1st timer Carnival Inspiration review with photos. Better late than never!

[dvdkndy]

Let me first off tell you that I have never done a review before but have read many of them. Now it is my turn to give back to the cruise community and let you read our review though it is quite late. Please bear with me and I will do the best that I can. Feel free to critique my review and give pointers to what I could do better. Again, it is almost a year ago so the details may be a little foggy.

 

Just a note of information about us. I am David, my wife name is Alicia and we are both 28 & 27 respectively at the time. We have two boys 10 months and 2 years at the time as well. I am a Student Ministry Pastor for a large church and my wife is a stay-at-home mom. We are not the clubbing type or drinkers. Nothing against people who chose to do that but that is not us. We have a great time just doing life with each other and don’t have a need for the previously mentioned things. If you are looking for info on that, this review may not be for you.

 

This cruise out of Tampa was just before Carnival Inspiration was to switch places with the Carnival Paradise. We chose this cruise because of the price of the cruise, the price of the flights, and the convenient dates that the ship was sailing. Ship size, cruise line, destination, ship amenities meant nothing to us. All we knew was we wanted to go on a cruise and we booked it!

 

This was our very first cruise on ANY cruise line so we honestly didn’t know what to expect. We have friends who are die-hard cruisers and also friends who did not like cruising at all. Not knowing anything first-hand I think was beneficial to us. We had nothing to compare it to and no high expectations. We just wanted some time away from our kids and go somewhere we had never been before.

 

Little did we know, this would be the start of a journey of cruising for us!

 

Ready to set sail with us? ALL ABOARD!!!!

[txmom11]

Can't wait to read your review David. Hope you had fun. I'll admit I love to look at other people's vacation pictures.

[dvdkndy]

Embarkation Day:

 

We flew out of Louisville, Kentucky on Delta the morning of the cruise. Our flight left at 5:15am and had a brief stop in Atlanta and then we arrived into Tampa. I know that some people leave early or whatever but from this point on, we will do our best not to play Russian roulette with getting to the port without any delays. It just so happened that this travel day was smooth as it could be.

 

When we landed in Tampa, we went to get our luggage and while waiting, we chatted with the Carnival guy who was waiting for the bus transfers to arrive. We did not go the bus route and decided to grab a taxi. We felt it was more economical and time efficient to use the taxi. After loading up, it was a ride of maybe 15 minutes to the port. We paid the gentleman and dropped our bags to the porter.

 

After going through the check-in process, we were give zone cards (11 I believe) and waited for our zone to be called. It was fun watching everyone having a great time and in a good spirits. Seriously, we were about to board for a cruise! How could someone be grumpy? We spent time chatting with people, making calls to check on the boys, and looking out the window at this awesome hunk of floating steel that we would call home for the next 5 days.

 

Overall, our Port of Tampa experience was fine. Nothing sticks out in my head about it being a negative. It was easy in our opinion and hassle free. Again, we have nothing to compare it to.

 

We stepped on to the ship a little after 12:00pm and made our way to the lido for some food and started to explore the ship. Lunch was fine and we had a great time people watching. Our minds were blown away by the amount of food being consumed on the ship. To think this was all available 24/7!!!

 

We stepped out on the deck after eating and saw Tampa sitting in the background.

 

 

The one thing I will say about the Port of Tampa that is negative is that the water in the canal/waterway was dirty and unpleasant to look at. Little did we know we had some beautiful water awaiting us soon!

 

 

We took the customary picture with the town in the background that was taken by a guest who we turned out to be great friends with on the cruise. They were from the Charlotte, NC area and we still keep in touch with them to this day.

 

 

 

We began to make our way around the ship and explore what it had to offer. We were amazed at all the ship had and enjoyed the loud décor of the ship. The lights and the music in the background all added to the mood. We were quickly falling in love with the idea of cruising!

 

 

 

[dvdkndy]

While walking around, we saw the coffee shop and had to snap some photos of the desserts in the window. I know they are for a fee item on the ship but they look great and so we had to try one. I had the chocolate cake and my wife had the strawberry cup which both were worth the costs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After walking the ship it was time for the safety briefing and sail away. I do not remember much of the safety briefing except thinking in my mind this thought; “Look man if this boat is going down, I am getting in the first lifeboat I see regardless of what my muster station is!” Luckily we never had to find our muster station for the rest of the journey.

 

While we were at the safety briefing was when we noticed how many people on the ship had little kids. I do not mean little kids as in a 5 year old. I mean little kids as in babies. Why people bring little ones on a cruise is beyond me. Not only the extra costs but the inconvenience as well. Please don’t flog me for saying that because I love my kids but mom and dad need their own time too. Luckily for us, Pappy and Nana are always willing to take them off our hands. The only problem with this is we spend then next 4 months trying to fix all the bad habits that grandparents teach our children!

 

After briefing it was time to have dinner and set sail. We stayed out on the deck and watched the ship go under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and boy did we come close. I would say we came within 15 feet of the bridge and the funnel. Sorry for fog on the camera lens as I did not realize the humidity would do that to my camera.

 

 

[melli_fera]

Loving it so far!! Inspiration was my first Carnival Cruise many years ago!

[dvdkndy]

We chose YTD for our cruise because of the flexibility. We never had to wait for our table and were always seated immediately. We requested the same server, Allejandro, every night of the cruise and he was absolutely fantastic to us. We could have asked for a better server.

 

I am not an exotic eater by any means. My wife will try anything once while I on the other hand will not eat it if it smells bad or looks bad. Just give me a chunk of meat and a baked potato and I will be fine. Having said that, I wanted to try something new. This night I tried the “didja” options which was snails and my wife chose the fruit plate.

 

 

 

Can you see how hard I am thinking while chewing? Let’s say this, I ate it and it was ok but probably something that I will not do again. My wife sure was proud of me though!

 

 

This is what we ordered that night though I can not exactly remember what they are. One is a pork chop and the other is….well…I am not sure.

 

 

 

After dinner, we went to the welcome aboard show and then went to our room. We were in an Ocean view on the Empress deck. Our room was adequate, steward was a great worker and delivered anything we asked for, and we never experienced any problems in our room. We really didn’t spend that much time in there except to nap, change, and shower. Maybe if we had a balcony we would have but we just didn’t do much in there. The one thing I loved was lying in bed and feeling the rocking of the ship. That totally rocked me off to sleep! The only problem we had was a rookie mistake we made; no clock. We were always paranoid we were oversleeping and I guarantee we will never make that mistake again.

 

[dvdkndy]

Sea Day 1

 

We woke up and had a bite of breakfast and went to the serenity deck for a while. We never had a problem getting a chair or anything like that. I love the view of looking out the back of the boat at nothing.

 

After lunch we went a played “The Game of Love” and were picked as the last contestants. We walked away with our ship on a stick and bottle of bubbly. That made a great addition to our room as, again, we do not drink. After the game of love, we hung out and went to another game called “Game Show Mania” and I was picked to play that game too. Unfortunately I did not win but had a fun time doing it.

 

[dvdkndy]

That night was our formal night and the meet and greet with the captain and senior staff.

 

 

The cruise director, Felipe did a fantastic job and was great at what he did. We would never hesitate to cruise with him again. WooHoo!

 

 

That night for dinner we tried the alligator fritters, shrimp cocktail, lobster, and prime rib. All were delicious and seconds were most definitely ordered on the lobster and prime rib!

 

 

 

 

[dvdkndy]

Who could forget the best part about the cruise, dessert!

 

 

This was the view outside of our window for our formal night dinner. Is that not the best view you could have while eating?

 

 

After dinner, we went to the room and changed into more comfortable clothes and took a stroll around the ship. On the back of the ship, I decided to see if there was anybody who fell overboard. I was ready to jump into action but thankfully nobody was in need of help.

 

 

The lido deck was a ghost town for the most part and so we turned in for the night, awaiting our day in Grand Cayman.

 

[dvdkndy]

We woke up the next morning just in time to see the sun starting to rise in Grand Cayman. This port is hands down our favorite. We felt safe, loved meeting the people, and loved their water. It was like we were swimming in the world’s largest swimming pool!

 

This is a tender port so we had to wait in line to get off the ship. We were on probably one of the first three tender boats to head to the island.

 

 

 

We were not prepared for the tragedy that awaited us as pirates threatened us on the way to shore! Luckily, we outran them and were out of danger quickly.

 

 

After getting off the tender, we made our way to grab a cab to go to the Grand Caymanian Resort where we had a non-carnival excursion booked. I will tell you that we had a tough time getting a cab because everyone was only taking people to 7 Mile Beach. We ended up taking a cab to the Ritz and then getting another cab that was there. It was a small hassle but we have great street smarts and figured it out. My grandma would’ve been lost and a frantic mess. Lesson learned but it was a fun journey getting there. Our cab driver gave us her number and was a huge help to us. A true sweetie and we paid her well.

 

 

After arriving, we went to our excursion, which was a 2-person Jet Ski trip to Stingray City and Rum Pointe. We didn’t end up going to Rum Pointe but did an extra snorkel stop on the way back. No big deal but would have loved to see Rum Pointe.

 

After walking through the resort to the beach we found the spot on the beach where our excursion would begin.

 

 

After visiting Stingray City, we had a snorkel stop. My wife snapped this picture and I am still amazed at the clarity of the water as I look back.

 

[dvdkndy]

After our excursion concluded, we called our cab driver and she was prompt in picking us up. When we go back to Grand Cayman, we will definitely be looking her up. She was kind and her van was equipped with an awesome air condition. She was great and deserves an honorable mention here.

 

 

As she was taking us back, she told us about the culture, the people, and history of Grand Cayman. You cannot get this stuff anywhere else but from the mouth of someone who has lived their entire life on that island.

 

You can tell pretty quickly that there is a lot of money on this island!

 

 

Who brought my car down here for me???

 

 

And I thought gas in Cincy was expensive!

 

 

[dvdkndy]

After making our way back to the ship and hugging, yes hugging, our cab driver (she literally saved us that day because nobody would take us to the Grand Caymanian) and a little shopping, we jumped on the tender to head back to the ship. This is the water as we were leaving on the tender.

 

 

We started making our way back to the ship and I snapped pictures along the way.

 

 

 

 

As we got closer, I thought I might have a chance at a really cool picture and boy was I right! This is my favorite picture that we took the entire trip. How cool does that look?

 

 

After getting back to the ship, it was time to bid farewell to a beautiful island!

 

 

After getting back to the room and showering, we noticed that we had not eaten anything in Cayman. So we picked up the phone and called in some room service. Tied us over until dinner and was delivered in a timely manner.

 

[dvdkndy]

We woke up and the ship was about an hour away from Cozumel. We went and had a bite to eat on the lido and then went to get ready to leave the ship. We like the shops and such in Cozumel. The difference between the shops in Cayman and Cozumel are vast. In Cayman you pay what they say in the stores. In Cozumel you can wheel and deal with them which I enjoyed doing.

 

 

On the walkway at the gift shops, these guys had this Xylophone-type instrument setup and they did and absolutely phenomenal job. I was extremely impressed with their talent and ability.

 

 

You can’t to Mexico without seeing a real Mariachi band right?

 

[dvdkndy]

We took a cab over to a non-Carnival excursion we purchase at Mr. Sanchos. The main reason we purchased it was because it was a horseback adventure and my wife had a desire to do that and thought it would be fun.

 

 

Being sunburned didn’t help anything but I thought the whole thing was kinda…well…unsatisfactory to say the least. The horseback ride was basically a figure 8 trail cut in the woods and so after 10 minutes, we realized we were just going in circles. Not really my version of a horseback adventure. When we told him we just wanted off, he took a turn and then we were on the beach. It was nice but I was slightly aggravated by that time. Nothing that was going to ruin my vacation but just frustrated.

 

 

 

After getting off of Mr. Ed, we went to the resort to have a beach day and lunch. We went to a hut and had lunch and listened to the crowd. There were signs everywhere that said “give us a positive review and a ‘like’ and get a free drink.” You could imagine people were posting anything and everything to get a free drink. I think it is a cheap way to generate positive remarks.

 

 

I had simple nachos and my wife had a burrito trio with a side of guacamole.

 

 

 

We left Mr. Sanchos after lunch because we just were not impressed with the place or the beach. We did our horse ride and had lunch but it just was not impressive. I am not the kind of person who says it is horrible and tell people to avoid like the plague. It just was not for us and we were not impressed. Some like it and talk genuinely positive things about it and there are some who just want a free drink.

[dvdkndy]

After leaving Mr. Sanchos we walked around the shops to buy our supply of antibiotics for the family and some souvenirs here and there. We saw a guy selling an icee type snack and we bought one. Were they good too!!!

 

 

 

We still had a couple hours to burn so we stopped by this place to snorkel off of their dock. The fish were beautiful and water nice and clear. If there is one thing I discovered on this cruise it is that I love snorkeling!

 

It seriously looks like I am in a swimming pool! Nope, just off the coast of Cozumel!

 

 

On our way back to the ship we look up and there is Oasis just sitting there. A massive ship she definitely is!

 

[dvdkndy]

After getting through security, we started to walk back to the ship. Even though she is one of the smaller in Carnival’s fleet, we still think she is a lot of fun.

 

 

 

My beautiful wife!

 

 

Goodbye Cozumel, we hope to see you again soon!

 

[dvdkndy]

Cozumel night, last sea day, and debarkation:

 

That night we took it easy and went to watch “Showcase of the Stars” in the main lounge. It was nice and I didn’t think it was cheesy at all. After a busy day, we checked out early and hit the hay.

 

The next sea day was filled with relaxing literally all day in the Serenity Deck. It was quite peaceful and again I loved the view off the back of the ship. If I ever signup for an aft-balcony you can bet I will never come inside. I could seriously look at that all day long.

 

We went to the final show in the main lounge and then off to see the comedians in both shows. They were hilarious but there was definitely a seat shortage. If you thought finding a chair on the lido wasn’t easy, you should try finding a chair in the little lounge during their sets!

 

We went to bed so sad that we were about to spend our last night on the water! We laid in bed thinking about all that we had seen and experienced. We asked the question, will we do it again? ABSOLUTELY! We even bought the FCC and have booked our next cruise for September 2012.

 

We woke up that morning and did self-assist so we could get out of there. We went to the airport and rented a car for the day to bum around the Tampa/St. Pete area. It was nice but there was no replacing the places we had just been! We stopped and snapped a picture on the beach and then headed to the airport.

 

 

As we were taking off out of TPA bound for home, we looked out the window to see the most depressing thing ever: Inspiration heading to open water without us!

 

[dvdkndy]

Final Thoughts:

 

I would first like to apologize for not doing this sooner. Maybe it is our upcoming cruise that is making me want to. Either way I am sorry and I hope you enjoyed it.

 

As a first-timer, we had nothing to compare it to. We didn’t have any bad experiences that we can think of on our cruise. Other than the cab in Cayman and Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel, our cruise was flawless. Even then I feel bad saying that because I hate knit pickers who find fault in everything. Those things I wouldn’t even classify as faults but simply blips on the radar. Nothing that left a bad taste in our mouth about the trip.

 

If we wanted to find something wrong we could have but we choose to enjoy ourselves regardless of the environment. I get to do these things with the love of my life and meet some great people along the way. What more could I ask for?

 

One day I may try another line; then again I had such a great time I have no reason to go to another line. We had a blast and are looking forward to our B2B in 35 days. We are not platinum or anything close to that but I assure you we will be one day!

 

I tip my hat to Carnival and its employees. They worked hard at their product and it showed to my wife and I. Maybe someone else thinks different but that is just my take.

 

I filmed a lot more than I took pictures and I invite you to take a look at the video that we did while we were there.

 

You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qrza8PmF2I

 

If you have any questions that I can answer I would be more than happy to answer them.

 

May God bless you all!!!

[ccruisequeen]

Great photos great review and thank you for preserving the ship for those of us on the West coast!

[ATL2LAS]

This was a great review. Getting ready to watch the video. Glad you had such a positive outlook. Thats how you have fun on a cruise:D What type of waterproof camera did you use?

Edited July 31, 2012 by ATL2LAS

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to write your great review,and to share your photos.

 

You stated that at Cozumel you bought a supply of Antibiotics for the family.

Can you just walk in off the street and buy Antibiotics without a prescription?

[rotting_hell]

Nice review/pics! Glad you enjoyed it! :D

[dvdkndy]

 

You stated that at Cozumel you bought a supply of Antibiotics for the family.

Can you just walk in off the street and buy Antibiotics without a prescription?

 

You pretty much can get anything such as amoxicillin, zithromax, cipro, retina-a creme, etc. I always double check the dates on the bottles as well as making sure they are sealed. We have never had a problem with the quality or effectiveness of them either. I get upper respiratory and sinus infections quite often. It is the same song every time I go to the family doctor and it sets me back some coin. This way it saves me a trip to the doctor and Walgreens pharmacy which in turns saves me a lot of money. No prescription needed.

[dvdkndy]

What type of waterproof camera did you use?

 

We did not have an underwater point and shoot camera. For the video that we posted on youtube, we have a Flip handheld and have an underwater housing to go along with it. I would like to find a camera where I didn't have to have the housing but then again it would make me nervous not having the housing. However the Flip definitely did a great job for what we needed.

 

Youtube link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qrza8PmF2I

[sweetcurves]

You pretty much can get anything such as amoxicillin, zithromax, cipro, retina-a creme, etc. I always double check the dates on the bottles as well as making sure they are sealed. We have never had a problem with the quality or effectiveness of them either. I get upper respiratory and sinus infections quite often. It is the same song every time I go to the family doctor and it sets me back some coin. This way it saves me a trip to the doctor and Walgreens pharmacy which in turns saves me a lot of money. No prescription needed.

 

:eek: