Carnival Inspiration Review
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We left Tampa on the Carnival Inspiration on Nov 30, 2009. Forget what the boards say, you cannot park your car in the garage before 10:30 am on the day of sailing, nor can you drop your bags off before 10:30. Since we live in Tampa, that was no big deal--we just had to wait 15 min or so. We have VIP status, so embarkation was a snap. We had to wait on a wedding party, but VIP's were the next to board. We were having lunch on the Lido deck by 11:30 am. Cabins were not ready until 1:30, but I think that is normal. We were surprised that our bags were delivered by about 2:30pm; the cabin steward(Jia, who was very good) said that was because we had priority status because of the VIP.
We booked this only 2-3 weeks prior to sailing, so we did not have a lot of choices on cabins, but it was ok. We are used to verandah's but had an outside cabin this time. The ship has been refurbished, although we did not notice much difference except the bathroom, which was fine. Our cabin, M 63, had a king, plus two fold down bunk beds(which we did not use, but they took up space, so we did not have a sofa--a major pain). Don't get bunk beds unless you need them, because you will hit your head on one of them when you are trying to sit up in the bed. First Carnival ship I have been on since the Mardi Gras a zillion years ago that did not have a mini bar in the cabin. We don't use the mini bar except to keep our wine cool! Carnival does allow you to bring one bottle of wine per person on board legally, but you can bring more if you pack it in your checked luggage--think boxed wine!
Life boat drill: a complete joke and, in my opinion, dangerous and stupid. I cannot believe that the US coast guard allows this. You no longer have to get your life jacket and report to the boarding deck for the life boats. Now you go to a lounge(without your life jacket) where they explain things for about 15 minutes, and then you go to the boarding deck. If the ship is sinking, I sure am not going to any lounge to wait on idiots to get there. We know how to put on a life jacket, but I bet a lot of first time cruisers do not.
Cabin Review
Cabin M 63, only about 4 cabins from the elevator and stairs; was fairly noisy at times because of people congregating by the elevator. Outside cabin-good view, although we are spoiled by having balconies on our past 6 or 7 cruises. Cabin had 2 bunk beds which were a pain because you could not sit up in the bed without hitting your head on one of them(although they were not down). No sofa in the cabin(probably because of the bunk beds). We did have a king bed which was nice and comfortable. No mini bar to keep your wine cool in( first ship I have been on in over 20 years that did not have one). Bathroom-good sized shower (about 30 in by 40 in) for a ship. Bathroom had been refurbished; nice showerhead.