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Back from the Inspiration (Long..sorry!)

zippybossrock

By zippybossrock,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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zippybossrock

zippybossrock

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So on Sunday 1/25 me and 5 girlfriends embarked on our girls only, hubbies and kids stay home cruise vacation. We were flying from various areas of the Northeast on Sunday and planned to meet up in Tampa. Due to some issues with my flight, I finally got to Tampa 8 hrs later than my earlier anticipated arrival time. Just in time to head to the hotel and go to bed. Missed the day in Tampa, but it was WAY better than missing the ship if I'd tried to fly in the day of the cruise!!

 

3 of us stayed at the Doubletree Tampa Westshore (this is where I stayed) and 3 others stayed at the Hampton Inn in Ybor City. The Doubletree offered a compliementary shuttle to and from the airport and then also within a 2 mile radius of the hotel. Monday morning, the day of our sailing, we asked if we could be driven to a nearby Walgreens to pick up some toiletries that we didn't pack as most of us only brought a carry on. We were immediately loaded into the van and off. While I was picking up some mascara (only item I forgot to pack), I noticed a young couple with a sales clerk nearby. As I passed them by, the young woman looked at me and smiled. I returned the smile and took a few steps before thinking....."what that Jennifer Hudson?" I wasn't positive so I tried to go back without looking too obvious....sure enough it was her. I LOVED her in Dream Girls and the Sex and the City movie!!!! I stopped and asked if I could take her picture. The young man hesitantly said no, but she quickly offered to sign something for me. We chatted for a few minutes and she asked if I was in town for the Super Bowl...told her, no, I was leaving for a cruise later that morning. She wished me a good trip and I wished her well for her performance at the Super Bowl half time show and that I'd definitely watch. She was SO nice and far more beautiful in person!!

 

Back to the hotel to pick up our bags and head to the port. While we were driving back, our driver said that the hotel didn't offer the a shuttle to the port, but would be willing to drive us on the down low for a tip....we of course took him up on it!! We planned to meet the other 3 from our group at the port at 11:00 so we left our hotel around 10:30.

 

When we arrived at the port terminal, they were already letting people in so we were pretty excited about getting on the ship so early. Unfortunately, the others in our group didn't get to the terminal until almost 11:30 and in the meantime 3 BUSES of seniors had pulled up. I thought we'd be waiting in line forever!! Once we all met up, we headed up the escalator, through security and into the line to check in. I think we really didn't spend even 30 minutes in line....it wasn't bad at all. Everyone was really friendly and in a great mood so the time went fast. We were checked in and given our zone number and told to have a seat to wait. Literally....it couldn't have even been 5 minutes we waited before they called our zone! We were on the ship!

 

We headed up to The Brasserie for lunch and I'd had a Reuben on my mind from all of the wonderful things people had said about them on CC. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed in it. The meat was really oily...strange. Not sure if I had it so hyped up in my mind that it was a letdown. The fruit at the salad bar was to DIE for!! We enjoyed a few DOD with lunch and then around 1:00 were told we could go to our cabins!! For our group of 6, we had 3 cabins on the Upper Deck, Aft: 216, 220 & 233. (216 & 220 were next door to other another, 233 was around the corner). Nice cabins, good use of space. By 1:30 we all had our luggage (super impressed....on our May Triumph cruise we waited HOURS for our luggage) and then headed up to the Lido deck with drinks in hand and easily found 6 chairs above the pool area. The entertainment staff did a good job of getting people involved and dancing and then it was time for Sail Away. We then decided to wander around to get the lay of the ship before getting ready for dinner. While wandering, we came upon the Sushi Bar and decided, yep, best sushi ever and that we needed to come there every night for pre-dinner appetizers.

 

We were assigned the 8:15 dinner seating we'd requested and were assigned to the Carnivale dining room. From all I'd read about Inspiration on CC, I really hoped this was George the Greek's dining room and it was! He was hilarious and really made dining every night very enjoyable!

 

First full day at sea - got up early to walk the track for a bit before breakfast. We ate the breakfast buffet every day but the last day and it was fine. Same food everyday, though, tended to get a bit old by the week's end. Never had a problem finding a table. After breakfast, went to the same area we'd been the day before and again had no problem finding deck chairs. I noticed that there were a decent number of kids on board (even school age kids...not sure what break there might have been) but they were all really well behaved. They did kind of take over one of the hot tubs, but then again, there are 2 others. Spent most of the day sunning, swimming, drinking, REPEAT. It was a lovely day.

 

This evening was our "elegant night" for dinner. We saw many ranges of dress. The lobster (we all ordered 2) was great!! I ordered the Bitter and Blanc (or is it Blanc and Bitter?) thanks to the info I'd read on CC, and than you all.....it is now my FAVORITE dessert.....ahead of the warm chocolate melting cake.

 

More to come........I tried to write my whole review last night and when I tried to post it, I lost it. So, this time we'll try pieces. :)

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zippybossrock

zippybossrock

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Port Day 1 - Grand Cayman

The evening before arriving in Grand Cayman, I stopped by the Purser's Desk to ask about getting off the ship on the first tender and I'd booked a private excursion with Ebanks Watersports and we were to meet Shawn from Ebanks at 8:30 (arrival time in GC was to be 8:00). I was told that once we got into port, to bring a copy of my reservation to prove we had an early excursion. When we started to head down, we were told to mix in with another large Carnival excursion group. 3 of us who were going with Ebanks were numbers 5, 6, and 7 off the ship.

 

I thought GC was an hour behind us so we thought we had a little time to wander before going over to the Hard Rock. We arrived at 9:00 ship time to have Shawn tell us, no, GC is on the same time zone so we were actually 30 minutes late....ughhhh!! We felt so bad. He was very accommodating and gave us the option of going right then but we'd miss about 30 minutes of our tour or we could wait until the 10:30 tour. We opted for the 10:30 tour so we had more time to wander. I should mention...the tour we booked with Ebanks was to ride jet skis out to Stingray City and then snorkel at the Coral Gardens. I rode alone and paid $125, and my 2 friends road together and paid $75 each.

 

We met back up with Shawn at 10:00 (determined to be very early this time) and quickly met the 2 other couples from NY who would be in our group. It was about a 10 minute ride out to the marina and there we met our guide, Jeremy. We were outfitted with snorkel gear, life vests and given instructions on operating the jet skis. Shawn warned us that it was a bit windy that day and because of it, the ride out would be a little choppy. He said Jeremy would set the pace and we should try to keep up with him. We were told that the faster we went, the smoother the ride would be. I'm no speed demon, so going really fast didn't sound so good. We headed out of the marina and into open water. Shawn wasn't kidding...it was a bit choppy and because I wasn't going as fast as everyone, I was getting pummelled with waves, but just hung on for dear life and tried to keep the group in my vision.

 

When we arrived at Stingray City, (shaking from the scary ride), we hopped off and Jeremy brought "Frisbee", a smaller ray without a tail over for us...it was awesome!!! I would do Stingray City over a 100 times! We spent about a 1/2 hr there before we were to head over to the Coral Gardens. I should mention this was my first time on a jet ski so I didn't know that we had to basically drag ourselves back onto it from the water...yeah. I was able to do it, but geez....

 

Got over to the Coral Gardens for snorkeling. Since I'm a scuba diver, snorkeling just isn't exciting for me anymore, but it was nice. Now, after having hung on for dear life and already dragged my @#* back up onto that jetski once, I have to say my muscles were fatigued and I had a hard time getting back up on the darn thing. Thank you Jeremy for helping out!

 

The ride back was MUCH better since the wind was to our back and I really enjoyed it much better. All in all, it was a scary (for me) but really fun tour. Considering that renting a jet ski anywhere is around $60 for 30 minutes, we really got a great time seeing the rays and snorkeling and riding the skis for about 2 1/2 hrs!

 

On the way back to our drop off point, we chatted with our new friends from NY who were on RCCL's Liberty of the Seas. They asked where we were going next and we said Cozumel. They asked what we had planned for Coz and when I said the day at Nachi Cocum, the women starting screaming that it was "THE BEST PLACE EVER!!!!!!" Yeah.

 

We were dropped off and I REALLY needed a drink so we went into Margaritaville and I paid $20 bucks for one of their "yards" (definitely was not a yard), but after my scary ride, I just needed a drink! I sucked that baby down while we waited in the tender boat line and were back on the ship.

 

Dinner that evening was very good and we were entertained with the dancing waiters and the conga line through the dining room. After dinner, we headed up to the 80's night at the Disco and had a great time.

 

More to come with port day 2 - Cozumel.

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zippybossrock

zippybossrock

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Port Day 2 - Cozumel.

 

I LOVE COZUMEL!!!!!! We arrived at the Puerta Maya pier in Coz around 11:00 am. Once off the ship, we grabbed 2 taxis and headed out to Nachi Cocum. I was worried that with all that I'd read about it, I hoped it was not so hyped up that I would be disappointed. I was not......I found heaven on earth. We arrived and had to have our picture taken and were told we could purchase it later. Right away we were introduced to our waiter, Manuel, and taken to our palapas and chairs. As soon as we were set up, we were approached about jet skis, banana boat rides, massages, parasailing. 3 of our group wanted to do the banana boat ride ($15 each for a 20 minute ride), I rented a floating mat ($8 for the day) and 2 others rented snorkel gear ($15 for the day). After that, we weren't approached again except to be shown the picture that had been taken at the entrance and were offered the option to purchase. None of us did.

 

Right away, Manuel starting bring us drinks and also chips and fresh salsa. I love hot & spicy food, but the salsa was even a bit too hot for me. No worries, I washed away the hot with my new favorite drink, a lime daquiri. The drinks kept coming and coming and only when I decided I needed to get into the ocean did I realize how strong they were....oh well, we're on vacation!!

 

After a bit, we decided it would be a good idea to order some food so I wanted the guacamole everyone has raved about here on CC, and chicken tacos. OMG.....I've been spoiled for life.....I will never be able to eat guacamole anywhere but Nachi....it was FAB and super filling (surprisingly) so when my chicken tacos came, I could barely finish 1 of the 3 I'd been given.....especially since I needed to keep some room for our continued drinking throughout the day. Loved the fresh water pool with the swim up bar and hot tub. The faciilities were nice. But, you know you're in heaven when your waiter will wade out into the water to bring you another lime daquiri!!!!! OMG.....Nachi forever!!!!!!

 

It was unfortunately time to pack up and head back to the pier so we could get some shopping done before we had to get back onto the ship. Got some good buys and then hung out the remainder of our time in Coz at Fat Tuesday with a couple of yards of Margaritas......I LOVE COZUMEL!!! Sadly, we had to get back onto the ship. I figured I'd had more fun than anyone should legally have and decided to go right to bed. Everyone else headed to dinner and the casino for the rest of the night.

 

More to come......

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zippybossrock

zippybossrock

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Day at Sea.....we all slept in a bit and then headed to the Lido for breakfast and then staked out our deck chairs. Unfortunately, within a 1/2 hr it got very cloudy, then dark cloudy, then pouring rain.....which continued the whole day.

 

We found things to keep ourselves busy throughout the day. One thing that I noticed every day was how much movement we felt all over the ship. My last cruise on the Triumph in May, we only had one day of the 7 where we felt a lot of movement. But, it was noticeable all the time on the Inspiration....perhaps because its a smaller ship? The only day that it was bothersome, though, was our last day at sea as we were in some lousy weather.....it got pretty rocky.

 

I found the Inspiration's set up to be a bit choppy but by the week's end we knew where we were going. Everyone was really nice and we never noticed any rude, obnoxious people. No chair hogs, but that might be attributed to the large number of seniors on board....guess they don't want to spend the day laying out in the sun. Admittedly, there were areas of the ship which were showing its age, but all in all, its a nice ship with a really great crew. There were ALWAYS people, everywhere you went, who were cleaning.

 

Dinner our last evening was nice with our table mates, Jack and Debbie from NC. We ate and enjoyed the farewell show from our wait staff. After dinner, off to pack up for the trip home in the morning.

 

We got up early to meet at the Mardi Gras dining room for breakfast at 7:00. We started to head back to our cabins around 7:45 when they called for Self Assist. I'd heard that disembarking in Tampa was a breeze so I made sure to note the time we stepped into the hallway with our luggage, 7:57. We headed to the line on deck 7 and made our way off the ship and through customs. I was standing outside the terminal at 8:18.....21 minutes to get off the ship!!!! I was flabbergasted!!! It took us 2 1/2 hrs to get off the Triumph in May at Miami!!! 9 minutes later we were in a taxi to the airport.....all in 30 minutes!!!!! Thank you Tampa!!!

 

I'm going to try to post a link to my pictures and hopefully it will work!!

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Gizzy02

Gizzy02

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Zippybossrock,

 

We were on this sailing with you too. It was my hubby, two boys (9 & 7) and myself. It was the first time to sail with Carnival. I couldn't believe all the movement that we felt and your right about that last day. It was pretty rocky most of the day. But with that type of weather, it's almost expected. I listened to karoke, we played bingo and did the stuff a bear in the kids club. I was surprised, I guess, with all the senior but yet it didn't bother me. Everyone was very nice on the ship. I think next time we may try a bigger ship. We would LOVE to go next winter again but I don't think we can swing that but we'll see. We've done Disney cruise line & Carnival and it might be kinda fun to try RCCL but I have my eye on the Carnival Dream too. Ohhh...so many choices!!:)

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jimbug

jimbug

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Thanks for the review--great read!

I do have a question, though...since I noticed you said you were on the Triumph earlier, which I'm assuming was a 7-day itinerary. I've only sailed on 7-day or longer cruises in the past, but my friend and I found a great deal on the Imagination for Memorial Day in May, and we're thinking about going on the 4-nighter to Key West & Cozumel, with one "at sea" day. Did you find the shorter cruise to feel rushed and like it wasn't worth your time to fly to Florida and then be on the ship for just a few days? I almost feel like if I'm going to take the time/effort/money to fly south, I want to make it very worthwhile! However, I also realize that any cruise is better than no cruise at all, so that's where I'm torn...

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cccer

cccer

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Great review, this was one of the best I have read recently. I was disappointed though because I did not pick up that is was a shorter cruise. I was looking forward to hearing about more of your cruise, but it was enjoyed.

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