Please don't be offended by the title - I shop at Wal-Mart. But when I go there, I know what to expect: fair prices, low to moderate quality, sometimes good service/sometimes bad, and people walking around in their pajamas. This is what you should expect on a Carnival cruise as well. If you go expecting to be surrounded by the same people who shop at Nordstrom, you will be disappointed.
The embarkation out of Long Beach was a breeze. Everyone was very friendly, the line was almost non-existent at 11:30am when we got on board the ship, and lunch was being served. Which brings me first to the food. My husband liked it but I thought it was really sub-standard. The Inspiration has two "grills" inside their casual dining room, one outside on the pool deck area, a mongollian grill also outside on the pool deck area, a pizza serving area (inside), and a deli-sandwich serving area (also inside). Additionally there are two main dining rooms for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food selection is very limited compared to Disney, RC, and Norwegian. The casual dining areas inside have themed dining (for example, Italian or Caribbean) at lunch and dinner and the outside dining had hamburgers, chicken strips, hot dogs, french fries, and also some other comfort food items like corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, etc., depending on the time of day. The problem was that in trying to be creative, they served things like seafood stew or some italian dish no one has ever heard of and it wasn't good. If you are going to be creative, it really needs to be tasty. Otherwise, just give people the basics that they like. There was a lot of food wasted, I can assure you. Also, there were ALWAYS long lines for food. The mongollian grill (which was actually very, very good) was a 20 minute wait - just standing in a line. That's not acceptable. The other lines weren't much better. The pizza?? It's almost a shame to call it that - I've had better at those bouncy house places my kids go to play on a rainy day. Think making a chef boyardee pizza from a kit. There was a fair selection of desserts but again not too tasty. The frozen yogurt machine was outstanding (chocolate and strawberry swirl being my girls' favorite) but it was inside in the middle of the casual dining room so not convenient and also always crowded. The main dining room food was not much better although it was better by a hair. The primary reason we would eat there for breakfast/lunch was to get a place to sit down and there weren't people running and bumping into you. That was really a plus.
Our room was an outside room with a window and decent sized. I mean, it is a cruise ship so space is at a premium but we had the two twin beds pushed together, a five year old in the bunk berth and a four year old on the trundle bed on the floor. It was do-able. The beds were actually comfortable and there was closet space for our things. We didn't have a lot of room to store our luggage and walk around but it wasn't an issue. The bathroom is tiny - be prepared if you haven't cruised before. But we could actually fit two kids and an adult in the shower when necessary so I can't complain. The room was mid-ship which alleviated swaying and there wasn't much noise either - except what you would expect from other passengers. We did not hear our neighbors through the walls but could hear noise occasionally from the hallway.