Inspiration Review 10/15-10/20/05

[loppster]

What a great time we had on our cruise. It was my DW and another couple that went on the cruise. We cruised last year on the Jubilee with our families and really enjoyed it, so we thought we would try one with just adults.

 

Embarkation: We arrived at the port at 11am and dropped off our luggage and wifes and went and parked the car across the street. We went through the line with no wait.Received our sign and sail cards and then had to wait for group 4 to be called. I believe it was around noon when our group was called. We headed to the Lido deck to get some lunch, but they were not quite ready to serve so we went to our rooms on the Empress Deck, which weren't ready yet, but our steward told us to put our carry on bags in the closet. We then headed back to the Lido for our first drink and some lunch.

 

Food: The food on the cruise was good, but not great. The prime rib and lobster(yes I had two entrees) on formal night were good, but other than that, the dining room food was just okay. We skipped the dining room a couple of nights just to relax and eat at the Lido deck buffet. I must add that the deli sandwiches on this cruise were very good. I visited the deli almost everytime we ate in the buffet.

 

Ship: The ship was in very good shape. I don't think there is one thing that I can complain about when it comes to the ship. We made it a point to visit at least every public room of the ship at least once during the cruise.

 

Entertainment: The one thing we did not do is sit through the many shows that Carnival puts on throughout the cruise. We caught one show in the Paris Lounge. That was the end of the Fire Gauchos and the Blues Brothers show. Was not impressed too much with either, but I generally don't like these things to begin with.

 

The band that played in the Avant Garde Lounge was pretty good. They played a mix of rock and blues. They had multiple people singing, which gave them a lot of diffrent types of music they could choose from. We sat a couple of nights and listened to them play while having a good drink or two.

 

The group that played on the Lido deck really need to learn a few more songs to play and sing. They got quite old singing what seemed like the same thing over and over and over for at least 30 minutes at a time. Then the next song would sound very similiar to the previous one with new lyrics. My DW and friend talked about them on many occasion during and after the cruise.

 

Ports of Call: We were orignally scheduled to go to Grand Cayman, but because of Wilma, we were diverted to Costa Maya instead. We had not planned to do anything in Cayman except to browse the island and shop, so we just did the same thing in Costa Maya. We had a good time shopping at the port shops and then sat down at the restaurant in the port for some drinks and a snack. Let me say that their margaritas were excellent!!! I could have sat there all day and drank those, but our friends had had their fill after a couple.

 

Cozumel - I must say that all of my thoughts and prayers go out to the people affected by ALL of the hurricanes this year. It is especcially sad to see what has happened to such a beautiful place as Cozumel. We visited Paradise Beach in the morning. Let me just say it is a beautiful beach. There are so many things to do, that you can not possibly get bored here. Having said that, all me and my DW did was sit in a each chair and drink. I occassionally got into the water to cool off and I also took my own snorkeling mask to see what I could see. After leaving PB, we went to the downtown area to do some shopping. After that we headed back to the ship for some more relaxing.

 

Debarkation: We decided that since we were on the same deck(Empress) that we would debark from, that we would do the self assist debarkation. It took a little time to wind around another hallway and through the stairwell and elevator lobbies, but had they let us go straight to the door from the atrium lobby, we would have been off the ship in 5 minutes. instead it took maybe 30 minutes to navigate through all of the traffic. And I must add that I don't understand why people get so rude when it comes to getting off the ship. For some reason, some people think that they are more important than the person in front of them and say and do some extremely rude things.

 

Overall we had a great time. The ports we visited were beautiful. The ship was in good shape and the drinks that were poured were well worth the money. It was a great relaxing trip.

 

If you have any questions, let me know and I will do my best to answer.

[bellera]

Glad to hear such a positive review and that you had a good time. We are scheduled to sail on Jan 7, 06. We picked this cruise specifically for the CarnivalGolf, but I am not sure how that is going to work out now that Cozumel is in the middle of repairs.

 

Did you see anyone going on the golf excursions or using the simulators on board?

 

Also, I wanted a balcony so bad on this trip but the Inspiration only offers balconies with there suites. So we picked the V2 as our cabin, it is on the Verandah Deck and the very first cabin at the front of the ship - did you happen to notice any of the balcony cabins while you toured the ship and are they in a good spot?

 

I am really up in the air now about this cruise because we did book it for the golf at Cozumel and Grand Cayman and I would be alright with it if when we got to these islands we could not tender in but knowing in advance that we will not able to do the shore excursions we had planned is a little different!

 

Was there any good shopping in Costa Maya if that is where we end up going instead of Cozumel? We have to be optimistic here and remember that it is a vacation and I could be stuck home in the freezing cold snow!

[loppster]

 

Did you see anyone going on the golf excursions or using the simulators on board?

 

I did not see or talk to anyone doing the golf excursions but did notice some men using the simulators on board.

 

Also, I wanted a balcony so bad on this trip but the Inspiration only offers balconies with there suites. So we picked the V2 as our cabin, it is on the Verandah Deck and the very first cabin at the front of the ship - did you happen to notice any of the balcony cabins while you toured the ship and are they in a good spot?

 

I did notice some balconies on the starboard side and remember that some views are obstructed by lifeboats. I think that these were midway down the ship so you should be okay as far as view goes.

 

 

Was there any good shopping in Costa Maya if that is where we end up going instead of Cozumel? We have to be optimistic here and remember that it is a vacation and I could be stuck home in the freezing cold snow!

 

The shopping in the port in Costa Maya is mostly the souviner type stuff. There was a diamond international store there, but not much more. I must add that we did not venture farther than this though.

 

Maybe you should take a look at the Cuzumel board under ports of call and ask about the golf courses there. It is a cruise and I'm sure you'll have fun no matter what!

[bellera]

Thanks for the info - I have tried everywhere looking for the golf info but it is hard to come by!

 

I think this a new concept in the cruising industry, incorporating cruising and golf! I think it is taking a little longer to get off the ground then what they expected.

 

Too bad about the jewelry situation in Costa Maya - shopping for diamonds was going to be my next excursion besides golf.

 

Now I may just have to do the beach day and drink island drinks and soak up the sun. That's not a bad idea either!