Inspiration 8/23-8/27 Review

[Hogladyrider]

This was my 7th cruise with Carnival! Yes, I’m a Carnival junkie. This cruise finally made me wake up to the fact that the 3-4 day cruises are party cruises and not designed as a relaxing weekend get away! We had a very nice cruise and Carnival did not disappoint at all. Carnival can’t be held responsible for people’s individual behavior; to me it’s not a reflection on the cruise line but the individuals themselves.

There were 4 of us cruising together, me and my DH and two of my closets girlfriends - we are all in our 50's. We live in central Florida so we drive to the port. This was my second Inspiration cruise on this same itinerary. There is a link to our photos at the end of this review.

We booked this cruise prior to knowing that there would be several groups on board, one being a local Orlando morning radio show “The Monsters in the Morning” (which I happen to listen to each day) which consisted of about 300 cruisers along with several other groups celebrating family reunions, bachelor parties, among other things.

We did not let these groups spoil our cruise, but it definitely reaffirmed why I prefer not to cruise during school breaks or holidays. It was WILD! The Monster fans were partying before they boarded the ship and the partying never stopped. We sat on the Promenade deck watching two guys in their late 20’s sitting at the Violin Bar, who should have been cut off, start a verbal fight which turned into physical. We heard other cruisers commenting all over the place about the rowdiness of the cruisers.

Embarkation was a breeze, we walked right up to the Fun Pass lane, no waiting at all, and we were on the ship in less than 15 minutes including the welcome aboard photo shoot! We headed up to Lido deck and dined in our “usual” Lido aft open air dining spot.

We have always enjoyed the food on Carnival and we did on this trip as well. There is always plenty to select from on the buffets and we ate in the dining room two evenings, the night we set sail and one formal night.

The night we set sail I had filet, it was good, but I have had better. Formal night I had the Maine lobster tail and grilled shrimp which I thought was very good. Portion sizes were adequate, though many at our table ordered two entrees every evening. Surprisingly, I tasted some of the baby back ribs served the first night and they were very tender and tasty and a big hit with several of our table mates.

Our waiter was Ken and his assistant was a beautiful blonde young gal, that her name escapes me (oh what a joy it is to get older!). We felt for them, they had three tables of eight and the tables were so tight together and people were so impatient and demanding!

Overall we were very pleased with our service in the dining room. We just prefer to eat at our own pace when cruising so we normally dine on Lido deck.

My breakfast menu doesn’t vary much even on cruises, cereal and fruit and lots of coffee! Though I love the raspberry pastries served on board.

I had pizza once, it was good as always and the sandwiches from the deli station were tasty as on prior cruises! We did not attend the midnight buffet.

We attended two evening shows; both were well done and very entertaining. We never made it to the adult comedy shows (another joy of getting older!). We really wanted to see Happy Cole as we had seen him on a previous cruise and really enjoyed his show.

This was our first time cruising during the summer months and it was hot on deck during sea days. Now when I saw hot, remember I live in Florida, and to me it was HOT! It was quite breezy at the aft pool, too breezy to read a book and the main Lido pool was really loud once the activities started! Our second day at sea brought showers so the decks were pretty empty.

The day we set sail the spa was running “specials” and one of my girlfriends is a massage therapist and she decided to treat herself to the two hour special! She reported it was worth every penny and she slept like a baby that night. She treated herself in the seaweed wrap, aromatherapy shower, body massage and relaxation!

Cozumel, our one port stop, was fun as always. No matter how many times I visit a port I always manage to find something different to do each time. This time we went to Paradise Beach. We docked at the pier downtown, took a cab ($13 for 4) to Paradise Beach, paid our $9 for water toys, kayaks, snorkel gear and enjoyed our day. We were glad that we arrived early – 9 am – as the beach fills up fast which means the chairs and floats disappear. We ordered some beer and chips and salsa and guacamole and it was delicious. The waiters were coming around offering shots in your mouth at your chair – NO thanks – not for us those days are behind us now.

The water was pretty churned up from Hurricane Dean that had passed thru the previous week. We brought our own snorkel gear with us, though your $9 wrist band includes use of Paradise Beach snorkel gear. We snorkeled out to the outer edges of the swim area; there was really not much to see. We saw other snorkelers bringing up star fish and conchs which is a no no in the dive world – look but don’t touch - !

We enjoyed the water trampolines, (yes we are old but not ancient) and attempted to climb the Iceberg! I even went parasailing which was my second time at that venture. This was better than the first parasailing trip, which had taken place at Orient Beach. Our boat captain was awesome! I had a great ride for $55 and a $5 tip, well worth every penny!

We headed back to the ship around 3 pm to shower and go into town to do some shopping. By now downtown Cozumel was packed with people so we decided to go back to the ship and watch everyone return to the ship from Senor Froggs and Carlos & Charlies. That turned out to be a great decision. We saw the young partiers decide to jump off the pier into the ocean and security go right after them. Needless to say it was pretty quiet on the ship that evening, as most were passed out!

One the final sea day a talk was offered “What It’s Like to Live & Work On A Cruise Ship”…….I found this very interesting. It was led by Risa Barnes, the CD and one of the sound techs and a social director. It was very informative and I really enjoyed hearing about the changes that Inspiration will be receiving in her 5 weeks in dry dock which begins Sept. 1st. One of the features we are looking forward to will be the addition of the “adults only” Serenity area. That is something we like about the larger ships, there are quiet areas to get away to just have a drink and relax for a nap or read, that isn’t an option on the smaller ships as those decks are embarkation stations and they won’t allow lounge chairs on those decks.

My cruise didn’t start off so well. I realized I’d left the keys to my luggage at home on the ironing board! Carnival to the rescue, a room attendant opened the locks for me! Then I realized I had lost my prescription sunglasses and hard case. I had set them down when we were having our “welcome aboard” photo taken. I went back off the ship to ask the photographer if someone had found them, he suggested I ask at the purser’s desk. Well I figured they were gone for good and was glad it was sun glasses and not my regular glasses. After we set sail and the crowds died down I decided to ask at the purser’s desk, with no hope of getting a positive response. Well I was shocked to find that they had my glasses and glass case – Carnival comes thru again! Now I could really relax and enjoy my time. Thanks Carnival!

Our room steward was great, he always had our room in top shape and we hardly ever saw him. We had towel animals every night.

 

We had room service each morning! I had booked an inside guarantee and we were upgraded to a 5A with two port holes. We both prefer the larger ships with balconies but for a weekend getaway this worked out perfect. We enjoyed the in room movies, we watched Wild Hogs at least three times!

We utilized self-disembarkation and we were home before 10 am and we did not rush to get off the ship at all. It was really very smooth. We went thru immigration with “have a nice day” – we had not purchased any items to take home since we are sailing again Sept 22 on the Glory.

This was Inspiration’s next to last sailing prior to going into dry dock and I must say she was in great shape. One of the atrium elevators was out of service the entire cruise, but overall the ship was in great shape, much better shape than I expected her to be in as we had sailed her in 2005. The crew does a great job! The bathrooms in the cabins will be getting a well needed make over, that is where we saw the most signs of wear but overall we were not disappointed in any way.

We had another great Carnival cruise!

http://carnivalcruises.shutterfly.com/action/

[Penelopefl]

Thank you for your informative review. My husband and I will be going on our first cruise on the Inspiration Thanksgiving week. We will be traveling with our daughter and her children so it's good to know that there will be an adults only area.:)

[smrn]

Thanks for the review. Love your pics! We sail on 11/1 and can't wait to see the new areas! Do you know if Risa still be CD then? She was CD when I sailed on the Celebration. I really liked her!

[DqALEX]

Thank you for your review. I just changed my 5 day inspiration cruise to a 7 on the Glory because of my last 5 day Celebration cruise. I don;t know if I will ever take another 5 day cruise again after the last one. Too many drunks who don't know how to play or act in the casino, or around the ship

[Hogladyrider]

As far as I know Risa is remaining on the Inspiration.

 

It was very interesting hearing about the dry dock retrofit. Half the crew remains on the ship and the retro workers will be living on the ship as well as work will be 24/7.

 

First part of dry dock is in Charleston SC and second have in Freeport!

 

To view the reivsions go to http://www.carnival.com/evolutions

[Payd]

I'm glad you had so much fun. It is refreshing to hear that you blame individuals for their behaviour...not the cruise line.

 

We loved the Inspiration too!

 

Payd:)

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for the review, Hogladyrider.

[Hogladyrider]

The same radio station group cruise for 2008 is now a 7-day cruise on the Glory departing 8/30. We won't be sailing on that cruise for sure.

 

With prayers and some luck maybe some of the fans will have matured or grown up in another year.

[buddyjo143]

Thanks for the review. We will do a 5 day in February. We think it will be a great shorter cruise for our group of 9 family members.

[lglaser600]

Great pictures. I was on the Inspiration too and agree there were some people who could have acted better but other I had a great time for my first cruise.

[rebeljohn]

Thanks for posting your review..........nice job!!