Carnival Imagination, April 30 sailing to Key West and Cozumel review (with pictures)

[LandlockedCruiser01]

Love the review. Its always great to read someone's review of their FIRST cruise. After you've had many cruises, they'll all kind of fade into your memory, but you'll ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST CRUISE.

 

So true! I had the same conversation with my tablemates at dinner the first night. I did a lot of research for my first cruise, checking out every site I knew about, to make sure I make the right decision. They asked me why, and this is how I explained it: because if enough things don't meet your expectations on your first cruise, it will color your judgment of all your future cruises, even if you have a great time on your second one. (I'm not saying it needs to be perfect, but if enough things go wrong, it will happen.) And my efforts paid off: my first cruise, and as a solo to boot, was a success. It was better than I expected, and I will be cruising again. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

Someone earlier asked for a copy of the Fun Times. I couldn't scan it in, but I transcribed it in an abbreviated format. It's here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=34269615#post34269615, in another thread. I hope it helps.

[oncruisecontrol]

I very much enjoyed reading your review. Glad you had a good time. I remember my first cruise vividly. Good memories.

[MrFunInTheSun]

After the cruise

I must have had debarkation vertigo from being on the ship, since the waters were pretty choppy for the first two days, and even in calmer waters, I could still feel the rocking. Never got sick from it, though. After getting off the ship, I felt the room rock slightly for the rest the day and most of the weekend after. I didn't mind; it was a nice reminder of having been on a cruise. Still, nothing can replace the real thing.

 

On that note, which cruise would you recommend next? I'll quite likely stick with Carnival, but I haven't picked out the ship and the itinerary yet. I'm thinking a Conquest class ship to the Eastern Caribbean or a Fantasy class ship to the Bahamas, wherever I can get a better deal, but that's about as much as I narrowed it down. I'd like something with at least one sea day and a port in the evening. Any suggestions?

 

 

Great review and pictures, thanks for sharing your experience.

 

My next longer cruise is on the Carnival Freedom 11/11/12 and I must say the price and ports are not to bad for a 6 night cruise. Part of the ship is chartered though so that may be why. However the Freedom is a nice ship, it'll be nice to board her a 2nd time.

[laumicmah]

Great review...thanks for sharing!!!! I will be doing this cruise in 8/2013. I can't wait. I LOVE the Fantasy class. The Sensation was our 1st cruise...a 3 day and then soon after, we did a 5 day on the Fascination. Loved it so much that we did a 4 day on the Fascination just a few months after. We've also done the Glory (to Canada) and we don't prefer the Conquest class, but Canada was fantastic and cruising out of NY is incredible. I recently did the Pride with my mom and that was fantastic. LOVE the Pride...it's my very fave ship, but Fantasy class ships are a close second. The Pride has an itin that stops in Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay...LOVE those stops!!! It also stops in Freeport...icky town, but you can do a nice excursion there.

 

Did you pick another cruise? If you are still looking, I'd suggest checking out the Spirit class ships. Any cruise from the North (Balt or NY) will have more sea days and cost more than the FL cruises. The Fantasy in Charleston is a nice Bahamas cruise, though we are not fans of Nassau and Freeport, but if you don't mind or haven't been there...then maybe check that out. The Fascination is similar, but out of Jacksonville.

[092306]

Great review!!!

 

WE love KW and Cozumel!! Just reading your review makes me want to go back to those ports, DAMM YOU!!!

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Thanks for the review.

 

Reminds me I still haven't done my Imagination review from June.

[laumicmah]

Thanks for the review.

 

Reminds me I still haven't done my Imagination review from June.

Well get on it...with pics please! :D

[CanWeGoYet?]

Great job on your review, loved it and the pictures.

 

For your next cruise I don't think you can do better than Conquest class / Eastern Caribbean. I thought the Liberty had some very good ports. Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay were my favorites. St. Thomas & San Juan Puerto Rico were fine, not quite up there with the others but definitely more to my preference than Nassau.

[luv2travelRN]

You forgot to add the last night with chocolate covered strawberries in the hot tub on the aft ;) This was a nice cruise!

[LandlockedCruiser01]

You forgot to add the last night with chocolate covered strawberries in the hot tub on the aft ;) This was a nice cruise!

I didn't forget. That was summarized with the phrase "went to the Serenity deck for one last time". The hot tub part was implied ;). Definitely a nice cruise. Lots of fun.

[cruiseclues]

Another one of your good reviews...thank you for posting. :):):)

[LandlockedCruiser01]

Did you pick another cruise? If you are still looking, I'd suggest checking out the Spirit class ships. Any cruise from the North (Balt or NY) will have more sea days and cost more than the FL cruises. The Fantasy in Charleston is a nice Bahamas cruise, though we are not fans of Nassau and Freeport, but if you don't mind or haven't been there...then maybe check that out. The Fascination is similar, but out of Jacksonville.

Belated response, but oh well. I did pick another cruise. I went on the Sensation out of Port Canaveral. It was a great port to sail from; the ship passes through a built-up channel before it goes out to sea, so shouting "Sensation!" to people in bars onshore was a lot of fun. I ended up having a really nice time in Freeport and Nassau, better than I expected to, athough the dolphin swim from last year still tops my "favorite excursions of all time" list. Overall, I partied more heavily on the Sensation than on the Imagination.

 

I think you said you're going on the Imagination in August this year. You'll enjoy it as much as I did, I'm sure.

[wrigley80]

Nice review....were doing this same cruise on December 2