Imagination Review (old to many, NEW to us!)

[tweetylori]

The restrooms with the power assist doors are on the Promenade just off the glass elevators, near the photo gallery area. One member of our party was stymied by them as well.

 

Thank you for pin-pointing this! (my memory sucks, even when I'm living it). Anyway, I confess to even being glad that someone in your group had issues with it as well, as it makes some of us feel, uh, more normal!

[tweetylori]

Thanks for such a detailed review! 3 weeks from right now, we will be on our way to Key West on the Imagination. It's our first cruise ever and I'm just soaking up all the info I can get in advance. Your review had so much great advice, as well as loads of personality. Much appreciated!!

 

Thank you! Hope it helped a bit, and I can't WAIT to read your review and see your pics! ENJOY every moment of it because it goes by way too fast.

[tweetylori]

Hi

I love your review I will be on that ship in 12 days. This is my second cruise I am super excited. I have some questions for you hopefully you can help.

What terminal did you guys go to D or E at the port of Miami ?

Do you know a great location to watch the ship sail away with a less crowd ? If so how do I get there ?

Any other tips you would love to share! thanks a lot

 

Thank you! I wish I paid more attention to the port thing, but all we did was tell the cab driver to take us to the Imagination and he took us straight there. Not to worry! As for the sail away, go wherever you're feeling it at the moment.

 

As for other tips, hopefully I've supplied a few useful ones!

[tweetylori]

Great review!!!!! I'll be on the Imagination in four weeks!!! Question: Can you give me any tip as to how you got Mariott Biscayne Bay for $100 a night on Priceline? For example do you remember how many stars you entered as part of your bid?

 

Hi David...thank you! I would love to help assist you with Priceline stuff. Email me and I will be happy to advise if I can. There is a small learning curve for learning how to bid, and then you will fly and never look back. I promise!

[tweetylori]

To wrap this up here is a last photo and I will follow it with a few last thoughts...this pic was taken from the Marriott Biscayne Bay the afternoon after we got off. It was OUR ship turning around and setting sail without us. Hopefully future guests did/will have as good a time as we did:

 

 

Some last thoughts...If you're a wine drinker like I am, you will be pleased that they pour wine into those cute little carafes before pouring your glass, so you know every single time it's an equal/fair pour. LOVE that! TIP: If you enjoy a wine or wines that are not the house wine, watch out toward the end of the cruise! For instance, they somehow ran out of Bogle chardonnay on our cruise. Can't imagine why. :o So when I tried ordering it on the last day, I was told they were out, so they substituted the house wine, but still charged me for the Bogle rate. Now, this was literally a couple bucks we're talking about, but my point is, you could prevent that from happening if you're aware of it. I was VERY pleased on this cruise about he quality of wine for the prices. Thank you Carnival for NO La Terre!

 

As for the cruise, in general, I have to say that you cannot beat the quality for the price on this ship. Break it down for a moment:

 

Four nights in a quality 4-star room (small, but quality), with robes, TWO services per day, etc....what would you pay for that? $100 per night at a discount? ($400)

 

Now, add in four 3-5 course meals in the main dining room. Let's say $50 per night. ($200)

 

Lunch? How about two $15 per person all-you-can-eat buffets? ($120)

 

Breakfast? We did two buffets and two sit-downs...again let's estimate $15 per person or another $120.

 

Now factor in entertainment: Two main shows...let's say $50 per person for "tickets"...that would be another $200.

 

Comedy club...We saw four shows...I've easily paid $25 per person for each show. 50 times 4...dear God I have to do math for my theory here. Another $200.

 

Transportation...gas? airfare? cab rides? to get to Key West and Mexico? Uhhh...I can't even price it?

 

So without anything else, at this point there's a $1240 value here. That's without the transportation costs or anything else. I don't know about you but we paid $511 (after taxes and fees) for our cruise for both of us. The value goes without saying.

 

People have asked me a lot recently about what is our favorite cruise. My answer is EASY. "Whatever cruise I'm ON...that is my favorite!"

 

So, my wish for all of you future Imagination cruisers is to enjoy every minute, value every hard-worker, and above all else RELAX. And all of that is just plain invaluable, even more so based on the Carnival prices for this ship.

[tweetylori]

sigh...one more thing to say...when I talk about relaxation, I have to say that on this cruise I somehow felt lighter...thought I looked smaller...yes, I actually believed that I was somehow LOSING weight despite eating and drinking.

 

Got home and realized how ridiculous I was...hadn't lost an ounce physically, but psychologically? I lost a TON.

 

I don't remember EVER feeling like I lost weight before on a vacation. But on this ship I was invigorated, younger, thinner... Again, an invaluable experience. Thank you magicians Carnival!

[Lipz]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review. The Imagination gave me my very first cruise experience and this was in 2004 before any of the enhancements you see today. It was an older ship, a smaller ship, and a ship with only a 4 day itinerary BUT she did her job well and turned me on to my love of cruising. We even missed going to Key West as weather wouldn't allow but even with just one stop in Cozumel it was the best vacation I ever had.

 

Thanks for helping me to relive those memories.....

......great review!

[truesdpr]

Thanks for sharing your review. Brought back lots of lovely memories as we cruised the same itinerary in October 2010. We had a blast too!

 

Pam.

[tweetylori]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review. The Imagination gave me my very first cruise experience and this was in 2004 before any of the enhancements you see today. It was an older ship, a smaller ship, and a ship with only a 4 day itinerary BUT she did her job well and turned me on to my love of cruising. We even missed going to Key West as weather wouldn't allow but even with just one stop in Cozumel it was the best vacation I ever had.

 

Thanks for helping me to relive those memories.....

......great review!

 

Thanks! Glad to know you had a good experience too. New isn't always better than old!

 

Thanks for sharing your review. Brought back lots of lovely memories as we cruised the same itinerary in October 2010. We had a blast too!

 

Pam.

 

Thank you...so glad to know I could help bring back some memories!

[campdaan]

Hey Tweetylori !

 

What an awesome review.

 

I'm glad you were able to post the pics... finally :D

 

Thanks !

[tweetylori]

Hey Tweetylori !

 

What an awesome review.

 

I'm glad you were able to post the pics... finally :D

 

Thanks !

 

Thank you very much, and yes, the pics thing was a bit of a challenge at first. :eek: Unfortunately, it'll probably be way too long before I do another cruise and want to post some again, so I'll probably need a lesson again in the future. ;)

[Celandine]

thanks for the review!

 

I really enjoyed it :)

 

I am currently trying to convince my parents that when I fly home next Christmas, we need to do a B2B (3 day and 4 day) on the Imagination..... I've sent them the prices for everything (except 1 night in a hotel ) :)

 

we'll see if they bite ;)

[saxkid]

Great review. We will have the same cabin U9!

[tweetylori]

thanks for the review!

 

I really enjoyed it :)

 

I am currently trying to convince my parents that when I fly home next Christmas, we need to do a B2B (3 day and 4 day) on the Imagination..... I've sent them the prices for everything (except 1 night in a hotel ) :)

 

we'll see if they bite ;)

 

How wonderful would that be???? I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

 

 

Great review. We will have the same cabin U9!

 

 

That is so cool! When do you sail away?