Imagination Feb.20-23, review with a twist.

[joeyancho]

Just of the Imagination and I thought I would write a short review. First we are husband and wife ages 59 and 51 respectively. Wife is retired air traffic controller and I am a self employed contractor. This was my 29th cruise and my wife's 10th. We were looking for a weekend getaway. I check the Carnival website and couldn't resist the price. It was $425.00 out the door for an inside cabin. Can't even get a room on land for three days for that price. We live about 100 miles from Long Beach. We left for the port at around 9:30 am and arrived at the dock at around 11:30. We checked in at the platinum desk. We were on the ship before noon. We then went up to our room to drop off our bags. Our checked bags were already by the door. After dropping off our bags it was off to the buffet. The food was plentiful and tasty. The buffet theme was Italian for the first day. The second day was Caribbean and the third day was American. After filling up we roamed the ship for a while and then to the room for a nap. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the ship. I wasn't expecting much being that the imagination is an older, Fantasy class ship. The public areas all had new or recently replaced carpeting.

Now for the twist. After our nap we went up on deck for sail away. We were scheduled to sail at 6pm. However we did not sail. I waited for a while and we still did not sail. We were then off to the room to get ready for our late seating dinner. The Imagination has the new menus. The waiter said it was the second week for the new menus. The menus and corresponding food porn can be found on the zydeco cruiser website (.net) under Inspiration menus. They are the same. For dinner I had the sweet and sour shrimp. My wife has the braised short ribs. Both were served hot and were quite delicious. We were seated at a ten top but only six showed for the entire cruise.

Something very unusual happened during dinner. The captain announced that we could not sail due to issues with the steering. They were attempting to repair it. He said he would keep us updated. He stated that if we could not sail by 10:30 pm our itinerary would change. Instead of arriving in Ensenada the following day (Friday) we would have a day at sea. Our port call for Ensenada would be pushed back to Saturday. At 10:30 pm, as promised the captain came back to announce that the steering was not fixed and that the itinerary would be changing. I was beginning to doubt that we would ever sail. By midnight we were still not moving. Off to bed.

We are early risers and were up at 6am the next morning. I turned on the front of the ship channel and hurray, we were at sea. It was announced later in the cruise that a technician was flown in from Sweden to repair the ship. I bet that wasn't cheap. We apparently sailed at 2am. We spent a leisurely day at sea.

That evening we both had the jerk pork for dinner. It was outstanding! The pork was tender and juicy. The sauce was terrific. I don't recall what we had for dessert but will say that every dessert was delicious. Now I remember, it was the white chocolate banana steamed pudding. Yummy.

Ensenada!!!!! We have been to Ensenada many times. We always take the tour to the Bufadora (blowhole). We do not take the ship sponsored tour. We take the tour that is offered by the shuttle bus company that takes you into town. It is only $15.00 dollars, whereas the ship charges $27.00. It is a fun excursion. The blowhole was blowing high into the air!!! We watched it for a while and then went for some delicious fish tacos and soft drinks. The tacos are an exceptional treat. Served on fresh, handmade tortillas. After we shopped for some trinkets and were back on the bus headed to the ship. They will either take you back to the ship or drop you off downtown if you would like to shop or go to Papas and Beer. There were two ships in Port and Papas and Beer was packed with youngsters enjoying adult beverages. We chose to head back to the ship. After hitting the buffet, my wife took a nap and I went up on deck to smoke my cigar and watch for pier runners. As you can imagine, their were quite a few. I guess Papas and Beer has that effect.

That night I had lobster for dinner and my wife had grilled salmon. The lobster although small, was delicious. My wife said the salmon the was fantastic. I tasted a bite and she was right. With the new menus the entrees are served alacarte. The sides are served seperately from selections listed on the menu. All the sides were also delicious. The standout were the mashed potatoes and sauteed green beans. The wife had WCMC and I had creme brulee. Both luscious.

Debarkation. We received a notice explaining that if we wished to debark self assist, we should report to the specified lounge no later than 7:15 am. We rose at 6am and headed to the buffet for our last chance to gorge. After eating too much we headed to the lounge. At 7:15 sharp the lead us off the ship. It was the fastest we have ever been off the ship. This option was available only to FTTF and platinum members. We were home by 9:30am . Amazing!

A lot has been said about the new menus and the food in general. All I can say is that we very quite pleased with the entire experience. We did not attend any shows so I can't comment as to that.

In summary I will say that it was a great cruise and a wonderful weekend get away. Well done, Carnival!!!! I would be glad to answer any questions.

Edited February 24, 2014 by joeyancho

[LOVECRUISING100%]

Glad to hear that they fixed the problem & that you have a great cruise!!!...We'll be sailing on her in a few days!

On your tour to the blow hole.. Did you pre book it or were you able to find a tour company at the port ?

Edited February 24, 2014 by LOVECRUISING100%

[joeyancho]

Glad to hear that they fixed the problem & that you have a great cruise!!!...We'll be sailing on her in a few days!

On your tour to the blow hole.. Did you pre book it or were you able to find a tour company at the port ?

 

Just get on the shuttle bus that takes you into town for two bucks. It is the only one at the terminal. The will give you a speech to sell you the tour. They drop you off right in front of the office that provides the tour. We have done this many times, no brainer. You can't mess up. It is a bargain. Don't miss the fish tacos. Hope you have as much fun as we did.

Edited February 24, 2014 by joeyancho

[joeyancho]

Bump

[LOVECRUISING100%]

Thank you!

[ccruisequeen]

I could see the ship from our condo and kept waiting for you guys to leave. Dozed off and you'd left between two and three. I can't believe you got creme brûlée but that gives me hope!

 

Codes

 

 

 

[Sheebah]

Phew! So glad you made it out of port! We are anxious to try the new menus- sounds great from the adjectives you've used to describe :-)

Thanks for sharing!!

 

 

Carnival Miracle video tour:

[joeyancho]

Phew! So glad you made it out of port! We are anxious to try the new menus- sounds great from the adjectives you've used to describe :-)

Thanks for sharing!!

 

After all the controversy over the new menus, I was skeptical. But we were quite pleased with all the food, especially in the MDR. They also gave us complimentary beer or wine on lobster night. Never had that on a cruise before.

[joeyancho]

I could see the ship from our condo and kept waiting for you guys to leave. Dozed off and you'd left between two and three. I can't believe you got creme brûlée but that gives me hope.

 

The creme brulee was perfect. One gentleman at our table was a professional chef. He commented that it was better than the one served at his restaurant.

Edited February 25, 2014 by joeyancho

[psueaz]

Did you have the American Feast menu on Cruise Elegant night?

 

 

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[joeyancho]

Did you have the American Feast menu on Cruise Elegant night?

 

http://www.zydecocruiser.net/CarnivalInspiration2/Menus/index.html

 

It is the second menu down.

[psueaz]

I meant was American Feast served on this cruise.

Another poster said there was no AF on CE night on her cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[joeyancho]

I meant was American Feast served on this cruise.

Another poster said there was no AF on CE night on her cruise.

 

 

that is because the order of the menus got screwed up because of the delay in departing. the menus were served out of order. I hope that explains it.

[joeyancho]

I meant was American Feast served on this cruise.

Another poster said there was no AF on CE night on her cruise.

 

 

that is because the order of the menus got screwed up because of the delay in departing. the menus were served out of order. I hope that explains it.

 

My bad, I have it backwards. The order of the dress code was reversed. Cruise elegant was on the second night, which was not American Feast night. American Feast night was on the third night, but the dress code was cruise casual. I think the reason they changed it was because it does not work to have cruise elegant on a port day. I think there is not enough time to get dressed up after getting back on board at 5:30 pm, which screws up the photo sales. I hope this makes sense. The whole process was confounded be the ship sailing late and not being able to make port on schedule. Sorry for the confusion.

[Califor6]

joeyancho - what is "FTTF and platinum members" - that had priority debarking priviledges? (don't know terminology - gonna be first time cruiser in June)

 

Ensenda porting - what are the options in port? tours - how long and what do they take you to see? touring by yourself? - although I don't feel safe being out on our own in a foreign country (especially for my 18yr olds) do they give you a list of places to visit, eat at, etc.

[joeyancho]

joeyancho - what is "FTTF and platinum members" - that had priority debarking priviledges? (don't know terminology - gonna be first time cruiser in June)

 

Ensenda porting - what are the options in port? tours - how long and what do they take you to see? touring by yourself? - although I don't feel safe being out on our own in a foreign country (especially for my 18yr olds) do they give you a list of places to visit, eat at, etc.

 

FTTF means faster to the fun. It cost 49 dollars. It basically gives you priority boarding, debarkation and tendering. Also your room will be ready when you board. You can read about it on this site or on the Carnival website under shore excursions. Platinum is a level of the Carnival loyalty program. Also on the Carnival website. Basically the more cruises you take the higher level you obtain. The higher you go the more perks you get on board. It is really not that big of a deal. FTTF basically buys you some of the perks. As for touring ensenada, the ship offers tours ranging from 27 dollars to 89 dollars. The cheapest is the bufadora. Other tours include horseback riding, wine tasting, city tour, off roading, stuff like that. You can find these on the Carnival website also. Some folks, like myself, trajectories that are not ship sponsored, like I described in my review. Tours last 2 to 4 hours depending on the tour. They do not give you a list of things to do, that I know of. The closest thing is a map of where to shop. The cruise line gets a cut from the shops. If you want to tour on you own in Ensenada, the only thing to do is walk around downtown. You can shop and eat and drink there. Do not venture off the main drag. The main drag is safe, the side streets, not so much. The bufadora tour I described above is fun for everyone. There is shopping, eating and drinking there, along with viewing the blowhole. The third post describes how to do it. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Hope this helps.

[psueaz]

 

 

 

My bad, I have it backwards. The order of the dress code was reversed. Cruise elegant was on the second night, which was not American Feast night. American Feast night was on the third night, but the dress code was cruise casual. I think the reason they changed it was because it does not work to have cruise elegant on a port day. I think there is not enough time to get dressed up after getting back on board at 5:30 pm, which screws up the photo sales. I hope this makes sense. The whole process was confounded be the ship sailing late and not being able to make port on schedule. Sorry for the confusion.

 

I get it now. Thanks!

I was worried because a previous poster said had three nights of AT, and zero nights of American Feast. I'm glad to know AF was available on your 3-day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Wanna_Cruize]

 

I get it now. Thanks!

I was worried because a previous poster said had three nights of AT, and zero nights of American Feast. I'm glad to know AF was available on your 3-day.

 

Yea, that was me. We were on Inspiration on Valentine's Day weekend, and we had the American Table menu on all 3 nights, even our 'elegant' night with Lobster on the menu. I double-checked the menus I had scanned and all of them say American Table at the bottom. Weird...

 

https://googledrive.com/host/0B2QqUJZl-o3ZYlowRkppTGdFN0U/

[Bearfoot Cruisers]

Just of the Imagination and I thought I would write a short review. First we are husband and wife ages 59 and 51 respectively. Wife is retired air traffic controller and I am a self employed contractor. This was my 29th cruise and my wife's 10th. We were looking for a weekend getaway. I check the Carnival website and couldn't resist the price. It was $425.00 out the door for an inside cabin. Can't even get a room on land for three days for that price. We live about 100 miles from Long Beach. We left for the port at around 9:30 am and arrived at the dock at around 11:30. We checked in at the platinum desk. We were on the ship before noon. We then went up to our room to drop off our bags. Our checked bags were already by the door. After dropping off our bags it was off to the buffet. The food was plentiful and tasty. The buffet theme was Italian for the first day. The second day was Caribbean and the third day was American. After filling up we roamed the ship for a while and then to the room for a nap. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the ship. I wasn't expecting much being that the imagination is an older, Fantasy class ship. The public areas all had new or recently replaced carpeting.

Now for the twist. After our nap we went up on deck for sail away. We were scheduled to sail at 6pm. However we did not sail. I waited for a while and we still did not sail. We were then off to the room to get ready for our late seating dinner. The Imagination has the new menus. The waiter said it was the second week for the new menus. The menus and corresponding food porn can be found on the zydeco cruiser website (.net) under Inspiration menus. They are the same. For dinner I had the sweet and sour shrimp. My wife has the braised short ribs. Both were served hot and were quite delicious. We were seated at a ten top but only six showed for the entire cruise.

Something very unusual happened during dinner. The captain announced that we could not sail due to issues with the steering. They were attempting to repair it. He said he would keep us updated. He stated that if we could not sail by 10:30 pm our itinerary would change. Instead of arriving in Ensenada the following day (Friday) we would have a day at sea. Our port call for Ensenada would be pushed back to Saturday. At 10:30 pm, as promised the captain came back to announce that the steering was not fixed and that the itinerary would be changing. I was beginning to doubt that we would ever sail. By midnight we were still not moving. Off to bed.

We are early risers and were up at 6am the next morning. I turned on the front of the ship channel and hurray, we were at sea. It was announced later in the cruise that a technician was flown in from Sweden to repair the ship. I bet that wasn't cheap. We apparently sailed at 2am. We spent a leisurely day at sea.

That evening we both had the jerk pork for dinner. It was outstanding! The pork was tender and juicy. The sauce was terrific. I don't recall what we had for dessert but will say that every dessert was delicious. Now I remember, it was the white chocolate banana steamed pudding. Yummy.

Ensenada!!!!! We have been to Ensenada many times. We always take the tour to the Bufadora (blowhole). We do not take the ship sponsored tour. We take the tour that is offered by the shuttle bus company that takes you into town. It is only $15.00 dollars, whereas the ship charges $27.00. It is a fun excursion. The blowhole was blowing high into the air!!! We watched it for a while and then went for some delicious fish tacos and soft drinks. The tacos are an exceptional treat. Served on fresh, handmade tortillas. After we shopped for some trinkets and were back on the bus headed to the ship. They will either take you back to the ship or drop you off downtown if you would like to shop or go to Papas and Beer. There were two ships in Port and Papas and Beer was packed with youngsters enjoying adult beverages. We chose to head back to the ship. After hitting the buffet, my wife took a nap and I went up on deck to smoke my cigar and watch for pier runners. As you can imagine, their were quite a few. I guess Papas and Beer has that effect.

That night I had lobster for dinner and my wife had grilled salmon. The lobster although small, was delicious. My wife said the salmon the was fantastic. I tasted a bite and she was right. With the new menus the entrees are served alacarte. The sides are served seperately from selections listed on the menu. All the sides were also delicious. The standout were the mashed potatoes and sauteed green beans. The wife had WCMC and I had creme brulee. Both luscious.

Debarkation. We received a notice explaining that if we wished to debark self assist, we should report to the specified lounge no later than 7:15 am. We rose at 6am and headed to the buffet for our last chance to gorge. After eating too much we headed to the lounge. At 7:15 sharp the lead us off the ship. It was the fastest we have ever been off the ship. This option was available only to FTTF and platinum members. We were home by 9:30am . Amazing!

A lot has been said about the new menus and the food in general. All I can say is that we very quite pleased with the entire experience. We did not attend any shows so I can't comment as to that.

In summary I will say that it was a great cruise and a wonderful weekend get away. Well done, Carnival!!!! I would be glad to answer any questions.

 

We were on the sailing just before you - got off the ship on the 20th. Glad to here you sailed and didn't miss anything. We didn't have any problems on our cruise so I was surprised to hear of the issues prior to you sailing.

I too was skeptical about the new menus and they just started them on our cruise. The first night was a nightmare with long delays between the waitstaff and the kitchen. Everything seemed real unorganized. We had early dining and didn't finish dinner until 8:20. More than half the tables were still eating and those with late dining were all waiting in line outside. After the first night, things went much better and it was business as usual. We were surprisingly happy with the new menus. Most of our favorites were still there. The tables looked nice even without the tablecloths. Wish they had more silverware though. They only give you a knife and a fork and the wait staff are constantly bringing more silverware between each course. Love the La Bufadora area and the fish tacos. We do the same thing and book it in town. Several years ago they offered an ATV tour in the wine country but that is no longer available.

[joeyancho]

We were on the sailing just before you - got off the ship on the 20th. Glad to here you sailed and didn't miss anything. We didn't have any problems on our cruise so I was surprised to hear of the issues prior to you sailing.

I too was skeptical about the new menus and they just started them on our cruise. The first night was a nightmare with long delays between the waitstaff and the kitchen. Everything seemed real unorganized. We had early dining and didn't finish dinner until 8:20. More than half the tables were still eating and those with late dining were all waiting in line outside. After the first night, things went much better and it was business as usual. We were surprisingly happy with the new menus. Most of our favorites were still there. The tables looked nice even without the tablecloths. Wish they had more silverware though. They only give you a knife and a fork and the wait staff are constantly bringing more silverware between each course. Love the La Bufadora area and the fish tacos. We do the same thing and book it in town. Several years ago they offered an ATV tour in the wine country but that is no longer available.

 

The waiter said that it was the second week for the new menu. He said they were all confused the first week. Agree about how the new tables look. Also agree on the silverware. I found myself missing some pieces. They used to put out a full service.