Inspiration Review

[tampagirl2]

May 15 - 19, 2008

 

Background: Boyfriend (41) and I (36) went on our first Carnival cruise. He’d been on a cruise many years ago on a bachelor party. I had been on a Greek cruise with my dad about 6 years ago. We both live in Tampa and picked the 4 day cruise to take less days off of work (and in case we hated it!).

Embarkation – We arrived at the terminal about 12:00pm and were through and on the boat probably by 12:15pm. It was a breeze! We took our picture and went to look at our room (Upper deck – oceanview). We were pleasantly surprised to see that our room was already ready!

ROOM: I was a little worried about the room, but it was fine. It’s small, but well planned. We were near the elevators and stairs, which was very convenient. It was a little noisy during the day when we were trying to nap, but I never had any problems at night. Absolutely loved the towel animals! We never actually met our cabin steward – don’t even know what his/her name was! The room was very clean and the bed was very comfortable.

DINING: We ate in the dining room every night for dinner. We had the late seating (8:15pm) in the Mardi Gras Dining Room and had George the Greek – Opa! Had requested a table for 2 when booking, but were seated at a table for 10. We ended up really liking our table mates, so never requested to change. I did see a few tables for 2 in the dining room for those that are interested. Boyfriend ordered at least 2 appetizers and 2 entrees every night. Thought the food was good, not great, but good. I did really like the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake and George offered the recipe to everyone on the last night. Two different couples got engaged in the dining room on our cruise!

For lunch, we had the buffet on embarkation day and thought it was good. There was carved roast beef that was delicious! The salad bar was good, too. Remember that the salad bar closes at 2:30pm – we missed it every other day by minutes! Had a cheeseburger that was okay another day and tried the pizza every day. Not the best pizza I’ve ever had, but thought it was pretty good. (Try to get one that is fresh out of the oven). Boyfriend had the soft serve ice cream every day. There is a deli also, the line gets pretty long once the buffet has closed.

For breakfast, we ordered room service on two of the days. It was on time both days, but missing items ordered both days as well. A quick call and the missing items were brought. We had the buffet for lunch on our port day and it was good. I would have liked to have tried the dining room for breakfast or lunch once, but never got around to it.

SHOWS: We only went to the two rated R comedy shows on the boat. The first one (Kenny Miller) was really not at all funny. Maybe he was having an off night, but I would not waste my time going to see him again. The second comic on the last night (Anthony Esposito) was hilarious! I highly recommend his show!

BARS/LOUNGES: I really liked the piano bar – the guy is really good. We also went to the disco and to the bar with the live band – both fun and pretty crowded.

CASINO: I played video poker for 2 days on only $20 (on a quarter machine) which entertained me and I didn’t lose too much money. Boyfriend played craps and lost several hundred dollars. I did get to roll and it was fun, but we were unlucky L Be forewarned it is VERY smoky in here.

POOLS/SLIDES: We didn’t get up early and did have a little trouble on the first sea day finding chairs together. Serenity area was completely full. Found 2 chairs together up by the waterworks area. The slides are REALLY fun. There were several adults going down the slides as well as kids. I saw a few people get stuck on the big slide because they were sitting up instead of laying flat, so make sure you lay flat – you go fast! The last sea day we found tons of chairs up by the funnel – you could still hear the entertainment from the Lido deck here and it’s nice and breezy.

PUTT PUTT: We loved the putt putt golf. It was so much fun! I got 2 holes in one and beat my boyfriend in both rounds of golf !!

PHOTOS: We spent SO much money on photos!! I would recommend waiting until toward the end of the cruise and only picking your favorites. I’d go every night to see the pictures and bought almost all of them!!

SPA: We booked a couples’ massage on embarkation day for the last sea day. Mine was actually a little too hard at first, but then I asked her to do it softer and it was very nice and relaxing.

COZUMEL: We didn’t do an excursion through Carnival, but rented a jeep at the port. We drove to San Francisco Beach first and had a drink. They have a pool with a swim up bar – it was nice. There is a $10 per person minimum here. We then headed to Punta Sur and saw a Mayan ruin, the crocodiles, and the light house. Our jeep got stuck in the sand for a few minutes, so be careful and DON’T go off of the paved road at all if you rent a jeep. I had told my boyfriend this, but he never listens J The view was great from the lighthouse and it was really cool to see real crocodiles. We then headed to Coconuts for lunch. It was beautiful! It’s up on a cliff. We then headed back to town and shopped for a little before heading back to the ship. I would really recommend renting a car/jeep and driving around the island – it was a lot of fun!

Had a great time on our cruise and would definitely go again. Living in Tampa, it was so nice to only be 5 minutes away after self-debarkation!

Any questions, feel free to ask!

[*Mach*]

Great review! I'm so glad that you had a good time!

I did that itinerary on the Inspiration in April and had a great time.

Lucky you... you had George the Greek! OPA!!!

:D

[DarthGrady]

Thanks for the review. I know what you mean about it being nice to be near the port. We are in Ocala, and its only a couple hours drive to either Tampa, Canaveral or Jax. Saves us oodles in air fare, and lets us cruise more.

 

Glad to hear you liked the ship, I get more and more excited about our upcoming Inspiration cruise with each review.

[Travel Angel]

Thanks for the GREAT review... we will be on her in 8 days... Wooooooohooo !

[DublinLass]

Enjoyed ur review, can you tell me what deck you were on and did you have a connecting door.

[cathyoo]

Lucky you.. Tampa's my favorite port.. If I lived close to Tampa, my children would have no inheritance.. I'd spend it all on cruising. The Inspiration was my first Carnival ship and turned me into a Carnival fan. That was even before the refurbish.

 

Thanks for the lovely review and I'm glad you had such a nice time.

[sarasotasteve]

tampagirl Who did you rent your jeep from? Were you happy with it? Thanks steve

[Cruise-aholic]

Great review thanks so much for sharing, I will be going back on her this November and I am looking forward to the changes.

[Cruise-aholic]

Sorry double post-

[BEEZALAR]

Lucky you.. Tampa's my favorite port.. If I lived close to Tampa, my children would have no inheritance.. I'd spend it all on cruising. The Inspiration was my first Carnival ship and turned me into a Carnival fan. That was even before the refurbish.

 

Thanks for the lovely review and I'm glad you had such a nice time.

 

Amen to that ! We would both be in the poor house. Good thing it's a 8 hr drive for us

[zonemasconi]

I was this cruise also but for the life of me I dont remember all that much. I must have been overserved.

really it is a great ship, the new slide was great!

I had dinner in both dining rooms as one night I drunking went to the other dining room and to a table I thought was mine. but it was alright as they were friendly people..cute too.

gotta love the 4 and 5 day cruises just I have to learn not to drink as much.

[dommer573]

Did you enjoy it enough to book a longer cruise next time, or do you want to be back at work in five days?:eek: Nice review, thanks.;)

[tampagirl2]

Enjoyed ur review, can you tell me what deck you were on and did you have a connecting door.

 

Thank you! We were on the Upper Deck and did not have a connecting door. We were forward, near the elevators. It was very convenient - a little noisy during the day when we tried to nap, but no problems at night.

[tampagirl2]

tampagirl Who did you rent your jeep from? Were you happy with it? Thanks steve

 

We rented from Budget - it's located right there at the Punta Langosta pier. It was $60 plus we bought the full coverage insurance which was $28. We didn't have one reserved, just got it that day. There are several rental agencies located right at the pier. We had no problems and I would highly recommend it!

[tampagirl2]

Did you enjoy it enough to book a longer cruise next time, or do you want to be back at work in five days?:eek: Nice review, thanks.;)

 

What I liked about the Inspiration itinerary is that it went Thursday - Monday. I really only needed to take Thursday and Friday off of work (although I did take Monday off as well to rest). I've thought about trying the Legend 7 day out of Tampa, but I'm not sure. I feel like if I'm going to take a whole week of work off, I should go to Europe or something... We'll see, I'm already reading Legend reviews!!

[JaguarGirl]

I live in Jacksonville and love to cruise out of Tampa. I've never been on the Inspiration. Was on the Sensation out of Tampa with George the Greek. He was great. Was also on the Miracle and Legend last year.