The good news in we had a great party and a really good time on this cruise. Our group totaled 50, all friends and family, some of which we had not seen in many years, this was a life saver in this case as a mediocre cruise (at best) was turned into a memorable experience.
The party aboard the Carnival Imagination was an overwhelming success. Kudos to the groups department, the food exactly as ordered (sushi, cheese platters and birthday cake), in the Shangri La Lounge reserved for our party was beautifully displayed. They wait staff was very attentive and accommodating.
The shining stars of the party were clearly the Latin trio hired to play for the occasion kept us all going , he dance floor was always occupied by those that knew how to dance Latin style well as well as those learning from their friends. All in all I'd have to say that everyone had a great time.
Now the bad news, and that would be the Carnival Imagination (great name too bad it does not really fit the ship's personality), and the Carnival product in general (yes, I understand all too well that every cruise is different but the trend I have seen among Carnival's offerings is that they are all the same...some elements have not changed since the 80's). If you wax nostalgic for an "80's" type cruise maybe it is for you.
First the ship; while the ship has been maintained in decent shape it's decor, public spaces and activities are well behind the curve of other cruise lines and ships. this ship needs a bit of Carnival's Fun 2.0 upgrading which would be an improvement of the ship but i doubt it would improve the Carnival brand. I say this because some things that have worked their way into the Carnival culture will be hard to undo and they ill be hard pressed to win back anyone but the hardcore Carnival cruisers.
Three problems stick out here. Entertainment, food and customer service.
The entertainment on board this ship (and there is very little of it) is stuck in a time warp, cheesy musicals, bad comedy sketches by a director that is trying too hard to be funny (too the point that he is annoying). The other cruise lines are offering Broadway production shows, head and shoulders over this seemingly High School or college production. The daily on board activities involved multiple trivia games everyday and sales for jewelery, t-shirts, etc...nothing new, nothing interesting, nothing dynamic.
This group had kids ages 6 months to 19, while the teenagers kept themselves entertained those in the 8 - 12 group were absolutely bored. I have to say I'm with them, other than the fun we had within our group this was a very boring cruise, not much to keep us occupied, during the day or at night with the exception of the band we had at the party, they played throughout the week and the dance club was good 1 night out of the 4 (the other nights dance music was basically taken over by gangsta rap, OK once in a while but not song after song...could be why club was empty most of the time....hello DJ are you watching this?).
The food was not good, breakfast was run of the mill but not even good at that, omelet station was the saving grace but a bagel with lox impossible to find. Lunch was more of the same, not much variety and not really good, one of my kids compared it to Golden Corral (we had dinner 1 night at buffet and it made us yearn for Golden Corral, it would have been an improvement), I have to say that the made to order food at the Mongolian Wok was great, delicious food made to order (I ended up eating there 3 afternoons and always had something different), more of this level is much needed.
Diner service staff was friendly and efficient although the dinner fare was mundane and limited in choice and just so-so in taste, certainly nothing to write home about.
Finally my biggest pet peeve and real disappointment with Carnival, the staff, not so much my room steward , drink waiters or the dining room staff but the crew in general. I walked past 3 crew members of various functions one morning on the way to breakfast and not one of them acknowledged me, said good morning or hello despite the fact that i did. This went on everyday, it's the first cruise I have been on (I've been on over 20) where this behavior by the crew/staff was demonstrated.
No matter what product is being sold, what does it take for the crew to at least acknowledge their guests?
Look Carnival is what it is, an entry level cruise company offering cruises at very low prices and that was expected but this one disappointed even with the low standards I set for it.
I have often portrayed Carnival as the Walmart of cruises, I have to apologize to Walmart for that.
I hope the new CEO turns the culture of the company and the quality of their product around.
