Carnival Imagination – 7/29/18 Through 8/2/18 – Observations and Opinions

Observations and Opinions

That certainly was a lot of information to digest for a 4 night itinerary. Even so, I’m sure that a month from now, I’ll remember something else that was surely relevant that has already escaped my addled mind. And while I’ve given a detailed account of what we did on our trip, I didn’t include any aggregated observations. Hopefully, this post will help in those areas.

 

Arriving, Parking, and Embarkation

 

Arriving at the port, parking and embarkation were a breeze. In spite of the ongoing construction on the 710 Freeway exchange to the port areas, we encountered no problems. As noted before, just follow the signs for the Queen Mary until you reach the parking structure. I have heard some rumblings of late that the parking structure isn’t available until 11:30 AM. We did not encounter that and we easily found a parking spot right at 11 AM. With the arrival of the Carnival Panorama in 2019, I could see that parking could become an issue, though my understanding is that there are currently plans to add to the available parking at the port. If you plan on driving to the cruise terminal, make sure that you account for L.A. area traffic, especially if your cruise departs during the work week, when traffic volumes increase. Though anymore, it’s hard to tell the difference in some areas between a weekday and a weekend.

 

We purchased FTTF and we walked right into the terminal and were immediately checked in with no wait at security. To me, this is a golden experience. The terminal seemed appropriately staffed and Carnival must be doing something right with the staggered check-in time process. We had a short wait inside the terminal before anyone could start boarding. Once on board, we were able to access our room and pick up our Sail & Sign cards immediately, once we inquired with a friendly face. I did hear from another cruiser recently on the Imagination that they were not able to access their room immediately, even after inquiring with a staff member. This is clearly contrary to published materials for FTTF and I would imagine that they had a legitimate complaint if they chose to follow up with the appropriate staff. It was nice having our bags dropped off in our cabin, S&S cards in hand and on the Lido Deck with a cold drink to watch everyone else make the mad dash to the buffet or to the bar with their boarding documents in order to purchase a drink.

 

Excursions

 

When we first booked the cruise, I didn’t have high expectations for the two ports of call. Neither particularly interested us and I had been to Ensenada 23 years ago, and I wasn’t overly impressed. Well, the two Carnival booked excursion we chose changed my mind. The Taste of Catalina tour was as good as almost any excursion I’ve ever taken on a cruise. The wine country tour in Ensenada was also a good quality excursion and we both enjoyed ourselves. I always felt safe and our tour guide made us feel like we belonged as part of their community. Great hosts. When we go back to Ensenada in 2019, for the Panorama’s inaugural cruise, I’m confident we’ll find something equally interesting to do.

 

The Ship

 

We had sailed on the Imagination in 2013. Since then, she did receive the Funship 2.0 upgrades. I was hoping that some of the other areas had been refreshed as well, but it just wasn’t the case. I enjoyed the relatively small size of the Fantasy class ship and definitely see the market value of the Imagination and other smaller ships. But there are some things that Carnival could definitely address to make the experience on board more pleasurable.

 

The first observation is that as much as I wanted to overlook the occasional sewage smell, we simply could not. I had already mentioned that it was a constant presence in our cabin bathroom. I know enough about plumbing to know that often this type of smell can be eliminated by simply running water down a dry drain. This didn’t seem to help. The smell could also occasionally be noticed in other areas of the ship. We noticed it at least twice on the Lido Deck near the pool and Shani noticed it one evening in the Pride Dining Room. It was never a constant presence anywhere, other than our bathroom, and it didn’t prohibit us from having a good time. But I cannot deny it was there. I can understand that someone more sensitive to olfactory nuisances could have their experience negatively impacted by this experience. I also know this issue not limited to the Imagination or Carnival ships.

 

While on the subject of smells, there were a few places on the ship that had a distinctive mildew smell. It was detectable in the Karaoke lounge the first night we were there, though not overpowering. However, one of the Carnival Fun Shops smelled like a damp basement. Again, it didn’t prevent us from buying a tote bag in there and it certainly didn’t prohibit us from enjoying our trip, but it was certainly there.

 

The Cabin was in good shape, though there is debate between Shani and me as to a dark substance at the top of the shower. She was concerned it was mold though I thought it was remnants of some glue residue from flashing that may have been there at one time. The bed was very comfortable and the bedding was as fine as some 4 and 5 star hotels we’ve stayed at.

 

The furniture in some of the public spaces have definitely seen better days. Of note, a couch in the Alchemy Bar and the seats in the Piano Bar had obvious signs of wear and patching to repair. It is also difficult to discern what was Carnival’s unique, festival like decor from the outdated and the gilded all too much of it. The areas that did receive attention during the last dry dock looked fabulous. The pool area, outdoor Lido bars and eateries and the Alchemy Bar (with the exception of the aforementioned couch) were all a visual pleasure.

 

I just unleashed quite a few words critical of the Imagination, but let me tell you what is right about her. There is a simplistic beauty in the Fantasy class ships. It has all of the things a cruise ship should have and the ratio of passengers to public spaces is just about perfect. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, there are public spaces that shine and the addition of Guys Burgers and the Blue Iguana as included food options was wonderful. In addition, the crew does a fine job as stewards of the old girl. They were constantly cleaning and tidying up in the public spaces.

 

There are some that think Carnival should give up on the Imagination. I can understand where those opinions are coming from and the industry trend is certainly pushing for bigger, newer and better ships. But I think the Imagination has a role to still play in the cruising world and I would LOVE to see Carnival invest some TLC in an effort to update her so she can continue to fill the 3-5 day cruise fix on the West Coast.

 

Food

 

As cruise lines spend more money in expanding additional fee dining, it is not totally unexpected to see the quality of included food options take a hit. I also know that it’s not limited to any particular line. I have accepted that this is the reality that cruisers are going to experience and I see no alteration of the current course the industry is taking. If you want higher quality food, you’re going to have to pay for it. There is something to be said for the a la carte experience as it can keep overall prices from soaring, putting cruising out of reach for many people. On top of all that, you will typically not find entrees made to order in the main dining rooms. So many steak dishes are prepared, X number of chicken dishes and Y number of fish dishes are made en mass and shuttled off to the hungry hoards waiting in the dining room. So, it didn’t shock me that the food on the Imagination was hit and miss. As a rule, I would steer clear of choosing items that rely on the kitchen to prepare a dish to an exact standard (think steaks cooked to a specified temp, reaching the optimum resting time for certain cuts of grilled/roasted meats, etc.) and stick to more forgiving dishes (think soups, baked dishes like lasagna, etc.). While not foolproof, I think it will lead to a more pleasant culinary experience.

 

Service

 

For the most part….BRAVO! When everything is done for you, every moment of the day, expecting service perfection is a challenging ask. You are going to run into individuals who would otherwise provide a memorable, positive experience, if not for a monkey wrench in their day. In a short amount of time, it’s very difficult to discern the true grouches from those who are just off their game a little bit. With the exception of being disappointed in the lack of attention from our room steward (he didn’t do anything wrong, but he didn’t interact with us once and we only received turn down service the first night…when we tipped him a $20 up front in addition to our prepaid gratuities) and one stone faced server in the Piano Bar, the staff we interacted with were a bright spot for our experience. For comparison, Nobody does service like Disney, but the staff on the Imagination really had to make me stop and think about the small differences between the two experiences. Of course, the likes of Camilo and Margo go a long way towards the personalized experience that so many cruisers have come to expect over the years. In no small part to their efforts, the Imagination receives high marks for service. We did our best to provide both Camilo and Margo with some extra compensation that they so obviously deserved.

 

Miscellaneous

 

– Cabin E75 – We booked late, just a month out. Shani is prone to motion sickness, so we really wanted an Oceanview room, midship. There just weren’t many available options left. Our Carnival PVP steered us away from a room directly underneath the Piano Bar, but we still would have to settle for a room under the Library, just off the Atrium. For the most part, there were no noise issues. We would here activity in the Atrium until around 10:30 – 11:00 each night, but it was nothing that couldn’t be drowned out with a white noise application. The final two nights of the cruise, we did hear a brief bought of significant noise from some furniture being rearranged in the Library at around midnight. It woke us up one night, but as mentioned it was brief in duration and we fell right back asleep. I don’t believe it would ruin anyone’s trip, but if you can avoid being under a public room and further off the atrium, we would encourage you to do so.

 

– FTTF – We hate standing in lines. The disease of privilege I suppose. For us, the modest charge for this itinerary was very much worth the expense.

 

– Cheers Package – We probably broke even. We are not heavy drinkers, but in the right environment (i.e. on a cruise ship with nowhere to go) we can put a few away. Couple that with the fact we enjoy wine with dinner, and it can add up. We definitely got our money’s worth on Embarkation day and the At Sea Day.

 

– Demographics – There were a lot of families and there were several celebratory and multi-generational groups. It didn’t have a booze cruise vibe, though people were certainly enjoying themselves. Carnival definitely offers a good time bent on their activities and we found that some of the shows we wanted to see just started too late for us (i.e. the more adult oriented comedy shows). Maybe we’re older than we think we are or maybe we purposely chose to not over do the experience. Anyway, we would have had no issues bringing our 11 year old daughter along with us, and often caught ourselves telling each other, “She would enjoy this!”

 

– As you would expect, there is a marked smoke presence near the casino. With it’s location, opening up to the Promenade, it made hanging out in that area unattractive to us. It’s a shame, because there was a stage with live music in the Dream Bar area. We’re former smokers and may be a little extra sensitive to the smoky air.

 

– We enjoyed the Piano Bar and the group interaction it facilitates. We spent two evenings in there. I wasn’t too keen on the list of Carnival approved songs as I believe it led to more of a scripted repetitions of certain songs instead of an organic evolution based on the make up of the crowd. Again, we still had a great time.

 

The big question that remains…Would we take this cruise on the Imagination again. Our answer is nuanced. It depends, just as us deciding to take this cruise was dependent on a couple of factors. If the timing and situation is right, we probably would consider it. If Carnival gave the Imagination some extra love she deserves, it would probably increase the likelihood we would choose this trip again. We have a lot of other places we want to go and because we’re still limited in opportunities to travel, It will most likely be a while before we find ourselves considering another spin on our old friend. Of course, if you put Matchbox Twenty and the Goo Goo Dolls back on as our cruise directors…that all changes!

 

While this concludes my unsolicited offerings, we would be more than happy to answer any questions or engage in any philosophical discussions about the Imagination. Thank you for letting us share a little piece of our experience and we both hope you all have many more enjoyable voyages ahead of you, including on the Imagination!