The wife and I just took our 4 kids on the Carnival Imagination for the 4 day cruise from Long Beach to Catalina, then to Ensenada Mexico. This is the second year in a row we took the kids and 4th year in a row for a Carnival cruise. Overall it was just "ok". Leaving Long Beach was the usual but unfortunately the pool was closed and covered for the first 24 hours we were on the boat. Nice hot afternoon and evening not being able to let the kids swim wasnt so sweet. In Catalina the boat doesn't dock so they use little tender boats to shuttle people from the boat to shore. Last year was great and they used 12-15 tender boats back and forth all day. This cruise SUCKED. They were supposed to use 3 larger boats but one was out of service and another broke down in the first hour. So it took us over 4 hours of waiting in the Dynasty Lounge for our number to be called to get off the boat. Needless to say with 4 children (13, 10, 7 and 4), they became totally restless and while we started waiting at 9:30am, by the time we got off the boat it was already 1:30 and we had to be back on the boat by 4:30pm so our time on the island was cut very short. Catalina was beautiful and very fun. I recommend renting a golf cart for an hour to explore the island and they give you a map to follow around the island in about an hour. Then it was nice to shop, drink a little and sit on the beach while the kids played in the water. We did "your time" dining which was nice because we didn't have to rush to be anywhere for dinner at a specific time. Dinner in the dining room was always great. The Piano Bar was a lot of fun both nights we went, the comedy show was great. The main bar in the lobby on deck 7 had an acoustic guitar player that was TERRIBLE!!! He played every night I think and almost everyone was talking about how bad it was. Mexico was...well Mexico. Hounded by people to buy crap and it was almost overwhelming at times. I don't remember it being as bad on previous trips to Mexico. The kids loved the water slides on the back of the boat even though my 4 year old was about 1/2 inch too small for the bigger ones. The kids club was great for the 4 and 7 year olds, but the older kids didn't enjoy their groups. Most of the common restrooms were filthy with pee all over the floor for hours. We bought the unlimited drink pass this year, $225 for 15 drinks a day (I don't drink enough to max out at 15 drinks a day but overall it was pretty much worth it since beers are $7 each anyways). What they don't tell you is they charge the 15% gratuity at the end of the cruise on everything you drink. Also they charged about $50 per person for all the other gratuities automatically. Be prepared for a hefty bill at the end with all kinds of taxes, gratuities and charges added in. We stayed on the main deck in M206. If you like engine noise and heavy vibrations when the ship is docking, stay around here, otherwise the middle of the ship is best. I don't think we will be taking another Carnival cruise next year. Overall it wasn't worth the value paid and the gouging on everything they charge at the end. Some of the staff were friendly, others seemed like they didn't care to be working that day. Last year on the Inspiration was overall a lot better cruise.