Imagination Review..just got off

Imagination Review

We just got off Imagination on Thanksgiving. It was a great little 4 day cruise.

We are in our mid 50’s early 60’s. Embarkation was easy, even when I left my passport on my luggage and the luggage had to be tracked down in order for me to even board the ship. We were coming from colder Denver and I put my jacket with my passport in my luggage….such an ameture move. Carnival was on it, and made me feel relieved that I would be getting on the ship, but it would be a few hours later. My heart sank, because we came on an earlier flight to enjoy being on board earlier...that didn’t seem it was going to happen. Long story short, I only had to wait an additional hour, and we were having lunch on the Lido deck. It was so easy to board with my luggage, I would probably do that vs. giving it up at the curb, again.

Lunch was nice, good fish, which I wanted most of. It was Italian fare. We had the Cheers package, so we got drinks and explored the ship, top to bottom.

We had any time dining, in the Pride dining room. We ordered the Mahi, and it was terribly overcooked. The apps were good, but main course was not. We do dine out in Denver and are “foodies” and were pretty disappointed with the entree.

Catalina

Breakfast was the same breakfast fare, loved having the fruit and the omelet station. We found the back outside of the lido deck above the Serenity lounge was peaceful and a lovely place to have breakfast. We had every buffet meal there. We brought cheap dollar store coffee mugs, and that was a plus, as the cups are small for us, with the amount of coffee we consume.

Tendering was long lines to get off, but they tried to keep the lines moving, we waited about half an hour in line to tender. We just walked around Catalina, along the boardwalk all the way to the Casino.

This night was elegant night, it was a long wait for the dining room, Pride. The food again was not fabulous, and lots of tables needed bussing that weren’t. I wonder what the Spirit dining room was like. I found the food to be better and fresher on the Lido deck. Always opted for the fish and it was always better on the Lido.

We do vape, not smoke, and we found that above the Lido deck was the only place we could vape. This area was noisy most of the time, so it would have been nice to have a quite place, but this was not make or break for us. The server, Ali, was always around to refill our drinks.

Ensenada

Walked around first on the boardwalk. I had been shopping in Mexico before, so didn’t need anymore stuff. Loved seeing the seals barking, the fish market was really interesting to see, and I loved the fountain with the music by the flag. The flag wasn’t up, as they were working on the flag pole.

This night we noticed that most of the items in the dining room were at the Lido deck, so we opted casual this evening.

Sea Day

We played many or the games on board, walked around enjoying that….it was relaxing. Won 40.00 in the casino, although I was down 60.00 altogether. We got great use out of our Cheers package. I don’t know if I would purchase it on a 7 day. In the main dining room, I had the seafood penne, the calamari, shrimp and mussels was were good, but the salmon on top was inedible. Had the chocolate melting cake, that everyone raved about and it was good.

We caught the Epic Rock show and it was pretty good. My boyfriend is in the entertainment business, and he was even impressed. One of the better shows I have seen on a cruise ship.

Music

Most of the music was enjoyable, except for the DJ on the Lido Deck, loud for me, but people were having a good time dancing. The singers were very enjoyable, typically a guitar and soloist, but all were quite talented and chose great music to share.

Our Cabin

Were were on the Riviera Deck 4 and the cabin was nice and always made up. Strangely we didn’t see our room stewart, Bennie, until the third day, but anything we needed or asked for he did do…..ninja...sure of it. I like having rooms closer to the ocean. Being in the aft, 220R, it was easy to use the elevator.

Cabin initially had a funky smell, but I always bring an air freshener, like the kind you’d use in a car, and it was good within a couple hours.

The PAX

It was like the United Nations, loved that, all kinds of people, lots of 20 somethings, at times rowdy, but kind and having a good time. Many would come up and just ask us how we were doing, spreading their cheer. It was a nice group of people!

The Crew

Never was wanting or waiting for a drink, everyone was friendly and professional...addressed by name most of the time, that amazed me actually!

All in all this is a great value for a get-a-way cruise.

Thank you for posting a review of the Imagination and Catalina and Ensenada. the Imagination was my first ever ship in 2009 and I loved her! She sailed out of Miami at that time.

I also was on cruise this past May to Ensenada and Catalina on the Inspiration. I loved Catalina and would love to return someday. Ensenada I wasnt as fond of. Way too many people hounding me to come buy stuff. Worse than Nassau lol.

We are getting on the Imagination on Thursday! How was the weather? Warm enough to sunbathe?

We are getting on the Imagination on Thursday! How was the weather? Warm enough to sunbathe?

Yes it was, but take a jacket ( I took a fleece Columbia), nights get very cool and it was windy. We knew the weather may be a factor. I went on a cruise where it rained 5 out of 7 days and still had a fabulous time! Have a wonderful cruise!

We are getting on the Imagination on Thursday! How was the weather? Warm enough to sunbathe?

Me too!

Yes it was, but take a jacket ( I took a fleece Columbia), nights get very cool and it was windy. We knew the weather may be a factor. I went on a cruise where it rained 5 out of 7 days and still had a fabulous time! Have a wonderful cruise!

Warm days, cool nights is very typical weather.

Thank you for your review.

Keith

I enjoyed your review and am glad you had a good time.

So glad they were able to retrieve your passport! That must’ve been scary intense! Thanks for sharing your experience with us!! [emoji1]

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Thanks for the great review! We head out in a week for our anniversary, this will be my second and my husband's first time cruising.

You don't happen to have the fun times would you? I was hoping to get a sneak peek of what the scheduling will be like.

Thanks again!:)

Thank you!

I'm sorry, I don't have the fun times. Lots of activities on the ship, especially on the sea day. This is a link that might be helpful, It looks pretty close to what it was :

http://www.cruisetipstv.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/FunTimes-Day-4-Oct-1-2016-3-29-PM.pdf

Thanks for the review.

This was going to be our 4th and final cruise, but we cancelled a couple months ago, deciding that Carnival can keep our $500. Somehow I got a double refund after a dispute, so this makes us about square.

Only the Fish and Lamb were acceptable on the Carnival Pride, along with the sides, where I found the other entrees, and food on the lido deck, subpar to disgusting. Based on what you describe, it seems Imagination couldn't even get that right in the MDR. We also had maintenance issues in our cabin and on the ship. Our balcony door fell off, and had to be redrilled in the only diagonal direction that hadn't been stripped from repeated repairs. Other passengers had mold in the vents, showers that didn't work right, and even trash from previous guests. No thanks to the weird smells in yours, or whatever issues were going on elsewhere.

Ok, so there's my sour grapes and confirmation bias out of the way. I'm glad you had a fun cruise, and sounds like some fun ports to catch eventually. Some of your problems may not have bothered us as much on a 4 day cruise, but on a 14 day, it gets old.

Nice report, thanks for posting.

Imagination Review

We just got off Imagination on Thanksgiving. It was a great little 4 day cruise.

We are in our mid 50’s early 60’s. Embarkation was easy, even when I left my passport on my luggage and the luggage had to be tracked down in order for me to even board the ship. We were coming from colder Denver and I put my jacket with my passport in my luggage….such an ameture move. Carnival was on it, and made me feel relieved that I would be getting on the ship, but it would be a few hours later. My heart sank, because we came on an earlier flight to enjoy being on board earlier...that didn’t seem it was going to happen. Long story short, I only had to wait an additional hour, and we were having lunch on the Lido deck. It was so easy to board with my luggage, I would probably do that vs. giving it up at the curb, again.

 

Lunch was nice, good fish, which I wanted most of. It was Italian fare. We had the Cheers package, so we got drinks and explored the ship, top to bottom.

We had any time dining, in the Pride dining room. We ordered the Mahi, and it was terribly overcooked. The apps were good, but main course was not. We do dine out in Denver and are “foodies” and were pretty disappointed with the entree.

 

Catalina

Breakfast was the same breakfast fare, loved having the fruit and the omelet station. We found the back outside of the lido deck above the Serenity lounge was peaceful and a lovely place to have breakfast. We had every buffet meal there. We brought cheap dollar store coffee mugs, and that was a plus, as the cups are small for us, with the amount of coffee we consume.

Tendering was long lines to get off, but they tried to keep the lines moving, we waited about half an hour in line to tender. We just walked around Catalina, along the boardwalk all the way to the Casino.

 

This night was elegant night, it was a long wait for the dining room, Pride. The food again was not fabulous, and lots of tables needed bussing that weren’t. I wonder what the Spirit dining room was like. I found the food to be better and fresher on the Lido deck. Always opted for the fish and it was always better on the Lido.

 

We do vape, not smoke, and we found that above the Lido deck was the only place we could vape. This area was noisy most of the time, so it would have been nice to have a quite place, but this was not make or break for us. The server, Ali, was always around to refill our drinks.

 

Ensenada

Walked around first on the boardwalk. I had been shopping in Mexico before, so didn’t need anymore stuff. Loved seeing the seals barking, the fish market was really interesting to see, and I loved the fountain with the music by the flag. The flag wasn’t up, as they were working on the flag pole.

This night we noticed that most of the items in the dining room were at the Lido deck, so we opted casual this evening.

Sea Day

We played many or the games on board, walked around enjoying that….it was relaxing. Won 40.00 in the casino, although I was down 60.00 altogether. We got great use out of our Cheers package. I don’t know if I would purchase it on a 7 day. In the main dining room, I had the seafood penne, the calamari, shrimp and mussels was were good, but the salmon on top was inedible. Had the chocolate melting cake, that everyone raved about and it was good.

We caught the Epic Rock show and it was pretty good. My boyfriend is in the entertainment business, and he was even impressed. One of the better shows I have seen on a cruise ship.

 

Music

Most of the music was enjoyable, except for the DJ on the Lido Deck, loud for me, but people were having a good time dancing. The singers were very enjoyable, typically a guitar and soloist, but all were quite talented and chose great music to share.

Our Cabin

Were were on the Riviera Deck 4 and the cabin was nice and always made up. Strangely we didn’t see our room stewart, Bennie, until the third day, but anything we needed or asked for he did do…..ninja...sure of it. I like having rooms closer to the ocean. Being in the aft, 220R, it was easy to use the elevator.

Cabin initially had a funky smell, but I always bring an air freshener, like the kind you’d use in a car, and it was good within a couple hours.

 

The PAX

It was like the United Nations, loved that, all kinds of people, lots of 20 somethings, at times rowdy, but kind and having a good time. Many would come up and just ask us how we were doing, spreading their cheer. It was a nice group of people!

 

The Crew

Never was wanting or waiting for a drink, everyone was friendly and professional...addressed by name most of the time, that amazed me actually!

 

All in all this is a great value for a get-a-way cruise.

We were on the same cruise, got right on board when we got to the port and headed straight to Guy's Burger Joint. It was amazing! The crew and passengers were all awesome! Didn't see very many rowdy people, a lot of kids though. Our daughter loved Camp Ocean. We had early seating in the Pride room and it was great service. We had a rough night Tuesday night in the dining room but everyone has off nights. I'm glad you enjoyed the cruise!

Did you try the food at the Blue Iguana?

My wife and I usually go to the dining rooms while on Princess, but after the slightly negative reviews dining rooms reviews I'm seeing on the Imagination, and the opportunity to eat at Guy's and the Iguana, we might skip it this time around.

Did you try the food at the Blue Iguana?

 

My wife and I usually go to the dining rooms while on Princess, but after the slightly negative reviews dining rooms reviews I'm seeing on the Imagination, and the opportunity to eat at Guy's and the Iguana, we might skip it this time around.

Blue Iguana was amazing! You can watch them making the tortillas and the meats they had for the tacos and burritos was super good. They have so many toppings available it makes it hard to choose. If you eat at Guy's I suggest the Ringer, it was amazing!

We ate in the dining room each night and didn't have any issues. We had the 6pm seating in the Pride dining room and our servers were great and the food was delicious.

Hi we got off the 4-day itinerary on the 30th. We ate in Spirit and it was hit or miss but no complaints from us with the rate that we paid to get on the ship! Guy's was consistently good for lunch.

As far as fish goes, the best I had was the Yellowtail the boys and I caught on the Deep Sea Fishing excursion in Ensenada and had a bit as sashimi on the boat, and the rest as fish tacos in town!

Imagination Review

We just got off Imagination on Thanksgiving. It was a great little 4 day cruise.

We are in our mid 50’s early 60’s. Embarkation was easy, even when I left my passport on my luggage and the luggage had to be tracked down in order for me to even board the ship. We were coming from colder Denver and I put my jacket with my passport in my luggage….such an ameture move. Carnival was on it, and made me feel relieved that I would be getting on the ship, but it would be a few hours later. My heart sank, because we came on an earlier flight to enjoy being on board earlier...that didn’t seem it was going to happen. Long story short, I only had to wait an additional hour, and we were having lunch on the Lido deck. It was so easy to board with my luggage, I would probably do that vs. giving it up at the curb, again.

 

Lunch was nice, good fish, which I wanted most of. It was Italian fare. We had the Cheers package, so we got drinks and explored the ship, top to bottom.

We had any time dining, in the Pride dining room. We ordered the Mahi, and it was terribly overcooked. The apps were good, but main course was not. We do dine out in Denver and are “foodies” and were pretty disappointed with the entree.

 

Catalina

Breakfast was the same breakfast fare, loved having the fruit and the omelet station. We found the back outside of the lido deck above the Serenity lounge was peaceful and a lovely place to have breakfast. We had every buffet meal there. We brought cheap dollar store coffee mugs, and that was a plus, as the cups are small for us, with the amount of coffee we consume.

Tendering was long lines to get off, but they tried to keep the lines moving, we waited about half an hour in line to tender. We just walked around Catalina, along the boardwalk all the way to the Casino.

 

This night was elegant night, it was a long wait for the dining room, Pride. The food again was not fabulous, and lots of tables needed bussing that weren’t. I wonder what the Spirit dining room was like. I found the food to be better and fresher on the Lido deck. Always opted for the fish and it was always better on the Lido.

 

We do vape, not smoke, and we found that above the Lido deck was the only place we could vape. This area was noisy most of the time, so it would have been nice to have a quite place, but this was not make or break for us. The server, Ali, was always around to refill our drinks.

 

Ensenada

Walked around first on the boardwalk. I had been shopping in Mexico before, so didn’t need anymore stuff. Loved seeing the seals barking, the fish market was really interesting to see, and I loved the fountain with the music by the flag. The flag wasn’t up, as they were working on the flag pole.

This night we noticed that most of the items in the dining room were at the Lido deck, so we opted casual this evening.

Sea Day

We played many or the games on board, walked around enjoying that….it was relaxing. Won 40.00 in the casino, although I was down 60.00 altogether. We got great use out of our Cheers package. I don’t know if I would purchase it on a 7 day. In the main dining room, I had the seafood penne, the calamari, shrimp and mussels was were good, but the salmon on top was inedible. Had the chocolate melting cake, that everyone raved about and it was good.

We caught the Epic Rock show and it was pretty good. My boyfriend is in the entertainment business, and he was even impressed. One of the better shows I have seen on a cruise ship.

 

Music

Most of the music was enjoyable, except for the DJ on the Lido Deck, loud for me, but people were having a good time dancing. The singers were very enjoyable, typically a guitar and soloist, but all were quite talented and chose great music to share.

Our Cabin

Were were on the Riviera Deck 4 and the cabin was nice and always made up. Strangely we didn’t see our room stewart, Bennie, until the third day, but anything we needed or asked for he did do…..ninja...sure of it. I like having rooms closer to the ocean. Being in the aft, 220R, it was easy to use the elevator.

Cabin initially had a funky smell, but I always bring an air freshener, like the kind you’d use in a car, and it was good within a couple hours.

 

The PAX

It was like the United Nations, loved that, all kinds of people, lots of 20 somethings, at times rowdy, but kind and having a good time. Many would come up and just ask us how we were doing, spreading their cheer. It was a nice group of people!

 

The Crew

Never was wanting or waiting for a drink, everyone was friendly and professional...addressed by name most of the time, that amazed me actually!

 

All in all this is a great value for a get-a-way cruise.

I enjoyed reading your review. In January I am taking my 3 children on the Imagination for our first cruise. I am really excited but reading everyones reviews gives me a lot of knowledge and things to think about.

Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for your review! We have done this itinerary several times. On one of our first cruises I packed our passports in our luggage LOL! Luckily it was 100 years ago before 9/11 and they let us board anyway and just looked at them later. I have not made that mistake again! :)

I’m on my 5th cruise on the Imagination. A lot of the issues the OP mentioned are easily solved. Avoid breakfast crowds and bad food by going to the forward dining room—they have an adventurous new menu and you can dine in peace. Getting off the ship early in Catalina means no wait for tenders and less of a wait going back. Getting off early in Ensenada means most of the aggressive hawkers aren’t out—I get a latte at McDonalds to use their wifi and restroom, stroll before it gets hot out, and go by the pier after lunch, where they have a fountain and waterfront stroll now.

As for dining room food, I go for Indian and Asian dishes. If you want prime rib and other meat, go to the Lido at 6, where it’s cooked and sliced fresh, and then go to Anytime dining later on and try something different. I go after 7:30 and get good, quick service with no wait.

My other thing I wished I knew earlier is that by taking the hourly Flyaway bus from LAX and free Passport bus in Long Beach, I can get to the ship for $9, usually on an empty bus.

It’s interesting watching Carnival’s push to woo millenials, with a 20-something cruise director with goofy hair and even avocado toast at breakfast.

Thank you for your review, it was informative and helpful.

Long time lurker, first time poster. Wife posts here a lot but I just registered so bare with me.

The wife and I have been cruising for quite a few years now and with living in San Diego, this cruise is almost a "staycation" for us. We usually take it about every ten months or so.

Our most recent cruise on this ship out of LB was two days after Thanksgiving on that Sunday. We made good time to LB from San Diego and boarded quickly and easily. We got on around 11:30 and immediately picked up our Cheers stickers that we pre-paid for.

Apart from what the OP and others have said, I will agree that the main dining rooms are hit or miss on some entrees. I loved the mixed seafood pasta with salmon as well as the chile relleno. Other nights I had the steak. I believe I had a pork chop as well.

As it's been said, burgers and mex food is good. Being from San Diego, I know good tacos and the carne asada is waaaayyyyy over seasoned.

Probably my biggest complaint is the late night dining options. There is horrible pizza that you can get and the sandwich place is open *almost* every night. I say almost because it was the third night I think it was closed. It was weird, no sign indicating hours, just closed. And late night food does not come out until 11pm so I wish the Inspiration would improve it's late night dining options.

For drinking, I would recommend heading to the front of the ship and getting drinks from the Alchemy bar. Great menu of really good drinks.

All in all, great cruise, clean ship, nice staff. This was the cruise directors last cruise before he was off six months. Not sure who the temp cruise director will be.

Was surprised to see so many kids AFTER the Thanksgiving holiday. Thought they would have been in school but guess not. I got a ship on a stick for winning 80's tv theme song game show and our team for battle of the sexes just barely lost.

I really wish they would do karaoke in another location. I get a kick out of watching everyone but the room where they have it gets filled quick. Should be in the room where they do comedy.

Speaking of comedy, went to the PG show and it was not bad.

Piano bar was also good.

I also wish they did more deckside activities. Other cruises we've been on will have 15 minute chair massages for $15.

Oh yeah, like another poster mentioned, Carnial looks to have changed their breakfast dining menu. Previously it was just items from the buffet that they offered from the menu but now they have really nice dishes like breakfast sandwich, excellent french toast, fritata etc etc. We loved the new breakfast menu BUT Carnival brings out the old lame menu for "brunch" on sea day. Really a step backwards from the other bfast menu. Cold and flavorless dishes on that brunch menu.

It was nice to see some holiday backdrops from the photogs on board. We purchased some Christmas pj's and did some shots in front a Christmas tree backdrop. They photographer had some mock Christmas presents and we got some great shots. We turned one picture into a Christmas card that we ordered on the ship for what my wife said was a great price.

All in all, a great time was had by all. Next cruise, Alaska then it's back to the Med!!

Ali is our favorite. We saw him on our cruise in November and he remembered us from the year before. Never had an empty glass anywhere!!

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