This morning, we awakened without an alarm. I really like those mornings. We got ready and headed to the Pride Dining Room for the Seaday Brunch. We didn’t order room service coffee this morning, so we didn’t waste any time getting there. I chose the Steak and Eggs, as I had read on Cruise Critic (www.cruisecritic.com) that it would be the best steak I would get on board, without ordering from the Steakhouse ($20 upcharge) selection at dinner. Shani ordered pancakes along with sides of scrambled eggs and link sausage.
Steak and Eggs
Indeed, the breakfast filet was the best piece of beef I had on the cruise. It actually tasted like steak. I won’t claim it was the best filet I’ve ever had, but it was pleasantly satisfying. My eggs were fried hard as requested and were tasty. I was a little disappointed in the home fries, not because they weren’t tasty, but rather because they were merely a combination of three different types of french fries. Visually, it looked like leftover scraps. All in all, I enjoyed the meal.
Shani was afraid that she had ordered too much food, but when the small serving of pancakes arrived, she realized the worry was misplaced. The meal was good, but don’t expect a huge order of pancakes if you go down that route.
After breakfast, we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the Lido Deck to attempt to find a couple of loungers. By this time, it was around Noon. We did a full reconnaissance of the available loungers and were surprised to see many available, though the ones closest to the pool and shady spots were all spoken for. We settled in just behind the stage and we would stay there until late afternoon.
It was quite a pleasant and relaxing day. While there was too much activity to nap, Camilo soon found us and we sipped away at our Twilight Zones and Ting Mojitos, as we watched various Lido activities take place. We missed the hairy chest contest (no big loss) but were present for the Thriller dance class (taught by one of the Imagination’s stage performers) and the ice carving demonstration. The DJ kept the tunes going and there were several line dancing opportunities for the more extroverted of cruisers.
After soaking up our share of the sun, we went back to the room to shower before dinner. We also started with requisite task of packing for tomorrow’s return to reality. We debated the rest of the evening as to whether to self-assist (carrying our own luggage off the ship) or have our luggage ready in the hall by 11PM for assisted debarkation.
We made our way to the Pride Dining Room once again, prior to catching the Epic Rock Show at 8PM. Because of the early show and the fact that we didn’t eat lunch due to a later brunch, we arrived at the dining room right at 6PM. Tonight, there was a slight line, though it was mainly due to several large groups ahead of us. The line moved quickly and again, we were waiting in line no more than five minutes. As we waited, we enjoyed the acoustic guitar/singer at the Atrium stage, one deck below. There were two of these acts on board, taking turns at the various small stages on the ship.
Again, Camilo was eagerly waiting for us. We were sat at what had become our standard two top table as the dining room was quickly filling up. It seemed like a lot of cruisers had the same idea we had this night for an early dinner. In fact, one of Camilo’s other regular couples were a little later getting to the dining room this evening and Camilo’s section was already full. They were another similarly aged couple, free of their kids while with their grandparents, from Western Massachusetts. Their kids were actually on an Alaskan cruise with the grandparents and I couldn’t help but wonder why they didn’t go on that cruise as well. Alaska was just awesome. I digress, Camilo quickly swept in and informed the other head waiter that the other couple was his and that he would be taking over the table. There was no pushback!
Tonight, we both ordered the beef tenderloin for dinner. The filet I had that morning gave me an optimistic feeling for what was in essence, the same cut of meat. I wasn’t wrong, as again it tasted like steak. As with the filet, there is no attempt to claim it was excellent, but it certainly was pleasant, especially considering the prior night’s dinner experience.
Tonight was another wait staff show night. As dinner was concluding, all of the servers began their parade around the dining room, hoisting tonight’s featured Baked Alaska around with them to the song Gonna Fly Now (Theme song for the Rocky movies). After the parade, Camilo and the other servers performed a couple silly songs and dances. While in danger of being corny, everyone was smiling and laughing along at our new friends dance moves, or lack thereof.
Again, our interactions with Camilo and Margo were the highlight of the day. We spent some time earlier during dinner, before the huge rush, getting to know Camilo and eagerly soak up stories about his family. His wife was actually one of the two bartenders at the Atrium Bar. I can only imagine how this might take the edge off of being on a ship for months at a time. I also relish these human connections as it provides me with a healthy dose of perspective and provides me with the essential reminder that the world, in fact, does not revolve around my little slice of Earth.
Atrium Bar, from Deck 8. Little did we know that Camilo’s wife was tending bar!
Camilo wishing us goodbye with a song.
Camilo and Kadek grooving to Uptown Funk.
Shani and Camilo
Shani and Margo. Margo wasn’t quite the socializer that Camilo w as, but that uninhibited smile says everything I could think to describe him.
We finished dinner just after 7:30, after both having the Baked Alaska for dessert. We were sad that we wouldn’t see Camilo or Margo again before debarkation. We were even sadder knowing that tomorrow meant heading back to the real world after almost a week of having our every whim catered to. But, it’s the balance required to make these trips so sweet.
We headed to the Dynasty Theater at about 7:40, with the Epic Rock Show starting at 8. We were the second group in line and waited about 10 minutes for the theater to open. This would be the only stage production we would catch this cruise and the Epic Rock Show received good reviews on Cruise Critic. The show started with a young guitar player coming out and playing solo riffs from an assortment of popular rock anthems. He played well and was faithful to the original recordings we are all familiar with. He was enjoyable to listen to.
The show was…well, we weren’t terribly impressed. We love rock and enjoy all of the songs played, but we just weren’t impressed by some of the arrangements. It wasn’t bad, but we thought it was less than epic. To each their own.
This would be an early night, knowing we had to get up and moving the next morning and I had a 6 hour drive ahead of me. So, we returned to our cabin to finish packing our suitcases. We decided to have our luggage picked up prior to debarkation. We knew we still had to pick up several bottles of wine and we wanted to cut down on the items we were carrying off of the ship. In retrospect, we would have been perfectly fine with the self assisted debarkation.
We got a decent night’s sleep and awakened in time to grab breakfast in the Pride Dining Room, prior to picking up our wine and heading to the FTTF waiting zone, which was located in the Dynasty Lounge. I ordered an omelet while Shani went with the Port Day Express. My omelet was really good and we both had enough coffee to get our minds focused for the journey home.
The alcohol pick up was located in one of the lounges on the Promenade. I was expecting a rush of people, picking up their finds in Ensenada, but we either out waited the big rush or there just wasn’t a lot of alcohol purchased in port. We claimed our haul and transferred it to a tote we purchased in the Fun Shop, to make it easier to carry off. Off we went to the Dynasty Lounge while we waited for the zoned debarkation to begin.
The wait in the lounge was quiet and comfortable. We had Zone 2 and soon the announcement was made for zones 1-6 to head to the Atrium and off to the gangway. Once in the debarkation line, we were off the ship within five minutes (common theme and the small waits were very welcome). We made our way through the terminal and quickly located our luggage.
On our way out of the luggage area and to the Customs line, we came across the group of porters. We didn’t really need assistance and we were prepared to carry everything out to the garage ourselves until the following proclamation was made by the porter supervisor…
IF YOU USE A PORTER, YOU CAN USE THIS EXPEDITED CUSTOMS LINE WHERE THERE IS CURRENTLY NO WAIT!
Thank you very much! Porter hired! For the price of a tip, we proceeded directly to the special Customs line and boom! We were out of the terminal and back to the garage! Soon, we paid for parking ($80 for the 4 day cruise) and were on the road back to Phoenix.
That’s the review of our trip. We did really enjoy ourselves in spite of some less than perfect hiccups. My next post will focus on some miscellaneous items and any things I may have inadvertently left out. I will also spend some time with my overall observations and opinions. I hope this helps anyone thinking about taking the Imagination on this short itinerary, or any cruise for that matter.
Have Wife, Will Travel 