Imagination 6/17 - 6/21, 2004 Review Part Two of Two

[cantwait2cruise]

See part one for beginning of review...

 

Port: Cozumel

 

We were on one of the cruises that unfortunately had to miss Key West b/c of the work on the pier. We spent all day Saturday in Cozumel. We slept in and had a late breakfast on the Lido deck. We got off the ship about noon. My husband, his friend, his brother and wife, and our 10 and 7 year old nephews took a cab to Paradise Beach. Cabs for 4 were $12 one way and vans were $26 so we all seven hopped in a van. It was about a 15 minute ride. There were plenty of beach chairs and umbrellas and as they filled up the staff put out more chairs. I had a yard stick margarita ($12) and laid in the sun for a while. There were kayaks you could use for free so my nephew and I paddled around in the water. They also had snorkel equipment for a $10 deposit, which we got back when we returned the equipment. I had heard that snorkeling isn’t very good at that beach. We saw a few fish and found a reef pretty far out that had a lot of fish. It was my first time snorkeling and I thought it was pretty neat that they have the equipment to rent for free. They also have a big rock climbing glacier thing that you can climb up and slide down and a water trampoline. My husband got a massage...I think it was $1 per minute so enjoyed that. We went up on the open air second level of the restaurant and had some really good guacamole dip and fajitas. The food was very good and reasonably priced. We stayed at the beach until about 4:30 and then caught a cab back to the shopping area by the pier. We shopped for a while and then got back on the ship. Overall it was a great day and for just the price of the cab and our meal it was well worth the trip to Paradise Beach.

 

 

Disembarkation

 

We met all of family for breakfast about 8:30. We had just finished eating when our color was called. We, along with my father and mother-in-law (who had a different color), left the ship with no problems. We found our bags easily since they were lined up behind signs for each color. We were told where to find the Carnival FLL airport transfer...waited about 20 minutes for the bus to fill up and were on our way. I think I checked my watch once we were inside the airport and it was 11:20...plenty of time for our 1:20 flight. Our flight was again delayed until 2:10 and then we were delayed for another 30 mins. b/c they were not allowing take-offs to the north.

 

 

I worked on Wed. before the cruise and then came right back to work Tues. I have to admit it’s been hard this week. I guess it was just a tiring trip and since I didn’t get really good sleep at night I’ve been tired all this week. It was definitely hard to get everything together Wed. night and have to get up early to get to the airport. If you can take the time off from work, I definitely think it’s worth it to go a day ahead of time. I was so tired and cranky after the lifeboat drill I had to have a nap so I missed us leaving Miami...but it was kind of dreary and rainy anyway, so I didn’t care.

 

All in all it was a pretty good cruise. I just hated that it was so expensive but you don't have a lot of flexibility when you are planning with 15 other people. Between the cost of the cruise, the plane tickets and what we lost in the casino it was a very expensive 4 day vacation. But I am, of course, looking forward to our next cruise whenever that may be. I really want to take my mom at the end of August for her 50th birthday but I’m not sure I have time to (or can afford) to pull something together by then. We were looking at doing the Jubilee on Aug. 26th out of Jacksonville b/c that is only a 7 hour drive for us but they have apparently cancelled it to allow for more dry dock days.

 

Please let me know if you have questions. ;)

[tmswayne]

I wa looking for info on teh kids club...did any of the kids in your party take part in it?

[cantwait2cruise]

I wa looking for info on teh kids club...did any of the kids in your party take part in it?

 

Yes, several of our nephews went to Camp Carnival. In fact, one of them (he's five) practically lived there...I never saw him after the first night. I think they break the kids up into different age groups. I know they had games, a Playstation, and stuff for crafts. I think my family was pretty hesitant about dropping their kids off with strangers but the one thing they said is that it is very secure and they felt that the staff was very capable. Also, they have pagers that they give to the parents of smaller children so if there are any kind of issues they can page you.

[HockeyMom44]

I agree we sailed 5/29/04..

Our 4 yr. old wouldn't leave...

She'd wake up at 5am wanting to go!!!!

Those girls are Wonderful!!!

One of the girls worked on a previous cruise,her and my daughter were inseperable!

 

Trudy

Ecstacy 01/01

Monarch of the Seas 06 &09/02

Facination 01/03

Triumph 10/03

Imagination 5/04

Brilliance of the Seas..11 days..our 25th!!!

[Cruisin Amy]

Tell us about them....and any other details...

 

Planning for 11/27/04 group of 9 with 5 kids!!

[cantwait2cruise]

Tell us about them....and any other details...

 

Planning for 11/27/04 group of 9 with 5 kids!!

 

Cruisin Amy,

 

You message was titled "dinners" so I'll elaborate on those. The first night I had filet mignon. It was very good. I think that's pretty much what all our group ate that night. The second night I had prime rib. Most of the rest of the group had lobster which they said was excellent. I'm a pretty picky eater and the third night there was anything I really liked. I tried the veal but didn't like it. The last night I had fettuccine and it just wasn't that good. I can't remember the nights but I think the first night I had some sort of mushroom soup and it was really good and I also had the pumpkin soup one night and it was excellent. The ceasar salad is really good also. The desserts were pretty good. I had some kind of low calorie banana cake one night which was good and some really good chocolate fudge cake. I think the third night we had the "Baked Alaska" (I think that's what it's called) neopolitan icecream cake.

 

The thing I also like about Carnival dinners is when they sing and dance...they didn't do that on the RCCL cruise I went on. I think it's very entertaining and the kids love it.

[cantwait2cruise]

I thought of a few other miscellaneous tidbits...

 

We did get a $10 pp sail and sign credit for missing Key West.

 

I had bought two sheets of drink coupons and was able to use them for frozen drinks valued at $4.95 and a couple of glasses of wine. I also had four $15 photo coupon credits. Even though I bought three 8 x 10 's for a total of $60 I bought the photos at different times so I used a coupon and then charged $5 on my sail and sign. You can't get a credit if you don't use the full $15 value of the coupon. The coupons would work better if they were in increments of $20 but oh well. Both types of coupons really helped with keeping the sail and sign under control.

[ama-sam]

I will be on the Imagination July 29th. I was wondering if there were hair dryers and/or refrigerators in the cabins?

Both would be nice!

Ally

[cantwait2cruise]

I will be on the Imagination July 29th. I was wondering if there were hair dryers and/or refrigerators in the cabins?

Both would be nice!

Ally

 

 

There were no hair dryers or refrigerators in our Empress oceanview (6D). I don't mind bringing my travel hair dryer but a refrigerator would be great!

 

Hope you have a great cruise!!!