Imagination

[that.girl]

I'm going on a cruise with two friends this summer. We've never cruised before. Is the Imagination a good choice for first-timers? We're not very picky; we just want to have a relaxing girls' weekend (we're taking the 4 day Western Caribbean trip).

 

I spoke with a Carnival vacation planner who assured me that the inside cabin would be fine for three people. Can anyone advise? I'm wondering if it will be too small; should we invite a fourth friend along and get two cabins?

 

 

One last question: should I book shore excursions through Carnival or through locals? If the latter is the best choice, can anyone recommend excursions for Calica?

 

Thanks so much!

[marty30907]

I'm going on a cruise with two friends this summer. We've never cruised before. Is the Imagination a good choice for first-timers? We're not very picky; we just want to have a relaxing girls' weekend (we're taking the 4 day Western Caribbean trip).

 

I spoke with a Carnival vacation planner who assured me that the inside cabin would be fine for three people. Can anyone advise? I'm wondering if it will be too small; should we invite a fourth friend along and get two cabins?

 

 

One last question: should I book shore excursions through Carnival or through locals? If the latter is the best choice, can anyone recommend excursions for Calica?

 

Thanks so much!

 

My DW and I have sailed on the Imagination and we love her. In fact, we are planning to sail her again. You will have a great time.

 

An inside cabin will be fine, as you are not in the cabin much anyway.

 

We always book our tours though Carnival's website and prepay our tips also. When we board the ship, we owe no one anything and the money we have with us is for us!

[Las Vegas Non Rev]

If you are close friends. lol. From watching the wife get ready for formal night you might want to split up when you get ready.....someone go to the spa to get dolled up.

 

we booked a tour thru Edventures. Great time.

[that.girl]

Good suggestion about splitting up to get ready! Three girls in one little cabin would be difficult to manage when it comes to hair and makeup time!

 

I've been reading posts about guarantee booking. Any opinions on this? From what I understand, they may upgrade your cabin. Is this accurate? Any recommendations? We're booking the smallest inside cabin, but if we pay for that and have a possibility of it being upgraded, we'll go that route.

[WeatherGeek]

Booking a guarantee cabin is taking a gamble and there is a bit of risk involved if you're a light sleeper or are easily agitated by background noise. You could end up above or below a noisy part of the ship such as the galley. However, if it pays off and you get upgraded to an ideal location on the ship, then you've, in a way, saved some money because to book that room directly, you'd have had to shell out more $$. We've booked GTY rooms for our last cruise and the one we are taking in a couple of months. For our upcoming June cruise on the Imagination, we were upgraded from 6A to 6C, assuming they don't change our room assignment between now and when the ship sails. We're very happy with that room,but we'd be happy anywhere since we are hardly in our room anyway. On the other hand, i've heard plenty of horror stories about people getting upgraded to areas of the ship no one else wanted to book.

 

As far as the size of the room....it's barely big enough for my husband and I when it comes time to get ready for formal night. Good luck with 2 other girls in the room!!

[that.girl]

Thanks, WeatherGeek. I think we'll go ahead and take the gamble and try guarantee. Since we're paying for the cheapest room, I guess it can only get better! We're also taking the 6/14/07 cruise.

[WeatherGeek]

Small world! A couple of us have posted on a thread in the roll call forum for this cruise, if you want to mosey over there and take a look. Hope you gals enjoy your first cruise and hope you find this board full of information that you can use. :D

[aggieastrosfan]

The three-page thread titled "Imagination" on the first page didn't help you any?

[BeachTeach]

The three-page thread titled "Imagination" on the first page didn't help you any?

 

 

Why are you making so many nasty comments today? Wow someone needs a cruise now!

[that.girl]

The three-page thread titled "Imagination" on the first page didn't help you any?

 

 

What a warm welcome. So glad I joined this CC!

[cuyahoga11]

Just ingnore the snarky remarks. You kinda need a thick skin around here.

[WeatherGeek]

Just ingnore the snarky remarks. You kinda need a thick skin around here.

 

Ditto.

This board can be a very helpful place and it's really no big deal if you didn't see the other thread. There are jillions of posts around here that are full of the exact same content as other posts, just packaged differently. There are always new people that need questions answered that have been asked before.

 

that.girl, WELCOME to Cruise Critic :D

[kimcruises]

I did the Carnival Imagination 4 day western Caribbean with 2 girlfriends back in 2002. We had a great time and the room was big enough for all of us and all of our shoes! At dinner, we were seated with other single girls in their 20s which was really nice.

 

I'm actually going back on this same cruise in September! It's really inexpensive, so even though it doesn't have all of the features of some of the biggest newest ships, it's a great deal.