Carnival Inspiration Review

4.0 / 5.0
0 reviews

KIDS FIRST CRUISE...FUN FOR ALL

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Inspiration
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laceyhank
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Feb 2009
Traveled with children

Just off Inspiration. My 4th cruise with Carnival and 1st time cruising for my kids, DD 14y/o, & DS's 12 & 9 y/o. Great relaxation and fun for us all. PRECRUISE: We booked Sheraton Suites Tampa Westshore for 2 nights precruise. Winning bid $70.00 per night. Hotel had free airport shuttle. Hotel appears to be an old Embassy Suites. Outdated but clean, nice pool, awesome work out area. No continental breakfast, restaurant on site is pricey. Free shuttle to anywhere within a couple miles, we went to International Plaza Mall to eat at Cheesecake Factory, many other nice restaurants, shops, and bars. Took free shuttle back to airport 1 day for car rental to go to beach, cheaper than renting for 2 days. Best part...$10.00 shuttle to Port of Tampa per adult, kids FREE. Shuttle leaves at scheduled time, ours was 11:30am and we needed to sign up for it the day before.

EMBARKATION: Arrived at port around 12:00pm took about 20 minutes until we were on board. Lines move fast. Make sure to have those luggage tags on, we saw a lot of people struggling trying to put them on their handles at the last minute. If you get to port early, it is right next to the Florida Aquarium and Channelside Plaza (shops, restaurants, coffee/wifi cafes). Also need FUNPASS and passports/ID documents in hand.

Once on board, went for lunch on LIDO deck. Buffet style, varies day to day except for the usual burgers, chicken strips, hotdogs. Room was ready by 1:30pm. We had an outside cabin with 1 upper. I thought it would be much smaller than it was. There actually was plenty of room with 2 twin beds separated, 1 upper, and 1 floor bed. My kids had no problem sleeping.Only seemed crowded when we were all standing in the same spot! Plenty of closet space for all 4 of us. Suitcases all fit easily under bed and I have 1 huge mother suitcase. Highly recommend over door shoe thing. we put all our toiletries, suntan lotion, brushes, misc in them-try to find one that is clear, easy for everyone to see what they need. Also used those hooks that are temporary, the name is failing me at the moment. Just small ones for everyones swimsuit and for sign and sail cards. BRING YOUR OWN LANYARD(can buy a carnival one for about 4-6$ each). I brought 4, went down to pursuers desk and asked someone to just punch holes in them and they did. Or bring your own hole puncher and do not punch over magnetic strip area or on arrow side of card (otherwise you will have to take card off lanyard everytime you need to get into room). These worked great for my kids, they always had it with them and it was safe. Gave kids limit to spend on their cards and honestly I hardly saw them. they were either at the kids camps or on deck. we had post it notes to communicate and meet up points. Always met for lunch and dinner. Boat was clean and in great condition but much smaller after I had lastly been on the Victory. I think it was probably easier for my kids to navigate for their first time and the 5 day itinerary. I would prefer to go back on the bigger boat. Have fun, let loose. We tried so many games, Karaoke, dancing. Activities were great. Sushi bar..excellent. Food in dining room just okay, same with buffet. Did like the convenience and selection at buffet. Room service a nice alternative too, kids loved this. Chocolate Melting Cake in Dining Room was to die for. I miss it already. Mostly smooth sailing, kids and myself did not get seasick at all. Night into Grand Cayman was the most noticeable as far as rocking goes. weather beautiful 68-82 degrees, sometimes a little windy on deck but we had plenty of sun. Water a little cool, warmest in Cozumel, kids swam anyways and loved it. PORTS: Grand Cayman, very high winds with high waves. Needed to be tendered at Scotts Bay instead of Georgetown. I had booked StingRay tour with Moby Dick. Moby Dick staff where there at changed drop off site with news that Stingray City was closed due to the waves/winds, very nice and gave us many alternative sites/tour options. We chose to go to a private small beach (free) just a 1/4 mile walk from where we tendered, recommended by Moby Dicks. Went back to ship for lunch. Cozumel: Our fav port, chose to go to Paradise Beach after doing much research on cruise critic. Taxi to paradise beach was 13.00 for the 4 of us, We all got the 10.00 wristbands for the water toys, 3 water trampolines, water climbing iceberg and huge blowup water slide (this was kids favorite), many floating mattress type things, kayaks, snorkeling equipment, climb a coconut tree all included for the 10.00 user fee. Parasailing, wave runners, hair braiding,massage, henna tattoos extra. Nice beach chairs and umbrellas, menu very good with large portions and reasonable price. showers, changing area, clean bathrooms. Staff exceptional and always making sure we had everything we needed. Only needed to pay for wristbands up front otherwise had tab for everything else and paid at the end. taxi was easy back to dock and then shopped around dock shops/restaurants.

Cabin Review

Cabin R

Did not feel much movement, occ "weird ship noises" but really nothing to complain about

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