Inspiration Review: Just Got Back

[gdisney]

Hey folks - just disembarked the Inspiration yesterday. Here's my long-winded thoughts on the trip:

 

This cruise was a four-night trip on the Carnival Inspiration, round trip from Long Beach, visiting Catalina Island and Ensenada. This was my 16^th cruise lifetime, and 4^th on Carnival. My most recent cruises were on Princess; my last cruise on Carnival was about two years ago. This was my first cruise as a solo (divorced) traveler. I picked this trip simply because the timing worked out, and the price was right. Even having to pay double occupancy fare, with taxes, port fees and gratuities prepaid it came to under $500.

 

I arrived early on Monday morning at the pier at 10:30am. My boarding pass showed I was in boarding group A3 and has a check-in time of 12:30pm. The parking garage is incredibly convenient, being right next to the terminal building. Part of it is currently under construction for expansion, but I had no problem finding a spot, and ended up on the ramp between the 1^st and 2^nd floors, right near the exit. Incidentally, this location charges $23 per night for parking.

 

There were several porters sitting around by the curb at the edge of the garage, but I couldn’t immediately tell if they were bringing luggage out for people leaving or picking up new luggage. So I walked past them before being directed back by the friendly Carnival staff at the crosswalk. At the terminal building there was no one waiting, and the staff welcomed me to come inside and “get the process started”.  They have three lines at the entrance – one for priority and FTTF, one for people arriving at their check-in time, and one for people arriving early. It didn’t matter though, since again no one was there. So I walked into the terminal at 10:42am and was through security at 10:45. Then I had nothing to do but wait inside the large domed building on their cushy bench seats.

 

They started calling priority and FTTF boarding at 11:13am. Since there was still not that many people there, they continued by calling groups A1 and A2 at 11:14, followed by group A3 at 11:15. So the folks who purchased FTTF, for which one of the perks is earlier boarding, got on a whole two minutes earlier than me. After walking a long distance through an inclined ramp that went around and around, I made it to the upstairs check point at 11:18 and was on board at 11:21. (Rooms are announced as being not available until 1:30, and the doors to staterooms corridors are all closed at this point).

 

I had lunch at Guy’s Burger Joint, which is the first opportunity I’ve had to try this. It was actually a pretty decent burger, and they give you a small side of fries on the side. They have a pretty expansive condiment bar, with sauces and toppings such as bacon and mushrooms. Also on the pool deck is the Blue Iguana Cantina, offering street tacos, burritos, and taco salad bowls. They’re only open for breakfast and lunch, closing at 3:30pm (2:30pm on the last day at sea). Guy’s is open Noon-6:00pm. Incidentally, the Cantina also has an expansive salsa bar, so you can dress up your tacos any way you like. I was surprised that for burritos, the only tortilla offerings they had were wheat or jalapeno.

 

They have two self serve beer kiosks on the Lido deck, one between Guy’s and the Cantina and one inside the buffet area, where you swipe your card and pour your own beer and it charges by the ounce ($.37/oz). I tried the one outside once – it coughed and sputtered up foam. And the resulting ounce of liquid I ended up with did not taste like the Dos Equus it claimed to be. Fortunately I did not incur a charge for this; I guess the machine knows when it’s not working. And even more fortunately, they have the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar and the more popular Red Frog Rum Bar, both of which feature their own menu of cocktails, and daily featured drinks for $1 off.

 

I like how Carnival has its self-serve beverage station set up, out at the Lido deck near the pool, with machine dispensers for coffee, hot water for tea, and cocoa as well as water and lemonade all day (and other juices at breakfast times). It’s nice being out in the open with room to move around it. It’s so much more…user friendly then how things are setup on Princess. And I love having instant access to cocoa all day long. Except – the machine is a one-touch button that pre-fills the mug a specific amount. And that amount is 60% full. So you have to press it again and pull your cup out before it overflows, allowing the rest to pour down the drain.

 

For some reason they had a person dressed up as Mr. Potato Head, taking pictures with people on the Lido deck on embarkation day. Still haven’t figured out why.

 

THE STATEROOM

Off of the stair and elevator landings they have big signs indicating which side has odd and which has even stateroom numbers. And honestly, I still get turned around on ships and almost always head to the wrong side first, turning back as soon as I see the first stateroom door number.  So that was actually appreciated. My stateroom was U7, a far-forward oceanview (portholes) room. This is one area where the ship still shows its age, although flooring and furniture is not original to the 1996 launch date (the ship was last refurbished in late 2018). The room is actually quite spacious, as I’ve found rooms to be compared with the small rooms on Princess. But it has no nightstand, no fridge, no thermostat (just a ceiling vent you can open or close to control air flow). There’s one electrical outlet at the desk. On previous cruises I’ve enjoyed using magnet clips on the walls to hold papers I’m saving. On this ship there’s not enough metal in the walls for this to work. Fortunately the bathroom and stateroom doors would hold a magnet. The bathroom only has one small shelf to put stuff on (on Princess I’ve found they offer a lot of bathroom storage space). But, it is a very good size room, and was comfortable enough. It does have a desk chair and an ottoman seat as well.

 

I didn’t see my room steward Montana all that much, but I’m a low maintenance guy. She was very nice all the same, and I got a different towel animal each day. They now have you pick what time frame you want for your cleaning time, or a nightly turndown, or if you want both. The stewards have a piece of paper you make your selection on, and you have to sign it.

 

Muster was call 25 minutes late according to the posted schedule, at 3:55pm. As is the norm these days, no need to bring a life jacket to muster. I was in the Paris theatre, and was impressed that the captain came to our muster station to talk, accompanied by the chief engineer and hotel director. I’ve never seen the high brass at muster before.

 

I had Your-Time dining this trip, which was the first time on any line that I’ve done this. I’ve almost always done traditional early dining before. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Your Time dining worked. I arrived the first night at 5:55pm (it opened at 5:45), and was seated right away at my own table. There wasn’t even a line to get in really, just a few people. They pull your room number at the front, which gives your waiter your name; it is a nice touch when they address you by name. My waiter this night was Julio, and it was his first night onboard too (he previously was on the Fascination). Nice guy, but this would be the only night I saw him. I started with the poblano and corn soup, which frankly was amazingly flavorful with just a bit of spiciness. I then had the lasagna, which looked good but was overly beefy and under-seasoned, nor was I a fan of the creamy white cheese they use. But it was still pretty good. And of course I had the chocolate melting cake for dessert. It’s basically like an undercooked brownie-cake with a side of vanilla ice cream. Sooo good. I left at 6:55 and noted that there was still no line outside. My dining each subsequent night went pretty much the same, and all of the food was enjoyable.

 

I noted at one point on the first night that a pop version of My Heart Will Go On (from the movie Titanic) was playing on the speakers. Why do they play this on cruise ships??

 

ENTERTAINMENT

The entertainment onboard was pretty good. I should mention that I never had issue getting seating at any show, early or late shows, whether I showed up 5 minutes early or 20 minutes early. Seating just wasn’t an issue here.  The stage shows were…okay. Studio VIP and Motor City. You can tell the cast has some talent, although if I were to be nitpicky I’d say they’ve gotten a little lazy on the choreography. Just not a lot of attention to detail in uniformity. But my big problem is the design of the shows, which I just don’t find to be well written with a good flow to engage audiences. I’ve found the shows on Princess to be written much better, and on Princess they have a live orchestra that really adds to the experience. Where Carnival really excels is in their Punchliner Comedy Club. With two comedians on board and 2-4 shows nightly ranging from PG to explicit, there’s a lot of offerings. They blow Princess out of the water here. It’s among the best in comedy shows I’ve seen anywhere, on land or sea. Andre was a great host and has some talent of his own, and in particularly the comic Douglas Williams was fantastic. I also really enjoyed the Piano Bar, which is in a little lounge in a separate room off the atrium. Michael has great personality for this venue, and he’s quite talented. I also attended the Love and Marriage show, hosted by CD Ryan Rose, which was incredibly funny and well run. And that coming from a single, divorced guy. Incidentally, the CD on this trip w did a great job and was all over the ship.

 

PORTS

We had tender service in Catalina, and honestly it was the smoothest and easiest tendering I’ve ever done. No tender tickets needed. Just show up and go. Assuming you can figure out where to show up – they are not very good about posting anywhere where you’re supposed to go. It’s not in the FunTimes or on the Hub app. There’s no signs in the stair/elevator landings. I think they made an announcement, but I was in my stateroom and couldn’t hear it. Anyways, tender service was scheduled to begin at 7:45; I headed down at 8am. I basically kept going down as far as I could, wandering eventually to deck 4, where the signs say “Medical Center”. And that’s where you go, apparently. But I walked right on the tender, no waiting, and we were soon underway.

 

Golf cart rentals in Catalina are $50 an hour, btw. It’s been a few years since I was here and I don’t remember them being quite that high. But I walked around on my own, first along the waterfront before heading up the hill to the Wrigley Botanical Gardens (admisson $8 general, $6 senior). They have a nice collection of cacti as well as plants such as aloe and agave, and a variety of small trees such as shrub oak. The old stone monument, built in 1933, offers some nice views down to the bay. I also did the Garden to Sky Summit trail, which goes up to the top of the hill offering even more fantastic views around the island.

 

Ensenada was the next day; we docked in at 7:35am. Once again I found my way down to deck 4 and walked right off. I can tell Ensenada has been working on improvements over the last decade. They’ve improved their waterfront walk and added in fountains (which didn’t operate until the afternoon). It seems like there were less people around the pier area trying to hawk stuff. Though downtown, you still see a lot of this. I had lunch at a colorful little street café, and got approached every few minutes by 5-year old girls trying to sell trinkets. As well as groups of older men with instruments trying to play you a song. I was offered several massages with happy endings out on the street, along with all manner of pharmaceuticals and typical trinkets that are mostly identical in every shop you come to. I did visit the science museum just off the pier, which is a huge new building, of which only about 10% is finished and running. But for $3 you can visit a room with displays and videos about endemic plants and animals on the various islands around the Baja peninsula.

 

On our last day at sea before returning home, I went to the Sea Day Brunch that is apparently a popular thing to do. I arrived at 8:30, which was the opening time, and the line stretched out of the Mardi Gras dining room and halfway around the atrium.  And this was despite having competition with the Green Eggs and Ham breakfast going on at the same time in the Carnivale Dining Room. This was the longest I waited the entire trip to be seated for dining – and it still only took 6 minutes. Of course with the initial opening, service was a bit slow, and it took over a half hour to get served any food. But it was still good, and I recommend it. I had the eggs benedict and a blueberry muffin (served warm), along with a side of “brunch potatoes”.

 

As far as dining goes, I should note that lunch is never available in the MDR’s. I often enjoyed this on Princess, especially on embarkation day. But it’s not offered on Carnival, or at least this ship. For cooked meats – they give you two options: medium rare or medium well. Getting drinks on the ship was never a problem, as I found servers to be plentiful anywhere I was. And the staff in general was great ship-wide, always friendly and seemingly glad that you are there.

 

I should also note that this ship has the waterworks slides, as well as a 9-hole mini golf course area that also has a foosball table and two pool tables (not that the balls ever stay put much on a moving ship). And there’s one ping-pong table, midship deck 11, port side.

 

Well eventually you have to go home. On disembarkation day the full breakfast buffet opens early, at 6:30am (instead of the normal 7am – on Princess incidentally they always open at 6am).  The disembarkation process is more streamlined than on Princess, where they have you wait in a lounge somewhere while they call through dozens of different groups. Here on this Carnival ship anyway, they just call by deck starting at 7:30. You have to be vacated from your room by 8:30, and everyone is supposed to be off the ship by 9:30. I didn’t wait that long, as I hate long good-byes. I noted that a line started forming around the Deck 7 atrium just before 7am, which is when they allow those off who have priority or who are carrying their own luggage. I didn’t head up myself till about 7:08, and by then there were only a dozen or so in line. I made it off the ship and down to security in 10 minutes, and breezed through security in about 30 seconds. 

 

In summary, the Carnival Inspiration is an older ship but with recent renovations to give it some of the amenities you’d expect on newer vessels. It’s well maintained enough that it’s easy to forget its age, and the crew is by and large friendly, helpful, and energetic, displaying great pride in their work. Although it’s just a short 4-day voyage, and they don’t offer really any enrichment type classes on the places you’re visiting, it’s a nice little vacation getaway.

[KmomChicago]

Excellent, detailed review of a short, budget-friendly cruise. It's hard to beat the prices of an off-season voyage on a Fantasy-class ship, when they are obviously short on customers. I wonder if there were some unsold rooms on the trip you took, which is rare but can happen. I think they typically just keep offering bargain basement prices to the (often retired and thus able to travel whenever) highest tier loyalty customers to at least break even.

 

A couple of notes - Carnival's Cruise Directors seem to be much more visible and participating than any other cruise line as far as I have experienced and from reading lots of reviews of multiple cruise lines, so no surprise that you experienced this as well.

 

You're correct about lunch in the MDR.  The only exception I have seen is, when a port day is cancelled and there is an unexpected sea day, they do typically open a dining room for lunch with a limited menu.

 

I really don't like the sound of the 5 year olds out there having to hawk to tourists in Ensenada.  Would be nice if they can figure out how to monetize the cruise visits better and in a less damaging way.

[bury me at sea]

That was a nice comprehensive review.  I am glad you enjoyed the cruise and thanks for taking the time to post your experiences.

[billslowsky]

11 hours ago, gdisney said:

For some reason they had a person dressed up as Mr. Potato Head, taking pictures with people on the Lido deck on embarkation day. Still haven’t figured out why.

 

 

Probably a tie in with the Hasbro game show.

[Theosprey247]

Good review. Thank you. 

Edited January 19, 2020 by Theosprey247

[gdisney]

18 minutes ago, billslowsky said:

 

Probably a tie in with the Hasbro game show.

Oh I didn’t make it to that, but you must be right. 

[Linda the Book Lover]

Thanks for your review. The DD and I have taken the quick 4-day on the Inspiration twice before and she thought it would be fun to take before our 7-day on the Panorama. I do wish they would "retire" a balcony ship to this port as the Suite category is the only offering with one amd boy the balcony is small (regular Suite not the Jr. Suite). 

[Markmom18]

Thank you for the very nice review!  I’ve cruised on her a handful if times, always have had a great time too. I tried the Sea Day Brunch for the first time in September, I kinda surprised myself how much I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast “brunch”. I normally just get some juice & rolls in the cabin. 
 

Good job!

🛳🛳

 Bobbi

[mexicobob]

Enjoyed the review. Would like your opinion on cruising solo.

[grima625]

Thank you for the nice review.  The DW and I will be cruising on the Inspiration at the end of September.  We will also cruise on the Panorama the day after we get off of the Inspiration.  This will be our first time cruising from Long Beach, so I'm trying to read all of the reviews that I can.

[Jamman54]

Thanks for posting your review. We were on the Inspiration last April and we enjoyed it as well. 😎

[Jamman54]

4 hours ago, grima625 said:

Thank you for the nice review.  The DW and I will be cruising on the Inspiration at the end of September.  We will also cruise on the Panorama the day after we get off of the Inspiration.  This will be our first time cruising from Long Beach, so I'm trying to read all of the reviews that I can.

Great plan. Are you staying at the Queen Mary between cruises? Makes for an easy transition between the cruises.😎

Edited January 24, 2020 by Jamman54

[grima625]

28 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Great plan. Are you staying at the Queen Mary between cruises? Makes for an easy transition between the cruises.😎

Jeff,

 

That's the plan.  I remember reading your review a couple of months back, and knew that's where we wanted to be.  Did you use the water taxi in Long Beach between cruises, or did you just stay on the Queen Mary the entire time?  Researching what to do to fill all of the ports that will be new to us.

Thanks,

[Jamman54]

37 minutes ago, grima625 said:

Jeff,

 

That's the plan.  I remember reading your review a couple of months back, and knew that's where we wanted to be.  Did you use the water taxi in Long Beach between cruises, or did you just stay on the Queen Mary the entire time?  Researching what to do to fill all of the ports that will be new to us.

Thanks,

Yes we just stayed on the QM. We used the time to really explore the ship. Plenty to see. We arrived in Long Beach four days before our first cruise, so we had plenty of time to explore there. You're going to have a blast. We are doing the Imagination and Panorama in October of 2021.😎

Edited January 24, 2020 by Jamman54

[Linda the Book Lover]

7 hours ago, grima625 said:

Thank you for the nice review.  The DW and I will be cruising on the Inspiration at the end of September.  We will also cruise on the Panorama the day after we get off of the Inspiration.  This will be our first time cruising from Long Beach, so I'm trying to read all of the reviews that I can.

My DD made reservations for us on the Queen Mary (we love staying there) for the day we disembark as the Panorama does not leave until the next day. We usually stay the day before and enjoy Long Beach this time we are going to take my DGD to enjoy the day and evening on the shp with us. I am really looking forward to it.

 

[gdisney]

13 hours ago, mexicobob said:

Enjoyed the review. Would like your opinion on cruising solo.

 

It wasn't that bad actually. I got a good rate for the cruise fare as this was a non-peak time to go. I actually was going to go to the singles mixers they had on three of the nights, but they weren't until 11pm. And frankly that's a but past my bed time 😉 But I had a fun time doing my own thing, and in some ways it was kind of nice not having to worry about anyone else. Dining in the MDR was okay; even when you have a table by yourself the tables are pretty close together so you can talk to other people if you want. Though I'm naturally a social introvert, I did meet a few people and chatted with a few crew members as well. I imagine though if it was a longer trip it might have seemed more lonely.

[Linda the Book Lover]

2 hours ago, grima625 said:

Jeff,

 

That's the plan.  I remember reading your review a couple of months back, and knew that's where we wanted to be.  Did you use the water taxi in Long Beach between cruises, or did you just stay on the Queen Mary the entire time?  Researching what to do to fill all of the ports that will be new to us.

Thanks,

We took the water taxi in the day time and the shuttle bus across the parking lot from the Queen Mary all hours it ran. There is a great aquarium there if you want to enjoy sea life, a personal favorite with us. There is a small "tourist shopping area next to the aquarium with a few restaurants. We are Yard House fans. The little shuttle bus can take you into downtown Long Beach where we eat breakfast and there are plenty of restaurants. There is a coffee shop on the Queen Mary and a restaurant (pricey) along with a bar with a view of the harbor. There is also a submarine next to the Queen Mary for us a one and done event😉 The full Queen Mary tour is great, a slight discount if you stay there. There are also tours into LA. 

[Cometman]

Thanks for the review, we head out on the Imagination in 17 days on the same itinerary!

[cniebla]

Thank you for the review , we are going this Sunday on same cruise and I have never been before on a cruise.

[gdisney]

33 minutes ago, cniebla said:

Thank you for the review , we are going this Sunday on same cruise and I have never been before on a cruise.

 

Oh how fun! Hope you have a great time. These shorter 4 day trips are great for first time cruisers, to see how you like it. And although this is an older ship, I really do think they've done a great job in refreshing it to make it feel newer.

[pc_load_letter]

Being in San Diego, the wife and I sail on Inspiration a couple times a year. Whenever anyone is considering a cruise, we recommend this ship and it's easy three and four day trips.

[jean87510]

We are also doing the Inspiration before our Panorama cruise coming up in April.  We will board the inspiration on 4/27 and the panorama on 5/2. We are just looking for a marriott somewhere for the night before the panorama as we have a lot of points.

[gdisney]

7 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

We are also doing the Inspiration before our Panorama cruise coming up in April.  We will board the inspiration on 4/27 and the panorama on 5/2. We are just looking for a marriott somewhere for the night before the panorama as we have a lot of points.

 

I know there's a Residence Inn by Marriott like one mile away from the Long Beach cruise terminal...

[jean87510]

3 minutes ago, gdisney said:

 

I know there's a Residence Inn by Marriott like one mile away from the Long Beach cruise terminal...

I will have to take a look, thank you!

 

I just booked the inspiration 4 days ago due to a sudden price drop.  Our room is terrible - probably the smallest cabin in the fleet but 4 days...?  I just need a shower and a bed.  We have a loaded itiniery for those days on both cruises so when we are in the cabin, we plan on sleeping!  If this was a transatlantic, I definitely would go for the balcony and up.  These little cruises and ones with a lot of port days, we go for the inside.