Carnival Inspiration 02/26/11 Review: TONS of Pictures

[navybaby1113]

[quote name='sxyshell']Thanks for the great review and pictures. We leave on the Inspiration this Thursday! :D Also, thanks to your husband for his service.[/quote]

Thank you! And have a fantastic trip! I'm sure you'll love the ship and her staff.

[lonelydreamer]

I just returned an hour ago from the Inspiration and wanted to THANK YOU for your trip report! We had an awesome time - and much thanks to you we avoided some things and made sure we didn't miss some things based on your suggestions!

[navybaby1113]

[quote name='lonelydreamer']I just returned an hour ago from the Inspiration and wanted to THANK YOU for your trip report! We had an awesome time - and much thanks to you we avoided some things and made sure we didn't miss some things based on your suggestions![/quote]

I'm so glad you had a fantastic time! Would love to read your review if you plan on writing one.

[sml3]

Going to be sailing on the Inspiration on May 21. This will be our first Carnival cruise (myself and DD ages 22 and 20). I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. Does Carnival provide Lanyards? Did you have a blowdryer in your cabin? Are the Mongolian area and the Grill stations in the buffet area or are they located somewhere else? Is there usually lines for these two areas or the pizza area? The strawberries in the coffee area look great! Are they free?
Thanks for your great review! I was hesitant on booking this cruise but now I'm super excited!
OH ...one more question....is there a quiet area to lounge other than the adults only serenity area?

[navybaby1113]

[quote name='sml3']Going to be sailing on the Inspiration on May 21. This will be our first Carnival cruise (myself and DD ages 22 and 20). I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. Does Carnival provide Lanyards? Did you have a blowdryer in your cabin? Are the Mongolian area and the Grill stations in the buffet area or are they located somewhere else? Is there usually lines for these two areas or the pizza area? The strawberries in the coffee area look great! Are they free?
Thanks for your great review! I was hesitant on booking this cruise but now I'm super excited!
OH ...one more question....is there a quiet area to lounge other than the adults only serenity area?[/quote]

If I don't answer one of your questions, please let me know. Also, feel free to ask anything else you can think of! Hopefully I can answer them for you.

Carnival has lanyards for sale in their gift shop. They have Carnival ones and also pretty beaded ones. I think the beaded ones were like $9.

There was no blowdryer in the cabin. Bring your own.

The Mongolian, grill, and rotisserie are all on the outside deck near the pool, right outside of the brasserie. The line for the mongolian can get pretty long. I think my husband stood in line for about 30 minutes a couple days. I never saw more than one other person waiting for pizza and the grill line goes relatively fast.

The strawberry are not free. Everything served at the coffee bar has a fee. It's not too expensive though.

We're not really quiet area people, so we didn't go looking for anywhere like that. If you're looking for somewhere inside, the library was nice. Sorry I can't help more with this question.

[lonelydreamer]

[quote name='sml3']Going to be sailing on the Inspiration on May 21. This will be our first Carnival cruise (myself and DD ages 22 and 20). I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. Does Carnival provide Lanyards? Did you have a blowdryer in your cabin? Are the Mongolian area and the Grill stations in the buffet area or are they located somewhere else? Is there usually lines for these two areas or the pizza area? The strawberries in the coffee area look great! Are they free?
Thanks for your great review! I was hesitant on booking this cruise but now I'm super excited!
OH ...one more question....is there a quiet area to lounge other than the adults only serenity area?[/quote]

We just returned yesterday from the Inspiration- my first Cruise ever. I found that the area behind the Brassiere (right behind the pizza was an outside dining/lounging area where we ate lunch each day. There is another section like this behind the bar in that room. It's kind of hidden and don't think many people knew about it. there are about 10 tables on each side. It overlooks the adult serenity area - so was very quite and relaxing.

[DonnaB46]

I am going on the Inspiration on June 18th. I saw that someone had discount coupons for shore excursions. How do you get them. There are 5 in my group and that would be helpful. Thanks

[navybaby1113]

[quote name='DonnaB46']I am going on the Inspiration on June 18th. I saw that someone had discount coupons for shore excursions. How do you get them. There are 5 in my group and that would be helpful. Thanks[/quote]

They come through email and it's random who they send them to. Just keep your eye on your email.

[annmarie17]

Thank you for posting your reveiw. I am leaving in a week for my cruise on the Inspiration.

Can you tell me about getting xrayed. Did you have to go thru the xray like they have at some airports now or your luggage or carryon? I have not flown since they put the xray machines into policy.

[navybaby1113]

[quote name='annmarie17']Thank you for posting your reveiw. I am leaving in a week for my cruise on the Inspiration.

Can you tell me about getting xrayed. Did you have to go thru the xray like they have at some airports now or your luggage or carryon? I have not flown since they put the xray machines into policy.[/QUOTE]

Security at the port is like what it used to be like at the airport. You put your stuff through a scanner and then you walk through the scanner. Real simple.

[buddybean11]

Navybaby, Just a quick question about the 'secret' observation deck. This will be our first cruise. It's our 25th anniversary and I am trying to plan a surprise vow renewal for my DH. Don't know where to do it on board. Would that me a quite place at around 5 - 6 on sea day (Same night as formal night)? Do you have any pics of that area I could see? Just want somewhere pretty and quite for just the 2 of us. Any other sugestions if you don't think this would work?

[laudan14]

Great review thanks for posting

[Lucille Bluth]

Loved the review and all the pictures! DH and I will be on the Inspiration at the end of June and I can't wait!

[Cruisin'Trooper]

From one FSU Alum to another - great review!

 

Will be sailing on her in 2 weeks. Been on a couple of her sister ships and glad to see that this one is great also.

[FloridaMimi]

Here's the link to the video of my husband in the game show.

 

View My Video

 

Very funny video espically the the stuff about Nascar, My son and hubby are huge Nascar fans, in fact he is in the other room watching a race right now. :)

[tmt218]

Navybaby I just reread your review! I am booked 7/25 on this cruise now. I'm so excited! I am going to try that lamb now. Your pictures made it look so good. Thanks for the info about the "secret" deck. We have sailed out of Tampa before but had early dining. We saw it from the dining room window. This time we have late dining and i'm excited to watch it from the secret deck.

Any other tips for the cruise? I saw your thoughts on the Hampton Inn and we stayed there last time. We were satisfied with it but that was in 2007. This time we are booked with the Holiday Inn.

[cruiseclues]

Glad you put your cabin photos in...great photos...especially all the food photos, which really makes me hungry. :)