Inspiration Thanksgiving Cruise

We are thinking of sailing on the Inspiration for Thanksgiving. We have sailed Carnival before but not this ship or on a holiday. Does Carnival do any special dinner on Thanksgiving? If you have sailed this ship can you tell me what to expect. As it is Thanksgiving I thought it would be more of a family sailing and not a party cruise...Also is the Fast to Fun worth it?

I've sailed other ships during Thanksgiving several times and the MDR menu is the usual. If I recall I believe they serve a turkey and gravy plate, but no other sides you would expect on Thanksgiving. All the other food is so good that I didn't miss having it, although some good mac and cheese and greens would have been nice.

They'll have the turkey dinner that's on the regular menu.

The lido carves whole turkeys, it's the only place to get dark meat.

Only you can decide if FTTF is worth it. Things to consider...

Assuming you're doing the four day. Catalina is a tender port, using three old Catalina ferries. They hold 270 or 399 pax. Seems to take forever to load if you're the first one onboard.

Early check in starts around 9:30, Dome doors open around 11:30, cabins open around 1. We arrive around noon and walk on with a minimum of wait.

From what I have read on The boards, thanksgiving is not really celebrated. They do serve Turkey dinner but it is nothing special. Just the normal turkey dinner. Some folks say you are better off at the buffet, where they carve Turkey.

The inspiration is an older ship but it is okay. I have sailed it several times and enjoyed myself. The food is generally good. Ensenada is a fun port. We always go to the blowhole. As for it being a party cruise, who knows? I would tend to think no, being that it is during the week. The shorter weekend cruises tend to be more gala, to use a kind phrase. Hope this helps. To me, FTTF is not worth it. We are platinum, so we get it anyway, but I would not pay for it. Everyone leaves at the same time, regardless of when you get on. I would rather spend The money elsewhere.

I've sailed other ships during Thanksgiving several times and the MDR menu is the usual. If I recall I believe they serve a turkey and gravy plate, but no other sides you would expect on Thanksgiving. All the other food is so good that I didn't miss having it, although some good mac and cheese and greens would have been nice.

Mac n cheese is on the kids menu ;)

I just got back this morning from a 3 day weekend cruise on the Inspiration. I took a friend who had never sailed with Carnival before. We had so much fun we are already planning to do this same trip again next year.

I did this trip three years ago and I couldn't believe I was on the same ship. There was a horrible sewage smell the last time and the ship seemed run down. Not this time. The ship looked brand new to me. We examined the chairs and sofas in the public areas and they look liked they had never been used.

We had anytime dining and never had to wait more then 5 or ten minutes. They give you a pager and we waited comfortably in the library next door. The food was delicious and my friend was introduced to the chocolate melting cake which he had for dessert three nights in a row.

He had heard negative things about Carnival and can't understand now what people are talking about. We have sailed RCCL and NCL in the past, and thought the Inspiration was every bit a good as those cruise lines in all departments. I told him, the Inspiration isn't even their biggest or best ship.

Mac n cheese is on the kids menu ;)

Good to know! Thanks!

Thank you all for the information. Fun55 can you tell me what type of cabin you had and what deck you were on? How was the buffet and service in dining room? How is the pool area? Anything else you think of I would love to hear...

Thank you all for the information. Fun55 can you tell me what type of cabin you had and what deck you were on? How was the buffet and service in dining room? How is the pool area? Anything else you think of I would love to hear...

We were in room 131 on the Rivera deck. Even though it was the lowest deck with room, it was very comfortable and convenient to everything. The buffet was good except for the eggs. I'm sorry for the powdered eggs looked like yellow cottage cheese. This morning I thought I would try an omlette but that wasn't much better. There was so much to choose from that I didn't feel bad that the eggs were nasty. The French toast was delicious and there was a lot of fruit and pastries. One morning we got up late and thought we were going to miss breakfast because they were changing the food and getting ready for lunch, but in the back of the ship there was an outdoor buffet still serving breakfast. They had two islands for the hot food, one island for fresh made sandwiches, two dessert islands and a separate pizza counter. There was also a station for cold cuts, salads etc. The grilled hot dogs, hamburgers and fried chicken was served at the outdoor buffet. The orange juice in the morning was fresh and very good and I also liked the coffee.

The service in the dining room was very good. We ate at the Marti Gras restaurant all three nights because we were on anytime dining. They don't give you free lobster any more on the short cruises, but they had a specialty menu where you could get lobster and filet for $20.00. Even though I've had better, it was tasty and I got my lobster fix.

We didn't really hang out in the pool area with the exception of the adult serenity area. That was lovely. It had two Jacuzzis that were hot I must say and lots of loungers and seating. We started out with recliners in the full sun and then moved back into the shaded area. We ordered a bucket of Apple Orchards and were happy as clams.