My wife and I, late twenties, chose this cruise because her parents and 10 other people booked a group rate. We arrived in New Orleans two days early to stay in the French Quarter. We stayed at the Royal St. Charles which is a block west of the Quarter, no big complaints about it and reasonably priced. In New Orleans we ate at some touristy places-- Mr. B's bistro, Napoleon House, Cafe du Monde, Pat O'Brien's, Felix's. We walked around Bourbon Street for drinks, some pretty overpriced ($8 for weak Bacardi and Coke at Absinthe House). We also went to Harrah's casino which was pretty spacious for a non-Vegas casino.

Now, the cruise:

Embarking was a disaster. I assume the blame is both with the port and with Carnival. There was a tiny bottleneck for the entire capacity of the ship to pass through, followed by a maze of lines to the metal detectors. Finally check-in with slow (but sweet) retirees manning the registers. Probably 45 minutes to an hour of standing in line. Ah well. Read more