Imagination... Great Value ... Great Time ... With our 6 month old Infant
Written: Jan 31 '04 (Updated Jan 31 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Food, Entertainment, Service, Value, Infant Friendly
Cons: Aging ship
The Bottom Line: Excellent value, service, price, entertainment for the dollar.
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| tigik's Full Review: Carnival Imagination |
Let me start by saying I did a lot of research on this ship prior to booking our trip... and was somewhat concerned about the mixed reviews.
As to Background for the Cruise:
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I took my wife and 6 mo old on the cruise. This was our first cruise and it traveled to Jamaica and Grand Cayman (5 day cruise) departing from Miami. We were booked in E234 - Empress Deck with a window.
As to Quality of the Ship:
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The ship is definitely worn. The ship is in overall very good condition with the exception of the corridors for the cabins. The carpet was VERY worn and looked / smelled as much. The only redeeming factor was that we did not spend much time in our cabin / cabin corridor. The rest of the ship was in remarkably good condition. The ship handled larger swells well... and overall presented us a smooth sail. My wife can get seasick fairly easily and did great on the cruise. I am no expert but the boat seemed to be a "mid-sized" ship... with some smaller and some larger.
As to Quality of Food:
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There are a number of dining options. The three main options are the formal dining rooms, the casual buffet and the 24x7 pizza place. As most know by now... The only beverages included are Orange juice, Apple juice, Iced Tea, Milk and fruit punch. Soda cards can be bought for like $30. I opted not to buy and transitioned to ice tea for my trip.
* Formal Dining Room - always great food. I would equate the quality of the food to a 4 star restaurant. (So... much better than some national chains like Lonestar / Outback / Macaroni Grill / Red Lobster). You can eat as much of any course as you want and I was never disappointed.
* Casual Buffet - We tended to stay away... except for breakfast. We actually went on the cruise thinking that we would spend more time in the casual buffet than the formal dining room... but we were so blown away by the formal dining room food that we never made it back to the casual buffet. I would equate the quality (Not the selection) of the food to one of the national "buffet" chains like Old Country Buffet.
*Pizza - This is good stuff! This is 24x7 with pizza (6 types) calzones and garlic bread. Awesome for the convenience of the whole thing. Late lunch, afternoon snack, after dinner munchie or late night snack.
As to Entertainment:
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The ship had a number of options including Las Vegas Style Shows, bingo, Dance lessons, golf lessons, full service spa, casino, comedy shows, karaoke contests, magic shows, game shows, talent show, black jack contest, slot contest, art auctions and other activities.
The only thing I can say about this is that there was more than enough to do... and most of the shows were great... I have no complaints about anything. We were always busy... but never missed anything that we wanted to do.
As to Service:
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Awesome! I read some concerns around the service on the ship being subpar? I do not understand how that is possible. I have stayed in 5 star hotels in the US and abroad and I would put the quality of the service I received at / above 5 star hotels. I would probably even give Carnival the edge because the service was very comfortable and tailored to each individual. Often times in more traditional hotels the service approach is that of "broad brush." We had a 6 mo old with us and EVERYONE was awesome. Our waiter / waitress combination was awesome. I cannot think of one thing that they could have done better. Quick example: If I ordered a drink on Monday... the first question at Tuesday dinner is if the waiter can get me the same drink... or something else... They took a personal interest in me and my family and made sure they understood our preferences and went out of their way to make our experience outstanding. I cannot speak high enough about the quality of service from everyone we encountered. (Even the pizza guy - that I visited quite often - went out of his way to greet me and my 6 mo old if he saw us across the room) and ask if there is anything he can do for us.
As to Amenities:
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*Cabin Room: Plenty big enough... since really all we did was sleep. The shower had little pressure (To be expected) but worked fine and had plenty of hot water. No complaints about the room. In fact... back to the service point... I would guess that during the course of our 5 day cruise our bed was made up 20 times... so if you do the math - 4 times a day(MUCH better than a 5 star hotel). We would often take naps for the little guy and mess up the bed. We would disappear for a couple hours and return to a completely made up bed.
*Baby Sitting / Camp Carnival: Great service. There is a baby sitting service offered every day at sea from 12 to 2pm and 10pm to 2 am for infants from 4 months to 2 years. (I think you have to be at least 4 months to go on the cruise). On shore days there is babysitting from dock time to 2 pm (So you can get out and snorkel / scuba or any other activity not conducive to an infant. We did not use the camp carnival... but it is for kids 2 to 15. Looked like a great opportunity for the kids. The counselors were awesome... extremely cordial... they were excited every time we brought our little guy in for baby sitting. (Which makes it very easy for uneasy couple to drop off their infant) We were NEVER concerned about the quality of care for our little guy. Nothing but praise for this service... just wish that they would make it 24x7. There were not a lot of infants on the boat.
FYI - I would assume based on my observation there were probably 4 infants under two on the boat. So in case your wondering... there were not many... which probably led to even better service for our little dude.
As to Shore Excursions:
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There are plenty of opportunities to get out at both Cayman and Jamaica. Carnival has a number of prepackaged trips that they can add to your cruise bill. We elected to go on an excursion at both ports and enjoyed both very much. We elected to use the baby sitting service while at Cayman so we could snorkel and swim with the sting rays... and had an opportunity to take our little guy on the excursion in Jamaica. I thought the value was good and would recommend the excursions
Overall Thoughts:
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We were a little apprehensive about the whole thing based on the fact that we had never been on a cruise before and we were taking our 6 month old. We chose a 5 day cruise because we thought 7 was too long and the 3 / 4 day cruises went to closer and fewer destinations.
I will tell you that my review is based on our experience with similar accommodations / food / service from my traveling experiences. ( I used to travel every week and stay at hotels all across the country including 5 star hotels). My review does not have the comparison of another cruise experience; however, I will tell you that I would highly recommend this cruise. The value of having built in baby sitting, shows, entertainment and tons of 4 star food all in a self contained environment ... plus the luxury of having the opportunity to hang out at some world class beaches... made this trip unforgettable and truly well worth the price.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Friends
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Epinions.com ID:
tigik
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Reviews written: 1
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