cruisinthree
April 13th, 2004, 09:56 PM
Okay guys, I promised a lengthy review of our April 3rd Imagination cruise to Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios. Firstly, let me say that anyone who is skeptical about sailing on the Imagination because of very few reviews or mentions of her on this board, put your fears to rest!! The Imagination is a great ship! She was clean, neat and wonderful!! On to the review!!
EMBARKATION: We drove from Cincinnati to Miami for this cruise so we planned it so that we’d arrive at the ship very early. For once we wanted to get onboard as soon as possible and enjoy the ship before it became terribly crowded and also to avoid those long embarkation lines. We arrived at the port just before 11:00am and the only line we found was the line of cars, trucks, taxis and buses at the pier itself. The Port of Miami appears to be undergoing a big construction transformation and it was quite a mess! The few men standing around directing traffic seemed to be overwhelmed and were of very little help in moving these lines of vehicles along effectively! However, I did manage to ask one through our van window where to park. The last time we were in this port, there was only an outside parking lot but now there’s a new parking garage. This poor harried man pointed out the parking garage to us and after sitting in this traffic and inching along for maybe 15 minutes, we found our way into the parking garage and easily found a parking space right near the elevator on the second level. We hauled our luggage over to the terminal and immediately were approached by a Carnival employee with a passenger list. We gave him our name and were thrilled to discover we’d gotten an upgrade of two decks! We had been a guaranted booking so our upgrade moved us up from the Riviera deck to the Empress deck! Wonderful!! We were asked to write our new cabin number on our gray luggage tags Carnival had sent us with our documents and deposit our luggage into a particular baggage bin. We did this, tipped the porter $1.00 per bag, and made our way to the terminal. I remember seeing a throng of recently disembarked passengers making their way to the baggage terminal when we first arrived, so this was an indication that the ship had just recently emptied. As we walked into the terminal, I was afraid we’d have a wait before they’d allow us to get onboard. Not so. We put our carry-on bags right through the x-ray machine and were immediately directed to the counter where we were checked in and given our boarding pass and S&S card, and were told to go up the stairs to receive our cabin key. We were pleasantly surprised to find no lines at either the x-ray machine, check-in counter, or the desk where we received our cabin key. We were then directed to go directly up the escalator to the ship. Of course, there was the customary photo taken just before we walked up the gangplank and finally we stepped foot onto the Empress deck of the Imagination. I have to say, after three previous cruises, this was by far the easiest and most pleasant embarkation of all! I would say the entire process didn’t take more than 10 minutes! Awesome!!
Once onboard, we were handed a map of the ship, then made our way to our cabin on the Empress deck. We were greeted by our cabin steward (don’t ask me his name, I can’t remember!) in the hallway and he was eager to see if we were happy with our cabin. First thing I noticed was that the two twin beds were arranged into a king-sized bed, cutting down on the cabin floor space considerably. By now our cabin steward had come back to the room and I asked him if he could reconfigure the beds back to their original twin-size set up for the NEXT night, and he said he would see to it. I made a point of reassuring him that the beds would be fine the way they were for that night and that he didn’t have to bother with them that fist nigh, but by the time we returned from lunch on the Lido deck, he had them rearranged! Very efficient, I thought! Our room was clean and orderly. The blankets on the beds looked brand new and the sheets were spotless. The bedspreads appeared to be new also, or had just been laundered. I am fussy about sitting or laying on top of bedspreads in hotels because I am apprehensive about how clean they really are but I didn’t have this feeling at all about our cabin bedding. In the bathroom we found a ceramic dish on the sink with a small tube of toothpaste, two packets of Tylenol PM, a roll of Rolaids, a tiny tube of body lotion, two packs of razors (different brands), dental floss, and a packet that contained Physique shampoo and hair gel. Also on the sink was a boxed bar of Lever 2000 soap. Every other day this bar of soap was replaced with a fresh boxed bar even though we never did use up the previous bars! In the shower we found two dispensers, one with body soap in it and one with shampoo in it. A very nice touch! In the closet we found two fresh, clean terry cloth bathrobes hanging neatly on hangers. Our cabin steward must have realized there were actually three of us together because when we returned to our cabin to dress for dinner, a third terry cloth robe had been added. There were plenty of towels, all nice and clean and in very good condition.
Okay, after this quick cabin inspection, we headed up to the Lido deck for lunch. By now it’s probably 11:45am and there were only a few other passengers on the ship. This made getting lunch really easy and quick! The food was good on Lido deck and we piled our plates high and found a table. We enjoyed our lunch to the tunes of a steel drum band, all of which put us in a great frame of mind for the makings of a delightful cruise! After lunch, we walked around the ship and took a number of pictures and videos. It was great getting photos before the ship got crowded. I highly recommend getting onboard as early as they will allow you. There’s something about wandering around a ship before it starts to buzz with other passengers….kind of makes you feel like the ship is all yours, all to yourself for a time!!
It was sometime after lunch that I noticed our S&S card had us assigned to the late dinner seating. I was surprised since I had requested the early seating and after some discussion with DH, we decided to let it stand the way it was and give the late seating a try. On all our previous cruises, we had always had the early seating but thought that since our son was now older, the late seating would be fine. It was, but I have to admit, eating all that food that late at night, makes sleeping comfortably a problem!
WE SET SAIL: Not long after the ship filled up with passengers, we had the usual muster drill. It wasn’t bad at all and lasted maybe 20 minutes total. The Imagination glided gently out of the Port of Miami right on time with a Coast Guard escort. I’m told this is part of Homeland Security now. It had been a beautiful day in Miami and with the sun just starting to set, our departure from the port filled us with anticipation for a great cruise!
DINNER: We were assigned to the Spirit dining room and ate in the dining room every night . Our waiter was Ayapahn from India. Ayapahn was wonderful, always smiling and eager to see that we were all happy and satisfied with our meals. All the food was good, hot, and nicely presented. The only meals that were not up to par were the chicken and quail. Both of these were undercooked and no one at our table who ordered either of them was happy with this choice of meals. Of course, it was easy to get a replacement meal so in the long run, everyone was content. The deserts were wonderful, especially the Grand Mariner Souffle. This was a special presentation the last night of our cruise along with anything you ordered off the dessert menu that night. It was heavenly! After dinner one night we took a stroll up to the Lido deck to see what they were having for the buffet dinner and all the food there looked wonderful. We would have loved to sample some of it but, really, how much food can you eat in one day!!! We did not go to the midnight buffet but I heard from our dinner companions that it was great. My one complaint about cruising is that there is always just too much food and too many opportunities to stuff your face!!!! But, isn’t that one of the best parts of cruising??!! J
SHOWS AND ENTERTAINMENT: Every evening we took in the show in the Dynasty Lounge. All of them were professional and well done. The dancers never missed their marks and the addition of laser lights to some of the performances was a special treat. One night they had a magician and he was phenomenal! Move over David Copperfield!! The singers, one male and one female, who were highlighted in the shows, are to be commended for their talent. Our cruise director was Troy and he was very good. On two evenings, there was karaoke in the other lounge….can’t recall the name of this lounge, but the shows were fun to sit and watch! My hat is off to anyone who has the nerve to get up in front of complete strangers and sing solo!! One of the best shows in the Dynasty Lounge was the talent show and I’m sure it was held the last night of the cruise. Four passengers took part in this program and they were unbelievably good!! All the shows, no matter what the theme, were enjoyable and I strongly recommend taking in all of them! Of course, there were the usual pool deck shows which were entertaining to watch…..the men’s hairy chest contest was hysterical! There’s just so much to do on a Carnival cruise. Whether you are a participant or a spectator, it’s always fun!!
GRAND CAYMAN: We arrived on schedule at Grand Cayman on Monday morning after a full day at sea on Sunday. Because Grand Cayman’s harbor is too shallow to allow a ship to dock at the pier, we were taken ashore by tender. The night before, Troy our CD had mentioned that the tenders would start running at 8:30 (I believe) so if you had booked an early shore excursion and needed to be onshore earlier than 8:45, to be downstairs at the gangplank area anytime after 7:30am to catch the special tenders that would run from port to the ship. Weeks before we sailed, we had booked a shore excursion to Sting Ray City with Captain Marvin’s in Grand Cayman. When we arrived for the early tender to shore, the Carnival employee at the gangplank wanted to see our confirmation for a Carnival shore excursion. As we quickly learned, this special early tendering service was primarily for those who booked an actual Carnival excursion. When we explained that our shore excursion wasn’t a Carnival excursion, she shot us a dirty look and then allowed us to get on the tender. Obviously she wasn’t happy about us booking an excursion through any other media except Carnival! Backing up a bit….the previous night, we had gone to the pursers desk to verify what time we needed to be at the gangplank for an early tender and in the course of our questioning, the girl at the desk asked us what excursion we were signed up for. When DH told her we’d booked one privately, she too gave us a dirty look! Don’t let this intimidate you from booking your excursions through anyone other than Carnival. I understand they want to have 100% participation on their excursions but I do feel our tour with Captain Marvin was well worth the dirty looks!
I had done a lot of research and asked a lot of questions on this message board about the pros and cons of booking excursions in Grand Cayman through Carnival or privately. In the end, I booked with Captain Marvin’s based on the feedback I received from all of you. I wasn’t sorry! Captain Marvin’s did a wonderful job! Our tour had about 16 people on it and it was easy to manage that small amount of people around you. I’d read where the tours booked through Carnival tend to be larger, upwards of 40 to 50 people. So, this was the one factor that prompted me to book privately. Once onshore, we walked the three-minute walk to Captain Marvin’s storefront and found our names waiting on their list for that morning’s second tour. We arrived earlier than we really needed to but we found a bench right outside the storefront and took up residency there until the mini bus arrived back from the earlier tour to retrieve us. Within minutes we were on our way to the boat that would take us out to snorkel and to Sting Ray City! On the way, our driver pointed out some of the local points of interest. Within about 10 minutes or so, we pulled off the main road and followed a short residential road to the inlet where our boat was anchored. We boarded a nice, clean boat and our guides Ron and Leroy pulled out of the inlet and into the Caribbean Ocean. It was about a 20-minute sail out to a coral reef, which was our first stop. We were asked what size swim fins we needed and were given freshly disinfected snorkel masks. I wasn’t the least bit worried about using a mouthpiece I knew someone else had used because I could literally smell the disinfectant on it! All the equipment was in perfect condition and Ron and Leroy made sure our equipment fit properly. We spent about 15 minutes snorkeling around this coral reef. The water was a very nice 78º and the sun was out full blast in a blue Caribbean sky! Heaven!! Then it was back onboard and a few minutes later we were at the edge of the Barrier Reef where we snorkeled for another 15 or 20 minutes. This was an incredible experience! The water was so clear! You didn’t have to struggle through murky, sandy water to see the reef formations or fish, both of which were plentiful! It was at the edge of this Barrier Reef that we spotted our first stingray! A word of advice… BE SURE to bring an underwater camera for this excursion! In fact, bring TWO! I had recently purchased my own reusable underwater camera and this was the first time I was using it so I was a little afraid about how the pictures would actually turn out. As a backup, I’d bought my 17-year old son a one-time use underwater camera, so both of us now have a plethora of crystal clear pictures of the Barrier Reef! Not wanting to leave this enchanting place but wanting to get on to Stingray City, we climbed back into the boat and within a few short minutes we were swimming with stingrays! This was the highlight of the cruise for me! These creatures are absolutely incredible! One, a huge fellow, fed directly from my hand! Our tour guide asked me if I wanted to hold one and I jumped at the opportunity! He showed me how to hold a rather large ray while our fellow tour mates petted it and took pictures! We were allowed to use our snorkel masks but not swim fins while on the sand bar at Stingray City. You also cannot wear water shoes (there’s no need to, anyway). Stingrays, so we learned, have a very thin, protective covering over their bodies. Any injury to this covering could cause an infection and could kill a stingray. As I was snorkeling around the stingrays, I spotted a couple of baby rays! They are a very pale gray compared to the adults, which are dark gray. What a feeling it is to be standing chest deep in water and feel a Sting Ray brush up against you! Amazing! Well, all too soon it was time to leave, but I can tell you for certain, if we’re ever back in Grand Cayman, we’ll definitely do this excursion again! Once back onboard, we were hosed down with fresh water to rinse the salt from our bodies, then we sat back and relaxed in the sun while Ron and Leroy steered our boat back to shore, where we were met by our mini bus again. This was a different driver than the one who brought us to the boat and on the way back he gave us quite a lot of information about the island and its history. Once back at Captain Marvin’s storefront, we decided to have some lunch in town rather than rush back to the ship to eat. Ask for recommendations from the folks at Captain Marvin’s as to where to eat. They pointed us in the direction of a nice little harbor-side restaurant almost directly across the street from their store front where we sat under a shady canopy, ate delicious (but expensive) burgers, and watched the cruise ships in the harbor. It was a quick five-minute walk back to the tender, which took us back to the Imagination. It had been a superb day! A note…my recommendations for anyone going to snorkel or to Stinray City. Bring…and use…sun block! Just being in the water for the hour we were, we came away with red backs!! My other recommendation is to bring either a lot of film for your cameras, or at least two underwater cameras! You don’t want to find yourself running short of film for this adventure!
OCHO RIOS: Wednesday morning found us in Ocho Riosn after a calm and clear night of sailing. What a beautiful, lush island Jamaica is….from afar. Once onshore, you realize what a poverty-stricken island it really is. This port is deep enough to allow ships to dock, so we had only to walk off the gangplank and onto shore. However, don’t expect a pretty dock when you step off the ship! It’s not! In fact, it’s pretty nasty! But quickly you walk the length of this dock to the area up by the road where there are taxis and buses waiting. Our CD, Troy, had told us not to go off by ourselves in Jamaica, not because its as dangerous as most people have heard, but it’s just not good sense. He advised us to stick with a tour (Carnival, naturally!), and if we did take a taxi anywhere, to be sure we picked taxis with red license plates. Once at the point where the taxis and buses were waiting, we were approached by a Jamaican woman who asked if we wanted to go into town. We hadn’t booked any excursions for our stay in Jamaica….we figured we’d just walk into town and shop. At first we said no to her offer for a taxi but when I realized it was a mile and a half walk into town, I quickly asked her how much a ride to town would be. She replied, “Three dollars per person.” I didn’t feel $9.00 was a lot for the three of us, so we told her we’d accept that. She then asked if we wanted to tour the island for $30 a person. At first we declined, but as we walked to the taxi, DH and I started discussing the merits of taking advantage of seeing more of the island than just shopping. So, we went back to her and started asking questions. She assured us that we could haggle the cost with our driver and that our time would be ours. Wherever we wanted to go, he’d take us and then he would take us back to the prime shopping area. From there back to the ship, it would be a quick 10-minute walk. So, after a few more minutes of deliberation, we decided to go for it and were escorted to a mini bus, which was already filling with passengers. We took up the back two seats and off we went. It turned out to be a very good decision! After dropping several passengers off at Dunns River Falls, our driver took us and another couple for a good 2-hour tour of the areas around Ocho Rios including a long, windy drive up through Fern Gully. That was neat! Once we started the assent into Fern Gully, the air temperature immediately dropped 15º! Off went the air conditioning and the open windows provided us a cool breeze for this hill-climbing ride! Our driver stopped to allow us some photo opportunities along the way. Jamaica is a very mountainous island and lush with almost a jungle-like atmosphere. While scenically attractive, the Jamaican people live in oppressive poverty. Our driver was extremely knowledgeable and when the other couple in the mini van asked about Kingstown, he replied, “No, mon, you don’t wanna go dere, dat place be baaad, lots of drugs and crime, baaad place, mon!” The entire tour lasted a good two hours and as promised, our driver deposited us in the prime shopping center, where we paid him $90.00. We didn’t haggle with him on this price, we really felt the tour was well worth this price. For the next hour we shopped around this shopping village, then walked back to the ship. We walked through Margarittaville on our way but there wasn’t a seat to be found in the place, so we left. The weather in Jamaica that day was sunny, beautiful, but a bit more humid than I like, but definitely not unbearable! Back onboard, it was the end of another wonderful day in the Caribbean!
Our next day, Wednesday, was at sea, always with the dread of returning to Miami! DH remarked that we’ve never had a bad day in the Caribbean, OR on a Carnival cruise!!
BACK HOME….DEBARKATION: Carnival has instituted a new debarkation feature called ‘express debark’. You’ll learn about it when you attend the debarkation briefing on the last night of your cruise. Basically, express debark is a way to debark the ship long before everyone else does without having to wait for your colored tag to be called. Anyone who has cruised before knows this can be a long process. What we were told about express debark is this: if you are an American citizen and if you can carry ALL your own luggage off the ship, you can use express debark. They asked anyone who was interested in using this method to meet in the Dynasty Lounge at 7:15AM the morning we docked in Miami. We had to have our S&S card, our photo ID, and our proof of citizenship in our hands. Once we were all in the Dynasty Lounge they announce express debark was to begin. We all had to haul our luggage down one flight of steps to the gangplank (some folks opted to wait for elevators), off the ship, and through the area where our S&S, photo ID, and citizenship proof were inspected by immigration personnel. They asked us whom we were traveling with and asked our mother’s maiden names. From there we were directed to the escalator and steps and had to manage our own luggage out of the terminal. However, we were allowed to use the elevators in the terminal, which made the hauling process easier for folks like me who tend to overpack! From there we dragged our luggage to the parking garage, loaded up the van, and headed out of the Port of Miami. We were on the road by 8:35AM. Personally, I think whoever dreamed up express debark should be promoted to CEO of Carnival! Never, never have we gotten off a cruise ship anywhere near that early hour in the morning and it really did save us time and money, since getting off so early helped us get home a full day early and thereby saved us a night’s hotel bill! I would guess there were about 200 people using express debark that morning. As we drove off toward I95, I thought about all the people still sitting on the ship waiting for their color tags to be called!!! I know express debark only took us 15 minutes not counting the time we waited in the Dynasty Lounge for it to begin.
Well, I think I’ve covered the entire cruise in this review but I’m sure there are lots of little things that I could have mentioned but forgot! If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask! I’ll do my best to answer! Right now we’re just trying to get back to reality after a wonderful cruise on the Imagination! Maybe to help us snap back to reality, we need to start checking prices for our next cruise???!!! J
The Big Red Boat Oct.1991
Carnival Ecstasy Apr. 1998
RCL Sovereign of the Seas 2000
Carnival Imagination Apr. 2004
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;4;3;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500
TILL IMAGINATION, APRIL 3, 2004!!!!!
EMBARKATION: We drove from Cincinnati to Miami for this cruise so we planned it so that we’d arrive at the ship very early. For once we wanted to get onboard as soon as possible and enjoy the ship before it became terribly crowded and also to avoid those long embarkation lines. We arrived at the port just before 11:00am and the only line we found was the line of cars, trucks, taxis and buses at the pier itself. The Port of Miami appears to be undergoing a big construction transformation and it was quite a mess! The few men standing around directing traffic seemed to be overwhelmed and were of very little help in moving these lines of vehicles along effectively! However, I did manage to ask one through our van window where to park. The last time we were in this port, there was only an outside parking lot but now there’s a new parking garage. This poor harried man pointed out the parking garage to us and after sitting in this traffic and inching along for maybe 15 minutes, we found our way into the parking garage and easily found a parking space right near the elevator on the second level. We hauled our luggage over to the terminal and immediately were approached by a Carnival employee with a passenger list. We gave him our name and were thrilled to discover we’d gotten an upgrade of two decks! We had been a guaranted booking so our upgrade moved us up from the Riviera deck to the Empress deck! Wonderful!! We were asked to write our new cabin number on our gray luggage tags Carnival had sent us with our documents and deposit our luggage into a particular baggage bin. We did this, tipped the porter $1.00 per bag, and made our way to the terminal. I remember seeing a throng of recently disembarked passengers making their way to the baggage terminal when we first arrived, so this was an indication that the ship had just recently emptied. As we walked into the terminal, I was afraid we’d have a wait before they’d allow us to get onboard. Not so. We put our carry-on bags right through the x-ray machine and were immediately directed to the counter where we were checked in and given our boarding pass and S&S card, and were told to go up the stairs to receive our cabin key. We were pleasantly surprised to find no lines at either the x-ray machine, check-in counter, or the desk where we received our cabin key. We were then directed to go directly up the escalator to the ship. Of course, there was the customary photo taken just before we walked up the gangplank and finally we stepped foot onto the Empress deck of the Imagination. I have to say, after three previous cruises, this was by far the easiest and most pleasant embarkation of all! I would say the entire process didn’t take more than 10 minutes! Awesome!!
Once onboard, we were handed a map of the ship, then made our way to our cabin on the Empress deck. We were greeted by our cabin steward (don’t ask me his name, I can’t remember!) in the hallway and he was eager to see if we were happy with our cabin. First thing I noticed was that the two twin beds were arranged into a king-sized bed, cutting down on the cabin floor space considerably. By now our cabin steward had come back to the room and I asked him if he could reconfigure the beds back to their original twin-size set up for the NEXT night, and he said he would see to it. I made a point of reassuring him that the beds would be fine the way they were for that night and that he didn’t have to bother with them that fist nigh, but by the time we returned from lunch on the Lido deck, he had them rearranged! Very efficient, I thought! Our room was clean and orderly. The blankets on the beds looked brand new and the sheets were spotless. The bedspreads appeared to be new also, or had just been laundered. I am fussy about sitting or laying on top of bedspreads in hotels because I am apprehensive about how clean they really are but I didn’t have this feeling at all about our cabin bedding. In the bathroom we found a ceramic dish on the sink with a small tube of toothpaste, two packets of Tylenol PM, a roll of Rolaids, a tiny tube of body lotion, two packs of razors (different brands), dental floss, and a packet that contained Physique shampoo and hair gel. Also on the sink was a boxed bar of Lever 2000 soap. Every other day this bar of soap was replaced with a fresh boxed bar even though we never did use up the previous bars! In the shower we found two dispensers, one with body soap in it and one with shampoo in it. A very nice touch! In the closet we found two fresh, clean terry cloth bathrobes hanging neatly on hangers. Our cabin steward must have realized there were actually three of us together because when we returned to our cabin to dress for dinner, a third terry cloth robe had been added. There were plenty of towels, all nice and clean and in very good condition.
Okay, after this quick cabin inspection, we headed up to the Lido deck for lunch. By now it’s probably 11:45am and there were only a few other passengers on the ship. This made getting lunch really easy and quick! The food was good on Lido deck and we piled our plates high and found a table. We enjoyed our lunch to the tunes of a steel drum band, all of which put us in a great frame of mind for the makings of a delightful cruise! After lunch, we walked around the ship and took a number of pictures and videos. It was great getting photos before the ship got crowded. I highly recommend getting onboard as early as they will allow you. There’s something about wandering around a ship before it starts to buzz with other passengers….kind of makes you feel like the ship is all yours, all to yourself for a time!!
It was sometime after lunch that I noticed our S&S card had us assigned to the late dinner seating. I was surprised since I had requested the early seating and after some discussion with DH, we decided to let it stand the way it was and give the late seating a try. On all our previous cruises, we had always had the early seating but thought that since our son was now older, the late seating would be fine. It was, but I have to admit, eating all that food that late at night, makes sleeping comfortably a problem!
WE SET SAIL: Not long after the ship filled up with passengers, we had the usual muster drill. It wasn’t bad at all and lasted maybe 20 minutes total. The Imagination glided gently out of the Port of Miami right on time with a Coast Guard escort. I’m told this is part of Homeland Security now. It had been a beautiful day in Miami and with the sun just starting to set, our departure from the port filled us with anticipation for a great cruise!
DINNER: We were assigned to the Spirit dining room and ate in the dining room every night . Our waiter was Ayapahn from India. Ayapahn was wonderful, always smiling and eager to see that we were all happy and satisfied with our meals. All the food was good, hot, and nicely presented. The only meals that were not up to par were the chicken and quail. Both of these were undercooked and no one at our table who ordered either of them was happy with this choice of meals. Of course, it was easy to get a replacement meal so in the long run, everyone was content. The deserts were wonderful, especially the Grand Mariner Souffle. This was a special presentation the last night of our cruise along with anything you ordered off the dessert menu that night. It was heavenly! After dinner one night we took a stroll up to the Lido deck to see what they were having for the buffet dinner and all the food there looked wonderful. We would have loved to sample some of it but, really, how much food can you eat in one day!!! We did not go to the midnight buffet but I heard from our dinner companions that it was great. My one complaint about cruising is that there is always just too much food and too many opportunities to stuff your face!!!! But, isn’t that one of the best parts of cruising??!! J
SHOWS AND ENTERTAINMENT: Every evening we took in the show in the Dynasty Lounge. All of them were professional and well done. The dancers never missed their marks and the addition of laser lights to some of the performances was a special treat. One night they had a magician and he was phenomenal! Move over David Copperfield!! The singers, one male and one female, who were highlighted in the shows, are to be commended for their talent. Our cruise director was Troy and he was very good. On two evenings, there was karaoke in the other lounge….can’t recall the name of this lounge, but the shows were fun to sit and watch! My hat is off to anyone who has the nerve to get up in front of complete strangers and sing solo!! One of the best shows in the Dynasty Lounge was the talent show and I’m sure it was held the last night of the cruise. Four passengers took part in this program and they were unbelievably good!! All the shows, no matter what the theme, were enjoyable and I strongly recommend taking in all of them! Of course, there were the usual pool deck shows which were entertaining to watch…..the men’s hairy chest contest was hysterical! There’s just so much to do on a Carnival cruise. Whether you are a participant or a spectator, it’s always fun!!
GRAND CAYMAN: We arrived on schedule at Grand Cayman on Monday morning after a full day at sea on Sunday. Because Grand Cayman’s harbor is too shallow to allow a ship to dock at the pier, we were taken ashore by tender. The night before, Troy our CD had mentioned that the tenders would start running at 8:30 (I believe) so if you had booked an early shore excursion and needed to be onshore earlier than 8:45, to be downstairs at the gangplank area anytime after 7:30am to catch the special tenders that would run from port to the ship. Weeks before we sailed, we had booked a shore excursion to Sting Ray City with Captain Marvin’s in Grand Cayman. When we arrived for the early tender to shore, the Carnival employee at the gangplank wanted to see our confirmation for a Carnival shore excursion. As we quickly learned, this special early tendering service was primarily for those who booked an actual Carnival excursion. When we explained that our shore excursion wasn’t a Carnival excursion, she shot us a dirty look and then allowed us to get on the tender. Obviously she wasn’t happy about us booking an excursion through any other media except Carnival! Backing up a bit….the previous night, we had gone to the pursers desk to verify what time we needed to be at the gangplank for an early tender and in the course of our questioning, the girl at the desk asked us what excursion we were signed up for. When DH told her we’d booked one privately, she too gave us a dirty look! Don’t let this intimidate you from booking your excursions through anyone other than Carnival. I understand they want to have 100% participation on their excursions but I do feel our tour with Captain Marvin was well worth the dirty looks!
I had done a lot of research and asked a lot of questions on this message board about the pros and cons of booking excursions in Grand Cayman through Carnival or privately. In the end, I booked with Captain Marvin’s based on the feedback I received from all of you. I wasn’t sorry! Captain Marvin’s did a wonderful job! Our tour had about 16 people on it and it was easy to manage that small amount of people around you. I’d read where the tours booked through Carnival tend to be larger, upwards of 40 to 50 people. So, this was the one factor that prompted me to book privately. Once onshore, we walked the three-minute walk to Captain Marvin’s storefront and found our names waiting on their list for that morning’s second tour. We arrived earlier than we really needed to but we found a bench right outside the storefront and took up residency there until the mini bus arrived back from the earlier tour to retrieve us. Within minutes we were on our way to the boat that would take us out to snorkel and to Sting Ray City! On the way, our driver pointed out some of the local points of interest. Within about 10 minutes or so, we pulled off the main road and followed a short residential road to the inlet where our boat was anchored. We boarded a nice, clean boat and our guides Ron and Leroy pulled out of the inlet and into the Caribbean Ocean. It was about a 20-minute sail out to a coral reef, which was our first stop. We were asked what size swim fins we needed and were given freshly disinfected snorkel masks. I wasn’t the least bit worried about using a mouthpiece I knew someone else had used because I could literally smell the disinfectant on it! All the equipment was in perfect condition and Ron and Leroy made sure our equipment fit properly. We spent about 15 minutes snorkeling around this coral reef. The water was a very nice 78º and the sun was out full blast in a blue Caribbean sky! Heaven!! Then it was back onboard and a few minutes later we were at the edge of the Barrier Reef where we snorkeled for another 15 or 20 minutes. This was an incredible experience! The water was so clear! You didn’t have to struggle through murky, sandy water to see the reef formations or fish, both of which were plentiful! It was at the edge of this Barrier Reef that we spotted our first stingray! A word of advice… BE SURE to bring an underwater camera for this excursion! In fact, bring TWO! I had recently purchased my own reusable underwater camera and this was the first time I was using it so I was a little afraid about how the pictures would actually turn out. As a backup, I’d bought my 17-year old son a one-time use underwater camera, so both of us now have a plethora of crystal clear pictures of the Barrier Reef! Not wanting to leave this enchanting place but wanting to get on to Stingray City, we climbed back into the boat and within a few short minutes we were swimming with stingrays! This was the highlight of the cruise for me! These creatures are absolutely incredible! One, a huge fellow, fed directly from my hand! Our tour guide asked me if I wanted to hold one and I jumped at the opportunity! He showed me how to hold a rather large ray while our fellow tour mates petted it and took pictures! We were allowed to use our snorkel masks but not swim fins while on the sand bar at Stingray City. You also cannot wear water shoes (there’s no need to, anyway). Stingrays, so we learned, have a very thin, protective covering over their bodies. Any injury to this covering could cause an infection and could kill a stingray. As I was snorkeling around the stingrays, I spotted a couple of baby rays! They are a very pale gray compared to the adults, which are dark gray. What a feeling it is to be standing chest deep in water and feel a Sting Ray brush up against you! Amazing! Well, all too soon it was time to leave, but I can tell you for certain, if we’re ever back in Grand Cayman, we’ll definitely do this excursion again! Once back onboard, we were hosed down with fresh water to rinse the salt from our bodies, then we sat back and relaxed in the sun while Ron and Leroy steered our boat back to shore, where we were met by our mini bus again. This was a different driver than the one who brought us to the boat and on the way back he gave us quite a lot of information about the island and its history. Once back at Captain Marvin’s storefront, we decided to have some lunch in town rather than rush back to the ship to eat. Ask for recommendations from the folks at Captain Marvin’s as to where to eat. They pointed us in the direction of a nice little harbor-side restaurant almost directly across the street from their store front where we sat under a shady canopy, ate delicious (but expensive) burgers, and watched the cruise ships in the harbor. It was a quick five-minute walk back to the tender, which took us back to the Imagination. It had been a superb day! A note…my recommendations for anyone going to snorkel or to Stinray City. Bring…and use…sun block! Just being in the water for the hour we were, we came away with red backs!! My other recommendation is to bring either a lot of film for your cameras, or at least two underwater cameras! You don’t want to find yourself running short of film for this adventure!
OCHO RIOS: Wednesday morning found us in Ocho Riosn after a calm and clear night of sailing. What a beautiful, lush island Jamaica is….from afar. Once onshore, you realize what a poverty-stricken island it really is. This port is deep enough to allow ships to dock, so we had only to walk off the gangplank and onto shore. However, don’t expect a pretty dock when you step off the ship! It’s not! In fact, it’s pretty nasty! But quickly you walk the length of this dock to the area up by the road where there are taxis and buses waiting. Our CD, Troy, had told us not to go off by ourselves in Jamaica, not because its as dangerous as most people have heard, but it’s just not good sense. He advised us to stick with a tour (Carnival, naturally!), and if we did take a taxi anywhere, to be sure we picked taxis with red license plates. Once at the point where the taxis and buses were waiting, we were approached by a Jamaican woman who asked if we wanted to go into town. We hadn’t booked any excursions for our stay in Jamaica….we figured we’d just walk into town and shop. At first we said no to her offer for a taxi but when I realized it was a mile and a half walk into town, I quickly asked her how much a ride to town would be. She replied, “Three dollars per person.” I didn’t feel $9.00 was a lot for the three of us, so we told her we’d accept that. She then asked if we wanted to tour the island for $30 a person. At first we declined, but as we walked to the taxi, DH and I started discussing the merits of taking advantage of seeing more of the island than just shopping. So, we went back to her and started asking questions. She assured us that we could haggle the cost with our driver and that our time would be ours. Wherever we wanted to go, he’d take us and then he would take us back to the prime shopping area. From there back to the ship, it would be a quick 10-minute walk. So, after a few more minutes of deliberation, we decided to go for it and were escorted to a mini bus, which was already filling with passengers. We took up the back two seats and off we went. It turned out to be a very good decision! After dropping several passengers off at Dunns River Falls, our driver took us and another couple for a good 2-hour tour of the areas around Ocho Rios including a long, windy drive up through Fern Gully. That was neat! Once we started the assent into Fern Gully, the air temperature immediately dropped 15º! Off went the air conditioning and the open windows provided us a cool breeze for this hill-climbing ride! Our driver stopped to allow us some photo opportunities along the way. Jamaica is a very mountainous island and lush with almost a jungle-like atmosphere. While scenically attractive, the Jamaican people live in oppressive poverty. Our driver was extremely knowledgeable and when the other couple in the mini van asked about Kingstown, he replied, “No, mon, you don’t wanna go dere, dat place be baaad, lots of drugs and crime, baaad place, mon!” The entire tour lasted a good two hours and as promised, our driver deposited us in the prime shopping center, where we paid him $90.00. We didn’t haggle with him on this price, we really felt the tour was well worth this price. For the next hour we shopped around this shopping village, then walked back to the ship. We walked through Margarittaville on our way but there wasn’t a seat to be found in the place, so we left. The weather in Jamaica that day was sunny, beautiful, but a bit more humid than I like, but definitely not unbearable! Back onboard, it was the end of another wonderful day in the Caribbean!
Our next day, Wednesday, was at sea, always with the dread of returning to Miami! DH remarked that we’ve never had a bad day in the Caribbean, OR on a Carnival cruise!!
BACK HOME….DEBARKATION: Carnival has instituted a new debarkation feature called ‘express debark’. You’ll learn about it when you attend the debarkation briefing on the last night of your cruise. Basically, express debark is a way to debark the ship long before everyone else does without having to wait for your colored tag to be called. Anyone who has cruised before knows this can be a long process. What we were told about express debark is this: if you are an American citizen and if you can carry ALL your own luggage off the ship, you can use express debark. They asked anyone who was interested in using this method to meet in the Dynasty Lounge at 7:15AM the morning we docked in Miami. We had to have our S&S card, our photo ID, and our proof of citizenship in our hands. Once we were all in the Dynasty Lounge they announce express debark was to begin. We all had to haul our luggage down one flight of steps to the gangplank (some folks opted to wait for elevators), off the ship, and through the area where our S&S, photo ID, and citizenship proof were inspected by immigration personnel. They asked us whom we were traveling with and asked our mother’s maiden names. From there we were directed to the escalator and steps and had to manage our own luggage out of the terminal. However, we were allowed to use the elevators in the terminal, which made the hauling process easier for folks like me who tend to overpack! From there we dragged our luggage to the parking garage, loaded up the van, and headed out of the Port of Miami. We were on the road by 8:35AM. Personally, I think whoever dreamed up express debark should be promoted to CEO of Carnival! Never, never have we gotten off a cruise ship anywhere near that early hour in the morning and it really did save us time and money, since getting off so early helped us get home a full day early and thereby saved us a night’s hotel bill! I would guess there were about 200 people using express debark that morning. As we drove off toward I95, I thought about all the people still sitting on the ship waiting for their color tags to be called!!! I know express debark only took us 15 minutes not counting the time we waited in the Dynasty Lounge for it to begin.
Well, I think I’ve covered the entire cruise in this review but I’m sure there are lots of little things that I could have mentioned but forgot! If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask! I’ll do my best to answer! Right now we’re just trying to get back to reality after a wonderful cruise on the Imagination! Maybe to help us snap back to reality, we need to start checking prices for our next cruise???!!! J
The Big Red Boat Oct.1991
Carnival Ecstasy Apr. 1998
RCL Sovereign of the Seas 2000
Carnival Imagination Apr. 2004
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;4;3;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500
TILL IMAGINATION, APRIL 3, 2004!!!!!