Day 8 New Orleans

Dave heads to the Starbucks that is located in our hotel for a cup of decaf and to purchase a New Orleans Starbucks mug to add to our growing collection :) I just make a cup of Starbucks coffee that is provided in the room in one of those little coffee makers.  Then we head off to walk to Cafe Du Monde for beignets!  It is located right across from Jackson Square in the lower part of the French Quarter so once again it is a good walk.  We could hop on a street car to get there but we don't want to wait for one and there is just so much to see along the way that we would rather walk anyway.
The line is not too bad at Cafe Du Monde and it moves fast.  When you are the next in line you just watch for a table to open up then go sit down, the servers eventually clear it and take your order.






Below is a tray of beignets ready for a server to take out.



Before we headed out we asked at the hotel's front desk if we could get a late check out since our flight is not until 7:00 PM, they are letting us have our room until 2:00 so we decide we better just wander around the area here before we head back to our hotel.  We walked around the French Market.




Then wander around the neighborhoods looking at the interesting architecture.







Loved the skeleton with mardi gras bead handing from it in the entry way of this house:


We do a little shopping for some food items to take home and I decide I have to try a Hurricane to go.  A Hurricane is a popular drink in New Orleans, basically a rum punch.  I don't think I have ever had one, it is still before noon but I decide it is okay because it has fruit juice in it! Kitty and Debbie you both would love this drink :)

Then a stop at Central Grocery to pick up a 1/2 of a muffuletta sandwich for lunch to take back to the hotel and eat, it is still too early for lunch. It was just as good if not better than I remembered it. The  photo of the sign was taken the first night we were here before the cruise.






We check out of our room and have a couple of hours to kill before we catch a cab to the airport.  We walk down Poydras Avenue to the River Walk shops and wandered through the mall along the waterfront.  Since we each only ate 1/4 of a sandwich (it is a big sandwich so 1/4 is adequate) we started feeling hungry so we stopped at Mothers for one last time and split a slice of pecan pie and got a huge oatmeal cookie to go for the flight home.  Headed back to the hotel and took a 36.00 dollar cab ride to the airport.  This is the published fare, expensive but it is a ways to the airport.
Who should we see sitting at a table in the food court by our gate but the same group of 4 people from our ship who were always playing Hand and Foot and guess what they were doing....playing Hand and Foot!  We said hi and asked them if they have ever stopped playing! They are on their way home to Iowa, bet they play all the way home on the plane somehow, pretty sure they will find a way!
Flights were all on time and actually arrived home 1 hour early due to a strong tail wind.
It was a great trip with lots of variety. So glad we cruised out of New Orleans, it gave us a new experience to cruise the Mississippi and we have been wanting to get back to New Orleans, AND we finally had success in getting to Grand Cayman!  Life is so good :)

Day 7 and New Orleans

This is what I saw when I woke up and stepped out on our balcony!  A beautiful sunrise on the Mississippi River, not everyday I get to see this :)
We have to be out of our room by 8:00 AM so the crew can have the rooms ready for the new group of passengers.  We go up to the buffet and bring back breakfast so we can enjoy the peaceful view from our balcony.
Disembarkation seemed to go as smooth as it can be expected, those carrying their own luggage off were starting to disembark at 6:45, since we were just checking into a hotel we didn't get off the ship until about 9:30.  The line was slow moving as there were only 4 customs agents on duty, we were told they come and go because they take breaks so sometimes there are more custom lines open.
We checked into the Hyatt Regency on Loyola and were able to go straight to our room!  It is a huge hotel and I wish I would have taken a picture of the glass elevator, it moved so fast we felt like we were on a amusement part ride, it took your stomach away when you looked out!

We were hungry early for some reason so decided to go ahead and walk to Mothers for lunch, arrived around 11:20 and there was a line already, but the line moved fast.  The set up was a little different than the last time we were here with the kids about 13 years ago.  They now take your order at the cash register, but you still better know what you want when you get up there! Then you take your receipt to a table where a server takes your receipt and then brings out your food.  Last time we were there one when our food was ready for us to pick up  one of the black ladies doing the cooking called out to our sons they better get up there and pick up the food for their mama, don't let her be doing it!   We decided this was one of our best meals in New Orleans this trip! (I am writing this the day after we arrived home... and am ashamed to see all the errors I made while typing this on my iPhone during the trip, yikes!)

The famous Debries Sandwich

Red Beans and Rice

After lunch we hopped on the St Charles Street car and purchases at 24 hour pass for $3.00 a piece. We got off of it at the Washington Street stop to explore the Garden District. 

Commanders Palace Restaurant is a famous restaurant owned by the Brennen family, they also own many other restaurants around New Orleans, proper attire including suit coat is required, we did not eat here but went inside to check it out and read the menu.

We then walked through the cemetery that is across the street from the restaurant.

Below is the house that was used in Benjamin Button, it was the nursing home.

This sign, along with a lot of other dog signs, was on the fence of a beautiful home in the Garden District.  We can relate to this!!!!!

We hopped back on the street car and rode it to Canal Street, from there we walked to the French Quarter.  This duo playing on Royal Street were very good, loved how this couple had obviously brought their own chairs for a front row seat!  A portion of Royal Street is blocked off to make it pedestrian only and has lots of cute shops, art galleries and antique stores.

I took this picture because this building has bubbles blowing off the balcony, hard to see from picture, it is across the street from the Gumbo Shop on Saint Peter Street.

We walked back to our hotel which is in the Central Business District for a rest then walked back to the French Quarter in search of some Creole Cuisine.  Went to Oceana because it was rated high on Yelp.  We both had a sampler, red beans and rice, crawfish etoufee, and gumbo.  We both liked the crawfish etoufee the best of the three.  Walked back to our hotel, we put more than a few miles on our feet today, we are tired!  We both decide we will skip a run in the morning because we know we will be doing a lot more walking, we love these walkable cities :) It has been an excellent day :)

Day 6 Sea Day

Woke up to a cloudy morning. Went for my last run on the promanade deck, we disembark tomorrow morning. Even though I got out to run before 7:00 there were more people walking today, think people are starting to worry about all the calories they have consumed! 

After a shower we headed to the dining room for breakfast. We shared a table and were seated at the very end so only visited with a couple of women who were traveling with a group, Rollin Owen out of Kentucky. The group is ran by Owens Funeral Home, a lady who is the grief  support counselor for the funeral home started the travel group for widows and widowers, what a great idea!

After breakfast we went back to our room and took our cards up to the Lido deck to play cards. There are two couples who play Hand And Foot every day all day long at a table in the shade on the lido deck, don't know how they do it! I wonder if they have even got off the ship in ports! After a few rounds, the sun came out so we grabbed a couple aft pool deck chairs and enjoyed a couple hours in the sun reading and visiting with a couple who just happened to sit by us the other day on deck and we have ran into a couple of times :)

We have enough sun and decide to give up out prime spot and head down to deck 5 for a BBQ that is set up on the promanade. This ship has a really wide spot with bar and tables on each side of the promanade along with hot tubs that are very popular. Well, the food looked and smelled better than it was. We felt bad wasting it but just not going to eat something that is not very good. We left and went back up to the lido for Indian food. The Indian good is probably the best food served on the ship, along with the warm melting chocolate cake! We went back to our room to put on tennis shoes so we could walk some laps on the promanade. Today I instead of a towel animal we got a heart at the end of our bed from our room steward :)

After walking we went back to our room to enjoy the sun on our balcony along with wine and reading.

We started noticing more cargo type boats then what we think are oil rigs, lots of them, we must be getting close to the Mississippi.

Sunset :)

Headed to dinner and had to wait for a while for a table  but we had great entertainment in the atrium to watch while waiting, Fun Force, the break dance/acrobatic troupe.

The dinner menu was not very interesting tonight, actually we have found the food to be pretty boring in the dining room. I think the problem for us is cruise ships have to cater to the tastes of the majority of passengers who I think like eating familiar food and chain restaurants so they know what they are getting. We have noticed steak and baked potatoes have been the most popular item people order at dinner, or else some of the other big meat item and Carnival does not skimp on the servings of meat, they are huge hunks and slabs! 

This was very good navy bean soup should have had two bowls!

And this was the most interesting item on the menu tonight...Panco crusted shrimp (just fried shrimp!) and served with curly  fries that looked and tasted just like Arby's Curley fries, not that that is bad but an odd item for the formal restaurant (menu did not specify what it came with!)

Of course we had to have warm chocolate melting cake for the last time,  it is so good :) I am going to go through withdrawal :(

I did have a very good glass of wine tonight GIFFT wine. 

After dinner we went to the comedy club

Then time to get packed up and suitcases put in the hallway before 11:00. 

We started back up the Mississippi River about 9:30 I think. It was fun to step out on our balcony and watch the cargo ships pass by and see  land and the lights on shore so close to the ship. 

It has been a fun cruise but I am not feeling sad to be getting off tomorrow, we have more experiences in New Orleans to have tomorrow!

Day 5 Cozumel

Woke up to a sunny morning. We put out our order last night for room service breakfast, such a treat on port days. Again it was about 15 minutes late. We don't arrive in Cozumel until 10:00. Dave decided to go for a run, I just walked  laps because I don't want to have to shower this morning, I will be snorkeling soon so no use showering before getting in the ocean!

There are already 4 ships in port before we arrive.

We dock  at Peurto Maya which is a carnival  built port and the farthest from town. There is a bit of a line to get off today, then we have to endure what we call "the cattle" at the pier. The design is horrible, thanks Carnival! You have to go through the entire length of shops to get out through a narrow isle way through all of the shops. Obviously the are hoping people will shop along the way, the few people shopping added to the congestion, most of us just wanted to get out of this mess! It was wall to wall turtle speed of people, Dave did mind himself and did not start mooing :) Princess Regal  passengers were trying to swim upstream against the crowd of Carnival Dream passengers, Princess obviously arrived at the prior much earlier than us. Then to top it off we had to go through an agriculture check, they had alerted passengers MANY times that you can't bring food off the ship particularly fruit. They had dogs sniffing bags and bins full of the confiscated fruit and pastries people tried to get off the ship. Some idiot in line said "it's just  Mexico what do they care" thankfully Dave held his tongue! Does this man really not know where his produce comes from and how detrimental disease would be to those crops! 

We caught a taxi to Money Bar where we enjoyed a few hours. It was a lovely spot less than 10 minute taxi ride from the pier and right on the water. Snorkel excursions take people here, we did it for the cost of a taxi ride and a couple of very good margaritas. The current was a bit strong, the excursions dropped people off in the water where they drift snorkeled and picked them up from "down stream", after I discover I had to work hard to swim back to where I started I walked up farther and also drift snorkeled. The water was so clear, blue and full of fish and coral, and not very many people so made for a great snorkeling.

And a small guacamole, don't know what a large would have looked like!

Their wifi was not working so after a few hours and some very good snorkeling we got a cab back to the ship to drop off our gear and change then got another cab into town. We had pesos and so we did some dealing with the taxi drivers! They want a lot considering the exchange rate right now, we were able to hold firm and using pesos got a better deal, still way more thanPuerto   Vallarta taxis! 

We wandered around the down town area the found a place for a really bad margarita but free wifi so Dave could check in with work. We did not even drink them, not wasting calories on Lime aid, we have Chocolate Melting Cake to take care of our calorie consumption on board later!

A children's dance class:

 We bought a Cozumel Starbucks mug to add to our collection then caught a taxi back. 

We sat on our balcony and watched some of the other ships sail away.

We were both tired do headed to dinner early, 6:00 and we were immediately seated. The bread is tasty but is the same white bread options each night, real butter though.

Yummy corn chowder:

I choose a bass dish that won some cooking award and it was excellent.

Dave had the every night offering of salmon.

Chocolate melting cake for me and almond chocolate cake for Dave and a side of butter pecan ice cream to share both were yummy :) 

The waiters did another song and dance number tonight which they all really got into!

We then headed to the theater for a game show, was boring so we left and were able to catch a show in the Comedy club, was PG but still hilarious! The first two shows of the night are always PG which is nice for families and those who do not want to hear foul language.

We checked out the casino but the craps table looked too boring for Dave, it has to have a fun vib for him to want to play. Called it a night, after a busy day in Cozumel we are tired :)