Carnival Inspiration Questions

I've cruised before on NCL and Princess, but never on Carnival. I just had a few questions that I am hoping people would have recent experience with (when doing searches I found out of date responses).

1. Does anyone have any recent dailies? I know someone posted pictures up, but I have difficulty reading most of the print and it's sideways.

2.Any food and drinks you found were really good?

3. Is the Serenity hot tub actually hot, or lukewarm?

4. What's the cheapest place to leave your car in Long Beach? I live around 45 minutes away from Long Beach (not in traffic) but an Uber is super expensive. I could do public transportation but that would take an extremely long time.

5. How early can you really board?

6. How late can you really stay on?

I'm going with a community group and have always been hesitant to try Carnival, but being this is a 3 night cruise, I figured it was a good time to try it :)

We’ve sailed the Inspiration and her sisters many times out of Long Beach and San Diego for the short cruises.

She is an older ship, decorated in true Farcus fashion Ignore the purple tube things in the buffet.

Easy deck plan to navigate. All the public areas are on 9&10, Promenade, Lido and above. The Serenity deck is the free adult area located on 9aft. We like to sit on the little decks just aft of the pizza and bar in the aft of the buffet.

Answering out of order—

5. Boarding starts around 11:30, though cabins aren’t available until 1-1:30, Check in starts around 9:30 (as of September they still weren’t enforcing Staggered checkin, YMMV)

6. Debarkation ‘all off’ is around 10am. Called off by Self Assist or Assist by Deck level. You do not prearrange this ahead of time.

3. We don’t go into hot tubs but some say they can be lukewarm. Won’t know until you stick a hand or foot in.

4. No true viable parking options in Long Beach. Some have parked in the office lots near Pine and Ocean with limited success. For the 3 day cruise we park at port. ($19/day) For others we might either park at LAUnion Station ($8/day) and take the Red/Purple-Blue-Free Long Beach Passport Bus. We’ve taken the MetroLink to LAUnion Station. (Hint-after you pay for parking in the structure, keep your ticket out as you’ll need it again to exit the port area, don’t go in the left lane as that’s a pay lane)

2. Food is extremely subjective. That being said the vegetarian options, including the Indian, are very good as is the fish. The first night Port Of Call dishes are also good. The Scallop appetizer on formal night is usually spot on. I’ll order two and have them as my main.

Up in the buffet The Deli is good and I think the pizza is better than Princess’s. Anything carved is good. Find all cruise line soups to be too salty and the desserts pretty to look at. ;)

If you drink The Alchemy Bar bartenders will mix something to your liking.

One major difference, for us, is how trivia is played. Seems more cutthroat on Princess.

Need to go with an open mind on these three day cruises. They can be a bit like Weekend in Vegas. (Our wildest three day cruise, oddly enough, has been on the Golden Princess out of San Pedro.) Our first three day on Princess gave us an idea what that line was all about. But the true flavor doesn’t come out until you’ve sailed the longer routes. Our 14-15 day Carnival cruises are exactly like our longer Princess cruises.

1. Don’t have access to the FunTimes. But there are several posted within the past few years. Do a search for ‘Ensenada’. The FunTimes for both the Inspiration and Imagination are practically interchangeable.

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Oh, need to comment about the cabins.

-The cabins will be larger than the regular OV/IS on Princess. Though only about a dozen or so hangers.

-You’ll need a card with a magnetic strip to access your safe (we use our AAA card).

-ask for an ice bucket and robe

-the bathroom set up is truly horrible on this class. Very small shelf and almost no room around the sink for your stuff. The other ship classes have a much better set up, similar to Princess’s.

-The shower will be bigger than Princess’s. Also has the fabric curtain and lousy shampoo and body soap.

-need to ask for an underpowered hair dryer.

-two electrical plugs- US 110v and a British 220v.

If you are sharing a cabin with another single you could move one bed under the window (IS has a ‘window’ ;) ) and the other along the side wall. That’ll give you lots of room in the Cabin.

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Thank you! I think our taste buds are pretty similar. I've noticed desserts are gross on cruise ships for the most part. They look pretty, but lack flavor IMO. I usually just end up getting an ice cream cone because you really cannot seem to mess up ice cream. From what I understand Carnival isn't really known for their cuisine. I usually have gone on NCL and found that the food overall is average at best. I am a bit of a foodie, but I'm sure I will find something to my liking.

Yeah, I did a Google search and it seems the cheapest option for me is just to do the parking at the port. If my car is parked there on Friday morning until Monday morning, is it around $60 or $80?I looked into hotels with the free parking but I'm much cheaper off just driving up. I was hoping there were secret parking spots or something!

The only Fun Times I found and was actually able to read was from 2012. I mean maybe much hasn't changed.

My expectations for this is just to have fun. I don't plan on getting off the ship to go to Ensenada. My group more or less is a singles group of around 50 from the LA area. The price was right so I figured I might find that special someone or at least have fun =)

Parking is $19/24 hours and they will charge for that extra hour if need be.

Carnival had soft serve frozen yogurt and ice cream self serve available 24 hours. One of my favorite things is the Hot Chocolate. Dispensers are located next to the coffee and hot water on the Lido. Also available 24/7.

If you want good dessert, go to the coffee bar on Promenade Deck. The carrot cake is exceptional and costs around $3/slice.

Yep, not much has changed from 5 years ago except some food service things. Activities are pretty much the same, few tweaks depending on who the Cruise and Entertainment Directors are.

One last thing, Muster is odd on this class of ship, just go with the flow. No need to bring your life jacket.

Muster?

Muster?

The Muster Drill. Lifeboat Drill.

Parking went up again??

Been $19/day for a year or two now :(

San Pedro is almost the same. Neither have viable alternatives.

Thank you! I think our taste buds are pretty similar. I've noticed desserts are gross on cruise ships for the most part. They look pretty, but lack flavor IMO. I usually just end up getting an ice cream cone because you really cannot seem to mess up ice cream. From what I understand Carnival isn't really known for their cuisine. I usually have gone on NCL and found that the food overall is average at best. I am a bit of a foodie, but I'm sure I will find something to my liking.

 

Yeah, I did a Google search and it seems the cheapest option for me is just to do the parking at the port. If my car is parked there on Friday morning until Monday morning, is it around $60 or $80?I looked into hotels with the free parking but I'm much cheaper off just driving up. I was hoping there were secret parking spots or something!

 

The only Fun Times I found and was actually able to read was from 2012. I mean maybe much hasn't changed.

 

My expectations for this is just to have fun. I don't plan on getting off the ship to go to Ensenada. My group more or less is a singles group of around 50 from the LA area. The price was right so I figured I might find that special someone or at least have fun =)

Carnival's food is far better than NCL IMHO.

I’m onboard Inspiration now, but for the 4 day, not the 3 day. The fun times will be similar, I plan to post them when I return.

I’ve AJ’s ways found Carnivals food to be quite good, and they have the best low-cal deserts available.

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I posted about our Inspiration cruise that was from last Monday - Friday morning.

Agree about Carnival desserts. Just eh, except I am a fan of the Chocolate Melting Cake. Yes, last week the scallop appetizers were delicious, and the Miso Salmon was very,very good!!

The Internet sucked, the worst, even with Premium Service. In Ensenada I always go to Casa Ramirez, just a personal favorite.

Have a wonderful trip!

Bobbi

I love the chocolate melting cake and room service has delicious chocolate cake. The rest of the desserts are so so. My husband loves Guy's burgers and I love the tacos. Good salsa but no chips so we take our own. My favorite thing to do in Ensenada is to take pesos and go to a local bakery (don't take US$), off the main street for wonderful goodies.