Western Caribbean Reviewed by Mike

Let me start my review by stating that I thoroughly enjoyed this cruise! I'll go ahead and post the few "negatives" and get them out of the way - then on to the good stuff! I promise there is MORE good than bad! However, feel free to ask any questions you may have and I'll do my best to answer them. I saved all the Capers from the cruise and will scan them as soon as I can for anyone who wants to see them. DS who is 16 did sign up for Club 0� and I'll write more about that later on.

#1: I had been pre-warned about tenders at Grand Cayman and Cozumel so I knew it was best to return to the ship as early as possible. So, DH and I took an early excursion (more details about that later) and were back on the ship before lunchtime. I'm not sure what went wrong with the tenders, but there were 1,000 + passengers stuck on the dock waiting for a tender for almost 2 hours at Grand Caymon. The sun was very hot and I even heard that one lady passed out from the heat (that was not verified - just what I was told). I also heard someone from the Inspiration contacted the Liberty (who was also docked there) and got them to lend their tender boats so the passengers could return to the Inspiration. We were never given an explanation as to what exactly happened to cause the delay. My DS and several other people from our group were among those stranded at the dock. Some people felt like Carnival could have at least provided water because of the extreme heat.

#2: Our ship had to return to Tampa early to avoid forecasted fog. This meant that all ship stores and, of course, the casino had to close at 9p. Many people were upset about missing out on their last night of gambling. However, those who had early flights were thankful that the ship was not delayed in returning.

#3: The itinerary said Cozumel was 9:30a - 8:00p. When we got our Capers, we discovered that the last tender back from shore was at 5:00p and that the Inspiration would set sail at 6:00p. I had already been pre-warned that this would probably happen so I wasn't bothered by this. Again, we were off the ship early, walked around the shops and took a taxi to downtown. We were back on the ship around lunch time.

#4: This was absolutely the WORSE debarkation I have ever experienced! Self Assist went smoothly. Some of our group had an early flight and so they did the self debarking and said it was great. No problems, everything ran smoothly for them. Otherwise, we were instructed to have our luggage outside our cabin no later than midnight (no problem there). They also instructed everyone to make sure their luggage had ship tags on them so that they could be organized by color and make sorting and pick-up easier. Passengers were assigned various Debarkation Waiting areas based on the color of your tag. We were informed that we were to wait patiently until our "color" was called and then to follow the instructions for debarking. Sometime shortly after 9a, they made an announcement that anyone ready to leave the ship could then make their way to the Empress Deck (#7) and debark. Needless to say, all passengers started making their way to leave. I still want to know what happened to the system where they call each color and clear the ship in sections?!?!?! It was a nightmare!!!! As we were struggling to make our way down the stairs, we talked with a couple who were not happy with their cruise at all. According to the man, their bathroom had been flooded from day one. They kept reporting it and were told someone would be there right away to take care of it. Nobody ever came. They said their cabin steward (who according to them had a major attitude) gave them extra towels to keep on the floor. They said they had to wade in about 3 - 4 inches of water every time they went into the bathroom so they made sure to wear flip flops or some kind of shoes that could get wet. He said they wouldn't be cruising on that ship or with Carnival again.

#5: There was only one power outlet in our room. We brought a power strip along to accommodate our needs. On formal night, I was blow drying my hair and had my camera charging at the same time. The breaker must have tripped cause I lost power. DH reported it and it was fixed in no time. Also, our telephone was out of order off and on. We didn't get our wake-up call on the day we docked at Grand Cayman and there were several times people in our group tried calling us (when they knew we were in our cabin) and never could get through. We didn't miss having a phone ring (especially after all we went through just b4 our cruise). I set the alarm on my cell phone as a back-up for a wake-up call (when we discovered what was going on with the phone) so it was not a big deal.

#6: The Lido deck was very slippery on the day of embarkation. It had been raining in Tampa off and on that day. They did put out some blue runners but they didn't cover the entire path. I watched a couple of people slip and fall. I don't believe anyone was seriously injured but it would have been a terrible way for me to start my cruise! I was extremely careful and walked very slow and basically took baby steps to get where I needed to go.

I think that about covers the negative stuff. Guess once I started listing it, it might seem worse than it actually was. I'm just trying to cover all the information - good and bad. So, enough with the bad and onto the good!

Pre-Cruise: We stayed at the Best Western Westshore on Westshore Drive. I booked the park and sail package so that we could leave our vehicle at the hotel. The hotel provided us with transportation to and from the port. Our room was supposed to be ready anytime after 3p. We arrived around 3:30p only to be told we had to wait about 30 minutes or so� until our room would be available. The room was okay but nothing great. The hotel was clean. We were set for an 11a shuttle on Monday (01/30/2006) and were delayed because of a large group. We ended up leaving the hotel around 11:30a and were in line and waiting to board the ship by 12 noon.

Embarkation: As I stated, we were at the terminal by 12n. There was a line at check-in but it moved quickly. We didn't have much of a wait for boarding and we were on the ship by 12:30p. They allowed us to drop our carry-ons off in our cabin. We were greeted by our Cabin Steward, Ronald (who was wonderful). We went to the buffet and ate lunch. The food was plentiful and delicious. We met up with our group� on the Lido deck for the sail away just after the Muster Drill.

We had Early Seating at dinner in the Mari Gras Dining Room @ 6:15p. Let me say that Eduardo, our waiter, was fantastic! Lots of personality and always smiling - excellent service. The food was great. I thought the portions were good but the desserts were sometimes disappointing. We had a group of 12 so it was not possible to seat us all at one table. We did have back-to-back booths and played musical seats throughout the cruise (we checked with Eduardo about this and he was fine with it and said it was no problem). We went to the Welcome Aboard Show and Chris Roberts, our Cruise Director was great. Unfortunately, he was going on vacation after this sailing and would not be returning to the Inspiration. I'm not sure who the new Cruise Director will be but they've got some big shoes to fill. DH and I were wiped out from the trip down, etc. so we crashed after the show.

Fun Day At Sea! I did breakfast in the Mardi Gras Dining room with DS. We both enjoyed our food. Went to the photo gallery (ouch!). Also booked our excursions for Grand Cayman. The weather was great. DH took advantage of the sun while I explored the ship. We had lunch on the Lido deck. This was formal night and also the Captain's Party. Since we had Main seating for dinner we had to be ready to go to the Captain's party by 5p. Dinner was fabulous! I found the portions to be good. (I had heard that the portions on the appetizers were small - I didn't think that was the case at all.) We found most of the passengers dressed appropriately for dinner. Some were dressed more formal than others. DS looked really great in his tuxedo and DH wore his Air Force Tux. I thought both of my guys looked very handsome! After dinner, we took some pictures in our formal wear. We never did get our entire group together for a photo. But that was okay, we got enough pictures. Entertainment for the evening was SHOUT! starring the Inspiration Dancers. Their performance was awesome and they did a great job with their costumes and set design. After dinner it was Karaoke Time in the Candlelight Lounge which was followed by the Late Night Comedy Special with Big Tony Esposito. He was a real hoot!

Grand Cayman: We were on one of the early tenders since our excursion was scheduled for 8:15a. DH and I did the Grand Cayman Island Tour ($35 each) and DS did the Stingray City & Island Tour ($59) with some of our group members. The weather was beautiful! Our tour guide was great. He took us through town and showed us various historic places. We drove by 7 mile beach and went to Hell. DH and sent some postcards (postage was only 20 cents to send to the USA and the postcards weren't too expensive I think they were either 3 or 4 for a dollar.) I got some great pictures. We left there and went to sample sum rum and rum cakes. Mmmmm! Delicious! After that, it was the turtle farm. I even got to hold one. Of course, by the time it was my turn, he was rather annoyed and ready to get back in the water. Naturally, he started spazzing out when I took him. DH got a nice photo of my expression :) I didn't hold him long and put him right in the water where he wanted to be. DH and I walked around Grand Cayman for a little while and did some shopping. Then we were off on the tender and back on the ship in time for lunch. DS and the others didn't have the same luck with the tender as we did (as explained above). Dinner was fabulous, as usual! Tonight's entertainment was our Cruise Director performing in the Blues Brothers! We all enjoyed this performance and I think DS enjoyed it most of all. He was pretty much mesmerized the entire time! We closed down the Karaoke bar (again).

Cozumel, Mexico: I did breakfast in the Mardi Gras Dining Room with the Trailer Park Girls (two ladies in our group -you would have had to have been at the last nights comedy show to appreciate the names!). DH and I had already decided to take an early tender into Cozumel with DS and just do a little exploring. We checked out the shops at the port and DS got a temporary tattoo then we took a taxi to downtown. There was some confusion over the fee. It was supposed to be $6 for all three of us to go downtown but our driver decided he wanted to charge us more. After a word of prayer� with him, he took us downtown and we paid him only $6. We went into lots of shops. The sellers were very aggressive there and DS was not at all comfortable with that. He was ready to get back on the ship almost as soon as we got downtown. DH and I reassured him but we ended up cutting our time in downtown a little short and headed back to the port. We actually did most of our buying from the vendors there. We got on a tender and were back on the ship by 1:30p. The sky was cloudy to begin with so we were a little anxious about the weather. We figured we'd have just as much fun around the pool for the afternoon. We did make another stop in the photo gallery (ouch again). Several members of our group joined in on the games in the Candlelight Lounge. After another wonderful dinner in the Mardi Gras Dining Room, we closed down the Karaoke Bar (again).

Fun Day At Sea! #2: The last full day on the ship is always sad for me. Just the thought of the cruise coming to an end (wah!!!). Our day started with breakfast on the Lido deck. We even managed to make it to the Debarkation Talk. DH decided to try the casino again. He played in the slot tournament. I enjoy watching him play. My luck really sucks so I don't usually even bother with the casino. The weather was cloudy so we relaxed most of the afternoon. DS really enjoyed the water slide the entire cruise. I kept thinking that I'd like to try it and then DH reminded me of a past experience on one of the slides at Myrtle Beach. Gravity, and the twisting on the slide didn't agree with my swimsuit. Suffice it to say, I felt I'd better refrain from the potential of a repeat performance with a much larger audience. Besides, I figured the stairs and the slide would certainly do my back in. I decided to let my DS enjoy the slide for the both of us. He did spend a good bit of time in Club 02. He even won a couple of first place trophies. There weren't a lot of teenagers on the ship. The crowd was a mixture of all ages, young and old. I found my fellow passengers on this cruise to be much more friendly than those on my last cruise. Our last night in the dining room was another delightful experience. We were sad to say goodbye to Eduardo. He was fantastic! Our overall dining experience was excellent. We did have a table next to ours with several small children. (I thought of Folgy! LOL) They had an infant who was never a problem. The others, however, did manage to get a little rowdy at times. It wasn't too bad but I could have lived without the high pitched screams. We all decided we wouldn't miss that part of the dining experience. The main show for the evening was El Nuevo Caribe. It was okay but I think I enjoyed the other performances more. It was probably more me than the performers because others said they really enjoyed the show. There was a late night buffet on the Lido deck but we were still full from dinner so we never even made it up to the Lido deck. Instead, DH made sure our luggage was all packed and outside our door before midnight. Late Night Comedy was a performance by Kenny Miller. I can't remember when I've laughed that hard. He kept us laughing the entire show. If you ever have the chance to watch one of his shows, you won't regret it.

Debarkation: I pretty much covered this in the first section. It was great for those who did Self Assist. Now that I know how they are doing the debarkation, I'll be ready the next time. You live and learn. Once we got off the ship, the line moved quickly. No problems going through customs. Our luggage was all lined up practically one bag next to the other. A porter assisted us in getting our luggage across the street so we could meet our shuttle to return to our vehicle at the hotel. The weather in Tampa was cold and rainy. They had a terrible storm the day before with several inches of rain.

It was a long ride home. We've finally got the suitcases unpacked. The laundry is almost all done. I miss Ronald, our cabin steward, a lot!

In closing, I have to say that I really like the cabins on Carnival MUCH better than RCCL. Size does matter! (Laffin) I'm pretty sure our next cruise will be on Carnival.