Inspiration review(Long) - 6/9-14/07

[62 Cruiser]

We arrived in Tampa a day early and stayed in a Hampton Inn just off Hwy 60. This was VERY convenient to the Port of Tampa (about a 10 minute drive). Nice rooms, nice area and $89 a night (AAA).

 

We arrived at the Port of Tampa around 10:15am and had valet parking ($75 for week). Porters took our luggage. We had a lot. There were 9 in our group.

 

Embarkation

 

This went very smoothly. We stood in line for approximately 10 minutes to enter the terminal. Once inside the terminal there were employees who made sure you kept moving and that you were going the right way. Very helpful.

Once documentation(ticket,birth certificate or passport and photo id for each member of your group) was checked, you were issued your Sign & Sail cards. I haven't been on a Carnival cruise in 27 years and I still got a past guest gold card. I thought that was pretty good that I was still in their data base. For those of you who are traveling with minors and don't want to put money into there own account, you can put everyone in your party on your account and just have them issued the cards. Any purchase they make will come out of your account and will show on your statement.

We were given a group number and sat in a waiting area for less than 15 minutes. Our group was called and we boarded the InspirationWe headed to the Lido deck and enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch and had a "Funship" drink of the day and waited for 1:30 to arrive so we could go to our stateroom.

 

Staterooms

 

We stayed on the Empress deck Rms 124,130,134,138 which is about midship. We had an interior room which was fine for us since we knew we were not going to be in the room that much. The room was very nice and much roomier than I had anticipated. Not much drawer space but closet space was very ample and there were some shelves in the closet.

We were a little concerned about being under the galley but the only time we heard noise was the nights of the late night buffets. It was loud but didn't last very long.

Our room steward was Jerry. He was fantastic!!! I made sure that during the week I slipped him some cash and he took very good care of us. Anything I asked for, he made sure it was taken care of. Promptly!!

 

Dining

 

We had the first seating for dinner (5:45) in the Carnivale dining room. Our Matri' D was George the Greek. That is one crazy man. Opa!!

The food each night was fantastic. Small portions but you could get another entree or two. If you left hungry it was your own fault. Everything was brought in a very timely matter and glasses were constantly being filled.

We had one formal night since it was a 5 day cruise. They were not real strict on the dress code in the Carnivale since I saw shorts and tee shirts on several occasions at dinner. But for the most part, dress code was adhered to by the passengers.

Pictures are taken every night. Each night was a different theme. We had a "pirate" one night and we got our pictures made wearing a Mexican sombrero one night. I think the other nights were just casual shots.

 

Ports of Call

 

Grand Cayman

 

In GC, we decided to go on our own since we were not going to be there all day. We walked about 3 blocks and went snorkeling at Eden Rock. I had read some reviews on CC and on the internet and decided to try it. Am I glad we did!!! You can rent the snorkel equipment there and the reefs are fantastic. 4 of us snorkeled, rented a huge locker and snorkeled about 2 hours for a total of $61USD. The snorkeling is free. So if you have your own equipment, the only thing you need to rent is a locker. The employees at Eden Rock were very helpful and friendly. I would definitely recommend this!

After snorkeling we had time to shop. Great time.

 

 

Calica is nothing more than a rock quarry with a small flea market for trinkets. Avoid the flea market!!!! Tourist trap:eek:

 

We booked Xcaret ($59pp) when we boarded the Inspiration. We waited in the hot Mexican sun for about 30 minutes waiting for our bus to Xcaret. Thank goodness the bus was air conditioned and very nice. The ship does not offer the Xcaret plus package but you can upgrade once you get to the park. I recommend this for sure. It's a $35pp upgrade but it is well worth it. You will get a buffet lunch at one of the restaurants, coupons for drinks and snacks, snorkel rental, locker, and a towel. The buffet alone costs $24pp. We also went on the snorkel reef trip while in the park. That was great. Lots of fish, sea turtles and beautiful coral. I guess the downfall was the way the park was laid out. I told my wife I knew what a foreigner felt like at Disney World, lots of things to do but not sure how to get there and when you ask someone, the broken English confused you more.

My wife and her friend got a 50 minute full body massage for $69pp. She said that was one of the highlights of her trip. Very relaxing and tastefully done. You really need an entire day at Xcaret to really enjoy it. We will go back to take in all of it's beauty.

 

 

Activities for teens

 

My kids are 13 and 15. We were with a family that had children 15 & 17.

The 13 year old boy was bored to death the first day of Camp Carnival. The activities seemed fun but for younger children. Not teenagers. If your children are 8-11 then Camp Carnival will be a blast. My 13 yr old son actually ended up hanging out in Club O2 with the older teenagers. He is pretty big for his age (5'9" 222) so he didn't have a problem just walking in to Club O2. He said some "smaller" kids tried to come in and were politely asked to leave. Mostly what the teens did was play video games (guitar hero, et al), hang out and talked, and danced. There were times when there was not much for them to do or things they didn't want to do so you saw the teens wandering the ship but I must say very well behaved.

 

 

The Inspiration in general and the staff

 

Even though the Inspiration is an older ship it is very well maintained. Very clean and neat. No major flaws. The decor is a bit dated but can be overlooked.

 

The staff was very friendly and they were always smiling and would give you a friendly hello when you passed them.

 

Announcement were made several times a day by Risa the CD. Informative and along with the daily newspapers (Capers) you were well informed of the daily activities.

 

The wait staff on deck are constantly pushing drinks. Beware of the drinks in the coconut monkey heads. These babies are $14.95 each plus gratuity!! No clue until I signed for them. More monkey than drink.

 

The pool with the slide (Lido deck) was always crowded but go to the Veranda deck and that pool was smaller but much less crowded. Chairs were abundant especially if you got there 10ish or so. Watch your towels. One of ours got "borrowed":mad:. I went to the purser's desk and since I had reported it taken, I would not be charged for it. It is normally $22. There is no need to take the big blue towels from your stateroom because the is a poolside towel station where you can sign out for towels. Save the ones in your room for excursions. When you are done with your excursion that day, leave the towels on the floor in your stateroom and your room steward will replace them with new ones.

 

 

Entertainment

 

The shows were typical cruise ship shows. Vegas style with the sense of a college production. I personally did not care for the late night comedy, The comedians dropped the "F" bomb way too much to suit me and the jokes were pretty lame. We actually walked out of both comedians. The newly wed game was hilarious. Do not miss this!!!! We had a magic show that was good and the comedian, Tony Esposito was actually much funnier when he did family material. Why comedians feel they need to use profanity to be funny is beyond me.:confused: Just my opinion.

 

 

Disembarkment

 

We chose not to do self assist. Since we were driving, we were in no hurry. We had a leisurely breakfast on Lido and waited for general dismissal to be announced. Once this was done, we stood in line for about 20 minutes before actually leaving the ship.

Customs was a breeze for us. The custom officer asked me a couple of questions and then let us pass. Within 10 minutes, we were in our van and headed out of the port area.

 

 

Overall

 

I would cruise this line and this ship again. When you read on CC about don't overpack....believe it. I am glad I had this opportunity and my family had a great time and that is really what matters.

 

 

When you go on your cruise.....enjoy it!!!! We did!!!:D

[mom2girls]

Thanks for the review! I haven't been on the Inspiration since she was a 7 day cruise. It's nice to hear that she's still fun! My girls and I will be doing the 5 day in a few weeks. I guess they rotate the ports though. Our sailing is going to Cozumel instead of Calica.

[Peaceful]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review and post it. Sounds like you had a great trip. Have you thought about the next?

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for the review! I am glad you enjoyed it.

[62 Cruiser]

We were thinking about the next cruise before this one was over!:D

[DqALEX]

Thanks for your review. I see a trip on the Inspiration in my near future

[jpmaximus]

Another great Inspiration review! Carnival really built a good ship!

[Frassy]

Thank you, very much, for the review. We are headed out of Tampa on the Inspiration in April, 08. 1st timers.... and appreciate each and every tip that comes our way.

Thanks again! ;)