Tim and Kim Fain

Age: Both 39
Occupation: Both self-employed
Number of Cruises: First one for both
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Inspiration
Sailing Date: October 19th, 2003
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

OVERVIEW:
What at trip!! My husband and I had never traveled alone together (usually with our four kids ranging in age from 19 to 3), so this was quite an experience for us. I was impressed with the hospitality and overwhelmed with the diversity of the staff. My naiveté was evident when I realized that very few members of the staff were American, but I was awed by their kindness. We were amazed at how much money we spent and how easy it is to rack up charges when you’re not paying cash for anything. The sail and sign card was convenient, but it’s very easy to go overboard (no pun intended). The only time you needed cash on this cruise was in the ports for souvenirs or food/drink. Oh, you might also need it if you tip a crew member on the boat.

EMBARKATION:
After a wild cab ride to the port authority, we weren’t thinking and gave the porter our carry on bag, which we so diligently packed our bathing suits and the first nights’ dinner wear. Luckily, our luggage made it to our room about 5:00, but at the time we thought, “we’ll just let him take it to the room, so we won’t have to carry it around.” On to stand in our first line; ten minutes to get our sail and sign cards. It was about 12:00 noon. The man was crabby and when Tim tried to crack a joke, he didn’t flinch! On to wait in the large waiting area for another 15 minutes to get in line to board. After getting a picture made for their computer system, we then waited in another line (10 minutes) to get another picture taken. This picture was the first of hundreds (well, it seemed like hundreds) that the ship photographers take of you during the trip. OK, we’re finally on board. They give you a map and tell you that your rooms aren’t ready until 1:30 p.m., and your luggage MAY not be in the room until as late as 8:00 p.m., so we started roaming.

THE SHIP:
It was very difficult to find our way around the first few days and it was a shame that when we finally became comfortable with which staircases to take (we never took the elevator because they were too slow), it was time to leave.

I thought the décor of the Inspiration was a bit tacky, but overall the ship was VERY clean. The large ‘wooden’ accents throughout the main decks were plastic, hollow and many were missing paint. The purple/gold tubing décor in the Brasserie restaurant was very tacky, but once you got used to it, it was no big deal. The ship was meticulously clean and every day you would see workers polishing the brass and cleaning the glass. I don’t think I ever saw a speck of dirt anywhere. We enjoyed a great lunch on the Lido deck at about 1:00. Overall, the ship had all the amenities we expected. The sports deck was nice with a soft track and a volleyball area. The pools were nice, but not as big as I expected and I would have liked to have had a choice of a salt water pool and a chlorine pool.

The inside of the boat was cold, in my opinion. The air conditioning was turned up and I froze. In fact, unless we had to, we were outside as much as possible. You could turn it DOWN, in your cabin, but not OFF, so I froze in there also, but not as bad. I had a jacket/sweater with me ALL the time.

THE CABIN:
We had a small, interior cabin. There were two twin beds that we requested the room steward put together. He did so, but didn’t give us king linens the first night, but later we asked for them and he obliged. Although the room was small, we didn’t care because we weren’t there much and when we were, we were sleeping…which we did very well. Tim is a very early riser at home and because the room was so dark and quiet, he slept very well and very late for him; most mornings until 8:00!! He was shocked, but the gentle hum of the boat’s engines combined with the dark and quiet made him sleep like a baby. The sheets were soft and clean and the beds were comfortable. We are used to a water bed and wondered how we’d do on a traditional mattress. We did just fine. The towels were clean, but a bit rough. There were a couple of places where the paint was chipped on the drawers and the drawers didn’t slide very well, but no biggie. The bathroom was fine. Again, it was a bit small, but fine for our needs. The water pressure was pitiful, but we managed.

DAY ONE:
After the safety drill where you put your life jacket on and go to your Muster station (the place where you would go in case of an emergency), we laid out for a bit and enjoyed the sun. It was windy on the upper decks, but felt great compared to the chill we’d experienced in Cincinnati prior to coming to Tampa!! Got ready for dinner and we were starving. At first I was hesitant about the 8:30 dinner seating, but it turned out to be awesome for a number of reasons. First, we met 4 other GREAT couples and all the dinners were so much fun and turned out to be among the highlights of our trip. Second, we were able to get a nap almost every day in the late afternoon and still have plenty of time to get to dinner. Thirdly, we didn’t have to rush back from the ports to get the early dinner time. Dinner in the Mardi Gras dining room was great all week mostly because of our awesome head waiter, Ramil, from the Philippines. He was very polite and our orders were accurate and timely. This night I ordered a steak and asked for it to be ‘medium’. It came back well done, so I sent it back and they sent one cooked perfectly. One of the best steaks I’d ever eaten. The desserts were great all week and I often ordered two. Ramil was totally accommodating and always pleasant. He explained that he is on the boat for 8 months at a time and then gets 2 months off. He has a family and we all were sad at the fact that he was away from them for so long. I suppose the alternative is poor wages in his country and most likely, he is doing very well. On to our first show; the Welcome Aboard Show. In this show the cruise director, Carlo, did basically a one-man comedy show. He brought people up from the audience to talk to them and made jokes. We found out later that some of it was pre-planned and not for real. It was funny, though, and Carlo was very entertaining. He was good the entire week, actually. We were exhausted, so we crashed at midnight. The room was cold, but I managed to sleep pretty well.

DAY TWO:
Day at sea. I did a yoga class this morning and it was ok. Tried to do a weight workout, but they have an air pressure weight system and I couldn’t get the hang of it and didn’t do very much. Tim played the ‘nearest to the pin’ golf contest in the virtual golf room and WON!! There were 20 guys, some of them pros, so I was proud of him! Went to the excursion meeting but wished we had laid out because I had done so much research it was nothing new for us. We enjoyed lunch every day at the Brasserie Restaurant. We especially enjoyed the burger/hot dog grill and loved their fries and chili. After lunch I insisted Tim enter the ‘Hairy Chest Contest’. There were 12 men in it, many of them older and much hairier. Tim wowed them with his Tarzan yell, though and the emcee said it was the ‘best she’s heard in her entire career.” He made the final 3 and although he didn’t win, he did me proud!! Enjoyed the sun and breeze on the Lido deck most of the day. Got ready for dinner and had our picture made a few times. They take it often and they are not cheap. The 5X7’s were 4.95, the 6X9’s were 7.95 and the 8X10’s were 19.95!! Personally, I thought the 8X10’s were overpriced and I would have purchased more had they been 12.95 or even 14.95!! They were very good pictures, though, and we seemed to favor the ones taken by a man named Roderick. We ended up buying 2-8X10’s that he took. Funny how they print more of the 8X10’s than any other size!???!! I was so impressed by his work that I tracked his boss down and told him what a good job he was doing. Tonight was the first formal night. We really enjoyed dinner every night. The company was great and we all enjoyed sharing our days’ activities with one another. Prime Rib tonight…excellent!! On to the first Las Vegas type show. It was wonderful. The singing was a bit weak, but the dancing and costumes were wonderful. I loved it!! The live band was top notch; I could have listened to them all day! We planned to go to the midnight comedy show, but were too
tired, so we crashed.

DAY THREE:
Up early to head for Grand Cayman. After a quick breakfast in the Brasserie, we boarded the tender. After a 5-6 minute ride we were on the lookout for Captain Marvin’s. Based on a review I had read we decided to do our own thing for this stop. We planned to do the ½ day excursion, but because of the time difference we missed it. I didn’t allow for that and was very disappointed. However, there was a short 3 hour excursion leaving in 2 minutes and there were 2 spaces left!!! Thinking we would not get anything else since this is such a short stay, we decided to take it. Boy, I’m glad we did. It turned out to be one of the top three highlights of the entire week. We boarded an air conditioned bus and were driven to a small house on the water. We boarded a boat, there were 12 of us and three crew, and headed into the ocean. First we stopped at a coral reef area. I’d never snorkeled before, so I was apprehensive. The surf was rough, but I finally got the hang of it and it was incredible. There were hundreds of fish and beautiful coral. I could have stayed there all day. It was 8-10 feet deep. After about 45 minutes we boarded the boat again and went for a 5-6 minute boat ride. This brought us to the shallow sandbar where the stingrays were. At first I was terrified and was jumping in my husband’s arms, but after a few minutes and a look under the water it was clear these creatures are just as gentle and sweet as I had read they were. Our tour guide, Marshall, brought out the squid and in a matter of seconds there were tons of stingrays swimming among our feet. Marshall even had a particular one that he had named Emily and she had come to visit him. He showed us her markings and went on to let us all pet, hold and kiss her. It was an amazing experience and one I would recommend to EVERYONE visiting Grand Cayman. Whether it be a ship excursion or one on your own, this is a must-see. We were told that many of the ship’s excursions were on large boats with LOTS of people, so we really enjoyed our smaller boat and small group. There was also a videographer on board and she offered to let us buy a copy of the 20 minute video she had taken for 45.00. We bought one and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Back to the boat, via tender, and enjoyed a country line dance lesson, lunch and a long nap!! Another great dinner and great company. The show tonight was a great juggler and a comedian, very entertaining. We tried to enjoy the disco bar, but it was very smoky and the strobe light bothered Tim, so we headed to the Candlelight Lounge where we enjoyed an adult comedy show. It was the same guy from the earlier show, with some adult material. I laughed my head off, he was very good. Enjoyed some ice cream from the midnight buffet.

DAY FOUR:
Slept in this morning, but got up in time to watch the boat dock in Costa Maya. This is a port built just for the cruise ships and this particular day we were the only ones in port, so it wasn’t very crowded. We didn’t have a particular excursion planned for this day, so we shopped and roamed the village. There was a neat dance show with natives dancing and pretty costumes. The native shop owners were very annoying and pushy as you perused their wares. You couldn’t shop without them bugging you to death. Also, if you asked a price, remember they are ALWAYS willing to come down. I wanted to buy a little drum toy for my son and when I first asked the price, he said 10.00 and by the time it was over, it was down to 1.00!!! There are some shops where there isn’t this kind of pressure. The boat actually publishes a map of the stores that they suggest you shop in and they didn’t have the high-pressure salesmen there. The weather was cool and wet and I wasn’t dressed for it, so we went back to the boat, had lunch and I grabbed a sweatshirt. Went back out and by that time it was HOT!! We decided to take a stroll along the coast where there was a worn, gravel path. It was very littered and that was a shame, but it has good potential and I bet in a few years, this will be a really nice port. We walked about 2 miles and came upon a small shack and a pot-bellied pig tied to a post with a rope. We also saw what looked like a Naval facility and a man with a BIG gun, so we turned around there and headed back. We found out later that this was the same path used on the biking tour and you can walk further down and there are more shops and a restaurant, but we didn’t get that far. That was ok, because our walk gave us a good feeling for the port. We also saw several iguanas sunbathing on our walk!! We then checked out the beach area to the right of the shopping area and it was ok. You could rent a chair and snorkel there. We thought it was a bit run down and I didn’t like the rap/hip-hop music they were playing. Back to take another long nap and get ready for dinner. Great food, once again. The show tonight was a Father/Son team, the Fire Gauchos. They spun ropes, and played the drums and were EXTREMELY entertaining. There was also a magician/comedian who was a bit weak. Went to the Lido deck party for a little bit and then called it a night.

DAY FIVE:
Up early this morning to go to the golf excursion in Cozumel. This was a nice port with many nice shops right off the pier and more within walking distance. We took a taxi with our group to the Cozumel Country Club. It was a really beautiful day and the clubhouse was nice. My husband golfed and I was his caddy. I had to pay to ride, but it was understandable. My husband had fun golfing, but the condition of the course was less than we expected. The bunkers were full of rocks, basically, not sand. We were told beforehand that they weren’t filled with soft sand, but we didn’t expect rough gravel. We were in a foursome and the wife of the other couple fell in one of the bunkers and hurt her leg pretty bad. There was dirt and rocks ground into her knee. We went back to the clubhouse and they didn’t have much in the way of a first aid kit. She did the best she could to get it cleaned out and managed to play a few more holes, but had to go to infirmary on the boat because it was so torn up. I thought, for the expensive price we had to pay, that it wasn’t worth it. My husband also commented that if he had brought his clubs, which he didn’t, that he wouldn’t have used them on this course. Went back to the boat and changed into our suits to catch a quick bit of snorkeling on the shore. There really wasn’t a beach area, so we went to the LaPieda Hotel and paid 5.00 to go to their beach area for about an hour. We rented snorkel equipment (8.00 each) and stayed about an hour. The snorkeling wasn’t that great, but we did hear that it was better on some of the ship excursions. After another nap on the boat, we headed for dinner where I ordered my steak and it was overdone again. They brought me a new one and it was better. I finally realized that ‘medium’ means ‘well done’ in the Mardi Gras dining room, so I ordered ‘medium rare’ from then on!! The show tonight was the Passenger Talent Show and it was very cute and entertaining. Once again we enjoyed our midnight trip to the soft serve ice cream machine and although many people said that 24-hour pizza bar was good, we didn’t think so. I just didn’t care for this type of pizza.

DAY SIX:
Went to the early tour meeting for Belize. We had to get a sticker to correspond with the excursion we had planned; the hike/cave tubing. Waited to board the 30 minute tender to shore. Belize City is a very poor city, but interesting. We boarded our bus and immediately knew we had a great tour guide. His name was Sydney and he made the 45 minute air conditioned ride to the cave site very interesting and informative. Once there we were issued our tube, lifejacket and one headlight per couple. We were given a quick rundown of what to expect and started the hike. The scenery was pretty, but the hike was over quickly, about 25 minutes. We are avid hikers and were a bit disappointed that it was so short and not more of a challenge. We entered the river on our tubes and quickly floated into the large cave, well the only cave. It was neat, but once we were out, the remaining float time was only 10 minutes or so; 20 minutes total in the water. The water was cold, but pleasant. Back to the bus to change into dry clothes (I strongly recommend this, they let you keep your stuff on the bus) and on to the Cheers Bar for lunch. The lunch came with the excursion and they served chicken, rice/beans, cole slaw and limeaid. This was a fun experience as it was an open café type place, but the food was mediocre. Overall, this was a good excursion, but a bit over-rated, in our opinions. We were hoping for more hiking/tubing time and most of the entire excursion time was riding in the bus to get there and back. The tour guide made it interesting giving us tons of information about the country and we gave him a tip afterwards. We took the tender back. No nap today!! A nice dinner and a great show, Vegas style again. We waited in line to see and take pictures of the Midnight Buffet and food/ice sculptures. It was really cool, but we were too tired to wait to eat anything!!

DAY SEVEN:
Day at sea!! Slept in and tried to relax all day! Went to the debarkation meeting and then to the Lido deck. Enjoyed the nice weather all day. Great dinner and a neat show featuring an Equilibrist. He did amazing balancing segments. It was especially impressive that he did it the night the boat seemed to sway the most!! Another good comedian and we called it a night. Packed most everything except what we were wearing the next day.

DAY EIGHT:
Our debarkation was a bit slow so we hung out with the friends we’d made at dinner and waited for our red tag color to be called (about 1 ½ hours). We were able to find our luggage and get into a cab in only 5 minutes. Customs was painless. We were off the boat by 11:00 a.m.

Overall, I can say we had a wonderful time. We wish we’d saved more money. We wish we’d relaxed more on the boat. We wish we’d snorkeled more, but the time in port was too short and we felt rushed every time we left the boat. We’d like to take a cruise where they stay in the same port for two or more days!!

Feel free to email me with any specific questions you may have!