Imagination Review 9/22/08-9/26/08

[laurenfl15]

Hey Guys- I probably wont be here to answer questions (I get depressed coming on when I don’t have a cruise to look forward too!) But since everyone was so helpful in me planning my trip- thought id do a quick review! (By the way.. no I don’t have the capers.. sorry!)

Imagination- 9/22/08- 9/26/08 Miami, Key West, Cozumel , Miami

Pre-Cruise: Went to a “name your own price” website and picked a 3 star hotel is South Beach. Ended up with “surfcomber” for 55.00 bucks (sells normally for around 169.00) So we couldn’t be happier! Like most hotels in south beach it was very small but it worked. We had dinner at a restaurant along Ocean Drive Sunday Night (A personal pizza, a pasta dish, and 2 mojitos 75.00 YIKES!) and then we walked on the beach and the boyfriend proposed! Yay :-D

9/22/08- Departure: Embarkation was realitively painless. In case you don’t know the system now you go through the line and get your sail and sign card etc and then you wait for your “zone” to be called to get on the ship. GET YOUR ZONE CARD BEFORE YOU GET IN LINE THAT WAY WHEN YOUR DONE YOU CAN GET ON RIGHT AWAY! I felt bad for the people who went through the line before me, then got their zone card, and had to wait like 30 minutes longer! HINT: We did get 4 bottles of liquor on no problem. Pack it in your checked baggage and youll be fine.

Rough start when we get on the ship- this was the fiance’s first cruise and first thing we do is get in line for food on the lido deck and the RUDE lady behind him PUSHES HIS TRAY forward when he has nowhere to go! (the line was stopped in front of us- its not like he was being slow!) I cant believe the nerve on some people.

For dinner I had NY Strip Steak w/ peppercorn sauce.. it was ok. Honestly I expected a little better. But the Mac and Cheese Side (although small) was delicious. First day we mostly puttered around drank some drinks and started our vacation…

CONTINUED…

[laurenfl15]

The one GREAT thing and probably most memorable thing of our trip we also discovered the first night: BILLY the piano player at the Piano bar onboard. It ended up being our hangout spot EVERY night. Im not really one for chicken dances and acting crazy- this place was laid back and ended up feeling like the bar from Cheers LoL. Billy knew all our names by the end and even bought us all a round of drinks. The “regulars” were a group of fun people and we had a blast every night.

Key West: I am a huge planner but decided not to plan anything for this trip b/c I was scared Id jinx myself and a hurricane would come! We took the trolley to town with no real plans. Im not a big history buff and I didn’t feel like drinking during the day b/c well… I can only drink a few hours before I get sleepy! We started walking down Duval Street but after about 30 minutes all those rentals looked pretty tempting! I was wayyyyy too scared to get a scooter thingie so we settled for a golf cart. It was 70.00 plus as a claims adjuster I was terrified not to get insurance so I ended up spending another 30.00 on that. Also they put a 200.00 hold on your account so its pretty pricey! We ended up driving around for about an hour and a half and then returned the car b/c we felt we ran out of stuff! I know that sounds silly but honestly I wasn’t that impressed. The one funny thing that I wont ever forget was stopping at an ATM for money and one of their crazy chickens chasing me down! I had a run full speed back to the golf cart and we had a put the pedal to the metal to leave that thing in our dust! They are so flipping scary!

Cozumel: Again- we had no real plans here. I decided that day to hail a cab to Chakanaab b/c I had been there before. I specially remember a beach being there- am I wrong? Well I told the cab driver and he insisted that there was no beach and that he take us to Mr. Sanchos instead! You could totally tell he got money if he brought people there. Honestly, I didn’t care to argue and it wasn’t a big deal so we went. Mr. Sanchos is ok- it’s a pretty beach with no entry fee and you basically pay for any food and drinks you want. I did have an experience here that im really ashamed of L I was told up front that I could pay for drinks and food on a credit card and dummy me didn’t get cash before we went b/c of this! Well- the bill comes… I ask where I write the tip.. and they say the tip must be cash. I had no cash. I started to leave (keep in mind im feeling TERRIBLE here) and the waiters calls me out for not tipping him. Im always a huge tipper and understand people work hard for tips so It kinda ruined the rest of my day! We had a drink at ½ senor frogs at the port before heading back to the ship.

[laurenfl15]

Fun Day at Sea: I must say I became quite a bingo fan on this trip! Who would’ve known! Lol. We spent most of the fun day playing bingo, relaxing, and going on the water slide. I was so tired I spent a lot of the day in bed too! Who knew vacation Could be so tiring!

 

Embarkation: Painless. I got up at 7:30 (packed the night before) and headed down to the atrium for self-debarkation. We were off the ship and in our car by 8:30.

 

Overall: Great time, Fiances first cruise and he loved it! I think he has the fever and will be back.

Negatives:

- Food wasn’t what I remembered. Then again- I am pretty picky and they were very accomadating if you didn’t like something. I just thought I remembered it being a little more upscale.

- Cozumel. I don’t know… im just not a huge mexico fan. Next time ill probably do an excursion.

Positives:

-Drinks prices! They really are so cheap. If you take into account that there is no tax PLUS you usually end up tipping less than you would in a bar- its not bad at all!

- Room Steward- Honestly, I don’t even know his name. He was so darn sneaky and always cleaned our room the moment we were gone!

- BILLY AT THE PIANO BAR! Again- you guys have to go to this place. It seems like no one hardly goes and it really is a little hidden gem in the ship

Thanks again for everyones help throughout the planning process!

[NickCDN]

Where do you get the zone cards before getting your sail and sign cards?

[huxlemo]

They hand them to you when you get your sail and sign card.

[Payd]

Congratulations on your engagement!

[tc1959]

Congratulations on your engagement, I was on the same cruise and get off like you yesterday, we had a good time, food is exactly what you said, the Steak monday was just horrible and I did order something else. the food had change in recent cruises, this is our third carnival one and the best food so far has been on the Valor, Imagination and fascination had the same food, I did not see a lot of rude people but they will not stop to let a person take a picture, they were a lot of things in some of the guests that I just will reserved to myself because it has nothing to do with Carnival and I don't want to get bombarded in this board, I think the cruise was a good deal and we had fun.

[shortstop95]

Congratulations on your engagement!!

 

We were on the ship with you.We have been to both ports several times. In Key West we did the Pub Crawl, it was a lot of fun. Cozumel we did the Segway and Snorkeling excursion, went to a beautiful beach for snorkeling. The segways were pretty cool, nervous when you first got on them.

 

We enjoyed the ship, prefer the larger ones. The wait staff as usual were great. The bartender's at the lobby bar fantastic Piya from Thailand and John from the Phillipines. We were in the Pride dining room late seating and our head waiter was Marko and the assistant waiter was Queeni they were a very good team. It was a quick break. Looking forward to our first B2B on the Splendor in November.

[jimw]

We were on the same cruise and feel that the food has improved, particularly the buffet stuff. The steaks on Monday were tough, but that's been the case for years. 5 of the 6 at our table had the steak and all were tough. 5 of 6 also had lobster the next nite and all were good. Chocolate Melting Cake always yummy. This was our 6th Carnival cruise. So, ymmv!

[MyImagination]

Thanks