Where Are The Imagination/Inspiration Photo Reviews??

Hello,

I have friends and family out in LA and after looking at flight prices, a week and a half vacation consisting of a week in LA and a 4 night cruise seems great. Why aren't there may photo reviews? I enjoy reading them, and sometimes you can read other reviews for other ships and still get some information that you were looking for, but this is pretty destination-specific.

If you have written a photo review of a 3- or 4- night cruise on the Imagination or Inspiration, please inform me! If you haven't, but you've gone on the ships, can you please tell me a little bit about the ship, and most importantly the ports?

Thanks so much in advance! :D

Just above your post is a square with ship reviews.

GAPearl just did a review with photos from the Dec 18 Imagination cruise.

Hello,

 

I have friends and family out in LA and after looking at flight prices, a week and a half vacation consisting of a week in LA and a 4 night cruise seems great. Why aren't there may photo reviews? I enjoy reading them, and sometimes you can read other reviews for other ships and still get some information that you were looking for, but this is pretty destination-specific.

 

If you have written a photo review of a 3- or 4- night cruise on the Imagination or Inspiration, please inform me! If you haven't, but you've gone on the ships, can you please tell me a little bit about the ship, and most importantly the ports?

 

Thanks so much in advance! :D

I have one coming very soon. Just cruised the imagination from LGB and got back home last night. I'm jetlagged and I had to work today but when I get all my photos sorted, I will sit down and write a photo review up. I do lengthy reviews that cover pre-cruise to travel to port to travel home but I enjoy writing them. Keep an eye out, I might even be able to get started on it tonight.

I did one from October. :D

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2120175

Google Zydecocruiser he has reviews of both.

In the past year, I've sailed both twice, if you have any questions...ask away.

Both are a nice getaway. The Imagination is prettier than the Inspiration, more recent upgrades I assume. The staff seems friendlier on the Inspiration. In Ensenada, the wine tour and blowhole are always a hit. I understand there is a new cheese tour in Ensenada that several people I spoke with really enjoyed. In Catalina one time we rented a golf cart, the other time we went to Descanso beach club and reserved a pair of lounge chairs. We booked both online ahead of time and saved quite a bit of money. I'm not sure what info you are interested in, let me know. You will have a good time, I always do. No reviews or pictures though.....sorry.

Hello,

 

I have friends and family out in LA and after looking at flight prices, a week and a half vacation consisting of a week in LA and a 4 night cruise seems great. Why aren't there may photo reviews? I enjoy reading them, and sometimes you can read other reviews for other ships and still get some information that you were looking for, but this is pretty destination-specific.

 

If you have written a photo review of a 3- or 4- night cruise on the Imagination or Inspiration, please inform me! If you haven't, but you've gone on the ships, can you please tell me a little bit about the ship, and most importantly the ports?

 

Thanks so much in advance! :D

I just returned on the Inspiration yesterday. Some things you need to know...I have cruised a lot on Princess and with the Cyber Monday sale I decided to try out Carnival as I have heard good things about Carnival. You will see my comments at the end comparing Carnival to Princess. Prior to my cruise I did a lot of research and used Cruise Critic to ask questions. I booked an Inside Guarantee to get the best price. I was ungraded to a porthole, U7 forward on deck 6. My cruise started from San Francisco to LAX. Once we arrived we were met by a Carnival Rep who took us out to the shuttle bus stop which arrived soon. We purchased FTTF which gave us priority boarding and other perks. It was well worth the extra $ since we could go to our stateroom as soon as we boarded the ship. After being processed, the line was short, we waited until the boarding started. We were one of the first groups to board while other people waited in a long line. We boarded around 12 noon. Crossing over the ramp was a challenge for me because I'm afraid of heights but I made it OK. My traveling partner had cruised on many other Carnival ships but this one was a new experience as the ship is laid out different than other Carnival ships that they had been on. Once on board, after dropping off our carryon's and taking a few photos of the stateroom it was off to the buffet.

Here's some photos that I took around the ship after we boarded plus the buffet.

Note that their are many stations inside and outside the buffet near the pool area. There is different water slides, a trademark of Carnival, the large one being about 4 stories up. I found that on the Carnival Buffet, unlike Princess, there were no teams walking around to take your drink order. You had to get the drinks yourself. Once you got to where things were it was easy to get what you wanted. I purchased the Soda Sticker for $27 which allowed me to get unlimited drinks but you needed to fine the bar to make an order.

I found the food in the buffet to be excellent plus they had a sandwich station where you could order a sandwich any way you wanted. They also had a Mongolian Wok outside the buffet. If you wanted anything like poached eggs you had to go to the MDR. They also had a Omelet station in the morning where you could get omelets of fried eggs plus they had the egg substitute available. Their was also tables outside for eating.

Tom

I'm not sure while all of a sudden the photo's that I loaded from Photo Bucket have disappeared. This is the first time that this has happened.

Tom:confused:

My computer came with some kind of virus and the Geek Squad is resolving my problems.

Tom

Here's the closets on the left, restroom on the right.

One of the storage closets. Two nice storage closets.

Tom

Here's some more information. I was surprised as to how much I liked the cruise and Carnival. I'm still partial to Princess but I had lots of fun.

The staff all over the ship was always friendly and helpful. Perhaps we were well known because both of us were all over the ship and dancing everywhere.

There are many activities to choose from and you can't do them all.

Cruise Director, Steve, was great and always present.

About ports...It was easy to get to town on the large boats that Carnival hired to get people ashore. I looked at the Carnival tour options and having been to Catalina many times before I chose to book my own tour. On the green pier you can book the submarine tour at a better price than what they charged on the ship. All of the tour prices that I saw were overpriced and you could do the same thing on your own and save $.

There are many shops and restaurants in town right after you get off the ship.

Some people rented a golf cart and toured around the island.

We were looking for tee-shirts and found a good shop along the road the takes you to the loading dock. It was the first shop and tee-shirts were 3 for $20.

In my next post I'll talk about Ensenada and what we did.

Tom:)

Tom

Tom:)

Carnival has an excellent Chef's dinner which is a special dinner for a small group. You can make an reservation on line in advance for $75. We met in the atrium with the chef who explained things and then we were escorted to the galley. They will make adjustments if you have any food restrictions. Here is a copy of our menu.

We started out with appitzers and champagne. Below are some photos of the appetizers and chef Russel.

Chef Russel explained that they have only been doing this for a couple of years and the Carnival Executive Chefs had to convince corporate to allow them to prepare these meals. It also allowed them the chance to prepare something creative.

After a tour of the galley it was upstairs for our dinner.

Tom

Here's a photo of our dinner group.

Now on to the courses.

Before

After

Tom

More photos.

Before sauce.

After sauce.

Some more items without and with sauce.

Our final item dessert.

Everything with this meal was excellent and Chef Russell explained everything extremely well. Red and White wine along with water was provided. Be aware that this experience lasted 3 hrs. but was well worth our time.

A note as we went through the MDR to the galley we passed by our dinner table and everyone at our table applauded.

Tom

Here are some of my thoughts about our cruise. Keep in mind that this was my first cruise on Carnival.

After experiencing crossing the ramp to the ship everything was pure fun.

After going to out stateroom and the buffet it was off to explore the ship. We toured everything and when we wound up in the Atrium there was music and we started dancing.

The show the first night ended with the performers escorting people out to the atrium where there was dancing and a chance to talk to them. They really enjoyed meeting everyone.

The next night there was a show Studio VIP where people signed up to be in the show. It was fun when you were invited to come up on the stage. They also danced and sang in the audience.

They also had a harry chest contest that I entered with hair painted on my chest. The staff exclaimed when I removed my shirt, O My God, it's painted on. Although I didn't win it was fun.

We also saw a Family Comedy show that was very good.

Dancing all over the ship at night...just pick your place.

What did I think of Carnival compared to Princess. Some things are minor but I felt I should mention them.

Our stateroom...It was nice to have the porthole and at least have some light in the stateroom. I knew from my research that there was no A/C control in the stateroom just a vent in the celling that you could open and close. having the A/C in the stateroom was a big plus. Bathroom...I missed the large sink counter like Princess has. I am told that this is different in these stateroom regards. I brought an over the door hanger to put things in. It was nice to have two separate closets to put things in plus robes and towels for the pool were already there. On Princess you can use magnetic clips that attach to the wall but these did not work on the Inspiration. We found out that the celling would work. I have a nightlight for use in the bathroom but the plug only works with the light on which surprised other people that we talked with.

Buffet...The food was excellent but the stations were spread out so you had to walk around to see what you wanted. As I mentioned before you had to get up to get any beverages...a big plus for Princess as they have staff that get drinks for you.

Shows....Unlike Princess with 2 shows in the evening with only one show you had to plan your time for dinner. Our first night the dinner service was slow and we had to skip dessert to make it to the show on time.

Dinner...We ate with the same people every night which was fun meeting other people. We also had 2 young boys that joined us one night as there group nearby was too full. For the most part the service was excellent and there was plenty of choices. I missed the option of chilled soup which Princess offers every night.

I wanted to be objective on Carnival since I like Princess so much and I can say that I had a lot of fun and would cruise again if everything worked out. I will say that Princess gives a lot more OBC than I found on Carnival especially since I get military and stock credit. With a 14 day or longer cruise on Princess that's an extra $500 credit. I also get 250 internet minutes on a 14+ day cruise.

The cruise director, Steve, was very friendly and always greeted us when he saw us.

I was surprised when one couple stopped us one day and said that we were the best dancing couple on the ship and that they wanted to learn from us. Just enjoy what you do and have the most fun that you can.

So cruisexlife you wanted a review of the ship and ports. I hope that I've been able to provide you with some of the information that you were seeking. Any questions please ask.

I've enjoyed doing this review and sharing my experiences hope you will too.

Tom:D

Wow, thank you so much! You did'nt have to do that! :D

interior cabin set up for one or two (couple)

I still cruise for warm chocolate melting cake (with two sugar free vanilla ice creams)

Hi Tom, Thank you for the pictures and the interesting review. We are taking the same cruise 2/4/15 and your review was very helpful!

Just took some photos of the imagination. I'll load them asap.

I still cruise for Warm Chocolate Melting Cake (with 2 sugar-free vanilla ice-creams)

Thanks for the awesome review and pictures.

We are sailing the Inspiration(3 day) over Valentine's weekend. I am getting really excited now. Has nothing to do with the frigid temperatures here at home(-40 C):eek: