Carnival’s Inspiration: More Glitter

This weekend, Carnival Cruise Line’s newest superliner, the 70,000-ton Inspiration, visits two California ports, marking the first time one of the Fantasy-class ships has come to the West Coast.

Like its predecessors, the sixth in the series of glittering vessels glows with neon and twinkles with fiber optic rainbows, and wows fun-minded passengers with a soaring seven-deck atrium and glass elevators.

The first Carnival superliner, Fantasy, debuted in 1990, followed by Ecstasy in 1991, Sensation in 1993, Fascination in 1994 and Imagination in 1995. All were designed by a playful and imaginative Miami-based architect named Joe Farcus, noted in the past for creating lounges that replicate Egyptian tombs, the stage set from “Cats” and a room from “Gone With the Wind,” complete with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh mannequins in period costume standing by the fireplace.

While it shares the same deck plan as its sister ships, the Inspiration has an all-new decor, saluting the arts with the wood-paneled Shakespeare Library, Rhapsody in Blue piano bar, Chopin Grand Bar, Cafe des Artistes coffee bar and an avant-garde Cubist-style bar.

A rock-and-roll dance club decorated with fiber optic electric guitars turns every dancer into a TV star with camera coverage of the action beamed to monitors around the room and suspended from the ceiling.

Several of the lounges emphasize special lighting effects, including a display of hundreds of electric candles in the Candlelight Lounge, where midnight cabaret shows are held, and a halogen light-and-shadow play in the Rhapsody in Blue piano bar, which also features a revolving piano and a ceiling of gently rippling fabric panels.

Fortunately, the passenger cabins aboard are comfortable and quietly understated, providing a respite from the ship’s sound-and-light show. The most lavish accommodations are 28 suites with private verandas and separate sitting rooms, a relative bargain at $2,339 to $2,439 per person, double occupancy, for a seven-day cruise including air fare.

Demi-suites, with sitting area and private veranda, cost from $2,139 to $2,239 per person, double occupancy, including air fare. Standard outside doubles are $1,659 to $1,859, and the lowest-priced inside cabins with upper and lower berths cost $1,399 per person, double occupancy.

Other features familiar from previous superliners include the 12,000-square-foot Nautica Spa, an outdoor jogging deck, and a grill with pizzeria.

But spas and casinos are not all that’s big at Carnival. The line’s Carnival Destiny, at 101,000 tons the largest cruise ship ever built, will debut in November in Miami, but will not be seen on the West Coast because it’s too wide to go through the Panama Canal.

After the Inspiration, two more superliners in the Fantasy class are scheduled to be delivered in 1998, giving the line a total of 13 ships.

The Inspiration’s arrival in Los Angeles--scheduled to dock April 6--terminates a 15-day Panama Canal cruise from Miami. The vessel will return to the Caribbean with a second Panama Canal cruise leaving Saturday from San Francisco and next Sunday from Los Angeles, arriving in its home port of San Juan April 28. Fares range from $2,549 to $3,699 per person, double occupancy, including air fare. Passengers from Los Angeles or San Francisco can deduct $125 per person from the price and will still receive return air fare to California.

Starting April 28, the Inspiration will make year-round seven-day sailings from San Juan every Sunday, calling in St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Dominica, Barbados and Martinique.

For a free color brochure, see a travel agent or call Carnival at (800) 327-9501.

Slater and Basch travel as guests of the cruise lines. Cruise Views appears the first and third week of every month.