Disapointment

[sjn911]

I have nothing but admiration for adults who give their time and talent to organizations that help our young people mature into responsible adults. Thank you OP.

 

It would be interesting to read a couple of reviews of this cruise from the girl scouts. If they had fun, tried new things, dealt with problems and have good memories it was worth selling all those cookies. I looove the thin mints.

I am into those shortbreads..did not allow myself last year. I would too; like to hear their stories after reflection, I bet they had a good time..they will reflect on when they found such a great tour guide in Ensenada..and when their behavior could have used improvement, when they maybe should have asked one more time for a better burger..that is the whole thing of it..getting along, learning what to let go or fight for.

 

My friend's mom...mom's co-leader..well her daughter and I; we reconnected in another state years and years later and are friends..she became a Presbyterian Minister and finally got her own church last couple of years..we went through childhood and some mid years in different areas...we chuckle over lessons learned and still call upon them sometimes..my mom learnd not to shame me over my less than stellar recipe book artwork in front of group..LOL..

 

There is sooo much importance in a non school good extra curricular group where you see folks in several settings. The same elderly home every year. Helping the girls in your troop meet the quota when their circumstance is harder..seeing that everyone went on the outdoor learning trip non related to our scouts..but many of the girls were in the same school...so warmer clothes needs..their share of the food etc. fees..we sometimes earned..it was all done in this way they returned a favor another time..not guilt..not poor me..we all need help..I am so glad people are backing this up here..and not everyone is chastising the immediate let down..she will reflect on all the learning things with the girls and herself..it is a big circle thing...and attempts to be helpful to many economic levels and build everyone up...the idea is how to help yourself, your community and neighbor..no matter what age..the love shown in Scouts/Bluebirds/Campfire girls lasts forever how to work out problem lasts forever too..Sarah

 

Thanks for backing up this organization..we as a society desperately need the comeback of all these groups for kids..it makes a WORLD of difference. 4h is great too...a blue ribbon banana bread maker here..LOL.

Edited August 27, 2014 by sjn911

[RuthlessBoss]

OP, I hope you re-consider Carnival, maybe out of FLA but I must admit it is not going to compare to some of your other cruises.

 

I don't think her cruise was really that bad, but once she started with negativity about the bed placement ( I can't help but wonder if they were wrong or not. I would think the cabins were set up the way they were booked, possibly). Then the smell (which we know is remedied by putting water down the floor drain). From there on it was downhill for the poster.

I know it can happen, because I had this happen myself. It's a long story. Yes, it was a Carnival ship, but have since done 2 more. I just couldn't shake the negativity on the ship I was on.

[Disconnections]

I don't think her cruise was really that bad, but once she started with negativity about the bed placement ( I can't help but wonder if they were wrong or not. I would think the cabins were set up the way they were booked, possibly). Then the smell (which we know is remedied by putting water down the floor drain). From there on it was downhill for the poster.

I know it can happen, because I had this happen myself. It's a long story. Yes, it was a Carnival ship, but have since done 2 more. I just couldn't shake the negativity on the ship I was on.

 

Perhaps it is possible that having one of these initial experiences onboard set a tone of negativity for entire cruise, causing the OP to only focus on finding problems. The OP maybe found enjoyment in the ports because they weren't onboard a Carnival ship.

 

In all fairness, even I can find plenty of positives onboard a Carnival ship. Although, like you RuthlessBoss, the negativity tone did take place on my most recent Carnival cruise because of unfortunate experiences within hours of boarding.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Disconnections

[sanmarcosman]

As for nothing to do, the ship has a water park, with multiple slides, miniature golf, shuffle board, ping pong, video games, movies under the stars, and on and on.

 

Wait, there are movies under the stars on the Inspiration and Imagination!?! :mad:

[MrBanana1240]

Past posters are correct. The older ships on short cruises are known to be the "Booze Cruises." But I do encourage you give Carnival another chance. Maybe the Miracle from the same port of departure to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta would be better? Those are some great ports from what I've heard and the ship is one of carnival's highest rated, and cruise critic can agree, one of carnival's best ship designs. (no walk of same from deck 3 to deck 2 to deck 3 again because of the galley)

 

With that said, I hope the girls really enjoyed their vacation and made the most of it! I'm sure they loved it.

[MrBanana1240]

Wait, there are movies under the stars on the Inspiration and Imagination!?! :mad:

 

They don't have the Seaside theater but I think they have a presentation board and projector, like a school does. Think that's nicer than a permanent TV blasting 24 hours a day.

[elliair]

 

Now I can only assume that other Carnival ships are better but to be honest, I'm not sure if I want to risk my money to try out an other ships. I already know I love the cruise lines so I'm thinking it's best to stick with tried and true ships that I know are nicer.

 

 

I agree with you about the Inspiration. We were on here b2b and it was horrible! I hated that ship and they can dump her out of the fleet. We didn't smell sewage, but we smelled cigarette smoke and welding smoke coming into our cabin. We were on the upper deck last cabin aft. However, we're on the sister ship to the Inspiration leaving Sunday. I'm hoping it's better than the Inspiration, but I won't hold my breath that it will be. The price was right and the airline tickets were el cheapo.

 

I won't apologize for Carnival, because what you described is the absolute truth! Carnival does have other ships that are very nice. You and I just got on the wrong one. It hasn't stopped us from cruising though. Maybe try Princess, you'll see the difference.

[Disconnections]

They don't have the Seaside theater but I think they have a presentation board and projector, like a school does. Think that's nicer than a permanent TV blasting 24 hours a day.

 

Aren't the projected movies usually held in the main show lounge whenever one is being shown?

[loxley]

Like. Which is why I said what I did in a previous post. Call me a cheerlear if you please. Rah rah boom boom! I have nothing against any cruise line. Sail with who you please.

 

I still say a post cruise wrap up with almost all negative commentary says more about the poster than the trip itself when the idea is to relax and enjoy yourself.

 

Exactly, the only thing this review tells me is don't cruise with the op.

 

I've sailed the imagination twice recently. I am having trouble reconciling my experience with the OPs review. The imagination has the new menu. Every bite I had in the MDR was very good. The selection was terrific. There was definitely something for everyone. Also there is the kiddie menu. The lido has the deli which makes great sandwiches and wraps. I find it hard to believe that ALL the food was no good. I am a trained chef, culinary institute and new orleans school of cooking. Trust me the food is good, with most being very good.

As for nothing to do, the ship has a water park, with multiple slides, miniature golf, shuffle board, ping pong, video games, movies under the stars, and on and on. If you can't find anything to do, you are not looking hard enough.

As for unfriendly crew, on both cruises all the staff knew our names after the first day. They acknowledged us all over the ship whenever they saw us.

The complaints about the smell I understand. That would be gross but a call to guest services might take care of it.

I am sure the little girls had more fun than the adults.

 

The food thing totally negates this review for me. I thought maybe they could not understand the new menus, but even still, they only had soup and dessert and room service sandwiches?

[candigirl]

WOW....At first I was thinking...Dang, I'm sure glad I wasn't on that cruise! And then I realized I WAS ON THIS CRUISE. We had a totally different experience, fortunately. I admit I did not ever get more than a slight whiff of sewer smell, but that is pretty much par for the course on any ship. If it was my cabin that smelled of sewer I would not be a happy cruiser either. I am sorry you and the girls did not have a good time. On roll call you were worried that this one might not be as fun as your other cruises and unfortunately, your prediction was correct. Being responsible for a handful of 13 year olds would be pretty stressful on land or sea. Our group which included kids from 8-20 all had a fabulous time. Did the girls enjoy the waterworks and the giant slide? Did they race each other on the side by side slides? Play ping pong or shuffleboard? Did you laugh at the family comedy show? The teenagers (all the kids for that matter) had a blast at kids club (don't recall what they call the different age groups, sorry) and met many new friends. We all enjoyed the deck party on the last night, especially the teens with the conga line. I had the 19 and 20 year old boys with me and thought they might have the toughest time being entertained, but they said it was the best vacation since our last Carnival cruise together. We all found plenty of good food to eat. If we didn't like something in the MDR, we sent it back and they gladly replaced it with an alternate choice and a smile. It is what you make it and fortunately for us, we decided to have a fabulous time and we did. I truly hope your next adventure better meets your expectations.

[MonDreamr1]

Not commenting on the cruise review

 

 

The GS cruise trips. This isn't a new thing. Mine went in the late 90s on RCCL. Older sisters of our troop had gone several years prior on Carnival. My sister's troop went 4 years after mine. The girls all had a great time. I know there were some issues the adults dealt with (my mom went on my sister's trip) On the trip as a teen we didn't notice or know about until after we got home. There used to be a badge you could fulfill most of on the trip. They've changed so much I have no clue what it would currently fall under -finding the old one would involve a scary trip into my mother's attic.

 

 

 

 

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[SadieN]

OP didn't complain about the alcohol just mentioned that they couldn't drink and suggested that alcohol might have made the cruise ................

 

 

Um...... That's a complaint. They couldn't drink. For many people a cruise is a time to unwind with a drink. Can't do that if you're chaperoning and bound by a legal document. Made the cruise worse for her. Just one more thing to go 'wrong'. Knowing beforehand that she couldn't drink is A LOT different than actually not drinking.

 

4-H has the same rules. After the kids were no longer my responsibility (the event ended and they were with their parents) at a fair I had to get out of my club's t shirt to try the new beers.

Those were the rules but it was a PITA to carry around a second shirt.

[lollylew]

That's too bad to hear about your experience! :( I sailed the Inspiration first part of August and actually really enjoyed it. Probably my only complaint was that our server in the MDR didn't have any help but then, I had two young kids screaming at dinner (went back to the room in the middle of dinner every night) that I don't have much to really be complaining about. I actually didn't enjoy my Breeze cruise all that much in June but hey, I'm still sailing :p

[belles]

sorry you had such an awful time. I do not prefer the shorter cruises. They tend to be on the older, smaller ships. I've been on the Imagination and had a great time because of the company I was with.

Everyone has an opinion, if that was the only ship Carnival had, I would probably switch to another line. I love the Pride, Freedom and Breeze.

I would never even think of bringing Girl Scouts on a shorter, party cruise like the Imagination.

If you don't want to try another ship, you should stick to what you like.

[thistimeplease]

Um...... That's a complaint. They couldn't drink. For many people a cruise is a time to unwind with a drink. Can't do that if you're chaperoning and bound by a legal document. Made the cruise worse for her. Just one more thing to go 'wrong'. Knowing beforehand that she couldn't drink is A LOT different than actually not drinking.

 

4-H has the same rules. After the kids were no longer my responsibility (the event ended and they were with their parents) at a fair I had to get out of my club's t shirt to try the new beers.

Those were the rules but it was a PITA to carry around a second shirt.

 

Wow, talk about reading a lot into something.

Edited August 27, 2014 by thistimeplease
sentence incorrect

[SadieN]

Wow, talk about reading a lot into something.

 

Well, for her to bring it up it had to be important.

[Rudyard]

On roll call you were worried that this one might not be as fun as your other cruises and unfortunately, your prediction was correct

 

Sounds like a self fulfilling prophecy. I don't doubt the thing about the beds, the smells, etc, but I wonder how much more could have been because the OP talked herself into having a bad time. I've known plenty of people who have done this.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I agree with you about the Inspiration. We were on here b2b and it was horrible! I hated that ship and they can dump her out of the fleet. We didn't smell sewage, but we smelled cigarette smoke and welding smoke coming into our cabin. We were on the upper deck last cabin aft. However, we're on the sister ship to the Inspiration leaving Sunday. I'm hoping it's better than the Inspiration, but I won't hold my breath that it will be. The price was right and the airline tickets were el cheapo...

 

I was on the Imagination recently in an upper deck aft cabin, and your description pretty much sums it up. I didn't notice any sewage odors, but there was cigarette smoke throughout the ship, including non-smoking areas. At least you know what to expect--bad '90s decor, loud music and lots of unsupervised kids. I hope you manage to have a good time anyway. This was my first time on Carnival, and probably my last.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[mkhilloo]

Like anything in life.....you get what you pay for. Sounds like Champagne wishes on a beer budget. 4 day weekend cruises are all party....regular cruiser s know this. In no way does it compare to 7, 8 night on a ship like the Breeze. Go figure.....

[elliair]

I was on the Imagination recently in an upper deck aft cabin, and your description pretty much sums it up. I didn't notice any sewage odors, but there was cigarette smoke throughout the ship, including non-smoking areas. At least you know what to expect--bad '90s decor, loud music and lots of unsupervised kids. I hope you manage to have a good time anyway. This was my first time on Carnival, and probably my last.

 

Won't be my last just not on this itinerary. This is just a get away for us, no big deal either way. Maybe Reno is next, free room and booze, works for us.

[Manny13840]

Got back last week from taking my girl scout troop on their first cruise. We just did the 4 night one on Inspiration to Mexico.

 

I've been on several other cruise lines and loved each one. This was my first time on Carnival Cruise Line.

 

This was by far the worst ship! The worst trip!

 

We got three cabins. Each one had the worst smell of sewage in the bathrooms. So bad that it made you sick to go in there!

 

Our rooms were all mixed up with how many people in each room. They didn't have the beds made out right in some, in others we had extra beds taking all the room and in another one we didn't have an extra bed at all.

 

But, rather then complain, we made due and moved the people around to fit the rooms.

 

The food was so bad we couldn't decide where to eat. Not because we were trying to pick the best food but rather the least of the worst.

 

Other then the hamburgers, pizza and nachos we didn't enjoy anything they had to offer. So we ended up eating only a side dish and then getting a sandwich through room service.

 

Hated how the MDR served family style. There were 8 of us but we still had three women at our table with us. They felt the same was about the food. One night they had a side of mushrooms, one night several plates of tomatoes and cheese and one night only bread.

 

We weren't much better. Eating soup and dessert.

 

The entertainment on board wasn't great but it was entertaining and gave us something to do at night. However, they had only two shows and then they showed them over and over.

 

So we were left to listen to music or swim. Both got old before the trip was over.

 

The adults did not drink as we were with girl scouts and it's not allowed. Perhaps that is what one needs to do on this ship to make it fun???

 

While we were not really even looking forward to getting off the ship as it was only going to Catalina which is 26 miles from where we live and we have been there many times and to Ensenada which I heart was a dump.

 

However, both stops ended up being the highlight of our trip. The girls went snorkeling and then we went shopping in Catalina and had some yummy ice cream.

 

In Ensenada we had a blast! We didn't book an excursion on the ship as nothing sounded like it was worth the money. However, we did take a city tour and had the best tour guide, Jesus.

 

He took us to where the rich politicians lived and we had a lovely view of the whole city and our ship from up on the hill. He also taught us a lot of the Mexican customs, history and celebrations. We made a stop at an old casino that is now a location for celebrations.

 

When we got back we enjoyed a free buffet lunch that was included with the price of our tour. Then we headed off on foot to shops and thanks to Jesus we knew the streets to stay off of.

 

Everyone in Mexico was super nice and many joked around with us. We got wonderful deals and everyone came home with treasures.

 

The sea day on the ship turned out to be a very long day as there wasn't much to do. We had already done everything offered. But the girls wanted to go swimming once it got dark out. So I took them. The other adults ended up going to the Casino. One lost money but my sister ended up winning several hundreds of dollars. That of course made the trip a bit better.

 

The ship is old and needs to be updated. Several lights were burned out in the lounges, the sound system in some of the locations were so bad you couldn't even understand what was being said. Bingo cost $20 for ONE game!!!

 

Now I can only assume that other Carnival ships are better but to be honest, I'm not sure if I want to risk my money to try out an other ships. I already know I love the cruise lines so I'm thinking it's best to stick with tried and true ships that I know are nicer.

 

I was really hoping to love Carnival and went on this trip with an open mind.

 

Even most of the staff wasn't that friendly. Not mean or bad but not very friendly like other lines where they know your name after the first night and bend over backwards to make you happy. Many didn't smile, say thank you, your welcome or anything.

 

We went to a tea and I don't like tea so I asked for a glass of ice water. Well the way the guy acted was like I asked for a glass of gold. He rolled his eyes, made such a big deal that he had to go get it from the back. Then he took so long that we were all done with the food and everyone finished their tea.

 

I could go on and on but why? I think you get the idea. It wasn't up to par.

 

However, we still had lots of laughs and made the best of what we had to deal with.

 

It was the first cruise that I and the other adults was happy to see end. That's pretty sad.

 

 

You need try another carnival ship maybe the newer with more stuff entertainment food and all other stuff... Try magic, freedom, breeze or sunshine

 

 

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[Manny13840]

Thats why personally I would not cruise on the fantasy class they look cheap and biring IMO...

 

 

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[Eeyoregon]

Hated how the MDR served family style. There were 8 of us but we still had three women at our table with us. They felt the same was about the food. One night they had a side of mushrooms, one night several plates of tomatoes and cheese and one night only bread.

 

:confused: Um, I've been on 3 Carnival cruises, including a 4 night one less than a year ago, and have no idea what you are referring to when you say "family style"??? Yes, the bread comes in a basket but everything else is individually ordered off of a menu that changes nightly. :confused:

 

Isn't the Inspiration 4 day notorious for being the "Booze Cruise?" Not a cruise I would have taken a bunch of little girls on.

 

No kidding! Seems like a very odd choice for a girl scouts adventure. Maybe try tent camping next time ;).

[SadieN]

:confused: Um, I've been on 3 Carnival cruises, including a 4 night one less than a year ago, and have no idea what you are referring to when you say "family style"??? Yes, the bread comes in a basket but everything else is individually ordered off of a menu that changes nightly. :confused:

 

 

 

No kidding! Seems like a very odd choice for a girl scouts adventure. Maybe try tent camping next time ;).

 

 

Carnival is testing new American Table menus on four ships. Glory and Liberty are testing the seven day menus out of Miami. Inspiration and Imagination are testing the three and four day menus out of Long Beach. This started in February.

The recipes and menus are constantly being tweaked. Some of the recipes and items were different between our two Inspiration cruises in February and May.

The sides are served family style, that is in a communal bowl for your group. You can request individually plated portions.

Edited August 28, 2014 by SadieN

[candigirl]

In April on the menu they had a section called "For the Table". Items that would be good for sharing. On this cruise, they no longer had a "For the Table" section on the menu. However you could order rice or noodles in a large bowl for sharing, so I am not exactly sure what OP is referring to. If you don't want something...don't eat it. They now have a fun choice each night called "rare finds". We challenged the older kids to try all of them and had a prize for anyone in our group who tried the "rare find" item each night. We had 1 winner who sampled the alligator, the rabbit, the frogs legs and the escargot. I'm sailing again next week and am sure there will be more tweaks to the menu in just 3 weeks.