Dec 23 2011 Cruise Notes from Mary

Cruise Notes from Mary
Mary Engram, CTA/MCC Travel Consultant
December 23, 2011

Happy Friday Everyone

Celebrity ship tours take passengers behind the scenes
Celebrity Cruises launched onboard tours designed to give passengers an inside look at cruise ship operations. The Celebrity Inside Access program includes two tours, the "See How It’s Done Tour" ($150 per person) and the "Bridge Sail Away Experience ($75 per person)," both of which feature areas of the ship that are typically off-limits to passengers.

"The See How It’s Done Tour" brings guests to the bridge, mooring deck, engine control room and the main dining room galley. The tour is followed by a wine-paired lunch hosted by an officer in the main dining room.

"The Bridge Sail Away Experience" enables participants to be on the bridge as the ship leaves port. Guests are given a tour of the bridge and may take photos with the ship’s captain. This program begins 30 minutes before departure and ends 30 minutes after departure.

The Celebrity Inside Access program is available on all ships and may be purchased onboard

Trip Report of Carnival Inspiration
Normally I would write my own review but a fellow travel agent was also on this cruise and wrote a review. With the exception that we were in oceanview cabin U7, I agree with everything my friend has to say. This review is compliments of my friend Jean and I hope you enjoy it.

We’re just off Inspiration’s first cruise out of Long Beach, a 2-night getaway. She came to us to replace the Paradise, who sailed to Tampa in late November. I think that, as much as we enjoyed Paradise, we will enjoy Inspiration more. She’s had some work done to upgrade her and overall has a better vibe, for want of a better way to describe it – the crew was more upbeat and friendly, service (other than in the MDR) was superior to Paradise and we found the ship to be more attractive physically. If only they could make the chairs in the various areas along the Promenade more comfortable…

Embarkation was a mess. On Wednesday, we got a voice mail from Carnival saying that the ship would be arriving late in Long Beach, at 10:30. We were advised not to come to the pier until 2:00 because there would be no place to sit. On Thursday, we each received an email as well.

We took their advice and arrived at the pier around 2:30. From the look of the crowd waiting outside the terminal, we were close to the last passengers to arrive! Fortunately we had booked a suite so were able to use the VIP check in outside the terminal. Just as we went in, they called for VIP boarding, so lots of seats opened up. It took about 30 minutes for us to get checked in. Then we went through security in about 5 minutes and were able to board the ship directly. From arrival to boarding was about an hour, by far the longest we’ve experienced in 9 cruises from Long Beach, but nothing compared to some of the people who weren’t as fortunate as we were to have the VIP boarding. Some people we spoke with waited 3 hours to check in and board (I don’t know what time they arrived at the pier, though).

Because of the late arrival and boarding, muster drill was over an hour late, and it was the fastest one ever. The CD (Stephanie) made a lot of the announcements (don’t throw stuff overboard, etc.) prior to the drill, so the actual drill consisted of little more than being shown how to put on life jackets. We departed Long Beach about 6:30, as I recall. The fixed dinner seatings were delayed, but we didn’t really see many grumpy faces, so it all seems to have worked out.

Our cabin was V-30, an obstructed view suite on Verandah Deck (11). We were quite happy with it – the obstruction was minimal (most of the OB have lifeboats directly in front of them) and it was a comfortable layout, although the vanity could have used a few more drawers (there were 4 small ones). And there could have been more light in the entry hall – it was tough to see into the closet or safe (which was in the closet). Mark, our cabin steward, was great. We didn't have any special requests, so we didn't see much of him, but he was quick, thorough and pleasant.

We found ourselves spending most of our cocktail time in the Chopin Bar, just outside the smaller show lounge (I still can’t remember all the venue names). Svitlana from Ukraine made terrific martinis and was very friendly and fun to talk to. The TVs were tuned to the Sunday NFL games, which resulted in lots of hooting and hollering yesterday.

We stuck our heads into the shows, but weren’t motivated to find seats. One was Shout, which played on Paradise. The other was a Latin show. The singers were a bit pitchy and the dancers not well coordinated with each other. We skipped the comedy shows because our timing was bad. The casino was mean to both of us. One lucky passenger won the BMW on the slot machines.

We spent the one full day in Ensenada –we had our usual massages and lunch at Pueblo Café. Although several crewmembers told us that they hadn’t gotten any information about Ensenada, there were close to 20 of them at Pueblo, so word has gotten out about that venue, anyway. We brought back some flyers for the day spa that we like and passed them out to the crew.

Dining service was uneven – we had Your Time Dining, and there weren’t very many tables for 2 (Paradise had lots of them). We were able to get our own table both nights. Francisco, our waiter on the first night, was superb. He made good recommendations, provided the wine service and was friendly without seeming to want to be our new best friend. Anhuit, our waiter on the second night, had 5 tables seated in his section at once, and his assistant was busy setting up tables, so he was overwhelmed at first. He recovered nicely. We did send back a bottle of wine that had gone bad – the maitre d’ tried to convince me that the brown color was normal and that I was imagining the vinegar finish. But he did take back the bottle and took the charge off our account.

The food was good, not great, with a couple of notable exceptions: Don had a terrific gazpacho on the first night and I quite liked the pumpkin soup on the second night. The food was never quite hot, as it took quite awhile it being brought out from the kitchen and actually served to us. Breakfast was very good, food and service. We never made it to the Lido. The sushi stand on the promenade was pretty good, better than Paradise IMO.

Debarkation couldn’t have been easier. Verandah Deck had the first call after the priority (VIP only extended to embarkation), and they called us at 7:30, 45 minutes ahead of schedule, and 15 minutes before we were ready. Apparently nobody else was ready, either – there was no line at the gangway and we were in our car 10 minutes after leaving our cabin. It would have been sooner, but we forgot where we parked, LOL.

Overall, we are quite pleased with the new Carnival offering and are looking forward to a “real” cruise with a sea day in February. We still miss the Monarch, but Inspiration comes a lot closer to the mark than Paradise, so I think we'll be fine


Thought for the Month
Wishing you all a happy and blessed holiday season.

Wishing you a great weekend
Mary Engram, Your Personal Travel Consultant