My husband and I have cruised several times on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean both by ourselves and with our young children (8 and 5). We have always said we preferred Carnival and that is why we chose the Carnival Imagination cruise to Mexico and Key West for our little anniversary get away with just the two of us. We were disappointed on so many levels, I am not sure we would choose Carnival ever again.

Embarkation: This was a nightmare! We live in South Florida so we always cruise out of Miami and have become relatively familiar with the setup and procedures. This time was a different story. When we arrived at the pier at about 11:30, we had to drive around the "terminal circle" about 10 times to figure out where to park. There were absolutely no clear signs and the nearest open parking lot appeared to be Garage C which was probably half a mile from the terminal. We had NEVER needed to park so far away, so we thought we must've been missing something and continued around until we stopped to ask an attendant for help. Indeed our parking was in Garage C. Once we dropped our luggage with the porter (very smooth as always), we drove to the garage and parked the car. The spaces were ridiculously tight which pretty much ensured a dent in the car upon return (although parking is $80 for the 4 days!). We then had to walk all the way to the terminal. There was no shuttle that we could find and none passed us as we walked the half mile to the terminal. Once we arrived, we were given a "zone card". Check in was very fast and smooth, but then we had to wait for our "zone" to be called to board the ship. Again, we had never had to wait to board, we have just always got on right away, so this was a little frustrating. We had to sit in a waiting area for about 45 minutes to board the ship.

Once we were on board we went straight to Lido deck and had lunch and then grabbed a pool side lounge chair and remained there until about 5 pm before we had to get ready for dinner. Dining: We have always requested main (early) dining and have always received our request. However, this time we received late dining. We weren't really happy at first and were told we could request a change, but because the ship was sailing full we would probably not be able to change the time. We decided not to change our time and were VERY happy with this decision. The late time was GREAT!! IT allowed us so much more time to do things before having to get ready for dinner and less down time between dinner and shows. Our experiences in the dining room were somewhat mixed. First, the dining room "opened" about 5 minutes late each night. The dining time is 8:15 and there were always long lines waiting to get in and the opened at nearly 8:20 each night which got a little annoying. On the first night, we waited about 30 minutes after sitting down to get water or bread. The assistant waiter seemed new and had to be directed several times about what to do. On the first night I ordered the New York Strip steak and was HUGELY disappointed. When the steak came out it was tough and not very good. I took about 3 or 4 bites of the steak and then moved the decorative garnishment (leaf) they put on the steak and to my horror discovered a caterpillar about 1 inch in length. I immediately showed my waiter and he looked shocked. He took my steak to the kitchen and a few minutes later a few people came out to apologize. I did not make a scene or demand anything. The only thing offered was a plate of strawberries the next night and a letter of apology. I would have expected more. The food in the dining room did get better each night after that and I had the warm chocolate melting cake each night (although the consistency of the cake was COMPLETELY different every night?) it was still good! The food on lido deck was not very good when compared to our other cruises. The lines were always very long and you had to really look around to see what food was being served where. The rotisserie was GREAT though! Chicken, corn, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese every day was really tasty! Read more