Imagination or Enchantment of the Seas?

[Cruisin Amy]

I really like the ports of call on both..like the cabin size on Carnival but not the shorter time in ports and RCCL has longer times but the ship doesn't look like it has more to offer being a little bit older...

 

kids would be 5 and 9

thanks

 

Big Red Boat 93 Honeymoon!

Carnvial Tropicale 94

Carnival Fantasy 97

Royal Carribean NE 98

Grand Princess Dec 2002

Spring 2005

[Cyt4SoreEyes]

I haven't been on the Imagination but I have been on the Enchantment of the seas many yrs ago well not too many back..but that ship was gorgeous..the decor was just lovely. I really enjoyed myself on that cruiseship and the staff was just so friendly and helpful and I do remeber the food being great as well. Now you have children when I cruised that ship I didn't have my kids with me so I am not sure what they can offer besides their kids program. Now I do know Carnival has a great Kids program as my kids have cruised with us onboard Carnivals ships..although the never attended Camp carnial the other kids we did happen to meet said they were having a great time there..these kids were about the age of your kids mine are a little older. I think either way you won't go wrong..maybe someone who has been on the Imagination could tell you more about that ship and its activities they offer or you could also go to Carnival.com or Rccl.com sites and check out each ship make a list of each one and its offerings and then compare them and check off as you go. Goodluck on choosing and have a wonderful cruise when ya go!!!

 

Cyt

 

Atlantic

Oceanic

Norway

Enchantment of the Seas

Destiny

Voyager of the Seas

Conquest March 30th 2003

Glory May 29th 2004

Caribbean Princess Oct 23 2004

Triumph/Victory November 20/21 2004

 

 

 

 

[cantwait2cruise]

We're going on Imagination in a couple of weeks. Will post a review when I get back. I would go with the line you prefer more...

 

HM on Inspiration 3/9/03

Sovereign of the Seas 8/17/03 (Just Mom and I)

Imagination 6/17/04 (w/ the Inlaws!)

[kfleming]

I have been on both but for very different reasons, which I think makes a difference on impressions. I was on Enchantment for my honeymoon in 2000 (romance & relaxing) and Imagination in 2002 to celebrate my best friends college graduation (fun & partying).

 

The major difference between them is the cabins. Enchantment has more balcony cabins. The only balcony cabins on Imagination are suites. Like Cyt said the Enchantment is a beautiful ship. Glass and windows everywhere. But then again I had no complaints with the Imagination either. I do think the Enchantment was nicer and in better shape, but that was also 4 years ago.

 

For me personally the decision would come down to what kind of cabin I was looking at getting and prices.

 

I can't comment on the kid's program for either ship.

 

Sorry, that probably won't help you much but I don't think you could go wrong on either one.

 

Karen

Fantasy 3/98

Enchantment of the Seas 6/00

Explorer of the Seas 9/01

Victory 5/02

Imagination 7/02

Paradise 5/03

Fascination 5/28/04

[Cruisin Amy]

thats a hard one because I like points about both ships!!

 

Big Red Boat 93 Honeymoon!

Carnvial Tropicale 94

Carnival Fantasy 97

Royal Carribean NE 98

Grand Princess Dec 2002

Spring 2005

[SUSANITA]

Our first cruise was on Enchantment, we LOVED that ship and plan to sail her again someday!! I've never sailed Imagination, but have sailed her sister ship, Sensation, twice. If I were you, I would choose Enchantment, if the price is comparable. It's just more...elegant.

 

Formerly known as "Doulasue"

Suep366394@aol.com

NEXT UP~MARINER, Sept 19th

MIRACLE~FEB 13,2005!

http://community.webshots.com/user/upstatedon OUR CRUISE PICS!

 

 

[jemingway]

The Enchantment is definitely nicer, but also is considerably more expensive. The Imagination is a great value and I would recommend it highly for the price. The Enchantment is much more impressive. It depends on your preferences.

 

JV The 4 stages of cruising: planning, anticipation, experience and reflection.

[Cruisin Amy]

Thanks

anyone else for tips on the imagination

 

Do they have a kids pool? or how can I find out!

 

Big Red Boat 93 Honeymoon!

Carnvial Tropicale 94

Carnival Fantasy 97

Royal Carribean NE 98

Grand Princess Dec 2002

Spring 2005

[DFritz]

Carnival Imagination vs. Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas ( A little long )My review comparison....

 

We sailed the Carnival Imagination on the Western Caribbean 5-day itinerary on June 9-14, 2003. We had previously sailed Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas , fall 2002, so I decided to use this cruise as a comparison of Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International. The Enchantment and the Imagination are similar sized vessels with comparable crew to passenger ratio and of similar age. The Enchantment sailed from Ft. Lauderdales Port Everglades and the Imagination sailed from the Miami-Dade Port. I can clearly say that I much preferred Ft. Lauderdale port for its organization in pier layout and traffic manageability and for the parking covered deck option over the haphazard layout at Miami with open parking and traffic confusion. This difference had nothing to do with either cruise line.

 

Embarkation: Both cruise lines were organized and ran smoothly. I liked the sequence of process a little better with RCI but not enough to make a great difference.

 

Muster Drill: The muster drill on the Imagination was held indoors in many different areas of the ship which offered you a brief bit of air conditioning ,however ,it was poorly organized when it came to leaving your designated area to meet; you then had to traipse all through the ship

( several floors) to get to your outside muster designated area that was absolutely no where near your cabin and would have been nigh on impossible to find in a real emergency where they then performed the standard stand in the heat and wait to wave at the Coast Guard. On the Enchantment your muster location was located close to your cabin area, was held all outdoors in one location, and took less than 15 minutes. Much better organized.

 

Ship Layout: Hands down RCI took the cake for the best laid out vessel. I was quickly able to find my way around and everything seemed to be placed in a way that made life aboard ship pleasant. As for the Imagination; I was still needing to use a deck plan and wall layouts up until my last hour on the ship. You had to do entirely too much going up one stairway to proceed down a hall to travel down another stairway to reach your destination. Another wonderful aspect of the Enchantment was adequate deck area for an evening stroll. There were always deck loungers on the outer deck areas so that you could find a quiet place to talk or read away from the crowds. The Imagination did not have one deck lounger anywhere aboard the vessel on outer decks. They had uncomfortable hard benches in a few locations but these were not really nice to use. Also there were very short deck areas on the Imagination whereby you couldn't walk more than twenty to thirty feet before you had to reenter areas of the deck in order to find another deck area. The Enchantment had wonderful deck areas that almost surrounded the ship. I am referring to deck areas other than the jogging track or pool areas.

 

Pool Area: Both vessels had crowded pool areas that everyone seemed to enjoy. The crew in the pool area of the Enchantment appeared to be more attentive to the passenger than the crew on the Imagination. This is one area of the ship that I don't usually enjoy so I don't spend much time there. I can't stand the closed in feeling of wall to wall sweaty bodies and the stench of suntan oils and wet towels. One thing I did notice was that the Enchantment had pool loungers available for use into the wee hours and the Imagination had all of the loungers under lock and key by early in the evening. Both pools seemed to have been drained about the same time but at least on the Enchantment you could still sit out and talk whereas on the Imagination this wasn't possible. You had to sign out a towel on the Imagination for use but on the Enchantment there were always a large supply of fresh towels to just pick up when needed. I know that many individuals may find that offering a topless deck on the Imagination a wonderful thing. I however didn't really feel that it was as protected from young eyes as it could have been. Yes, it was the upper deck and they did have screening around the rails so that you couldn't look up and view anything, however, if you were on the opposite upper deck area just a short distance away you would be able to view everything if one of the topless passengers decided to stand up. I thought this feature kind of tacky for a family oriented vessel. Skip it and allow it on adult only vessels or adult only sailings.

 

Activities and Entertainment: Scheduled activities seemed to be well attended on both vessels and I participated in everything that I could and felt that both vessels were equal when it came to trivia, game shows. etc. I loved the free dance classes on the Imagination taught by the Imagination dancers and wish that the Enchantment had had something similar. I enjoyed the music selection of performers a little better on the Enchantment. There didn't seem to be as much of a variety on the Imagination or musicians performing as often. I did not enjoy the vulgarity level of some of the entertainment on the Imagination but I realize that everyone has there own tastes. Although the Imagination offered adult only performances for some of these events they did not enforce this. Know where your children are is the best advice I can give. You wouldn't believe the number of children that were playing the slot machines on the Imagination. I didn't see anything like that on the Enchantment. I preferred knowing that on the Enchantment I could take my daughter to any event and not be overly concerned by what she was being exposed to. And if Enchantment said adult only, they enforced this. I had to ask more questions on the Imagination as to the level of entertainment only appropriate for the stern of hearing. The Enchantment offered headliner acts as well as performances by their own staff of dancers. All of the performances on the Enchantment were wonderful. The Imagination did not offer the headliners but they did still have very good entertainment. The Russian dance pair on the Imagination were astounding to watch. The other dancers and performers were average but very enjoyable to watch. The Orpheum Theatre on the Enchantment was excellent with every seat having a great view. The wait staff in the Orpheum were fast, efficient and very friendly. Sadly to say, the Dynasty Lounge on the Imagination left a lot to be desired. You had to sit on the lower level to get a decent seat as the upper seats had the lighting system hanging in front of you blocking your view. The wait staff in the Dynasty were not only slow but at times even rude.

 

Ports of Call: I enjoy all of the ports of call equally. Both vessels offered similar excursions for purchase with RCI having a little better selection but the prices on the CCL were a little better than RCI. The excursion operators were great from both vessels hired companies.

 

Staff: I enjoyed the cruise directors and social hosts on both vessels equally. They were all funny, outgoing and did a great job of including everyone. The Captain on the Enchantment seemed more approachable as he was seen several times during the cruise and he actually took the time to shake everyones hand during the Captains Reception. The Captain of the Imagination was introduced from a stage and we never seen him again. Staff overall on the Enchantment were very friendly and stopped to ask how you were; if you were enjoying your visit, etc. The staff on the Imagination never asked me anything. The wait staff on the Enchantment went out of their way to get to know you. They called us by name each time they came upon us, took the time to get to know our preferences and then they were able to suggest menu items based on what they knew of you. The assistant waiter on the Enchantment had my iced tea prepared to my likeness each evening and waiting on the table when I got there. He made my coffee in advance exactly as I liked. He did not learn this by asking what I liked but by observing me the first night. He noticed that I removed the lemon from my tea so each night thereafter I never had lemon in my tea. He noticed that I used a specific amount of cream and one sugar packet in my coffee and from that night on my coffee was made that way for me. The matre d' on the Enchantment stopped at the table every evening to inquire of our day. He too knew our names. The wait staff on the Imagination did a great professional job but were not overly friendly. They never asked our name or where we were from. They never suggested anything they felt may be to our likes and it took alot of work to get our head waiter to crack a smile. The team assistant waiter was more friendly and took the time to listen to your requests. Both staffs were professional and did their jobs very well but when it comes to customer friendliness RCI took the prize and made us feel like friends not strangers.

 

Our Interior Stateroom: Carnival wins the prize for roomier staterooms in the inside category . I didn't like the bed layout very well ( four bunks ) but the overall space and storage areas were great. The bathroom was big enough to dress in. On the Enchantment you almost had to go out to the closet area to change as the bathroom was such a tight fit. Both cabins were of course dark since there isn't any sun coming in but on the Enchantment the lighting in the cabin was better so that when the lights were on it was well illuminated whereas on the Imagination you could turn on all of the lights and still feel like you were sitting in the dark. The color scheme was much more pleasant on the Enchantment with lighter colors and the Imagination had dark and gloomy colors in the cabins. Another feature that I liked about the Enchantment was having a hairdryer in the cabins, Imagination didn't have one. Also on the Enchantment you could hear the pages going on by turning up the volume or you could screen them out by turning it down in the room. On the Imagination you didn't have this option. If there was a ship page you had to run out into the hall to hear it. A real pain if you had just jumped out of the shower. Both vessels had built in shampoo and soap dispensers in the shower but Imagination also left us a bowl full of little bath amenities like razors, soap, toothpaste , etc. We didn't have this on the Enchantment. Room stewards were excellent top notch employees on both vessels supplying overly cleaned rooms, fresh ice at all times, and wonderful little towel animals. I did notice that our cabin on RCI had a pull curtain in the middle of the room so that you could have two dressing locations. On the Imagination this feature was not available. Would have been nice to have with more than two to a cabin.

 

Food: The Windjammer casual buffet was far better than the Horizon Bar and Grill Lido deck buffet on the Imagination. The pizza was better on the Imagination but not by much. I thought the pizza stunk on both vessels. The grill service on the Imagination was better than the grill service on the Enchantment. All other aspects of the casual dining was far better on the RCI vessel than it was on CCL. As to the main dining ; both vessels did a wonderful job with the evening fair. Portions a little smaller on the Imagination but well prepared and nicely presented. The Enchantment did a great job on the main dining with entertaining staff and wonderful food taste and presentation. Both vessels lacked in the service department during breakfast or lunch in the main dining room. We quickly learned to eat buffet during these times. Room service was fast and equal on both vessels. I did notice that on the Imagination in the main dining room they only gave you two ways of ordering your beef dishes; medium rare or medium well; nothing in between. RCI gave us the option of any preparation method. RCI staff also were more than happy to serve you a non-menu item whereas on CCL they acted like you were asking the impossible. The gala buffet was much better on RCI with many, many more items and carvings . The gala buffet was quite good on CCL but was very small in comparison to RCI. RCI only offered two midnight buffets but CCL had one each evening. RCI did offer hot appetizers at the midnight hour in many locations on the ship which were sufficient. CCL did not have this so if you were in the Casino you were stuck, no treats for you if you didn't want to leave.

 

Disembarkation: I felt this went very smoothly on both vessels with Imagination getting a little better rating with areas to wait in. The color coding was better on the Enchantment though and both vessels took about the same amount of time. I wish both companies would allow the people driving home in personal cars to leave the ship earlier so that they are out of the way, less luggage to sort through, and less confusion of loading luggage for the taxi drivers.

 

As you can see if you read this far that RCI and the Enchantment of the Seas was by far better in my opinion than the CCL Imagination. Since I have only cruised on these two vessels within these two companies I was not partial to either ship, line or staff. I enjoyed my cruise immensely on both vessels and would sail both companies again but I would look for an RCI special before settling for CCL. The customer service made all of the difference in the world.

 

DFritz June 2003 We have since sailed a couple of more times on the voyager class ships of RCI and truly loved them but I would still consider a Carnival cruise.

 

'Til my next cruise