Carnival Inspiration v. Gustav 8/30: A Pictoral Review

[newistcruiseaddict]

Hmm what happened to the midnight buffet? Had no idea they were canceling it.

 

Day 4: FINALLY! LAND! I could kiss it!

 

Port of Cozumel

 

 

 

 

Checking out the crazy koolaid blue of the ocean.

 

 

 

[deborahjo]

Love your review. The pictures are great. Makes me so jealous. I want to get my family to join us but do not see that happening

[mr jailerman]

Thanks you very much for the GREAT REVIEW !! I was on the INSPIRATION this last February, 2008 on a "BOYS" Trip.:D I also book one of those Penthouse Suites and seeing those Balcony photos reminded me how nice that was. INSPIRATION is still a "FUN SHIP" after all these years.. I'm glad your family had so much fun during the storm. I am one of few people that like Bad weather when I have a Nice Balcony like that Cat 12 to go out and watch it bubbling outside. I was on The Enchantment of the Seas 2 Months ago with a Jr Suite with a balcony and on our last day coming back from Cozumel we had to go past "TS" FAY and I went on that Balcony and saw some AWESOME waves crashing into the front Bow of the ship !! :eek: :D Maybe it's just a guy thing..:D Did you get to the Rhapsady in Blue Piano Bar ? We always ended up wandering in there at some point of the night for an hour or two and had some fun with the Older man playing the piano. He would like to play Billy Joel or Elton John and then ask for requests to get some extra tips. After requesting some Pink Floyd or Led Zepplin and him giving us that "THIRD EYE ON YOUR FOREHEAD LOOK":D He never ask "US" again !! :D Thanks again for bring back some fond (BUT BLURY) memories..

[newistcruiseaddict]

deborah...its a lot of work. I had to make all the arrangements, I paid my brothers fare..even had to pick him up AND we paid for alot of the drinks. I was exhausted trying to keep up with everyone! BUT at least I can say we've done it and we certainly "made memories."

 

Looks like we'll be meeting in April '10, huh?

 

Well upon arrival we approached a man with a taxi van sign and inquired about a trip to Paradise Beach. He told us the water there was murky due to the storms kicking up the waves and that he knew of a better beach on the north side of the island, uneffected by the storms that we could get some sort of package deal on. I had a moment of panic, unsure what to do. DH walked into an office marked cruise excursions who only sold bulk tours to cruiselines. They could not sell us anything so I considered their advice "untainted." We were considering Chakanaab instead but they informed us that it shared a beach with PB and if water was murky at one it would be murky at the other. However, they also said they had not heard anything about the water so we carried on with our original plans and headed downstairs to the taxi line. We took two cabs (for 9 of us, FIL stayed on board) for $30 + tip.

 

We had a great time at PB, beach was clean and water was clear. There was some seaweed during tide change, but what do you expect?

 

As you can see...some people in our group are not morning people and they immediately made up for the early rise.

 

 

 

 

Um..lol..notice the "Al Bundy" hand?

 

Water toys!

 

 

 

[newistcruiseaddict]

Mr. Jailerman, you're very welcome! No never made it to the piano bar tho it was on my to do list. Somehow I didn't do a lot of things I planned to do. I guess that's the draw of cruising...there's so much you miss you almost HAVE TO go back!

 

 

Mom's fresh made from scratch quesadillas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's MY paradise!

[bfkkbc]

I am really enjoying your review!!! I can't wait to get on board!!! Everyone looks like they had a ball even in the bad weather moments!! Oh man your brother got fried!!! I bet he was sore!!!:eek:

[Sioux6]

Love your pics and what u told that person... If ya want to have a perfect cruise, dont cruise during Hurricane Season. If ya do, ya hafta go with the flow and have a goood time anyway no matter where you do or dont go.

And it sounds like ya did. Good attitude!

 

Sioux (hell, take me out to sea and park me for 8 days and feed me, I will still have a good time.)

[newistcruiseaddict]

Yes, indeed my brother is a dumb white boy. Hes been fair all his life..I even BOUGHT him sunscreen...but whats that saying about leading a horse to water? LoL.

 

One cool thing they do at PB is the free shots they pour down your throat. I have a sensitive gag reflex (no jokes, please) and I was totally expecting to hork all over everything but the stuff tastes like koolaid...(don't be fooled tho..its ALL liquor). I think our waiter did 3 rounds while we were there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even my "i never drink" MIL got in on it.

 

 

Mmmm..nachos! Well after several hours we paid our bill (WAY under the $200 I expected to spend) and grabbed a taxi van ($32 + tip) and headed back to town for some shopping.

[newistcruiseaddict]

Upon our arrival back at the open air mall, we were greeted with music and dancing!

 

 

 

I apologize for this one being sideways! This is a vendor making my daughter a bracelet with her name on it with the colors she picked. Took like one minute and it only cost $5. Very cool.

 

 

My son pretending he had his arm eaten by the shark (his idea..I swear he's a ham).

 

 

And of course the obligatory carlos and charlies pic.

[SweetpeaOne]

Wonderful pictures. Thanks for sharing. Your poor brother and the sunburn...

[coboo]

Great pictures! It looks like you had a great time and were all good sports due to unforunate weather conditions. I loved what you said to your uncle. No one can fully predict the weather. You simply make the best of any situation!

 

I did the Inspiration in June. LOVED HER!! As we are entering the 9th week of school, I looked at your pictures with longing (to be on a cruise ship instead of with a classroom full of 2nd graders:p ). I guess the one thing I have going for me is a girls weekend with my best friend on the Sensation in less than a month.

[Purplehaze21]

Wonderful review so far!

 

I've always heard a cruise is what you make of it. The 1 thing I noticed is yal have smiles on your faces, even in the bad weather pictures. Bet you guys are a fun group :)

[newistcruiseaddict]

Ohhh Caboo...now I'm jealous. I'd LOVE a girls weekend...DH would get all grumpy tho. He doesn't share very well. 2nd graders huh? My grandma taught 2nd grade. She was disappointed I didn't carry on our family legacy of teaching (sad to say but I was likely her only hope as far as her female heirs go). I keep trying to explain to her I'm a teacher..just of a different sort! I'm an RN so I spend A LOT of time on pt education.

 

So more pics!

 

There is a little side alley about 2 blocks up from port with a fountain (converted from a pool) with shade and bistro tables and a booth that sells cold cheap beers. We found it on our last trip to Cozumel so now its a must!

 

In front of the fountain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great place to people watch!

 

 

My brother with his Mecca beer, Bohemia. In case some of you don't get that statement, he means he thinks the beer is so good, he'd be willing to travel all over the world to get it. Lucky for him, I found it at World Marketplace. Guess what Andrew is getting for Christmas?

[newistcruiseaddict]

Well, we made it on board just in time to shower, change, and skip on over to dinner.

 

My final pics for day 3: just so ya know..I have this weird thing about taking pictures of people while they are eating. Its a perverse pleasure one gets from being on the other end of the camera. Below is probably one of the very few pics of me eating (grand mariner at that...ohhhh it was the best dessert on board...I wish I had some now). I executed my revenge by snatching the camera from DH and viscously aiming the camera at the nearby innocent bystanders attempting to enjoy their dessert. Oh the shame!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3 highlights: Beautiful weather and a GREAT time in port.

Day 3 negatives: My FIL staying on board b/c he drank too much the night before, the taxi driver trying to get one over on the dumb tourists by telling outright fibs, and the exhaustion from so much fun that did me in early that night.

 

I have 3 12 hour shifts coming up so it will be Friday when I finish up this thread. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask!

[DarthGrady]

Looking good so far. It brought back fond memories of that day we sailed through Gustav, glad you guys had as much fun as we did!