It's over 2 months since I took this cruise with my dad, and I just didn't have the time prior to this to write this review, hence the reason for being so late.
I booked this cruise, a 4 night Western Caribbean sailing just 11 days before, so the wait was not agnonizing. Our itinerary was Miami, Key West, Cozumel, Fun Day At Sea, Miami. I drove my vehicle to the Port Of Miami, parked in the parking garage and walked over to the Carnival Cruise Terminal where I met my dad. I had dropped him off in front of the terminal, got a crewmember with a wheelchair and then left to park the vehicle.
We went through security first, then proceeded to the check-in area. Since my dad needed wheelchair assistance, we were given priority at check-in, presented the required documents, got our Sail & Sign Cards and headed upstairs to the boarding bridge. There was a brief stop to take my embarkation picture(dad did not want his taken). We then proceeded to board the ship, inserted our S & S cards in the security computer, had our ID picture taken with that famous chime, and away we went to the Lido Deck 9 for lunch as the cabins were not ready until 1:30 PM. It was now 12:25 PM, and we were onboard the Carnival Imagination.
The Carnival Imagination entered service new on July 8, 1995 with Carnival, and at the time was known simply as Imagination. She was built at Masa-Yards, Helsinki, Finland, is 70,367 tons, is 855 ft long, carries 2,658 passengers at full guest capacity(2,054 based on 2 per cabin), has 926 total Officers and crew, and 10 passenger decks. The Imagination has a set of dual stabilizers, 3 bow and 3 stern thrusters, individually controlled twin rudders, and 6 diesel-electric engines. Her sister ships are the Carnival Fantasy, Ecstacy, Fascination, Inspiration, Sensation, Elation, and Paradise. The Fantasy was the first in this class of ship delivered in 1990, while the Paradise was the last in this class delivered in 1998. The Elation was also delivered in 1998.
The vessel underwent a multi-million refurbishment between Oct, 2007 and Nov, 2007, during which time the staterooms and suites were refurbished, including new bedding, carpet, furniture, lighting and wall coverings, and the creation of adjoining staterooms. The Art Auction Gallery was created in spaces vacated by the Photo Gallery on the Empress Deck(7), while the Photo Gallery was relocated to a more prominent location on the Promenade Deck(8) around the Atrium. The Evolutions of Fun, a Waterworks Aqua Park, Serenity Adults Only Retreat Area and a Resort Style Pool Area were all part of the enhancement of the ship during refurbishment, as were many other areas including the Spa, Card Room, and relocation of the Childrens Playroom area, plus a Teen lounge based on the Club O2 concept.
Lunch was very good in the Lido Buffet. The only drink after breakfast in the buffet area is lemonade, unless you order a soda or other drink from the bar. By the time we were finished having lunch, it was time to head down to our cabin as it was now after 1:30 PM.
Our stateroon was an Oceanview with a large picture window, Category 6E on the Empress deck 7. There is a flat panel TV mounted on the wall a few inches from the window in just the perfect position to view it from our bed. There were sodas and bottled water together with an ice bucket on the table top. The in-room telephone was a very sleek wall mounted device.
When we got to our stateroom, the only thing left to do was to vacuum the carpet. Now, I understand why this was not done as yet, since I myself was part of a group of travel agents on a weekend Familiarization tour of Carnival's ships, so the cleaning crew is hindered a bit because of travel agents crowding the corridors and there was a group of agents that Monday touring the ship. It was not a long wait before we were able to enter our cabin, and our luggage arrived shortly after. I unpacked both suitcases, then left to have our dinner time changed from Early to Late seating, which was easily accomplished. We then roamed the ship a while actually seeing most of the vessel before the Muster Drill and taking lots of pictures.
The Muster Drill on these ships is conducted similar to that on the Princess ships, only difference is they actually take you to the lifeboat after demonstrating the correct way to don the lifevest and other announcements. As soon as the Drill was concluded, we pulled away from the pier and we were underway out the channel to the open Atlantic Ocean. Next stop after returning the lifevests to our cabins was the Lido Deck for the sailaway Party.
The sailaway Party was a typical affair with Soca and Reggae music plus other tunes, beer, rum punch, and other alcoholic drinks available and of course, dancing. As might be expected, the ships videographer was present recording the event for the cruise DVD which I did purchase at the end of the cruise. I was eager to hit the Fun Shop Store, so we made our way there and I bought some Tee shirts which were on sale as well as 2 baseball caps with the ship's name on them.
Next, I got ready for dinner, my dad was too tired, so he stayed in the cabin and slept while I headed to the dining room after a nice shower, and clean clothing. I arrived in the Spirit Dining room to my assigned table to find all the others already seated. I greeted them all and they were all very friendly, and chatted before our Server, who was herself very friendly and is Russian, came with the menus. These were a great set of table mates I must say.
As usual, dinner was great, I had dessert, a cup of Expresso, and we got up and left the table after chatting a bit more. I headed back to my stateroom, and my dad was still asleep. He awoke a short time later, hungry, so we went to the Lido deck and I ordered two slices of Pizza for him, one for myself then fetched him a glass of lemonade. He enjoyed the pizza, which tasted great. I ordered two more slices of Veggie pizza, had a piece of cake and soft serve yogurt with dad, then we left and walked around some more. By this time it's after 1:00 AM. We headed to our stateroom and turned in.
Now, I did mention that I had a cup of Expresso, right? Well, I had a hard time sleeping that morning, and Key West was our first port of call in just a few hours, and at 4:00 AM, I was wide awake wondering why I couldn't sleep. Well, I finally did fall asleep and I awoke at approximately 8:00 AM. The ship was docked in Key West. We got up, showered, dressed and headed up to the buffet for breakfast. We had egg white omlettes, whole wheat bread, orange juice and harsh browns plus a cup of hot chocolate. While having breakfast, it dawned on me why I had a hard time falling asleep, it was the Expresso that I drank late the night before. Never made that mistake again.
Carnival Imagination August 10 thru 14, 2009 Cont'd
The Carnival Conquest arrived after we did and I watched as she was passing by.
We made our way down to the gangway, checked out and waited for the complimentary shuttle to the Duval Street Conch Train Station. I snapped some pictures of the ship in port, but had to wait until I could get a good one a far off when we were on the bus. Well, the best I could do was get the bow and front part of the Imagination. When we arrived at the Conch Train Station, it was so hot and my dad was obviously not capable of walking around in the heat, I decided to hop on the next air conditioned bus back to the pier. We have been to Key West so many times, just driving down there, it was more like a leg stretcher for us.
We did not dock at the Mallory Sq Pier, but further south on the US Navy territory. We had to show our photo ID and Sail & Sign Cards before we were allowed to proceed to the ship. We boarded and relaxed until we were ready for lunch.
We had lunch in the buffet again, very tasty, and while we were finishing up, we were pulling away from the Key West pier on our way to Cozumel, Mexico. We roamed the ship again, by this time, I'd convince dad the wheelchair was the most effective and fastest way to get around the ship, so I had no more problems from here on with that issue. I went up to the Spa, Gym, City Sports Area, down to the Pool area and proceeded to the aft by the Water Works Park. Checked out Camp Carnival, and went in for a while. This was Formal Night, the only one on this cruise. Dad and I took some portrait photos before going to the Dining room. When we got to the table, I introduced him to those I'd met there the night before. They were all amazed at how well he looked for his age. He enjoyed his meal and had a very good picture taken at the table. I had deserrt and decaf coffee, which I know would not hinder me from sleeping.
Afterward, we went to the Theater took in a show but left early as as dad wanted to turn in for the night. I told him I did not want to join him as yet and I would be leaving him to head back out. He was fine with that so off I went up to the Lido Pool deck and we were entertained by the band. There was a Conga Line contest between the Blue and Red Teams comprising of passengers in even and odd cabins. The Red team won, so I was happy. We were in an odd numbered stateroom.I got back after 1:00 AM, went to bed, slept in late and awoke as we neared Cozumel.
Our arrival time was 10:00 AM, and we met the Carnival Legend docked on the other side of the pier. The Holiday was also in Cozumel, but docked away and to our Port side. This was our first time back to Cozumel since we were there on the Carnival Valor in May, 2005 and since hurricane Wilma damaged the pier. The first sign of something's not right was the absence of the duty-free store on the pier closest to the shore, and the new wooden pier to the left of the main pier. We had breakfast, went down to the gangway, and I wheeled dad down the pier, stoping at times to take photos. We continued to the cruise complex checking out the shops and headed out to where the taxis were. Many of us who were in Cozumel before had no desire to venture out, so we sat in the covered walkway leading to the taxi stand where there are benches and stayed there for a very long time enjoying the strong breeze passing through. I did buy some Tee shirts at a shop on the pier before reboarding the ship. We departed Cozumel at 10:00PM and headed back to Miami.
The following day was a Sea Day. We slept in late, so late, that breakfast was over, so we went straight to lunch after showering. I saw the bar men with a Carnival Funnel Cup, and enquired about it. It was filled with the drink of the day and I was $12.95 poorer afterward.The drink was fantastic, and the funnel cup held a lot of drink, I was surprised. The alcohol was plentiful, but so was the ice, so I had no problem there. After lunch, we went out on the Lido deck for a while, purchased the pictures we hadn't bought, and went back to our cabin to start packing. Our bags had to be outside our cabins at 11 PM for pickup.
We had dinner one final time with our table mates and servers, took pictures and said our final goodbyes. I got my DVD and returned to the stateroom to finalize packing. With that out of the way, it was time to turn in and have a good night's sleep. I awoke early the next morning to see the ship approaching the Miami Channel and glide by slowly through Gov't Cut to the pier.
As darkness turned into daylight, I showered, got ready, got dad ready and we were out of the stateroom by 7:50 AM. We went up to the buffet one last time for breakfast, and was off the ship at 8:53 AM. Again, when we got inside the terminal, everything was a breeze because of my dad being in a wheelchair. We were curbside in no time and on the shuttle bus to the parking garage for the short ride over to pickup my vehicle. Since parking is Pre-Paid at the port, we were on I-95 in no time and home in about 40 minutes.
The refurbishment of the Carnival Imagination has given the ship new life. It does not look like a 14 year old vessel, and I enjoyed being aboard a different class of Carnival cruise ship.I would sail on it again when the opportunity arises. We had a great week, no doubt about that.
1. Imagination Promenade
2. Curiousity Library
3. Minature Golf , City Sports park
4.Carnival Water Works Racing Slide
5. Carnival Water Works waterslide.
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Carnival Imagination August 10 thru 14, 2009
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