OK\u2026 get your mind out of the gutter\u2026 a \u201cQuickie\u201d means that I\u2019m doing a \u201cquickie cruise\u201d. It\u2019s a four-day on the Imagination out of Long Beach. And a four-day really is a quickie since you barely have time to unpack. I rarely go for a quickie. I like it to last much longer than this. But even thought it\u2019s short, a quickie is still good\u2026 isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
Those of you that know me know that I usually do a \u201clive from\u201d. But this time I\u2019m not going to sign up for internet since it\u2019s only a quickie. If I can pick up free Internet at one of the ports, then maybe I\u2019ll post during the cruise. Otherwise, I\u2019ll just write as I go along and put up the posts when I get back. In my usual irreverent fashion, I\u2019ll tell you the good, the bad or the ugly as and if it happens. <\/em><\/p>\n [This is being posted completely after the cruise as I did not get to any good internet places]<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m going to start with the Internet on board. I don\u2019t know if this falls into the good or bad category. They have instituted the new Internet scheme here on the Imagination\u2026 at least new to me. They have three different tiers of service: \u201cSocial\u201d, \u201cValue\u201d, and \u201cPremium\u201d. Social is just access to some of the social networks.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what Carnival says about their \u201cSocial\u201d plan: \u201cAccess the most popular social websites and applications. Includes: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat and the most popular airline sites. Does not include access to other websites or apps.\u201d The cost for this is five bucks for twenty-four hours or fifteen bucks for the cruise.<\/p>\n For \u201cValue\u201d Carnival says, \u201cSurf all your favorite sites, including e-mail, news, sports, weather, banking and finance. Note: Does not support Skype calling or music streaming (eg. Spotify). This costs sixteen bucks for twenty-four hours or thirty-five bucks for the cruise.<\/p>\n The \u201cpremium\u201d costs twenty-five bucks for a day or sixty bucks for a cruise. Carnival says, \u201cFrom e-mail to Skype, our Premium plan offers the fastest possible connection, at speeds up to 3 times faster than our Value Plan. Supports Skype video calling, where coverage allows.\u201d<\/p>\n I chose none of them. Thank you very much, but I think I\u2019m going to continue boycotting Carnival\u2019s internet. They\u2019ve come a step closer\u2026 but no cupie doll. It\u2019s still at least twice as expensive as it’s worth. Carnival likes to claim they offer exceptional value compared to land based vacations. Mostly that\u2019s true, but they need to re-look at the internet charges. Till then my \u201clive from\u201d articles will only be posted when I get internet from ports or after the cruise is over. I guess that means they really aren\u2019t exactly \u201clive from\u201d any more. Well… they are live in the sense that I\u2019m doing the writing during the cruise and not after it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n Boarding and all that stuff in Long Beach was good. We processed smoothly through the priority boarding and were on to the ship quickly. They have changed part of the processing for those that haven\u2019t reached platinum status or purchased \u201cFaster to the Fun\u201d. Except for passengers with cabins on deck 4\u2026 I think it was just deck 4… everyone went through security first and then got their \u201csail & sign\u201d cards inside. Then it is on to run the gauntlet past all the photographers and onto the ship. For us, all of that took just a few minutes.<\/p>\n Day 0… make that Day 0h… starts the minute I set my tootsies on board the ship and head off for a drink of the day! I rarely drink any kind of booze during the day\u2026 especially early in the afternoon. But there\u2019s something about crossing the gang-plank onto a cruise ship that changes all that. For me it\u2019s straight up to the Lido deck for a snack and a Carnival rum punch. I\u2019m not usually a rum drinker, but there\u2019s something about the \u201cFunship Special\u201d that\u2019s mmmmmm-mmmmmm good. I always have one\u2026 or two\u2026 or three… or…<\/p>\n After boarding, I did a \u201cwalk-about\u201d to check things out. I\u2019ve been on this ship once before and on Inspiration (same class ship as this) a couple of times. But they\u2019ve done some upgrades so I wanted to see what has changed. This is a nice ship even though it\u2019s one of the older Fantasy class ships. As usual for all cruise ships, the maintenance is always all on-going. All of the facilities are like the other ships\u2026 gym, spa, restaurants, etc. They are good, and inviting places, but just smaller than the latest mega ships.<\/p>\n The only noticeable upgrade is the Serenity deck. On this ship, it\u2019s on the faux poop deck. OK\u2026 there\u2019s no such thing as a \u201cfaux poop deck\u201d, but I just like saying \u201cpoop deck\u201d… the highest point on the stern of the ship. On this ship the \u201cfaux poop deck\u201d (Serenity Deck) is on the stern, but it\u2019s two levels below the Lido deck. The Lido and the deck below it don\u2019t go all the way to the stern so that makes it a \u201cfaux poop deck\u201d because it\u2019s open to the sun and sky.<\/p>\n Compared to the bigger and newer ships the Serenity area is quite small, but still has the nice chairs and a couple of hot tubs. I\u2019m surprised they don\u2019t have a bar back there because a bar is always a moneymaker. They did seem to have a waiter in the area, but I\u2019m not sure if that was just for the \u201cdrink of the day\u201d during the sail-away or if there will be one there all cruise long.<\/p>\n I\u2019m disappointed this ship doesn\u2019t have all the 2.0 upgrades. I really do like the Red Frog Pub as a place to hang out, and I like the Ferengie burger stuff along with the Blue Iguana and Red Frog Bars. I don\u2019t expect any of that will ever make it\u2019s way onto the Imagination.<\/p>\n Without saying much Carnival has continued to restrict the areas available to smokers. OK\u2026 don\u2019t shoot me here\u2026 I\u2019m just your dutiful cub reporter. It used to be that Carnival\u2019s policy was that one side of the ship on all the open air decks were smoking areas. Now just a small portion of the Lido deck, furthest away from the buffet, is a smoking area. My Funatic friends would call this the \u201csituation room\u201d. Well, now there are only about 10 tables in the situation room smokers can choose from. There\u2019s also a bar in the corner next to the \u201csituation room\u201d that\u2019s a smoking bar. I\u2019ll have more to report on this when I find out what else is available to smokers. No… I don\u2019t smoke\u2026 but I have cruise friends that do and I think Carnival may be running them away.<\/p>\n Usually I\u2019m in one of the Serenity hot tubs\u2026 with a frozen concoction to help me hang on\u2026 early in the cruise. But this time out of Long Beach it\u2019s chilly\u2026 in the high 50\u2019s or low 60\u2019s at best. The forecast says it is going to stay that way for most of the cruise. Maybe it\u2019ll be a little warmer when we get a bit farther south.<\/p>\n It\u2019s time for the mustard off the hotdog drill, so I\u2019ll stop for now and continue later.<\/p>\n K M<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" OK\u2026 get your mind out of the gutter\u2026 a \u201cQuickie\u201d means that I\u2019m doing a \u201cquickie cruise\u201d. It\u2019s a four-day on the Imagination out of Long Beach. And a four-day really is a quickie since you barely have time to … Continue reading