I asked Carnival several questions prior to booking this cruise, a 4-nite/5-day voyage on the Carnival Imagination.
Either the agent outright lied or he didn\'t have a clue as to what was really going on aboard the cruises.
I am extremely sensitive to cigarette smoke...I get migraines if I am exposed to too much second-hand smoke.
I was assured that smoking was not allowed in common areas, only in specific areas of the ship. In fact, most common areas
allowed smoking, except for the dining areas. I was unable to enjoy the pool or the lounge areas due to the smoke and
spent most of the cruise in my cabin. I complained about the smoke several times - even when people were smoking beneath
the No Smoking signs and got no reaction or assistance from the cruise staff. There were no signs posted alerting
passengers that they would be exposed to a known carcinogen (second-hand smoke).
The volume level for the shows exceeded 94 db, which meant that if you stayed for the show you risked permanent nerve damage. There were no warnings (written or verbal) that hearing-damage would occur if you attended the shows. I was only able to sit through two of the shows. The rest, the volume was too high, to sit through without risking hearing-loss. Again, my complaints were met with complete disinterest.
Throughout the cruise, we were bombarded with infomercials for various cruise \"deals\" - art auction, watch sale, jewelry sale, etc.
Given that I had spent almost $3K for the cruise, I was not interested in spending $20 for a watch I can buy at my local flea market for $1.
I was traveling with my 10-year old son. I had been promised that \"Camp Carnival\" would provide wonderful entertainment
for my child. We visited the kid area which looked like a low-class daycare center.
My son was immediately repelled. The activities included \"Make a Teddy Bear\" and beading...
neither of which held any interest for a 10 year old boy.
Luckily, they also cost additional money (so much for the FREE kid activities), so we were not upset that he opted out.
The only \"free\" exercise classes were infomercials for spa services.
The rest charged a \"nominal\" fee of $10-$30. I do not consider that price range nominal.
That is the same price as I would pay at my local gym...without the expensive cruise bill.
The only activities my son was interested in were Pool Games and Water Wars.
Unfortunately, they were only available to guests 18 and over, so my husband & I spent most of the cruise
entertaining our son.
We do not drink or gamble, so the casinos and clubs held little interest for us...since both these venues allowed smoking,
it really didn\'t matter to us. However, from observing the other guests, they seemed to enjoy those venues.
The only activity we could participate in as a family was a scavenger hunt...that was fun, but only lasted a half an hour
over the entire cruise.
Our cabin, a Penthouse Suite, was spacious, beautifully decorated, and clean. My only complaint about the cabin was the
lack of a soap dispenser in the bathroom at the sink. The balcony/private deck came with two uncomfortable metal chairs.
It took 2 days before a 3rd chair appeared after we made that request. There was no metal table provided to put drinks or
books.
I had been told that we could order anything we liked for room service and it would be included. This is not exactly true.
You can order from a limited menu that includes sandwiches and small items. If you purchase a beverage card for soft drinks,
you still have to pay for any sodas delivered to your room. We ordered from room service once...a peanut butter sandwich for my son...who enjoyed it immensely. We also ordered a breakfast room service on one of the days in port when we expected to leave the ship prior to the dining room being opened. The breakfast service was much better than the standard service with an extensive menu of eggs, cereals, and salmon.
We ate in the Spirit Dining room every night of the cruise. The food quality noticeably declined as the cruise progressed. I am not sure if they were running low on supplies or enthusiasm. The wait staff in the dining room were wonderful and quite attentive. The bar service was less than stellar. We had purchased beverage cards and it took 3-4 requests each meal to get our sodas with dinner. I got the feeling it would take less time if we did not have the beverage cards.
The ship was extremely clean and throughout the cruise, you could see personnel performing cleaning tasks.
There was a scarcity of bathrooms in the common areas (near the lounges, clubs, dining areas, and pools.
It was often faster and easier to go down to our cabin to use the facilities than wait in line for the common restrooms.
We used the stairs the entire cruise...the wait for the elevators was too long and there were several times when the elevators
were out of service for one reason or another...this was a hardship for passengers with mobility problems.
We looked on it as a way to work off all the calories we ate...I don\'t think my husband or myself gained any weight on the
cruise....this despite the fact that we did not attend any of the exercise classes.
At the beginning of the cruise, my husband & I arranged a \"couples\" massage in the spa. My husband & I are
\"massage veterans\". We have been getting massages on a regular basis for the past 30 years.
The massages we received was below average. My husband had a slight allergic reaction from the massage oil used - a first.
The cost of the massages ($178 per couple) was on par with what we usually pay. The spa employees were charming and
attentive, but unskilled.
Our arrival at Grand Cayman was delayed due to inclement weather. As a result, one of our excursions was cancelled.
This was not the fault of the cruise line and they credited us back the cost of the excursion with no problems.
For those people who failed to sign up for an excursion, you could easily find an alternative on the pier once you
disembarked.
We tried the buffet at the Harbor Grill on the Lido deck a couple of times. The food was unspectacular.
I tried to recall other buffets I have had and the closest in this poor quality was my high school cafeteria.
My university cafeteria\'s food was much better quality and fresher. The same food was being served every time we went.
The pizza in the pizzaria was very good...my son liked it a great deal and he had a slice of pizza every day of the cruise. It was on a par of the Mountain Mike\'s pizza we eat regularly. The crust was chewy and fresh and the quality of the ingredients was quite good.
There was usually a wait of 5-10 minutes to get a slice.
For the same amount of money I spent on this trip (about $3K), we could have stayed at a five star resort in Jamaica and
flown there direct. By doing that, I would have eliminated several migraine headaches caused by second-hand smoke, enjoyed
a private pool, avoided crowds, and eaten much better food.
Needless to say, that is what I will be doing on my next trip.
