Just back from Inspiration

[nacruznmood]

Hello to all and just wanted to give my review on the Inspiration.

By the way all the tips I learned from this board helped a great deal. If you are already a member of the ocean's player club by all means please contact them and let them know you will be cruising again, we received chocolate covered strawberries and a photo coupon in our cabin. Also the clips for the shower curtains helped a great deal. DH could'nt believe how prepared I was for the trip. I told him all those long nights I sat on the computer I was learning something and not just playing games. LOL:D

Ok the embarkation went very smoothly. We were in line around 1030 and had our sail and sign card within a matter of minutes. This was our 2nd cruise and my husbands brother and his wife came along for their first. The ship is in excellent condition. Can't say what it looked like before the renovations but it look great to us. We loved the serenity area and never had a problem getting chairs. One thing I can say is be aware that if you are sitting back there when the ship is leaving port you will get soot on you from the smoke stack.

We had a inside room on the Riviera deck, we like the inside because it stays so dark and we really are not in there that long, we also decorated our stateroom doors with Valentine decorations. We didn't see our room steward very often, my sister in law said he must be in training for the towel animals because he didnt do a very good job at it. Also my brother in law wanted to know why they put a sex mat on the bed :o had to explain its for the luggage and not a sex mat.

[Max Circus]

LOL - that is funny about the "sex pad". When I went on Carnival post-Thanksgiving 2007, I also did a double take about that pad - not sure I immediately thought of sex - but wasn't sure at first what it was for. Then my keen abilities came around ;) and I figured it out.

 

My girlfriend and I head out on 2/21/08 and are really excited. We have to kind of catch ourselves - we don't want to get overworked.

[nacruznmood]

ok, not sure what happened but my thread posted before I could finish it.

Food was great in the dining room and on the Lido deck, had a reuben and it was awesome. The only thing I can say is the coffee on the lido deck taste awful. I ended having to buy some coffee from the coffee bar. We went to see 3 shows, Shout, the Comedian and the Fiesta Latino, first 2 were awesome but the last one was so so,

We did the Exploring jeep in Cozumel and we loved it, we went around the whole island, snorkeled and had lunch on the beach. In Grand Cayman we just went shopping since we did not have alot of time of course the first place we had to hit was the Harley shop for t-shirts.

It was a great cruise and we are actually looking into booking another one.:D

[smrn]

We were on the Inspiration in Nov for a girl's cruise and loved it! We are booked again in Oct for our next girl's cruise.

Great ship and we love Risa!

[mommiejaxx]

The original poster mentioned being a member of the ocean's player club.. What is that?

[Max Circus]

The original poster mentioned being a member of the ocean's player club.. What is that?

 

Ocean Player's Club is a "frequent flyer's" club in the onboard casino.

[mizzgolitely]

How was the nightlife?

[kristin1122]

We leave on Thursday... can't wait!

I'm also curious about nightlife, and the casino.

You mentioned being a member of the Players Club, so I assume you spent some time there! :)

Do you know if they had Texas Hold 'Em tournaments? And do they have the "Pro Player" electronic tables?

Thanks!!!

[mr jailerman]

We leave on Thursday... can't wait!

I'm also curious about nightlife, and the casino.

You mentioned being a member of the Players Club, so I assume you spent some time there! :)

Do you know if they had Texas Hold 'Em tournaments? And do they have the "Pro Player" electronic tables?

Thanks!!!

If your interested I started a thread a few months ago on this Thursdays Inspiration cruise. Just click on Carnival Roll- Call then click Inspiration and you will see our cruise at the top. Their are alot of nice people talking over their and we are planning a get together in the adults only section after the ship leaves dock.. Feel free to stop by and say hi on the roll call and also on Thursday afternoon after we set sail on the outside rear Promenade deck. If you see two Hot Tubs and a bunch of lounge chairs you will know that you found the right place. Should be fun !!:)

[kapeavey]

Dear Nacruzmood:

What were the shower curtain clips for?

[nacruznmood]

the shower curtain tends to stick to your legs while showering, just bought some small chip clips and hooked them to the bottom, helped the curtain stay in place.:)

[kapeavey]

THANK YOU! What about hair dryers? Were there any in the cabin? I sailed the Sensation a few months ago, but don't remember if I needed my own.

[soli04]

does anyone know the dinning times on the ship?

[Snorkel2Much]

does anyone know the dinning times on the ship?

From our Nov 2007 sailing:

Main (early) dining had 2 seatings: 5:45pm & 6:15pm

Late dining had 2 seatings: 7:45pm & 8:15pm

 

The aft (Carnivale) dining room did the 5:45 & 7:45 times, Babu was the Maitre D'.

The mid-ship (Mardi Gras) dining room did the 6:15 & 8:15 times, don't recall the MaitreD (George or ??)

 

Breakfast & Lunch were only in the mid-ship dining room, with no pre-assigned seating.

[Springbreak08]

Did you do any excursions? We are planning on the Moby Dick stingray tour and dolphin swim at Chan. Park. Both are independently booked. I hope everything goes as planned. . .

Did anyone from your family participate in the kids' club? Also, what was your favorite meal? And "all of them" doesn't count! LOL.

If you have any other "ahhhaah" ideas, please share them. I could ask you questions all day!

My husband and I cruised several years ago (like 15) and this is the first time we are taking our 3 school-aged children. So, call me overprotective, but I want to be sure we have a great time but are all safe!

[soli04]

From our Nov 2007 sailing:

Main (early) dining had 2 seatings: 5:45pm & 6:15pm

Late dining had 2 seatings: 7:45pm & 8:15pm

 

The aft (Carnivale) dining room did the 5:45 & 7:45 times, Babu was the Maitre D'.

The mid-ship (Mardi Gras) dining room did the 6:15 & 8:15 times, don't recall the MaitreD (George or ??)

 

Breakfast & Lunch were only in the mid-ship dining room, with no pre-assigned seating.

 

thanks so much for the info!

[nycruise1]

Breakfast & Lunch were only in the mid-ship dining room, with no pre-assigned seating.

 

Does this mean that breakfast and lunch were always open seating? I thought that first seating dinner had first seating breakfast and lunch if you chose to eat in the dining room?

[Snorkel2Much]

Does this mean that breakfast and lunch were always open seating?

Yes, they are.

[Snorkel2Much]

Did you do any excursions? We are planning on the Moby Dick stingray tour and dolphin swim at Chan. Park. Both are independently booked. I hope everything goes as planned. . .

Did anyone from your family participate in the kids' club? Also, what was your favorite meal? And "all of them" doesn't count! LOL.

If you have any other "ahhhaah" ideas, please share them. I could ask you questions all day!

My husband and I cruised several years ago (like 15) and this is the first time we are taking our 3 school-aged children. So, call me overprotective, but I want to be sure we have a great time but are all safe!

We took a cab to Paradise Beach Club. Best day on the beach ever, and we live in Central Florida. Our 6yo daughter loved Camp Carnival, and Paradise Beach.

 

As far as meals went, we like "unusual" foods, like escargot, pumpkin soup, etc. Don't be afraid to try new things, if you don't like something, there's always room service later.

[kapeavey]

Do I need to bring my own? Does it depend on ship, cabin etc on Carnival as to whether you have a hair dryer in the cabin?

[ShedQueen77]

ok, not sure what happened but my thread posted before I could finish it.

Food was great in the dining room and on the Lido deck, had a reuben and it was awesome. The only thing I can say is the coffee on the lido deck taste awful. I ended having to buy some coffee from the coffee bar. We went to see 3 shows, Shout, the Comedian and the Fiesta Latino, first 2 were awesome but the last one was so so,

We did the Exploring jeep in Cozumel and we loved it, we went around the whole island, snorkeled and had lunch on the beach. In Grand Cayman we just went shopping since we did not have alot of time of course the first place we had to hit was the Harley shop for t-shirts.

It was a great cruise and we are actually looking into booking another one.:D

 

How close is the Harley shop? I want to get a t-shirt too! :)

 

Did you do any excursions? We are planning on the Moby Dick stingray tour and dolphin swim at Chan. Park. Both are independently booked. I hope everything goes as planned. . .

Did anyone from your family participate in the kids' club? Also, what was your favorite meal? And "all of them" doesn't count! LOL.

If you have any other "ahhhaah" ideas, please share them. I could ask you questions all day!

My husband and I cruised several years ago (like 15) and this is the first time we are taking our 3 school-aged children. So, call me overprotective, but I want to be sure we have a great time but are all safe!

 

We have the same excursions planned for our January cruise; also our 3 kids' first cruise! :) I'll be watching for your review!

[ShedQueen77]

Un-hiding my previous post!

[gatorkids]

We were on Inspiration 2/21--there are no hairdryers.