The Carnival Imagination was better than we expected from reading other reviews. But it was far from perfect. It is an older ship but has been remodeled. There were reviews that said there were terrible smells etc... We did not experience that. However, the public bathrooms were small and not as clean as they could be considering the number of people on board. For instance on the Lido deck there was 1 bathroom near the pool/bar area and there were only 2 stalls. Hard to keep clean with 2200 people on board. It was often difficult to find a table that was clean to eat at on the Lido deck as well. Not sure if that was because the ship was full and they were understaffed or what. These are minor details that we thought were annoying. We also felt the layout of the ship was a little confusing. Took us awhile to find the shopping on board as well as some of the lounges.However, we felt this was a good ship to travel with children. The Water works area was very family friendly with plenty of deck chairs for mom and dad while kids play in the water areas. We even jumped in on the action and went down the slides with the kids. Our 11 yr. old spent alot of time there. Plus the water slides are not salt water, which she really liked. The activities they provide in Camp Carnival were excellent was well. She made a few friends and really enjoyed the counselors. Our 16 yr old son, had a good time, but didn't hang out in the teen area much because there wasn't a whole lot he enjoyed. He hung out with us more than anything. He was interested in girl hunting and the girls did not go to the teen activities much. So if you are taking kids, good choice esp. for the value!The shows were good, we went to the Punch Liner Comedy club and really enjoyed the atmosphere and the shows. We found some things that weren't over the top great but I would do it all again!Enjoy!