Imagination Review - 8/21/08

[cccruzer3]

This was an "all girls" cruise made up of women mostly in our 40's and 50's. There were 10 of us (half were cruise virgins) and left the husbands and kids home.

 

It was dicey with TS Fay lurking, but all went well with flights, etc. We all arrived in Miami the day before the cruise and stayed at Intercontinental Hotel in Miami. Absolutely beautiful hotel with fabulous spa services.

 

I'm VIP Platinum, so got to check in separately. Great little perk. The others did it the "normal" way and it took only about 15-20 minutes. They've got this down to a science. Photo taken and we were onboard in no time.

 

Ship was in good shape since it's just undergone a renovation. I like Fantasy class ships. I think they have the best layout and tons of deck space (never had to fight for a lounge chair). There were a fair amount of kids onboard, but none misbehaved.

 

The water works park at the aft of the ship is a blast. With or without kids, this is a must! I was disappointed to see babies in the pools with regular diapers as well as swim diapers, but didn't see any signs posted back there to the contrary, so can't blame the parents. The main pool got too loud for me, so sitting aft with a good book was the way to go.

 

Each of us girls shared two to a room (except one had 3 girls and one late booker did an inside by herself). The cabins are comfortable and if you are sharing with someone you don't sleep with, ask the cabin attendant to configure the beds in an "L" shape. They weren't like that originally when we got to the rooms, but upon request our cabin attendant changed them. It gives much more room in the cabin. There are no hairdryers, but if you ask for one, your cabin attendant can get you one. The bathroom is comfortable, but definitely needs more storage space for toiletries. The shower is more than adequately sized. They supply shower gel, bars of soap, and shampoo (bring your own conditioner). Also a little tray with sample size toothpaste and a couple of disposable razors. A/C worked well, there was a flat screen T.V. Shower head pressure was excellent. The cabin was kept adequately clean, but I have a pet peeve. Why don't cabin attendants ever clean out dirty glasses? I don't mean the glass ones with the ice bucket, but if you bring back a souvenir glass, it'll still be sitting on your desk with a lime slice floating at the bottom a week later! Other than that, our cabin attendant was fine. Nothing spectacular, but fine. I gave him $10 at the onset because I asked for extra pillows and the beds to be turned to "L" shape. He frequently forgot to fill our ice bucket, but he had a ton of cabins to attend to so it was no big deal. I also think the cabin attendant relies on his assistant to do some of those things, and maybe he didn't check behind him to see if it was done.

 

Buffet food was okay. Sushi was wonderful. Cheeseburgers were the best I've ever had on a cruise ship. They also have fried mushrooms and onions you can add to your burger. Hot dogs just okay. French fries very good (can you tell I spent more time at the grill than I should have???LOL).

 

Dining room food and service...very disappointing. We had a lovely table for 10 next to a window in a great location (late seating), but our waitstaff (while pleasant) were overwhelmed. We waited an extraordinarily long time to have our orders taken, an even longer time to get our food, and when it arrived, it was never hot. Soups weren't hot, and that was especially annoying. None of us complained because the server and his asst. were pleasant enough, but they were either overworked or undertrained. Half the table would get their appetizer, and by the time they were done (we told them to go ahead and eat since the food was already not hot and it was getting colder by the minute), maybe the other half of the table would get theirs. Nobody was ever served in sync. I was told that the lobster was awful (I didn't have any), my sister sent back her steak because it was so tough you couldn't possibly chew it. One of the girls got frozen shrimp cocktail one night, and just didn't eat it. I was very surprised at how poor the food was. I've been on many Carnival cruises, and I felt food was their biggest area of improvement since years gone by. But it's taken a backslide. Fish dishes had a very strong fish taste (like it wasn't very fresh) and it was dry. Two highlights were my sister loved the Indian vegetarian dinner (can't remember the name) and the jerk pork tenderloin and braised short ribs were out of this world. Other than that, desserts were satisfactory, but nothing spectacular. I stuck with butter pecan ice cream; can't go wrong with that. The breads were very good. One night I had to ask 3 times for coffee and at least all the other nights (nobody ever asked if we wanted coffee with our dessert and we learned we just had to ask for it or else it wasn't offered). We bought several bottles of wine throughout the cruise and the price was very reasonable, as was wine by the glass. My sister had brought me a bottle of wine as a gift, so we brought that to the dining room the last night and were charged a $10 corkage fee (I thought they might forego that since we had bought so many bottles through the cruise and as a nice gesture for the bad food and service, but that was not to be...perhaps doing that is out of their control). Cappuccino is still free in the dining room (however, regular coffee on the ship is almost undrinkable). I only drink 2 cups of coffee a day, but I like them to be good. It was worth the extra money to go to Cafe Vittorio and pay for quality coffee.

 

Can't address entertainment that much because we didn't go to the shows, but karaoke is a blast. The piano bar was a bit staid, not much going on there. Drinks are powerful, they don't skimp on the liquor.

 

People who think they can make an early flight, think again. While we didn't do self-debarkation, we didn't get out of the terminal until 11:30 a.m. Leaving the ship wasn't the biggest problem (and we didn't even wait for our number to be called), but it took us one full hour to get through Immigration. It is a tedious process. Thank goodness we had a 3 p.m. flight out of FLL. The ship didn't even clear customs until well after 8:30. When they still hadn't called our tags by 10:30, we just left, but as I said, it was another hour to get through Immigration (and we're U.S. citizens with passports).

 

Our ports of call were Key West and Cozumel. Been there, done that, so don't have much to report. We headed over to Paradise Beach and had a great day, but were disappointed with poor service. I've been there at leaset 5 or 6 times and service was always outstanding. Took 1 hour 15 minutes to get served nachos. Attendant never came back to ask if we wanted a drink...we had to hunt him down. I'm thinking since Tom (the owner) was away on vacation, the employees were slacking off a bit. But the place itself is still very nice and everyone had a great time. Despite TS Fay, the weather for the cruise was great (hot and sunny every day).

 

Oh, one major gripe. The pool towel situation. We were left two towels in our cabin that were to be used for when we went ashore. However, if you want towels for the pool, it's a PITA. There is only one spot on the entire ship to get towels. You have to go to that spot, wait in line for others who are getting either towels or ping pong equipment or whatever), give him your room number (and this was a challenge with language), he has a clipboard for each different deck, so if you give him a cabin, say R152, he has to go to the clipboard for Riviera Deck, write your name and cabin number in, then he hands it to you to sign your name, and then you have to hand over your Sail and Sign card. You have to do the reverse of this every time you return a towel. It's a very tedious process and one that needs to be corrected. My sister and I were sitting at the Water Works area at the aft of the ship one day, she went to get a clean towel, walked to the middle pool area, stood in line for about 10 minutes, only to be told she needed her Sail and Sign card (she had left it at the lounge chair). It's a very disjointed way of getting towels. Are that many people stealing towels??? I've cruised every other mainstream cruiseline and I've never had to do this to get a pool towel.

 

Oh, one other thing. Being a platinum member, you get petit fours delivered to your cabin one night. While that is very nice, they delivered it one night when I wasn't in my cabin. Not a big deal because they don't really spoil if left for a few hours. However, they also delivered a large tray (three dozen) canapes and just left them there. Apparently they were delivered at 6 p.m. and placed on the desk in my cabin. I didn't get back to my cabin until 1 a.m. and certainly wasn't in the mood to eat 3 dozen assorted (smoked salmon, liver pate, goat cheese, etc.) canapes. I had to have the cabin attendant throw them out the next day because they sat out all night. I called room service to find out who sent them (I thought maybe I got them for being Platinum) There was no card attached that indicated who it was from. When I called room service, they told me I didn't get canapes, only the petit fours. I assured them I did get them and I'd like to know who sent them. They kept insisting I didn't get any canapes. Finally, they put me on hold forever and came back and said they were from my Travel Agent. I think that's awful that it's possible I would never have known who sent them and been able to thank my Travel Agent. After much back and forth and being put on hold, I got them to agree to send another tray the next evening. That way we got a bunch of the girls together in my cabin, opened a bottle of wine, and were able to enjoy the canapes. They should not have sent them at a time when I wasn't there to receive them and they definitely should have included a card indicating who sent them. But I will say they were wonderful and again, I'd like to thank Becki for sending them.

 

Anyway, despite the negatives, this was a great cruise. All of us girls decided it's nice to treat ourselves once in awhile, and hope to make this an annual event.

 

Any specific questions, feel free to ask

[Terry305]

This was an "all girls" cruise made up of women mostly in our 40's and 50's. There were 10 of us (half were cruise virgins) and left the husbands and kids home.

 

It was dicey with TS Fay lurking, but all went well with flights, etc. We all arrived in Miami the day before the cruise and stayed at Intercontinental Hotel in Miami. Absolutely beautiful hotel with fabulous spa services.

 

I'm VIP Platinum, so got to check in separately. Great little perk. The others did it the "normal" way and it took only about 15-20 minutes. They've got this down to a science. Photo taken and we were onboard in no time.

 

Ship was in good shape since it's just undergone a renovation. I like Fantasy class ships. I think they have the best layout and tons of deck space (never had to fight for a lounge chair). There were a fair amount of kids onboard, but none misbehaved.

 

The water works park at the aft of the ship is a blast. With or without kids, this is a must! I was disappointed to see babies in the pools with regular diapers as well as swim diapers, but didn't see any signs posted back there to the contrary, so can't blame the parents. The main pool got too loud for me, so sitting aft with a good book was the way to go.

 

Each of us girls shared two to a room (except one had 3 girls and one late booker did an inside by herself). The cabins are comfortable and if you are sharing with someone you don't sleep with, ask the cabin attendant to configure the beds in an "L" shape. They weren't like that originally when we got to the rooms, but upon request our cabin attendant changed them. It gives much more room in the cabin. There are no hairdryers, but if you ask for one, your cabin attendant can get you one. The bathroom is comfortable, but definitely needs more storage space for toiletries. The shower is more than adequately sized. They supply shower gel, bars of soap, and shampoo (bring your own conditioner). Also a little tray with sample size toothpaste and a couple of disposable razors. A/C worked well, there was a flat screen T.V. Shower head pressure was excellent. The cabin was kept adequately clean, but I have a pet peeve. Why don't cabin attendants ever clean out dirty glasses? I don't mean the glass ones with the ice bucket, but if you bring back a souvenir glass, it'll still be sitting on your desk with a lime slice floating at the bottom a week later! Other than that, our cabin attendant was fine. Nothing spectacular, but fine. I gave him $10 at the onset because I asked for extra pillows and the beds to be turned to "L" shape. He frequently forgot to fill our ice bucket, but he had a ton of cabins to attend to so it was no big deal. I also think the cabin attendant relies on his assistant to do some of those things, and maybe he didn't check behind him to see if it was done.

 

Buffet food was okay. Sushi was wonderful. Cheeseburgers were the best I've ever had on a cruise ship. They also have fried mushrooms and onions you can add to your burger. Hot dogs just okay. French fries very good (can you tell I spent more time at the grill than I should have???LOL).

 

Dining room food and service...very disappointing. We had a lovely table for 10 next to a window in a great location (late seating), but our waitstaff (while pleasant) were overwhelmed. We waited an extraordinarily long time to have our orders taken, an even longer time to get our food, and when it arrived, it was never hot. Soups weren't hot, and that was especially annoying. None of us complained because the server and his asst. were pleasant enough, but they were either overworked or undertrained. Half the table would get their appetizer, and by the time they were done (we told them to go ahead and eat since the food was already not hot and it was getting colder by the minute), maybe the other half of the table would get theirs. Nobody was ever served in sync. I was told that the lobster was awful (I didn't have any), my sister sent back her steak because it was so tough you couldn't possibly chew it. One of the girls got frozen shrimp cocktail one night, and just didn't eat it. I was very surprised at how poor the food was. I've been on many Carnival cruises, and I felt food was their biggest area of improvement since years gone by. But it's taken a backslide. Fish dishes had a very strong fish taste (like it wasn't very fresh) and it was dry. Two highlights were my sister loved the Indian vegetarian dinner (can't remember the name) and the jerk pork tenderloin and braised short ribs were out of this world. Other than that, desserts were satisfactory, but nothing spectacular. I stuck with butter pecan ice cream; can't go wrong with that. The breads were very good. One night I had to ask 3 times for coffee and at least all the other nights (nobody ever asked if we wanted coffee with our dessert and we learned we just had to ask for it or else it wasn't offered). We bought several bottles of wine throughout the cruise and the price was very reasonable, as was wine by the glass. My sister had brought me a bottle of wine as a gift, so we brought that to the dining room the last night and were charged a $10 corkage fee (I thought they might forego that since we had bought so many bottles through the cruise and as a nice gesture for the bad food and service, but that was not to be...perhaps doing that is out of their control). Cappuccino is still free in the dining room (however, regular coffee on the ship is almost undrinkable). I only drink 2 cups of coffee a day, but I like them to be good. It was worth the extra money to go to Cafe Vittorio and pay for quality coffee.

 

Can't address entertainment that much because we didn't go to the shows, but karaoke is a blast. The piano bar was a bit staid, not much going on there. Drinks are powerful, they don't skimp on the liquor.

 

People who think they can make an early flight, think again. While we didn't do self-debarkation, we didn't get out of the terminal until 11:30 a.m. Leaving the ship wasn't the biggest problem (and we didn't even wait for our number to be called), but it took us one full hour to get through Immigration. It is a tedious process. Thank goodness we had a 3 p.m. flight out of FLL. The ship didn't even clear customs until well after 8:30. When they still hadn't called our tags by 10:30, we just left, but as I said, it was another hour to get through Immigration (and we're U.S. citizens with passports).

 

Our ports of call were Key West and Cozumel. Been there, done that, so don't have much to report. We headed over to Paradise Beach and had a great day, but were disappointed with poor service. I've been there at leaset 5 or 6 times and service was always outstanding. Took 1 hour 15 minutes to get served nachos. Attendant never came back to ask if we wanted a drink...we had to hunt him down. I'm thinking since Tom (the owner) was away on vacation, the employees were slacking off a bit. But the place itself is still very nice and everyone had a great time. Despite TS Fay, the weather for the cruise was great (hot and sunny every day).

 

Oh, one major gripe. The pool towel situation. We were left two towels in our cabin that were to be used for when we went ashore. However, if you want towels for the pool, it's a PITA. There is only one spot on the entire ship to get towels. You have to go to that spot, wait in line for others who are getting either towels or ping pong equipment or whatever), give him your room number (and this was a challenge with language), he has a clipboard for each different deck, so if you give him a cabin, say R152, he has to go to the clipboard for Riviera Deck, write your name and cabin number in, then he hands it to you to sign your name, and then you have to hand over your Sail and Sign card. You have to do the reverse of this every time you return a towel. It's a very tedious process and one that needs to be corrected. My sister and I were sitting at the Water Works area at the aft of the ship one day, she went to get a clean towel, walked to the middle pool area, stood in line for about 10 minutes, only to be told she needed her Sail and Sign card (she had left it at the lounge chair). It's a very disjointed way of getting towels. Are that many people stealing towels??? I've cruised every other mainstream cruiseline and I've never had to do this to get a pool towel.

 

Oh, one other thing. Being a platinum member, you get petit fours delivered to your cabin one night. While that is very nice, they delivered it one night when I wasn't in my cabin. Not a big deal because they don't really spoil if left for a few hours. However, they also delivered a large tray (three dozen) canapes and just left them there. Apparently they were delivered at 6 p.m. and placed on the desk in my cabin. I didn't get back to my cabin until 1 a.m. and certainly wasn't in the mood to eat 3 dozen assorted (smoked salmon, liver pate, goat cheese, etc.) canapes. I had to have the cabin attendant throw them out the next day because they sat out all night. I called room service to find out who sent them (I thought maybe I got them for being Platinum) There was no card attached that indicated who it was from. When I called room service, they told me I didn't get canapes, only the petit fours. I assured them I did get them and I'd like to know who sent them. They kept insisting I didn't get any canapes. Finally, they put me on hold forever and came back and said they were from my Travel Agent. I think that's awful that it's possible I would never have known who sent them and been able to thank my Travel Agent. After much back and forth and being put on hold, I got them to agree to send another tray the next evening. That way we got a bunch of the girls together in my cabin, opened a bottle of wine, and were able to enjoy the canapes. They should not have sent them at a time when I wasn't there to receive them and they definitely should have included a card indicating who sent them. But I will say they were wonderful and again, I'd like to thank Becki for sending them.

 

Anyway, despite the negatives, this was a great cruise. All of us girls decided it's nice to treat ourselves once in awhile, and hope to make this an annual event.

 

Any specific questions, feel free to ask

 

 

Thanks for sharing your experience, we are sailing on her in 4 weeks and your review is sort of scary but thanks anyways.

Terry

[cccruzer3]

Thanks for sharing your experience, we are sailing on her in 4 weeks and your review is sort of scary but thanks anyways.

Terry

 

Don't get me wrong. We had an excellent time. I love that class of ship, it's just that there are some things that are annoying. Certainly nothing that ruined our trip. I'd do it again, but I don't think I'd want to be on that ship for 7 days or longer. The tedious method of getting pool towels and the poor dining food/service would really bug me after 5 days. Maybe other people had better servers and got their food hot. We were going to complain, but honestly, I didn't want to get the waitstaff in trouble. They were very pleasant, just not very professional or well trained. And it's not their fault that food was cold. I think the cruiselines are just cutting back. We'll be on Celebrity in two months and I'll be curious to see if there's a downslide with them as well.

 

Sorry if I scared you. I just wanted to point out the negatives. That doesn't mean you won't enjoy your cruise. Just be prepared for some things that may not be to your liking.

 

The staff, for the most part, are very nice. This was my third time on Imagination. I like the improvements and if you have kids (or even if you don't), you will love the slides at the back of the ship. The deck space is wonderful, no problems getting chairs. And the ship rode like a charm. No movement. We actually stopped in Key West the last night to let off a sick passenger and I didn't even know we had stopped.

 

BTW, I had to take my sister to the Infirmatory one evening because she had very bad seasickness. I was surprised they didn't have her see the MD. The nurse never took her vitals; didn't even take her temp. Anyway, they gave her an injection (Compazine, I'm guessing) and within 15 minutes, the vomiting/nausea/dizziness went away completely. She was beyond taking Dramamine because she couldn't keep anything down. Just a word to the wise; if you are prone to seasickness, don't wait until you are vomiting to do something about it. Once you're at that point, you need an injection and you can count yourself out for the night (she slept the rest of the night).

 

Enjoy and please don't let the negatives I pointed out scare you away.

[Terry305]

Don't get me wrong. We had an excellent time. I love that class of ship, it's just that there are some things that are annoying. Certainly nothing that ruined our trip. I'd do it again, but I don't think I'd want to be on that ship for 7 days or longer. The tedious method of getting pool towels and the poor dining food/service would really bug me after 5 days. Maybe other people had better servers and got their food hot. We were going to complain, but honestly, I didn't want to get the waitstaff in trouble. They were very pleasant, just not very professional or well trained. And it's not their fault that food was cold. I think the cruiselines are just cutting back. We'll be on Celebrity in two months and I'll be curious to see if there's a downslide with them as well.

 

Sorry if I scared you. I just wanted to point out the negatives. That doesn't mean you won't enjoy your cruise. Just be prepared for some things that may not be to your liking.

 

The staff, for the most part, are very nice. This was my third time on Imagination. I like the improvements and if you have kids (or even if you don't), you will love the slides at the back of the ship. The deck space is wonderful, no problems getting chairs. And the ship rode like a charm. No movement. We actually stopped in Key West the last night to let off a sick passenger and I didn't even know we had stopped.

 

BTW, I had to take my sister to the Infirmatory one evening because she had very bad seasickness. I was surprised they didn't have her see the MD. The nurse never took her vitals; didn't even take her temp. Anyway, they gave her an injection (Compazine, I'm guessing) and within 15 minutes, the vomiting/nausea/dizziness went away completely. She was beyond taking Dramamine because she couldn't keep anything down. Just a word to the wise; if you are prone to seasickness, don't wait until you are vomiting to do something about it. Once you're at that point, you need an injection and you can count yourself out for the night (she slept the rest of the night).

 

Enjoy and please don't let the negatives I pointed out scare you away.

 

I am sorry that your sister got sick, I dont usually get sick but there is always a first time.

I appreciate your comments and I am kind of prepared for what it might come lol, this is our third carnival cruise and I did notice the difference in the food and some areas between the 7 day Valor versus the 4 day Fascination last year, so keeping in mind that this is a 4 day cruise I am somewhat ready but hoping that it will be better, I thought about upgrading to a 7 day one but we are going with some friends and they said they can only missed this amount of days from work for a cruise so even thought I am happy that we are going with them if it will have been just me and hubby we will have done the 7 day one , with that on mind I will be more careful when booking next year, I do understand and I know that is not the same quality a 3 or 4 day one than a 7 day one.

Thanks for sharing, I will keep in mind what you said about the towels.

 

Thanks again

 

Terry:)

[LetsSailAway]

Don't get me wrong. We had an excellent time. I love that class of ship, it's just that there are some things that are annoying. Certainly nothing that ruined our trip. I'd do it again, but I don't think I'd want to be on that ship for 7 days or longer. The tedious method of getting pool towels and the poor dining food/service would really bug me after 5 days. Maybe other people had better servers and got their food hot. We were going to complain, but honestly, I didn't want to get the waitstaff in trouble. They were very pleasant, just not very professional or well trained. And it's not their fault that food was cold. I think the cruiselines are just cutting back. We'll be on Celebrity in two months and I'll be curious to see if there's a downslide with them as well.

 

Sorry if I scared you. I just wanted to point out the negatives. That doesn't mean you won't enjoy your cruise. Just be prepared for some things that may not be to your liking.

 

The staff, for the most part, are very nice. This was my third time on Imagination. I like the improvements and if you have kids (or even if you don't), you will love the slides at the back of the ship. The deck space is wonderful, no problems getting chairs. And the ship rode like a charm. No movement. We actually stopped in Key West the last night to let off a sick passenger and I didn't even know we had stopped.

 

BTW, I had to take my sister to the Infirmatory one evening because she had very bad seasickness. I was surprised they didn't have her see the MD. The nurse never took her vitals; didn't even take her temp. Anyway, they gave her an injection (Compazine, I'm guessing) and within 15 minutes, the vomiting/nausea/dizziness went away completely. She was beyond taking Dramamine because she couldn't keep anything down. Just a word to the wise; if you are prone to seasickness, don't wait until you are vomiting to do something about it. Once you're at that point, you need an injection and you can count yourself out for the night (she slept the rest of the night).

 

Enjoy and please don't let the negatives I pointed out scare you away.

 

My cruise next week on the Imagination will be my 9th on Carnival. I understand about the pool towel situation on the Lido deck. But, aren't you allowed to use the beach towel from your cabin at the pool? I was under the impression that those were for the pool and/or the beach. I've always used it at the pool so I've never had to deal with waiting in line for a towel.

[cccruzer3]

My cruise next week on the Imagination will be my 9th on Carnival. I understand about the pool towel situation on the Lido deck. But, aren't you allowed to use the beach towel from your cabin at the pool? I was under the impression that those were for the pool and/or the beach. I've always used it at the pool so I've never had to deal with waiting in line for a towel.

 

In retrospect, we should have used the towel in the cabin. Our steward told us it was for the days when we went off the ship. It would have been easier to just use those towels and bring them back to our room at the end of the day. Note to self...next time, use those towels and skip the line at the Lido pool.

 

BTW, a couple of things I forgot to mention. We arrived at the port around noon, was on the ship within minutes, and our luggage arrived about 15 minutes after we did. We were very impressed with how quickly they got our luggage to us. Also, a correction to my previous post. I took my sister to the "infirmary" not the "infirmatory"!LOL

 

Oh, one other item. One of the girls in our group broke her hand about a week before sailing. She had a partial, plastic type brace on her hand that was held with velcro (could be removed, but ortho didn't suggest removing it except while showering). She went to sign up for the excursion to swim with the dolphins. It cost $169. She asked the shore excursion person if she would be allowed to take part fully in the excursion with the brace on her hand and she was assured she would be able to. When she got to the dolphin swim in Cozumel, they wouldn't let her do the excursion. They said she could only go in the water and if a dolphin came near her, she could pet it. She was pretty upset about that. They gave her $50 back, but I think $119 to get in the water and pet one dolphin was outrageous.

[Charming01]

We used our blue towels by the pool everyday and then our steward would replace them with new ones. If for some reason he didn't, we would find a steward and give them $2 and we would have new, clean towels.