The Introduction: I am a 23 year old male in the public service field. This cruise was my third with Carnival, and my fourth overall. I went on a four day voyage last year to Cozumel aboard the Inspiration and had a great time. This year we decided to take the five day vacation on the Inspiration to Cozumel and Grand Cayman Island. Our group consisted of three couples between the ages of 22 and 40. My girlfriend and I, along with one of the other couples had ocean view cabins on the Empress deck. The third couple had an interior cabin on the Upper deck. The cruise was to leave Tampa on Thursday (7-31-06), and return on Saturday (8-5-06).

The Embarkation: We arrived at the cruise terminal around 11:00 am. The porters took our luggage, and we got right through the security check without any wait. We checked in and received our Sail and Sign cards and embarkation papers. They were not ready to load the ship, so we had to sit in the terminal for about an hour. We went to the Lido deck restaurant (Brasserie Grill) for lunch after we got onboard shortly after noon. After the life boat drill we set sail at about 4:30 pm. We went up on deck for some great pictures of the ship passing under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, after that we were out to sea!

The Ship: I was already familiar with the Inspiration from my previous cruise, and from my cruise on the Sensation. Both are Fantasy class vessels and have the same layout. The ship was again extremely clean and well kept. The marble floors were always polished, and the carpets were continually being vacuumed. Our cabin window was large and offered a nice view outside the ship. The cabin itself was large enough for us and our luggage to fit easily. Carnivals new beds are extremely comfortable with plush comforters and goose down pillows. We had a problem with the A/C vent in the room being broken and stuck closed. I told the room steward about it, and it was fixed within a few hours. The Grand Atrium is the heart of the ship and is six decks high. The Lido deck has the main pool with the water slide. This area is constantly overrun with children, so I didnt hang out there very much. We spent most of our topside time at the pool in the aft area of the Verandah deck. There is no slide, so there are less children running around. The spa area is very nice, with steam rooms and saunas. There are also two whirlpools, and a gymnasium. For the partying set, there are many night clubs to choose from. My personal favorite was the Rhapsody in Blue Piano Bar, as I have an affinity for light rock and roll. The Promenade deck has the Rock and Roll disco (which ironically plays nothing but hip hop and dance music), and the Avant-Garde disco which usually has a live band playing classic rock music. The Candlelight Lounge at the rear of the Promenade deck is where the nightly Karaoke takes place. Read more