Should we do this cruise? Carnival Inspiration

[OnTheBrink]

Carnival Inspiration

March 17-21

Tampa

Includes two days at sea and a day in Cozumel.

Oceanview cabin for 4 (me, husband, 2 kids ages 6 and 9)

 

We live about 40 minutes from the port. The previous cruiser rate puts us at $1200. Even if it's not spectacular, $1200 for 4 days seems like a good deal for some basic fun. Because of Spring Break, the kids would only miss school the Monday we get back in. And, theoretically we could have them back at school for lunch that day!

 

Anything I should know? We'll book on Tuesday (payday) unless we get strong advice otherwise!

 

Just looking for a basic family get away!

 

Thanks!

[Julienatul]

I say do it!! We are sailing right after you, my kids spring break!! It is a nice getaway. We sail the Inspiration frequently since it is a shorter cruise and so close to home (30 min just like you). Your kids wil love the water slides, put putt golf and camp carnival.

[ryansmom]

I'm sorry to give it a thumb's down :(

 

We did 5 nights out of Tampa last summer and the service was awful! Esp. the dining room...and every night the dining room food was cold. :(

 

11 yr old son (at the time) NOT impressed with kids club...spent most of the time OUT of it w/ family/cousins on ship.

 

My father-in-law was in penthouse suite U111. Had issue w/ showerhead and after 3 calls, nobody came to fix it. (it was his 75th birthday cruise...we were a large group) I had to physically go to Guest Relations and demand it to be fixed. I saw the person checking the maintenance log in front of me, nowhere was his cabin number listed as needing maintenance (even after calling 3 times?) Little did we know, they were going to fix it at 10pm..and not finish till midnight. But, they needed to call housekeeping to clean then :mad: Ridiculous.

 

We had 8 families (32 ppl in all) and I heard many different complaints about different things. The most common was the dining room service & food temperature.

 

OUR cabin service was excellent!

 

I didn't think there was a "lot" to do (compared to other lines) on board for everyone, but there were 'some' things to do. Limited shows and such... Oh, speaking of....If you wanted to catch a show in the evening that was preceded by BINGO, you had to go early and get a seat RIGHT AFTER Bingo was over. Most Bingo-er's stayed for the show and seats were hard to come by. Not so good for the olders in our group :(

 

I've been on RCI & Disney and Carnival...this one (ship?) was the least enjoyable and worst cruise we ever took.

 

And I am a firm believer in "a bad day on vacation is always better than a good day at home/work". I woke up each day thinking it was going to be a better day...that day just never came. :(

 

Sorry I have to give it a negative review...but for US it was....maybe not for your trip tho? Good luck!

 

:o

[bus man]

Lots of colleges will be on spring break during this time. If the prices are low enough, it might attract a crowd of rowdy, noisy, hyped-up college kids. (Mind you, I said MIGHT; I don't know if it WILL or not.) Something to think about.

 

Given that you live so close to the port, you might want to look at a weekend getaway sometime in May, when the ship is likely to be quieter. (Of course, the downside to that is that your kids might not have many playmates on a May cruise.)

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[azlefty]

In my experience there is a big difference in food quality between the newer Carnival ships and the older ones used for short trips (I took the Paradise out of LA). The Paradise's food was pretty much awful, whereas the newer ships have food that is pretty good. However, we otherwise had fun and Carnival has plenty of entertainment, great kids club, etc as you probably know.

[mama_2_boys]

A cruise is a cruise...but DH and I went on that cruise around the same dates last year and I'm SO glad we didn't take our 2 kids. I'm no prude but the college kids that were on the cruise were wild. Didn't bother us, but I was glad on several occasions that we didn't have our kids. We decided we would only be taking 7 night cruises NOT around spring break from now on. I know that isn't for everyone and you might not mind the spring break crowd at all. If not then go for it b/c we had great service, yummy food, and nice weather.

[camorelli]

We just got off the Inspiration 5 day cruise on Saturday. We had a great time and my kids (7 and 5) loved it. They absolutely loved camp and wanted to be there a lot. We only had one night where we thought the food wasn't terrific. The other 4 nights were fabulous dinners. I have cruise during that week you mentioned (on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity) and both times the cruises were packed with lots of Spring Breakers.