Carnival Inspiration 1/7/06 Bad (Mostly )Review

[barbeehd]

Our first cruise, daughter, age 35 and me ! Embarking was great. Very very easy. Got to room, didn't look like what I expected. Pretty small. Main deck. And the bathroom stunk like a cess pool, the whole time on board. Steward was just ok. Looked like he didn't want to be there. They lost one piece of luggage, and it didn't get to room until 10pm second nite. It had all my makeup in it ! Room was freezing. Steward tried to fix, couldn't. Called Purser. Had to have repair man come. Then, closet door fell off. Had to have another repair man come. Dinner seating was okay, but no companions for me (age 63). Four 21 year olds who whooped it up and drank alot. Still ok. Meals were awful. Shrimp cocktail was 3 shrimp on a dinner plate with a dollop of sauce the size of a nickle. turkey dinner tasted wierd. Should have requested different food entrees but not sure if I could. The waiters were priceless! Time in Cozumel was cut short by 4 + hours. Why? Island devastation was unexpected. Carlos and Charlies and Paradise Beach the best ! We were trapped with 300 other people in the Empress hall with no a.c waiting for the tender for15 minutes.Unbearable. Last nite at sea we sped up to beat the fog into Tampa. Got in at 10 pm instead of 6am. The ship swayed so bad we could hardly walk. The shows were good. Bingo was 3 games for the nite. Found out the "Library" doesn't have any books ! Was hoping for something to read. Casino slots took my money and didn't give back. Ha ha . Home last nite and still swaying. All in all, I think I will try another cruise line next time. Anyone else ever on the Inspiration with any thoughts?

[Oliver Sudden]

;) It's not always a bed of roses. Haven't had the pleasure of the Inspiration, but most of the stuff can be overcome by choosing wisely of where to go, where to dine, and what to eat.

 

:mad: Casinos & bars . . . OFF LIMITS for us, as we are non-smokers, nuff said!

 

:) Sounds like you need a pair of sea legs, and perhaps would have enjoyed the cruise more accompanied by a friend in your own age group.

 

:D Try Holland-America, one of our favorites, which I call "the old-folks line." That's complimentary, no sarcasm intended.

PREVIOUS CRUISES:

Jun 1989, RIVER CRUISES, -- Paddlewheeler Julia Belle Swain, GD

Sep 1993, US NAVY TIGER CRUISE, USS Halsey CG23, HI-CA, EXC

Nov 1997, CAPT. COOK CRUISES, Murray Princess, Australia, EXC

Jan.1993, RCL Majesty of the Seas 1st big cruiseship, we were green

May 1998, US NAVY TIGER CRUISE, USS Fife DD 191, HI-WA, EXC

Apr 1998, US NAVY TIGER CRUISE, USS Fife DD 191, HI-WA, EXC

May 1999, DELTA QUEEN STEAMBOAT CO, Delta Queen, EXC

Sep 2000, US NAVY TIGER CRUISE, USS Fife DD 191, HI-WA, EXC

May 2001, HAL Maasdam. E. Caribbean, VG

Feb 2002, HAL Rotterdam, S. Caribbean, exc. ship decor, EXC

May 2002, CARNIVAL Pride, W. Caribbean, garish decor, VG

Sep 2002, CELEBRITY, Mercury, Panama Canal, Rail & Sail FR

Dec 2002, CARNIVAL Spirit, E. Caribbean, nice decor, VERY GD

Apr 2003, HAL Statendam, CA-HI, good all around, VERY GD

Aug 2003, CARNIVAL Paradise, E. Carib., non-smoking ship, EXC

Sep 2003, CARNIVAL Paradise, W. Carib., non-smoking ship, EXC

Dec 2003, HAL Noordam, E. & S. Caribbean, VG

Mar 2004, HAL Volendam, W. Caribbean Wayfarer, VG

May 2004, MSC, Lirica, West Indies, GOOD

Nov 2004, HAL Prinsendam, 28-day Amazon River Explorer, VG

Feb 2005, CARNIVAL Glory, E. Caribbean, POOR

Mar 2005, CARNIVAL Glory, W.Caribbean, POOR

July 2005, CARNIVAL Miracle, W. Caribbean, EXC

Dec 2005 RCL Mariner of the Seas, E. Caribbean POOR REVIEW

COMING UP

Apr 2006 HAL Ryndam, S. Caribbean INCLUDING ARUBA!

Sep 2006 CARNIVAL Sensation, Bahamas (a short one)

[serene56]

You need to try a newer bigger ship-

 

I remember our first cruise--our first dinner. The portions ARE so very small and my son though-- said outloud that he can see that he will be starved by the time he gets off the ship-- but the waitr then explained he can have as many as he wants--lol

 

I have to hand it to you though-- since msot people who have a bad time with their first cruise would throw in the towel.. you at least will give it another shot.

[iluvdoxies]

Sorry you had a bad experience.

 

You could have asked the maitre'd for a table change. And you can always send something back if you dont like it.

 

We also love Paradise Beach!

[gjules]

Wow:confused:

 

I was on the Inspiration the week before you (disembarked 1/7/06) and had a great time! I guess we all see things differently, huh?! After doing some research on this site and the Carnival site, I was fully prepared for the size of the cabins and it didn't matter to us, because the only time we were in there was to sleep or dress.

 

I'm also sorry to hear you were disappointed with the food. We found it to be exceptional. My lobster was tender and the filet was perfect. I agree the portions of starters aren't huge, but that leaves me room for the main entree and still gives me a taste!

 

I don't understand when you say you didn't know why your time on Cozumel was cut short and the devastation was "unexpected". Apparently you didn't hear about the devastating hurricane that swept through in late October? I thought the island looked pretty good considering what happened to it! And my understanding is that the time is shorter on Cozumel now due to tendering because the piers were destroyed.

 

I hope you give Carnival another try...maybe a larger, newer ship would be a better fit for you.

 

And, just a tip for the future...ALWAYS put your makeup, toiletries, spare clothes, meds, anything you will need within 24 hours in a carry on...I don't trust the airline not to lose our luggage (they did!) and Carnival may not get your luggage to you in a timely manner, either.

 

Good luck on your next cruise!:)

[NeptunesGoddess]

We loved the Inspiration! We sailed her in 2004 when she was on a 7 night, 4 ports of call schedule. We had a cabin on the main deck also..with 4 of us in it and managed fine. We knew they would be small before going because I had seen layouts of them.

 

That cruise is what made my family REFUSE to let me choose any cruise line other than Carnival for our cruise next year.

[woodman]

Seems to me you would have been a great candidate for the Carnical Guarantee. Full refund at first port of call and home you go. I have sailed the Inspiration 4 times and am booked for the Jan.30 5 day cruise. Never had a bad time on the Inspiration.

One more thought, how come this type of review are posted by members with 2 to 10 post on this site.??????? Just an observation.

[flynrph]

I was on the sailing before, with gjules. Depending upon your luck of the draw, service was either good, or an "opportunity to improve" as it says on the comment card. The food was mostly good, but again, depending upon your luck of the draw, more oportunities presented themselves. I had several service issues with this cruise, but I will give credit that the staff was performing to the extent of their abilities. Language and cultural differences can hinder expectations on both sides.

Tendering on this cruise..... well the return tender, was a serious opportunity for improvement. What made it more apparent, were the other ships of Carnival and other cruise lines were not evidently having as serious a problem. That, annoyed a large portion of the group of 140 from Chicago on the cruise. (Princess had dropped their life boats and were tendering their guests at Grand Cayman! Talk about getting involved with solving a problem!)

Having been on other cruises, it is quite easy to compare service, accomodations, and food service. But it may not be so fair, as conditions between cruises, cruise lines, and employment isssues (which I found about about today from an insider, was occuring on this cruise), can change over a realtively short period of time. (Don't bother to ask me to elaborate, I gave my word I would not say anything more than "employment issues".)

Give the original poster a little benefit of the doubt. Sometimes they learn about Cruise Critic while on board, and later discover a lot of expectations were not probable based upon reading these boards.

I have found it is better to take things with a large grain of salt (about the size of an SUV) as opinions are in the eyes of the beholder. Some are dead on, some are under the influence of something.:rolleyes:

[big_duck]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Well at least you found us, so you know how to prepare for your next experience.

 

One thing though, Carnival pretty much has the largest standard rooms in the industry, so don't count on finding anything bigger elsewhere.

[flynrph]

One thing though, Carnival pretty much has the largest standard rooms in the industry, so don't count on finding anything bigger elsewhere.

 

I've been looking real hard on this issue, and this is keeping Carnival in the running for my next cruise.:cool:

[billh65]

One more thought, how come this type of review are posted by members with 2 to 10 post on this site.??????? Just an observation.

Because it was the first cruise ... our first was in November, and you can see my join date for the forum. It was mostly observing before we sailed, reading everything we could find so we would be prepared ... and most posts have been since our cruise. Maybe that is the reason.

[big_duck]

I was on the sailing before, with gjules. Depending upon your luck of the draw, service was either good, or an "opportunity to improve" as it says on the comment card. The food was mostly good, but again, depending upon your luck of the draw, more oportunities presented themselves. I had several service issues with this cruise, but I will give credit that the staff was performing to the extent of their abilities. Language and cultural differences can hinder expectations on both sides.

Tendering on this cruise..... well the return tender, was a serious opportunity for improvement. What made it more apparent, were the other ships of Carnival and other cruise lines were not evidently having as serious a problem. That, annoyed a large portion of the group of 140 from Chicago on the cruise. (Princess had dropped their life boats and were tendering their guests at Grand Cayman! Talk about getting involved with solving a problem!)

Having been on other cruises, it is quite easy to compare service, accomodations, and food service. But it may not be so fair, as conditions between cruises, cruise lines, and employment isssues (which I found about about today from an insider, was occuring on this cruise), can change over a realtively short period of time. (Don't bother to ask me to elaborate, I gave my word I would not say anything more than "employment issues".)

Give the original poster a little benefit of the doubt. Sometimes they learn about Cruise Critic while on board, and later discover a lot of expectations were not probable based upon reading these boards.

I have found it is better to take things with a large grain of salt (about the size of an SUV) as opinions are in the eyes of the beholder. Some are dead on, some are under the influence of something.:rolleyes:

 

So I guess you are kind of saying don't base your opinion of a cruiseline on one ship or one sailing?

[flynrph]

So I guess you are kind of saying don't base your opinion of a cruiseline on one ship or one sailing?

 

Yeah, the sample size is too limited, and more importantly, the same cruise variables may make for a great cruise for one person, but a rough cruise for another, yet they were on the same ship at the same time. This is shown by the differences between what gjules experienced and what I experienced. Neither of us is either right or wrong, just different exposures to similiar events.

 

That said,........ a not so hot cruise beats the livings daylights out of a great day at work!:D

[Cruising89143]

So I guess you are kind of saying don't base your opinion of a cruiseline on one ship or one sailing?

 

 

IMHO one should never base their opinion with one cruise on a line and especially if it is a shorter cruise.

[Cruising89143]

Our first cruise, daughter, age 35 and me ! Embarking was great. Very very easy. Got to room, didn't look like what I expected. Pretty small. Main deck. And the bathroom stunk like a cess pool, the whole time on board. Steward was just ok. Looked like he didn't want to be there. They lost one piece of luggage, and it didn't get to room until 10pm second nite. It had all my makeup in it ! Room was freezing. Steward tried to fix, couldn't. Called Purser. Had to have repair man come. Then, closet door fell off. Had to have another repair man come. Dinner seating was okay, but no companions for me (age 63). Four 21 year olds who whooped it up and drank alot. Still ok. Meals were awful. Shrimp cocktail was 3 shrimp on a dinner plate with a dollop of sauce the size of a nickle. turkey dinner tasted wierd. Should have requested different food entrees but not sure if I could. The waiters were priceless! Time in Cozumel was cut short by 4 + hours. Why? Island devastation was unexpected. Carlos and Charlies and Paradise Beach the best ! We were trapped with 300 other people in the Empress hall with no a.c waiting for the tender for15 minutes.Unbearable. Last nite at sea we sped up to beat the fog into Tampa. Got in at 10 pm instead of 6am. The ship swayed so bad we could hardly walk. The shows were good. Bingo was 3 games for the nite. Found out the "Library" doesn't have any books ! Was hoping for something to read. Casino slots took my money and didn't give back. Ha ha . Home last nite and still swaying. All in all, I think I will try another cruise line next time. Anyone else ever on the Inspiration with any thoughts?

 

Sorry your first cruise was not up to what you had expected. Sometimes when things do not start out just right it can make more difficult to overlook other things that happen along the way.

 

As mentioned, if you are not happy with your table mates then ask to be changed. Also your waiter should have told you the first evening if you had something that you did not like then do not hesitate to let him/her know so that they can exchange it for something else. Also you could have asked for another shrimp cocktail if you wanted more.

 

I'm glad that you are not giving up on cruising. There is a ship or line out there for you. Just stick around Cruise Critic and you will be able to narrow down if Carnival is for you or is there another line that might be more to your liking. I would suggest that you try one of Carnival's Spirit class ships. They are great.

[lhill1108]

I was on the same cruise as you, on same floor, have to agree about smell, I think it was the bathroom, I kept the toilet seat shut and bathroom door. Our room steward was just OK. Nothing out of the ordinary we only had two of us in room. On the other hand, my friend had four and the rest of my family had five in a cabin, what a mess, I actually felt sorry for him, but he did a nice job cleaning up we tipped him extra. The food was not exceptional, and you're right the portions for the appetizers were ridiculously small, but I ordered a couple. Same thing with Lobster night ordered two and the prime rib. Kiddie camp, I thought was awful! My kid didn't even want to stay. Room looked like any other day care! I thought they could do some more pool activities. Agree about the wait for Cozumel. We were in the first group and did not board the tenders until 11am. We waited almost an hour. I am writing a letter of complaint about that. My poor 80 year old mom with health problems had to wait all that time.

[serene56]

I did not know the camp did any pool activities. I was told many cruises ago that it was a liabilty issue to take the kids to the pool for swimming.

 

Did your kids get taken for swimming with the camp?

[bebe624]

Well i'll be sailing on the Inspiration this Friday 1/21/06. We can't wait this is my 3rd Carnival cruise. I was actually considering cruising with another line, but Carnival's prices are hard to beat!

 

It's good to read about different perspectives from everyone. But in the end I think the cruise is what you make of it. It will be my husbands 1st cruise, and that's what I keep telling him. :)

 

I will post a review when I return!

[bellera]

I have to agree with the OP. The rocking of this ship was unreal! I could not believe how much motion we felt. We sailed Disney last year and had 17 foot waves and it was a little rocky but still smoother than this ship!

 

DH and I had an OK time on the Inspiration last week - but that was it.

 

Now, we did book this cruise specifically for the golf excursions (which where excellent and top notch) and the fact that the ship had a golf simulator on board. Those areas of our vacation went well above our expectations.

 

The rest of the cruise was nothing to write home about. The food was below average, the service was so-so. I really do not like that they automatically charge you $50 a person for gratuities.

 

There was absolutely nothing to do on the ship but drink and gamble.

 

When I went on this cruise I really tried to go in with an open mind as we have only sailed on Disney Cruise Line in the past.

 

We booked a suite because I wanted the balcony. I was very dissappointed with how small our room was. Our Cat 9 stateroom on Disney was much larger.

 

I am glad that we left our 4 kids home this cruise because they would have been bored to tears.

 

But now I know and we will more than likely never sail Carnival again. I will pay the extra for the more upscale cruiselines.

 

The golf was great though!

[serene56]

Bellera: You can take the tips off your account by visiting the pursers office before the last night. (I dontknow if they tell you that in your capers butdo state it in your documents.. Its jsut easier for lots of people to do it that way.

 

Balconies on the older ships do not even compare to the newer ships. There is only a few balconies on these ships and ARE very small.

 

Comparing this class ship to the Disney ships is like comparing apples to oranges..there just is no comparrison. for one Disney is a more of an upscale compared to carnval on any ship-- even the price is more upscale.

 

The rocking of the ship would feel more on the inspiraration because newer ships have the azipods.. I dont think insirtaion has those.

[bellera]

Yes, comparing Carnival to Disney is hard to do. But they are still cruise ships and I do not think that there prices are to far apart!

 

When DH and I sailed this year on Carnival it was $1800 for the 2 of for a Cat 11 suite. I had also priced an OV and it was still going to be $1200 for the 2 of us.

 

Last year we cruised the same time of year but on Disney and we had 2 connecting OV rooms for 6 of us for $3400.

 

Now it was for 4 days instead of 5 but we had the same amount of port calls - 2.

 

On Disney all of your non-alcohol drinks are free and the kids clubs are open all day for no charge.

 

So, now if you look at the above prices - is Carnival that much less? No, and for the mediocre service we received and I will likely not sail them again.

 

But as I said - I had done my research and our vacation was good. I new the ports of call that I wanted to golf at and I made sure the ship had the golf simulator on board for our sea days.

 

So, I can see how someone who just picks a cruise and has certain expectations can be dissappointed with this ship.

 

I still love to cruise - but it will not likely be Carnival in the future. Or does someone have a good recommendation for one of the newer ships?

[sgriff17]

We were in Cozumel with you BarbeeHD - on the Star Princess - some other Inspiration pax we met at Paradise Beach weren't happy either!!! Said the service they had was really bad.

 

:(

[dpittel]

So sorry you had a bad time. I actually worked on the Inspiration for a 3 week fill in contract and actually flew home 1/7/06. I have worked on 3 Carnival ships and though all of them were good, the Inspiration was by far the best for me. At the time, the ship was filled with hard working nice people and certainly the best department heads and officers of any ship I've been on. I will not mention my job title, but in the 5 months I worked for Carnival most crewmembers did their absolute best to make all of our guests happy and welcomed. On any given cruise there were passengers absolutely furious about one or two little things that completely ruined the cruise for them. On my first ship I talked to a passenger on the last night of the cruise and he mentioned to me he would never cruise with us again because he hated the Matre'd. I also talked to passengers that said it was the greatest vacation they had ever had. I understand that it costs a lot of money to take a cruise and also time off does not come very easily for anyone. We can all be upset by certain things and often it is warranted, but just for everyone to remember that you will find some of the hardest working, nicest people employed on the cruise ships, remember that they usually are doing their best to make you happy. Sorry to go on and on so long, but I have been reading this board for a couple of hours tonight and thought that maybe an insiders perspective would maybe change some minds or at least make everyone think about the people that work there a little bit more. I hope you all have great cruising experiences in the future and I'm sorry if I pushed any buttons here. I don't mean to upset anybody, just tell my point of view.