Has anyone ever cruised on Carnival Inspiration out of Tampa Florida? If so, How was the cruise and the ship?

Question

Has anyone ever cruised on Carnival Inspiration out of Tampa Florida? If so, How was the cruise and the ship?

Answer 1

Also went in 04 out of Tampa.  I love sailing out of Tampa--the port staff there is one of the best.  Our cruise went to Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Belize.  This was before the Hurricane that knocked a lot of Cozumel and Grand Cayman out.    But from what I've read on www.cruisecritic.com, they've done a great job of rebuilding.  Check out that site for more recent postings.  

I loved the ship and we have considered taking that EXACT same cruise again.  The layout was much better than the Destiny.  I loved the international waitstaff.   The ship was very clean and very friendly.  It's very easy to walk around from the front to the back and due to a better deck layout by the pool, the staff has a much easier time of being easily accessible to order drinks.

The cruise stops were great.  Cozumel was my favorite and I definitely plan to go back.  We took a shore excursion in a clear-bottom kayak and snorkel.  It was great.  Highly recommend.  GrandCayman I was not that impressed with, due to the fact that it looked like any US town all filled with McDonalds, Burger Kings, and KFCs.  But I did swim with the stingrays at Stingray City which was the most memorable activities.  In Belize I hiked Mayan Ruins--loved it and would gladly go back.  That schedule is now the Miracle's schedule and the Inspiration now only goes to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.    So I suggested my two favorite shore excursions.  One of the problems now is that both those ports require tendering in--Cozumel's dock was destroyed and hasn't been rebuilt.  So If you get motion sick, don't forget to take the medicine those days.

Also Cozumel has great shopping--any souvenirs or alcohol that you plan on bring back should be bought there.  Grand Cayman does not have near the shopping Cozumel has.

I loved the art auction onboard.  I found the deals to be great and we bought several paintings.  Though the room always seems to be freezing.

I will say what I did not like about the Inspiration.  The night shows were not as good as I've had on other cruises and I found the band on the Lido deck to be good, but they don't have the sound set up quite right so you could only hear the band if you were really close.  We did not any dining--we had the late dining and ate in the dining room each night.  Loved the Lido food so we didn't even go to alternate places for breakfast or lunch.  We also did not try out the spa, but I did notice several days on the ship seemed like it had nice daily specials.

In addition to checking www.cruisecritic.com check out these great sites as well

www.cruisereviews.com

www.cruisemates.com

Inspiration is one of my favorite ships and I know you'll love it.  Happy Cruising! =)

Answer 2

We went in 04. It was me my husband, our 3 adult children and my daughter in law. We had a blast. Carnival had great food, lots of choices. Carnival has larger regular cabins than most other lines. Our ship had recently been renovated. Everything was clean. Carnival has a younger people sailing with them. We expected a lot of wild spring breakers. But found out you need to have at least one person in each cabin be 21. We saw lots of families, honeymooners, everything... a great mix.

Answer 3

As with the first answer, it has been about 10 years since I was on the Inspiration. Back then, I think Carnival was a lot better than they are now, even with the newer ships. The service, food, cleanliness and the onboard experience just isn't what I am looking for.

However, if you are young (or young at heart) and just love to have fun, party, etc. then Carnival will probably be a good choice for you. Personally, I go more for the food and service, so I find there are better lines available.

If you aren't set on the cruise that the Inspiration offers, you may want to look into one of Carnival's newer ships. The rates may be a tad higher, but you are getting a newer, more up to date ship, with more onboard activities and things like that. A few recommendations would be the Conquest, Glory, Legend, Liberty, Miracle, Pride, Triumph, Valor, or the Victory. In my opinion, these are a little bit better ship, but that is just my opinion.

I've included a link to some reviews that will be more recent and should help you. Also, there is a message board that you can get to through the link, they are really helpful and can answer just about question you may have.

I hope this helps!

Answer 4

I never have, but I read a Reader's Digest article on them. You have to be very careful with Carnival (well any cruise ship). The medical help does not necessarily have to be trained well. If you get hurt, they leave you in the closest country and let you get medical help there (many doctors in foreign countries are not the best...not all are bad, but a lot are). There was a lawsuit going against Carnival Cruises because of this.

Answer 5

I cruised on Inspiration a good 10 years ago....more.  Back then it was a fantastic ship. If this is your first cruise and you're young and looking for an active vacation, you'll have a great time. Carnival is a solid cruise line but if you're looking for luxury and really great service, I'd suggest other cruise lines.

That said, I did the cruise on Inspiration with four friends and had an amazing time.