3-Day Baja Cruise Inspiration Review

[Shelbyscout]

I haven't seen many reviews of the 3-day Baja cruises so I thought I would add mine.

 

Background: Two of my girlfriends and I decided we needed a break from our hubbies and kiddos and since the Carnival cruise was so inexpensive, we thought "why not"??? Best decision ever. But let me make it clear, my other cruises have been on Celebrity and Disney, so I kept my expectations low for such a cheap cruise.

 

Embarkation: One of my girlfriends had to work a half day so we didn't shoot for an early embarkation. Good thing because I ended up at the pediatrician's office with my daughter (nothing contagious) in the morning. In fact, I spent so much time at the doctor's office I didn't get a chance to finish packing. I literally threw clothes in my bag and took off. Halfway to my girlfriend's house I realized I forgot to pack socks (among other thing), but my friend packed extra. The worst was when we arrived at the Long Beach pier and I realized I forgot my passport.

 

Oh my gosh, I forgot my freakin' passport.

 

I was sure I was done for because I live about an hour away and even having my DH run it over to me, it would have been too late. HOWEVER, in speaking with the port agent representative, I learned that they would accept a faxed copy of my birth certificate. SAVED MY LIFE. My DH faxed the document and I had no further problems.

 

Needless to say, after all of that I was more than ready for the drink of the day :D.

 

And speaking of drinking, for the booze smugglers in the crowd, security was being very vigilant about checking for alcohol. I saw them shaking bottles of water and a very large bin of confiscated alcohol including several rum runners and sealed bottles. They are definitely on to the tricks, but in talking with other cruisers I know that at least some managed to get their booze on board. Attempt at your own risk.

 

Onboard: The first thing I did was decorate our cabin door for my friend's birthday. That was a lot of fun, although 24 hours later someone stole our decorations. I knew that was a possibility, but it was a disappointment. Ah well, what can you do? There's always one party pooper. We were certainly determined not to let it ruin our cruise.

 

Cabin: We were on the Rivera Deck, room 193, category 6A ocean view sleeping three. There were 2 twins in an L shape and one bed that pulled down from the ceiling. I was pleasantly surprised by how big the room was. I'd expected something much smaller. Even with all of the beds set up, there was room for all of us to sit on the floor and play some games we'd brought with us. I volunteered to sleep on the top bunk and found it quite comfortable. Firm but not like a rock. The linens were amazing. The ocean view window was also larger than I expected. It really gave the illusion of a larger room. The bathroom was serviceable. There was only one small shelf above the sink, barely large enough for two small cosmetic bags. Luckily one of us brought a hanging bag. I'd recommend hanging for everyone. The bathroom came with shampoo and body wash dispensers attached to the wall but the shampoo was mediocre. We used our own. There were also bars of soap that had a lovely scent. And strangely enough, there was a basket full of travel sized toothpaste tubes. No tooth brushes, just the paste. Go figure.

 

The floor of the bathroom was serviceable but reminded me of a cheap Motel 6 or a hostel. Got the job done. The big negative was the last night the drain under the sink started to overflow. The smell was literally nauseating. We opened the hallway door to try to get some fresh air and could hear people getting off the elevator wondering what the stink was. To Carnival's credit, maintenance arrived within 10 minutes of our call (and this was after midnight). He snaked the drain and cleared up the clog, then he contacted housekeeping to sanitize the floor for us. It was gross, but the whole ordeal lasted about a half an hour so it worked out. Also gross was our room steward who reeked of cigarette smoke. He was very nice, but we hoped not to run into him very often. The hallway tended to smell like smoke frequently.

 

Location was convenient. We were right off the aft elevator. I worried that there would be a lot of hallway noise being so close to the elevator but we only heard noise in the hall a few times, and nothing ever woke us up.

 

Fellow Cruisers:

There was a nice mix of age groups aboard. We saw fewer than 10 children, but adults of every age. Lots of groups like ours, girls getaway, family celebrations, two wedding parties, and one bachelor party. For the most part everyone was nice and respectful. There was a LOT of drinking going on, being a fun ship. Very different than other cruises I've taken.

 

There was one large group of about 10 who were very rude and disruptive. Let me add my voice to the call for enforcing dress code in the MDR, or at least the bare minimum. On cruise elegant night, this group wearing matching garish t-shirts, cutoffs, flip flops, etc. were seated next to us. Immediately they started being loud, rude, and inconsiderate, and then the rest of their party showed up and they complained loudly that there wasn't enough room to share a table. They grabbed a chair from our table and one from another table and tried to set their own places at the ends of their table. We politely requested to move and we'd barely vacated our seats before members of this group sat down without even waiting for the table to be cleared. Yes, they sat right in front of our partially eaten soup and used water glasses. When someone asked how much lobster they could order, one said loudly "As much as you can f'in eat!" They were also on our stateroom floor and later as we passed their rooms they had literally discarded lobster shells on the floor in the hallway. What a bunch of pigs. Fortunately they were the only disruptive group we saw, and it appeared that they were denied entrance to the MDR the next night.

 

In a separate incident, I was very impressed by how Carnival handled another seriously drunk passenger. At the comedy show, one person, who was apparently by himself, was heckling the comedian, who played along until it got to be obnoxious at which point he ignored him. We saw the passenger attempt to order another drink and was denied. At one point he stood up and stumbled toward the stage door, at which point a woman showed up and guided him to a booth. We realized it was a crew member (actually a Camp Carnival counselor). Within a few minutes we looked over and there were 4-5 people now surrounding him, essentially trapping him in the booth. They seemed to come out of nowhere and were as stealth as ninjas. The show soon ended and we realized that they were all crew members who had discreetly contained him until security showed up. Clearly this was not their first rodeo, but it was a very effective way of letting the show go on without disturbing everyone because he definitely would have raised a ruckus had they tried to physically eject him. Great job Carnival!

 

Food and Dinner Service:

I thought the food was decent but nothing to write home about. I loved the variety and our server was very patient as we tried a little bit of this and a little bit of that, sharing plates around the table. I found the pizza on the Lido deck to be just so-so. We only ate breakfast in the MDR the last morning and it was quite good.

 

We had Your Time Dining and that worked out very well for us. Nice and relaxed. Our first night we were seated at Jonathan's table and he immediately learned our names. He was so fantastic we requested him the following nights. We did have to wait the second night, but only because we requested Jonathan specifically. Otherwise we would have been seated right away. He remembered our names and even joked with us about what we'd ordered the night before. We ended up giving him a well-deserved cash tip the last evening, which he clearly appreciated. A+ on food service.

 

Activities:

I had been worried because as I read about the Fantasy class ships, they seemed to have many fewer options of things to do than the newer, larger ships. I needn't have worried. We were never bored, always trying to decide between different options. We played 80s trivia and won the coveted ship on a stick (my personal goal for the cruise). We also did the scavenger hunt, which was a total blast even though we came in second to last. The sing-along piano bar was fun, as was the karaoke. We skipped all the shows, having heard that they weren't very good. We thought the comedians were just okay. One I didn't care for at all, and I'm not easily offended. But overall the activities were plentiful and entertaining.

 

Port: Ensenada

We had one port on our cruise, Ensenada. Definitely not the most exciting destination. I'd read one Trip Advisor about a local massage place owned by an American expat so we'd made a reservation, $40 for 60 minutes. The massage itself was one of the best I've ever received and certainly more than worth the cost. We also chatted with the owner who pointed us to a great restaurant for lunch. Food was fantastic, water was clean (there was a giant Sparklett's bottle near the bar) and super cheap. We bought a few souvenirs before heading back to the boat.

 

Overall:

Overall this was really a fantastic cruise. Perfect first cruise or a quickie weekend getaway. It's not the fanciest or more formal cruise, but the food is decent, service is great, and activities are plentiful, that make it well worth the cost. We will definitely be going on another girls cruise, as soon as we can convince our husbands to watch the kids again :).

 

(sorry this is so long!)

[PDXJAS]

Thank you for the review. My family is looking at the Inspiration 4 day and like you, have not found many reviews. I personally got a lot of great info from you:)

[sjn911]

Great review..so limited are we on West Coast...it is a great cruise and you captured it well..I did the Paradise when she was there in 2009..so glad the Inspiration is offering the same great short cruise..I did the 4 day..Sarah

[Rosefloater]

Thank you for the review. You have the same complaint everyone (including the stewards) have about the bathroom - not enough storage space!.

 

I think Carnival has the largest Interior and Oceanview cabins of all the cruiselines.

 

We have gone to Ensenada over 20 times and are always looking for restaurants. Which one did you go to?

[Shelbyscout]

I believe the restaurant was called Guadalajara. The massage place is here:

http://bestbajamassage.com/massage/

[imaboo]

Thanks for the review. It reflected my experiences on the 3-day cruises out of LA as well. I had to laugh when I read your description of dinner in the MDR. Last 3-day cruise, I had YTD as well and my tablemates were exactly as you described the table next to yours. I think I am going to eat earlier next time before the rowdies show up.

 

The 7+ day Carnival cruises out of LA are not nearly as riotous as the shorter ones. Nonetheless, as you discovered, its fairly easy to avoid the craziness. When I want to be outside, I hang out on the Serenity deck and avoid the Lido altogether.

[besito20]

Thank you for your review! Just booked on this ship for Thanksgiving week for our family of 4. We've only sailed on Carnival once before (on the Paradise) and I wasn't impressed. I kinda know what to expect but I'm gonna try to have the same attitude as you and just have fun.

 

Curious to see how Camp Carnival is on the ship...

 

Thanks again!

[elliair]

I'm happy that you had a better time than we did. From the moment we stepped into our cabin and smelled cigarette smoke I knew we were doomed. Apparently the deck above us was a smoking area and the smoke traveled down the ventilation and into our cabin. Also they were welding on the same deck and got the welding smoke as well. We were the last cabin aft. We went to Customer Service and asked to be moved. We weren't fast enough because all the cabins aft around us were down asking to be moved for the same reason. Carnival acknowledged that there was a ventilation problem. They told us to shut the vent and our cabin steward would spray our room down several times a day. I can't wait for new ships to come to Long Beach, but for the time being we'll cruise Princess. Oh, and we won't get on a ship that doesn't have balconies available.

[2 cruzen]

I believe the restaurant was called Guadalajara. The massage place is here:

http://bestbajamassage.com/massage/

 

Thank you for the review and this link. I was just about to ask. We are thinking of doing a short west coast cruise for our grand daughters first cruise. These ships have fun watersides I believe. Not too long, very informative. Sorry for the boorish group.

[Rosefloater]

I believe the restaurant was called Guadalajara. The massage place is here:

http://bestbajamassage.com/massage/

 

That's where my mom and sis went when they were Ensenada on Tuesday. They really enjoyed it. They shared the Lamb Birria.