Review of Inspiration 11-15 Sailing

[Takin'ASail]

My DH, DS(7), DS (4) and DD (2) took our first cruise on the Inspiration. We were on the Nov. 15 five day cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Our family is now officially hooked on cruising! We felt totally prepared thanks to CC!

 

Pre-Cruise

We flew into Tampa two days early. We stayed at the Embassy Suites Convention Center, which is a nice hotel that is convenient to a lot of fun stuff in Tampa and with very close proximity to the cruise terminal.

 

We used Blue One for shuttle transportation from the airport to hotel; hotel to port and from port to airport. Very nice people to work with.

 

The day before our cruise we went to the Florida Aquarium. The kids all enjoyed it and it was a fun day.

 

Our kids wanted to swim at night so we ordered take-out at night and didn't try any of the restaurants in the area.

 

Day 1

Arrived at the port at 10:45. It took about twenty minutes to get processed and were in group 5 to board. We were amazed at the ease of getting our boarding pass and the lack of lines. Very smooth process!!;)

 

We ate lunch on the Lido deck and got into our room right at 1:30. We had two adjoining rooms. One had an overhead bunk. The two rooms gave us adequate space and it was so nice to have two bathrooms. Very pleased with the amount of room and storage in our room. The kids loved having the windows to look out of and it was exciting to see the boat pulling into the ports (and even the sliver of Cuba we got sight of)! Our room steward was Joselito and he did a great job of keeping our room in order and was responsive to us the couple of times we needed him.

 

We had anytime dining and were very pleased we opted for it because with our kids we were not ready at the same time every night. A couple of nights we met some really nice people, who we would have liked to eat with again so could see us moving to set dining as our family gets older and no longer naps.

 

The dining room staff was AMAZING our whole trip. Baris was our ass't. MD and we had several of the same servers more than once. Baris did an outstanding job of helping us out with our kids. He would take their order personally when we were seated so our kids did not have to wait. I know people have asked about tipping the MD and I have to tell you it's not even a question in your mind if they are as helpful as he was!

 

We actually ate most every meal in the dining room because the service was so good and it was easier than trying to make multiple plates at the same time. It would have been nice to have a change of menu at breakfast though, but we still enjoyed the superb service.

 

Day 2

Our family all fell in love with Sea Days!! The kids went to camp for a little bit in the morning--all three really enjoyed it! My DH and I tried out Serenity and it was nice. We had a great day and were already sad that we had not opted for a seven day (or longer!) cruise!!

 

Day 3

Grand Cayman--We did the Pirate Excursion and were not thrilled with that excursion mainly because when we signed up for it we thought it started at 9:00 a.m. and it did not start until 10:00 a.m. We looked at the stores to kill time and then had to wait by the immigration shed because the tour guides were late. :( We just felt that we wasted too much time waiting and that the crew was mediocre at best. We would have expected that it being an excursion with Carnival to have had better service/attitudes.

 

We went back to the ship afterward and were on the putt-putt course when the ship pulled out of GC! Very cool experience for all of us!

 

This was DH's birthday and I ordered him a chocolate cake to be delivered to our table in the dining room. I am about to tread on some sacred ground here (so please no responses telling me I am crazy). IMHO, this cake was the best dessert I had the entire trip (and I had chocolate melting cake 3 times and I am a fan of it!). It only cost me $7.95 and we had a fair amount left over that we gave to the table next to us. Our kids said we should always cruise over one of our birthdays so we can get the cake--oh, we're getting that even if it is months away from any of our birthdays!! :)

 

Day 4

Went to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it!! It was raining when we got off the ship and rained a couple of times at the beach. It did not stop us from enjoying the day and the beautiful water. All in all we had more sun at Nachi than clouds.

 

We went back to the ship early because we did not want to miss eating at the dining room!!

 

Day 5

Last day at sea--it was fairly windy. The big slides were closed at waterworks, but the kids tried the racing slides out. We also took them to camp again and they really enjoyed it. We did not want this day to end.

 

DH and I both used the gym several times and were quite pleased about what a good facility they provided. Never had trouble getting on a machine, but got there early. It was always busy, but not overly crowded.

 

De-embarkation

We were off the ship at our scheduled time. It was as smooth as we could have expected. Blue One was waiting for us and we got to the airport in plenty of time of time for our 1:30 p.m. flight.

 

We will definitely cruise again --we all keep talking about our next cruise. Next time we will want to go on a longer cruise and will consider not getting off of the ship on a port day so we would get an extra 'sea' day and so we can take advantage of Camp Carnival more! We may want to try a longer cruise so will opt for a different ship, but thought the Inspiration was a perfect size for a first cruise and would not mind cruising on her or one of her sisters in the future!!

[jimbo5544]

My DH' date=' DS(7), DS (4) and DD (2) took our first cruise on the Inspiration. We were on the Nov. 15 five day cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Our family is now officially hooked on cruising! We felt totally prepared thanks to CC!

 

[b']Pre-Cruise[/b]

We flew into Tampa two days early. We stayed at the Embassy Suites Convention Center, which is a nice hotel that is convenient to a lot of fun stuff in Tampa and with very close proximity to the cruise terminal.

 

We used Blue One for shuttle transportation from the airport to hotel; hotel to port and from port to airport. Very nice people to work with.

 

The day before our cruise we went to the Florida Aquarium. The kids all enjoyed it and it was a fun day.

 

Our kids wanted to swim at night so we ordered take-out at night and didn't try any of the restaurants in the area.

 

Day 1

Arrived at the port at 10:45. It took about twenty minutes to get processed and were in group 5 to board. We were amazed at the ease of getting our boarding pass and the lack of lines. Very smooth process!!;)

 

We ate lunch on the Lido deck and got into our room right at 1:30. We had two adjoining rooms. One had an overhead bunk. The two rooms gave us adequate space and it was so nice to have two bathrooms. Very pleased with the amount of room and storage in our room. The kids loved having the windows to look out of and it was exciting to see the boat pulling into the ports (and even the sliver of Cuba we got sight of)! Our room steward was Joselito and he did a great job of keeping our room in order and was responsive to us the couple of times we needed him.

 

We had anytime dining and were very pleased we opted for it because with our kids we were not ready at the same time every night. A couple of nights we met some really nice people, who we would have liked to eat with again so could see us moving to set dining as our family gets older and no longer naps.

 

The dining room staff was AMAZING our whole trip. Baris was our ass't. MD and we had several of the same servers more than once. Baris did an outstanding job of helping us out with our kids. He would take their order personally when we were seated so our kids did not have to wait. I know people have asked about tipping the MD and I have to tell you it's not even a question in your mind if they are as helpful as he was!

 

We actually ate most every meal in the dining room because the service was so good and it was easier than trying to make multiple plates at the same time. It would have been nice to have a change of menu at breakfast though, but we still enjoyed the superb service.

 

Day 2

Our family all fell in love with Sea Days!! The kids went to camp for a little bit in the morning--all three really enjoyed it! My DH and I tried out Serenity and it was nice. We had a great day and were already sad that we had not opted for a seven day (or longer!) cruise!!

 

Day 3

Grand Cayman--We did the Pirate Excursion and were not thrilled with that excursion mainly because when we signed up for it we thought it started at 9:00 a.m. and it did not start until 10:00 a.m. We looked at the stores to kill time and then had to wait by the immigration shed because the tour guides were late. :( We just felt that we wasted too much time waiting and that the crew was mediocre at best. We would have expected that it being an excursion with Carnival to have had better service/attitudes.

 

We went back to the ship afterward and were on the putt-putt course when the ship pulled out of GC! Very cool experience for all of us!

 

This was DH's birthday and I ordered him a chocolate cake to be delivered to our table in the dining room. I am about to tread on some sacred ground here (so please no responses telling me I am crazy). IMHO, this cake was the best dessert I had the entire trip (and I had chocolate melting cake 3 times and I am a fan of it!). It only cost me $7.95 and we had a fair amount left over that we gave to the table next to us. Our kids said we should always cruise over one of our birthdays so we can get the cake--oh, we're getting that even if it is months away from any of our birthdays!! :)

 

Day 4

Went to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it!! It was raining when we got off the ship and rained a couple of times at the beach. It did not stop us from enjoying the day and the beautiful water. All in all we had more sun at Nachi than clouds.

 

We went back to the ship early because we did not want to miss eating at the dining room!!

 

Day 5

Last day at sea--it was fairly windy. The big slides were closed at waterworks, but the kids tried the racing slides out. We also took them to camp again and they really enjoyed it. We did not want this day to end.

 

DH and I both used the gym several times and were quite pleased about what a good facility they provided. Never had trouble getting on a machine, but got there early. It was always busy, but not overly crowded.

 

De-embarkation

We were off the ship at our scheduled time. It was as smooth as we could have expected. Blue One was waiting for us and we got to the airport in plenty of time of time for our 1:30 p.m. flight.

 

We will definitely cruise again --we all keep talking about our next cruise. Next time we will want to go on a longer cruise and will consider not getting off of the ship on a port day so we would get an extra 'sea' day and so we can take advantage of Camp Carnival more! We may want to try a longer cruise so will opt for a different ship, but thought the Inspiration was a perfect size for a first cruise and would not mind cruising on her or one of her sisters in the future!!

Congrats on your first cruise and your first post on Cruisecritic. Sounds like you had a wonderful cruise. Thanks for posting the review.

[navybaby1113]

Sounds like a great time! Thanks for sharing.

 

Would love to see pictures if you have any.

[mavis2222]

I was on the Nov 20th sailing. It was ok for me for the most part. As a vetern cruiser, ive noticed a few changes or "cutbacks" compared to 6 months ago on the Fantasy. Only 2 ice cream machines, 1 for yogert and 1 for ice cream. The ice cream one was broken most of the week I was there. The Fantasy had 2 of each on Lido. Since I had VIP..That has gone out the window on arrival and departure..Its only good for the free laundry. However..On debarcation..Everything was smooth and organized and rules enforced on who and when to leave. But it seemed that the VIPs coulnt go anywhere untill the self assist went first..The esulators in the termanal wernt turned on untill I got off which was about 1/2 way through the process, so everybody was using 1 elevator for 1000 other people. I blamb some of that on the terminal personel. I needed the elevator sice I had a wheelchair in my group. Im sure most would of taken the esculator if it was running.

[justacrusin]

Thanks for the review!! We are sailing on the Inspiration in March. I am glad to hear your kids loved Camp Carnival. This will be the first cruise for my 3 DD's, they are looking forward to Camp Carnival. Glad you had a great cruise.

[gapearl]

Welcome to the addiction called cruising! Thanks for sharing your review. :)

[Nanatochase]

Thank you for your review. Glad you had a good time. It's nice to see a "first post" be a positive one.

[CinciBaby]

Thanks for the review - we just booked the Inspiration with my 5 and almost 2 year old.. very helpful!