7 day honeymoon on the Inspiration - Have your money clip ready!
Written: Jan 19 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Variety of destinations, the food, courteous wait staff
Cons: Constant money pandering
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| ziprz's Full Review: Carnival Inspiration |
My wife and I took a 7 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean on the Carnival Inspiration. Of course the point of a honeymoon is to be with your honey, so that part was great. Otherwise though, we got the feeling that paying $3,500 for the right to step on board the ship wasn't good enough for them.
There was a pay-too-much-per-snapshot photographer at the gang plank when we stepped on board the ship in San Juan coaxing us to strike a pose. Every publication, announcement, event, and activity thereafter seemed to be a thinly veiled plan to open up your wallet and dump out $20-100. Come on down to the casino, come to the art auction, there's a sale at the gift shop, and on and on. All of this panhandling is ridiculous when you consider that this is the last thing you need after coming back from an expensive shore excursion. The locals can smell the money ship coming ashore long before you arrive, and greet you with their own brand of "Hey Mon" begging.
Now all is not wrong with Carnival Cruises, or the Inspiration. There were maybe 80 other honeymooning couples. We were put at a dinner table with 4 other couples who were on their honeymoon. This was great as we were able to hook up at various times throughout the trip and share experiences, shop together, etc. The meals were definitely the highlight of every night. The wait staff was particularly entertaining and pleasant. We left the ship wishing they could come home with us.
The Southern Caribbean was beautiful and it was in the middle of July that we went. Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Thomas were all wonderful. There were some less desirable islands like Guadeloupe, and Santo Domingo, but you win some and lose some.
We were "rookie cruisers" and were really not prepared to make the most of the experience. It took us 2 days to get our sea legs. Sleeping on a rocking ship was hard to get used to, but when we did, we slept an awful lot. It was tiring going ashore at 8am and staying up for the midnight buffet. Make sure you bring a lot of Tylenol.
For all you honeymooners out there I would recommend picking a nice Caribbean resort for your honeymoon instead of a cruise. I've heard the Cayman Islands are nice. You get more of an in depth view of one particular place and it will definitely be more relaxing. You'll also have a place to return to for your 25th anniversary.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
ziprz
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Member: Kris Rzepkowski
Location: Naperville, IL
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 8 members
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