B2B Imagination review; 2/7-2/16

[GOTTA CRUISE NOW]

Part I:

 

Cruise # 1 was from Thursday, 2/7/08-Monday, 2/11/08.

 

PRE-CRUISE

We drove from PA to Miami. 18 hour drive. We do like to drive, though!;)

We came a day early and stayed overnight @ the Best Western on the Bay & Marina, which is about 15 minutes from the pier. Our cousins from Montana flew into Ft. Lauderdale & met us there at the hotel. The hotel was clean, friendly, had a nice outdoor pool, and had a great view of the North side of the bay. It also included a better than the usual continental breakfast. It also had a free shuttle to the port, and we could park our vehicle there for the entire cruise for $5/ day. (as opposed to the $25/ day to park at the port!)we scheduled to leave on the shuttle at 11 AM, were there by 11:15 AM and in the building by 11:30 AM.

 

EMBARKATION

My brother & sister-in-law are VIP, so they were on the ship almost immediately. The rest of us were not far behind them, though. We were eating lunch on the Lido by noon! If it weren't for the decidedly unfriendly

clerk at the check-in, I would say it was perfect! Not crowded. Very organized.

 

MY CABIN

This was my 1st time cruising solo, so I decided to go CHEAP! That being said, I went w/ the single 1A guarantee for both of my cruises. The 4 day cruise, I ended up in a..... 1A! :) Cabin R60 on the riviera deck. PLENTY of room for 1 person. It is a single upper/ lower cabin, so obviously I only needed the lower bunk. My only complaint was (and this is a BIGGIE!), I had no hot water for 3 of my 4 days in this cabin. I mean, totallt COLD. I told my cabin steward the very 1st night, and he said to try one more time. :rolleyes: The next morning I told him again, and he said he would tell his supervisor. Finally, on Saturday afternoon, (day 3) a maintainance worker came & worked on it (for 5 minutes). I did get an onboard credit of $45, but I don't know if that was why, it just showed up on my bill. I didn't question it. Had I not gotten that though, I may have caused a fuss. ;)

 

For the 2nd cruise I ended up w/ a 4B cabin. Main 75, near the front elevators. LOVED it! Having the huge bed was so nice! I was spoiled!

 

On another note, my cousins (and their 4 boys, aged 5-12) had cabins R114 and R118. (which are the exact cabins we had on our very 1st cruise on the IMAGINATION 8 years ago!:cool: ) They were lucky to be able to keep the same cabins for both cruises, so they didn't have to pack everything up & move like the rest of did!

 

END OF PART I...

[beach410]

Thanks for the hotel tip, this is definately a need to know, as I couldnt find any hotels prior to our trip in Nov that offered this and the parking situation at Miami is mad! Too bad about your cold showers! We enjoyed the Imagination with the upgrades.

[beccadoby]

Ah come on.....

 

you have us waiting for MORE! Its been since 6 pm last night;)

 

No seriously, thanks for the review and awaiting more to come.

[As You Wish]

OK, I'm cruising the Imagination this coming Monday, so I really need to hear more details:p . Thanks for the review so far, and come back soon to post more info.

[BeachTeach]

I want to hear more! I keep checking back for the 2nd part. I lvoe to re reviews!