Michael Ricanor

Age: 26
Occupation: Systems Administrator
Number of Cruises: 3
Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Line
Ship: Imagination
Sailing Date: November 27th, 2004
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

This was my third cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines and loved it!! My first cruise was on the Ecstasy (to Ensenada) and my second cruise was on the Fantasy (to the Bahamas).

EMBARKATION:

We flew into Fort Lauderdale (from San Diego) because it was about $100 cheaper than flying into Miami. The Carnival representatives were easy to spot in the airport cause they were holding up signs that said "CARNIVAL". Once we boarded the shuttle we were off to the Port of Miami. It’s about a 45-minute ride. When getting off of the shuttle make sure you have your passport/documents/boarding pass with you and a few bucks to give to the porters (the people that handle your bags).

Checking in was the easiest by far out of all of the cruises I've been on. Once you get into the building you have to go through a metal detector, then stand in line for customs. You won't have your luggage with you, so it's important that you keep your passport/documents/boarding pass on your person. This process took about 15 minutes.

Once you pass customs you prepare to enter the ship. The Miami cruise terminal has a beautiful setup because as you walk to the gangway, you walk right by the ship so that way you can admire the size and beauty of the ship. Oh yeah, they take tons of pictures so make sure you're ALL smiles.

CABIN:

We paid for the cheapest room on the ship and expected nothing more but when we opened up the door to our cabin we realized that we got a room w/ 2 portholes!! SWEET!! The room is just as I expected, nice and clean. Very comfortable!!

They had movies that repeat all day long. The movies they showed on our cruise were; Garfield, Napoleon Dynamite, Punisher, and The Notebook. They also had a show about the ship itself, which I found very interesting. They also showed the Travelog video. The Travelog is a video that documents the whole cruise. I found that to be very informative because you can see if you got caught on tape.

ROOM STEWARD:

Our room steward was very nice. She quietly made our room up a couple of times a day and left chocolates on our pillows. She also made animals (monkey, stingray) out of the bath towels, which I thought to be very sweet.

BARS/ALCOHOL:

The bar service was excellent. I love traveling with Carnival for this. No matter where you're at on the ship, alcohol is within 5 steps in every direction... really.

FOOD/DINING:

The food on the cruise was excellent. They have buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday and also have dining available for the cruisers. I took advantage of all eating areas on the ship. I must have eaten like 6-10 times a day. The dinner buffet is always different everyday. Foods range from Chinese, to Italian, to French. Outside on the Lido deck for lunch they always have Hot Dogs and hamburgers. The hamburgers are SOOO good (The patty's are really thick). Oh yeah, and they have a 24 hour pizzeria. Pizza at 3am...sounds good doesn't it? In the dining room, it's a little upscale (dress code strictly enforced). Everyone in the Spirit dining room was very polite and very accommodating.

ENTERTAINMENT:

The Imagination has all types of events going on throughout the day and night. During the day, you can go to their Art auctions, people watch on the Lido deck, swim, play basketball..etc. There's so many things going on you just have to look at the Carnival Capers to get a grasp on what's happening that day. At night you can go to one of the adult comedy shows, watch a Las Vegas show, Karaoke with friends or dance the night away w/ DJ Omar. Oh yeah, they also have an onboard casino for all you gamblers out there.

PORTS OF CALL:

Grand Cayman:

Let me start off by saying that when you get to the Cayman Islands you don't dock at a port. The ships stay out to sea and the way you get to shore is through a little boat. Don’t worry, they lots of boats waiting to take people ashore so waiting time in minimal.

We didn't book an excursion through the ship because those are always packed and a lot more expensive. So if you want to save yourself some serious money and a headache, go do some research online and book the shore excursion yourself. At Grand Cayman, we walked around the town shopping for a while waiting for our tour to start. We booked a snorkel tour with Captain Bryan on the Buccaneer. It was about $39/each compared to the $54/each through the ship. The Buccaneer is a BIG catamaran, which held about 30 individuals. We sailed for about 45 minutes to Stingray City. Once we got there we saw the tour from the cruise ship and they looked like sardines in a can. They packed their boat w/ about 50+ people. Well anyway, once we got there we got to jump out into the clear water and swim with the stingrays. Our tour guide had some squid for us to feed to the stingrays so that was cool. He then told us some cool Stingray facts and we got to hold a stingray for a few seconds. After Stingray City we went to the Coral Reef. That place was so cool. We saw many different corals out there.. and our tour guide found a great big eel. He taunted the beast with some meat and it came out of its home. That thing was so big and scary too! After the Coral Reef we went to the "Aquarium". This snorkeling place is called the aquarium because it looks as if you're in an aquarium. Nothing special here, just the same corals and fish you saw at the Coral Reef. Oh yeah, we saw another big eel there. This animal came out of nowhere. The thing was so curious that we had to keep the thing down with our fins. After the snorkel tour the shuttle dropped us off in front of the cruise ship and we went shopping again.

Ochos Rios:

Once again, we booked the tour on our own. We did the ATV Adventure tour, which was about $30 cheaper/per person than it was if you booked through the cruise ship. We waited inside the gate for our ride. The cab drivers in Jamaica are a little pushy so make sure you have your game face on. Once we got to our ATV adventure place we were told that we were the only two they had scheduled for our time slot so it was myself, my girlfriend, and the two tour guides. It was like our own little personal tour. We rode up the side of the mountain into the rain forest of Jamaica. The terrain was so beautiful. One time we rode into like thousands of colorful butterflies. It was the best feeling.. the moment was surreal. We rode up to the highest point in Ochos Rios and were greeted at the top with refreshments. Our tour guide gave us a little lesson on the culture and background of Jamaica and showed us the different plants/vegetables they have. We bought some souvenirs from one the vendors there and proceeded to ride down the mountain. At the end of our tour we were covered in white dust so we went back onto the ship, took showers then went into town. We went to a mall type place (for tourist) down the street and did some shopping down there. They had a beautiful restaurant called “Blue Running’s”, there we ate some Jerk Chicken. It’s real good!! The atmosphere was excellent!! Nice weather (85-90 degrees), good food (jerk chicken), good beer (red stripe.. ya man), and good music (blasting Bob Marley).

DEBARKATION:

Debarkation is the saddest part of the trip. Just because you know that it’s time to go back to the real world. They call you off of the ship by the color of your baggage tag. We made sure we had all of our belongings packed and ready to go the night prior. You must have your US Customs Declaration Form in hand and your passport/documentation ready. Oh yeah, you also need your Sail & Sign card to get off of the ship. The debarkation process went very fast and before I knew it, I was back on the bus.

CONCLUSION:

We had an excellent time on the ship!! We made sure we took advantage of every amenity on the ship and enjoyed everything Carnival had to offer. We got tanned and made lots of enjoyable memories. I don’t think I’ll ever sail w/ another Cruise Line. I love Carnival. I’m already planning my next trip. Oh yeah, if you’ve sailed with Carnival before they have a party just for past cruisers. You get a special invitation and pin sent to your cabin. I thought that was the best!! Carnival treats their past cruisers like family.

After the cruise we went to South Beach and partied at Crobar. We saw Juvenile walking around Collins Avenue so that was cool.

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