Fun Family Cruise!
Written: Mar 05 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Large Ship, Water Slide (BIG ONE :D ), Cool Shows, Inexpensive
Cons: Average Service, No Luxuries, OK Food
The Bottom Line: Read my 'Verdict'
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| soupcraze's Full Review: Carnival Imagination |
My 4th cruise was on the Carnival imagination. It was a fun trip to the Western Caribbean. Carnival at the time had the cheapest tickets, so my family and I decided to go. After a week-long trip, here's what I found with the Carnival imagination.
Price:
Carnival Cruise lines by far is cheaper than other cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean or Princess Cruise lines. This makes Carnival Cruise lines more of a cruise line for families. Tickets are very affordable, thus adults take their children along. If you're looking for a fun cruise at a low price, Carnival is a good choice. Carnival also has a bunch of specials, such as my ticket only costed around $600. So watch out for those, they can save you lots :-)
Getting There:
We got a package, so airline tickets were included. These generally are poor airlines, and we got stuck on TWA. The flight was terrible and was delayed two hours. But eventually we got there. Carnival does own their own airline, but they use old aircraft. If you take a cruise, you should just buy your own tickets. The airlines you get stuck with are usually very bad.
Embarkation:
Without any doubt, the embarkation process at Carnival Cruise lines sucks. They work very slowly, and it took ~2 hours to get to the desk. Royal Caribbean and Norweigan cruise lines work much better than Carnival. I suggest you get there early, because lines are huge and very slow.
Ship's Exterior:
The ship is all white and very big looking on the outside. The Carnival Imagination was clean looking on the outside. It looked very nice and very large.
Ship's Interior:
The Carnival Imagination was clean on the inside, and everything looked nice. The atrium was very nice as usual, it was a pleasure to be inside the ship. There was no dirt to be seen, and the ship was in great condition. There were no old-ship smells or anything at all in it.
Cabins:
The cabins on the Carnival Imagination were quite large (seemed larger than other cabins on other lines). They had all the neccessaties that one would need. A bathroom, TV, desk, set of over-priced drinks, etc... Unfortunately, all the movies were Pay-Per-View. Quite expensive too, $5 I think. You could order the movies whenever you'd want to though. On Norweigan Cruise Lines, there were lots of movie channels, and they were all free. The cabins were nice and spacious though.
Food:
The food was average and free. I have had a lot better food on Royal Caribbean and Norweigan Cruise Lines. The food was definately not the best, but it was free. All the food except soft-drinks and alcohol were free. The food was filling though, and dinners were almost as good as any other cruise line. There's no comparison in food quality compared to Royal Caribbean or Norweigan Cruise Lines though.
Service:
The service was average, I've seen better servie before. The best service I've ever had was on Royal Caribbean though. The service there was simply unforgettable and unbelievable. The service on Norweigan Cruise Lines was great too. The service on Carnival was just adequate. Nothing special about it.
Pools:
There was a really big and cool pool with a really big cool water slide. It was really fun going down the water slide. The water was cool, the water on the Norweigan Sky was a lot warmer. there's a lot of kids by the pool area, and there's music too. It's a fun place to be.
Activities:
There were plenty of activities for all ages. Things for kids all the way to the seniors. The activities were fun for everyone. There's never a dull moment on Carnival Cruise lines.
Ports of Call:
The ship went to the normal ports in the Western Caribbean which included Cozumel, Mexico and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Excursions can be purchased from the ship, but of course they're cheaper to buy at the actual destination.
Disembarkation:
It sucked. It took forever, Carnival can't seem to get it right. Disembarkation on Carnival Cruise lines took much longer than it did on other cruise lines. If you have seniors in your group with cains or anything like that, you can get a handicap tag. That means you can leave the ship first :o)
The Verdict:
This was an average cruise. It was fun for the whole family. The food was decent, the service was average, and the ship was nice. The tickets on Carnival cruise lines are cheaper than other lines. If you want a fun get-away vactaion, then the Carnival Imagination is a great choice.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
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Epinions.com ID:
soupcraze
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Member: Soup Enthusiast
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Reviews written: 489
Trusted by: 185 members
About Me:
I enjoy many of life's passions... Music, medicine, people, and life itself.
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