Cruise in Review

Although it would be easier to copy & paste my recap from Xanga over here, I prefer to write another cruise review instead. I did a play-by-play recap over there, but this post will be more critical. After taking two cruises in one year on two different cruise lines, and two VERY different ships, a compare/contrast & partial photoblog would be more fun to me.


June 1, 2008 - June 8, 2008
Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas
Miami, FL to San Juan, PR, St. Thomas USVI and St. Maarten

When it set sail in 2006, it was the largest cruise ship in the world at 160,000 tons. The thing can hold 3,600+ passengers, is 1,111 ft long, has 15 decks, a Ben & Jerry's, Johnny Rockets and two additional restaurants in addition to the main dining room and buffet grill. The Royal Promenade stretches through the middle of the ship like a city street, lined with bars, shops and restaurants. The decor - gorgeous. There is an ice skating rink and Flowrider surfing simulator, along with a rock climbing wall. And let's not forget my favorite part of the cruise: cruise director Richard Spacey, who had me even looking forward to the morning announcement just so I could hear what funny thing he'd say next. The rest of the staff was amazing, from our room steward Desmond, to our waitress Marvalyn, to the beverage waiter Junior, to the rest of the entertainment staff. The production shows were excellent, comedians funny, and there was always Richard. Freedom did have an unfair advantage, because it was a 7 day cruise, but still. Our stateroom had a large balcony, with a retractable divider between the one next to us, allowing us to connect our balcony with William and Rhonda's. The only issues I had with the cruise was the late karaoke times and the fact that my mom and her friends were early birds, leaving me alone on the ship most of the time.


Some other pics from the Freedom:

The fantastic Royal Promenade

The stage between the sports pool and main pool on Deck 11

Me and Richard Spacey, our amazing cruise director

The Arcadia Theater

So, that was my first Royal Caribbean experience. I told myself that I was an RC convert after that cruise. But I had this one yet to complete:


October 2 - October 6, 2008

Carnival Inspiration

Tampa, FL to Cozumel, Mexico

The Carnival Inspiration had its maiden voyage in 1996. The ship is 70,367 tons, is 855 ft long, and has a passenger capacity of 2,052. There are 10 decks. From land, any cruise ship will look large. Although the Freedom took my breath away, I was still able to appreciate the size of the Inspiration. My first Carnival cruise was on the Ecstasy, which I don't even think sails anymore and my second was on the Carnival Pride, which was pretty large. Since the RC cruise was so fresh in my mind, however, that was my point of comparison. So, bullet-by-bullet, here were the differences:

• Check-in: On RC, the check-in process - even for a regular stateroom - was swift and effective inside the terminal. Both cruise lines offered online check-in, but in the Carnival terminal, if you weren't VIP, you had to stand in a massive line that moved at a snail's pace. Thank the LORD we were VIPs.




• Aesthetics: You saw the Royal Promenade above, right? The Inspiration's grand atrium paled in comparison, and the decor was....well...take a look:

• The People: So, this is where I'll sound super-bougie. But the people on the Carnival ship were GHETTTTTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOO. You could TELL that this cruise was on sale, because Ray-Ray 'nem were out in full force. And folks weren't particularly friendly either. I don't know if it was because it was this side of the country or what, because I don't remember the Carnival Pride, which left out of LA, being that bad. Lil' Wayne lookalikes and burnt orange lobster people everywhere. The whole feel of the ship was drastically different than the Freedom. I saw fingerwaves and matching lime green outfits and booty claps in the dance club. *smh*



• Food: Perhaps this is TMI, but although the food was good on the Carnival cruise, we all spent the entire cruise constipated. All nine of us. Seriously. We weren't eating a lot of foolishness. Something just wasn't right.

• Production Shows: Royal Caribbean offered an amazing magician, three elaborate musical productions, the uber-hilarious "Love and Marriage" gameshow, and Richard Spacey at each one. Carnival gave us "Shout", an erratic musical revue with no real theme (how "Macarena" and "Joyful, Joyful" fit into the same show, I'll never know). They also offered "Fiesta Latina" aka "Latin Confusion" ("Day-O"? Really?). The cruise director was Risa, and wasn't very engaging and not really funny. We caught their version of the Love & Marriage gameshow on the ship tv channel, and at the end they humiliated the husbands by making them dance around the stage in boxers and suspenders. Only. *wtf*

• Shore Excursions: I'm giving it to Carnival on this one. RC didn't really have any excursions of interest, so we didn't purchase one in any of the three ports we visited. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to zip line and rappel in the mountains of Puerto Vallarta on the Pride, and in Cozumel three of my friends and I participated in the "Amazing Cozumel Race", which was unbelievably fun. We may have been stinky, sore and tired, but it was well worth the $81 we spent.



• Pool Decks: The Inspiration's pool was pitiful. We dubbed it the Baby Wading Pool, because in essence, that's what it was. And it was filled with saltwater, which...why? They did have a water park in the back with a twisty slide, which was fun. But no pool to soak or float in made it not so great. There were also two hot tubs, but the kids took them over. Both ships had "adults only" areas that are off-limits to folks under 21, and they were both veeeery relaxing. RC had "adults only" hot tubs that jetted out from the side of the ship, which totally made my life wonderful.

Inspiration's pool deck

When we completed the comment card, the final question was: would you cruise Carnival again. I actually checked "no". I think it's cool for a first time/second time cruise, or at least until you cruise another line and actually know better. Of my group of nine, I was the only person who had cruised before. And although they all said that they'd cruise again, a few of my girls said that they wouldn't do Carnival again. My friend Maya even said, "I don't think I'm a Carnival girl". Could it be due to the scattered foolishness throughout the ship? Or the fact that everyone in our cabin had sinus issues except me? Or perhaps we just have different tastes than what Carnival can offer. I do partially blame my mother's friend William for poisoning me against Carnival, but he's right....as much as I hate to admit it. I think the dancing chaser lights in the dining room sealed the deal for me. (lol)