Review: Love Xmas/Hannukah break cruising on Inspiration

[Katemusical]

This is a start to my review of the fun times, with a few problems, of our amazing Hannukah cruise. We sailed the Carnival Inspiration the weekend of December 23, which included Xmas Eve, Xmas Day, and Hannukah 1st/2nd nights. It was my husband, 22 month old son (who carries a lion blanket toy everywhere he goes in case you saw us, and me.

First off, let me say that I LOVE holiday cruising. Ships are always decorated so beautifully, especially the atriums. For this ship where the atrium is lined with bright neon colors from floor to ceiling, the holly and Xmas trees just toned it down to make a wonderful festive feel.

 

We drove into town with no problems, arriving around 1:30p.m. Of course, I already had our check in done online and passports ready to go. We were in and out of the embarkation process so quickly, because I was prepared. YAY! Time to board the ship!

After being stopped twice for pictures, we finally stepped foot on the ship. We were told our cabin was ready for us, so we headed straight to our cabin (R210-4th floor). What worked out great was we actually followed our luggage to our cabin. It couldn't have worked out better. I was able to unpack right away before heading for some lunch.

 

More of the review to come soon...

 

More later...

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Will be following your posts.

[Katemusical]

Continuing first day...

I forgot to mention that my hubby always pays for the soda package. We are not big drinkers (although I love my Moscatto and Mai Tais); but he loves his Coca-Cola. It's also nice that he can order me my Diet Cokes if I want one 10 minutes after he gets his. They put his sticker on his card and away we went to find our cabin.

 

After unpacking, we loaded the toddler on the banana stroller, and went to talk to the kids' club counselors about what our toddler could attend. Since he is under 2, there are only certain times he can go play there. Also, there is a cost of almost $7 per hour for him to attend. We got the schedule and signed him up for the next morning playtime.

 

After talking to the counselors at the kids' area, we headed up to the pool area to eat at the Guy's Burger Bar. This was one of the 2.0 upgrades, as well as adding the Blue Iguana. Let me say that these are GREAT additions to the grill area by the pool!!! The burgers and fries were so good. Plus, there is a toppings bar to add condiments and extras, like grilled onions and sauteed mushrooms. My toddler was in heaven with the mushrooms and fries. I know, strange kid..hahaha

The buffet was shutting down to get ready for the muster drill. So no dessert for us this time, but we were full from the burgers and fries.

After lunch, we wandered the ship, pointing out the Xmas trees and scultures to the toddler.

 

It was very rainy and chilly so wandering outside was not an option. Also, we heard two emergency medicals crews called to the pool area this day and the next. Probably people falling on the wet deck, running through and not being careful. It was slippery.

 

I'm sorry I have to continue later on. I will pick it up at the VERY strange muster drill and how a toddler entertains himself during this time. :D

[Katemusical]

As I stated before, there were a couple of times that there were medical staff emergencies and one of those times was right before muster drill. Finally it was time for the muster drill and we made our way to the club, which was our muster station. One of our DJs was the person in charge of the drill. I was very UNIMPRESSED with his profressionalism. He pretty much told everyone either to shut up or stay there forever. I have been to many muster drills and never have I had someone talk to us like that before. Then when he wanted to see if people wanted to party and have a good time, no one answered. We were all dumbfounded by his attitude. He also kept saying that we were going to go outside up two floors to our assigned area. He kept saying it over and over. After a long time of waiting in the club for something to happen, they announced that the drill was over and enjoy the cruise. The DJ look confused and said "Ok, um, see you at the parties." So no, we did not have to go outside in the rain and cold. I have never seen so many happy people to get out of there and away from this leader.

Oh, so how does a toddler get through a boring muster drill. If you are assigned the club area, on the ceiling are brass mirrors. He looked up and pointed at himself. He yelled at the top of his lungs "Mama, Dada!" This went on for a good 10 minutes. He was fascinated by that mirror. Plus he threw his bottle to the floor many times...sigh. Sorry if you were one of the people that got hit by a flying baby bottle.

After the muster, we slowly made our way back to our cabin for naps and to change clothes for dinner. We had ordered ahead of the cruise to have a pack-n-play or crib in our cabin. The crib turned out to be my toddler's worst nightmare, literally. He hated it. It was white and metal. It had a mattress with clean sheets on it. For people traveling with a little one, please bring from home your own crib sheet and blanket, besides their lovey and toys/books. Any little touch of home will appease them, plus you never know the total cleanliness of the crib. I brought a can of lysol and sprayed it down before I put our sheet and blanket in it. Unfortunately, the toddler did not like his bed and had a hard time sleeping for three nights. This past summer we had taken him on an Alaskan cruise on a different cruiseline. They had given us a pack-n-play and he was in heaven sleeping and playing in it. So you never know...

Since it was a Xmas/Hannukah cruise, they had extra events planned for the holidays. At 6:00 in the atrium was a Xmas caroling sing along. Plus they made it snow on everyone. They were passing out to the kids Santa hats. It was a lot of fun, but there were too many people pushing their kids through the crowd. What happened to the words "Excuse me."??? We actually ended up leaving to head upstairs to our dining room for dinner. SInce we don't celebrate Xmas, we didn't need to grab a hat or stick around to sing. The snow was cool to watch, though.

We had anytime dining, which we love. You can decide what time you want to go to dinner. This particular evening it didn't work in our favor. Normally it's no problem. Keep in mind it was around 7 p.m. on a very long first day. The line waiting just to check in and get a beeper was around the hallway. The toddler was already cranky; so we went to the buffet. The buffet was pretty much empty, except for some families. I had some roasted chicken, salad from the salad bar, and a baked potato. The hubby and toddler both had sandwiches from the sandwich bar. The gentleman making the sandwiches was so nice, asking if he should cut off the crusts to the sandwich for the toddler. How sweet is that? There weren't many appetizing looking desserts at this point, so I picked frozen yogurt from the machine. There is always fro yo and soft serve available, as well as pizza. No, pizza's not a dessert but it's always open. I'm glad we just ended up eating in the buffet to save time and a toddler meltdown. Plus we made friends with one of the families that had little ones also. Time for bed and end of Day 1... excited for the next day!

 

Day 2-Ensenada

Since my hubby and I have been to Ensenada before, we decided that we would just stay on the ship and play.

We love cruises because of free room service 24 hours a day, especially breakfast. You fill out the paperwork the night before and hang it on your doorknob. That next morning, there is a knock on the door with your order. We made sure that we had a bunch of one dollar bills for tips. PLEASE TIP THESE PEOPLE! We give them two dollars usually. With that being said, usually the order you get from room service is wrong hahaha. We were missing some of the things we ordered, but it wasn't a big deal. As long as we had cereal, toast, and milk for the hungry toddler.

This morning there was playtime at the kids camp for the toddler from 8-12. We dropped him off with his diaper bag and received the cell phone. This was our ship phone that connects the camp to us and our cabin. We just had to return it by 10 p.m. the last night of the ship. It was great! Anyway, now the counselors could call us and we could call them. Time for the parents to relax a little...but first a little fun at the Guest Services Desk.

Tonight was the 1st night of Hannukah. I always do a lot of research on Cruise Critic; and knew that the ship would have a Hannukah celebration. The night before I was looking at the Fun Times and nothing was written about Hannukah at all. I called that night and they couldn't tell me anything.

When we woke up this morning, I called down to the desk to see what was planned. I was put on hold for a good couple of minutes. Then she came back and said she has to look into it more. Um, okay. After dropping off the toddler at the camp, we decided to go visit the Guest Relations Desk. I asked Jay, the gentleman at the desk, about Hannukah tonight. The woman standing next to him said that she asked about it but has heard nothing about it. Then all of a sudden..voila...an email showed up on her computer while we were standing there about Hannukah. That was amazing, wasn't it?! hahaha There was a Hannukah menorah lighting with latkes being served at 5:30p.m. by the computers next to the Guest Relations Desk. They were really sorry that it wasn't announced till now. Now keep in mind, we are at port. How are the other Jewish families going to know? They said that Dee, the Cruise Director, would announce it. The situation just made us laugh. It was obvious someone messed up; but at least it is happening.

 

Hubby and I headed to the spa for pampering. My hubby loves professional shaves and was excited that they were offering a special men's shave and facial. He said it was one of the best shaves he had ever had. The young man did a fantastic job.

I had a 50 minute facial. It was very nice. The woman who did my facial was a little rough, but I was still relaxed. That night was formal evening so I decided to really splurge and take advantage of the hair blow out special that the spa was offering. I had to go back later for that.

After the spa, we went to get the toddler to go eat lunch. We found seats inside at a small table between the buffet and outside pool area. There were a lot of people who had stayed on the ship that day, which was kind of surprising. Then again, it was a ship full of families. Why not stay and play. We were looking forward to trying the burritos at the Blue Iguana. Hubby got a chicken, refried beans and rice burritos. He loved it. I got a burrito with chicken, beef, and shrimp on it. So delicious. The tortilla was so fresh and nicely grilled. You can add sour cream and guacamole as well. There is a salsa bar with the best tasting watermelon/jicama salsa. I overdid it on the salsa. I want some now! The toddler loved the chicken and tortilla as well. You always feel proud when you have a successful meal with a toddler..you know what I mean.

Dada took the toddler back to the cabin for a nap while Mama got her hairs did. YAY! It turned out the same guy who shaved my hubby did my hair. He is a talented stylist. So I have a nice hair and am ready for a nice dinner with my boys. Keep in mind that the job of these spa employees is to try to upcharge and sell you products. Just listen to their spiel and kindly decline.

Time to get ready for a fun night out. We got dressed up for the evening. I wore a dress to go with my beautiful hair. Hubby wore a nice suit and tie. Toddler wore a tie and vest. We rushed to the Hannukah celebration and got to meet Dee. She apologized profusely for the mishap. Anyway, the latkes were great; and it was fun to celebrate the first night of Hannukah on the ship.

We headed to the dining room for dinner. It was a great meal. We love eating in the dining room. You can order every appetizer and every entree if you want. No one bats an eye. Do not be embarrassed if you order the entire menu..everyone does it.

There was a good show performed in the showroom that night. The toddler loved dancing along and watching the dancers. After the show, they take everyone to the atrium to continue the show and start a party. They played some great music.

Time to take some family photos, since we were all dressed up. After going to 3 different background stops, we headed back to the cabin for bed. Day 2 was a great day at port.

[sokal]

Thank You I'm enjoying your stories.

 

Did your husband need to make a reservation for the shave, seems like a nice idea.

[4 cruisers]

My brother and sis in law are taking this cruise later this month. I am passing on your great review! I am excited for them!!!! My mom and I upgraded them to a Jr. suite. I am hoping they will LOVE their experience on the Inspiration!

Thank you so much for taking time to post!:D

[Katemusical]

I'm so glad you are enjoying my stories.

 

My hubby called the night before to the spa. The night before there is always a FUN Times on your bed. They have listed there the specials for spa the next day. He called immediately once reading that...plus he booked my facial for the same time.

[Katemusical]

YAY! We love another sea day and that's exactly what we got.

After waking up to another wonderful room service delivery,that this time forgot two of our milks and a banana, we started getting ready for the fun day ahead. By the way, as stated before you mark down on the door hanger paper what time youi want them to come to your room with your food. Well every morning it seemed to get earlier and earlier, even though I always marked 7-7:30 a.m. OH WELL! Who cares??? IT'S ROOM SERVICE FOR FREE TO MY CABIN! I LOVE CRUISING!!!

We were very excited to get ready because we had reservations for the Dr. Seuss Brunch that morning. I had read about this brunch through CC as well on the Carnival website. Here's the big problem again..NO WHERE WAS IT LISTED ON THE FUN TIMES THAT IT WAS EVEN AVAILABLE...OY! So, if I had not read about it ahead of time, my hubby and I would not have known to ask. So, of course, the day before, we walked ourselves to see my friend Jay at Guest Relations to find out if it was even being held. Maybe because of the holidays they cancelled it. Nope, it was another oversight. He got on the phone and made us a reservation. $5- for each person, the toddler was free. I'm so glad he did that for us!

 

We had a BLAST! It takes place in one of the dining room. You feel the fun as soon as you get to the lobby in front of the doors to the dining room. The curtains are closed with a sign saying to wait for the host/hostess. In front of the that is a board with head cutouts that you can take a picture as Thing 1 and Thing 2. It was hilarious watching the toddler stick his little head in that hole. You can imagine. Finally, they opened the curtains and you would have thought we were in Willy Wonka's Chocalate Factory hahaha..We all oooohhhed and aaahhed. It was spectacular..so adorable! Everyone cheered! You walked into the room and all of the tables in one section had Cat In The Hats everywhere. Special centerpieces, ice sculptures, napkins as his bowtie, and signs everywhere. The best part was the menu. All of the food was catered around Dr. Seuss books. Of course, we ordered the toddler Green Eggs and Ham! How could we not??? Just to see that colored food. It actually tasted great. Hubby and I both ordered filet steak and eggs. I know it had a clever name, but I can't remember. Anyway, everyone got rolls to go with the brunch. Also they walked around with Cat In The Hat cookies and two different kinds of colorful parfaits. SO YUMMY!

During the brunch, different Dr.Seuss characters come in and walk around. They go personally to each family for pictures. Plus the kids get an autograph page for a stamp by each character. The toddler was cool when Thing 1 and Thing 2 came up to him. He just kept petting their fur...but when we took him out of the high chair to go over to the Cat In the Hat and the Grinch. Oh MY! He screamed. So we took him over to them for the picture. Cat's hat was too tall to walk around the room, so we were called over by family to them. Again, everyone got good time with each character. SO NICE! Toddler loved Sam I Am's hat...very cute.

That was the best $10 we have spent...we are definitely doing this brunch again on a future cruise!

 

More to come about our busy sea day...

[easyboy]

You sound like you are really having fun, with your very supportive and caring hubby. Enjoying your review.

[JaniceB]

Following long...

Taking 2 10 year olds on a cruise....do you think they will like the Dr Seuss breakfast?

[Katemusical]

Thanks everyone!

 

I do think your 10 year olds will get a kick out of the brunch. I teach kindergarten-5th grade music in an elementary school. I know 10 year olds. They pretend to be too cool for school; but I have gone to Disneyland with them on trips. They become little guys and gals when Mickey comes around. I think they will love seeing The Cat In The Hat, etc. PLus the food was great.

 

Sorry this review is taking so long, as someone posted, to write. Like I have said I have a toddler, plus work full time. So I am sneaking this review in when I can.

Edited January 11, 2017 by Katemusical

[Katemusical]

After the brunch, hubby we just ended up going to the cabin for naps. It's a hard life of of eating, relaxing, playing... We had planned to go to the Dr. Seuss parade which was in the afternoon, but that didn't happen. Naps lasted longer that expected. We were able to go to the special Xmas show that afternoon though. Honestly, it was pretty cheesy and the performances were poor; but they did include the kids from the camps. I'm sure their parents loved it. It was just a horribly written script. Oh well..again, it's the holidays.

We went to go look at the pictures that the photographers have taken of our little family. OKay, now you might have gotten an almost free cruise deal and tons of credits to use; but isn't amazing that you can have an almost $300 bill just on pictures!!!???? OY!! Now this story makes my blood boil...BEWARE OF THE CANVAS DEAL!!! We found that we loved a bunch of the pics. In fact, we loved two so much, we took advantage of the canvas deal. They take your pic and blow it up onto a canvas. I was so excited to give this as a gift for Hannukah to my parents. Toddler looked like a little model. Sigh...well when we got back home and took it to Aaron Brothers, the man said, "Who did this?" He couldn't do anything with them. They cut them up on an angle, no measuring. Plus they left no border to fold over a frame to hang. The guy told us that all we could do is put it in a regular frame like a poster...WHAT???!!! There went $200-!!! So I called Carnival right away and complained. After A LOT of complaining about it, they agreed to reimburse us the money. I think it was finally when I said I wanted to return them. I would pay to send them back to get my money. Whoa, she means business, is what I think they thought.

With that story being said, the rest of our pictures are wonderful...yeah, I'm the fool who spends an arm and a leg on those pics. SIGH!

 

Back to after the show and looking at pictures...

We were hungry, so we stopped at the Blue Iguana for yummy burritos and rice to take back to our room. I miss that salsa.

[JaniceB]

Thanks everyone!

 

I do think your 10 year olds will get a kick out of the brunch. I teach kindergarten-5th grade music in an elementary school. I know 10 year olds. They pretend to be too cool for school; but I have gone to Disneyland with them on trips. They become little guys and gals when Mickey comes around. I think they will love seeing The Cat In The Hat, etc. PLus the food was great.

 

Sorry this review is taking so long, as someone posted, to write. Like I have said I have a toddler, plus work full time. So I am sneaking this review in when I can.

 

Thank you and I am enjoying your review.

 

Sorry about the canvas picture, that sounds terrible but glad it was resolved.

Edited January 12, 2017 by JaniceB

[Katemusical]

There is something so comforting and relaxing about eating in your cabin, even if it's just a burrito. I actually enjoy watching the ship's channels, looking for announcements or presentations we couldn't get to earlier on the ship. The one I refuse to watch is the video on how to disembark the next day. That means reality is setting in soon...sigh.

 

After lunch and a little more napping, we got changed for dinner. There was a show that night that we wanted to go to before we had to come back and pack, so we rushed to get changed. We headed to dinner and luckily there was just a little line to wait. I still love that pick your time dining.

 

We really enjoyed our servers both of the nights we ate in the dining room. They were so nice and silly with the toddler, making napkin animals and singing with him. Remember I said that you can pick whatever and how much ever you want to eat on a cruise, well, so did the toddler hahahaha. He loved his chicken breast with mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, and side of noodles plain. Oh plus a bite from different rolls in the bread basket. Toddlers are never satisfied with what you give them. It just makes me laugh and pull my hair out.

I have forgotten to mention that on Carnival the wait staff perform dances during dinner service. Everyone eating gets into it by waving their napkins. Well the toddler learned this and couldn't get enough. This last night in the dining room he started waving the napkin right when he got in the highchair. If you are worried about high chairs, by the way, don't be. There are plenty in all dining facilities to be found. Just ask one of the crew and they will find you one. Make sure that the buckles work, though. We had a couple that didn't work.

The food in the dining room all in all is okay. We weren't that impressed but it wasn't horrible. There's always something to eat. They need to work on their menus and keep updating it. It would be nice if you didn't have to pay extra for a good steak in the dining room.

[Katemusical]

After dinner we went to the show. I cannot remember what the name of it is, though. 15-20 minutes before the doors open they ask for volunteers to come be a part of the show. They teach them their part then open the doors to the audience. We waited A LONG time for them to open the doors this night. Be aware that this show has a strip scene in it that you might not want your kids to see. Toddlers have no clue what they are watching so it didn't bother us. There is a sign when you walk in with a disclaimer of adult situations. The show has fun music, but the show is just eh. It could be improved.

 

Now back to the room to back. On your bed the day before will be your luggage tags and number for disembarking group. If you don't have enough tags, your steward can bring you more. We were 24, which meant we were going to wait a long time to leave tomorrow. Also, if you are walking your luggage off in the morning, you do not need to put it our in the hall the night before. It's always sad packing up at the end of a cruise. Also, it gets frustrating figuring out what bags to keep with you that will hold your clothes and pjs from the night before, plus toiletries, and kids' gear. We finally packed up everything and placed our bags in the hall by our day with the tags attached. SIGH...

 

One last thing to do before we went to sleep in our floating bedroom. There is room service for breakfast the last morning, so I made sure we got the last of our being spoiled in the cabin in the morning.

 

The last morning came way too soon. A very interesting fact about these short cruises that we learned. 70% of the guests walk off with their luggage. This is very rare for a cruise. Since it's so short, most people only need a weekend bag. My hubby makes fun of me; because I take at least two bags for myself for a weekend getaway to Disneyland. Anyway, with the toddler it would have been IMPOSSIBLE to walk off that morning with luggage.

You have to be out of your cabin by a certain time in the morning. So after room service breakfast, showers, etc, we were packed up and ready to leave. We always prepay our tips before going on our cruises so we know we have taken care of it. Rarely do we give extra tips to crew, unless they are doing an extra hard job of making our stay enjoyable and clean. Our room steward was excellent this weekend. I had asked him to always keep ice in our bucket because we didn't have a fridge to keep toddler's medicine cold. There was always fresh ice and clean glasses. He had the ship fix our phone, cleaned up a glass I accidentally broke, delivered our gifts beautifully (family sent us Hannukah credits to spend and champagne), and made sure we had the cutest towel animals waiting for us at turndown. Plus, he cleaned up after a gross, messy toddler. That alone deserved a bigger tip. He came to say goodbye to us and especially the toddler and the lion stuffed animal. Remember I said everyone recognizes the toddler because of the orange lion hanging out of his mouth. hahaha Anyway, my hubby handed him an extra cash tip for him and to share with his assistant. They were great guys!

 

We loved our rooms' location. We were right by an elevator, which we were worried about. To our great surprise, there was no noise in the hall. Well there is always the worry of not catching an elevator up to the buffet area because everyone is using it. Not these elevators. We had no problem getting on with our bags.

You can only be on two floors and one of those is the pool deck/buffet floor. The buffet is the only place open to eat, also.

There were plenty of tables in that great walkway between the pool and buffet so we planted ourselves there. Plus there is a big family bathroom with a changing table right there also. Families need to know that there are not changing tables in all of the bathrooms.

So we plopped ourselves down, got a high chair, and sat..and sat...and sat. It was fun watching all of the people walking off the ship on the gangway. There were a lot, just like Dee the cruise director said there would be. After a couple of hours, our number was finally called.

What a quick and easy disembarkation. The line moved quickly and everyone was so nice. When we went to our baggage claim area, our luggage was the only one left. It looked so lonely. We just laughed and said that it worked out for us. No people pushing us over with their luggage.

We loaded up the car and paid the lot attendant. $19- a day to park in their covered garage. It's worth it.

Then headed back to Vegas, where a normal 4 hour ride took 10 hours!!!!!! AUGH!!!!!!!! We still don't know why; but nothing was going to ruin our fun, relaxing Hannukah cruise.

 

Hope you enjoyed this review. Let me know if you have any questions, and I will try to answer them.