Carnival Inspiration April 24, 2017

I am leaving Thursday on my most complicated trip to date. I start with a 10-day Caribbean voyage on Holland America’s newest ship, the MS Koningsdam. I want to check out their solo cabins, but my primary reason for booking this trip is to get away from the Northeast and possible storms before my other plans. On March 1 I disembark Koningsdam and fly to Buenos Aires where I will board Crystal Serenity for a World Cruise segment ending in Rio March 14. I fly back to BA and have a short trip planned at Iguazu falls before returning to Buenos Aires and boarding the MS Zaandam for 32 days ending in San Diego. After a brief visit I will head to Los Angeles for a quick trip on the Carnival Inspiration. I’m not usually a Carnival cruiser but have never been to either Ensenada or Catalina, and the cruise fit my plans perfectly. The epic concludes April 30 with a 19-day voyage on the Crystal Symphony from LA to NY.

While I have often had trips where I switched from one cruise line to another and switched back this will be the first time I have sailed one line, switched to another, and switched back. I wanted to establish this thread before leaving home but it will be dormant for over 2 months.

As usual, I will have threads on Cruise Critic with reports (actually 4) and a companion blog with pictures.

My Cruise Critic thread for the entire trip is on the Maryland Cruisers forum:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2457000&page=999

For the Holland America portions:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2457015&page=999

Crystal portion:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2457038&page=999

This thread will become active about April 23.

I will actually be using 2 companion blogs with pictures for this odyssey. For the time on the Koningsdam I will use this one:

http://solocabinchallenge.wordpress.com

For the rest of the voyages I will blog at:

http://aroundamericabitbybit.wordpress.com

The Serenity segment will actually conclude my circumnavigation of the Americas but I will continue with that blog until the end of the trip.

One part of the trip has already started. On Friday (Luggage Forward HAL’s partner) picked up my big bag.

More or less signing off for about 2 months.

Roy

Roy, it looks like your next cruise is this one on board Carnival Inspiration.

Ironically the day you end in Long Beach and make your way to San Pedro for the last leg of your journey we arrive to Los Angeles for a pre-cruise stay.

Continue to enjoy.

Keith

Day CIminus1, Sunday, April 23, 2017, San Diego to Long Beach

Thank you Keith. Have a wonderful time on the Serenity. The Inspiration is docked and waiting for me.

The Carnival Inspiration is in Ensenada. The Crystal Symphony is completing a 2-day call in Honolulu. The Crystal Serenity is in Quepos, Costa Rica. The Koningsdam is at sea from Athens to Nafplon. The Zaandam is at sea from San Diego to Victoria.

As people who have been following my travels know, I am usually up and outside a little after 5AM. Today I was up at 5 but didn’t leave my room until about 7:30. It was a clear morning, but there was no possibility of a sunrise as the Best Western Seven Seas was pretty well surrounded by buildings, hills, and trees. Aside from a breakfast run, I was mostly at work on the computer until leaving the hotel about 10.

Point Loma United Methodist Church was right on my way to Keith’s house, and the service was at 10:30. It appeared to be a very active congregation, but a note in the bulletin indicated that their final service would be May 28 and made reference to merging with another congregation.

I was at my nephew’s house about 11:30. Their 9-month old twins were a little more cheerful than on Saturday; I think their nap schedule must have worked today. The girl is just on the verge of starting to crawl while the boy is a little behind that but has really mastered rolling. Neither will stay in one place for long.

Keith and Tracey have really mastered the process of getting 2 infants into carriers and transferring them into car seats with a minimum of wasted effort. We went out for lunch at a pizza place overlooking a yacht club.

I had about an hour at the house after lunch. Tracey’s father and sister were coming over and I had warned them that I needed to leave about 2 so when I said hello and left I don’t think anyone was offended.

It’s less than 100 miles from San Diego to Long Beach but I am glad I left a lot of time. While many section of the road moved quickly there were also long stretches where the average was 20mph. I arrived at the Westin San Diego about 5:30, checked in, left my bags with the bell staff, and headed for the airport. Between stopping for gas and making some wrong turns it was about 6:30 when I reached the rental return (the car was due at 7). A taxi had me back at the Westin in the early evening. I returned from dinner after 9.

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The rest of the evening was mostly devoted to taking care of some internet business, both cruise and non cruise related. I plan to head to the port late Monday morning and try a Guy’s burger for lunch.

My parting shot today will be a sigh of relief that the Inspiration returns to Long Beach a day before the potential government shutdown and possible effects on CPB.

Roy

On board, bags delivered about 2 and fully unpacked. Muster drill should be in about 30 minutes.

Roy

Bon voyage, sir. Enjoy Catalina Island. I'm still catching up on your cruises before this one.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Day CI0, Monday, April 24, 2017, Board Carnival Inspiration, Long Beach

Thank you JoyMouse

The Crystal Symphony is in Lahina. The Crystal Serenity is in Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica. The Koningsdam is in Nafplon. The Zaandam is at sea from San Diego to Victoria.

It was a chilly, clear morning but being in the middle of the city I did not bother looking for a sunrise and did some internet work and packing until leaving about 8 for breakfast. I did not walk as such but did leave the hotel a couple of other times, walking about 4 blocks to the Wells Fargo office to cash a check and later to the Performing Arts Center for a ticket for Saturday night.

I checked out of the hotel about 11 and walked to the transit center to ride the free Passport Shuttle to the cruise terminal. On the way I got my first glimpse of the Inspiration across the harbor.

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Checkin was a mixed bag. I had purchased Faster to the Fun and the long lines did not affect me. The terminal is the old hanger for the Spruce Goose and is used fir customs and luggage pickup when people are leaving the ship but later becomes the checkin area. Until the terminal is ready for checkin some people are processed under an open pavilion, and I arrived just as the transition was happening. I watched a couple hundred people moving on until someone noticed me standing there; once I had someone’s attention the process was pretty quick. Security is frustrating, Carnival is even picker than the TSA and my empty water bottles were not allowed. I was aboard the ship about 12:10. It’s a very long gangway that shook and bounced a bit as I walked to the ship.

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Rooms are generally ready at 1:30. While I could have gone to my room immediately with FTTF I headed up to the lido deck where there were good views of the goose hanger.

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This is my 4th Carnival cruise after the Fantasy (3 days) in 1993, Pride (7) in 2013 and Fantasy (5) in 2014, The Fantasy Class ships are a much different design from most cruise ships and on the Fantasy in 2014 nothing seemed familiar but after this much shorter interval I felt pretty much at home immediately. I think Guy’s burgers was always very crowded on the Fantasy so I decided to head right up and give them a try. I’ve heard both good things and bad about them, my verdict was somewhere in the middle, nice but not really special.

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I stopped quickly in the lido buffet hoping I could find someone to bring me skim milk. To my surprise it was right out on the line, something I don’t see on most cruise ships at Lunch time. The Inspiration Lido area struck me as strange and gaudy.

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I explored the upper levels of the ship a bit. Aft on deck 9 (lido is 10) there’s an adult area called “Serenity”; today it lived up to it’s name although it may get more hectic on sea days. There’s a mini golf course on the top deck forward, and the upper decks had good views of the original Queen Mary.

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When I returned to my room at 2 my checked bag was waiting. On this 93-day odyssey I’ve been traveling very heavy but today was a cruise first for me. With just 4 days and less formality than HAL or Crystal I’ve left most of my stuff at the Westin (suitcase 62 pounds, backpack 20#). I checked my 22 pound second backpack and carried on the little one with my computer, medicines, and some snacks (15 pounds). Unpacking went quite quickly.

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Muster drill was fairly similar to that on the HAL Koningsdam. HAL is very public about their 3 stage system (response teams, then crew, and finally passengers). Carnival did not make any reference of this until the first announcement which was “Crew to your stations”. About 10 minutes later the passenger phase was called; by then most people were already at their stations. On Carnival, as on HAL, we do not take our life jackets to the drill. My station was in the Paris Lounge and I arrived about 5 minutes before the alarm was sounded with probably 2/3 of the people already there. Cards were not scanned and there was no roll call but somehow they figured out who was not present and “invited” them by name to a makeup session. After the life jacket demonstration we were escorted up to deck 10 and the actual lifeboat boarding area. The drill ran quite long; from the general alarm to dismissal was a little over half an hour.

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The drill ended at 5:45 and my dining time was at 6. I was just a bit late. I’m at table 375, a 10-top but there were only 5 people present and the table is so big it was more like a 2-top and a 3-top with too much noise for communication across the table. It’s also my first time under the American Table concept and I do miss the tablecloths but the table surface was nice so it was not a big deal. I went for the Caesar Salad, roast chicken and butter pecan ice cream. My waiter is Severo assisted by Jennifer and Mohamed. (For those new to my reports I am a pretty basic eater and do not really do food porn but have found a little melange of my dinner seems to be a good compromise).

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There was one welcome aboard show at 10. I found the show a bit long and the animated towel animals were not my style. The Cruise Director is Dee Brandon.

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My parting shot today comes from dinner. I will need to make a few adjustments on this cruise. After a nearly consecutive 42 days on HAL and 11 on Crystal I’ve come to assume that when I sit down to dinner a waiter will be by quickly and place a napkin strategically on my lap. As my salad arrived I noticed my napkin still folded on the table. I will need to make a few adjustments but still expect a great 4 days.

Roy

Thanks for the day by day.

They check the cabin and place a red tag in each cleared one.

They should place your napkin on Cruise Elegant night.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thank you SadieN.

I've started posting Funtimes and menus.

I'm still experimenting with the menus, the format I used for the first dinner is awkward but should be readable. I scanned the Room service breakfast hang tag and most of the room service booklet but my scanner hung up on the staples for the middle page so that is done from a photo.

Menus are at:

https://aroundamericabitbybit.wordpress.com/menus/inspmenu/

The Funtimes are too big for my scanner so I'm posting Pages 1 & 4 as the first page, then 2 and 3, and finally 5 and 6. I've also posted the entertainment schedule and the general info given at boarding.

https://aroundamericabitbybit.wordpress.com/programs/inspfun/

Roy

Thank you so much for taking the time to post so much good information. My quilting friend and I are taking this cruise in October. It is her first cruise and all of the details in the posts (Fun Times, menus, photos) will enhance her preparations.

Best wishes for the remaining cruise!

Thank you Habubabu.

Day CI1, Tuesday, April 25, 2017, At sea, Carnival Inspiration

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Lahina to Los Angeles. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Puerto Caldera, to Acajulta, El Salvidore.. The Koningsdam is in Mykonos. The Zaandam is in Victoria.

Note: I have now uploaded the brunch and Tuesday menus and the Catalina Funtimes to the appropriate blog pages.

This is a day I will not soon forget. It started out innocently enough with an early morning walk on deck 14. On other ships I’ve walked 5 miles in the morning on sea days. On the Inspiration that would be 55 laps around the jogging track; I was not ready for that and it was also quite windy up there. I decided to walk what I did on the Zaandam which was 20 laps (1.8 miles on Inspiration) and thought I might add to it later. There are lovely views of the main pool from the back of the track.

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Official sunrise was 6:10 but it was a very cloudy morning and there was no sun in evidence until I finished my walk and found the sun shining brightly through my porthole. When I returned to my cabin a stunning development was in my email list. After the Inspiration I had planned on a leisurely 2 days in Long Beach before boarding the Crystal Symphony in San Pedro. Crystal has run into complications with Los Angeles clean air rules and the Symphony will not be waiting for me Sunday morning. It will be sailing from San Diego instead. After a couple hours of online investigations and checking I am almost back to normal, boarding a bus in San Pedro instead of the ship. It was not the way I wanted to start my cruise but ship happens.

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On sea days a brunch is served in the dining room. I went in about 9 for an omelet which was quite nice. While I was waiting for the food Captain Antonio Durante came on the PA and amplified the situation I had noticed while walking with the wind. The situation is particularly dicey around Santa Catalina but is expected to improve before Wednesday morning. In the meantime we’ve probably sailed more than usual on this cruise spending our time around Ensenada where things are slightly calmer (hate to think what the situation is further north). There would be no more walking because the outer forward decks stayed closed most of the day. The weather also brought a chill and I never went outside today without a jacket. The brunch could be my only day in the Mardi Gras dining room; I normally dine in the Carnivale (aft) dining room.

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As I continued exploring the ship I took a look in the gym; while it’s forward position had it bouncing around quite a bit today it looked pretty decent.

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Lunch was primarily fries from Guy’s Burgers. Pretty good. While the outer decks were closed to people much of the day we did have one visitor out there.

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There was not really a lot that interested me on the schedule. We did have Groove for St. Jude. There was not much dancing going on with the chilly pool deck but it did look pretty good as a fundraiser for a worthy cause.

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I had intended to go to afternoon tea in the dining room but got distracted by the issues with the upcoming cruise, both getting to San Diego and final plans for our port call in Huatulco. I did get tea later in the dining room and was surprised that there was only basic black and green tea; I did not see any herbal or specialty teas.

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This was our “Cruise Elegant” night. This is certainly less formal than HAL or Crystal and there was no loss in leaving my tux at the Westin. My dark sports coat and tie was a bit more than most were wearing but I fit in pretty well with the crowd in the dining room. I really like the idea of having a chance to dress up a bit without making it a burden for those who don’t want to. We ended up with a total of 6 at table 375. I got to know the 2 ladies who were on the opposite side of the table yesterday (2 long time friends) and there was a solo gentleman and 2 other ladies. The strawberry bisque, duck, and ice cream were all good.

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The least attractive feature of the evening was quite a rushed schedule. When the Captain had his toast at 7 few people had finished their meals and it was tight getting to the evening show at 7:30. The show was Inspiration’s cast production show “Motor City” featuring the music of Motown. I had an aisle seat in the balcony and late comers were streaming past me almost to the end of the show. It was a good show except for the ear-splitting volume.

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As a parting shot there have been comments about my “adaptability”, and it has been tested here. Carnival is not really my cup of tea but I’ve sailed them enough to know what to expect and this is where I wanted to be. Although I might not have chosen this if I had known from the beginning I would be sailing Sunday from San Diego instead of San Pedro nothing on the ship has led to regrets. There have certainly been setbacks with stormy weather and a delay to my tour tomorrow as well as my weekend plans but life is what is. If you start out expecting a lemon you should reevaluate your plans but if things throw one your way you can either be miserable or adapt and enjoy the choices that remain. I choose to adapt.

Roy

Thanks for the day by day.

 

They check the cabin and place a red tag in each cleared one.

 

They should place your napkin on Cruise Elegant night.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I haven't seen this happen since the implementation of American Table.

Thank you. I must admit I was confused a bit at first wondering what American Table had to do with knowing who was at the muster drill. My napkin was not placed on Cruise Elegant night.

Roy

Day CI2, Wednesday, April 26, 2017, Catalina, California

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Lahina to Los Angeles. The Crystal Serenity is in Acajulta. The Koningsdam is in Rhodes. The Zaandam is in Vancouver. (Sorry, former shipmates, now it’s your turn to leave)

I went up for coffee a little later than usual. While the sun didn’t rise until almost 6:15 there was lovely color in the sky before 6. When the sun came up it so very nicely. By then Catalina Island was looming very prominently ahead of us on our starboard side.

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While it wasn’t annoyingly loud I could hear the anchor dropping from my deck 6 room (tenders leave from 3) about 7:15. I went back up to the lido to get breakfast about 7:30 and the harbor was sitting pretty off our starboard side.

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Catalina is a tender port but the Inspiration is not equipped with tenders. 2 large local boats (perhaps 3) were chartered to take us ashore and back. Dee had said that getting ashore would be easy before 9 but would get very busy later in the morning. I had booked a 9:30AM Segway tour but it didn’t sell and I was merged into another tour that started at 11.

I had chosen to go ashore early and explore on my own for a while and boarded the larger of the 2 boats about 8:15 for the half mile ride to the dock.

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The harbor at Avalon is about a half mile semicircle with the ferry dock (where we landed) on one end and the Casino building at the other. In the middle of the semicircle there is a dock with a visitor information center where I picked up an island map and brochure:

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/catalinamedium.pdf

When I boarded the Inspiration I found that the 220V outlet on the Fantasy Class ship uses a plug that is not the standard plug on most cruise ships (It appears to be British). The visitor center directed me to a hardware store about 2 blocks away on the island’s pedestrian streets. It didn’t have what I needed but the clerk referred me to the Radio Shack which opened at 10 (It was then not quite 9). I walked around a couple of Avalon’s back streets and then on to the Casino building.

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Since the 1920's Catalina Island has been owned by the Wrigley (chewing gum and Chicago Cubs) family. The Casino was never a gambling establishment; the word is actually an Italian term meaning a place of meeting for dancing and social events. The Casino has a huge circular ballroom upstairs and a theater which was originally used for silent films and boasts a very impressive organ. The building is not used much but does show movies, host special events, and is open for group tours.

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Back in town I stopped at the Radio Shack soon after it opened. They did not have the exact adapter I needed but did have a universal one. I almost bought it until I noticed that it included a surge suppressor and a Chief Engineer active on Cruise Critic has warned they can be a fire hazard on cruise ships. I did buy the 3-way tap the clerk had suggested.

I was back at the tender pier about 10:30 for my tour. Some of the buses on the island brought back memories; I used that style of bus regularly for travel between my suburban home and downtown Syracuse in my youth but haven’t seen one in many years. My time at the pier was short as the tour actually started in town near the hardware store.

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There were 8 people on the tour, 6 of whom had never ridden a Segway before. It isn’t hard but also takes a bit of practice. It’s not inherently dangerous but does require complete attention. It is “driven” by shifting one’s weight. The models here did have a handlebar control for steering but they can also be steered by leaning to the side of the turn. The 2 of us with prior experience were given the traditional models we were used to. The chief danger is that they are unforgiving if they hit something, especially a curb. Our guide (and apparently sole proprietor) Chris started each of us off individually and then allowed us time to practice in the lot, devoting about a half hour to the instructional phase.

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Our tour was to and along the harbor to the Casino building where Chris told us a little of the history and gave us some free time to ride free style around the building area. There was also time for individual photos with the ship in the background.

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After the tour I got lunch at a take out to be eaten waterside and returned to the ship about 2. I have a tradition that I avoid elevators on cruise ships but on each new ship I ride each elevator ONCE from the top to the bottom. As I age I haven’t always lived by that but haven’t ridden an elevator upwards yet since boarding the Zaandam March 21. After I returned from Catalina I walked up to the lido for coffee and rode one of the scenic elevators back down. The view of the atrium was very nice.

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The last tender was at 4PM. I was typing in my cabin when I heard the anchor chain about 4:05 and walked up on deck. While we were still secured to that final tender the bow was starting to swing around and we had turned about 45 degrees when the tender slipped away. There was no sailaway message from the Captain, just an announcement from Dee about bingo.

There were 5 of us at dinner. Two of my tablemates had rented a golf cart and drove around independently; the other two did quite a comprehensive island tour both by bus and glass bottom boat. I went for the barley soup, veal parmesan, and carrot cake.

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The featured entertainment was a pair of game shows in the Paris Lounge. I skipped them and dropped in on Alex Ortiz in the Punchliner Comedy Club. He was good.

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My parting shot today will be a note of wonder at how language changes. Until today I had never heard anything about the original meaning of casino. I guess you’re never too old to learn something new.

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Roy

Day CI3, Thursday, April 27, 2017, Ensenada, Mexico

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Lahina to Los Angeles. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Acajulta to Cabo San Lucas. The Koningsdam is in Santorini. The Zaandam is at sea from Vancouver to Honolulu.

When I went up to the lido for coffee at 5:30 we were about 15 miles from Ensenada. It was around 7:15 when I noticed land nearby out my porthole. When I went out on deck it was a cloudy day and a seal or sea lion was swimming in the harbor.

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We were docked by 8AM. Ensenada has docks for 2 cruise ships. The one where we docked is closest to the port exit and I suspect the second one is only used when there are 2 ships in port.

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The ship was cleared at 8 and my tour was at 1:30 leaving the whole morning free. The port is close to town well within walking distance, but the terminal had no visitor information center among the shops and the ship did not have even a shopping map. There was a “Downtown Map” sign just outside the terminal; it gave a vague idea but was not really useful,

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Just outside the port there is a square with 3 statues; they seemed to be pretty much the same statues I saw in Puerto Chiapas and Cabo while on the Zaandam; I suspect those statues probably grace the main squares of most Mexican towns.

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The shopping district was not modern but a little better than the counterparts I’ve seen in most of the Central American ports I visited on the Zaandam.

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I returned by a street closer to the waterfront approaching via a foot bridge across an arm of the harbor and getting a nice view of the Inspiration. In the port I went around to the bow of the ship locating my cabin, the last of the porthole cabins just below the red stripe.

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Lunch was at Pizza Pirate; it was pretty decent.

My tour was to La Bufadora, a blowhole on a peninsula about 10 miles from the ship. The route was circuitous and over a 500-foot pass making the trip about 50 minutes. We parked with many other buses on a dirt lot and then had a 1/3 mile down to the ocean and the blowhole. Despite the hype I didn’t think it was that spectacular; I think others including one at Bar Harbor are equally scenic with fewer hassles. There are 3 levels, at the one closest to the water a big wave will result in a shower.

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The next level is dryer but provides a fairly similar view.

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The third “Mirador” level is a climb and a somewhat different view, also giving a closeup view of quite a few birds.

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The biggest drawback of La Bufadora was the walk to it. A third of a mile is not that big but it is fully lined with vendor stalls hawking their wares and some of them got quite annoying, especially if someone looked like they might be interested. The stop at La Bufadora was 75 minutes, 45 would have been more than enough.

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After a 50-minute drive back to the ship I boarded the Inspiration for the final time at 5PM. All Aboard was 5:30. When I went to dinner at 6 all the lines were still tight but the linesmen were in position to release them. There were just 3 of us at table 375. The other two took an open top bus tour of the city. I had understood that it was to be a 2-hour tour but they said it was actually a 1-hour tour with a 1-hour shopping stop. For the final dinner I had the always available chicken and apple pie but forgot to take photos.

The show in the Paris Lounge was “Studio VIP”. I didn’t go but stopped in at the Rhapsody in Blue piano bar to listen to a bit of Stevie D. He was pretty good.

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My big (25-pound) bag went out in the hall about 10 and I plan to be in bed at 11, finishing this post in the morning.

My parting shot will concern Ensenada. I’ve been corresponding on the Cruise Critic roll call for the Crystal Serenity which will be visiting Catalina and Ensenada in the next few days. They have reported they plan to make Ensenada a “sea day”. I will offer a couple of suggestions they might do (I might try them when/if I return) but I won’t try to dissuade them. Once may well be enough for me.

Roy

Day CI4, Friday, April 28, 2017, Disembark Carnival Inspiration

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Lahina to Los Angeles. The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Acajulta to Cabo San Lucas. The Koningsdam is at sea from Santorini to Naples. The Zaandam is at sea from Vancouver to Honolulu.

The Inspiration did some rocking overnight and was still rocking about 4:30. When I went to the lido for coffee about 5:15 we were quite close. I stayed on the upper decks as we approached the port, swiveling around to face out to sea as we approached the dock. The first lines went out at 5:55 and sunrise was 6:05. I went to the aft lido deck to await the sun which didn’t really rise above the clouds until 6:20.

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I returned to my room and retrieved my passport from the safe (I don’t think I had mentioned that it’s the type that uses a credit card). I returned to the lido about 7:45 for a final omelet.

On disembarkation day those with Faster to (from?) the Fun get priority disembarkation. All must be out of their rooms by 8:30 and several groups with priority meet around the deck 8 atrium. My area was the Mardi Gras dining room with an estimated 9:15 departure. We were released about 8:45. The line seemed to move slowly but the process was actually pretty quick. The setup at Long Beach is actually pretty nice. We meet with Customs and Immigration on the second floor of the terminal and do all the processing before we pick up our bags on the lower level. My load was light enough it wouldn’t have been a burden but it’s still a nice touch.

I walked across the parking lot ane was in the free Passport bus by 9:15. Not bad! I think I was the only cruise passenger going to the port but there must have been almost 20 this morning.

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I was dropped at the Performing Arts Center, across the street from the Westin before 10. To my surprise, there was a room ready for me, this time on the 12th floor.

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/wyndham2.jpg

I wandered around Long Beach in the morning checking out grocery stores, in part in search of snacks for my bus to San Diego.

I was in the hotel room much of the afternoon but left around 5 and went down to the waterfront to watch the Inspiration leave. I did not hear any sound from her as she sailed away quietly although Queen Mary’s horn rumbled deeply at 6PM.

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/adieu.jpg

My parting shot will be a bit of a recap. I’m really not a Carnival cruiser as attested by this being my 4th lifetime Carnival cruise but my 5th overall cruise THIS YEAR among all cruise lines and since my last time on Carnival I have about 2 dozen cruises under my belt. The constant announcements, relatively limited information on ports and other things are just not what I’m looking for in a cruise. There’s a cruise line for everybody and I’ll suggest a right time to stray from the usual. This was that time for me. While there was a lot I wouldn’t have chosen I saw 2 destinations I’ve been curious about for years and spent about as much for 4 nights on the Inspiration as I did for 3 nights in my Long Beach hotel. That plus meals and entertainment. I’ve found most cruise food better than Carnival’s but most of my meals were better than 90% if what I get on land and I can’t say I ever had a bad meal. Much of the entertainment was just too loud to be really enjoyable but there are so many choices it would be hard to look and not find something enjoyable. I’m not sure if I’d have booked this cruise if I had known I would sail Sunday from San Diego instead of San Pedro but that is what it is. Nothing on the ship made me regret my choice.

Roy

I'm enjoying your review and photos. Will you continue once you board your Crystal ship?

Thank you. Here's my thread on the Crystal forum:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2457038&page=99

A "live" thread with a 40-day gap must be close to a record on Cruise Critic.

This will conclude my regular posts here but I will try to answer any questions I can. I'll also have my eye out for the Inspiration as the Crystal Symphony sails south from San Deigo and the Inspiration north from Ensenada Sunday night.

Roy