just back from inspiration

[CruiseZapper]

we just got back this morning from inspiration cruise from tampa. when we first got on we were told that we are going to cozumel, then before we left we were told that the waters were to rough so we will go to playdo?spel? then the next morning we were told that we were going to cozumel, via, downtown pier, then that night we were told we would go to progresso (we did) the boat was rocky due to the storm and so we had a rough ride the whole time, maybe not as bad as some but about 50% of people were taking meds, the staff were sooooo nice, they just went out of their way to please, we booked in first of june and asked for 1 st dinner, we got late(8:45) we were the first in line to change it and we talked to about 6 others that wanted late, George the Greek, told us sorry,,no early opened, he told us 1 day later,,,o well, we ate late and left no tip,, this time,, we were so pleased with everyone else that we left extra tips to every one else,,, we did not know if we were to leave tip when we asked for first setting when we ask or at the end of the cruise when you leave the little envelope, so we ask the guy that took our request and he said at the end,, we were really confused trying to find out where to park at port and ended up doing valet, great with this port, it is a sucker to find your way around,,we had a very nice time and would do it again tomorrow, the only real fault was our bed (king sized) was in front of the window and we had to climb over the bed to get to it,and when you are old, this sucks...we self assit getting off and was in our car on interstate at 7:56 am.over all we had a great cruise, a few things were bad but what the heck, we cruised....i have pictures and if anyone wants to know anything please ask and i will try to answer...

[pinkcup]

How was the food?

[js2003]

We head to Tampa this Friday and Cruise on the Inspiration on Saturday (26th) What was debarkation process like? this is our first trip. Any suggestions? Did you experience chair hogs? Dining room food or buffet food the best?:D

[damonadrienne]

We too are heading for Tampa on Friday. Cruise leaves on Saturday. This is our first cruise. We're both excited and anxious.

What were the shows like? Worth our time? Anything you definately recommend attending while on ship?

And we'd also like to know about the food....should we stick with the dining room or the buffet.

Welcome back to land!

[Andmarnclt]

We too are heading for Tampa on Friday. Cruise leaves on Saturday. This is our first cruise. We're both excited and anxious.

What were the shows like? Worth our time? Anything you definately recommend attending while on ship?

And we'd also like to know about the food....should we stick with the dining room or the buffet.

Welcome back to land!

 

We were on the Inspiration for the 10/15 sailing. We had no trouble at all finding the parking. The parking deck is about 2 blocks from the ship. Check in was a breeze and were on in minutes. We went to the opening night show and my wife was picked to play the spoon game. As far as the other shows, I cant really help. I did hear the Blues Brothers were bad. The talent show is good and the "whats in the bag" game is fun. As far as the food, I say hit the dining room for dinner (and order 2 app's, 2 entrées and 2 desert's) and use the buffets for breakfast, lunch and midnight. If your able to, use the self assist debarkation. Here is the link to my full review.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=245886&highlight=inspiration

 

Andmarnclt

[AXLFL]

I see questions about embark, debark, food, shows, etc. here. This was cruise #9 for me. It was my first on Carnival. I will be accused of being a cruise snob and I am. We usually stick to Holland America or Windjammer Barefoot and I have come to expect a certain level of service from them. HOWEVER, I knew that I would not get that on Carnival and went in with lowered expectations. For a first timer I know that the level of service would be great because you don't have to compare them to the amazing service you get on HAL. So here goes...

 

Embarkation...we are from the Tampa area and were dropped off by a friend. We did the Immigration docs online before leaving. We arrived at the port about noon. We dropped our 2 bags with a porter ($2 tip). So all we did was stand in line for about 5 minutes to get our docs checked and get our Sign and Sail card. It took about another 5 minutes to get through that. We were on board with a deck plan in hand by 12:20pm. We had lunch in the Lido Brassiere (skipped the burgers and dogs on the Lido pool deck) and our room was ready by 1:30pm.

 

Debarkation...Carnival does this process a little different than most. Self Assist passengers (US passengers that will be carying ALL of their own bags with NO assistance from their cabin to the gangway on the Empress deck) can leave the ship as soon as Customs and Immigration clears the ship...about 7:30am. The rest wait in cabins until about 9am and then you have to leave and move to a common area on the ship. We got the all clear about 9am and the mad rush was on! Most other lines call debark by assign colors or assigned numbers but Carnival just lets everyone go at the same time. Mad crush of folks trying to pass through two checkpoints where you have to insert you Sign and Sail card to get off the ship. And then you go to the customs area and get your bags. This took about 45 minutes for those that rushed to get off. We sat in the Paris Lounge with some other experienced cruisers for about 15 minutes and then cleared through in another 15 minutes.

 

Food...how you feel about the food on Carnival will depend on you own cuisine experience in everyday life. If going out to Bennigans or TGI Fridays is a big night for you (not being a food snob here...I travel for work and I find that many cities I go to do not even have a fine dining restaurant) then you will find the food in the Carnivale and Mardi Gras dining rooms to be very special. I had some very good beef, some great deserts and the escargot was actually very good. I heard that most of the lobster tails were great and a couple said they were tough. Remember it is caribbean lobster not Maine lobster. The beef fillet the first night was not great but the prime rib and the other beef dish was. The eggs benedict in the dining room for breakfast was very good. The lido breakfast was ok...comparable to Denny's...what I expected on Carnival so I was not disappointed. Eat breakfast in the dining room if you can. Lunch on the Lido was passable most days. The West Indian lunch was great and they had a West Indian stew that rocked! The pizza at the pizza bar is OK. The sandwiches from the deli are very good but be prepared for the line as there is only one person preparing usually. I had a pastrami sandwich the first lunch and the lines were too big the rest of the time. Sorry to have to say this but the coffee was really bad. I fear that is to get us addicts to the coffee bar and get us to pay the additional $3.25 a cup there. I toughed it out in the dining rooms but it was hard. My wife had a cappacino each night in the dining room and she said they were great! The sushi bar does not serve sushi. It is California rolls and such, nothing raw and not much fish, three choices each day.

 

Shows...the shows in the show room got better each night. They are advertised as Las Vegas style. As with most things if you have nothing to compare it to then they are great! We go to Vegas at least once a year so I hate when cruise ships say Las Vegas style. They are not. However, this cast is pretty good, singers are very strong, dancers are good. They have a couple that do adage and they outclass everyone...they truly could be in Cirque De Soliel! Awesome! Jerry Richardson and his band are very talented! I thought the Blues Brothers show was very good but I am a fan of the Blues Brothers...the schtick might be lost on those that do not know who the Blues Brothers are. The Gauchos were good. The best were the two comedians we got...they were changing out on our cruise so we got lucky! Both did an R rated show late and they are adults only...parents do your job...keep the kids out! They may be ready but I know that many folks would have not enjoyed the show knowing there were kids in the room. Make sure you stay up and see the comedian though...hysterical! The only negative in the show room was the volume. I do sound for a living and it was loud to the point of being dangerous. Luckily I had some foam earplugs with me! I forgot them one night and my ears were ringing the next morning. That can cause permanent damage!

 

Port...you have already heard our plight! Cozumel, then Playa Del Carmen, then Cozumel, then finally Progresso! Many were disappointed not going to Cozumel. Progresso is a poor Mexican port town. We have been in places like this before and are fine with it but I imagine there were some folks that were intimidated by their surroundings. There was a Corona Club beach day tour that many took...$30 a head and they brought you to the beach club, all the Corona and sodas you want, chips and salsa, beach games, volleyball, etc. You can rent wave runners. A

nice safe play for the stop. We wandered around and looked at a few shops, hung with a few friends from the ship and had a great lunch at Buddy's Bar. Linda and Darryl are two US expats that help out there and they made for an excellent lunch. We had everything from a great fish dish, fajitas, octopus tacos and octopus ceviche. Octopus is in season. The steak was awful but our buddy should have remembered the golden rule...no steak in a seaside restaurant! Especially in Mexico! LOL There was a HUGE line to get on the free shuttle into town at the port, we skipped it and got over to the cab guys. They wanted $6 US to take a couple into town and then a van pulled up and took 12 of us in for $1 US each! We took the free shuttle back from the market because the line was much shorter. In Progresso the locals will be trying to sell you everything. To some Americans they will be too agressive. To us it was just the usual. So no thanks or No Gracias and they leave you be. We have been places where they have been physical with us so this was not bad. We took the usual precautions against pick pockets but I never got bumped. All was good and we had a great time. The water was too cold and rough for us to get in but we are from Florida and water under 85 is too cold for us.

 

Seas...Tropical Storm Gamma was in the area. Like I said we have cruised before and we have been in some seas on small ships. Truthfully these seas were nothing. Some people did have issues. If you get seasick there are two solutions I suggest. One is to not cruise, hell you are going on a ship out to sea! Two...use Bonine...I have been told from Docs that it works much better and it is non-drowsy! We just let the waves rock us to sleep!

 

Biggest Problem...the biggest problem that I experienced on Carnival is the one that will have folks calling me snob! Becuase Carnival's prices are so low they attract folks from all walks of life. Some of the folks on board with us just had no idea of what common courtesy was. We had people drunk and screaming in the hallways at night, we had kids running up and down hallways screaming in the morning. We are a couple in our 40's. We like to play late and we get up early sometimes too. But we know that there are folks sleeping in there cabins at all hours and we cut our conversation in the hallways until we get into our cabin. I was amazed at how rude folks were! There were folks that had cabins across the hall from each other with doors open, laughing and screaming, blasting music, smoking weed. Kids running all over screaming and their parents just sitting there. I was raised poor but my folks taught me how to behave. I was sadly disappointed by the behavior of my shipmates and I have to say that I will probably not be going on Carnival again for this reason alone. We are blessed in Tampa to have the Veendam and a RCL ship calling and we will sail them in the future. What a shame!

[damonadrienne]

Thanks to you both for the info. I'll prepare my hubby for the food. He also travels and is use to "fine dining". Me, on the other hand, will look forward to anything that is not grilled cheese or PBJ.

[MichelleP]

Thanks for the great reviews... hope others who sail on the Inspiration in coming weeks will continue to post their reviews!

[shungirl]

Was the ship decorated for Christmas? Thanks

[FamilyMiracle]

Biggest Problem...the biggest problem that I experienced on Carnival is the one that will have folks calling me snob! Becuase Carnival's prices are so low they attract folks from all walks of life. Some of the folks on board with us just had no idea of what common courtesy was. We had people drunk and screaming in the hallways at night, we had kids running up and down hallways screaming in the morning. We are a couple in our 40's. We like to play late and we get up early sometimes too. But we know that there are folks sleeping in there cabins at all hours and we cut our conversation in the hallways until we get into our cabin. I was amazed at how rude folks were! There were folks that had cabins across the hall from each other with doors open, laughing and screaming, blasting music, smoking weed. Kids running all over screaming and their parents just sitting there. I was raised poor but my folks taught me how to behave. I was sadly disappointed by the behavior of my shipmates and I have to say that I will probably not be going on Carnival again for this reason alone. We are blessed in Tampa to have the Veendam and a RCL ship calling and we will sail them in the future. What a shame!

 

 

I am curious why you chose to sail one of Carnival's oldest ships and compare it to much newer vessels? You seem to like the port of Tampa, why not have tried the Miracle that is a spirit class ship, based out of Tampa?

[NorthAlabama]

I was on the Inspiration out of Tampa in late September and found that the terminal and parking were very easy to navigate. Maybe you were there at peak traffic or some other issue was causing a problem. I did drive from our hotel to the Terminal the night before just to be sure I could find my way when I needed to get there, so maybe that helped.

 

Food? I enjoyed the dining room for dinner and stuck to the buffet most of the other time. I did have breakfast one morning in the dining room. I prefered the buffet because it had all the fresh pineapple, watermelon and honeydew that I can handle--and I am a big girl and I can handle a lot of it!

 

 

we just got back this morning from inspiration cruise from tampa. when we first got on we were told that we are going to cozumel, then before we left we were told that the waters were to rough so we will go to playdo?spel? then the next morning we were told that we were going to cozumel, via, downtown pier, then that night we were told we would go to progresso (we did) the boat was rocky due to the storm and so we had a rough ride the whole time, maybe not as bad as some but about 50% of people were taking meds, the staff were sooooo nice, they just went out of their way to please, we booked in first of june and asked for 1 st dinner, we got late(8:45) we were the first in line to change it and we talked to about 6 others that wanted late, George the Greek, told us sorry,,no early opened, he told us 1 day later,,,o well, we ate late and left no tip,, this time,, we were so pleased with everyone else that we left extra tips to every one else,,, we did not know if we were to leave tip when we asked for first setting when we ask or at the end of the cruise when you leave the little envelope, so we ask the guy that took our request and he said at the end,, we were really confused trying to find out where to park at port and ended up doing valet, great with this port, it is a sucker to find your way around,,we had a very nice time and would do it again tomorrow, the only real fault was our bed (king sized) was in front of the window and we had to climb over the bed to get to it,and when you are old, this sucks...we self assit getting off and was in our car on interstate at 7:56 am.over all we had a great cruise, a few things were bad but what the heck, we cruised....i have pictures and if anyone wants to know anything please ask and i will try to answer...

[CruiseZapper]

sorry, just got time to get back on line.now to answer your questions

1-the food- the food wasn't the best we ever had but it was o.k.what we done was eat breakfast in the dining room,lunch on the lido and did dinner half and half, room service was our best half,,we really didn't enjoy our dinner in the dining room,but hey, i could stand to loose a few poulds.

2-debarkation process- it was great. we self debark so we were in our car on our way home by 7:55 that morning.

3-Chair hogs- yes, there were not to many sunny days but on the 1 or 2 that there were you had a hard time finding a chair that didn't have someone or something in it,,

4-the shows---- they have two main shows in the large lounge and we saw both, the first one was great and the second one was good, i would try to take in both.

5- for the first timer i know that the level of service would be great because you don't have to compare them to the amazing service you get on HAL- i don't agree with this person,, this was not our first but our 6th,, i find carnival to be a great cruise, i find that there are mostly normal people aboard-- of course sometimes you meet someone that thinks they are SOOOO much beeter than the rest of us that that person is the one that looks silly, not us,, if they want something else than carnival then why are they here, so they are the ducks out of water, not us poor folks(grin)

6- coffee?- the coffe was not very good to me but a lot of people was drinking it so it couldn't have been to bad to every one.

7-common courtesy / folks. - i found every one to be real nice, true,, there were a few that thought they were to good to be with us common folks but they were the ones that looked out of place, not us, we were not trying to impress every one else.people doesn't really care where we've been or how much we've done..(this was not my first cruise but unless someone notice the difference in the color of our sail and sign card they didn't know .) after all why should we take the fun out of them knowing that this might not be the best cruise ever,i never met a rude person on board,,there wasn't a whole lot of children but the ones we saw were good children, if you didn't expect them to be midget adults .we were on the empress deck and had very good neighbors,,

---------over all we had a great cruise, would i do it again,, in heartbeat!! . to everyone going on the inspiration, have fun,, enjoy yourself, and remember--if you think that everyone in so rude then maybe YOU ARE THE ONE ON THE WRONG CRUISE . Untitled

[AXLFL]

I am curious why you chose to sail one of Carnival's oldest ships and compare it to much newer vessels? You seem to like the port of Tampa, why not have tried the Miracle that is a spirit class ship, based out of Tampa?

 

Truthfully I was not comparing it to new ships overall. Our honeymoon cruise we on the Regency Lines "Regent Sun" that sailed originally in the 60's as the Shalom and our last cruise was on NCL's Norway which began trans-Atlantic cruises in the 50's.

[AXLFL]

over all we had a great cruise, would i do it again,, in heartbeat!! . to everyone going on the inspiration, have fun,, enjoy yourself, and remember--if you think that everyone in so rude then maybe YOU ARE THE ONE ON THE WRONG CRUISE . Untitled

 

I am truly surprised that I am in the wrong here. I tend to think that families and friends with room doors open screaming across a hall is rude...especially at 7am and 2am. I think that boom boxes blaring out of open doors is rude. I think that smoking weed openly in cabins with open doors is not only rude but stupid...folks there are brigs on cruise ships for a reason! I think showing up in a formal dining room in jeans and a tee shirt is rude...then yelling at the maitre de is even more rude! I think that not having the common courtesy for your fellow passengers and letting your children run up and down halls outside of cabins screaming at 6:30am is rude. If you do not agree then we shall agree to disagree.

 

I certainly am not trying to say that this is EVERY passenger on board but one spoiled fish ruins the box. I wish this had been very uncommon, I would not have written, but it was so common on Upper Deck that I thought I should at least prepare other CC readers as to the experience they MAY have on the Inspiration.

[Luanne21]

Thank you for the reviews. I especially liked the part about Progreso. Our cruise has been changed to there, and no info on what to do.

 

Thanks again,

 

Luanne

[heymom32000]

When we were on the inspiration there were no rude people that I saw. A few adults were quite drunk but not to the point of being rude and obnoxious. Teens were hanging out with each other and joking around but not causing problems for others. I only saw one time a couple teens running but they slowed theirselves down when they got to an area where other people were. Children onboard were well behaved with most hanging out with parents, older siblings, or camp carnival. I guess it just all depends on whose onboard...time of year....etc.

 

The staff was wonderful and very helpful. If you needed directions to a certain area you could stop any worker and ask. They were kind enough to tell you or point you to somebody who could if they didn't know. We loved our servers in the dining room.

 

The food was very good each night. We tried all sorts of new things that in the states having to pay for each dish we would have never tried. What an awesome experience!

 

Enjoy the Inspiration for us. Wish we were going back on her soon!

[rhettbug]

Just have to add my two cents. I totally agree with heymom32000 and cruisezapper. We had an awesome cruise and met some great people. Can't wait to book my next cruise.

[basketlover]

I know there is a 22 page thread on the pre-post hotel board. but since you guys were just there did you stay and where did you stay in tampa either pre or post cruise. did you have transportation from the airport to the pier?? how much was a taxi. Also we aren't flying out until around 2pm the day we return and won't have anything to do with our luggage is there anything to do near the airport where we could check out bags and then go back.???? any info would really help.

 

thanks

[NeptunesGoddess]

Well, this thread was "revived" so I thought I would put my 2 cents in.

 

We cruised the inspiration and found no rude people either. Everyone seemed pretty aware of others and were polite. We even had a dry erase message board on our cabin door and got noooooooo rude comments at all. All wonderful positive, fun ones.

 

I think it is wrong to say that because a cruiseline costs less, the people are ruder. That is like saying that people of less means have no manners and, in my experience, that is not the case. I have been to events that have been considered "ritzy" with alot of people who are of a high socio-economic standing and I have seen them ignore their children as they run wild and are extremely rude to guests. I have seen wealthy "adults" get blasted and obnoxious. Being rude is not a socio-economic issue, it is all in how you were brought up. You could encounter rudeness on NCL just as much as Carnival. It is the people that happen to book when you did that make the difference, not how much they paid.

[zqvol]

I see questions about embark, debark, food, shows, etc. here. This was cruise #9 for me. It was my first on Carnival. I will be accused of being a cruise snob and I am. We usually stick to Holland America or Windjammer Barefoot and I have come to expect a certain level of service from them. HOWEVER, I knew that I would not get that on Carnival and went in with lowered expectations. For a first timer I know that the level of service would be great because you don't have to compare them to the amazing service you get on HAL. So here goes...

 

Embarkation...we are from the Tampa area and were dropped off by a friend. We did the Immigration docs online before leaving. We arrived at the port about noon. We dropped our 2 bags with a porter ($2 tip). So all we did was stand in line for about 5 minutes to get our docs checked and get our Sign and Sail card. It took about another 5 minutes to get through that. We were on board with a deck plan in hand by 12:20pm. We had lunch in the Lido Brassiere (skipped the burgers and dogs on the Lido pool deck) and our room was ready by 1:30pm.

 

Debarkation...Carnival does this process a little different than most. Self Assist passengers (US passengers that will be carying ALL of their own bags with NO assistance from their cabin to the gangway on the Empress deck) can leave the ship as soon as Customs and Immigration clears the ship...about 7:30am. The rest wait in cabins until about 9am and then you have to leave and move to a common area on the ship. We got the all clear about 9am and the mad rush was on! Most other lines call debark by assign colors or assigned numbers but Carnival just lets everyone go at the same time. Mad crush of folks trying to pass through two checkpoints where you have to insert you Sign and Sail card to get off the ship. And then you go to the customs area and get your bags. This took about 45 minutes for those that rushed to get off. We sat in the Paris Lounge with some other experienced cruisers for about 15 minutes and then cleared through in another 15 minutes.

 

Food...how you feel about the food on Carnival will depend on you own cuisine experience in everyday life. If going out to Bennigans or TGI Fridays is a big night for you (not being a food snob here...I travel for work and I find that many cities I go to do not even have a fine dining restaurant) then you will find the food in the Carnivale and Mardi Gras dining rooms to be very special. I had some very good beef, some great deserts and the escargot was actually very good. I heard that most of the lobster tails were great and a couple said they were tough. Remember it is caribbean lobster not Maine lobster. The beef fillet the first night was not great but the prime rib and the other beef dish was. The eggs benedict in the dining room for breakfast was very good. The lido breakfast was ok...comparable to Denny's...what I expected on Carnival so I was not disappointed. Eat breakfast in the dining room if you can. Lunch on the Lido was passable most days. The West Indian lunch was great and they had a West Indian stew that rocked! The pizza at the pizza bar is OK. The sandwiches from the deli are very good but be prepared for the line as there is only one person preparing usually. I had a pastrami sandwich the first lunch and the lines were too big the rest of the time. Sorry to have to say this but the coffee was really bad. I fear that is to get us addicts to the coffee bar and get us to pay the additional $3.25 a cup there. I toughed it out in the dining rooms but it was hard. My wife had a cappacino each night in the dining room and she said they were great! The sushi bar does not serve sushi. It is California rolls and such, nothing raw and not much fish, three choices each day.

 

Shows...the shows in the show room got better each night. They are advertised as Las Vegas style. As with most things if you have nothing to compare it to then they are great! We go to Vegas at least once a year so I hate when cruise ships say Las Vegas style. They are not. However, this cast is pretty good, singers are very strong, dancers are good. They have a couple that do adage and they outclass everyone...they truly could be in Cirque De Soliel! Awesome! Jerry Richardson and his band are very talented! I thought the Blues Brothers show was very good but I am a fan of the Blues Brothers...the schtick might be lost on those that do not know who the Blues Brothers are. The Gauchos were good. The best were the two comedians we got...they were changing out on our cruise so we got lucky! Both did an R rated show late and they are adults only...parents do your job...keep the kids out! They may be ready but I know that many folks would have not enjoyed the show knowing there were kids in the room. Make sure you stay up and see the comedian though...hysterical! The only negative in the show room was the volume. I do sound for a living and it was loud to the point of being dangerous. Luckily I had some foam earplugs with me! I forgot them one night and my ears were ringing the next morning. That can cause permanent damage!

 

Port...you have already heard our plight! Cozumel, then Playa Del Carmen, then Cozumel, then finally Progresso! Many were disappointed not going to Cozumel. Progresso is a poor Mexican port town. We have been in places like this before and are fine with it but I imagine there were some folks that were intimidated by their surroundings. There was a Corona Club beach day tour that many took...$30 a head and they brought you to the beach club, all the Corona and sodas you want, chips and salsa, beach games, volleyball, etc. You can rent wave runners. A

nice safe play for the stop. We wandered around and looked at a few shops, hung with a few friends from the ship and had a great lunch at Buddy's Bar. Linda and Darryl are two US expats that help out there and they made for an excellent lunch. We had everything from a great fish dish, fajitas, octopus tacos and octopus ceviche. Octopus is in season. The steak was awful but our buddy should have remembered the golden rule...no steak in a seaside restaurant! Especially in Mexico! LOL There was a HUGE line to get on the free shuttle into town at the port, we skipped it and got over to the cab guys. They wanted $6 US to take a couple into town and then a van pulled up and took 12 of us in for $1 US each! We took the free shuttle back from the market because the line was much shorter. In Progresso the locals will be trying to sell you everything. To some Americans they will be too agressive. To us it was just the usual. So no thanks or No Gracias and they leave you be. We have been places where they have been physical with us so this was not bad. We took the usual precautions against pick pockets but I never got bumped. All was good and we had a great time. The water was too cold and rough for us to get in but we are from Florida and water under 85 is too cold for us.

 

Seas...Tropical Storm Gamma was in the area. Like I said we have cruised before and we have been in some seas on small ships. Truthfully these seas were nothing. Some people did have issues. If you get seasick there are two solutions I suggest. One is to not cruise, hell you are going on a ship out to sea! Two...use Bonine...I have been told from Docs that it works much better and it is non-drowsy! We just let the waves rock us to sleep!

 

Biggest Problem...the biggest problem that I experienced on Carnival is the one that will have folks calling me snob! Becuase Carnival's prices are so low they attract folks from all walks of life. Some of the folks on board with us just had no idea of what common courtesy was. We had people drunk and screaming in the hallways at night, we had kids running up and down hallways screaming in the morning. We are a couple in our 40's. We like to play late and we get up early sometimes too. But we know that there are folks sleeping in there cabins at all hours and we cut our conversation in the hallways until we get into our cabin. I was amazed at how rude folks were! There were folks that had cabins across the hall from each other with doors open, laughing and screaming, blasting music, smoking weed. Kids running all over screaming and their parents just sitting there. I was raised poor but my folks taught me how to behave. I was sadly disappointed by the behavior of my shipmates and I have to say that I will probably not be going on Carnival again for this reason alone. We are blessed in Tampa to have the Veendam and a RCL ship calling and we will sail them in the future. What a shame!

Great info and one of the best reviews I have seen. Glad to see that someone can be objective about Carnival. I am goin gexpecting ti to be just as you describe. Not up to what I am accustomed to but acceptable.

[zqvol]

I am truly surprised that I am in the wrong here. I tend to think that families and friends with room doors open screaming across a hall is rude...especially at 7am and 2am. I think that boom boxes blaring out of open doors is rude. I think that smoking weed openly in cabins with open doors is not only rude but stupid...folks there are brigs on cruise ships for a reason! I think showing up in a formal dining room in jeans and a tee shirt is rude...then yelling at the maitre de is even more rude! I think that not having the common courtesy for your fellow passengers and letting your children run up and down halls outside of cabins screaming at 6:30am is rude. If you do not agree then we shall agree to disagree.

 

I certainly am not trying to say that this is EVERY passenger on board but one spoiled fish ruins the box. I wish this had been very uncommon, I would not have written, but it was so common on Upper Deck that I thought I should at least prepare other CC readers as to the experience they MAY have on the Inspiration.

What is wrong here is that the Carnivalites get upset when some disagrees with them that Carnival is the best there is. People need to realize that Carnival provides a cheap way to cruise. Service and quality are acceptable but not top notch. Until you have been on any one of the five star lines you do not know what top notch really means.

[NeptunesGoddess]

What is wrong here is that the Carnivalites get upset when some disagrees with them that Carnival is the best there is. People need to realize that Carnival provides a cheap way to cruise. Service and quality are acceptable but not top notch. Until you have been on any one of the five star lines you do not know what top notch really means.

 

WOW! That is really rude and snobbish. First of all, I am not a Carnival-lite. Second, people are not getting rude because they think that others are disagreeing. The thing that is offensive in the posters tone is that he has decided to take a group of people and class them, with prejudice, because they choose a certain cruiseline. That is what is so offensive. Essentially Saying that people who cruise Carnival have no manners or no sense of class. That is just as bad as judging a race with sweeping prejudices, in my opinion. Giving people a label, with a sarcastic tone (Carnivalites) is also insulting. It is ironic how people that profess to have manners and judge others for their behavior really should look at themselves and how "rude" (I believe that was the term used often) and classless they are being. The posters here weren't disagreeing, just merely pointing out their own experiences and how they felt it was probably an isolated incident..since so many others did not have that problem. By the way, Bad behavior can happen on any ship at any socio-economic level.

[kcmom]

Hello there,

 

I'm sailing on the Inspiration in March and am booked on the Upper Deck. I had asked the Carnival Representative that I booked through for a cabin that would be decently quiet at night. She suggested the Upper Deck because it has cabins above and below. Did you feel that other decks were quieter and that your problem was specifically with the Upper Deck for some odd reason? We love to have fun, but when bedtime rolls around, we want to sleep!! I will pack earplugs just in case.

 

kcmom

[katie286]

Biggest Problem...the biggest problem that I experienced on Carnival is the one that will have folks calling me snob! Becuase Carnival's prices are so low they attract folks from all walks of life. Some of the folks on board with us just had no idea of what common courtesy was. We had people drunk and screaming in the hallways at night, we had kids running up and down hallways screaming in the morning. We are a couple in our 40's. We like to play late and we get up early sometimes too. But we know that there are folks sleeping in there cabins at all hours and we cut our conversation in the hallways until we get into our cabin. I was amazed at how rude folks were! There were folks that had cabins across the hall from each other with doors open, laughing and screaming, blasting music, smoking weed. Kids running all over screaming and their parents just sitting there. I was raised poor but my folks taught me how to behave. I was sadly disappointed by the behavior of my shipmates and I have to say that I will probably not be going on Carnival again for this reason alone. We are blessed in Tampa to have the Veendam and a RCL ship calling and we will sail them in the future. What a shame!

 

 

We experienced the exact same on the Fantasy in August. We were on the Upper deck and never got a nights sleep with these kind of people all around us. By these kind, I mean RUDE. I couldn't believe the open door yelling back and forth, slamming doors, parties in rooms at 3:00 am, etc. that was going on! My cruise was great except for the few passengers who had absolutely no regard for anyone else but themselves. It was a total lack of respect for anyone else sailing. While I do agree with the original poster about people's behavior, we are still going to sail on Carnival and are really hoping that we have well mannered neighbors when we sail in August this year.

[NeptunesGoddess]

Out of curiosity...did anyone call down to the purser's desk to complain? From reading other threads here and on other cruiseline message boards, they send security pretty quickly...just as if you were staying in a hotel and you would call down to the front desk with such a complaint.