Imagination 8/11 cruise revies

[lfresa]

The left for a Monday cruise on that Sunday before. I will never do an evening flight again. We had a 7:30 flight out of JFK. I went to check out our flight at 3:00 and they cancelled it due to thunder storms in the area. We live in CT and did not have any of yet. I did not even receive a phone call or email from Delta saying it was cancelled. I was in a panic because we had eight of us going. My husband and two sons ages 16 and 14. Plus friends of our and their 18 year old daughter and 16 year old son. Delta was able to get us on a 5:10 flight out of Bradley. We just made it in time.

 

We chose Comfort Suite at the airport due to the fact that they had a 24 hours shuttle and it was only 100.00. It was okay for one night but I would not stay there any longer. The bathrooms were not very clean, tile, floor, tub etc. It was cheaper to use a taxi 24.00 total than the shuttle at the hotel. The cost there was 40.00 total for 4 of us.

 

We left for the cruise about 11:30. Arrived at noon and went right on board. Carnival has done a great job on line patrol here. You go to the line that corresponds with your floor and cabin numbers. We did lunch right away and checked out the ship. I loved the changes. A couple of years ago we did the Sensation and I thought that it really need a overhaul then. This ship was very clean, rooms and bathroom spotless. I found the staff really friendly. My husband brought a brand new shirt for formal night, well he went to put it on and the button hole was sewn shut. I called the cabin steward and he ran right down with a pair of scissors to fix it for him. The adult serenity area was nice but it really needs a bar back there and the chaise lounge chairs are really hot. They are a dark brown color and you bake if you try just to sit there with out a towel. Food was really good I thought, my favorite was the short ribs and the cappuccino pie and of course the chocolate molten cake.

 

Ship:

 

Water works area was nice went down the slide it was to slow for my kids but they did like the racing slides. I went down also and had fun. I never even saw the putt putt area so I cannot comment on that. We had a room on the main deck area. Room was big enough but we had to have a roll in cot so it was tight at night. I thought they could have done better for the 12-14 ages bracket the room was bare in there for them but my son had fun anyway. They both made many friends. Arcade is too small also for teens. My older son did hang on in the O2 and had fun. There were plenty of places just to sit and relax and I never had trouble finding a lounge chair. I loved the rotisserie chicken on the lido deck. We had our dinner in the Spirit dining room and loved the staff and food.

 

Ports:

 

Grand Turk we did the horse riding on land and in the ocean. I loved this, I thought it was just about time one hour was long enough. I was a little sore the next day but would do it again. Afterwards we just hung out at Margaretville and our friend won the beer drinking contest. I really enjoyed it, the beach was very clean and water was so clear.

 

Half Moon Cay: Favorite beach so far by a mile. I thought it even beat Grand Cayman We did the sting ray tour. It was okay but you were in an enclosed area. I have done this in Grand Cayman and it was much better there. We just hung out at the beach and really enjoyed ourselves. We found no need to have a cabana we just rented a yellow tube and just floated in that for most of the day. The island buffet was just okay but we didn’t have to spend any more money so that was great.

 

Nassua: We booked a room at the Comfort Suites to use the Atlantis facilities. We have done that twice before but you need to watch out what they charged you. We have three families all checking in with the same number of guests. The rates really differed even tho we had close to the same daily rate. They will sock you for a daily energy surcharge 6.00 per person, plus some other charges. But it was still cheaper than doing it ourselves than going through the cruise line. One thing to know the Atlantis now only used credit cards or room cards for food and drinks. We didn’t have our credit cards with us so we couldn’t buy anything. They said they changed to this a couple of weeks ago. I would think they will start losing a lot of money because the ship people who only use cash cannot buy anything. We only came to use the slides and try out the new Aquaculture. We had a blast on the lazy river ( which is not lazy by any means ) but the slide that you can entire from the river had a 30 minute wait so it was closed. For me the resort is just to big way to much walking for all of us especially when you can’t get anything to drink.

 

Entertainment on the ship:

 

Jorge the Cruise Director was one of the best I have ever had. I never laughed so hard, I just wish when they did the marriage game they would change the questions. The questions have been the same on the last 3 cruise which span 3 years. The shows on the ship were ok. Tia Thompson was fantastic but you can really tell when the dancers lip sync.

 

Leaving the ship:

 

We normally do self assist but the other couple with us wanted to do the other. I will never do anything but self assist next time. We arrived in Miami and they started letting off people at 8:30. O would say maybe 75% of the people did self assist. We were zone 17 waiting to get off, at 10:00 we were getting nervous because we had a 12:20 flight. We asked the asst. cruise director and he told us we can get off the ship. Customs was a nightmare or let’s just say the line we were put it had all the problem people. We were in line until 11:00. I don’t know why people do not fill out their custom forms. I heard this over the announcement many times. These people held us up along with some International travelers. What they should be doing is if you don’t have your documents together get to the end of the line. We made our flight with 40 minutes to spare. This was the only glitch in our cruise so I would take that for a week of sun and fun. If anyone has any questions feel fee to ask. I wish I was still on the boat!!

[Terry305]

Thanks for your review, is refreshing, we are sailing on her on Sept. 22, but we are doing the 4 days to key West and Cozumel.

[jimw]

Riviera really--we are on Sept 22 as well. I'm wondering if that might have been part of the refurbishing? I'm prepared to take my little soft cooler anyway. I noticed on Carnival's website that hard coolers 12x12x12 are ok too.

[FlashbackAlternatives]

Nassua: We booked a room at the Comfort Suites to use the Atlantis facilities. We have done that twice before but you need to watch out what they charged you. We have three families all checking in with the same number of guests. The rates really differed even tho we had close to the same daily rate. They will sock you for a daily energy surcharge 6.00 per person, plus some other charges. But it was still cheaper than doing it ourselves than going through the cruise line. One thing to know the Atlantis now only used credit cards or room cards for food and drinks. We didn’t have our credit cards with us so we couldn’t buy anything. They said they changed to this a couple of weeks ago. I would think they will start losing a lot of money because the ship people who only use cash cannot buy anything. We only came to use the slides and try out the new Aquaculture. We had a blast on the lazy river ( which is not lazy by any means ) but the slide that you can entire from the river had a 30 minute wait so it was closed. For me the resort is just to big way to much walking for all of us especially when you can’t get anything to drink.

 

Nice review. We are on the Imagination next Monday (8/25).

 

We are also doing the Comfort Suites in Nassau. Rates can vary depending on how/where/and what codes you used to book. The surcharges are listed on the Comfort Suites and Choice Hotels websites. The surcharges vary depending on age of the 3rd and 4th person(s) in the room. If the 3rd and/or 4th person is 16 or older, there is an additional $40 per person charge. There are also energy charges for everyone over 12 (I believe) and housekeeping charges for everyone over 16.

 

It is a great deal (we are paying less than $170 total - with surcharges for our day on 8/29).

 

I believe the Atlantis has been cash-less for some time now. It is not a recent thing as you were told. Did the staff at the Comfort Suites not tell you that you can charge things at the Atlantis to your room at the Comfort Suites using the Comfort Suites room card - or did you check out at the same time you checked in, making that option unavailable?

 

How were the crowds overall at Atlantis?

 

Thanks

[FlashbackAlternatives]

Riviera really--we are on Sept 22 as well. I'm wondering if that might have been part of the refurbishing? I'm prepared to take my little soft cooler anyway. I noticed on Carnival's website that hard coolers 12x12x12 are ok too.

 

There are no refrigerators in any cabin on the Imagination (or any Fantasy class ship) with the possible exception of suites.

[lfresa]

Atlantis crowds were okay, only lines were of course for the water slides. We didn't charge anything to our comfort suites room because when we check in we automatically check out so we can leave right from the Atlantis. This cruise was actually one of my favorites, the Liberty is still my favorite ship tho. Have a great time,

[GaryWT]

We just got off the Imagination as well. We had a great time. We got on the boat right at noon and everything was wonderful. There were a few negatives but nothing to take away from the cruise. We had to fix our seating for dinner but that worked out OK. My son did find the 12-14 YO club lacking, he went to some activities but said that all the kids were losing interest as the week went on. My daughter went to the 15-17 YO club, met some friends and then did their own thing, hung out at the pizza joint at night etc.

 

The thing that we found funny was the daily activites did not always happen or the location or time was listed incorrectly. Sometimes the main part of the capers was different from the tear off section. The night after the Mexican buffet on the deck, the capers listed a deck party 8:30 to 1 AM, it never happened, people were up there walking around looking for the party. On a 15-17 yo party one night it was listed at 11:45 to late, my daughter showed up and was told the party started at 11 and was ending at midnight. Little things like that happened but everyone moved with the flow.

 

Jorge was great, he is a great public speaker and comedian. Beyond that, he is in charge of all the activities and I think he needs a little work there as in where was the deck party. Also the activies were set up poorly at times where there were large gaps of nothing and then the newlywed not so game was during second dinner so half the people could not go. Not to mention the Bingo which was crazy and unorganized.

 

Again, loved the cruise, had a great time, looking for another one already and nothing mentioned could ruin a cruise for us, nothing is perfect. One thing we keep in mind is if most of the employees were the best that they had, they would all be working on the newer ships.

[FlashbackAlternatives]

Atlantis crowds were okay, only lines were of course for the water slides. We didn't charge anything to our comfort suites room because when we check in we automatically check out so we can leave right from the Atlantis. This cruise was actually one of my favorites, the Liberty is still my favorite ship tho. Have a great time,

 

Thanks. What time do you suggest leaving Atlantis to make it back to the ship? We were planning on leaving by 4pm.

[cruisinCLT]

I will be going on the imagination on September 4th and can't wait! Thanks for all the great reviews. For any of you that were on this ship and are past cruisers.....did you happen to get a ship pin when you arrived in your room?

[Charming01]

We were on in February and didn't get a pin in our room.

[linnylu92]

I was on the same cruise as Gary. Overall, my dh and I had a great cruise. Embarkation was a breeze. I got right on the ship and into the shore excursion line, so we were able to book a cabana for Half Moon Cay. We found the deli soon after that and boy did I love that deli! My dh got the soda card and that worked great. I carried on my own Dr. Pepper and had a very tough time getting it cold. I brought a small cooler and did get ice but the ice was very watery and would melt quickly. I was rarely able to get my soda as cold as I like to drink it. I wouldn't carry it on again.

 

We got an inside cabin after having a junior suite on the Enchantment of the Seas last summer. The inside was fine and our steward was awesome. My only complaint was noise in the hall and I wish I had brought a sound machine.

 

We had the 8:15 seating in the Spirit Dining Room. I could never find my way there! I didn't like the round about way you had to take to get there. The food was fine overall. My dh loved the meltiing chocolate cake. I wasn't as impressed with the other desserts. I also didn't like how they had the Love & Marriage show during the 8:15 dining time. I think there were a few other events we missed because of our dinner time.

 

I didn't think the quality of the 2 song/dance shows were equal to the Enchantment of the Seas. We did go to the show each night if anyone has any questions about them. Did anyone else think the upper floor chairs were awful?! The downstairs seating was comfortable. Bingo was crazy. People sure had a hard time figuring out what exactly got you a bingo.

 

We did the Ultimate Snorkeling in Grand Turk. It was good. I didn't like the shopping there at all. Half Moon Cay was paradise! We loved our cabana and think it was money well spent. We went to Atlantis in Nassau by booking a room at the Comfort Suites. Thanks to reading on here I knew to bring a credit card. We had a great time and didn't think the lines were that long for the slides. We got a lot in between 10 and noon.

 

The one thing my dh didn't like was that there was only 1 small pool to serve everyone on the ship. We really liked the adults only pool last summer on Enchantment of the Seas. The waterworks was cool but we always found a long line. It all worked for us since there was only 1 sea day but he did comment on that.

 

Overall, we had a fantastic time!

[GaryWT]

Glad you had a good cruise. It is too bad no one was able to show up at our roll call meeting. I was there with my BIL but no one else showed. It would have been nice to put a face to the names, maybe next time.

[cjkumbaya]

Glad that everything worked out so well and that you had a great cruise - thanks for sharing!

[tropicaltripper]

Do the rooms have blowdryers? I'm hoping not to have to pack mine.

We sail out on the 25th and are leaving for Fort Lauderdale Thursday,Hope the weather there isn't stormy!

[FlashbackAlternatives]

Do the rooms have blowdryers? I'm hoping not to have to pack mine.

We sail out on the 25th and are leaving for Fort Lauderdale Thursday,Hope the weather there isn't stormy!

 

The rooms do not have hair dryers.

 

I'll be on the same cruise.

[honeymooningbysea]

Will post full review with photos when life resumes to normal- wedding thank yous get sent out, and the knot gets a wedding day review!