Review** Carnival Inspiration June 4-9 Grand Cayman and Cozumel

[Ruggled]

Great review! Thank you! We sail the Inspiration again in September (she was our first Carnival ship and holds a special place in my heart).

 

As to the kids, I know what you mean. My 16 year old has encountered the same thing as far as teens that were paying others off to get them alcohol--usually they would hit up a 20 something so the older ladies is an interesting twist. And in places like Cozumel, if you can see over the bar, you can get served.

 

Anyway, I agree with you on the kids in the 18-20 group. It is a tough cruise option for them. My son said they were "smuggling" 18 year olds in the back door of the disco of Club O2 on our last cruise on the Liberty--the kids just wanted somewhere to dance and the adult disco doesn't get going until late into the night.

[cespo]

Still working our way to the rays...

 

 

Our boat in the far far far distnace.

 

 

 

Yes this was one of the pluses...having the whole boat to ourselves.

 

 

Our first siting of the rays...

 

[cespo]

Great review! Thank you! We sail the Inspiration again in September (she was our first Carnival ship and holds a special place in my heart).

 

As to the kids, I know what you mean. My 16 year old has encountered the same thing as far as teens that were paying others off to get them alcohol--usually they would hit up a 20 something so the older ladies is an interesting twist. And in places like Cozumel, if you can see over the bar, you can get served.

 

Anyway, I agree with you on the kids in the 18-20 group. It is a tough cruise option for them. My son said they were "smuggling" 18 year olds in the back door of the disco of Club O2 on our last cruise on the Liberty--the kids just wanted somewhere to dance and the adult disco doesn't get going until late into the night.

 

Glad that you are enjoying it...I hope you have a great time in Sept.

 

The drinking age from what we were told in mexico is 16 and grand cayman is 18.

 

Our son is a night owl and staying up that late to go to the adult disco was no problem, he just did not feel comfortable in their with all the adults. So most nights he ended up back in his room watching movies on his laptop.

 

Again he had a good time, not great like past cruises, but still enjoyed himself.

[cespo]

The water was a little chilly when you first got in, but you got used to it real quickly.

 

 

Even though you see a boat behind us, I am not sure what they were doing because the did not get into the water for a good 30 - 45 minutes from arriving??

 

Our first up close shot..

 

 

DH getting his first swim by....

 

 

Captain Chris getting a ray so we touch it...

 

 

[cespo]

Some more ray shots...

 

 

 

kissing the ray for 7 years of good luck..

 

 

then getting a back massage...can you tell it really tickled

 

 

I love this picture with their tails out of the water.

 

[cespo]

Free time with the rays...

 

 

see in the background above they are still not off the boat.

 

 

Jen expression is like what is going on here...

 

 

This one was coming right at me..

 

 

As you can see, we were surrounded by stingrays and loving it!!

 

[cespo]

Last of the stingrays...

 

 

Jen....aawww mom they are so cute can we keep one as a pet?? PLEASE...

 

 

The male stingray..much smaller in size and much softer than the female

 

 

They were so playful, John even got one out of the water on his own.

 

[cespo]

As we were leaving the crowds starting coming...I am so glad that we had Captain Chris is our guide.

 

The interaction with the rays was amazing!!!! Nothing like the last time we were there.

 

 

 

 

 

This is why we love Captain Chris...we had the whole place to ourselves and now look at it. Can you imagine the little interaction that these people had. Maybe 25 people for every one stingray. No thank you....if you are even considering going to the rays...PLEASE USE NATIVEWAYS they are the best!!!

 

http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/

 

Now off to snorkeling....

[sealpup]

We have done the stingray with Moby Dick twice and they wait till they are the only ones on the sand bar, it is awesome the interaction you have.

[cespo]

We have done the stingray with Moby Dick twice and they wait till they are the only ones on the sand bar, it is awesome the interaction you have.

 

It was truely amazing...Since we have been there before prior with Island Marketings jetski tour, this is all I have to compare it too. It was like night and day. Nativeway Sports is truely a class act when it comes to their tours. Sorry i have not had the pleasure of dealing with Moby Dick's tours, but I have also heard good things about them.

[cespo]

After the stingrays Captian Chris brought us over to do some snorkeling. Now Jennifer and I just stayed on the boat during this part since neither one of us snorkel and just the guys went out.

 

Since we were by ourselves we were on no time limit on how long we stayed at each place, just as long as we were back to land by 1:30.

 

This was real nice, since they loved the snorkeling so much we stayed a little longer there.

 

Here are the pictures from snorkeling. Now just before this cruise we purchased a true underwater camera, the Canon D10 and I was so happy that we did. The pictures are amazing and love my new camera.

 

sorry for the orange tone in this shot forgot to change settings...

 

 

 

 

[cespo]

More Snorkeling...

 

 

 

 

 

[msheep]

We also brought 2 bottles of Sangria and 2 bottles of Mai Tai Mix for the Rum.

 

 

Did you encounter any trouble bringing on the non-alcoholic mix? I wanted to bring some but wonder if they will allow that or only allow 12 packs (smaller cans/bottles) of non-alcoholic drinks...

Thanks.

[dotheyes]

we were on the Inspiration in May and loved it

Ole Dot

[cespo]

Before we left the snorkeling area Captian Chris dove down and got two starfish for us to hold..

 

 

 

Next we were heading over to Rumpoint. Lunch was included in this tour and Chris took our orders and then called it in to them, so it would be waiting for us to arrive.

 

We just sat back and enjoyed the ride over to the beach.

 

 

 

And once again our great Captain Chris...

[cespo]

Did you encounter any trouble bringing on the non-alcoholic mix? I wanted to bring some but wonder if they will allow that or only allow 12 packs (smaller cans/bottles) of non-alcoholic drinks...

Thanks.

 

None whatsoever. On our carry on we had the 2 bottles of sangria and the 2 bottles of Mai Tai mix. I really thought once it went through the xray machines they would question us, but never said a word. We also carried on a twelve pack of soda, which was out in the open.

[cespo]

we were on the Inspiration in May and loved it

Ole Dot

 

Glad to hear that you also loved it. We prefer the smaller ships and love the Inspiration. Just wish they would change up the ports every now and then.

[cespo]

Now off to Rum Point. If you have never been here before it is pure heaven. The place is stunning, clean, has restrooms, a gift shop, bar, and food. The also rent watersports.

 

 

Inside the bar area.

 

 

the picnic area

 

 

 

One thing while you are eating you do need to guard your food from the black crow looking birds..they will steal it in a second and you will not know it even happened.

 

The food was very tastey and came with free ice tea. I purchased 2 beers and a mixed drink and the prices were very reasonable.

 

Once we finished eating the kids headed to the hammocks to relax. Once they got settled the skies opened up and it started to down pour. Looking at the sky we saw it was not going to let up anytime soon so we decided to head back to the boat and go back.

[LizaMM]

Thanks so much for your review!!

 

I have never been on a "smaller" ship but I am strongly thinking about this for my next cruise since I have family in Tampa I would like to visit and do a combo trip!

 

I agree with Nativeway! I have used them a couple of times and had the same wonderful experience as you.

 

When I sailed with my DD when she was 19 we had similar issues with the age group. In fact, she talked to the asst. CD about it on the first Sea Day (she is NOT shy!) and they wound up putting a meet & greet for 18 -20 y.o. at the Casino 2 days (it was an 8 day sailing). The problem was, no one showed up except for my DD and one other person. She wound up coming with me to the Piano Bar and stuff at night and we spent more time together on that cruise as well which did turn out to be nice. On our last cruise she was 21 and I also had her bring a friend.

 

 

Oh......and I can't believe what you saw!! Who would be dumb enough to buy liquor for strangers!!! Good to hear that barstaff and security were on top of it when they could be.

[cespo]

Last few pictures of Rum Point...

 

 

you can actually see the rain coming down in this shot

 

 

 

At this point I think everyone else decided to start leaving also. I really felt bad for the people on the jetskis. The visability was not the greatest and with the rain hitting you it must have not been a fun ride back.

 

The rain was coming down so heavy that I just put the camera away and did not get any more shots..

 

All in all we had a wonderful day despite the rain. I will say it again if you are considering the sting rays, snorkeling or rum point, I will highly recommend using Nativeway Sports. They are a class act and can not say enough good things about them.

 

We were back to the port area about 1:30ish and the lines were super long. We did finally get on a tender a little after 2 and there was still tons of people waiting to get on.

 

Every one was soaked from the rain, and cold. Carnival was handing out dry towels to guests as they were entering the tenders.

 

Once back on board and right near the xray machines they again were handing out warm towels.

 

This was waiting for us when we got back to our room..

 

[cespo]

Tonight was the past guest party...It was held in the main lounge and a good number of people showed up. Our kids threw away their invitations by accident, but were still able to attend by just showing their gold sign and sail cards.

 

They did a good job on keeping the free drink flowing. We each had about 5-6 drinks in the hours time.

 

Funship freddy even made an appearance.

 

 

 

That evening we ate in the MDR and just hung around. Our son went into the hot tub only once, because all the other times it was taken over by kids. At one point we counted 23 kids in the hot tub and no one said a word.

 

 

this evening sunset picture..

 

 

The wind was blowing so bad that you really could not stand out in it. It puffed out his shirt making it look like he gained tons of weight.

[cespo]

Thanks so much for your review!!

 

I have never been on a "smaller" ship but I am strongly thinking about this for my next cruise since I have family in Tampa I would like to visit and do a combo trip!

 

I agree with Nativeway! I have used them a couple of times and had the same wonderful experience as you.

 

When I sailed with my DD when she was 19 we had similar issues with the age group. In fact, she talked to the asst. CD about it on the first Sea Day (she is NOT shy!) and they wound up putting a meet & greet for 18 -20 y.o. at the Casino 2 days (it was an 8 day sailing). The problem was, no one showed up except for my DD and one other person. She wound up coming with me to the Piano Bar and stuff at night and we spent more time together on that cruise as well which did turn out to be nice. On our last cruise she was 21 and I also had her bring a friend.

 

 

Oh......and I can't believe what you saw!! Who would be dumb enough to buy liquor for strangers!!! Good to hear that barstaff and security were on top of it when they could be.

 

I am glad that you are enjoying the review...The Inspiration is a wonderful ship and you will have an amazing time on her.

 

Next time we sail he will most likely be bringing a friend or his girlfirend.

 

The security had a heck of time on this cruise...I give them alot of credit for all that they did on this cruise.

[cespo]

Tuesday June 7th - Cozumel

We have been to Cozumel several times before and did not make plans prior to our arrival.

 

We had friends sailing on the Legend that were in port the same time we were. They were able to make a ship to ship call around 10:30 am to make sure we were still meeting ar Ron Jon's.

 

Once we met our friends, they decided they wanted to go shopping and we would meet up later for a drink. So off we went to the taxi area to see what we can come up with. After speaking to them we decided on going to the Ocean Bar Beach resort.

 

This is located 2 spots to the right of Paradise Beach. But unlike Paradise Beach, it was less crowded.

 

They have 2 options upon arrival, one being an all inclusive including drinks for $45 a person or you can do free chairs and umbrellas and do ala carte for everything else.

 

We got four lounge chairs with 2 umbrellas. We did order 2 buckets of beer, one mixed drink, 3 waters and a soda and the total cost was $42 plus tip.

 

The service was great and my husband and son received 2 free shots each of blue margaritta's (spelling??) after ordering the second bucket of beer.

 

My daughter and I each got a 45 minute massage for $30.00 each. Well worth it.

 

The water itself was a bit murkey that day so snorkeling proved to be a challange. My husband did find some shaving brush plants that he brought home for his 2 90 gallon salt water tanks. (it actually held up real well and survived the trip home..now he just wished he got more)

 

The fresh water pool was very refreshing after being in the salt water.

 

My only two complaints were the vendors that walk up and down the beach kept asking you to buy stuff, but after a nice no thank you they did leave you alone, but we have also encountered this at Paradise Beach.

 

The one thing that Paradise beach is better at is their restrooms. The do have a much larger facility, where Ocean Bar Beach only has one bathroom for each sex, but I will give them points for it being closer to you than Paradise Beach's.

 

All in All we were very happy there and would not hesitate to go back again.

 

Here are some pictures....

 

 

 

 

 

[cespo]

This is how close Paradise Beach was...

this is their pier.

 

 

And in between them and us was Carlos and Charlies..

 

 

 

Our lizard friend that joined us on the beach

 

 

[cespo]

About 2:30 we had had enough and went back to the port to meet up with our friends.

 

 

We meet them at the three amigos bar right at the end of the port area.

 

 

Our friend Larry and Debbie..now they also live in florida in the tampa area but it is sad that we really don't live that far away from each other and we have to meet in Mexico instead.

 

 

Once we got inside we order some drinks and the kids shared some french fries. The cost was a little bit more than the beach, but still cheaper than the boat.

 

There is alot of activity going on inside. We did have a scary looking clown/sheriff make us balloon hats...