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Back Today From 2/21/08 Inspiration . . .Questions?

Max Circus

By Max Circus,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Max Circus

Max Circus

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Just got back from this sailing. Had great weather during the cruise. Fog delayed our arrival back in Tampa until 9AM this morning. Overall was a very good cruise. Dining room food had hits and misses, service varied from night to night. Breakfast and lunch service in dining room was just okay. Refab of ship is nicely done. Both of the water slides are fun.

 

If you have specific questions, let me know.

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deputy836

deputy836

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Max circus....do you by any chance have the capers from the trip? Were you on a 5 day with stops in grand cayman and cozumel? I am desperately trying to find capers for this route as I am trying to surprise my daughter with them as her graduation gift. What kind of room did you have? Have you been on bigger carnival ships? how did it compare? what kind of shows did they have? Thank you

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yeahbaby

yeahbaby

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i'm very curious, did they relax the dress code for formal nite? i'm still gonna get dressed up any way,, i even bought a nice long black gown.. but i know my son might not wanna wear a suit or tux.

also, do they still have a midnight buffet? thanks:cool:

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Max Circus

Max Circus

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Will try to answer the questions so far . . .

 

I wore a nice resort-type collared shirt (no tie) and a sportcoat for formal night. No problems. There were many men without sportcoats - no problem. I didn't see as many people in formal wear as on a traditional 7-day cruise. You will feel comfortable no matter what you wear.

 

I don't have any of the capers from the trip. This was the 4 day that had Cozumel as the only stop. Didn't do any excursions - just walked around the port, did some casual shopping. Had some great fish tacos.

 

Don't miss the Galley tour they give. It was on Sunday afternoon (last night of cruise). Very interesting to see the kitchen area. It is absolutely immaculate.

 

There were two production shows - neither of which we went to. The last late night (10:30PM ;) ) comedian on Sunday night was very funny. Jeff (can't remember his last name). The earlier one from Friday night (Kenny Miller) really bombed - many people left during the show.

 

Went to the Newly/Not so newlywed game. Have seen this on many other cruises - no real surprises but still very fun.

 

We were in M26 inside cabin portside forward. Was perfect for us since we weren't in the room alot. I was recently on Freedom which is much larger but I found that there was plenty of space on this ship. I don't think it was quite sold-out - at least it didn't seem jammed anywhere on the ship. Didn't have to struggle too much to find somewhere to sit at the pool.

 

We found that the best place to lay out during the day was right near the entrance to the dual water slides. It wasn't crowded there. When you got hot, you could jump onto the slide. Close enough to the outdoor eatery to grab a snack or beverage.

 

Keep 'em coming if you got more questions.

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Max Circus

Max Circus

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Did they play a game sometimes called Novel Quest? It's a really fun game played with teams. I'd like to get my group to play it if it is.

 

Thanks Max.

 

Didn't see that in any of the Capers. They did have something called "What's in the Bag" which sounded similar to "The Quest" on Royal Caribbean - kind of an adult scavenger hunt. Didn't attend so don't know if that is the event you are referring to.

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riu girl

riu girl

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Was the waterworks mini water park area open during the day of embarkation? If so, do happen to know what time? We are hoping to embark around noon if possible, have a quick bite to eat on the lido deck and then go to the new waterslide if at all possible?

 

Any info. would be really appreciated.

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Smudge49

Smudge49

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HI,

 

I am looking into different cruises for this summer. My husband and I cruised on RCCL before our children were born and really liked those cruises. However, it looks like the Carnival Inspiration has the only cruise available in our time frame this summer. Our children will be 11 and 15. Do you have a preference between RCCL and Carnival (as we've never cruised on Carnival before)?

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Max Circus

Max Circus

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As to the waterpark, it wasn't open when we took a post-embarkation stroll around 2:30. Didn't go back later to see if it had opened.

 

Late seating was 8:00 PM in Carnivale (forward) and 8:30 in Mardi Gras (aft). We had 8:30PM. Not positive, but I believe early seating was approx 5:30PM (Carnivale) and 6:15PM (Mardi Gras).

 

As for comparisons, I found Carnival to be a much better value than RCCL. On Freedom, the food was far superior to what I had on prior RCCL cruises. Inspiration had some ups and downs with food in the dining room and buffet (no variety). Pizza, burgers and deli were good on both. I found that on RCCL there weren't that many alternate food choices - at least basing on my Jewel experience.

 

Shipboard amenities seem about the same between the lines. I find it depends on the size or "newness" of the ship. The newer RCCL ships have huge hottubs, surfriders, etc. Carnival is doing a good job adding those types of things (such as the waterslide) to the older ships during drydock rehabs.

 

Based on what I had read, I was expecting the Carnival ships to be very outlandish in decor and color schemes. While this was true in some respects (ie. the strange purple tentacles in Inspiration Lido buffet area, the 70's style neon lights in the Inspiration Atrium), overall this isn't the case.

 

The Carnival atmosphere and offerings does tend to support a more "late-night" crowd. Didn't find that the case on RCCL where they didn't offer late-night dining choices except room service and the occasional midnight buffet (this may have changed since my Jewel experience).

 

My advice? Try them all. Going on any cruise ship is better than working!! :)

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Springbreak08

Springbreak08

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Another clothes question - We have a teenage boy who is going to take a pair of (namebrand) khakis for most nights at dinner. However, did you ever see any teens/kids in the dining room (other than formal night) with a dress pair of shorts, boat shoes and a collared shirt? Or did they enforce the "no shorts" rule?

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Max Circus

Max Circus

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Another clothes question - We have a teenage boy who is going to take a pair of (namebrand) khakis for most nights at dinner. However, did you ever see any teens/kids in the dining room (other than formal night) with a dress pair of shorts, boat shoes and a collared shirt? Or did they enforce the "no shorts" rule?

 

There weren't too many teens at our late seating (8:30PM) so I probably don't have a large enough sample to accurately answer your questions. The ones I saw at dinner wore pants. I saw plenty of teens all around the ship dressed in shorts and t-shirts (not sure about boat shoes - think they mostly had sneakers).

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Max Circus

Max Circus

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Ok, thanks! - I just think I will play it safe and have my son wear khakis every night - hopefully we can get 2 uses out of each pair. I feel like I am packing more dress clothes than comfy clothes. Ohh - and we are at the 6:15 seating or so "the cruise Gods" say.

 

Sounds like a plan - however don't stress out about it. You'll be on a cruise!!

 

I hope the cruise Gods are kind to you.

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tbjl24

tbjl24

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The earlier one from Friday night (Kenny Miller) really bombed - many people left during the show.

 

I can't believe that guy is still doing shows on the Inspiration. He was on our Inspiration cruise back and December and was horrible.

 

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out if he was really bombing, or is that his deal? Really bad comedy that makes you laugh at the situation???

 

Weird show to say the least.

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Max Circus

Max Circus

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Do you know where I can find the 6-day Capers (Monday through Saturday) for the Inspiration? It would be awesome to have a heads up on what is going on. . .

 

Check on a photo website like webshots.com and do a search on "Inspiration Capers". Think you'll find that several show up - hopefully some of them are the ones you are looking for.

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Max Circus

Max Circus

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The earlier one from Friday night (Kenny Miller) really bombed - many people left during the show.

quote]

 

I can't believe that guy is still doing shows on the Inspiration. He was on our Inspiration cruise back and December and was horrible.

 

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out if he was really bombing, or is that his deal? Really bad comedy that makes you laugh at the situation???

 

Weird show to say the least.

 

I thought he was doing the "so bad it's funny" routine also - for the first five minutes. Then it was just "so bad it's time to run away screaming". :eek:

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Snorkel2Much

Snorkel2Much

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....Late seating was 8:00 PM in Carnivale (forward) and 8:30 in Mardi Gras (aft). We had 8:30PM. Not positive, but I believe early seating was approx 5:30PM (Carnivale) and 6:15PM (Mardi Gras).

Unless they've renamed the Dining Rooms recently, I believe you have your fore and aft reversed. The times were different in November 2007 also, 5:45 & 7:45 aft in Carnivale, 6:15 & 8:15 in Mardi Gras forward.

 

We board again in 48 hours(WOOHOO!), so I'll check for updates.

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