Imagination review Great job Carnival

[cblue204]

Fresh off the Imagination 5 day cruise june 5-10. I am very satisfied. This was our 4 th cruise and it went so smooth. First off all the ship was in great shape, always clean and not much wear at all. I tackled a few issues people ask about often so read closely..

 

Arrived at pier at 11:30 and there was several tour groups on this cruise that were there when i arrived on the ship before 12:00!!!!!!

Went to purses desk to give have my carnival bucks put on my sail and sign this took less than 5 minutes.... Went to the room to drop off a few things and yes it was ready...

I went to book both excursions which took me LESS THAN 5 MINUTES and I got the ones I wanted.. My wife went to change our dinner seating from late to early seating SHE WENT TO THE DINING ROOM AND WAS DONE IN YES LESS THAN 5 MINUTES....We then went and got a drink and some lunch and some exploring...

 

Room: we were on the empress deck 7 in the last room at the very back of the ship... It had some noise and some movement but not really not that bad...We had a few channels tbs espn and espn2 a few days along with two movies playing all day long cnn and cnn headline news a few others depending on where you were.. always clean and recieved the extra pillows we requested promply ( thanks antonio)..

 

Dining: we changed from late to early seating and met 4 great couples all preety different from each other and on the 5 day cruise the formal dinner is the second night... food was good wife ordered steak alot and the lobster was so-so but overall iI enjoyed it (thanks dezarne and jose)

 

Spa: we booked a couples message the first night and it was great and felt so good after traveling...we both went back two more times and be sure to watch for specials during port days it saves alot of money... we recieved wonderful service here(thanks milaj)

 

Casino: staff was good and they had several slot tournaments and texas holdem tou rnaments, someone won $940000 on a progreesive machine wow but not me i donated but played a long time on little money..

 

Parents on the ship raved about camp carnival and said there kids didn't want to leave when they went to pick them up.. we were alone but it sounded great.

 

Grand cayman: we left about 8:30 to get a tender and walked down straight threw no line and got on a tender which left about ten 3 minutes alter That was luck but it felt great...we booked the aqua boat and snorkle which was great it cost 95 dollars it was only about a mile from the pier and those thing will really move we were jumping waves and having a blast... we snorkled two seperate places so i would recommend it to anyone... then we went shopping which is real close to the pier and it was pretty..

 

Ocho rios: walked straight off the ship no wait again... we booked the dolphin touch and dunns river falls which cost $109.. about 10 minute ride to dolphin cove to and in the water with pepe the dolphin, this was fun i wish we have booked the swim which not to much more.... you can stay here on their beach and walk through a jungle trail which had a few animals as long as you want the get on a bus to dunns river falls which is only 2 minutes away

 

dunns river falls ocho rios: this was great 5 dollars to rent water shoes and 5 dollars to rent a locker because everything will get wet.. the climb looks harder than it is and we had older couples and a 8 year old girl in our group climb it no problem... the guides were great and carry your cameras for you to take the pics at the stops.. a camera person goes with the group and you can buy a vhs for $30 or dvd for $40 of your climb set to music and some info on the falls... i bought the dvd for $15 dollars so make sure you get it and get a good deal.... the busses leaves dunns river every 15 minutes and will atke you to the shooping or pier shopping was good here as well easy discounts.....one of my favorites stops now!!!

 

 

Self disembark was alot quicker than not on this cruise so if you can carry your bags go for it sorry so long the sea days were fun also and I have all the capers if anyone wants them....

 

 

Summary: We went on royal carribean last year and I was so happy to be back on carnival.... They did a great job and i will be back again no doubt...being prepared helps so much and yes I saw some unhappy people on the cruise and heard them complaining about small things which were nobodys fault, maybe you reap what you sow.....

 

Have a great time on your cruises and feel free to ask any questions...

[Emmabelle]

Room: we were on the empress deck 7 in the last room at the very back of the ship... It had some noise and some movement but not really not that bad...We had a few channels tbs espn and espn2 a few days along with two movies playing all day long cnn and cnn headline news a few others depending on where you were.. always clean and recieved the extra pillows we requested promply ( thanks antonio)..

 

 

 

We will be on the Imagination on June 29, we booked two oceanview cabins on the Upper deck along the back of the ship, as opposed to being on the sides of the ship, is this where your cabin was on the Empress deck? What kind of noise was there? Thanks! :)

[missingmexico]

We also were on the same cruise and only had a couple of complaints. One was our cabin steward. He was the grumpiest guy. He avoided us most of the time. Our safe was locked when we got on the ship so I found him and asked him what i needed to do and very rudely he said "call the front desk". so i did and they came and helped me. Then he always acted like we were bugging him. I was surprised because the last cruise we were on, the steward was sooooo nice. Anyhow, on the last day we were going to do the express disembark but my daughter left her bags by her door while she walked down 2 doors to get my husband to help her carry them and was gone for about 2 minutes and when she got back they were gone. So we had to wait 1 hour to get down to the warehouse to get her bags. We had a shuttle picking us up at 9am and didnt make it out until 9:30 but luckily he waited. Other than that, the cruise was marvelous.

I cant wait until the next one.

[lyttleone1977]

Thank you so much for the review. I leave July 31 for my cruise on the Imagination. I cant wait!!

[SC GUY]

My wife,daughter and I went on the Imagination 5/2000. It was our first cruise. My wife and I were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and our daughter was going to turn 21 while we were gone. We overheard her planning to booze it up with her buddies to celebrate her birthday while we were gone. We ended up taking her on the cruise with us. She turned 21 on the cruise and we had no worries about her.She met a group of young folks her age on the ship and had a ball. We loved the ship. This September we will be going on the Carnival Glory on our sixth cruise. All of our cruises have been on Carnival so that should tell you something about our first impression of the Imagination.We have a system now with our daughter(she's now 27 and living in Myrtle Beach on her own). We take her every other cruise if she watches our dog for us while we are gone.She went with us last Dec. on the Celebration out of Jacksonville and brought her boyfriend and his family. We all had a ball.

[lele100]

We will be on the Imagination on June 29, we booked two oceanview cabins on the Upper deck along the back of the ship, as opposed to being on the sides of the ship, is this where your cabin was on the Empress deck? What kind of noise was there? Thanks! :)

 

 

We will be on the Imagination to on June 29th, We also booked the Empress Deck Oceanview. Can't wait:D

[Emmabelle]

Lele,

 

See you there! Did you book any excursions yet? We haven't, can't make up our minds. :)

[sharecruises]

Whooo whooo....I just loved the Imagination!!

 

Sparkling clean and I swear it looks like brand new, altho some of the decor is sort of Miami Vice tee hee...but wow...sparkling! I enjoyed the wild "eygptian" theme...hey we are on vacation, this was fun LOL

 

I truly saw NO wear and tear anywhere. This ship sparkles. Even the windows are clean, they run around cleaning constantly.

 

I had a great room steward, my friend and I are both allergic to feathers they took the comforters out, used blankets, the head stewart came and asked if the room was ok for our allergies, did we need another "deep clean" or ? we didn't...but that sure impressed me

 

and the first night at dinner, a lady from "special services" came to our table when we were seated to ask if my "allergies' required any special foods, preperation....etc....wow...!! Fortunately I told her I can eat anything, just feathers, down, etc ....but that was simply outstanding IMHO

 

Every one on that ship was so pleasant and friendly, always smiling and saying hello. I am sorry that there is a bad room steward there, but he must be the only one...I just found everyone delightful!

 

After all the "woes" and warnings about tendering in Cayman, I too got right off the ship, no line, no problem without a ship tour! Also, getting back to the ship our lines were MUCH better than some other cruiselines who were also in port....the Imagination simply runs a "tight ship", really efficent !

 

I also loved Jamaica....went on Cool Runnings thru the ship!

 

Other things people complain of on other ships simply never happened here...we always had the ice tea, lemonade, juice, coffee, tea, plenty of cups, plenty of sugar, splenda etc....ice and towels in the room. Never a problem. Room service on time for breakfast/wakeup.

 

tables were bussed constantly, napkins and silverware...I was amazed at how smooth this ship runs. I also found the shore excursion desk easy to use and the front desk people were nice too.

 

I really enjoyed the comedians, the band in the Shangri La Lounge and the Regaee band that played Poolside

 

There is only ONE problem with the Imagination.....it is over TOO soon.

 

I am already looking to book another Carnival cruise <grin>

 

My other cruises were 2 Princess (with my ex LOL)....1 RCI>>

and 2 "no longer around".....Emerald Seas and "Majesty Cruise Line"

 

The Imagination exceeded my expectations, best entertainment, food on a level with Princess, better than RCI.....and so "trouble free"

 

The dining staff was the BEST ...my waiter, Alex, gave each of us a lovely print of the Imagination and I want to get it framed! I never saw that on other ships....I dont know if they give one on every carnival cruise, but I would like to collect more ...awww...I wish I was back on the Imagination right now

 

I just hope the other ships are as good as the Imagination!!

[Twaincruisers]

We just returned today from our first Carnival cruise in over four years--Fascination. We had a very nice time, great room stewardess, efficient dining room servers, and enjoyed the entertainment. Now we hope to book a 4 night on the Imagination in mid-July so we are very happy that so many of you had a great time.

[cblue204]

we were in an ocean view and the very last cabin in the back of the ship...the corner light cover rattled a bit but not if you layed a towel on it and you could here when the ship was pulling in or leaving port...i like a little noise when i sleep and it really wasn't that bad at all.....plus it was easy to find my room

 

 

another treat : the coffee shop close to the casino had chocolate covered strawberries 5 for $3 dollars and they were great... they also had really good cheesecake one piece (will feed 2 hungry people ) for $2 dollars but they run out of it each day so get that early

[sharecruises]

Oh...more "tips" ...

 

Sushi !! Check your capers..they have 4 different sorts of handmade on the spot sushi every night..NO extra charge...this is right near the casino, before early dinner

 

By the last night of the cruise more people 'found" this and it was pretty good line but most nights not much of a wait...it is delicous ! They have the wasabi, soy sauce etc..

 

The day of Jamaica the buffet was Carribean...run, don't walk, as there is not that much time after you get back on ship;...but it is really worth trying..yummy jerk chicken!

 

Every day the buffet has 2 lines...one is "general" and one is "international">> go to the line and read the menus so you can choose which to try...generally I liked the Specialty /International side

 

The ONLY "bad" dish I saw was when they try to do "american">> ie, the tom turkey and stuffing and the day they had similar on the buffet....but if you don't like something, you can just order something else...NO problem

 

Pizza.....ooooh....goat cheese and mushroom was yummy!

 

Last day the buffet had some wonderful carvery ham, honey mustard sauce to put on it....tortellins in a fantastic walnut creme sauce..and the BEST rolls i ever have had...they were like homeade rolls, warm, with blue cheese inside....out of this world!

 

I also liked the prime rib, chicken satay appetizer, escargots, the "delice" of the sea...our lobster tails were rubbery and our waiter brought us a 2nd round that were much better, very good...so if you don't like it, just try something else..

 

don't miss the grand marnier souffle

 

Free Champagne at the art auctions, not too many people there really.

 

Imagination gets good reviews usually....when we were on it had just come in 2nd for the fleet in customer satisfaction

 

some people i have spoken to say that Imagination, Inspiration, and Miracle are 1/2/3 in various combos most of the time.. all are ONLY western carribean, so the crew likes this, more "stable" for them, less upheaval like when ships move from alaska to florida to new orleans to europe etc...

the "pursers" job of buying food etc is the same, they get the best tenders with senority at ports, the officers and crew all know what they are doing ..so that makes sense

 

I think Imagination has never moved out Miami and the western, it used to do 7 days, now for some years the 4 and 5 day cruises...so they are really on their game, have many "senior" crew and they all seem pretty happy.

 

I met "repeat" cruisers for this ship too...and of all I have been on I can honestly say this is the ONLY one I would ever think of repeating the same ship (maybe the 4 day next time) cause it was so very easy and carefree.

 

OH ...another thing...I loved the fact the steel band actually played Carribean music ! They were great...and the "cover band" in Shangri La were also fantastic...amazing to watch a little,young guy from the Phillipines sound like Jimmy Hendrix with Purple Haze haha!

 

Cruise Director, Jeff "Brohn- sohn" was funny and not annoying and they really have their "routines" down pat. Never a problem getting seats for shows, everything was on time. Just trouble free so you can enjoy your vacation.

[Irish708]

Thanks for the comprehensive review! I'm going August 5th and can't wait! I'm planning on doing the spa thing after Grand Cayman, to save money. Which port had the best shopping in your opinion ? Also, did you find a difference between the village shopping by Dunns River, and that near the port ?

 

Any hints are greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[spensersmom]

Hi cblue,

 

My family cruised on the Imagination a little over four years ago and our room stewards name was Antonio. He is from Costa Rica and very tall. Is this the same person? If so..... wasn't he the nicest guy? He kept our room nicely clean as well. We shot some video of the cruise and Antonio is included in the footage. I hope our room steward on the Legend is as good and personable as Antonio was.

 

I'm glad you had a great time!

 

Robin

[lele100]

Emmabelle,

No we haven't booked are excursions yet. Think we will do it once we get on, never had a problem getting an excursion I wanted. Oh by the way 17 more days:D :p :) Can't wait

[dashadow]

Hey CBlue, wasn't it really great. Our first cruise but definately wont be the last, our highlights not necessarily in this order were food, smooched the stingrays, did the falls, comedians, hot tubs, etc. And didn't we have the best weather, minus the minor period of rough seas out of jamaica, you couldn't have asked for calmer seas and better weather. Did you see the guy getting into trouble getting back on in ocho rios, we were in line there as he was being searched and later saw his family leave the boat, but dont the crime if you cant do the time, especially in another country. What a relief it was to hear the radio talk of what is now alberto coming up right behind us, that was close. Cant stand its over, was kind of depressing to even look at the web tonight but your review cheered us up.

[CruiseDawg2001]

cblue, I would be very interested in the capers if its not too much trouble. Do you have them posted somewhere? If not, my email is StgeKng@aol.com. I just last night booked Imagination for this coming December and would love to see what some of the activites are. Thanks much in advance.