Imagination Review (7/31 - 8/3)

[Evil Jeremy]

Carnival Imagination Review

 

 

This is my detailed review of the Carnival Imagination. I cruised on this ship from Friday July 31 to Monday August 3. I am 16 years old, so what you will not find in this review is info on the bars and nightclubs. However, you will find in-depth information on pretty much everything else. This review is also filled with info about the ship that I have not seen anywhere else. Feel free to ask me questions about the ship and the cruise, I will answer.

 

 

Entertainment:

 

 

The cruise had 2 production shows and 2 comedians. On the first night of the cruise, the headliner act for the Welcome Aboard show was a family comedian named Al Romero, who had a short but funny show in the main lounge. He also hosted a midnight “R” rated show in the secondary lounge that same night. The second comedian was Carl Rimi, who only hosted a “R” rated midnight show, no family show. I managed to get into that show however, and he is very funny.

 

 

There were 2 production shows on the ship. The first one, and the better of the two in my opinion was called “Livin’ In America”, and the show consisted of songs about cities and states in America. With elaborate sets, costumes, and effects, this was a great show. My only complaint about it is that two songs that should have been in the show but were not were “Sweet Home Alabama” and “County Roads”. The second show was called “Shout”, and was more of a rock and roll type song collection. The show was also great, and the dancers went into the audience a lot. The singers Marjorie and Monquez were fantastic, as were the dancers. Also part of the shows were two circus type performers who the audience loved named Elena and Sergey. Overall, the comedians and shows were better than those on a Royal Caribbean cruise I recently took.

 

 

Activities:

 

There were many different activities on this ship throughout the cruise, from parties to game shows. The traditional “Love and Marriage” game was played, and was funny as always. Also, before the “Livin’ In America” shows, the cruise director (Karl with a K, who was fantastic) played a game with the audience. There was a giant deck party on Saturday night (the ship’s “Elegant Evening”), which involved a color war. Everyone in an even numbered cabin was on the blue team, and the odd numbered cabins were on the red team. Activities in which the teams battled for points included dancing and which team could form the biggest conga line. Other than that, there were always small games going on around the ship, many of them movie related, and there was always Karaoke at night in the secondary lounge. Overall, there was always something going on somewhere, although looking back on the Capers, there seems to have been a lack of activity around 5-7 on Saturday and Sunday nights.

 

 

Some of you might of heard that Laser Tag is being added onto some of Carnival’s ships. It has now been added onto the Carnival Imagination, which is one of 3 ships to carry it. It is a weird dome that is set up and inflated in the main and secondary lounges. While I find the price to be unreasonable ($5 for 5 minutes), it is a lot of fun, and there were long lines for it.

 

 

Pool/Sports Deck:

 

The pool and sports decks were fun to be around. There was always some game going on at the pool deck, and from the water slides to the golf area, there was always something to do up on the top of the ship. Unfortunally, the pool is small and often crowded during the day, as are the hot tubs.Other than that though, everything else was good. There is a nice big platform in the middle of the deck for activities and the band that will come out at night, and there are also spaces for ping pong and a bean bag tossing game. Oh, and there is a jogging track as well.

 

 

Food:

 

Cruising’s #1 activity has always been eating, and Carnival knows it. They have more food options then I have ever seen at a single place before. There are two dining rooms, the Spirit and the Pride rooms, and the Spirit dining room directly connects to the Pinnacle Bar above it. Meanwhile, the Pride dining room has the Anytime Dining program that Carnival is slowly rolling out on their ships. That is the dining time thingy that I used, and I think it works on the short cruises. However, on the second night, the staff seemed clueless, and everything just felt inconsistent night to night. Also, beware of a waiting time if you wait to eat late. The food itself was ok, mostly good but not great. I had steak all three nights, sometimes with a side dish of Mac n Cheese. My favorite appetizer was the shrimp cocktail, and the desert of my choice was the Warm Melting Cake with Ice Cream. While the food was not always the best, it was always presented beautifully.

 

 

The lido buffet was called the Horizon Bar and Grill, and was also good. It generally served the dining room food, though it was self serve of course. It also hosted a second dinner period from 11 PM through 1 AM, where you could pick up some hot dogs, burgers, and pretty much leftovers from dinner. Breakfast, which was virtually the same in the buffet and the dining rooms, was just your standard cereal options, French toast, pancakes, pastries, ect.

 

 

Other than the buffet and the dining rooms, there were many more sources of food on the ship. Located within the Horizon buffet itself was the 24 hour frozen yogurt and ice cream (they had both) machines, as well as the 24 hour pizza. Personally, I did not like the pizza, I preferred the “Sorrento’s” on Royal Caribbean, although they did make a great Pepperoni and Sausage calzone from them. Right outside of the buffet (and in the buffet for the second dinner around midnight) is the hot dog and burger bar. The hot dogs are good (is there any way to mess up a hot dog?), and the burgers were surprisingly good. I thought they would be thin and greasy, but they were well cooked burgers that I enjoyed eating. Down in the promenade deck is a sushi bar that is open from around 5-8 in the evening every night (not sure if it opened at all on port day when everything opened at 7) The sushi itself was ok, nothing great, but there were many options.

 

 

Overall, there was a lot of good food and some great food on the ship, but nothing that made me gag or anything like that.

More segments of this review, including a good look at the teen program, will be up later today.

[mosel]

What a great review. You have done a great job writing a concise objective view of the cruise so far and you have me really looking forward to my trip on the Imagination in August. I congratulate you on doing a review that many adults have not been able to master on this board. Thank you and I am looking forward to more. Cindy

[TexasCruiser52]

Carnival Imagination Review

 

 

 

This is my detailed review of the Carnival Imagination. I cruised on this ship from Friday July 31 to Monday August 3. I am 16 years old, so what you will not find in this review is info on the bars and nightclubs. However, you will find in-depth information on pretty much everything else. This review is also filled with info about the ship that I have not seen anywhere else. Feel free to ask me questions about the ship and the cruise, I will answer.

 

 

Entertainment:

 

 

The cruise had 2 production shows and 2 comedians. On the first night of the cruise, the headliner act for the Welcome Aboard show was a family comedian named Al Romero, who had a short but funny show in the main lounge. He also hosted a midnight “R” rated show in the secondary lounge that same night. The second comedian was Carl Rimi, who only hosted a “R” rated midnight show, no family show. I managed to get into that show however, and he is very funny.

 

 

There were 2 production shows on the ship. The first one, and the better of the two in my opinion was called “Livin’ In America”, and the show consisted of songs about cities and states in America. With elaborate sets, costumes, and effects, this was a great show. My only complaint about it is that two songs that should have been in the show but were not were “Sweet Home Alabama” and “County Roads”. The second show was called “Shout”, and was more of a rock and roll type song collection. The show was also great, and the dancers went into the audience a lot. The singers Marjorie and Monquez were fantastic, as were the dancers. Also part of the shows were two circus type performers who the audience loved named Elena and Sergey. Overall, the comedians and shows were better than those on a Royal Caribbean cruise I recently took.

 

 

Activities:

 

There were many different activities on this ship throughout the cruise, from parties to game shows. The traditional “Love and Marriage” game was played, and was funny as always. Also, before the “Livin’ In America” shows, the cruise director (Karl with a K, who was fantastic) played a game with the audience. There was a giant deck party on Saturday night (the ship’s “Elegant Evening”), which involved a color war. Everyone in an even numbered cabin was on the blue team, and the odd numbered cabins were on the red team. Activities in which the teams battled for points included dancing and which team could form the biggest conga line. Other than that, there were always small games going on around the ship, many of them movie related, and there was always Karaoke at night in the secondary lounge. Overall, there was always something going on somewhere, although looking back on the Capers, there seems to have been a lack of activity around 5-7 on Saturday and Sunday nights.

 

 

Some of you might of heard that Laser Tag is being added onto some of Carnival’s ships. It has now been added onto the Carnival Imagination, which is one of 3 ships to carry it. It is a weird dome that is set up and inflated in the main and secondary lounges. While I find the price to be unreasonable ($5 for 5 minutes), it is a lot of fun, and there were long lines for it.

 

 

Pool/Sports Deck:

 

The pool and sports decks were fun to be around. There was always some game going on at the pool deck, and from the water slides to the golf area, there was always something to do up on the top of the ship. Unfortunally, the pool is small and often crowded during the day, as are the hot tubs.Other than that though, everything else was good. There is a nice big platform in the middle of the deck for activities and the band that will come out at night, and there are also spaces for ping pong and a bean bag tossing game. Oh, and there is a jogging track as well.

 

 

Food:

 

Cruising’s #1 activity has always been eating, and Carnival knows it. They have more food options then I have ever seen at a single place before. There are two dining rooms, the Spirit and the Pride rooms, and the Spirit dining room directly connects to the Pinnacle Bar above it. Meanwhile, the Pride dining room has the Anytime Dining program that Carnival is slowly rolling out on their ships. That is the dining time thingy that I used, and I think it works on the short cruises. However, on the second night, the staff seemed clueless, and everything just felt inconsistent night to night. Also, beware of a waiting time if you wait to eat late. The food itself was ok, mostly good but not great. I had steak all three nights, sometimes with a side dish of Mac n Cheese. My favorite appetizer was the shrimp cocktail, and the desert of my choice was the Warm Melting Cake with Ice Cream. While the food was not always the best, it was always presented beautifully.

 

 

The lido buffet was called the Horizon Bar and Grill, and was also good. It generally served the dining room food, though it was self serve of course. It also hosted a second dinner period from 11 PM through 1 AM, where you could pick up some hot dogs, burgers, and pretty much leftovers from dinner. Breakfast, which was virtually the same in the buffet and the dining rooms, was just your standard cereal options, French toast, pancakes, pastries, ect.

 

 

Other than the buffet and the dining rooms, there were many more sources of food on the ship. Located within the Horizon buffet itself was the 24 hour frozen yogurt and ice cream (they had both) machines, as well as the 24 hour pizza. Personally, I did not like the pizza, I preferred the “Sorrento’s” on Royal Caribbean, although they did make a great Pepperoni and Sausage calzone from them. Right outside of the buffet (and in the buffet for the second dinner around midnight) is the hot dog and burger bar. The hot dogs are good (is there any way to mess up a hot dog?), and the burgers were surprisingly good. I thought they would be thin and greasy, but they were well cooked burgers that I enjoyed eating. Down in the promenade deck is a sushi bar that is open from around 5-8 in the evening every night (not sure if it opened at all on port day when everything opened at 7) The sushi itself was ok, nothing great, but there were many options.

 

 

Overall, there was a lot of good food and some great food on the ship, but nothing that made me gag or anything like that.

 

 

More segments of this review, including a good look at the teen program, will be up later today.

 

Thanks. Looking forward to more.................................;)

[Evil Jeremy]

Thank you mosel. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I have the capers so I still have a lot of info from the cruise.

 

Anyways, the next parts from the review. I will have more of the review up later:

 

 

Public Areas:

 

 

 

There are many different public areas on this ship, although most of the bars and lounges are concentrated in two different parts of the ship. The first is the 6 deck high Atrium, which contains 2 glass elevators and lots of lights. There are blue and red strips of light along the inside of the Atrium that look weird during the day but at night look beautiful and Vegas-esque. Along the Atrium are the teen facilities, the Piano bar, Library, Casino, and more. In fact, the entire promenade deck in the atrium area serves as a photo gallery. At the bottom of the atrium, which is where you enter the ship, is a piano and the atrium bar, as well as the guest services and the excursions desks.

 

 

 

 

The second main public area is the promenade. The promenade on the Imagination is similar in concept to those on the big Royal Caribbean ships but different in execution. All the shops are on one side of the single deck promenade, and windows and tables looking out to the sea line the other side. The promenade is long and spacious, and is never boring. At the end closest to the atrium is the sushi bar, and as you walk down, the casino, various bars, nightclubs, and stores will lead you down and at the other end is the Xanadu lounge (the secondary lounge). During the afternoon and evening, there will be music playing in the middle of the atrium.

 

 

 

 

As for the lounges, the Dynasty Lounge was the location for the production shows and the first comedian, as well as many different game shows. This is a big theater, bigger than it needs to be for a ship this size. It seats about 1,400, and has ground and balcony seating. However, I do not recommend the balconies. Almost every part of the second floor seating has an obstructed view, thanks to about 15-20 large poles that support the entire structure. If you want to get the best seats in the theater, sit as close to the front and center as you can, and avoid the balcony if you can.

 

 

 

Teen Activities:

 

 

I am 16 and this is my third cruise, second with Carnival, so I know by now what to expect from the teen activities. Unfortunally, Club 02, the teen program, seemed like the weakest part of the cruise for me. For starters, the club itself was only open when an activity was going on in there. That was also the same for Circle C, the program for young teens. On Royal Caribbean, the teen club was open all the time so people could mingle, but on this cruise, it seemed like we were only allowed in there when it was written on paper. Then, it seemed like only a few of the teen activities actually happened. The teen battle of the sexes turned into karaoke, and video game time turned into waiting for someone to actually show up to play with. Other activities didn’t even really take place. As for the parties, they just consisted of people doing inappropriate dances. It just was not for me. I think the teen program on Royal Caribbean was much better than this. But just because the teen program did not work out didn’t mean that there was nothing for a teen to do on the ship. With all the other activities, the crappiness of Club 02 (at least on my cruise) while inexcusable, didn’t ruin my cruise.

[ronkay]

good review, you should post with the cruise reviews on the main page of this web site.

[DeDe63]

great review - thanks for sharing!