First time cruiser on Carnival with kids!

Item: Carnival Imagination
Rating: 3.6
Author: tillymonstar

Carnival Imagination Cruise Review

tillymonstar

Contributor Level: Purser

4 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 24

Overall rating:

3.6 out of 5

4 Night Catalina & Baja Mexico (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 16, 2020

Ship: Carnival Imagination

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: M143

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

An awesome first cruise to get my feet wet. Carnival def doesn’t disappoint in the fun dept. but my kids found it overwhelming. Text package was spotty and we walked so much more then I wanted to. Couldn’t get any room service and wasn’t impressed with dining but these are not a biggie to me. I really enjoyed the time I had and would recommend cheers program too!

Embarkation

4 out of 5

I was amazed how fast and easy it was! We were on the ship before our rooms were ready.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The buffet was great for the kids but the food was not the best quality. LOVED all the Lido deck options just wished I had more of the amazing tacos at the cantina. Omg. Pride dining was hit and miss. Food and service was ok. I didn’t get many of the things I ordered and it became the running joke of the cruise. I really wanted the cheese plate and finally got it on the last night because we got the head server who was amazing.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

We had grumpy kids and too much wine which lol ruined our experience with Hasbro the game show and a comedy show. Epic Rock was freaking amazing however. Build a bear was great too but the very concerning part is how they didn’t notify you of where it was until the day of and we almost missed doing it even after paying ahead of time.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

If you only make it to one show Epic Rock is so so so good.

Children's Programs

2 out of 5

We arrived to camp ocean during a posted tour and were told the club was “too messy” to show us. That was red flag #1. My sister insisted I put my 6.5yo in with the younger group and she was very bored with the activities when she did go, it was mostly watching movies in a dark room?! Red flag #2. They did an activity where they had kids close their eyes and were made to eat a “special” food which my 6yo really did not enjoy but my kids are picky eaters. Still, it seemed odd now that I think about it. The night owls program was awesome but it costs a fortune at $30 per kid. They did get a stuffy and colored bag and staff was really amazing for that. My 10yo daughter had only one activity she liked and said they mostly watched movies. She coins t find any video games abs found the younger kids in her grouping very roudy. She was not engaged at all. She basically refused to go to it again that day when they put the kids in another lounge area instead of the themed Camp Ocean area. It was around 3 kids looking very bored playing board games. We didn’t force her to go. All she wanted to do was play some Minecraft and meet some friends.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Bartenders were all amazing and made us amazing cocktails. I will forever miss the days filled with Kendal Jackson chard and margaritas. It was just too easy to overdo it but made it fun too. Cheers program totally worth it.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Our cabin was worn out and had a broken drawer. Overall though it was very clean as was the rest of the ship. Only issue for me was the smoking on promenade deck really ruined the Dream Bar area because the music and bartenders there were outstanding. I found my throat hurting and worried about my kids who wanted to go to cherry on top while smoke wafted over. We dealt with it and loved that part of the ship.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

A little run down and definitely had some issues. Drawers were broken and the doors squeaked horribly. We dealt with it since we weren’t in the room much.

Ship tip

Don’t except the Camp Ocean to really do it for your kids unless they like a lot of movies. We expected more crafts and video games.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Catalina Island, California

4 out of 5

Ensenada, Mexico

4 out of 5

Long Beach (Los Angeles), California

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Amazingly fast I couldn’t believe it. We even got to have breakfast on the lido one last time! If they didn’t make us leave our rooms at 8am (hard for my night owl kids!) it would have been 5 stars for me.