This was my first cruise ever (I am in my fifties). My good friend who is in her thirties asked me to go for a girls only cruise to get away from the daily grind (she has four kids and a husband that is away most of the time). I did my research, mostly on Cruise Critic, and did not really have any surprises.

New Orleans - stayed in the Harrah's Hotel where we had a complimentary room. Ate at the Asian Restaurant in Harrahs and had excellent sushi. Both of us have been in NOLA many, many times, so we didn't feel the need to venture our too far. For those seeing NOLA for the first time, there are many wonderful places to explore and the best food on the planet. Fulton Street by the hotel was decked out for Christmas with Christmas music and even fake snow. We sat outside briefly enjoying Christmas in New Orleans,and a few beers before heading for bed.

Embarkation - Easier than I ever imagined. After ordering a room service breakfast and gathering our things, we headed downstairs about 0945. By the time we got our car and loaded our suitcases, we were on our way by 1015. - The Erato street pier is about a mile from Harrahs, so it only took 5 minutes or so to get there. We missed the entrance to the parking garage and pulled into a drop off area. We let a porter go ahead and take our checked luggage. Tipped him a dollar a bag. We went back and headed into the parking garage. It was $56 for 4 days and you must pay before you go in. There is an attendant standing by to help. My friend used her credit card. We were directed to the 4th floor where we parked, made note of where we were parked in the cell phone, and took the elevator down to registration. I kid you not, we walked directly up to the desk and checked in, got our sail and sign card and had our first picture made in less than 10 minutes. We found a place to sit. The wait was about an hour or an hour and one half, since they are also debarking all the passengers from the previous cruise. Getting on the ship was also easy even though it involved standing in line a few minutes. Have your passport, sail and sign card, photo id at your fingertips. The only negative thing I have to say is when you get on the ship there is no one there to direct you or tell you anything - no map of the ship - nothing. Since both of us were newbies, we felt a little lost. Fortunately, I had spent a lot of time on CC and knew to go to the Lido deck. At about 1:45 we went down and found our stateroom, which was ready, but alas no luggage. Went and explored the ship, took a tour of Spa Carnival, etc. Read more