Great cruise, getting to the ship could have been better

Carnival Imagination Cruise Review to Mexico

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 103

Overall rating:

4.3 out of 5
Carnival Imagination

4 Night Catalina & Baja Mexico (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 04, 2018

Ship: Carnival Imagination

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: U65

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Over all a good cruise. Hopefully Carnival will work on a better way to get you from LAX to the cruise port

Embarkation

3 out of 5
Had a difficult time getting to the ship, no one to meet us at the airport terminal. Spent over an hour before anyone from Carnival was able to get us on our way to the Port. Then, our cab driver got lost going to the port (could have followed the signs to the cruise lines!) Very glad we didn't have to pay for the cab ride. Once at the cruise terminal, things went smoothly.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Guy's Burger Bar was ok. Main dining room was nice (Pride), meals were good. Some delay with the breakfast buffet (buffet was not ready to serve when the dining room opened, the omelette station was delayed by 10-15 minutes opening each day.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Bar

3 out of 5

Alchemy bar, never seemed to have staff, nor did they have a list of "specialty drinks" at that location. No reason for me to try anything different there, I expected with a name like "Alchemy Bar" there would be something different to have there.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
I enjoyed the daily "trivia" and the One Hit Wonders game.

El Dorado Casino

5 out of 5

Went to the casino, we have never played Black Jack before. We explained this to the dealer and he was very kind and guided us through the game. Then a wonderful couple joined the table and played with us. It was a great experience (of course the house took most of our money!!!) Good times had by us!

Entertainment

4 out of 5
We watched a couple of the performers in the Atrium, the couple that played the violin and sax were good. We watched the Rock & Roll show, that was a very good experience.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Overall good experience with the staff and other personnel.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
The cabin was nicely sized, the ocean view was great! Our cabin was just off the stairs/elevators, so access to the rest of the ship was easy!

Ship tip

Enjoy the Serenity Lounge area -- nice to watch the world go by!

Ports of call

Long Beach (Los Angeles), California Did not visit port

Departure port.

Catalina Island, California

4 out of 5
Catalina Island is very pretty, the town of Avalon is nice, but was not a lot of local stuff to do. The Casino would have been nice to have a tour of, but the only way to see it was to buy tickets to a show. The Sea Kayak excursion was fun, Jake was nice and had lots of information about several of the areas we walked past to get to the Kayak Launch.

Ensenada, Mexico

5 out of 5
Very Touristy at the port. We did the Baja Buggy Tour -- Lot's and Lot of fun on this excursion

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Used the ship to shore transfer, well organized disembarkation.
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3 Comments

bcross916    6 years ago

We just do Super Shuttle. Not bad

ElizabethOregon    6 years ago

Even if you’re not staying there, you could call the Queen Mary hotel desk and ask, I bet they address this often!

brandisauntie    6 years ago

Iam flying in the night before my cruise. I called to find out abt transportation. I was told to call uber or a taxi.... Does anyone have suggestions and how long of a drive is it to the port?

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