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Anybody back from the Inspiration yet?

betsyrossapk

By betsyrossapk,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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mattmdv

mattmdv

Posted
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Looking forward to reading your review(s). Booked on the Inspiration for 9 May 05 with several other couples, still trying to find 2 or 3 more couples to go with us. Out of the 8 people going thus far, only half of us have cruised before. I keeping telling them, Once you take a cruise, you will be ready to book your next one upon your return to port!!!

Have a great time, can't wait to read about the ship.

 

Matt

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lalapet

lalapet

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We are 3 weeks away from our first cruise on the Inspiration. (DH,myself and 3 kids ages 4,5, and 11) Frankly I am so anxious to go, as long as it floats I am there....lol :p

 

Actually I would like to know also, atleast what to ecpect. You hear ppl talk about stained carpets and dingy walls etc... Those things won't bother me. I am just thrilled to be going.

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susalov

susalov

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We were on the Inspiration (10/10) and it was wonderful! As we got on, you could smell the new carpet. Everything looked very nice! No spill marks on the carpet up & down the hallways or in the rooms. (That bugged me on our first cruise-- just looked dirty everywhere.) The waterslide was down for the first several days, which was disappointing for the guys in our group, but they did get it fixed. The staff always seemed to be cleaning, and it always looked nice.

 

The cruise was great. The ports were Progresso, Calica, Belize, and Costa Maya. Luckily we were able to find this out a few days before we left so we could book/adjust a few excursions online. We went to Chichen Itza (with Carnival) in Progresso, scuba diving at Altun Ha, and shopping in Playa del Carmen at Calica, then cave tubing in Belize with Action Belize, and scuba diving with Blue Ha divers in Costa Maya. We had good experiences with all of our excursions. We booked the one with Carnival because of the distance & time constraints. (I didn't want to have an issue with making it back to the ship.) For diving at Calica, we just showed up at the dive shop & were able to go, and the other two excursions we had booked ahead of time.

 

The only thing that I decided was missing was another sea day on the way home! I could have used another "down" day.:)

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betsyrossapk

betsyrossapk

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Susaluv,

Thank you so much for the review. Have been anxiusly awaiting your return so we could confirm that she was indeed in tip top condition. We will not be doing the same itinerary as you come Nov, it will be Cozumel only for us. Any suggestions on how to make the trip more enjoyable or did you do everything you wanted, no regrets?

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worth

worth

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just returned from this sailing and have never been so disappointed in a cruise. carnival has substituted 2 ports on our oct. 10 sailing,,,they dropped cozumel and grand caymen and replaced with Progresso (what a diry/disgusting beach and town. the other was play del carmen. we never did find out why cozumel was cancelled as the Elation still went there. the water slide wasnt opened for 3 day, the cruise director who i questioned didnt even know this. finally it opened after he made some calls when i questioned him. the best tours for my 3 kids were in grand caymen and cozumenl which were cancelled so the one thing kids look forward to (the slide) should have been running. my husband got injured due to poor maintenance in the mens room, our tours were done incorrectly. i have never heard so many people complain.

Margi Gras dining room was great and costa maya is a must see......

looking for a partial refund.

the ship looked great and clean,however with most of the staff paying attention to that it is no wonder so many other things were neglected.

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betsyrossapk

betsyrossapk

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OK, so here's hoping that the water slide will work by the time we get on. BTW, do you think that you would have gone done it that many times to make it ruin your cruise? I remember when we cruised years ago, that the swimming pool was closed for repairs. Yes, I guess I was slightly disappointed at the time, but looking back on it, it did not ruin the cruise for me.

Also, Cozumel is the only port on our itinerary. I would be disappointed if we didn't go, but maybe what I need to do is confirm a few days before if the itinerary is changing. If it does, I will have to hop back on these boards quickly to research whatever port comes my way.

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wspatton

wspatton

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just returned from this sailing and have never been so disappointed in a cruise. .... they dropped cozumel and grand caymen ..... the water slide wasnt opened for 3 day ..... husband got injured due to poor maintenance in the mens room .... our tours were done incorrectly .... i have never heard so many people complain ....

 

:eek: So Sorry you didn't have a great time. I hope that by the time I sail in December, they have the kinks worked out from the recent Dry Docking.

 

It's too bad that the hurricanes forced them to change from the ports you were hoping to see. My 5 night cruise only has Grand Cayman and Cozumel so I am hopeful that by then those ports will be back on the itinerary.

 

Worth's post shows us how it is very possible for different people to travel on the same cruise and come away with very disparate experiences. Worth was helpful to us readers by explaining the reasons for the disappointment. That way we can determine if some of the "bugs" are ones that we will want to proactively address when it is our turn. For example, if someone comments negatively about the casino, I probably won't sweat it too much since that is not my "thing". However, if the service is reported to be overwhelmingly and consistenetly inattentive, then I will be very concerned.

 

I hope we will get a few more posts from the recent cruisers so that we can see how the comments are trending.

 

Our Thanks to all you back-at-home travelers for taking the time to share your thoughts.

 

Worth the best thing you can do is book another cruise right away. :)

 

Bill

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Janine

Janine

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I just talked to another Carnival rep about Grand Cayman, she said that our November 8th sailing is still scheduled to go there. Don't know wether or not to believe them, since only 2 ships a day will be allowed at this port.

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shoreburrs

shoreburrs

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Just got back from the Inspiration. It was my first cruise and I wasn't disappointed at all. The only negative things I can say is that I was disappointed with the port changes and the food was never HOT. The food was very good but with all of the people being served it was never hot, but that didn't put a damper on it. We went to Progreso and Calica instead of Grand Cayman & Cozumel. We couldn't go to Cozumel because there were already ships scheduled there and they couldn't work us into the port schedule. Costa Maya was the best! We went to Mahauhal at the end of the pier and had a blast in the pool there along with the shops! We had an excellent cabin steward-Katarina (we were in U34) she took care of all of our needs! Marscallah Stanton (sp?) was our cruise director. He was a riot! Malcolm the asst. cruise director was wonderful as well! The ship was very clean. We had a medical emergency in our party and the staff couldn't have been more caring & helpful! Be patient getting on & off and everything should go very smoothly! LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!

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butnzb

butnzb

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Glad to see this post, we are going on the Inspiration 11/13 very curious on how it now looks after seeing so many posts on worn carpet and other areas in need of improvement. I am really curious about the cat. 11 cabins on this ship, mainly the size and condition.

 

We have booked an excursion on Cayman with Capt. Marvin's their reply was everthing will be back to normal by then so I hope your port remains Grand Cayman. Have a great cruise......

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joeb49

joeb49

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Glad to hear ALL the reviews on the Inspiration. We are sailing November 27th hopefully to Grand Cayman AND Cozumel. Would feel bad if we couldn't make these ports as it's one of the reasons we booked this cruise--but as you all say--just take me out on the water and let the sun shine on me and I will be happy

Any idea if they would notify us in advance of itinerary changes so that we might investigate where we would scuba dive instead or would it be up to me to call the cruise line soon??

Keep the post cruise reviews coming! And Happy Sailing to those leaving before us!

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Landlocked In Ohio

Landlocked In Ohio

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Wow! My 4th Carnival Cruise... Sailing out of Tampa, Fl. on the MS Inspiration 10/24/04 for a six day cruise. Carnival has not disappointed me yet.

 

With all the post I'm excited about seeing the ship. Even though, post hurricane havoc has changed our port from Grand Caymans to Calica/Playa del Carmen according to the latest word from my friend who just got back.

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Loves_Dogs

Loves_Dogs

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Landlocked in Ohio - I see you're from Lancaster, Ohio. I am from Columbus, Ohio (Worthington/Westerville area). I sailed Inspiration in August, before the drydock, and I thought she was beautiful then. Enjoyed myself so much I booked my next cruise already. Trust me, you will not be disappointed!

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