4 Night Catalina & Baja Mexico (Los Angeles Roundtrip)
Sail date: January 05, 2020
Ship:
Carnival Imagination
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: R145
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 4 years ago
Review summary
Fun get away for Mom, sister and me. Small older ship than what we are used to. Our only real disappointment was the limited dining/menu selections. The wait for a table in the main dining room and the lines at the buffet. Way finding on the ship was a bit frustrating at times. We would have also appreciated some music venues that didn't hurt our ears and allowed for conversation.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Arrived at the port early. Boarding was quick.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Unremarkable menus in main dining rooms. We had "your time dining" Always had to wait, sometimes 20+ minutes. Would be given one of those vibrating pagers with no estimated wait time. Area around dining room was crowed and no place nearby to sit, did not want to leave the area not knowing how long the wait would be. Then when we would get back there the area would be so crowded it was difficult to get to and in the door. Didn't matter if we went early or late. Poor layout of small buffet requires a single line (2 lines on each side) which resulted in lines. Fair breakfast selection, however they served the bacon so you had no choice on how well done or amount of bacon you wanted. Omelette station further back in buffet area usually had a line, as is normal at most omelette stations. Limited buffet selections for lunch and dinner and not the necessarily the best quality or temperature. Desert selections were VERY disappointing! Mostly dry cakes and cookies. Buffet hours were limited. Guys Burgers and the Cantina had excellent food if you didn't mind waiting in line, but closed at 6 p.m. Good selection of hot & cold sandwiches available in the back of the buffet area were very good, wait time varied. Pizza was also available. Coffee, tea, ice tea, lemonade available all the time in the buffet area. Can't comment on bar service as I didn't partake in any of the offerings. There were abundant servers wandering around though.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Pools were too cold to use, Hot tubs too crowded or closed. Could not find our way to adult area without going through a lounge. From what I could see they did have good programs for kids. Very nice casino, good selections of new slot machines and variety of table games.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
I did not attend any of the shows in the main show room. Many of the musicians through out the ship were very good but were far too loud to be enjoyable. It was painful to even walk through the areas where they were.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
All staff were friendly, efficient and helpful!
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Cleanliness was superb! Design leaves a little to be desired. I found the layout confusing and signage poor. Many blocked paths, requiring you to go up, over and back down to get some places. Not all elevators went to all decks but you didn't know that until you were on the elevator - no signage outside of elevator. It's an older, smaller ship than what I'm used to so that may have had something to do with the design issues. If you are a smoker or vaper, there is only 1 outdoor area on deck 11 and the casino that are designated smoking areas. Maybe one other bar when it's open but I think there was loud music playing in there when it was open.??
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
There were 3 in our cabin with a fold down berth. We had one of the beds moved under the upper berth to open up the middle of the room and it made a world of difference in space! More than adequate closet space. Nice size bathroom/shower. Limited shelf space in bathroom. Only 1 outlet in room (normal for most ships) one outlet for TV. We always travel with power strip and extension cord. Brochure said there were not hair dryers in the cabins, but there was one in the drawer in our cabin. Our cabin was kept immaculately clean and stocked with ice. Wall mounted shampoo and body wash in shower, no conditioner though. Cabin attendant offered robes on initial introduction - Nice!
Expensive parking!! No parking available at port on our day of departure. Carnival does have an off pier lot (which is only $15/day). They provide a truck to transport luggage and a bus for transportation to the terminal. Actually better and less expensive than driving to and parking at the pier.
I've been there several times. My suggestions is to rent a golf cart and follow the marked road. Beautiful views!! Several places to rent carts right off the dock-have $50 cash. Can easily do in 2 hours or less. Nice to just wander around the waterfront too.
Again, it's a port that I've been to several times so I don't usually do much here. Small slightly over priced market at pier. Take the bus downtown ($4 RT) Wander around there if you like. We took a local van to La Bufadora and the market there. ($20 pp, we talked them down to 3 for $40 + tip). I think the blow hole is over rated but the market was fun- as long as you are good at bargaining and saying NO- You can get some deals but beware! Just remember-DIY tours are always at your own risk.
Was nice that our bags didn't have to be out until 11 pm. We always wait until the last group to get off. Shorter lines, easier to find our bags. No line for the bus back to parking lot.
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