My husband, my three year old daughter, and I were on the 4/3 sailing of the Norwegian Dawn from New Orleans through the Western Caribbean. We are both teachers in Georgia and this was our school’s Spring Break. We went on our first cruise together in July 2011 on the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. This was our second one together and our first with kids!

We drove from Atlanta to New Orleans on the Saturday before the cruise. What should’ve been about a 7 hour drive turned in to 10 because, you know, three year olds! We finally got in to New Orleans late Saturday evening and checked in to the Holiday Inn Superdome downtown. It was much nicer than I expected. I had purchased a park and stay package for a quite reasonable rate, so my expectations were pretty low. I was pleasantly surprised!

We walked around the French Quarter looking for a restaurant named Deanie’s that the concierge had recommended, but there was a two hour wait. We walked a little more and found a little restaurant called Daisy Dukes. It was really good. I had the jambalaya and Phil had the sampler. Bonus: they serve breakfast 24 hours, so we were able to get pancakes for Olivia! It was really late when we finished eating, so we headed back to the hotel. Read more