Cruising Carnival Inspiration

I went on the Carnival Inspiration early December and it was a wonderful, A+ experience. There were slight differences between Carnival and Princess, one them being Carnival is more silly (towel animals, dancing, cute contests) and Princess is more mature (more formal dancing and “fun” isn’t as pressed). The size of the interior state rooms (comparing Ruby Princess and Carnival Inspiration) were very similar with the exception that Carnival had a smaller tv, no fridge, only one outlet, but they had a much bigger shower than Ruby Princess.

The ages of the other passengers were not one demographic, it was well balanced. I saw elders, families with kids, and young adults celebrating their anniversary or honeymoon without kids. In regards to service, both are equally great however, I noticed in the buffet is self service when it comes to drinks and frozen yogurt. If you want a drink, you have to grab it yourself or go to a bar for a specialty drink or soda (which doesn’t bother me but it’s worth mentioning).

Pros:

Stateroom is spacious. The beds were perfection (king sized!) and the shower had plenty of room.

Food: A+ it’s best if I just show photos.

This may be an odd pro because who wants to use the gym while traveling but their gym was awesome! They had weights, ellipticals, treadmills, bikes, and a few other strength equipment I can’t identify. Just go to their spa and go past the bathrooms to get access to the gym.

Pictured: caesar salad, sea bass, chocolate molten cake with a side of ice cream and my favorite dessert of all time – creme brulee.

Margarita Pizza at Pizza Pirate, vegetarian lasagna & pasta in the main dining room.

The lay out of the ship was ready to understand: the buffet area is all one open floor plan so it makes it easy to find people.

Carnival’s social media package was the perfect way to get in touch with people while in the middle of the ocean. iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram all worked perfectly on the ship.
There is always live music playing, whether it’s from the piano bar, solo guitarists playing, or karaoke, I was surprised to see plenty of entertainment happening.

The service was great with the exception of the final night. It took 2 hours to finish dinner from being seated to getting our dessert.

Their chocolate martini is the THE BOMB!

Cons:

The tv selection and tv size in the stateroom could use an upgrade. I also would have loved to have had a fridge in the interior stateroom.

They made announcements throughout the day of what was going on the ship which was not necessary considering everyone had an itinerary. The announcements every few hours annoyed me which is sadly, inevitable

The main dining room service was good however, I always think no matter what time you dine, getting a drink refill is difficult.

Shore excursions: they could cancel last minute (like morning of, last minute) without any heads up or warning so keep that in mind when planning your excursions.

The creme bruele, my favorite dessert of all time, is not served every night. I repeat: creme bruele is NOT served every night. Order up when it’s offered (maybe store it somewhere for good measure, I don’t blame you)

Day One: Boarding

Pictured: myself, godmom, and mom

The embarkation process was super easy. I had printed my luggage tags at home and had them already on my suitcase upon being dropped off at the cruise port. After dropping off my bags at the drop off location, I showed my boarding pass, passport, and that was all I needed to embark the cruise ship. Make sure to have your bottle of wine with you while you board the ship. They don’t want you checking it in with your luggage.

My sail cards were ready at 1:30PM when I could get into the stateroom. The first day I just ate at the buffet and slept. I had no intentions to do anything my first day on the ship and it was relaxing.

Tip: Because of the wait time till we could get into our staterooms, I wish I would have charged my phone prior to boarding or brought a portable charger because for the first few hours my phone died so I couldn’t take any photos or make any last minute calls. I also wish I would have remembered to wear my swimsuit under my clothes so I could get in the hot tub while no one was in there.

Day Two – Catalina Island

I spent the day walking around Catalina viewing the shops, to the beach, and up a hill to get a nice view.

Inside Lloyd’s of Avalon. Every sweet tooth’s dream!

I stopped at their ice cream/candy shop called Lloyd’s of Avalon, did a mini hike, and ate at a restaurant called Lobster Trap. Lobster Trap had the best clam chowder I had ever tasted and had great lobster. I ordered their “Lobster Roll” which was served with creamy tarragon sauce. I wasn’t a fan of the tarragon sauce so if I had to reorder, I would have replaced it with butter.

Day Three – Ensenada

Ensenada is the perfect place to go on a wine tour. Valle de Guadalupe has 200+ wineries and it’s popularly known as the “Napa Valley of Mexico”.

I booked a wine tour with lunch that got cancelled due to not meeting minimum requirements. I didn’t even think a tour being cancelled due to lack of participants was possible considering I booked it through Carnival. I just figured they would only sell the most popular shore excursions. It was an easy fix because there was a similar wine tour being sold and the only difference was is it didn’t include lunch.

While I personally didn’t care for the specific wines I had tasted, I loved the “coffee and cream” tequila I tasted at the second stop, La Casa de Doña Lupe and I loved seeing Ensenada’s country side. It was very cool to see how an actual winery creates wine and Ensenada’s wine culture.

I have no idea what kind of bread they had at L.A. Cello but I couldn’t have enough.

Day Four & Final Day – Day At Sea

Cruise Ship Activities

I love comedy shows! There were 4 comedy shows that played: 2 from each comedian and each show being the earlier/clean/kid friendly show and the later one being adult version. The PG comedy shows were more funny and clever to me as the later/adult comedy shows just seemed gross and boring. With the PG shows, comedians have to actually be funny while the adult shows they are just have to be dirty. My sense of humor usually doesn’t think dirty jokes are clever or entertaining.

The Love and Marriage game show was hilarious to watch because you really need to see the differences and common points of view from each person. There was a Friends and Harry Potter trivia- I did horrible on it. They have very tough, specific questions so make sure you are on your A game!

I’m a sucker for bingo! I participated in Carnival’s $5,000 bingo game and I was a sore loser. Never the less, it was fun and every staff member on board had a great personality and was very funny.

Carnival also had a duck hunt game- you go around the ship and try to find the hidden rubber ducks. I truly sucked at this game. The only way I was able to find the ducks was by cheating off of a group of 10 years olds begging for their help.

Carnival Inspiration was a great option. Not only is it budget friendly but the value is fantastic. This is a perfect cruise to do with couples, families, or with a group of friends. I have heard people call the 3-4 day cruises more like a “booze cruise” and maybe because I traveled during the Winter, but the cruise was the farthest thing from a booze cruise. It was fun without being overbearing. I would definitely go on this cruise and Carnival again!