Taking the 3 or 4 day out of Long Beach on the Carnival Inspiration?
We just did it on SPRING BREAK 2019- and it was a win!
Here are my tidbits:
Do's
1) Kids club is pretty fabulous- I mean- you drop off your kids whenever you want- they take them and don't even give you a pager/phone like most ships. If your kid is wanting to leave, they do NOT call you! If your kid is whiney- they deal with it! If something major happens- they call stateroom & start to look for you. Unlike Disney where they can hunt you down any second with that pager!
NOTE: The little little kids - parents do get a pager. They are tiny tots- I get that. But remember, my kids are almost 5 and 9; they are just fine without me for a few hours.
My kids did arts & crafts, had movie time, played a ton of games... and liked it! They had just as much fun as a Disney Cruise! (it all comes down to the programming).
(Except 1 older kid called my oldest "stupid"- but hey- life is hard. Suck it up..move on).
2) Alchemy Bar: do you like hand crafted drinks? Martini's? BEST bar on the ship! $10.95 per drink... (ALL Carnival ships have this bar). This leads me to.....
3) Get the drink package! Pre-buy it for $52 a day per person. (Yes, you and your adult guest have to both buy it, ahem... they know what you wanted to do {share}).
Let me break this down for you:
THE DRINK PACKAGE IS WORTH IT IF YOU DRINK COFFEE, BOTTLES OF WATER, AND HARD ALCOHOL. (Beer drinkers, I am not sure this is for you)
4) Get to the ship at 10:45am, no matter what time they had you down for. The lady in charge of the line told me they will board EVERYONE no matter what time they arrive.
5) Build-a-Bear- Yes... this will cost you approx $50 a bear... but keep in mind- I was happy with them going to Kids Club and allowing me and hubby to drink at the Alchemy Bar with my bartender Joanna. For my kids--- allow me to make their trip special with an expensive Build-a-Bear. No problem! I budgeted $100 for that "excursion".
They set up a make-shift shop in the huge theater. You pull a number and go in groups of 4. Kids pick a bear..."or penguin, or cat, or..." and then the outfit, etc. You get the heart and they stuff it like normal. Clothing options are limited... but honestly- it doesn't matter. The best part: instead of the BOX, they get a cinch backpack where the "bear" fits inside the backpack with arm holes on the side so the bear's head and arms stick out of the cinch sack (sorry, no photo). This was perfect for the kids to carry around their new "babies" the rest of the cruise.
6) Best Burger at Sea: Guy's Burger Joint.... Yes, we had burgers everyday for lunch, don't judge! The line was always long at 11:55 just before opening time.
I suggest not:
1) The anytime dining: this means you eat when you want- BUT note: you may have a wait. Which is why you get there at 5:35 in line for the 5:45 opening. The line was long by 6pm- and those people got "pagers" to come back. So with this in mind- get the set 6:15pm dining! If you know you eat dinner around 6pm every night- just do the "set time" to eat. You know your table is reserved, no rush. We were like crazy's making sure we were in line no later than 5:50pm, and waiting with kids in tow... um, not cool.
2) Get off the boat. Ok, this is where everyone will not agree with me. But seriously- is there anything in Ensenada I HAVE to see?! NO! NO! In fact, while everyone was off the boat, we enjoyed the boat in PEACE! I paid for the boat, I wanted to enjoy the boat! **Now Alaska- that is another story! I am just not an Ensenada type of gal I guess. My father was born in Mexico, so... nothing new to see there.
3) Pack too much! You live in yoga pants, shorts, tennis shoes, flip flops, and maybe a nicer outfit for dinner. NO one cares... Everyone has absolutely NO JUDGEMENT! Now, if you are big photo person, the cameras are PLENTY! You can take formal photos. Please do so. We did not buy 1 pic.... we were there to relax, drink & build some bears.
4) Not tip: Really - these people make hardly anything. Tip them... all, all the time.
That is all I have for you! It is a quick 4 nights.. but a GREAT recharge, and for the price.... amazing!
We will do it again :)
-Auggie
We just did it on SPRING BREAK 2019- and it was a win!
Here are my tidbits:
Do's
1) Kids club is pretty fabulous- I mean- you drop off your kids whenever you want- they take them and don't even give you a pager/phone like most ships. If your kid is wanting to leave, they do NOT call you! If your kid is whiney- they deal with it! If something major happens- they call stateroom & start to look for you. Unlike Disney where they can hunt you down any second with that pager!
NOTE: The little little kids - parents do get a pager. They are tiny tots- I get that. But remember, my kids are almost 5 and 9; they are just fine without me for a few hours.
My kids did arts & crafts, had movie time, played a ton of games... and liked it! They had just as much fun as a Disney Cruise! (it all comes down to the programming).
(Except 1 older kid called my oldest "stupid"- but hey- life is hard. Suck it up..move on).
2) Alchemy Bar: do you like hand crafted drinks? Martini's? BEST bar on the ship! $10.95 per drink... (ALL Carnival ships have this bar). This leads me to.....
3) Get the drink package! Pre-buy it for $52 a day per person. (Yes, you and your adult guest have to both buy it, ahem... they know what you wanted to do {share}).
Let me break this down for you:
- 8am: Specialty Coffee (Espresso drink)
- 9am: Mimosa
- 10 am: Bloody Mary
- 11am: Bottle of water
- 1pm-4pm: 2-3 drinks from the rum bar.. Mojitos are amazing & My kid wanted a soda (OK this was not legal, what whatev--- let's say I wanted a soda). + more bottles of water!
- 5:45pm: Dinner- order a wine/drink
- 8pm-midnight: Alchemy Bar 2-3 drinks
THE DRINK PACKAGE IS WORTH IT IF YOU DRINK COFFEE, BOTTLES OF WATER, AND HARD ALCOHOL. (Beer drinkers, I am not sure this is for you)
4) Get to the ship at 10:45am, no matter what time they had you down for. The lady in charge of the line told me they will board EVERYONE no matter what time they arrive.
5) Build-a-Bear- Yes... this will cost you approx $50 a bear... but keep in mind- I was happy with them going to Kids Club and allowing me and hubby to drink at the Alchemy Bar with my bartender Joanna. For my kids--- allow me to make their trip special with an expensive Build-a-Bear. No problem! I budgeted $100 for that "excursion".
They set up a make-shift shop in the huge theater. You pull a number and go in groups of 4. Kids pick a bear..."or penguin, or cat, or..." and then the outfit, etc. You get the heart and they stuff it like normal. Clothing options are limited... but honestly- it doesn't matter. The best part: instead of the BOX, they get a cinch backpack where the "bear" fits inside the backpack with arm holes on the side so the bear's head and arms stick out of the cinch sack (sorry, no photo). This was perfect for the kids to carry around their new "babies" the rest of the cruise.
6) Best Burger at Sea: Guy's Burger Joint.... Yes, we had burgers everyday for lunch, don't judge! The line was always long at 11:55 just before opening time.
I suggest not:
1) The anytime dining: this means you eat when you want- BUT note: you may have a wait. Which is why you get there at 5:35 in line for the 5:45 opening. The line was long by 6pm- and those people got "pagers" to come back. So with this in mind- get the set 6:15pm dining! If you know you eat dinner around 6pm every night- just do the "set time" to eat. You know your table is reserved, no rush. We were like crazy's making sure we were in line no later than 5:50pm, and waiting with kids in tow... um, not cool.
2) Get off the boat. Ok, this is where everyone will not agree with me. But seriously- is there anything in Ensenada I HAVE to see?! NO! NO! In fact, while everyone was off the boat, we enjoyed the boat in PEACE! I paid for the boat, I wanted to enjoy the boat! **Now Alaska- that is another story! I am just not an Ensenada type of gal I guess. My father was born in Mexico, so... nothing new to see there.
3) Pack too much! You live in yoga pants, shorts, tennis shoes, flip flops, and maybe a nicer outfit for dinner. NO one cares... Everyone has absolutely NO JUDGEMENT! Now, if you are big photo person, the cameras are PLENTY! You can take formal photos. Please do so. We did not buy 1 pic.... we were there to relax, drink & build some bears.
4) Not tip: Really - these people make hardly anything. Tip them... all, all the time.
That is all I have for you! It is a quick 4 nights.. but a GREAT recharge, and for the price.... amazing!
We will do it again :)
-Auggie
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