Inspiration Cruise Review

[Duffys wife 1957]

We just got back from our cruise on the Inspiration....Awesome time....

1. Mears transportation from Tampa Airport "super" picked us up at airport, dropped us off at pier. Couldn't have been easier, would totally recommend shuttle. Cruise personal waiting at the pier to help you....

2. Embarking was very fast and easy...My sister brought her Original Birth Certificate not a state issued one they said that usually they do not accept original certificates. so if you go...

make sure it is State issued......... They let her on.....

3.Got on the boat by 12:30.

4. The boat was sparkling clean, Lunch on Lido deck great....Drinks super....

5. Pretty good size rooms, large bathrooms..Room steward was really nice...

Spoiled us....

The food on the boat was great.... 24 hr Pizza yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ice Cream Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The best was the Deli it was Super!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Excursions the Grand Cayman We did the Sandbar Stingray tour...

It was awesome.... A must do.. We didn't have much time there but after Stingrays we shopped for about 1 hour...It was a bit pricey..

Cozumel- This was the best.... We got off the boat got a cab to Mister Sanchoswe didn't book a tour we just grabbed a cab at the end of the pier.

We rented a van $40.00 8 passanger $5.00 each what a bargain...They said they would be back for us and they were along with about 12 other cabs...

$40.00 back to pier. Would recommend taking a cab But haggle the people next to us had to pay 42.00 for the van... They mostly will deal...

Mister Sanchos (the food was great) Drinks great.... Showers, Bathrooms,

Shade. Shops, We rented Snorkling equipment $7.00 2hours but you have to leave you license...We did!!!!! No biggy My brother and niece parasailed...

Loved it...... They had banana boat rides.. Massages, hair braiding ( we haggled them down for hair braiding too and wraps.. They spoiled us rotten...

Would reccommend this..... Left and shopped.. Great bargains....Went back on the boat for dinner than back in to cozumel to Fat Tuesdays for drinks...

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super party.....

Cozumel was a blast......

Back on the boat for fun day at sea... SUPER DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The only complaint was disembarking.. They did a general disembarking and everyone was in the hallways and stairways for approx. 45 min... We originally waited in Paris Lounge but then the did a general disembarking and it was like a herd of elephants...We have never experienced this before.... We would have waiting on the Empress deck if we had known this was the was they do it...Other than that it was the best....If you have any questions at all I will be glad to answer them....

We took Mears back to Tampa airport... No Problem.....Easy..

SUPER CRUISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

[misika]

Thanks for the review. I leave on the Inspiration in just a few days! Of course, instead of packing, Im sitting here glued to this board (as I have been for about three days now! LOL)

 

My two girls (12 & 14) are excited, but they cant seem to stop talking about the sushi bar (they LOVE sushi!). Did you try it? If so, how was it?

 

How about the casino? Did you do much gambling, and how was that?

 

Thanks:)

[Duffys wife 1957]

The sushi was good.... the only thing was the line was long but they were making it up fresh so it was worth the wait.... Casinos were hot.....alot of us won or broke even. It was a blast.:)

[Eqty]

Thanks for the review. we are in the middle of organizing a family cruise on the Inspiration and have a question about disembarking. What is the earliest you can get off the ship? We have a choice of taking either an 11:30am flight or a 7:00pm flight from Tampa. We would prefer the 11:30, but don't want to risk missing the flight. As you can tell, we're booking our own airfare.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Bob & Gay

[angeldaisy03]

I just got off of the Inspiration and we did the general disembark and we were at the airport at 9am.

[mattmdv]

duffy'swife, Thanks for the review!!! We will be on the Inspiration on 9 May, not that we are counting the days. Wife will be happy to hear about the casino, she loves the slots machines, me, I just enjoy watching her play, and others playing also. We are a group of 6, 2 of which have never cruised before and I want them to enjoy themselves, and get hooked on cruising like the rest of us. From your review, I don't think that will be a problem.

Again, thanks for the review.

 

Matt

[mattmdv]

P.S., Did you do the 4 or 5 day cruise?

 

Matt

[I Luv Crusin]

Do you have the Capers for the cruise? I'd love copies, if you do!

 

 

Lesley

[Laurie715]

Duffys wife.. awesome review we are booked on this ship for August- I had posted a few ?? about this ship but I'll ask you directly since you are fresh off !!!!!! Did they have haridryers in rooms?? We are OV on Riv deck i believe- also did they have shampoo and soap ?? And hows the A/C ?????????? thanks a bunch

[Duffys wife 1957]

We did general disembarking and got to the Tampa airport at approx. 10:15. We had e-tickets so it was a little slow at the airport. (long lines) 1 computer was down....There were 20 of us on the cruise.

 

We did a 5 day cruise.

 

I have capers as soon as

my computer is up and running I will post them....

 

There are no hairdryers but you can request one. Shampoo and Soap(bodywash)

are provided. I thought the A/C was just fine..My daughter said she was chilly at night but we asked for a few blankets and everything was fine..

I did wear a light blazer in the dining room.

[Emmabelle]

Hello Duffy's wife,

 

 

We are looking at the July 28th cruise, how much did Mears charge to shuttle back and forth from TPA to pier? There's only two of us, so maybe we should take a taxi. Thanks.

[mare1045]

Duffy’s Wife,

 

The information that you have shared will help us out immensely, looking forward to a recent set of “Capers”

We are sailing the Inspiration on July 18th. We are having a 50th wedding cruise for my parents, and the whole family will be there, it is a total of 35 people! So all the information that we can pass along to the group is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[WarEagle1990]

Oh if it were only July!!!!!:(

[rokinrobin105]

Wareagle I'm on that cruise too!!

[WarEagle1990]

Cool! I was starting to think no one from here would be on our cruise!

[Hogladyrider]

Sailed the Inspiration for a 4 day cruise April 7-11th, had a WONDERFUL cruise. Have already booked a 7 day cruise on Glory for April 2006!

 

I have the Capers in pdf format and can e-mail to those interested, will also try and post on web.

 

This was my first cruise departing from a port about an hour from home (Tampa) rather than driving 4 hours to Miami and I LOVED IT. Getting on the ship was a breeze we were on board by 12:30. Getting off on Monday was also a breeze as we were in no hurry to leave so we hung out up on Lido deck on the back of the boat and watched them load up for the next cruise. Around 9:30 we meandered down and walked right off the boat and our luggage was easy to find as well. We had parked right arcross the street from the cruise terminal in the parking garage which was also a breeze and well worth the $10 a day prepaid fee.

 

This was my 4th cruise on Carnival and I love the laid back atmosphere on this line. It was my SO's 1st cruise that's why we chose a 4 day trip with only one port stop and it worked out great, he is HOOKED on Cruisin! We loved the two days at sea, very relaxing. Let me say that we are both in our 50's and no kids at home, except for two dogs who are just like kids, but they were at doggie day camp while we were gone.

 

We had requested early seating dining, discovered we were assigned to late seating so once onboard visited the maitre de and requested a change, no problem.

 

We had booked in January, directly with our Carnival PVP, an inside guarantee and we were pleasantly surprised to discover our cabin had been upgraded to ocean view, what a treat! Our luggage was in our cabin before 5 pm, very efficient.

 

We ate in the dining room the 1st two evening, with Friday being the "formal" evening. After that we just ate casual, deli, pizza or Lido deck. The dining room was excellent we just chose not to be on any time schedule as we have enough of that when we are NOT on vacation. Formal night dinner of lobster and prime rib was excellent as were all other meals, I had the lamb chops the first night and they were excellent. I opted to try things I don't normally dine on at home.

 

We caught all the shows, the comedian Happy Cole was a treat especially his midnight all adult show, very funny and so true about relationships. We visited the casino but did not spend an over abundant amount of time there. The karaokoo was hysterical and great entertainment. Heck people watching is great entertainment. There is always something to do day or night.

 

The temporary tatoos were a popular item, for both young and old, that gal was making some money for sure.

 

Cozumel was fun as usual, my 3rd visit there. I was amazed at how "grown up" it has become over the past few years, very commercialized. We did not take a shore excursion, mostly because the few we were interested in were sold out, now that you can book ahead of cruising on the web. We just did our own thing, took a cab into town, shopped, grabbed a Cuban cigar and hit Carlos N'Charlies for some entertainment. What is nice about this port is that you can go into town, go back on the boat and go back into town as we were in port all day until midnight. Cab ride into town was $6. I have read posts where people said they have walked, good for you, but it is 3 miles if you are at the dock we were at and I was on vacation! We took the stairs on the boat ILO elevators to burn off calories. The Mexican buffet on Lido deck when we departed Cozumel was excellent.

 

We love the casual atmosphere on Carnival and the cruise was sold out and yet we did not wait in any lines and kids were not a problem either. There is something for everyone, love those daily drink specials, bloody Mary's, and all the others. The gym was always crowded, but I had the sauna and hot tub on the spa deck all to myself on several occaisons.

 

My SO had the typical 1st time cruisers "got to eat everything and drink everything" feeling, but he managed just fine. I remember how overwhelmed I felt on my first cruise, feeling like I had to do everything and not miss anything, now I've learned just do want I want and leave the rest for next time.

 

We enjoyed the movies in our room saw two great movies, The Incredibles and Meet The Frockers which were both enjoyable and free.

 

There is the usual bingo, and standard meet your fellow cruisers games, along with meet the Capt cocktail party before the formal dinner. We just made the decision we could not be everywhere so we skipped the Capt's cocktail party. The Carnival "spool and string" meet your fellow cruisers game was still funny after seeing it on every cruise, as was the Newlywed & Not So Newlywed Game. The Fear Factor competion at the pool was a treat as was the Hairy Chest contest and the Gator Wrestling contest.

 

The boat was immaculate and the crew was very friendly from the room steward to the person vacuuming the hallways, they always said "hi". I wonder why more people in the world aren't that friendly and have a positive mental attitude, it sure would make the work place pleasant!

 

If you are looking for "fancy" then Carnival is NOT the line for you, at least in my opinion, but it is the cruise line for us.:)

[jenr]

Thank you all for your reviews/responses...just a couple more questions. What pier were you docked at in Cozumel? Is it the one where Fat Tuesdays is at the end of the pier (or start of the pier I guess)? Also with the general disembarkation did you still need to be out of your cabin by a certain time, or could you sleep in if you wanted? Thanks

[loppster]

We are going to book for the Oct. 15th sailing on the Insipration, but I am concerned about getting an inside cabin on the Empress deck. It appears that the only inside cabins left on this deck are partially under the galley. I have heard that this might be a bad place to be. There are also cabins available beside the elevator. Are the elevators too noisy to be sleeping next to?

 

Your opinions and great experiences would be appreciated.

[Hogladyrider]

The Inspiration was docked in Cozumel at the Fat Tuesday's pier! That's where all the crew hangs out when in port.

 

Unless you were booked on a shore excursion that had a "time frame" you could leave the ship at any time while in Cozumel. Heck we were off and on the boat several times.

 

Now if you are asking about leaving the Inspiration for good when we returned to Tampa we were advised that there was no rush to depart the boat in the morning if you didn't have a morning plane to catch. Besides, just chilling out the last morning is relaxing and let the crowds departing the boat diminish, I was in no rush to return to reality and Carnival didn't rush us either.:D

[Laje]

Do i need to bring my dobbers? Or do they have something different to offer?:o

[wspatton]

Do i need to bring my dobbers? Or do they have something different to offer?:o

 

I always bring mine, because if I forget to wear them, I get Chaffed. :D

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist... :)

 

I don't know what Dobbers are. :confused: They just sounded like something you might not want to forget....