Lise and Alain Savoie

Age: 52 and 59
Occupation: both retired
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Imagination
Sailing Date: January 24th, 2004
Itinerary: Grand Caymen and Jamaica

My husband and I have just returned from a wonderful cruise aboard the Carnvial Imagination ship. This was a 5 day-cruise out of Miami, visiting Grand Cayman Is. and Jamaica. This is our second cruise but our first with Carnival. We chose this cruise because the dates coincided well with our trip to Miami and also because the price was right. We feel we received lots for our money. Our purpose for this trip was R and R. We are not big spenders, gamblers etc...

We arrived at the port of Miami on Saturday at 1pm, went through the boarding process and were in our room at 2pm. Embarkation went very smoothly and the staff was very courteous and friendly. Our room was an inside room, quite spacious with a nice washroom, desk, large closet, TV - all that is needed on a short cruise. Our cabin stewart introduced himself and asked us to call him if we needed anything. Then we went to lunch in the Horizon dining room. What a lunch !

Spent some time visiting the ship, our suitcase was delivered to our room aroung 4pm. Mandatory lifeboat drill at 4- about 45 minutes. Some people complained but hey, it's part of the cruising routine.

Time for dinner. We had been booked at the second seating, but we preferred the first 6pm in the Spirit Dining Room. (as we wanted good seats for the Nightly Shows). The maitre D kindly accommodated us and sat us with a wonderful group of people, table 215. Our Waiter and his assistant were the BEST - extremely courteous, smiling and also accommodating. By the second dinner, they knew our tastes etc... We tipped them extra.

Ports:
Grand Cayman: We took the tender to shore and walked around Georgetown for a couple of hours -boutiques etc...(Have done all the islands in our previous cruise, and they are basically alike). Did not feel like taking any tour. We did however recommend to our friends to get a taxi driver to tour them around and one of the couple did just that and had the best time. The others who took tours were not elated and wished they had done the same. The taxi driver took them to the same area attractions and more and cost much less.

Jamaica: We stayed on board on this day as we have been to Jamaica before. As we looked on to the port, we could see many tourists walking to town instead of taking the bus shuttles. It was probably 1/2 mile and later on that night we heard that many of them were just swarmed with locals trying to sell their artifacts and more (the white powder). Seemingly, the locals were quite persistent. Recommendation: take to bus to town and stay in groups.

Positive: The crew made our trip very enjoyable. Great staff- always smiling, helpful, courteous and took time to mix and mingle with us. What a hard-working group of people from all over the world.

Matt and Malcom-great cruise directors-always lively and had many activities going on.
Food was great: Filet mignon, chateaubriand, lobster, etc....Good choices of appetizers, salads, entrees and DESERTS- Yum Yum!!! We can't see where anyone would dislike the cuisine. (It would have been nice to dim the lights and have the waiters carry in the Baked Alaska flaming !!)

The waiting staff sang and danced for us every night. What spirit, They were great!

Cleanliness: We found the ship very clean, our rooms were spotless and our steward did a wonderful job- always had ice in our icebucket and a cute towel animal each evening. He was always available to us. We tipped him extra as well.

Entertainment: A show every night in the Dynasty Lounge- comedy, Las Vegas style, Talent Show etc.

There were also Bingos, Scavenger Hunts and other various activities, not to mention all the bars. There was always something to do and lots to eat and drink.

There were people of all age groups: not too many children, but guests from early 20's to older... This was a casual cruise with one formal dinner and on other nights, men wore long pants and shirts and women wore casual(pants or dresses)

Every morning we received a Daily activity flyer at our room door. It described everything going on aboard and at the ports. Very informative, we thought.

We were two days at sea and all were kept busy with many activities if you wished to participate. Many opted for R and R.

Important note: Do wear sunblock while sunbathing- the sun and the wind are treachorous. I got such a windburn on my face.

Negative: Debarkation was long. We had to meet at 6:30 am for Immigration. We finally left the ship around 9:45am. It was a long wait. Other than that,we do not have negative comments about this cruise as we feel we were treated very well, ate well, slept well(very little sea motion) and were well entertained.

Note: One can spend a lot while on board- casino, Bingo, drinks, boutiques, tours, photos, arts auctions, shopping at ports, etc... but this is a personal choice. Some feel they need to do all-buy all in order to have the best time --NOT !

We will definitely cruise again with Carnival (probalby to Alaska) and we highly recommend this Cruise Line.