule "adults only" in the hot tub etc. ship is like a free for all it seems. people had "formal" photos being taken in shorts. on a positive note- the shows were great, and the water slide is not to be missed although it is not opened much- it is a great thrill. absolute must. have a wonderful time.

marilyn

[geeman]

I'm cruising on the Imagination Dec-24-29 (first cruise). Very excitied.