Carnival Inspiration Review

Carnival Inspiration - Western Caribbean

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Inspiration

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Sail Date: Oct 2006
Cabin: Ocean View

Background Information: We are past cruisers, ages 63/59, semi-retired. Our preferences for cruises are those that have the most days at sea. Ship-sponsored shore excursions (typically very costly) are the exception for us, not the rule. We prefer the occasional private tour, or perhaps a little sightseeing, beach-hopping, or casual meal at one of the local restaurants when in port.

Travel To Port of Embarkation/Hotel Info: We only live 90 miles from Tampa, so getting to the port was an easy drive for us. We drove up the night before to have dinner with our daughter who lives just north of Tampa. We stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express on Rocky Point Dr, about 5 miles west of Tampa International Airport, and only about 8 miles from the Port of Tampa. This is one of our favorite places to stay, because the Bahama Breeze Restaurant is within walking distance next door. We've stayed here often in the past and would soundly recommend this hotel, as well as the restaurant.

On the day of the cruise, we checked out of our hotel and made a leisurely drive over to the Port of Tampa. We intended on doing a bit of shopping and not trying to board too early. We discovered that most of the shops around the Port were not open, so we checked with the parking lot attendant as to whether we could park our vehicle and retrieve our baggage later. She suggested that we go ahead and park our car, take our baggage and go to the terminal. She assured us that there would be no problem with early boarding. We paid $60 in advance via credit card for parking. We easily walked the short distance to the port terminal with our luggage, and arrived at the doors of the terminal at about 10:20am. A porter met us promptly, gave us luggage tags, and pointed us to the right doorway. We were third in line, and the Carnival agents opened the doors at 10:30am. We were checked in after only a few minutes, and given a boarding number. (We were in group #1). We waited for approximately an hour, but it was pleasant, and we talked with people as we waited. When the announcement came, we were first in line to board. By 11:52am, we were seated on the Lido Deck enjoying a cool drink. BTW, when we booked this cruise the agent told us that Carnival would not be sending us any paper documents. All we got was an E-mail confirmation from the TA with our cabin#, cruise info, booking #, etc. We did go online and check in, so the only paper we had with us when we arrived was our fun pass (and of course proper ID) which we had printed out. We probably spent no more than 3 minutes at the check in counter.

Cabin Review

Ocean View

Cabin 6A
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