has anyone been on the carnival cruise ship inspiration to the caymen islands and cozumel ?

Question

I plan on going the end of aug. what did you like? not like? where did you book the cruise ?how much did you pay? what was the shopping like? any shore exc? weather? tell me everything

Answer 1

Yup done that!

The ship isn't bad, just a normal Carnival ship.

Sorry I don't remember how much a paid... that was several cruises ago. I did book through Cruises Inc. (a cruise agent, not a travel agent)

As for ports and shopping...

Cayman Island, I don't even get off the ship any more there. For first timers it's an O.K. port, but nothing great. If you like water activities, they have something to offer, but for shoppers.. the only deal is on the rum and the great rum cakes. They will push their black coral, but unless you want very high end (very $$$$) you won't be buying any.

Cozumel, this is a shopper's dream! The people are very friendly and warm, good food, and great shopping. I haven't been there since the hurricane, but I brother was there just afterwards, and said the were up an running. Cozumel has a history of getting hit by storms, pulling together and being back in business in record time.

Since they make their living off tourists including cruises, most of the restaurants are safe to eat at. Los Cinco Soles is one of my favorite places to shop. They aren't always the cheapest, but being located at the far end, makes a great place to finish up. Not to mention they have a great restaurant.

You can also buy black coral in Cozumel. Native indians are allowed to harvest it, as long as the use the old methods. It won't be the high end carved pieces you see in Grand Cayman, but still very nice and MUCH cheaper.

As for the weather... HOT! Dress light, drink lots of water. You can buy bottled water on the ship, but will pay much less from any of the local stores.

Answer 2

Been on the same cruise to the same places, you'll love Carnival! It really depends on whether you enjoy being around the people you go with. I went with my parents and 2 brothers, so it was a blast! In Cozumel I can't tell you more, please don't do anything on the mainland besides shop for awhile! We took a 2-hour bus ride to these Mayan ruins in Cozumel and it wasn't worth the money, and we could have been at the beautiful beaches there. Take some tanning oil and get a nice tan there. In Grand Cayman there are also some great beaches, so don't take them for granted. There are small boats there that take your group to Sting Ray City for a nice price, and you get to touch the stingrays...it's priceless! Aboard the Carnival cruise, there is so much to do, but there are few clocks in public places, so make sure you bring a watch when you go. I missed many of the scheduled events when I went because my cell phone was off for the whole trip (to avoid the extra cellular fees) and I had no watch. I hope you have a LOT of fun; cruises are expensive but they're very worth it if you prepare and kick back/have fun! -Aaron

Answer 3

Carnival isn't one of my favorite lines and I took the cruise shortly after the maiden voyage for the Inspiration. I've not been back on it since that trip. The ship is ten years old now, so it will likely not be quite as fancy as some of the newer ships. I would say from my first impression of the ship, it was an OK, pretty standard with Carnival. How it is more recently, it appears to be getting average to a little below average reviews.

So I guess really anything I can tell you about that particular cruise would be out of date. But, I will say that Carnival's rates are usually the lowest rates of the cruise lines. As far as where I booked, I used a travel agent. Not my current agent and not an agent specializing in cruises, but I still used an agent. My current agent would be much better for the job.

Aside from that, the Caymen Islands and Cozumel always make for a very nice vacation.

Here is a link to some reviews that will be more helpful to you since they are newer: http://cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=10

Answer 4

Your going during peak hurricane season. don't let that discourage you. my wife and i sailed Carnival's, Inspiration two years ago (aug 30- sept 9) we got stuck doing figure 8 in the middle of the gulf of mexico due to hurricane francis for four extra days. our cruise was only supposed to be five days. even though there was a hurricane on land, the weather was BEAUTIFUL at sea. 90+ degrees and no clouds. we paid about $400 for an inside cabin. cozumel has great shopping. i was disappointed with the caymans. nothing but banks, and i don't mean of a river, the financial institution kind. we walked a long way to find a beach and then had to pay to use it. this ship does not have enough hot tubs, so anytime we wanted to use it, we had to wait in line.

We prefer Royal Carribbean. the crowd is a little more mature, the food is better and ships are more upscale.

Answer 5

Remember that each ship is unique.

We were on the Valor on this itinerary in Dec for our honeymoon.

We loved the shore excursions since we don't gamble or drink....not ethical just cheap.

We loved Grand Cayman, we went swimming with the sting rays. It's cheap if you buy it on the pier. It's rather pricey and not nearly as much fun apparently if you go with Carnival.

The things we hated the most were the porting(forgotten the real name). Some of the ports had these silly boats which came out and picked you up off the boat and took you to shore since there was a sensitive ecosystem off the coast. The boats moved a LOT. My wife never got seasick when we were on the boat but twice on these little guys.

Our weather was wonderful but it wasn't Hurricane season either.

Shopping was OK...either very cheap or very expensive. There wasn't really much middle ground.