Whoa J&J.....
Maybe I did that wrong.
Here.........................................................................
"It Was Just My IMAGINATION!" - Review by YoRay
Carnival Imagination. 1/16/03. Review
(sing this part to the tune of The Temptations’ “Just My Imaginationâ€Â)
“Each day from my balcony, I watch the blue sea passing by.
I say to myself, ‘You’re such a lucky guy’.
To have a ship like this, is truly a dream come true.
Of all the sailors in the world, she now belongs to youâ€Â.
“It was just my Imagination running away with me.
It was just my Imagination sailing away with me.â€Â
……………………………………………………………
We flew from Hartford(6 degrees) to Miami(76 degrees) via USAir. Security agents were thorough, very polite and didn’t mind that I was smuggling booze in my carry-on – which I later moved to my checked bag in Miami before embarkation. We stayed overnight at the Travel Inn in downtown Miami because they had free shuttle pick-up at the airport, and to Bayside and to the pier. All for 44 bucks. The hotel is about 10 years overdue for a makeover, but it was clean and served the purpose. It has a restaurant and a bar and there’s a Winn Dixie across the street for any last minute items. They just happened to be having a beer sale…and pretty good chicken wings too. I’d stay there again, but don’t know if I’d recommend it to a picky person if you know what I mean. If you’re looking for up-scale beachfront, this isn’t it. Bottom line…it’s a sufficient inexpensive bed, with chow, drinks & free transportation!
We got to terminal 8 at 11:55am. and were in our cabin at 12:30. Skippers Club didn’t buy us anything because the Carnival staff was pumped and ready for us. There was no line. Actual boarding began at 12:15. It was the slickest & quickest embarkation I’ve ever been through. Thumbs up to this particular Carnival port crew!
I had been concerned about “psychedelic neon glitz†due to the photos I’d seen of the ship on various websites, but aside from the atrium, which isn’t really bad, and one purple and yellow barroom, this 8 year old ship is really nice. It looks brand new and is very well maintained. I was particularly impressed with the Egyptian motif. The crew and staff, in general, are obviously veterans who know their jobs. All are very polite, accommodating, and seem to maintain a high morale.
U103 is a cat.12 balcony suite, and I didn’t tell my wife I booked it. The surprise worked and she loved it. (but who wouldn’t?). Very spacious and well laid out, with a sectioned living room that opens to the balcony. A big bathroom with a whirlpool tub, walk-in closet, safe, vanity, fridge and bar. Did I mention the balcony? It’s so nice, we spent half the cruise there. We’d agreed we were cruising for the ride – not the ports, because we’d been to them. Problem is…how do I downgrade from here? The cabin stewardess did a perfect job for us throughout, and so did room service, and I tipped them well.
My other favorite hangout was the Dream Bar. It was open to the promenade on one side and the casino on the other. The first day aboard, I introduced us to the bartender and told her we liked our Martini’s & Manhattan’s big & strong, and that’s how we got them for the rest of the cruise. Next door to dream bar, there’s the Shangri La lounge, where we’d hang when it was open. I kept telling them that they had it wrong..â€ÂNo - it’s ‘Shangrilq’†But they still hadn’t changed it by the end of the cruise. Sorry Sara, I tried. (I wanna refund!)
Neither of us did well at the casino… and I don’t want to talk about it.
The Food Deck Marathon: By day 2, I could make it from U103 midship, to the aft elevator, up to the pizza parlor on Lido, grab 4 slices of whatever was ready, and be back in under10 minutes. First I would call room service and order the buckets of beer, then scramble for the Food Deck and try to make it back before the buckets arrived. I only beat them once. Meaning…room service is fast! Even when we weren’t hungry, we’d go to the Food Deck and cruise the buffets - and guess what…eat! Everything was very good.
The service and meals in the Pride dining room were great. I didn’t get any of that lousy food I’ve been reading about, and I tried just about everything at one time or another. Our waiter had a great sense of humor and, as busy as he was, he was always there. There wasn’t one meal that I would complain about, but I can compliment all of them. I’ll say it again, the crew and staff on this ship have it together. At the “Last Supper†(lol), they gave us nice 11â€Âx14†paintings of the Imagination. I’m making frames for them now.
We didn’t do all of the shows, but the ones we attended were entertaining. They cancelled the big one due to “rough seasâ€Â(?), and rescheduled it. The CD, Marahscalh Stanton, was pretty good. A regular James Brown (“I Feel Goodâ€Â). There were plenty of shows and activities to keep everyone entertained. You couldn’t possibly do them all, so it was “pick someâ€Â.
I won’t spend a lot of time on the ports. We’ve been to them several times, and didn’t do any excursions. We went ashore but stayed on our own. A noteworthy mention for “Headhurtâ€Â…We stopped at a bar in Cozumel because I heard the “Ketchup Dance†playing. No one was dancing to it, but I was betting if Heather was there…she would!
Some of the things we brought that really came in handy were, the booze, Purell, Lysol, alcohol-wipes, extension cord, 3-outlet cube-tap, lanyards, binoculars, duct tape, nightlight, wad of small bills(tip$) and extra cable-ties. ( I know–I know, the crockpot, blender, drillpress…etc.). Didn’t need a bungee cord because there was a hook-latch for the balcony door. Could have used a backlit clock.
There were no signs, or mention of Norwalk. The weather was fine, except for a little disturbance out of Key West on formal night. I was gonna pull a “Joebatâ€Â, and wear my life jacket to dinner, but I restrained myself and behaved. (“but they said...jacket & tieâ€Â).
Just as a cruise-critic test, I later asked my wife for both of us to think hard, and try to come up with anything we didn’t like about the ship, the service, the food, the crew, or the cruise in general. The best we could do was remark on the morning coffee not being as good as we’re used to, there’s no open deck that goes all the way around the ship, and the whirlpool bath jets were so strong, they almost blew us out of the tub. …. Ain’t life cruel?
If anyone is considering doing this ship, we highly recommend it and we give it “Two Thumbs Upâ€Â.
U.S. Customs tip: We were informed at the debarkation conference, that Customs agents would board the ship at 7am on debarkation day to collect payment on – or seize, over-allowances of duty-free stuff. I went to the library and talked to one of them. TIP: If you’re over the allowance on anything…like liquor or smokes…open it and consume “someâ€Â! Then you don’t have to list it on your declaration form. That’s a good thing to remember. Write it down. However, on this trip, turning in the customs declaration form to customs amounted to dropping it into a basket with 2000 others. But, in the past, I’ve also seen it go the real way too… you never know.
Debarkation, starting at about 9:30am, went as smoothly as boarding, and there were no delays. When I got to the terminal, amidst a sea of luggage, I could spot our bags a mile away. I had them plastered with bright red duct tape and a great big red-tape “YoRay†on the fronts & backs. I could have called the Travel Inn, where we stayed, and got a freebie to the airport, but didn’t want to wait, so we grabbed a cab ($18 flat rate-plus tip). For anyone considering early flights, consider this…we were cruising up I-95 to the airport, and came upon an accidentcene that stopped traffic dead. We were between exits and jammed in. A 45 minute delay. Then when we got to the airport, the line to our gate was backed-up, nearly to Cuba, with several hundred people. And gate security wasn’t taking any shortcuts. It took a good hour to move from the back of the line to the screening gate. We had a later flight, so we didn’t do that line. We went and, guess what?…Ate!
(sad part)
So now, the cruise is over. It’s just a mastercard memory. And as I sit, depressed, in my igloo on the frozen tundra of western Massachusetts, staring blankly at my “pazooter†- (oops, I mean computer…sorry Cathy), I find myself subconsciously, slowly, sadly, faintly, murmuring this tune….
“It was just my Imagination, running away with me.
It was just my Imagination, sailing away with me.â€Â
……………………………………The End…………………………………
