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Carnival Cruise Line

MS Imagination

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Reviewed by: Annette Cross
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: December 12, 1998
Itinerary: Caribbean - Eastern

I enjoyed the SHIP and the CRUISE. The food also was excellent, and there was plenty of it. There was no limit to the amount of food one could order. For example, if you just wanted to try a particular dish, one could order that along with something you were familiar with. What I didn't like was the proliferation of onboard "entertainment", which was carefully designed to get more money out of the passengers. I also didn't like the number of slums and dumps in the middle of the "paradises" which the ship visited.

Both pools and all the sunny deck areas were blasted with loud music 24 hours per day. There were also bars and attentive waiters and waitresses close at hand. The first day or two drinks were free to get people in the party mood. After that drinks were high priced. I enjoyed the sides of the ship on the Lido deck. There was no music, and I could sit there and enjoy the views. However, it was mostly shady and windy there.

To get to the main auditorium (Dynasty Lounge) to listen to a presentation, one had to find one's way through a small shopping mall. Then instead of the expected quiet wait one was blasted with a very loud man encouraging everyone in the audience to play bingo at $10 a game and also asking them to shout loudly over and over if they have been having a good time.

Prices in the shipboard shops were high and roughly double or triple what one would expect to find for similar merchandise in a shopping mall near one's home. After I had decided on a gray cotton tee shirt (half price for $13.50) and a pair of men's swimming trunks (half price for $14.50), the store manager (of the Galleria) chided me and asked, "Is that all you will be buying in my store?" Some people might be intimidated by a remark like that and would buy more than they wanted.

I did not go into the pool because there were so many people in and around it. I didn't sit in the sun because the music was so loud and constant. I didn't visit the casino, but my children did. They won money the first day and didn't have enough sense to stay out of the casino after that. They lost all their winnings and more after that. Then they were broke and had no money for shore excursions.

The (Horizon Bar) buffet on the Lido deck had excellent food and plenty of it. There was a wide range of hours that breakfast, lunch, supper, and dessert were available. Coffee was also available very early in the morning. There was a 24 hour pizza bar.

The formal dining rooms (Spirit and Pride) had attentive waiters and busboys. If one wanted, one could order 2 or 3 different appetizers, dinners, or desserts. They were brought cheerfully.

The cabin steward did an excellent job of cleaning our cabin and leaving us alone when we didn't want to be disturbed. He also turned down our beds at night and folded towels into cute little animals which he left for us to enjoy. He left candy on our pillows with a wish for "Sweet Dreams".

I understand the cabin was larger than on most cruise ships. It had enough closet space. The shower head was adjustable for a tall person. An extremely large person (400 lbs.) might not be comfortable in the shower. Also the toilet was close to the walls so that an extremely large person (400 lbs.) might not be comfortable sitting on it. The cabin was quiet as far as overhearing other people talk. The sound of the ship's engines was constant (our cabin was in the rear of the ship), and it was a soothing sound like an electric fan or an air conditioner constantly running.

I attended two variety style shows on the ship. I thought the music, singing, dancing, costumes, lighting, and scenery were first rate. Most of the other entertainment (of which there was a variety of different music and singing) on the ship took place in bars, which I preferred not to go into.

We stopped at San Juan, from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m. We would have preferred to be able to tour the city during the day. We were able to take a nighttime tour and do some shopping.

We stopped at St. Thomas from about 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. My children do not get up early, so half their sightseeing days were wasted.

We stopped at Saint Maarten/St. Martin from about 9:00 a.m. to about 4:00 p.m. We disembarked late because the Monarch of the Seas from the Royal Caribbean cruise line had an accident in the harbor the previous day. Normally we would have disembarked about 7:00 a.m. We had to get into small boats to go ashore because the harbor's port had been destroyed in a recent hurricane. That was quite inconvenient -- and somewhat scary.

Carnival had arranged quite a wide variety of tours in the various ports. People could sightsee, shop, snorkel, scuba dive (both beginning and advanced), sailboat, swim, or go to a cabaret or a show.

See my above comments about the pool. There were 2 pools available for adults and teens, and one of them had a waterslide. There were also hot tubs and saunas. There was a children's pool. Educational and fun activities with childcare were available during the day. There was a health club which included a mile long jogging/walking track.

I overhead arguments between several married couples. There was a wide variety of age groups -- some very old, some very young. There were honeymooning couples. There was a gay couple. I liked and got along with most of the people -- they were friendly and outgoing.