Carnival Imagination trip report.....4/18-4/22

Hello again! This is my 3rd trip report. I have enjoyed writing the other two so much, and have enjoyed reading your comments so much, that I thought, "Why not? Let's do it again!" (Plus, I will be completely honest with you, unfortunately, it seems like both my girls woke up today with a stomach virus of some sorts, so I think I will be home all day today, taking care of them! Lovely, cold and rainy day back home in NY!)

This will be a shorter trip report, since the cruise was only a Monday-Friday sailing on the Carnival Imagination. We departed from Miami on 4/18, were in Key West on Tuesday, 4/19, Cozumel 4/20, at sea on Th. 4/21 and back to where it all started on Friday, 4/22.

This trip was a little different….it was a GROWN UP trip!!! We have two lovely daughters, who love cruising as much as we do, but my husband and I try to get away every now and then without our little traveling buddies for some much needed adult time. This trip was our Christmas present to each other this past Dec., instead of getting each other the useless gifts we usually go overboard on.

This makes me feel guilty to say, but this really was our BEST cruise ever!!! Sorry girls if you are someday reading this!!

It did NOT have to do with the fact that the girls were not there. In fact, we missed them terribly!! We will be cruising with them on our annual Labor Day cruise to Canada. That has become a recent family tradition for us, so my husband and I knew that in a few short months, we would be cruising again, this time with our daughters!

The crew on the Imagination was simply amazing! The service and attention we received was outstanding! The ship was very nicely kept, and having sailed on the Dream in February, I noticed that without a doubt, I prefer the "smaller" ships. The itinerary was perfect for us. And we had a little excitement at the Welcome Aboard Show….I was traveling with the Doctor of Love for this voyage!!! But more about all this later……….

(I need to go check on the sick girlie girls. Nothing quite says welcome home like a good old stomach virus!!! After days of having every wish and desire catered to, I'm cleaning the floors with paper towels and lining garbage cans with bags. Where is my cabin steward and wait staff now???) Just kidding, it's all good. I'm glad to be back home with them!

And on with the show…….

We adults need to have some fun on our own from time to time!!

We're waiting for more!

:)

I always liked Imagination. :)

Can't wait for more...Imagination here I come in T-15 days:)

great start

Can't wait to hear more! My DH and I have sailed Imagination alone on the 3 day itinerary. I was so seasick the first night that we definitely need a do-over (rough seas and didn't take my seasick meds= bad night).

We adults need to have some fun on our own from time to time!!

We're waiting for more!

:)

Agreed!!!! :)

Good times!

Can't wait for more...Imagination here I come in T-15 days:)

Thank you! I am excited for you. You will have a great time!!

great start

Thank you! :)

Can't wait to hear more! My DH and I have sailed Imagination alone on the 3 day itinerary. I was so seasick the first night that we definitely need a do-over (rough seas and didn't take my seasick meds= bad night).

Thank you! Oh no....seasickness is not good! You definitely need to have a do over!

Monday, April 18, 2011

We had an uneventful flight from NY to Miami, except that I broke my own personal rule of flying in the day of the cruise. Having to always travel at "peak" times, the somewhat reasonable airfare has us on a 6am flight that morning. It wasn't bad…but getting up at 2:30 was not fun!! Being a worrier/planner/practical person, I had a Plan B in my mind. With the winter we had, we weren't sure if we would end up with a spring break, so we had insurance on this trip. Worst case, fi we didn't make it to the ship, we would just get to Miami when we could, and spend the week in South Beach. Luckily, Plan A worked just fine. We landed before 9, had breakfast at the airport, took a taxi, made a wine stop and got to the Port of Miami by about 10:15, grabbed that beautiful Zone 1 card, and were on board the great Imagination by 11:15!!!! We even felt it was too early to eat lunch yet!! The ship was empty!

At first, all I could think was that the ship was so small, compared to the Dream, that we had just been on a few months before. Well, it is! But it was perfect for us. Several times during the sailing, my husband and commented on the lack of crowds and lines, and the fact that we felt like we had this ship to ourselves. (There still were 2500 passengers aboard, and there were many families with children traveling, but all was good.) Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Dream and would take her again. I think I just prefer the smaller ships.

We walked around, explored, had lunch, checked out our porthole cabin, and settled down somewhere by the pool. (Somewhere in here I had a "we are on vacation" drink…..A KIss on the Lips. It was mango puree with peach schnapps and grenadine. It's my new favorite drink!!) The buffet was much smaller on the Imagination, but we found that the food, especially in the dining room, was much better than on the Dream. But again, just the number of passengers they are preparing food for must come into play here.

Just a note about our porthole cabin. We tend to get balcony cabins, since we travel with the girls and the extra space is nice. But we have stayed in inside cabins and ocean views. (I am happy to be on the ship! If it means being able to squeeze in an extra cruise, I'll do what needs to be done.) We loved the porthole room! We were in U17. It was spacious. We were forward, but not all the way forward. It was a good location. We liked having the natural light in our room. Our room steward, Ines, was a sweetheart. The only complaint I had, which I have read about from another person here, was an odor of smoke. Ines kept our cabin smelling fresh, but when we would walk towards our room , you could smell the cigarette smoke in the hallway. At times it was very strong and noticeable. You could always smell it.

I will admit, we peeked into our room before 1:30 and the odor was already there, so it wasn't from people in cabins around us. There wasn't any sort of club or lounge below us either, so we never quite figured out where the odor was coming from. Perhaps there was some crew area beneath us?? But we were on Upper deck 6, so I'm not too sure about that.

We had late dining. We were seated at a table for 12. There were 11 of us, and it was a very enjoyable group! We had good times at dinner, and also had lunch and went to some shows with some of the friends we met. Our wait server team was great. Ben was the head server and his assistant was I Wayan. Ben was outstanding. He was also a supervisor at breakfast and lunch, and mark my words, this boy will be Maitre D someday in the not too distant future! And Wayan was one of the kindest, gentlest people I have come across in all my cruises! We were called by name each and every time they saw us, from the first time we told them our names. (I also must say that all staff referred to us by name. NIce added touch, Carnival! I know this is something they strive to do and it does make a difference!)

After dinner we went to the Welcome Aboard Show at 10:15. There was one show that night for both dining room seatings. We were both VERY tired, since we had been up very early that morning, and I had not sleep very well for the few hours I had, due to my worried personality. Would we oversleep? Would we get stuck in traffic and miss the flight? Yadda, yadda…..

My husband wanted to go to the show though, so I said ok, but jokingly told him you better not fall asleep. If only I knew what we were in store for…..

It was crowded already, but there were seats in the front so we sat down. And yes, the husband dozed off a few times and I not so gently nudged him to wake up.

Apparently, our Cruise Director, Brad, saw this and jumped at the chance. When the question was asked about who wanted free prizes, my husband clapped and cheered. Brad came over to him, his "revenge" for falling asleep during his show…he had seen my husband nodding off and my elbows into his side.

Brad had some fun with him. We were laughing. This went on for a few minutes, just question and answer type things. To make a long story short, it ended with my husband getting a robe (for him) and a rose (for me!), and him becoming the "Doctor of Love" for this sailing. We got several goodies and surprises from the Cruise Director and his staff throughout the week. When people saw my husband throughout the ship, they were to ask him (more like sing!!) "Who do you love?" and he had to reply "I love me some Jackie!!" with the emphasis on love!

It was all in good fun, and we enjoyed it. It was nice meeting people throughout the cruise. We even had a drink in Sloppy Joe's in Key West the next day with someone who recognized us from the ship. My husband and I enjoyed the recognition. Thank you to everyone who took the time to talk to us and laugh with us about this great night, and share it with us!

During the show, Cruise Director Brad talked about making a memory while we are the ship. This was definitely a special memory for us from this cruise! I'm sure we will mention it many times in the weeks, months and cruises ahead of us!

I must also mention Brad and his staff at this time…..they were amazing!!! Brad, Marky Marc (the Assistant Cruise Director who I think we will see as Cruise Director someday!), Laura (from England) and Stephanie (who we sailed with on the Dream in February) were such a great entertainment staff/team. They always took the time to chat with us, and we enjoyed it. They were so nice, and Brad was a great Cruise Director. Kudos to all of them. They definitely added to the wonderful time we had on the Imagination!

After being awake for almost 24 hours, we headed to bed. Without a doubt, we had a great night's sleep! We were scheduled to dock in Key West early the next morning. We were so excited about that. We had been to Key West about 5 years ago and loved it. This was our first time back. We couldn't wait to be there again!

So excited that you are doing another review, I loved your last one!:) Day one although it was a long day, sounds like it was a great start to your vacation.

Sorry your daughters are sick, but thankfully you got back in time to take care of them, hope they are better soon.

So excited that you are doing another review, I loved your last one!:) Day one although it was a long day, sounds like it was a great start to your vacation.

 

 

Sorry your daughters are sick, but thankfully you got back in time to take care of them, hope they are better soon.

Thank you!!! I love that you read my other one!

We got back last night. They were so excited to see us, as were we. The stomach bug hit this morning! Never a dull moment. They are sleeping. Hopefully it will pass very soon!

Thanks again!:)

Loving the review. We will be on her this November! Hope your girls are feeling better soon.

Great report so far.

Looking forward to more.

We will be on The Imagination in 65 days (first cruise) and cannot wait!

keep it coming MAY 30th needs to come quick lol

Loving the review. We will be on her this November! Hope your girls are feeling better soon.

Thank you! I hope you have as great a time as we did!!

Great report so far.

Looking forward to more.

We will be on The Imagination in 65 days (first cruise) and cannot wait!

Thanks! Awesome.....it will be here before you know it! :)

keep it coming MAY 30th needs to come quick lol

Thanks! Yours will be here soon! How exciting! I will try to put together one more installment of the trip report tonight!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - Key West

The Doctor of Love and I were off the ship by about 8:30 or 9. We were both excited to get back to Key West. We were only there until 2:00…back onboard by 1:30, so our time was somewhat limited. We did think about doing the pub crawl tour through the ship. Our friends did it previously and said it was worth it, and a fun group tour, but we decided not to. OUr plan was to walk around a bit and try to get back to the ship a bit earlier, while the ship was still relatively empty. We just walked along Duval Street all the way down to the Southernmost Point. We had been there before, but once we started walking and getting closer to the end, we continued on. It was hot and by the end I was not looking forward to the walk back, even though stopping for drinks were on the plan for the return.

I'm glad we took that walk earlier in the morning. It was interesting to see Duval Street so quiet. We had been there for a few nights before - not a cruise stop - and it was a fun, party atmosphere. It was interesting to be there before some shops and bars even opened. We stopped along the way at some places….Jimmy Buffet's for a souvenir, but no margarita…..I didn't think I was in the mood for it that early!! We were surprised to see so many new places along Duval that had not been there a few years back. We stayed at the Reach Resort the last time, and that end of Duval was pretty empty. Not anymore!

On the way back we did take a pedicab back to Sloppy Joe's. It was a nice ride and our driver pointed out some things along the way. I think it was about $12 from about a block away from the Southermost Point up until almost Mallory Square.

Oh, we were docked by the military area, which I wasn't happy about when I first heard. I was hoping to be in Mallory Square when I got off the ship and not have to take a shuttle. But it was not a problem at all! The trolley took us right from the ship to Mallory Square and we went back to the same spot for our return. We didn't even have to wait when we were ready to go back. The open air trolley took about 6 of us right back. The driver didn't even wait for the trolley to fill up. (That might have been because it was earlier. I'm not sure. I would guess that it was maybe around 11:30.)

We had a few drinks at Sloppy Joe's. That's where someone recognized my husband from the ship and we joined him for a beer. We also did some more shopping for the girls at Mallory Square. We spent a little time by the almost completely empty ship pool and then went to a late lunch in the dining room, where we saw the trolleys filled with people coming back from their fun day in Key West. For the record, the last trolley arrived at the dock at 1:54! (We happened to be sitting by the window in the dining room…..made for great people watching! But there were no runners to watch! They all came back by trolley. I usually love watching for the runners!)

We played a Guess that Song game that afternoon. The Doc won a ship on a stick for us! We always enjoy these trivia type games and have fun at those. It was formal night, including the Captain's Celebration, which we didn't make it to - before our late dinner seating. But we did go to the show that evening after dinner - Living in America. It was very enjoyable. In fact, both performances we saw on the Imagination with the singers and dancers were very good. The comedian had several shows that night as well, but we called it a night after the show and maybe a little donation to the casino!

The plan was to sleep in a bit in the morning, since we wouldn't be arriving in Cozumel until 1pm. But we would be there until 10, so we were looking forward to that…..

Thanks for the current report. Look foward to reading more. We sail on the Imagination in 64 days! Hope your kids are feeling better.

Thanks for the current report. Look foward to reading more. We sail on the Imagination in 64 days! Hope your kids are feeling better.

Thank you! Yes, I think the kids are better. Hoping it was just a 24 hour bug. They have slept almost all day!

Your trip will be here before you know it. You will have a great time!!

This is a great review. I love it when people discover my favorite ship. I can't wait for more:D

This is a great review. I love it when people discover my favorite ship. I can't wait for more:D

Thank you! We really LOVED the Imagination and had one of our best trips ever - aside from missing the girls!!!!

I'm really enjoying your review, we sail The Imagination on May 16.

I'm really enjoying your review, we sail The Imagination on May 16.

Thank you! I really can't say enough wonderful things about this cruise. We loved it!!! Have a great time!!!:)

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - Cozumel

Since we weren't scheduled to arrive in Cozumel until 1:00, we slept in a bit, had breakfast in the dining room, and wandered around the ship a bit. My husband and I really both loved the Imagination! Not only were the staff amazing, but the ship itself was great! Our most recent cruise was on the new Carnival Dream, which was wonderful, but the Imagination really was something special! (More about this in tomorrow's installment - since it's a sea day, I will write more general thoughts and opinions of the ship itself.)

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program….

We stopped by the shopping talk, I'm not sure why. And for the record, we did not win anything in the raffles. But one lady won twice. And I'm sorry, but once you win, I think your ticket should be taken out of the pot. Rant over.

I'm sure we played some sort of trivia game, guess the song, etc. before or after our visit to Cozumel. In fact, if I remember correctly, we played a big screen trivia right before dinner. It was a geography one. Fun! And after dinner we went to the spillway and deck party on lido. That night there also was a Mexican buffet, but bellies more than full from our late seating dinner - as well as several drinks throughout the day - we skipped the additional food. We did hear from our tablemates hat it was very good though!

But back to Cozumel. Sorry this is out of order and back and forth…..we grabbed a snack. Pizza for me. I'm a NY girl and think we have the best pizza, but I always enjoy the pizza and the turkey sandwiches and wraps on Carnival, along with the BLTs from room service. Anyway, once again, I digress. We headed back to our cabin to gather our stuff for Cozumel, and relax a bit before we headed off the ship. When we got back to our room, an announcement was made that we actually were set to go, a little bit early, and since we were ready to go, I could not wait! It was an easy walk off the ship….no lines! We were docked at the Punta Langosta pier. We browsed the port area very briefly. We would do that on the way back. We headed to the taxi area.

We have been to Paradise Beach quite a few times. Nice place. Nice beach. Nice new pool area. Reasonably priced. Has gotten a little busier since we first went, but that's to be expected as time goes on. But this time we wanted to try someplace new. Mainly because I thought I would keep thinking about the girls A LOT, since they have always been with us at Paradise Beach. And we also wanted to go somewhere maybe not as "popular" this trip.

Not sure if that's the exact spot we found, but it was good. I had been reading about the Money Bar on the boards for sometime. It is listed as Dzul Ha on the taxi price chart at the port. We wanted to go someplace close, not as well known, do a little snorkeling, and were not worried too much about the sandy beach aspect, since the girls weren't with us.

Well, this was the spot! It was very nice. The cab was $8 plus tip for both of us. The beach area was small and rocky, but I knew that. I was definitely glad I had the pool shoes with me! There's plenty of loungers, and chairs and tables. Some have umbrellas. Some are in the shade. There is also a large open air bar and restaurant. We began there! I had a Money Bar special cocktail - blue fruity drink with mostly rum. It was about $8 and my husband had some Dos Equis - about $3 each. (Menu is listed in pesos.) There is no charge to get in or use beach area, just the expectation that you will make a purchase. The bartender, Felipe, was very friendly, and Danny (owner? manager?) was also very nice. Massages were available for $30 for 30 minutes, or $50 an hour. It was right on the beach area. The woman was friendly and not pushy. (We didn't do massages this time.) Snorkeling equipment was available to rent. We paid $20 for both of us. Lockers were also for rent.

Once you went down the rocky stair area to the water and walked a few feet, it was smoother. The step area wasn't terrible but it is definitely not ideal for small children. The snorkeling was amazing!! We saw so many fish right away. We saw coral. The further we went the more we saw. We spent quite a bit of time there. We also saw a lot of snorkeling tour groups being dropped off a little further out. Made us feel great, because I think we paid a lot less than a tour would have been!

Just an interesting side note….a few years ago, we did a ship sponsored Segway, snorkel and Jeep tour. It was great! This was the place where we actually did the snorkeling part of the excursion. What a coincidence that we would end up there once again.

After snorkeling and sun, we shared a huge order of nachos. Delicious! (it was the smaller one and it was still more than enough for two people!) And we had a few more drinks. It really was a nice spot to just sit and watch the beautiful water and relax. After a little more sun, we decided to take advantage of happy hour. From 5-7, drinks are buy one get one free! We thought that would be a great way to depart from a great day at the Money Bar. Happy hour margaritas. Two for $7. Not bad in my book! Except that we were good listeners and stayed on ship time, as we were told. So when the bill came and we saw the $14 charge, we quickly learned it was only 4:00 Cozumel time. Oh well. What are you going to do?? Ha ha…..it was a nice beach day for us!

We got back to the pier and did some shopping and people watching. Our ship was not leaving until 10. There were 3 Carnival ships docked at this time….two at our pier and one at the International Pier. Pretty cool thing to see. The ship next to us was leaving earlier. We asked a person who obviously had A LOT of liquid fun in Cozumel what time they were leaving and his answer of "Oh, I don't know. Maybe four…or five…or six" had us laughing! (It was 6 by the way!)

Dinner that night was a lot of fun. Half our table was missing! There was a lot of fun on the ship that night. Since we had late seating, we missed prime "runner" time, but from what I heard, there weren't any. I guess when you're the last ship in port, it's easier to see when it's time to head back to the ship…..ha ha ha. We definitely had a great day in Cozumel!!!

Up next…wow, this went by fast. Our last sea day aboard the good old Fun Ship….