Sewkitty

We have a lot of credit in our shipboard account. My husband would like to use it in specialty dining. I am now asking cruisers which specialty restaurant on the Silhouette has the best filet Mignon. I know lots of times it is not necessarily a steakhouse. Getting opinions before we purchase a dining package.. Thank you 

Departure process is the norm as with other cruise lines. Just remember to print out the complete ticket booklet and go through it page by page. Complete your paper documents that are included in the printed packet. Also remember to pre-fill out documents that are also online.

One problem I noticed the first day is that this is a very large ship....with elevators ONLY in the forward and aft of the ship. There is usually a wait for the elevators because of the amount of passengers and the size of the ship. Same for stairs either end of the ship except for a couple stairways from one deck to another in certain areas. Otherwise there is a LOT of walking no matter where you go. If you enjoy a show before or after dinner, be prepared to walk the length of a football field to get from one place to the other.

We are Crown & Anchor members and have also cruised on many other cruise lines in the past. DH and our friend, that is a Diamond member, have commented on how the "little things" are missing. The chocolates were a nice touch and how costly were they to give each night? We noticed there were no more nice amenities in the bathroom outside of a shampoo dispenser and 2 foul smelling bars of soap. Friend's comment "is that is what happens when financial experts step in." Squeezing every penny and fleecing the passengers after they have come aboard.

Activities used to have so many listed for each time period that a passenger had a hard time trying to decide what to do. Now there are big 'holes' in the activity schedule. Quite a few activities now cost $. Then when popular activities are held, they are located in small areas. Such as Trivia, which draws a big crowd, being held in the Schooner Bar. Karaoke being held in an area that draws such a large crowd it spills out into the area that needs to be free for others to walk by.

The liquor prices are the same as on land or a little more expensive. Spirits and beer are purchased directly from the company at a huge savings but yet the passengers are gouged with the pricing. I know the company needs to recoup the expense to build and operate these huge ships but do not inflate the alcohol prices to the point that DH and I only ordered occasionally.

The pool area is nice but passengers place towels on chairs/loungers around the pool starting at 7:30 AM. You never see those passengers again as they never occupy the saved chair/lounger. The Deck Patrol is of no help enforcing the 'saved' but unoccupied loungers.

The outside big screen is a waste as it is not fully utilized. Trivia is posted on it most of the day. Another suggestion, why not offer fairly recent movies on the in cabin television for those that would like to see a movie in comfort?

As for the food, I have to agree with another reviewer. Carnival food on long cruises is much better than RCI. (The Carnival menus on the 3-4 day cruises are much different than the longer cruises) Yes, the Carnival portions are smaller but you can always ask for another portion. The variety is good on both lines. On NCL, the buffet food was really hot and not lukewarm like on RCL. At the omelet station DH's eggs were always too well cooked and never over easy as requested. In the main dining room, it did not matter if you had early/late seating or my time dining. Both meals took approx. 2 hours. No quick meal service in the main dining room. I did note that on the bottom right corner of the evening menu, they had specialty items you could order for $ like in the specialty restaurants.

Sorry this is long winded, just typing as things popped into my little brain.

Several have asked about the food on the Imagination. We took a 4 night cruise. The food on this cruise in no way compared to longer Carnival cruises. I am convinced that the 3 or 4 night cruises have a different menu than what is served on the longer cruises. The food was OK and the Lido buffet was OK. Nothing special. On our longer cruises with Carnival, the food compared to NCL and just below RCL. We have been on many cruises so we know when the food is just OK. Hubby and I just make the best and enjoy the rest and relaxation. The best part is that someone else is doing the cooking. :D

BTW, our first Carnival cruise was on the Mardi Gras!!!! No electricity in the rooms!!!!

We arrived at 6 PM and we were seated immediately. Another time we arrived at 7:30 PM and again seated immediately. Our orders were taken in a timely manor but the courses were spaced out over two hours both times. We left before ordering dessert because we did not want to be in the dining room another half hour.

As for the hair dryer, had I been aware I would have to ask for the hair dryer every morning, I would have brought my own travel hairdryer.

Just a "heads up". If you use a hairdryer, bring your own. You need to ask your room steward for a blow dryer as they are shared between cabins!!!!!

Also My Time Dining is like NCL's. Two hours for a meal to be served in the dining room!!

My husband has only weight bearing on one leg and uses a walker. I called Carnival and they said unless we upgrade to a Suite we must pay $49.95 for some priority boarding package. What is wrong with this picture?? Has anyone else experienced this issue? What ever happened to accommodating the handicap?

Years ago we had a problem with diamond jewelry purchased from Diamonds International. As yoU may know, DI is a ship authorized vendor for nearly all cruise lines. Well, we had the jewelry appraised by a certified gemologist that our insurance company deals with and the value was considerably lower than our purchase price. We contacted the cruise line and they referred us to DI for dispute. DI refused to give us a return authorization number to return the items. They stated it "was a judgment call" on diamond quality and they would not allow a return. We contacted our credit card company and they were unable to assist us as they got the same response. As I said this was years ago and I cannot remember who referred me to the Caribbean Gemological Society (memory is vague on organiztion name). This person said that they have had DI in court so many times on this issue but they are 'slippery' enough to get out of any judgment. MY ADVICE IS TO STAY AWAY FROM ANY DI OR THEIR PARTNER STORES IN ANY PORT FOR THIS REASON.