My husband decided to take our family on a cruise as a multiple reward for losing weight (me) and graduating from college (3 daughters). After doing lots of research on the internet and deciding where and when we wanted to go, we narrowed our decision down to Carnival Imagination or Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas. Because 6 of us were going and because my husband was treating everyone, due to the price difference, we decided on the Imagination. We contacted our travel agent and booked our trip.

EMBARKATION - We arrived at the Port of Miami around 12:30pm for a 4:00pm departure. Things went very smoothly. The lines were long but they moved us quickly through, gave us our Sail & Sign cards and room keys and we were on the ship in no time. (Sail & Sign cards are used to charge all purchases while onboard the ship, making it a virtually cashless ship. You receive an itemized statement of charges on the last morning of your cruise. Most people use credit cards to pay for this but you can also use cash, by giving a minimum deposit amount up front.) We found our rooms (outside cabins with windows on the Riveria deck) easily and then went topside to enjoy the luncheon buffet on the Lido deck.

ROOMS - The rooms were comfortable, clean and nicely lit. We had an outside cabin on the Riveria Deck so we had a large window, giving us a wonderful view of the water. The rest of our family shared an outside quad stateroom just down the hall. The bathrooms were more than adequate and included a soft Carnival bathrobe for each of us to use on the cruise. There was also a small basket filled with samples of toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, and other necessities. Our room steward, Armondo, took good care of us, keeping our room clean, turning down the bed at night and making towel animals for us to enjoy.

ENTERTAINMENT – We thoroughly enjoyed the shows in the Dynasty Lounge. The dancers & singers were very good. We were amazed at the couple that did acrobatic dancing. The show on the last night was the best, complete with laser lights. We went ‘bar hopping’ one night and we especially enjoyed the band in the Shangri La Lounge. Our kids (all over 21) had a great time at the disco bar. We tried our luck at the casino too, but we weren’t very lucky that night. It seemed that everywhere you went at night there was some type of music to enjoy. In the daytime, the band on the Lido Deck added to the fun by playing ‘island’ style music to enjoy while you lay out in the sun. They also had bingo every night ($10 per card), karaoke and various games like the Newlywed Game and TV Trivia going on, so there was always something to do.

FOOD – Our first taste of the food on the Imagination was at the Horizon Grill on the Lido Deck. While the kids filled their plates with burgers & fries, we went for the veal parmesan, roast turkey and other hearty foods that were available. They had a nice selection that was different each day. We also ate breakfast most mornings on the Lido Deck. They have a nice breakfast buffet, including scrambled eggs, omelets made to order, waffles, pancakes, sausage, etc etc etc. The pizza was good and available 24 hrs a day. There was also a salad bar and ice cream bar for lunch & dinner time. You never went hungry. For dinner, every night except our night in port, we ate in the Pride Dining Room. Our waiter Udi and his assistant Iva made our dinners fun & special. Udi always tried to make sure that we were satisfied with what we had ordered. He had a great sense of humor & made our mealtime a lot of fun too. Some of the items we ordered were Prime Rib, Lobster, Lamb and Quail. The food portions were not large (except for the last night of the cruise) but the presentation was beautiful and the food was very good. Dessert was something to look forward to as well, with Chocolate Decadence being my personal favorite. We had late seating at 8:30pm so we weren’t hungry at midnight for the buffet, with the exception of our night in Cozumel. Since we were in port until after 9pm we went to the midnight Mexican Fiesta buffet that night, which everyone enjoyed.
*Note* As I'm sure everyone knows, a cruise does not include the cost of your drinks, including alcohol, soda pop and bottled water. We purchased a Carnival Fountain Card which costs about $20. With that, you got unlimited glasses of soft drinks & water, but its good only for the person that purchases it and is not good for canned soft drinks or bottled water. We did not get our moneys worth out of it and so I would not recommend it unless you drink a lot of soda. When we wanted something to drink, it was usually not soda that we wanted! The prices of alcoholic beverages was comparable to bar prices, with a domestic beer at $3.25 and a standard mixed drink around $4. On the Lido Deck, you could also purchase a mixed drink in a souvineer glass for around $6. The price of drinks includes gratuity so you don't have to worry about tipping.

MISC - The pool was nice although it seemed small to me. Also it was filled with salt water, which we didn’t really enjoy. We used the hot tub once and it wasn’t hot enough. I used the gym a couple of times. It was very nice with a variety of easy to use machines. Photos – they take lots of photos of you, coming & going. I ended up buying the one taken when we got on the ship as well as two from our formal night. The price was $20 each for 8x10s plus I bought a frame for $10 which holds the picture on one side and a photo of the ship on the other. They have a nice gift shop called the Galleria, which has the usual souvineers plus a duty free perfume, jewelry and liquor section. The prices were good, especially the liquor prices. You could get a huge bottle of vodka for $10.00. Carnival now automatically charges to your Sail & Sign card gratuities for your room steward, waiter & assistant waiter. The amount is $39 per person, and can be adjusted up or down based on the level of service you receive.

PORTS OF CALL – We stopped at Key West on Friday from 7:30am-2pm. Just enough time to go parasailing, take the Conch Tour train & do a bit of shopping. Saturday was spent in Cozumel, from Noon to 9pm. We went to Chankanaab Marine Park and snorkeled, swam and our girls did the Dolphin Encounter. We stopped at Senor Frogs for a drink and did some shopping at the pier. We had intended to go into San Miguel but it was Carnivale and the taxis ended up being a hassle so we just stayed close to the pier.

DISEMBARKATION – Again, this went pretty smoothly. At 8:30am we assembled in our designated areas (we sat in the Dynasty Lounge. You could also wait on the Lido Deck or Promenade Deck) until we were called to disembark. (They assign you a color based on where your stateroom is located. You wait until they call your color. Our wait, once they started calling colors, was about a half hour.) We got right off the ship then had to wait about 20 minutes for Customs. Once we got to where our bags were, a porter helped us get our bags and took us to the front of the line then straight to the shuttle bus to get back to the airport. He said to follow him and we did! I’m sure he saved us about an hour of waiting so we tipped him well & were on our way home.


Recommended:
Yes

Best Suited For: Couples