New Years Tradition 3rd Time Still A Charm

Item: Carnival Inspiration
Rating: 4.6
Author: Jordanfan23

Carnival Inspiration Cruise Review to Mexico

Jordanfan23

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 61

Overall rating:

4.6 out of 5

4 Night Catalina & Baja Mexico (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 30, 2019

Ship: Carnival Inspiration

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: U164

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

This is the third year in a row of us doing this New Year’s Eve cruise with three other families. It is to me just the best way to spend New Years. Families or couples or single people. All of the fun is planned for you. You just decide if you want to participate. The New Year’s Eve party is so much fun. The night club after party is awesome. I can’t say enough how much we love the cruise. We have teenage kids that have full autonomy for a week and they don’t abuse it. They have friends on the cruise they have met from last years cruise and they keep in touch. They’ve made some great friendships. We look forward to it all year and will continue until the family says they are bored. Will definitely look to do more excursions in Mexico.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

So fast arrived 30 mins earlier than scheduled time and was 30 mins faster to the fun

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Guys Burgers always gets a special shout out for being the best burgers ever! I only ate at the buffet once for main foods and it was solid. However the desserts at the buffet this trip were amazing! The confetti and peanut butter cakes were standouts!

Guy's Burger Joint

5 out of 5

Simply the best

Alchemy Bar

5 out of 5

Awesome specialty cocktails.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

I’ve done activities before but for the first time made my way into the gym. It was a great gym with nice amenities. Open with flexible hours you can always find some time to get in. Going to the gym for the first time meant I walked through the spa area which seemed really nice too. Next time I’ll take time for the sauna to sweat out some the damage I do to my body with the cheers package.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

The shows and all the entertainment was good. The motor city review was the same as last years cruise but some new performers made it more tolerable as they didn’t butcher the songs as bad as last year.

Children's Programs

Our kids program was them walking around with their friends for a week straight independently.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

This is usually a 5 star rating. All the ships personnel is very nice attentive and the way they remember names is amazing. Our room steward was great. The docking of one star was due to our dining room waitstaff. The first night we noticed the staff was not very attentive. They were slow with bringing everything. It was kind of like they didn’t care. The second night which was New Year’s Eve it came to a head and they were flat out terrible. Their service was super slow with everything. The food came cold. The drinks came watered down. The food sometimes didn’t come it was a miserable experience. One of the people in our party of 14 talked to the dining room host. The next two nights we got great service from the same staff and were told by the staff that he had been told by his boss that he was told he had not been serving us properly. They were much better but 2 out of 4 meals were terrible. So bad I don’t even remember their names. When I remember our waitress from three cruises ago because Sugianti is AMAZING.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Layout is great. Easy to navigate. Everything was clean and always being cleaned. I am always impressed with how well they keep the ship clean with so many drunk people stumbling around in the common bathrooms.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

We travel as a family of four 2+ 15 & 12. We have learned to utilize the space most efficiently we go with two twin beds, one pull down and roller. It sets up in a U in the room and allows for maximum space. The adults don’t get to sleep together but for the space in the room it’s a small sacrifice.

Ship tip

Bring an outlet strip there’s only one plug in the room. Bring an extension cord to get easy access across the room.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ensenada, Mexico

5 out of 5

Been there three times before and usually just go into town and walk around. This time we did the wine tour. Who knew they had wine tasting in Mexico. It was about a four hour excursion only $50 pp through the ship. Could even be done for less maybe but at this price it was well worth it! Visited two wineries. Six tastings one bottle to take home. Free tequila tasting at one with some food also. Drive through such beautiful parts of Mexico that you just can’t imagine are there.

Thumbs Up 2

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

For the first time we carried our luggage off. Our floor was one of the first three called and we were off the ship in five minutes through customs in two mins. In our car in 10 mins. Great experience.