Inspiration review 10/25-29

[cherun]

First some back ground on this first time cruiser, we are middle 40s from a very small midwest town. I have traveled some, my DH not as much. Our "first" cruise was scheduled for September out of New Orleans, needless to say that didn't happen. We were able to rebook for 10/24 out of Tampa and of course we had to work around "Wilma." I definately am not complaining with the changes as I know this is the price you pay during hurricane season, we are both laid back so changes don't bother us alot.

We leave for Tampa on the 10/23 knowing that our cruise will probably be delayed but we wanted to be sure we could still get there in case they shut down the airport. On the way to the airport we get the official word we won't cruise until 10/25, so we go on and call the hotel and get a room for the second night. Flight went smooth, it just started raining when we hit Tampa and was very windy. The rain and wind we were told was not because of Wilma but because of the cold front coming down from the states. There was some wind through the night but you wouldn't know a hurricane was around. We filled the next day at the Aquarium and Ybor City and just walking around.

On 10/25 we checked out at 11 and headed on over to the port, we arrive and no ship.. we check in and they tell us it is out there the port authorities have not allow it to come down the channel due to the hurricane problems. It gets in before noon. I know others will disagree with me on this but I felt Carnival made many announcements that stated we would board late and that you can feel free to leave for awhile and come back. We chose to stay as we had looked all around that area the day before and like I said we are laid back and in no hurry. It did get very crowded before we were allowed to board and of course that made people upset. I think Carnival did all they could with the situation they had. We got on before 4, went up the Brsserie Grill and had a sandwich before we went to our cabin. Our room was ready when we got there and we met our Steward, Komang. He did an excellant job for us, we were very pleased with him and all the staff we encountered were very friendly.

We had late (8:00) seating and were seated with 4 other couples. If you are unsure whether to eat in the dining room I would recommend it for several reasons: the food is better than buffet food, it is nice to be waited on and you get to meet some really great people. We so enjoyed going to dinner and got to know a couple of our table mates well enough to hang out with them some. Our waiter was Eduardo and the assistant was Chico, they were a riot and well worth tipping extra for.

Since our trip was cut a day we were only allowed one stop and that also got changed to Progresso, Mexico.

Progresso is a smaller area and not really developed for the tourist industry yet, we still enjoyed it. We went to the beach (which due to the hurricane had lots of seaweed and the water was not pretty- but no ones fault) we ate at a local cafe the food was excellant and shopped in the Market square, we felt like we got some good deals and my DH who has never witnessed bartering with shops really liked it, he doesn't try to get much off but he liked it when they came down some.. (we are country people and easy to entertain)..

We saw the opening show and the cruise director was very funny and saw the late night commedians, one was awesome and the last one was sooo bad that many people walked out during the performance. We did not go to the other shows so can't comment directly on them although our tablemates said they were good. We went to the casino a couple of times, played Bingo and couple of times.

My DH said this was the most relaxing thing he has ever done and would do it again. There are so many events scheduled all day long and you can pick and choose what to do, we saw Fear Factor and The Newly Wed game which was hillarious.

If anyone has any questions I will try to answer all that I can. The only thing I would change with having been involved in two hurricanes is probably go in the spring, but if others wanted to go at this time or it just worked out to being the only time I would definately not rule out going in the fall.

[gjules]

What a nice review! I am glad you were pleased with the Inspiration since I'm on the Inspiration in January. I don't have any questions about your cruise, but since you mentioned going to Ybor City, I'm curious what you thought about it. We are considering spending the day before our cruise there. I've heard mixed reviews. Did you feel safe walking around there?

[cherun]

We felt safe walking around Ybor City, but really didn't feel like there was much there. If you were there on a weekend night I can see where there could be many things to do, but otherwise we were not impressed with it. The Aquarium was nice and since it was the day after "Wilma" they had a special of $10 a ticket. If they weather had been nicer and some areas didn't have power we might have done something else, we also did not have a car so that limits were you can do without paying a high taxi fare.

[basketlover]

Cherun we were suppose to meet on that cruise out of NO we are now also going on the Inspiration but not until may. Where did you guys stay in Tampa we are having a little trouble deciding what to do.???