About us: 30s couple, no kids, traveling with five others. We like to balance quiet mornings with fun afternoons and evenings. We love adventurous food, but also like flavorful, well excecuted comfort food. How we are treated is the most imporant part of cruising. Good service can make up for some shortcomings.
Pre-Cruise: Stayed at the Country Inn and Suites on Magazine Street. Nice hotel. Staff were courteous and kind. Skipped the free breakfast and ate at The Ruby Slipper both mornings-excellent food,coffee and service. Easy walk to the Quarter. Used the Riverfront Streetcar line to get around when not in the mood to walk anymore. Did a cocktail tour of the city through a Groupon deal. Didn't love it. Watched football at Huck Finn's-lots of tvs on the edge of the Quarter.
Embarkation: Arrived around 11:00 (later than I'd hoped). However, we quickly got through check in (less than 15 minutes) and got a higher priority boarding number than those not with Latitudes. Embarkation was delayed more than usual. I think we didn't start non-suite/VIP boarding until around 12:30. I've read this was due to some guests vomiting in public rooms upon disembarkation and needing to clean and santize more than usual. Lots of staff milling the waiting area to answer questions.
9593 is right next to a room steward area where they roll out carts in the morning-very noisy starting at about 6:30 a.m.