Carnival Imagination Review - First Timer's Perspective

Just got home from my very first cruise. A 3 day trip to Ensenada and back on Carnival Imagination. Not a bad choice for a first timer's trip.

Now that i'm home in my favorite chair with some time to kill, I thought I would write a review through the eyes of a first timer while i'm deciding if the house is rocking back and forth or not.

Going to be a long review. With videos and pictures and first timer thoughts. There will probably be "spoilers" too, so just skip this thread if you want all the excitement and adventure of a first time cruise without seeing what Carnival Imagination is all about.

Note: Unfortunate you can only upload 6 images at a time. It probably helps combat spam, but it already took hours to set this up. Will only take longer. Really hope this post isn't deleted if I decide to upload these 96 images in segments of 5 per post.

Also, I know a lot of you folks stay the night on the Queen Mary the night before. For those who haven't done so, I started this post with a few images/video of my overnight stay.

So let's begin. I have this weird habit of going to Disneyland the day before a big trip. This was no different. Guess which one is me.

The next day, January 6th, I arrived at the Montclair Metrolink Station. It was absolutely pouring. Certainly didn't dampen my spirits any. I love the rain!

Haven't seen it rain this hard in a good long time. Welcome El Nino!

I decided it would be wise (and fun) to extend my mini vacation a day by staying at the RMS Queen Mary Hotel the night before. Not only would I be spending the night on a ship, but the Cruise Terminal is literally a 3-5 minute walk from the hotel. Would highly recommend it if you have some extra time and money. Here is a pic of part of my room.

Video: Room Tour of a Deluxe Twin

R.M.S. Queen Mary from the parking lot

Inside the hotel by the shops.

Promenade Deck on the RMS Queen Mary

View of the Cruise Terminal from the Stern of the Queen Mary. The series of Rain Storm hasn't been very kind to this beautiful terminal, haha.

Everything is in order. The Dock, the Water, the Forklifts. Yet something is missing...

Bow of the Queen Mary with Downtown Long Beach in the Background.

The Model Ship Gallery was a particular favorite of mine. There are dozens of model ships from small ones to huge ones. Here is a model of the RMS Titanic.

Best of all, it is cut away so you can see exactly what it looked like inside.

Detail is exquisite.

Before heading to bed, I decided to check up on where Imagination was. Looks like it's inbound towards long beach.

Something woke me up around 5 AM. I think it was Casper with my wake-up call. He knew I wanted to see the ship sail into port. Anyways, I didn't have time to say hi. Checking my phone for the time I realized Imagination was coming in fast. I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and rushed to the stern of the Queen Mary.

At first I was staring at a ship in the distance. I was wondering why it wasn't getting bigger and why it was going so slow. Turns out it was the wrong ship I was staring at, beacuse then it appeared, almost out of nowhere. Moving fairly quickly through the harbor towards the cruise ship dock. Unmistakable. Carnival Imagination.

Was really interesting watch it flip around at near lightening speeds. At least if looked that way for a boat its size!

What was the phrase? ...My Ship has come in!

What surprised me most was checking in. I checked in early, around 9:30 AM. That took all of 5 minutes. Literally. No line when I walked up. I went to grab a bite on the Queen Mary and came back around 11 on advice of the lady checking me in. She stated they would start boarding around 11:30 AM. She wasn't kidding. We entered the terminal at 11:25 AM, went through security, up an escalator and at 11:35 AM, I was crossing the gangway to the ship.

VIDEO: Boarding Carnival Imagination

The Atrium was actually a bit smaller than I pictured. But that didn't make it any less grand. Was beautiful.

Went to the front of the ship to take in the view when it hit me. I forgot to sign up for something I really wanted to do. Badly. I raced back to the Atrium to the Excursions desk.

Was grateful there was still vacancies.

Proceeded to the Horizon's Bar and Grill from here to partake in my first cruise ship meal. Chicken, Fish...and some really tasty bread thing-a-ma-bob-ma-jigger that I don't know what it was. Probably some sort of garlic bread.

View of the pool deck. Felt like I had the ship nearly all to myself this early in the day.

The excellent selection at Pizza Pirate.

Good stuff.

One of the Spa's in the Serenity Adults Only section of the ship. All the Spa's were always jam packed full of people. So I skipped them. The water didnt' seem very hot either. Warm enough, but not hot.

By now my room was ready at around 1430 hours. They were probably ready earlier, but that's when I decided to check. I plopped in my keycard and tried the door. Nothing. Tried again, again, again, again...nothing.

Had to go to guest services twice before I figured out the door was just tough. Really had to pull down hard on the latch to get it to open. Needs some WD-40. Guess I just didn't want to break it, lol.

At around 1623 hours, the last guests were boarding and I scoped out the spot I had chosen for Sail Away. The Observation Deck on Verandah Deck 11. You reach it via Lido Deck 10. The bridge wings extend to both sides, so you can see all the action from beside the ship and get some really nice shots.

Before long though, it was time for the safety Brief. My safety drill meet for Muster Station A was held in the Dynasty Lounge. Didn't care much for the guy doing the brief. Was rude and cocky. Telling guests this was for our benefit not his, yelling at guests for having their cell phones out before the brief started, etc. I guess you sorta had to be there to see what I mean. Anyways, safety first.

Anyways, I was a bit annoyed with the guy, and even more so because now EVERYONE was out and about on the Lido deck of the ship and I thought I would lose my favorite spot to the crowds. But as luck would have it, it was cold...and wet. Everyone ran inside and I had the Observation deck almost all to myself. There were literally 5 or 6 people on there. My thanks to Jack Frost.

With Everything in Place, the dock workers unleashed the ship from the dock.

And we pushed off from Long Beach. My first Sail Away! Was awed that this was really happening at long last. From the days of my poor youth watching endless cruise shows on the Travel Channel to now. Here we go!

After pushing away from the docks, the REAL engines kicked on and we started propelling forward with nothing ahead of us, but Ocean. Take her to Sea Mr. Murdoch.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/Timsierramist/IMG_1134_zpsjlrxybde.jpg

One thing I decided not to miss was the Welcome Aboard Show in the Dynasty Lounge, and you shouldn't either. A lot of good info, prizes to be won and you even get a sneak peak at the comedians of the Punchliner Comedy Club onboard.

Clip of Comedian Jorge Lozano showing his stuff! This guy is going straight to the TOP!

VIDEO:

Kept this channel on most of the time, except when in bed. Was fun to see all the useful information. I just like data like this.

Also, the staff dropped off a friend while I was at the Welcome Aboard Show.

Headed to the Pride Dining Room for some dinner. Forgot to take pictures, but I did grab a snap of this. Alligator bites of some sort. Very good. Also had shrimp for dinner.

Besides Jorge Solano, the other Comedian called himself "Geechy Guy". Took a completely different approach to comedy than Jorge Solano. He threw what he called "joke grenades". Because it took us 5-8 seconds to get them, but when we did, the entire lounge erupted. Definitely preferred the classic "fat and hispanic" jokes with Jorge though, lmao!

Princess Cruise Lines passing us by in the distance. Forgot which ship exactly.

If you thought the Atrium was cool during the day...

...boy does it really shine at night!

One thing I was really wondering was how on earth do they see at night. It was pitch black out there. But yeah, having FLIR would solve your night vision problems real quick.

Approaching Ensenada, Mexico.

You rock T-Mobile! Thank you!

Pulling into the Port of Ensenada.

The beautiful, immaculate Port of Ensenada. No, those guys aren't there to pick up the trash.

Docked in Ensenada.

After docking, I went to the Horizons Bar and Grill to grab some of the Breakfast Buffet offerings.

Stepping off the Cruise Ship unto the dock. I could already tell even before I booked this cruise that Ensenada would go down as easily my least favorite port of call.

It's not exactly exotic as I live in Southern California. Parts of So Cal can easily be mistaken for Mexico in their own right. But also the port was and town in general were pretty dirty, not really comfortable hanging around even 1 step outside the tourist areas. And that is coming from a Marine Vet in his late 20's who weighs 235.

Carnival Imagination docked in Ensenada

The shopping was meh. Didn't buy a single thing because to my untrained eye, it all looked like the exact same thing. Mexican arts and crafts and silver. But I found a Thrifty Ice Cream!

Back to Ensenada. The shop keepers really harass you as you are walking down the street. One guy even put his hands on me to try and push me (gently, but still) into his story. Had to stop and tell him "I'm Fine". More than once was insulted behind my back as I walked away declining to shop at stores. One guy for example was naming of stuff I could buy in his store as I was walking buy. Seeing clearly I wasn't interested, he said "Naked Little Boys" as I was walking away, clearly in earshot. Otherwise I got the standard Gringo or curse words. Talking or listening in to other passengers on the ship, I heard similar stories exact to my own. No way around it. Hated Ensenada. If I ever do this cruise again, I'll simply stay on the ship or petition Carnival to choose another port. Something farther south.

The Municipal Police were rocking and rolling in some sweet new Ford Police Interceptors though. They seemed pretty professional as I judge law enforcement by American standards, which is top of the line in my opinion.

It's not Peanuts. It's not Charlie Brown. The film is called SNOOPY!

The Medical Center on the ship located on deck 3, the same area you leave or enter the ship in a port of call.

Ensenada is kinda pretty at night though when you are hiding the rest of the town under cover of darkness.

A new friend waiting for me back at my cabin.

Chanced upon the Captain Himself at the Vittorio Cafe! He was in the Italian Navy as an officer, then captained a cargo vessel for a number of years before joining Carnival.

Rarely did I miss a comedy skit in the Punchliner. These guys were good. Much better than I ever expected after reading bad reviews. Jorge Solano was definitely my favorite, pictured here.

Waking up early so I could see my first sunrise at sea!

Boy was I in for a treat.

I did the Behind the Fun tour which was incredible. It only cost $39.99 per person. We covered a lot of ground in the 2 hours and 45 minutes. The Galley, Engine Control Room, Storage areas, Laundry, Crew Dining Rooms, Crew Bar, Crew break areas including the pool, Crew Gym, "I-95", Crew Training Room, Bridge (including picture with the Captain) and backstage with the performers and stage crew. We spoke and had our questions answered with all the executives of the ship. From the head chef, 1st Engineer, Captain and even the actors and stage crew themselves from Epic Rock and Divas. The sweetest gig on the ship is probably being one of the Comedians. You have 2 half hour skits to do, get your own room and are switched around to new ships regularly, so you would get to see new vessels and ports of call.

You get a few souvenirs too. The platter is compliments from the head chef. Also, your tour guide, in my case, the Human Resources Director, will hand deliver the photo you took with the Captain on the bridge.

After I got back to my room, I realized we were turning back to Long Beach. :eek: So soon! We just got onboard. Where did the time go!!!

Also, skip the gym and do the Behind the Fun Tour.

Decided to go have Brunch in the Pride Dining Room.

Nice view and table set-up.

Toasted Bagel and Salmon

Everything was awesome!

In the endless Lanyards are for Newbs battle, I bring you the start of my epic campaign promoting lanyards pride Everywhere!!!

Sun beginning to set over the Pacific.

Hasbro the Game Show

One of the shops next to the Dynasty Lounge selling mostly Jewelry and Alcohol. Great combo.

Latest and last friend who came to my cabin while I was away.

Preparing for my favorite show on the trip. EPIC ROCK! Hell, I don't even care for rock. Never even been to a concert. But this was just awesome. These young actors are just so talented all around.

At dinner, the head chef came out to say hello.

I've heard both sides of the American Table debate. That said, whatever happens with it, the bread and butter have to stay! Just as good as the main entree in my books. ;)

Italian Wedding Soup

If I remember correctly, this was pork. REALLY TASTY!

I also ordered the red fish.

Heading back to Long Beach.

Last meal on the ship. Breakfast in Horizons.

A ship refueling Imagination.

This is what a sign n' sail card looks like. I don't think I will do Bottomless Bubbles next time. They definitely made money off me for using it. Every time I got a coke, I always felt compelled to give a tip because they make you sign.

I chose the Relaxed Debarkation, which entails leaving your luggage outside your room before midnight so the crew can unload it for you. You'll get to stay on the ship for another hour or two as well. Self Assist got off faster, but they seemed to take the longest and most people seemed to use it. Having to stand in long lines instead of sipping on some coffee relaxing didn't seem the way to go. GoRelaxed Debarkation or Go Home...well, you know what I mean.

Stepped off Imagination at 1039 hours...

...and by 1051 hours, I was through Customs, had picked up my luggage and was calling an Uber.

Promised to go on a diet when I got back home after this cruise. But what's one more slice of "pretend" Pizza Pirate after a journey home.

And...oh wait, is that the end? I thought this thing was going to go on for all eternity. Well. As they say. All good things...

~Tim

MOVIES! MOVIES! MOVIES!

Complete video of pulling into port at Ensenada, Mexico!

Complete Tour of my Interior Stateroom, U32!

Riding the Atrium Glass Elevator from Bottom to Top!

Boarding Carnival Imagination! Complete Gangway and Atrium walk.

Find it funny that you braved the Blue Line and scared of Ensenada. Furthest we go is about 6 blocks up. I'm shorter, grayer, fatter and of the opposite sex.

Go Highlanders!

Find it funny that you braved the Blue Line and scared of Ensenada. Furthest we go is about 6 blocks up. I'm shorter, grayer, fatter and of the opposite sex.

 

Go Highlanders!

The Blue Line was just a joke. But Ensenada, yes. In my profession, you have some concern.

Great review and excellent photos. I hope you plan to cruise soon - you definitely have the bug. Since you're a west-coaster I recommend Alaska - we had a great time.

Very nice review and pics, especially from a first time cruiser.

Very nice review.