Carnival Imagination 8/30 3 day Live

[CoffeeGoddess]

Does your cabin have a fake window with curtains???? I am trying to find the measurements for the space behind the curtains of the fake window as I want to surprise my friend with a poster of our rear aft balcony wake/water view from our recent cruise on the Glory. Even a rough estimate will work.

It does. I can get an approximate dimension and see if the curtains even open when I go back to my cabin.

 

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[CoffeeGoddess]

Looks like you are having a lot of fun! Those cocktails look lush & actually the food does too maybe we ought to put Carnival onto our list!

 

 

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Alchemy makes some great cocktails and we're pretty spot on making me something off the menu.

 

I actually wasn't planning to eat in the MDR but the description of the portabella brought me in. I was very happy with the quality of the food.

 

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[CoffeeGoddess]

The portobello mushroom entree is the best item on the menu. :)

I can totally believe that!

 

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[CoffeeGoddess]

I know who you are ;)

I read your Bliss Transatlantic live review and I appreciate it . Carnival is so much fun you won't be disappointed. Enjoy your cruise.

Well let's hope I don't hurt myself on this cruise.

 

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[CoffeeGoddess]

Never tried the mushroom, will definitely try it in a couple days.

DO IT

 

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[CoffeeGoddess]

I'm up and basically functioning although my bid to hit the 15 limit which I accomplished has left my stomach not particularly happy with me so I won't be doing that again the rest of the cruise.

 

I'm enjoying an americano from the coffee bar, which is included in Cheers unlike NCL. Definitely a plus for Carnival.

 

 

What's not a plus is this slow wifi. NCL definitely wins at speed but it may even out with all the connection issues I have on them.

 

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[CoffeeGoddess]

Okay, this wifi is the pits.

 

I have a gif sitting in FB Messenger still downloading from about an hour ago. At least my texts are working ok.

 

Sad news for the person who wanted to know about the fake window (I can't see the previous posts since the wifi is so bad so don't remember your name). The actual drapes don't open, they are sewn together so you can't split them open and tacked with no slider on top. If you still want to try it's approximately 63"×40".

 

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[meatloafsfan]

Looks like you're having a great time. I love that Portobello mushroom dish.

 

If you have the American Feast menu tonight, I've heard that the scallop appetizer is fantastic (assuming you eat seafood). Otherwise the Indian Vegetarian is always good.

 

Grab a couple of PowerAde drinks to revive and hit the Alchemy bar again - you know you want to!

[LdyMags]

Okay, this wifi is the pits.

 

I have a gif sitting in FB Messenger still downloading from about an hour ago. At least my texts are working ok.

 

Sad news for the person who wanted to know about the fake window (I can't see the previous posts since the wifi is so bad so don't remember your name). The actual drapes don't open, they are sewn together so you can't split them open and tacked with no slider on top. If you still want to try it's approximately 63"×40".

 

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We had the premium WiFi and couldn’t even upload to any social media site. It’s awful! Ncl was way better!

 

 

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[CoffeeGoddess]

Well they gave me back the upgrade cost since it's so awful. I'm sitting in the atrium drinking a Moscow Mule (1st drink today if you're counting) and complaining to Doug on FB Messenger which is about the only app, along with this, actually working.

 

Except it's looking like I won't be uploading photos here either anytime soon.

 

Tip for breakfast at the buffet, they turn Guy's into an eggs to order station, and put out most of what they're offering inside at a station in between that and the Blue Iguana. That has a much shorter line than inside.

 

I also find it interesting that you need to sign for each drink (even non-alcholic) even if you have Cheers. And they won't let you get anything with someone else's card since you need to sign. So no getting drinks for two people while one of you does something else.

 

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[LdyMags]

Well they gave me back the upgrade cost since it's so awful. I'm sitting in the atrium drinking a Moscow Mule (1st drink today if you're counting) and complaining to Doug on FB Messenger which is about the only app, along with this, actually working.

 

Except it's looking like I won't be uploading photos here either anytime soon.

 

Tip for breakfast at the buffet, they turn Guy's into an eggs to order station, and put out most of what they're offering inside at a station in between that and the Blue Iguana. That has a much shorter line than inside.

 

I also find it interesting that you need to sign for each drink (even non-alcholic) even if you have Cheers. And they won't let you get anything with someone else's card since you need to sign. So no getting drinks for two people while one of you does something else.

 

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My friends took my card and got me drinks on cheers or the waiters around the pool would just give one of us all the receipts to sign. I guess maybe it depends on the bar?

 

 

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[christyran1228]

And they won't let you get anything with someone else's card since you need to sign. So no getting drinks for two people while one of you does something else.

 

I wonder if that's a policy thing or a bartender thing ... I used to run down with both DH's & my cards and got us both drinks on Cheers nearly our whole cruise. Maybe because it was always the same bartender and I tipped too much? lol

 

Enjoying your review ... thank you! :)

[CoffeeGoddess]

Stupid internet, I just lost a big post. It's gotta be the bartender then because every time someone tried when I was at the bar they were denied.

 

 

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[CoffeeGoddess]

There was almost a rumble in the Alchemy Bar. The mule drinking bros on one end of the bar and Jameson drinking party girls on the other end were all yelling back and forth about who loves the bartender, Lidija, more. 🤣[emoji23]

 

I wish I would have got a video of it. And I fully agree Lidija is awesome. Go see her in Alchemy for great drinks.

 

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[Ziggy7]

Okay, this wifi is the pits.

 

I have a gif sitting in FB Messenger still downloading from about an hour ago. At least my texts are working ok.

 

Sad news for the person who wanted to know about the fake window (I can't see the previous posts since the wifi is so bad so don't remember your name). The actual drapes don't open, they are sewn together so you can't split them open and tacked with no slider on top. If you still want to try it's approximately 63"×40".

 

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Thanks so much, I really appreciate your taking the time to measure them! Loving your live review! <3

[CoffeeGoddess]

The sad state of affairs with the wifi continues. I'd live to post pictures from the Chef's Table I'm enjoying right now but that's going to have to wait.

 

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[CruiseCuriosity]

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[CoffeeGoddess]

Looks like I'm back, both home and thread wise since it went bye-bye for a bit. Based on what has been removed, commenting on a very prominent sculptural feature on the Imagination is a no go. I'll need to upload some photos to Flickr then I'll come back tomorrow and finish it up.

Oh, I did finally see one bartender in Alchemy take make two drinks and take both cards without having the second person there so it must be the bartender.

[iceman111]

Looks like I'm back, both home and thread wise since it went bye-bye for a bit. Based on what has been removed, commenting on a very prominent sculptural feature on the Imagination is a no go. I'll need to upload some photos to Flickr then I'll come back tomorrow and finish it up.

 

 

 

Oh, I did finally see one bartender in Alchemy take make two drinks and take both cards without having the second person there so it must be the bartender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was following closely and then you disappeared. So happy you are back. Can’t wait to hear more

 

 

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[CoffeeGoddess]

Finishing this up. It will be a little weird since I'll be typing and posting from my desktop and then going and editing the post on Tapatalk to add pictures but it'll get done.

When we last left off I was bemoaning the horrible wifi that would not let me post pictures of the Chef's Table. This was the first time I had done a Chef's Table on Carnival but have done a few on NCL. I had signed up on line and received an email stating that the information for the time and date would be in my cabin. It did show up in my mailbox the morning of which was the 2nd day, the sea day. We were to meet at 6pm down in the atrium. I got there a little early and the sign hadn't been put out but by 10 to they had a small sign for the Chef's Table meeting right near the end of Guest Services. A crew member was also looking for people around the atrium and handing out champagne. Once the majority of the guests were there (one couple was missing) we met the head chef, Eduardo, and he took us up to the galley entrance. He showed us how they make the chocolate melting cake and then gave us the first four appetizers. All of them were good but, and this is for every dish, they all had a bit of sweetness to them.

 

 

 

 

 

After that we did a short tour and then he took us through the dining room into the library where the table was set. That was also where the lost couple joined us and we took a group photo which we were presented with at the end of dinner.

The table settings had name cards so it was assigned seating and also had a rolled menu of what was to be served. Unfortunately my picture didn't come out good but I know there are menus out there. It was not the new one.

[CoffeeGoddess]

Dinner did take a while, we were finally done by close to 9:30pm and the one child who was there was practically falling asleep. It was also a lot of food so if you go, pace yourself and don't worry about not eating all of every course. I was sat at the end of the table with my back facing the library windows so the lighting is a little weird in some of my photos. They did put up a sound damping gasket around the door going to the ship which was really needed since the line for the dining room was long and got a little loud sometimes.

First off was the Beet Blanket with Spiced Grape Tea

Next was one of my favorite dishes of the night, Crab Stack

Then we had what they called Duck textures which was duck prepared two ways

Next was an actual soup called Bisque Our Way which was two types of tomato soup

The next two course would have been considered the mains, first was Sea Bass

The next was Wagyu as a shortrib cut that was incredibly tender.

 

[CoffeeGoddess]

Finally came the dessert course and we all gave a go of at least tasting everything. The sea salt praline chocolate cake was my favorite. Oh, they did do two Chef's Tables on this cruise with the 2nd one taking place the last night.

Finally done I waddled off to my room debating if I was going to stay up of not and finally decided on not.

Besides the wifi being horrible on the sea day it was a bit of bummer trying to find a place int he shade to relax. Serenity was full if not with people then with chair hog's towels, and all the covered spaces on deck were also taken. I didn't have much for lunch because I knew dinner would be a killer so tried a Ruben sandwich in the deli. Not a good choice since the meat was very tough. I wound up just napping in my room for the most part since I had partied hard the night before.

I didn't get up early for Ensenada since I had nothing planned except to walk around and try to find a metal artist who's shop I had purchased from the last time I was there. Spoiler: she was no longer there. I got my coffee at the coffee bar in the buffet since it was packed on deck 9 and caught a picture of what was left of the towel animal takeover from the morning.

 

I grabbed the shuttle for $4 round trip that takes you to the city center by the mall and right by the shopping district and then wandered looking for my artist getting many people trying to sell me things and look in their shops. When I realized the person I was looking for wasn't there and there was nothing similar I had a beer at a little corner restaurant and went back to the ship.

 

Serenity was pretty much dead with one of the hot tubs being open and in partial shade so I hung out there for a bit getting a Mai Tai (which turned out to be waaaay too sweet) from that now famous waiter from the other Imagination thread about a month back.

[CoffeeGoddess]

I went back for a nap in my room, and then went up to Alchemy when they opened and caught up on my emails and stuff since the wifi was so much better. I had realized that morning that my review had been deleted but wouldn't get a response until Tuesday.

 

After dinner I wandered around the ship a bit and then called it a night so I could get up and vacate my cabin by 8:30.

 

 

 

I went up to the MDR for breakfast and had a really good broccoli and cheese scramble. I highly recommend doing the MDR for embarkation breakfast since everything really looked good and it wasn't very full at all. Cheers still worked so I got a latte for breakfast but I did have to pay sales tax since we were back in port.

 

 

Since they had just been given the go ahead to start debarcaktion by the time I finished breakfast, I went and got my last boozy coffee from the Coffee Bar and waited for my deck to be called for self assist. I was surprised that they were calling decks for self assist but looking at the line for it, I can see why.

 

They finally called my deck and I went down to 7 and got into a line that started at the midship elevators. There was one crew member there trying to shepherd everyone but was a little overwhelmed. One lady came up and started talking about that she shouldn't have to wait in line since she was platinum and just walked past everyone while the rest of her family was calling out to her to just wait. I got treated to them complaining about how "grandma knows the platinum is earlier and just doesn't want to do it then" and how she's always like this. But they stayed back and waited in line like everyone else. If I had to estimate it I would say it took about 30-40 minutes to get from where I was in line up to customs so not too bad. It really did look like most people were doing self-assist since there was barely any luggage in the hall.

[CoffeeGoddess]

I took the Carnival transfer to Long Beach Airport and the rest of my trip went off without a hitch. Well, except for the horrible turbulence on the flight back that had me contemplating if I would need to pull out the little barf bag.

I did elect to do just the evening service and that was fine. He did show me the form when he asked what service and it did say morning, evening, and both so you can select both. Imagination is an older ship and even with the dry dock her age does show a bit. There was a distinct sewage smell in my bathroom during the sea day but it was barley noticeable the first and last day.

One thing I really missed was a free 24 hour sit down venue like the pubs on NCL. They did have the Pizza Pirate open but what I really wanted one night was wings and I certainly wasn't getting them on this ship. All in all I would sail Carnival again and probably will when they bring their new ship to the west coast.

[Rosefloater]

I grabbed the shuttle for $4 round trip that takes you to the city center by the mall and right by the shopping district...

 

Did the bus drop you off at the mall near the info both and McDonalds? Or was the stop closer to Papas N Beers?