Carnival Inspiration Review

Carnival Inspiration - Western Caribbean

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Inspiration

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Sail Date: Jan 2007
Traveled with children

I should first mention that this was my first cruise and the Inspiration was chosen because it travels mostly in the smooth gulf. I was quite concerned about motion sickness as I am weak in this area and am happy to report that I did not get sick or even nauseous. You do, however, feel motion. Many will say...it's so big you don't feel a thing. I felt motion most all of the time but it was not a swooping swaying feeling and it didn't make me ill. I took Bonine each day and had no problem. On the 4th night, we encountered a wind storm and we rocked more than normal - my 11 year old daughter ended up sea sick late that night but it was gone by the next morning. We enjoyed our vacation and found the ship very relaxing. The ship itself is HUGE and seems to be decorated beautifully. Our room (oceanview on lowest deck) was plenty sufficient and I was surprised at the space in the bathroom. Our beds were extremely comfortable (honestly), we were surprised by that too! The water pressure was great in the shower, contrary to some reviews I've read. My first impression of the lido deck was that it looked a little "worn". I think it could use some updating or paint or something. The pool was much smaller than I pictured - be prepared that it is sea water in the pool and it's salty! The deck chairs are nice and I loved sitting up there listening to the Caribbean band that plays live quite often. I was a little disappointed with the activities on the boat. Some seemed a little lame, and the "seminars" they give for shopping and touring seem quite worthless. If you want to cruise for sunbathing, plentiful amounts of food, some shows and nightlife and visiting some ports - then this ship is perfect. If you are looking to be kept busy during the day, this ship doesn't offer much. I was in heaven sunbathing most of the day!

We traveled with another family and between us we had 5 children (13, 12, 12, 11 and 4.) We were looking forward to Camp Carnival. First of all, you must register your children for this once you get on the ship, they can't just show up to an activity. We were disappointed with this aspect of our cruise. The 4 year old went to camp carnival once for 2 hours and refused to go back. It was a dingy room in the back of the ship (hard to find) and seemed small. The rest of the kids never ended up attending any of the older kids activities. Each day a list of activities was posted but nothing seemed to peak their interest and there were hardly any other kids their age on the ship. They each had walkie talkies and had more fun wandering the ship on their own and visiting the all you can eat ice cream and pizza cafe. They looked forward more to the evenings and especially enjoyed going to the dining room to see what "show" the waiters would put on and also liked to go to the shows with us. Kids were welcome anywhere on the ship except in the casino. The kids comments about the cruise were mostly that they were a little bored sometimes but it was still GREAT! We enjoyed the shows and recommend that you go directly to the theatre after dinner to get a good seat. They put on broadway quality shows!! The newlywed game was hilarious as was the traditional "hairiest chest" contest on the lido deck. You have tomake sure you stop into the piano bar and see "Barry the piano guy". This was the highlight of my trip - he is absolutely hilarious!

Inspiration visits Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico. At both ports we visited beaches. Port time would be a chief complaint I might have against cruising. It feels like you barely get there and you have to worry about making it back to the ship. We did not do any of the ship excursions and instead took taxi's to the beaches on our own. It was very easy to do and saved quite a bit of money. We brought a collapsible cooler on the ship and ordered sandwiches from room service the night before we ported and carried the cooler with us on shore for a picnic. At cozumel, we chose to go to paradise beach - which I highly recommend - and did some snorkeling, sunbathing, drank pinacolada's and rented a jet ski. They have a giant wall climbing iceberg out in the water that the kids loved. The cost to enter is $9 and includes everything except the jet ski, which was only $55 for a half hour and it cost us only $22 plus tip for a van to transport all 9 of us to the beach. The ship was charging $40 per person for a similar excursion.

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