11/06/10 Inspiration Review from a first time cruiser

[gsueagle2424]

My wife and I took our first cruise this past week and just got back to good old reality. I figured I would share my experience with you guys.

 

First off I will say I have heard you pretty much love or hate cruises, so I was a little nervous with some off the crap that has been spewed on this board. I will be the first to say that my wife and I had a GREAT time and would sail again tomorrow if we could!

 

Of course we ran into the occasional rude guest but who cares! We were there with the attitude we were on vacation and we would were going to enjoy it no matter what.

 

I will start off with the staff of the Inspiration. There was not a single staff member on that ship that did not say good morning, how are you, do you need anything? The staff was fantastic and worked extremely hard to make sure the guests were treated really well!

 

The boat itself was great. For a vessel that is old as she is, you can't tell! She has been very well maintained. You can tell the were running frantic after the dry dock to get everything ready for the cruise. They had the water slide closed for the first day or so as they finished up construction on the deck around it. The weather was very cold the first day anyway so this really didn't matter to us.

 

 

 

The shows - The staff that worked these shows worked really hard and were great at what they do. However I will say the shows themselves were really not my cup of tea. I enjoyed the comedy and may have enjoyed the shows a little more but again I am just not into song and dance. This is by no means Carnival's fault as there were plenty of people that enjoyed the show!

 

The food - There is plenty of it!! We enjoyed all the food from the dining room and even some of the specialty places (like the grill, pizza & deli). I thought the dining room food was great especially the steak and the melting cake! The food in the Lido buffet was a little different. Neither one of us cared for most of the food offered in the buffet but all the other options more than made up for the lack of quality in the buffet.

 

Here is a picture of the food from Nachi Cocom

 

 

The excursions - We stopped in Cayman Islands and Cozumel. While in Cayman we thoroughly enjoyed, Captain Marvin's snorkling tours and would do it again in a heart beat! The stingrays are unbelievable! In Cozumel we took a taxi to Nachi Cocom (spelling?) and had a blast as well. The lunch provided was fantastic and Carlos (some of you know who I am talking about) is the best waiter I have ever had!

 

 

The cabin - I thought there was plenty of room in the cabin for the both of us. Turn down service twice a day was great!!! Our room steward memorized our names after just meeting us once! We had a porthole cabin (U3) very forward on the ship and while you could feel a little more motion in the front of the ship it didn't bother either one of us. The motion of the boat actually put me to sleep sometimes!

 

 

 

In conclusion - We had an excellent first cruise and would be not only on this ship but any carnival ship anytime it set sail!! Feel free to ask any questions regarding the ship or my review!

[Tiffany1203]

Thanks for your review! Glad you had a GREAT time! The best thing to do now is to book another one!! ;)

[camorelli]

Congrats on a great cruise! I've been looking at the Inspiration and wondered how it is since she is older. Did you notice - was the one pool packed a lot? That's the only drawback to me booking this ship.

[gsueagle2424]

Congrats on a great cruise! I've been looking at the Inspiration and wondered how it is since she is older. Did you notice - was the one pool packed a lot? That's the only drawback to me booking this ship.

 

 

It was very hit and miss at the pool. It really wasn't terribly crowded until the last day. Same with the hot tubs! The two hot tubs on the Serenity deck usually only had one or two people in them when we went down there.

[gsueagle2424]

A couple more photos:

 

Twin sisters - Inspiration & Elation @ Cozumel

 

Slide

 

Towing the Splendor...I mean one of Captain Marvin's boats that broke down

[SMSACE6]

Thanks for sharing your cruise experience and your photos. Im glad you had a good cruise, and that you look forward to another some day in the future. Dont you love those porthole rooms?...Great value IMHO.:)

[gsueagle2424]

Thanks for sharing your cruise experience and your photos. Im glad you had a good cruise, and that you look forward to another some day in the future. Dont you love those porthole rooms?...Great value IMHO.:)

 

The porthole room was great! Pretty much the same price as an inside but you get a view! You could see a lot more than what I originally thought out of those things!

[GWoman8920]

We will be sailing on her in March! May I ask you a question? Did the rooms have fridges in them? I didn't know if they were going to put those in while dry docked. Thank you! Thank yuo for the review!

[gsueagle2424]

We will be sailing on her in March! May I ask you a question? Did the rooms have fridges in them? I didn't know if they were going to put those in while dry docked. Thank you! Thank yuo for the review!

 

There was no fridge in our room. The room steward was really good at keeping ice in the room and bringing more upon request.

[navybaby1113]

Thanks for the review. I wish people posted more from the Inspiration.

 

I would love to see more pictures if you have them!

[hfweather]

Thanks so much for your review and pictures. I'm glad you had a great time! I'm sailing on the Inspiration in December for the first time and can't wait. How was the check in process in Tampa?

[gsueagle2424]

Thanks so much for your review and pictures. I'm glad you had a great time! I'm sailing on the Inspiration in December for the first time and can't wait. How was the check in process in Tampa?

 

Tampa was a breeze especially if you have a passport. We got to the terminal a little before noon and were on the ship before 1. We were a little late getting out of port because of the ship just coming out of dry-dock they were restocking everything!

 

Debarkation was pretty easy as well. We used the self assist (carried our own bags out) and it only took a couple minutes. It pretty much consisted of one customs agent (who seemed to hate his life) ask, How much liquor do you have? Do you have any cigs? - that was it we were off the ship and heading home.

[gsueagle2424]

Thanks for the review. I wish people posted more from the Inspiration.

 

I would love to see more pictures if you have them!

 

Most of our pictures were from the excursions - I wish we would of took more of the ship.

 

 

 

 

This was one of our favorite spots! If you go to the stairwell far forward on deck nine you can go out to the side of the ship. After that walk all the way to the front and go up the stairs.

 

 

another one from the front of the ship

 

 

 

Serenity Deck

 

[gsueagle2424]

Thanks for the review. I wish people posted more from the Inspiration.

 

I would love to see more pictures if you have them!

 

A few more

 

Atrium at night

 

 

Parked at Cayman

 

 

 

Putt Putt

[luvcdays]

I'm glad you had a great cruise! It's hard to come back to reality after cruising...

[gsueagle2424]

Might as well keep going!

 

Cozumel from the ship

 

Navigator of the Seas - she followed us from Cayman to Cozumel

 

 

Which one is Inspiration and which one is Elation?

 

Blurry but it works...Lido at night

 

[valancy1]

Thanks for your review... we cruised on Inspiration last November (gosh, it's been a year now!) and had an absolute BLAST.

 

Glad you liked your first cruise... now the question that must be asked: When/where are you booking your next one? :D

[leadout_kv]

A couple more photos:

 

Towing the Splendor...I mean one of Captain Marvin's boats that broke down

 

Your caption made me laugh for 5 minutes. That was good!

[Meyer2]

Thanks for sharing your review & pictures!! Glad you had such a great cruise!

[LovableGluttons]

I was on the same cruise and just loved it too!

[ERICnLISA]

Thanks for the review..... We sail in 2 weeks!!!! Can't wait :)

[navybaby1113]

Thanks for the extra pictures!

[m-coons]

"The cabin - I thought there was plenty of room in the cabin for the both of us. Turn down service twice a day was great!!! Our room steward memorized our names after just meeting us once! We had a porthole cabin (U3) very forward on the ship and while you could feel a little more motion in the front of the ship it didn't bother either one of us. The motion of the boat actually put me to sleep sometimes"

 

Our room was right near you! U21. No corridor noise that far at the front of the ship. :p

[mavis2222]

Glad you had a great time..I will be on her Next week.

[framerman]

so glad for you that you had a great first cruise..................Ha!!!!!.......now you are hooked