The Inspiration 2/24 "Booze Cruise"

[Excited7]

Random question for you. What time were you off the ship? Im trying to decided on our shuttle pick up time and having a hard time deciding.

 

Thanks! And thanks for the reiews. We will be on the boat next week and its fun reading all about your trip!

[PaddleAddict]

We were literally the last people off the ship. OK, maybe there were a few people behind us but not many! I believe this was about 10:00 am! Latest I ever stayed on a ship!

[kornuttle]

Did you just take your time eating breakfast and choose to get off the ship so late? Just wondering if you got off at the time by choice or was the disembarkation slow in general? Did you use self-assist?

[PaddleAddict]

Did you just take your time eating breakfast and choose to get off the ship so late? Just wondering if you got off at the time by choice or was the disembarkation slow in general? Did you use self-assist?

 

Oh I couldn't rally the troops, late night, ha ha. I felt bad for our room steward who needed to clean the cabins. Not sure how the regular disembarkation went.

[PaddleAddict]

Let me note something here because there has been some confusion on the boards. On this three-day cruise, there is no past guest party and NO farewell party. The captain's reception was the only event like this (and this seems unique considering this event is not happening on longer cruises).

 

Anyway, after making our pact at the captain's reception we headed to the dining room. My friend who was new to cruise was pretty excited to find out she could order lobster. :)

 

I actually thought the lobster was pretty tasty, and the shrimp accompanying it were yummy, too. It was slightly less rowdy in the dining room this night, but still pretty loud.

 

After dinner we headed to our new haunt, the piano bar with Seth! Again, we stayed until closing at 1:00 and I think we took a photo with Seth. (I'm still waiting to get that one from my girlfriend!) I have to mention here that Seth teased us for being the strangest bachelorette group ever because we were so mellow. He joked and said "please tell me you at least took the bachelorette to a strip club in Ensenada." Alas, we did not. :p However, some guy in the Rock and Roll Disco gave the bride an impromptu lap dance later that night, which she did not exactly love, but it was funny. I do have a photo of that but I'm not going to post it here out of respect for the bride to be!

 

After the piano bar, we hit the club. Basically, every night on this cruise was like the movie Groundhog Day. But we loved it! Tonight, I think we were up until 5:00 am.

[CWcruisers]

I think that rule has changed. The tour operator told us that we would not be permitted to take the wine up to our room.

 

I did have the champagne at LA Cetto and I would classify it as the least bad. It actually tasted good but had an odd aftertaste.

 

Exactly!

[MszKitty]

Hehe...you didn't happen to find out if he is single by chance?? :D As of right now, I could very well be single by the time I cruise and a guy that cute and piano player/singer will definitely cheer me up!

 

He is single!

[PaddleAddict]

He is single!

 

OK Kornuttle, you are going to need to report back if you try to seduce Seth, ha ha! Let me live vicariously through you!!!

[kornuttle]

He is single!

Haha!!! The fact that you know this info kills me! What is your source?? :D I will go in with no expectations buuut if I had the opportunity to strike up some romance from the lovely Seth I would be crazy to pass it up, right??? Hehe! <crosses fingers> if anything even close to this occurs I will gladly post pictures aka proof! LOL. :p

[PaddleAddict]

Yes, you would be crazy to pass it up!! Please report back. ;)

[goofycruiser]

Mszkitty, We are also going to be on the Breeze on June 15th! Can't wait!

[kornuttle]

So only the Captain's party?? About a year ago my Carnival PVP said they had both the Captain's party and past passenger, I was surprised because it is such a short cruise (but of course thrilled!) but I guess it's no longer an option! Although, I am happy that they are still serving free cocktails...I read quite a few threads saying that many other cruises had eliminated the free drinks, that they were giving $1 off for cocktails at the party and that was it. So I guess it's better than nothing!

[PaddleAddict]

Sunday morning we were able to sleep in... well, we got seven hours of sleep, which was much more than we got the night before!

 

By the time we crawled out of our cabins breakfast was long over so we hit the Mongolian BBQ line. I LOVED my meal (I had noodles, all veggies and black bean sauce). A few of the other girls had the schezwan or BBQ sauce and did not like theirs as much as I liked mine. The line was long, but in my opinion worth it. Yum!

 

At this point, four of us wanted to enter the blackjack tournament so we made our way to the casino. For $20, you got $1,500 in chips to play in a qualifying round (they probably had about five qualifiers). Seven people at the table, only seven hands. The point is to have enough chips to qualify for the final table (seven spots) and a chance at winning $500. They also gave everyone who entered a $5 match play to use in the casino.

 

I made it to the final table and so did one of my friends. When we sat down they gave us all Carnival t-shirts and made us put them on for good luck. Again, we played only seven hands so it was all about betting strategy. It was tough competition and some really crazy things happened on the final hand but I WON!!!!!

 

I was so excited to win, particularly because I had researched, planned and booked this trip for everyone, and paid lots for the bride and other things, so that $500 really helped me out.

 

Also, I got my first "ship on a stick" (never thought I'd be so excited to win one of these, ha ha).

 

The final table (I'm in the middle holding the blue water bottle, can you see how nervous I am, ha ha):

 

 

My ship on a stick and cold hard cash:

 

[PaddleAddict]

So only the Captain's party?? About a year ago my Carnival PVP said they had both the Captain's party and past passenger, I was surprised because it is such a short cruise (but of course thrilled!) but I guess it's no longer an option! Although, I am happy that they are still serving free cocktails...I read quite a few threads saying that many other cruises had eliminated the free drinks, that they were giving $1 off for cocktails at the party and that was it. So I guess it's better than nothing!

 

No past guest party... I think it has to be five nights or longer for that. The drinks were pretty bad, but the consensus was the screwdrivers and some kind of "punch" type drink were the best. Hey, free is free, right? :)

[kornuttle]

How did you leave that information out?!? That is so awesome that you won the tournament!!! Congrats! And yesss...free is free, and I will gladly accept a free cocktail anytime, esp on a cruise when they are constantly trying to up-sell!! :) Speaking of reading other threads, it may be outdated, but a few people had said you could by-pass the cocktails the servers were handing out and still get free drinks directly from the bar of your own choosing...can you shed some light on this possibly? All this cocktail information is verrrry important so I can have just the right amount of liquid courage in my system to get to the Seth seducin'! Haha ;)

[PaddleAddict]

How did you leave that information out?!? That is so awesome that you won the tournament!!! Congrats! And yesss...free is free, and I will gladly accept a free cocktail anytime, esp on a cruise when they are constantly trying to up-sell!! :) Speaking of reading other threads, it may be outdated, but a few people had said you could by-pass the cocktails the servers were handing out and still get free drinks directly from the bar of your own choosing...can you shed some light on this possibly? All this cocktail information is verrrry important so I can have just the right amount of liquid courage in my system to get to the Seth seducin'! Haha ;)

 

Because this event is in the theater, there is no bar. :( But it never hurts to ask your server!

[PaddleAddict]

OK, not to sound vain, but I just posted a pretty hideous photo of myself (the only one in this thread, too!). I have been trying to respect my friends' privacy by not posting any photos of them, so I did want to share just one photo of myself from formal night (I cropped the others out) to show that I can look halfway decent if I try, ha ha!!!

 

[kornuttle]

Oh okay, but no biggie I'm not all that preferential. I will be happy with whatever options are available. Just curious! I was already looking forward to trying the Mongolian BBQ so that fact that you had a good review is just one more thing to get excited about!!!

[kornuttle]

OK, not to sound vain, but I just posted a pretty hideous photo of myself (the only one in this thread, too!). I have been trying to respect my friends' privacy by not posting any photos of them, so I did want to share just one photo of myself from formal night (I cropped the others out) to show that I can look halfway decent if I try, ha ha!!!

 

 

You looked adorable in your previous photo! Very festive and fun! But yes, this picture is very pretty! =) Can't wait to spiff up for formal night!

[CWcruisers]

You can actually ask the server to bring you something else, like a beer or wine, or even a different mixed drink.

 

Short cruises don't have all the parties, and on the longer cruises, on Captain's night, it is $1.00 off drinks served at the Promenade bars for a specified time period. There is also a Past Guest Party and a Farewell Party where drinks are free. Most people don't know about the Farewell party because it is not announced and is in small print in the Fun Times. Normally at 5:00 in the Show Room.

[candigirl]

Hi PaddleAddict.....I was on your same cruise and also really enjoyed it. Boy, am I sure disappointed I never hit the piano bar. Gives me another reason to book again soon. To the OP asking about debarking.......we had plently of time to enjoy breakfast in the dining room, go back to the cabin to get our luggage and get home to South Orange County by 9:30 am. It was a piece of cake.

[PaddleAddict]

Candigirl, a few of us are talking about doing this cruise again if the price is right, but taking our husbands/fiances, too. It really is a fun cruise!

[candigirl]

I'm ready to do it again in a heartbeat. Bought my future cruise certificate on board to prove it. I don't know who I'll take with me.....my husband says "take me, take me". I might use it on the Splendor again this summer before she leaves...loved the 2 days in Cabo. I really liked the Inspiration, something about the smaller ships appeals to me, I loved the Elation too.

[PaddleAddict]

Sunday evening was much more subdued in the dining room. There was a 12-man bachelor party across the way that was really loud and rowdy on Friday and Saturday, but by Sunday they were remarkably quiet and we noticed they were all drinking just water. Saturday must have been rough, ha ha!

 

We did our typical piano bar (last night with Seth, sniff!). He did not disappoint.... He played Great Balls of Fire at our request, which is an extremely difficult song and he absolutely rocked it. At one point he had his foot up on the keyboard, no joke. The bride to be bought three of Seth's CDs (one for her, one for me and one for one of the other girls).

 

Later, we hit the Rock and Roll for one more night of dancing. I stayed pretty sober this night knowing I was going to have to handle our departure in the morning. Although I was glad the next morning, being sober at 3:30 in a club filled with drunken cruisers is not as much fun as it sounds, ha ha!

[MszKitty]

Haha!!! The fact that you know this info kills me! What is your source?? :D I will go in with no expectations buuut if I had the opportunity to strike up some romance from the lovely Seth I would be crazy to pass it up, right??? Hehe! <crosses fingers> if anything even close to this occurs I will gladly post pictures aka proof! LOL. :p

 

Simple...I asked. LOL. On the last night, For the last 20-30 minutes on the last night, there was just my daughter & I in there. We got to talk a lot with Seth and learned a lot about him. In the end he stayed longer than his scheduled time because we were talking with him.