I'm just back from the replacement cruise I got for visiting Harrahs New
Orleans. I took a 5 day trip from Miami (instead of New Orleans) on Carnival
Imagination. Of the 3 cruises I've taken with Carnival, this definitely was
the worst on service. Service was still good, but not as good as it should
have been. Our dining table complained about slow service to Maitre De
(apparently waitress was overworked) and he did immediately help bring us food
himself! And also assigned an assistant Maitre De to help out the next couple of
days, which was a big help.
Still overall the ship wasn't as good as Carnival Spirit or Carnival Pride.
The Lido Deck buffet had long lines during breakfast due to lack of omlette
chefs and not a huge variety of food. The room steward was good, but not
great. We also noticed that many of the servers did not introduce themselves
or have quite as much comraderie as on other vessels. There was also a lack
of enough activities. There were 3 production shows though, which was quite a
lot for a 5 night cruise. The best was Carnival Legends where passengers
portrayed stars like Clint Black, Arethra Franklin, Madonna, and others (with
the regular dancers and singers doing a little in the show).
The casino is very busy on this cruise, since many passengers have not
cruise before. VP was very bad - the 10-coin type, so quarters really were the
same as fifty cents. Pay schedules were something like 6/5 JB, 7/5 DB, 6/5
DDB, bad deuces, etc. One quarter machine was a progressive, but that didn't
help much. Blackjack was the best game on the ship with 8 decks and doubling
allowed on any 2 cards, resplits allowed (except for Aces, only 1 split),
dealer stood on soft 17. Table games ranged from $5-25 minimums, with good
availability of $5 games. Bingo vastly overpriced and oversubscribed, as usual -
stay away.
Harrah's was nice to us with unexpectedly tossing in $100 shipboard credit
(which paid for the tips). The trip did not include airfare, but I was able
to use Harrah's points to buy a trip via Passport travel. (Usually this only
can be used to Harrah's cities, but because of the cancellation due to New
Orleans flooding, they made an exception). Harrah's also arranged for a group
party and free drinks in the casino (when gambling - not at the bar).
If you are going on a cruise, I would recommend a 7 day one -- 4 or 5 days
is too short and more than 14 too long (at least for me). Be prepared to gain
weight due to 3 main meals plus high tea, midnight buffet, plus free room
service, plus all-day food in the Lido buffet, plus appetizers at the Captain's
party, plus 24 hour pizza and ice cream (at least on Carnival). Soda is
not included, but they have fruit punch or lemonade, etc. Cocktails are pretty
expensive if you drink a lot (you aren't supposed to bring on your own
liquor or soda).
Grand Cayman is a great port with beautiful beaches, snorkeling, etc. We
also stopped in Ochos Rios Jamaica - interesting place, but the vendors can be
obnoxious with offering to sell you stuff (including very illegal "ganja").
I prefer a 7 day cruise with 3-4 ports...more than that gets too hectic.
Besides the production shows, entertainment included a variety of bands or
single performers such as a piano player, going on in evening, plus comedians,
ventriloquist, singer, late-night-adult-comedians, and not-very-recent movies
in room (along with some cable TV broadcasts).
Rooms on the Imagination don't have sofas, just a chair and bed. Not very
many balcony cabins on this ship. Newer Carnival ships may have larger rooms
and more balconies. The good news is that Carnival has upgraded its bedding
and now has very nice duvets (comforters), 100 count sheets, regular spring
mattress (I still found it a bit hard though). Showers on board were a bit
larger than usual, but the toilet seats are the usual cruise-ship style narrow
seats with loud suction flushes.
If you've never cruised before, you'll enjoy a 4-5 day cruise on the
Imagination, but if you have cruised before you'll want to look for a different
ship. (Unless of course you get a free cruise like I did!)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]