My Imagination Review

[cougarcb16]

Hi everyone. I just finished my first cruise on board of the Imagination. It was great! I sailed on Febuary 19th doing the 5 Day Western Carribean which went to Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Now before I set sail I was on CC all the time reading reviews and information and such. On the cruise I spent a lot of attention to detail so I could come back and right a good review in return. Now here it is. I will try to be as detailed as possible and explain everything that has a situation behind it. If I am missing anything, then please let me know. Also I took more than 400 pictures on this trip and I tried to get all the ship. Let me know if you want any specific pictures. Alrighty here we go.

 

 

Embarkation:

 

We arrived at the Port of Miami around 11 am(coming early on behalf of many tips). The recommended time to arrive was 1 PM, but when we arrived, there were already lots of people there. There was a long line of about 300 people that looked like it was going to take a while but it didnt. We moved threw quickly. I would say it didnt take more than 30 minutes from arrival to being on the ship. Security did a quick but thourough search and I was pleased with that. The only problem here was that we had a older friend who looks foreign even though he is American and the lady and the check in desk was treating him like a 5 year old who didnt know how to talk. That made me very upset and I think that is very disrepectful. Besides that incident everything was perfect. We got onto the ship a little bit after 11:30 and we had a lot of carry on baggage so we decided to go straight to our room. When we arrived it was all made and ready so we put down our bags and headed for the Lido Deck. We did not see our room steward at that in the halls and I will elaborate on that more later. We then headed up to the Lido and had a great first lunch. The food in the buffet was delicious and no problems whatsoever there.

 

FYI: The porter seemed to charge a mandatory $1 tip per bag. I was not aware of this as I tipped him and he then said I needed $1 per bag when he didnt do anything special. He just picked up the luggage and put it in a crate. Something I could do myself.

 

Ships Condition:

Going on the ship I knew that it had been made in 1994 so I was expecting something 11 years old. Its kind of hard to explain what I saw. There were defiently signs on wear and tear on the ship but more in some places then others. The Horizon Grill, Dynasty Lounge and most other public places seemed in good condition. The trouble spots were in the cabins. Here the ship did look a full 11 years old. The rooms condition was defiently not on par with some regular hotels that I have been too. The bathroom was pretty bad and I didnt enjoy going in there. Also, when we first got there the bathroom had a stench like I had never smelt before. I fogged the bathroom up with Lysol before I left the room for lunch and it had minimal effect.

 

Another hard thing for me was differentiating between age and just cleansiness. There was dirt in a lot of the outdoor places on the ship, especially the outside tables. There was room for improvement in this area.

 

Ships Personnel:

 

Our cruise director was Jeff Bronson. He was a very very very funny guy. He was joking around all the time and made the cruise very enjoyable. He had very cheesy signature lines like "Jeff Brrrrrrrrroooonnnsooooonnn" and "Bye Yall", but they made me laugh too so I was all good. I thought this guy could be the best out there, but talking to a fellow cruiser he said that hes had two cruise directors that were better than this guy. The assistant cruise director was Gary and he was good fun. Hes still learning but I think he had potential to be great lol. The rest of the entertainment staff was very fun. Smithy always put a smile on my face during bingo with his funny lines.

 

Everyone on the ship (workers) were very friendly. They all smiled at me all the time. Only problem area here was with one purser who I saw being quite bitchy to some teens wanting a basketball(excuse the french, but the word fits perfectly). Our captain was Angelo Salvemini from Naples, Italy I beleive. He too was a great guy. He had a thick accent but he talked good english. He was always smiling and you could see a love for his crew and passengers in him. A friend and I went to the gym once and he was there working out. My friend asked him if hes up here then whos driving the ship. He replied "I have the remote control in my pocket". He was a great guy.

Dining Room Expereince:

We were seated in the Spirit Dining Room at 5:45. We were a group of 12 people and we had our reservations tagged but 2 people were left out. Our maitre'D who was Miguel Rodriguez said that the table of 10 were the biggest we could go. After some talk and bargaining he let us add two chairs to our table so we could all sit together. He was a funny guy with some good jokes and he made the experience great.

 

We were seated at table 261 with Headwaiter James from St. Vincent and his assistant Tatjana from Lithuinia. I can not say enough about these two. They were all stars. They really made our dinners the best possible. We did not have one boring moment in the dining room. They were always ready and willing to serve us. Any questions we had about anything, they answered. I am a big guy and whenever I wanted second portions James got them in a heartbeat. We also ordered Champagne for a couple for their anniversary and a cake for my sisters birthdays and the helped make those situations delightful for the recipients. I really cant say enough about them. They were A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.

 

Grand Cayman:

 

We arrived in Grand Cayman and it was raining!!! Boy were we angry, but it did clear up by noon where the sun came out and we had a great day. Me and some others took the Island tour which goes to the Governors House, Hell, Tortuga Rum Factory and Turtle Farm and then Seven Mile Beach. Overall the tour was good. Hell was intresting and holding huge turtles is a good experience. Unfortunantly Hurricane Ivan really messed up Grand Cayman. It was my first time there so I dont know what it looked like in the past, but I wont lie to you know. It is ugly and barren. Everything on the island is ugly except Seven Mile Beach which is one of the best ive been to in my life. The beach had perfect white sand and the water was crystal clear. The water was quite warm too. We did have to tender here which was ennoying but I cant complain because we had fun. The only thing to watch out for is the bigger tender boats. Dont sit on top and then take your time to get in the line, because it takes a while to get more then 150 people on the ship.

 

Ocho Rios:

 

Docked here and took the Dunns River Falls and Island Attractions tour. Wow, Jamiaca is beautiful. The rainforest is amazing. Dunns River Falls was nice but very crowded. If you like adventure then dont go with the guide because the routes they take are easy and boring. But take your time, I slipped and fell flat on my back. Luckily there werent any sharp rocks there. I wasnt hastled at all to buy stuff really. Only thing was a lot of people wanted me in there taxi, I told them I was on a tour and the backed off. I was also asked if I wanted weed quite a few times, and I said no and they too just kept on walking. Getting back on the ship last minute is kind of a pain in the ass because about half the ship is standing in line. You also get very jealous if the Explorer of the Seas from RCI, is also in dock.

 

 

Debarkation:

 

Nothing special here. Well actually some new procedures. If you want them to take your bags then you put them out 9:30-12 on the last night. The next morning you have to be out of your room by 8:30 but they give you some leeway depending on your steward. The new thing is that now they give general clearence after express self debark and you can go out whenever you want. It dosent matter what color tags you have. We got out of the ship with no problem, nothing really going on as I said.

 

Other Things:

 

Jeff Bronson ordered a minigolf course and it is on the top deck. It is a 9 hole course and it was quite good. There is also a new game called water wars where you try and hit each other with water balloons using like slingshots. Check that out. Oh yeah food in the Lido was great, had a lot of flavor. The food in the dining room looked great but was decent, nothing special.

 

Final Thoughts:

 

It was a great first cruise. But I would highly recommend taking a bigger/newer ship if you are a first timer. I was kind of let down by this ship, seeing it next to RCI and NCL ships. Once again any question, let them rip.

 

Btw, another thanks to all the people who helped me before my cruise.

[jaymah2004]

thanks for the review, sounds like I have nothing to worry about Monday!

 

One question though. I have heard from various people (including my Carnival Agent) that the Imagination just went into drydock for rennovations. Could you tell? You mentioned that the staterooms were grubby and worn-down, so do you think this rumor about rennovations is true?

 

Also, if you could relate the stateroom quality to a Hotel Chain, what would it be? Westin, Hilton, Days Inn, or Super 8?

[cougarcb16]

Oh I didnt know about the drydock. I could see that some of the Public Places were looking new. They didnt look 11 years of age, so I guess you could say that it was visible that those places were redone. As for the room I would say Days Inn I guess. What kind of a room do you have?

 

And dont worry, you will have an amazing time. I had a great time.

 

I will try and get some pictures of the ship.

[cougarcb16]

Alright go here to find some pictures of an Oceanview Room. Sorry these are when the room is dirty. When I first got on the ship I was to excited to think of taking the pictures then.

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/cougarcb16

 

UPDATE: 15 Pictures up now ... there are a lot so I will put up major ones. Just post if you want anything specific.

[jaymah2004]

Cool pictures. Thanks for getting them up so fast. We leave for Florida on Sunday, for Monday's cruise, so i'm in final countdown mode.

 

We have an Inside Room gaurantee, but I checked our documents (on the back of the Sign and Sail sheet) and it says R197. Which according to deck plans is an Oceanview room. Who knows, I'd stay in a laundry hamper as long as i'm on the boat!

[cougarcb16]

Trust me you will have a great time either way. The crew on the ship is great!!! Be sure to check out the newly wed game, it is really hilarious.

[lmrk205]

Hi! Well it seems we were on the same cruise with you! Although we had a totally different experience. I like to think I've traveled enough to say that this was by far the WORST traveling experience of my life!!!!

OK... the first day seemed to go well. We met another couple with their kids and we all got along very well and had a great first day. Things started going downhill the next morning when my kids woke up running for the bathroom to puke. A few minutes later it was coming out the other end and then both at the same time. We couldn't breath in the room and we were using the garbage pail to puke in because they gave us a hard time about getting us some buckets. Our Room Stewert hardly spoke any English and gave us a hard time about getting a bottle of disinfectant to spray so we could at least breath! There were no barf bags in the room like there's supposed to be. There were no door signs to hang out for privacy when the kids were sleeping or any Room Service Menu in the room. The big mistake was taking my daughter down to the infirmary! They gave her a shot to stop the puking and then the doctor came out very sternly and told me the we would have to be Quarantined for 24 hrs. That was it! No sorry, no medicine to give them for the diarrhea, no compassion, no NOTHING! Just stay in your room and use the room service.(which we had no menu for and you had to hold every time you tried to order and then wait another half hour for it to come)

By that night my daughter felt fine but my son was still nauseaous so I took him down to get the shot. I had to beg for some Pepto-Bismal for them. Then that night my husband took my daughter out to do one of the camp carnival activities and they told her no because she was quarantined. My husband came back and called the infirmary and they told us that we were not aloud off the ship the next day when we were supposed to be going to swim with the stingrays on the Caymen Islands. I guess we would have found that out the next morning when we were leaving, had my husband not called. Then they had the nerve to tell my husband it was something we brought on the ship with us! What NERVE! They don't clean their ship properly and then they try to blame us? Let me just add here that I don't think the handrails on board were cleaned once while we were there! They were so disgusting! But they cleaned the glass underneath those slimy hand rails almost every day! Not to mention there were about 10 other families that came down with it that same day. Did you happen to notice all the room service trays that were always outside the rooms throughout the day? This explains it! But they just want it all to be on the hush-hush. I actually mentioned it to one of the staff doing the water wars and he told me not to mention that. We don't like to hear that around here. Unbelievable!

Basically they don't tell you anything and anything I asked for was always a hassle. Not to mention all the run-arounds we got! It's amazing to me that all these people can work on the ship and not know anything! But then again 75% of them hardly spoke English. You would think that if someone was sick they would bend over backwards to make you feel comfortable but thay did NOTHING! I don't think I have EVER been treated so POORLY in my life! Especially when I'm paying all this money.

Well we were all cleared on Monday evening after missing the Caymens. The Dr. said we would get a full refund for the excursion at least but even that in the end was a fight. They charged me a 25% cancellation fee which I had to fight for as we were leaving the ship. Along with fighting the charge the Room Stewert put on the bill for all the sodas in the room that I had put in the closet the first day so my kids wouldn't drink them. Mind you I had put them all back before I left. So from the minute the kids got sick til the very last second I was on the ship was a fight!

Another thing I didn't like was how they nickled and dimed you. $20 bucks to play Bingo and they played ONE game! Then the Arcade... why is there an arcade if they have so much for the kids to do like they claim. And the lines for everything were a joke! It took a good forty minutes to get back on board from Jamaica because they only had ONE person checking everyone in. What was that?! Well I could go on for hours about this but I'll stop now. I just have to mention that I may sound like a real bitch but I'm not. As a matter of fact I really surprised myself at how bitchy I was but I guess when you're treated that poorly that's what happens.

We did get to enjoy 3 days atleast! The two sea days and Jamaica! And thank God we met that other couple because when we were with them we always had a good time! But all in all I would NEVER cruise Carnival again and I would urge you to be EXTREMELY careful if you have booked with them already. Make sure you bring PUREL! and Pepto-Bismal just in case! And Good Luck to you! If you haven't booked yet I would SERIOUSLY RECONSIDER. I hear Royal Carribean is good and they are always cleaning.

[lmrk205]

We did notice that they were painting around the windows on the outside deck which made it difficult to take a walk.

[cougarcb16]

Lmrk I am very sorry to hear about that. If I had known you were on the cruise and having these problems I would have had my friend who is a very good lawyer make Carnival fix everything on the spot. I wouldnt call you a bitch at all. They shouldnt have made you go threw those things. About the run around and the no english, I did see that quite often. I lost my Soda Card and they couldnt help me out. Have you been on other cruises before? I saw most of the things you brought up, but I thought they were acceptable, im guessing not?

[lmrk205]

Unfortunately Carnival thinks they already fixed everything. The last night we were there we got a letter saying they were sorry for the inconveniences and to make it up they credited our sign and sail card $100. They may think it's over but it's not! We also have lawyer friends who we plan on contacting about this. Maybe even "Shame On You!" Wouldn't that be great! I could just see it now on the big screen TV on the Lido deck! Ha Ha! Anyway...it's not over.

[cougarcb16]

Thats good to hear.

[jujub]

It is a shame your kids got sick and sounds like you weren't treated very well by certain crew, but I just sailed Imagination 2 weeks ago and it was my first cruise. I read many posts before and was prepared for everything and anything. I brought Pepto and anti-diahrrea medicine, as well as Lysol and Purell, and I used the Purell incessantly, as did the 5 others I traveled with. As for crew that didn't speak English well, if you ever go to a foreign country, guess what they'd say about you! I'm sure I encountered the same crew members and if you smiled at them, they smiled back and were more than happy to help you. You won't find many Americans who will work for what they work for - otherwise you'd be paying upwards of $1000 per person for your cruise.

 

I'm not trying to change your mind - believe me, I'm very sorry you had a tough time. I had the most wonderful time; many laughs and saw some beautiful sights (and I've traveled extensively). I just want others to know that you should be prepared for certain situations.

[MyImagination]

Thanks for the review!