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Just off the Inspiration... what do you want to know?


Brute Bandit

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We're not cruise virgins anymore.

We've just returne from an amazingly, wonderful, relaxing 5 day vacation on the Inspiration. I'll post a full review in a day or two but for now I just wanted to see if I could answer anyone's questions.

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What's the general condition of the ship? Is she clean and in good shape?

 

What were the best shows?

 

The ship seemed to be in great condition. Any time day or night you went outside your room you would see smiling faces cleaning.

The ship was very clean and I cannot believe how the friendly the crew was.

I think all the shows were good. The comedy shows were great!!!.

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I'm getting on the Inspiration on Monday, October 9th (3 DAYS!!) and would really like to hear you review. Did the ship go to the ports as planned? What did you do at the ports? Any Don't Miss Em shows?

Teflonjeff

 

The weather was wonderful. We traveled to all ports as planned.

We shopped and visited the beach.

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Ditto! The commedian was great.......the shows were good the singers were excellent, especially the female singer. I usually always look forward to the talent show, but this time that was pretty bad. Of course that is not the cruise directors fault, it was the talent of the passengers. We have been on some cruises where the talent of some of the passengers was un beleivable!

 

 

there were not that many kids.........that was nice. The piano bar was a very popular place and seemed like people were having alot of fun in there every night! Casino was always full..suprise, suprise!

 

We ate in the "Carnival" dinning room and the M'traide was George the Greek , who apparently really loves his job because he was GREAT!!! Lots of energy.

 

Dismebarking was alittle long. It seems like almost the whole ship did the "self assist" (where you take all of your luggage off yourself). In my opinon unless you are in a rush and have to catch a flight just get up around 7:00am- 7:30 go and get something to eat on lido deck and relax and wait until they call to diembark which was around 9:00am. The first people off the ship was the "platnum" card holder that were self assist, then all the self assist people (and there were MANY), then the platnum card holders that were not self assist, then handicapped, then the rest of the passengers.

 

the ship pulled into port at 6:00 am, so there is NO need to get up really early since you can't even get off until around 9:00!! Unless of course you have to catch a flight!

 

* just a note, DO NOT try to sneak off the ship with the self assist people, they will send you back onto the ship if you don't have ALL your luggage with you!

 

We had too many big and heavy bags to try to do self assist. But once we got off with the platnum card holders(people that have cruised 10 or more cruises) it was about 8:50am.....then we had a guy pick up our luggage and he carted it right over to the parking garage and up the elevator where our valet parking guy met us with our car immediatly , loaded up and off we went, so by 9:10 we were on our way home!

 

We ate in the dining room for every dinner.......some very nice selections, the very first night they have a talapia fish entree that is out of this world!!!! so all you fish lovers definatly put that one on your list. Lobster night was great! Don't forget that if there is something you don't see on the menu and they have it, they will usually get it for you! I knew our talbe mate like fresh strawberries so I ordered them for her and sure enough they brought them to her! We has the BEST waiters, full of smiles and very friendly and very attentive! Needless to say we all left VERY full after each dinner!

 

The Veranda deck aft pool is the place to be! Very few people , a nice breeze and the bar is right there!!! Plus a beautiful view! Why be packed like sardines on the lido deck.............yuk, just like crowded beaches.

 

Sushi bar was pretty good every night before dinner!

 

Kareoke is always fun to watch in the back bar! But the piano bar seemed to be the hot spot on this cruise!

 

don't miss the not so newly wed show in the paris lounge, it is always alot of fun!

 

Grand Cayman is beautiful, EXPENISIVE, we are in port for wayyyy to short of a time plus you have to tender from the ship to the port. margaritivlle is right there as you step off the tender dock!

 

Calica..........go to the XCARET excursion, great value for the money! Playa de Carmen...........typical shopping, Carlos and Charlies was boring but Senior Frogs was the happening place for sure!!! Great place to pick up your tequilla and stock up on antibiotics in the drug store. The port itself was just an ugly rock quarry..........very ugly port. But when you get lemons, MAKE LEMONAIDE!!!

 

It was a very nice schedule.......day at sea, 2 port days and then another day at sea to rest up!

 

Shopping on board is the usual.......not worth it. but if you are the first time cruisers then I am sure you will go for the gold by the inch jewlery, and actually it does hold up pretty good, so that is not a bad thing for the price! Liquor on board is always a good deal as well.

 

Very clean ship, they were always cleaning and it showed!

 

If I can answer anybody's questions let me know! Hope this helps. I probably should have put this under ships reviews, but since someone else stated this I just went ahead and put it here

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Grand Cayman is beautiful, EXPENISIVE, we are in port for wayyyy to short of a time plus you have to tender from the ship to the port. margaritivlle is right there as you step off the tender dock!

 

Calica..........go to the XCARET excursion, great value for the money! Playa de Carmen...........typical shopping, Carlos and Charlies was boring but Senior Frogs was the happening place for sure!!! Great place to pick up your tequilla and stock up on antibiotics in the drug store. The port itself was just an ugly rock quarry..........very ugly port. But when you get lemons, MAKE LEMONAIDE!!!

 

It was a very nice schedule.......day at sea, 2 port days and then another day at sea to rest up!

 

 

Ginny,

Were you on the 4 or 5 day cruise? We leave Monday for the 5 day, and were under the impression that we were going to Cozumel.

Spoilt...who may be doing some quick excursion changes!

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Ginny,

Were you on the 4 or 5 day cruise? We leave Monday for the 5 day, and were under the impression that we were going to Cozumel.

Spoilt...who may be doing some quick excursion changes!

 

On the 5-day leaving on Mondays, Inspiration goes to Cozumel. On the 5-day leaving on Saturdays, she stops at Calica. So you should be going to Cozumel.

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Terrific review...many thanks. We've sailed Carnival 3 previous times, but never on the smaller ships. Great tips....keep em coming.

We also depart this coming Monday. Weren't going to do much at the ports. Maybe some shopping in Cozumela and 7 mile beach on Caymen.

Thanks again,

TJ

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Did anyone use the fitness center? Is it nice? Are there free weights / barbells, or just cardio equipment? How about the steam / sauna? On the larger ships they are connected to the locker rooms and have a full window facing the sea!

 

I'm sure there was an art auction. Any comments?

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We just came off the same Sept. 30 sailing. Yes, Risa is the CD. She was in typical Risa form as well. A fun loving, eager to make passengers happy, lady. Jaybee, you'll be glad to hear she brought Brad with her. I know you like him as a social host.

 

I won't go into a full review, but I'll say a couple of things:

 

1) The embarkation and debarkation process in Tampa was simply delightful. We gave the rental car to the valet attendant, were checked in and seated to await boarding within 10 minutes. The Tampa staff was very pleasant and cheery. Yesterday, the same smiling faces helped direct us from Customs check through the doors and over to the valet pickup spot. This experience rivaled Jacksonville for ease and friendliness.

 

2) The ship is in very nice condition. There was always someone cleaning, mopping or wiping something down. And they usually had a smile and a greeting for the guests. Same thing for the dining rooms. Each night we were greeted by all of the other wait teams on the way to and from our table. They really made you feel welcome and appreciated.

 

3) What made the cruise special for us though was the surprise visit from the upgrade fairy that we received in Tampa at check-in. As we approached the counter to present our doc's, the agent asked if we "were aware of the room change". Mentally, I was saying to myself "here we go, they played around with our bookings". Then, she showed concern as she noticed that my family had booked adjoining OV rooms on the Upper level. My blood pressure started to increase as I was imaging how could they be moving our rooms around and not keeping them together. She called over a VIP agent and then went on to explain that they upgraded us to Verandah suites (side by side). Wow! What a pleasant surprise.

 

Have to admit there were two problems with the upgrade though; 1) our luggage was tagged for our original rooms on the Upper level so we went down and retrieved the bags ourselves rather than wait and hope the crew would do it, and 2) we are now in the group of cruisers that have to debate can we go back to an OV room after enjoying the balcony cruise? ;)

 

A couple of other quick things:

1) As I was at the Purser's desk paying down some of my folio with 4-$100 Amex gift checks, the clerk made me provide picture ID because one of the signatures didn't appear to be mine. (I signed them all right in front of him!) No problem, just seemed funny to us.

2) We really enjoyed the upgrade to the Verandah deck, but our rooms were at the very front of the ship. So, as people came off the observation deck to the next level down, they would pass right by one of our balcony's. If I had a nickel for every passenger that gawked into our cabins and commented how they wouldn't like these rooms due to the lack of privacy... (As Bill Engvall would say; Here's your sign!).

3) I like to buy cig's for a buddy every time I cruise. This time I bought him the 5 carton special. Since this was more than the one carton per adult limit (for customs), I had to get up early on Tampa arrival day to go down at 6:15am and pay my duty to the gov't. After waiting on line, the customs agent asked what I was claiming. I explained that the excess cigs were all I had to claim and pay for. He then waived my purchases from having to pay duty. Several other passengers said they had their small overages waived as well. Is this normal? If I had known these waivers were the norm, I could have slept in and have been better prepared for my 600 drive home.

 

Oh well.

 

So, that's my two cents. Inspiration is a class act and we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise!

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Thanks for the quick review. Were getting excited. I need to start packing a few things.

 

Did you happen to save Capers? If so, can you scan them and post them somewhere public?

 

How was the entertainment? Any can't miss shows or comics?

 

Thanks,

TJ

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Did you happen to save Capers? If so, can you scan them and post them somewhere public?

 

How was the entertainment? Any can't miss shows or comics?

 

TJ:

 

I have all of the Caper's, but unfortunately I don't have scanning functions at the moment. (Scanner is on DD's computer and it has problems.)

 

The entertainment was good. The "activities" were as expected (Hairy Chest, Newlywed, Fear Factor, etc.). The shows were pretty good. The singers/dancers put a lot of effort into their shows and they work hard for the audience. The comedian was Tony Esposito. His PG show was pretty funny. DS and I went to the late night R rated show and thought it wasn't as good as his PG show.

 

Hope you have a great time!

Don

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For those that did the Saturday departure, what night was the formal night? Was there 1 late night comedy act or 2 and on what night was this? Was the gala buffet on formal night?

 

We'll be leaving on Sat. the 14th!!! Can't wait, the weather forcast for home next week is snow flurries on Fri, so sorry to miss that.........not!!!

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For those that did the Saturday departure, what night was the formal night? Was there 1 late night comedy act or 2 and on what night was this? Was the gala buffet on formal night?

 

We'll be leaving on Sat. the 14th!!! Can't wait, the weather forcast for home next week is snow flurries on Fri, so sorry to miss that.........not!!!

 

Formal night was on Sunday (sea day). There was 1 late night comedy act (11PM) on Wednesday (the final sea day).

 

I can't help on the Grand buffet. Can't recall even hearing about it! They did have a Mexican buffet on the Lido deck at 11:30PM on Tuesday (Calica) night. That was before the big Pirate themed deck party.

 

Have a great trip!

Don

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