This was our 6th cruise, 3rd on Carnival with another 3 on Royal Caribbean. We booked due to the great price we found and the fact that we had never been to New Orleans so it was a great chance to visit there too. We booked an inside room to keep cost down (we have previously stayed in balcony and window rooms as well) We drove from Michigan stopping in Nashville on the way. We met my parents in New Orleans and they were joining us on the cruise.

We arrived in New Orleans the day prior. Weather was nice and made for great walking around weather. Our hotel was Holiday Inn in French Quarter. We had no complaints about the hotel, it was easy to find with our GPS and they have onsite parking for $24 per night. We visited the much recommended Cafe du Monde and Im almost embarrassed to say that I didnt see what the big deal was. We waited in line almost 45 minutes to get hot chocolate that was good but not out of this world or anything and the famous beignets seemed pretty much like elephant ears/funnel cake from the carnival. Im not saying it was bad, they were fresh and hot and not horrible or anything, I just didnt get the hype and it wasnt what I expected. We had lunch at Bubba Gumps and enjoyed our day in New Orleans. Bourbon Street is certainly interesting, not sure its a place I would bring my kids back to visit. Lots of gift shops and typical tourist type stores. The buildings were all amazing and very interesting to look at. It was hard to image this city was underwater just a few years ago. The city is bigger than we imagined but once outside the city, there isnt much at all to do/see.

Embarkation was very easy. We arrived at the port very early with the intention of parking and then walking to find somewhere to eat breakfast. So we arrived around 9:30am and were the only ones arriving at that time. Paid $80 to park. A porter took our luggage from us right in the parking structure. We were told they had restaurants and things in the building next door which is the River Walk. However this is more of a shopping complex and nothing was open until at least 10am and all the food court places serve only lunch. So we really didnt get breakfast but that was OK because we were on the ship in no time. We checked in around 10:15am, no lines to speak of. Every staff member we encountered here was very friendly and nice. We were assigned zone 2. We were on the ship eating lunch around 11:30. Very easy and painless embarkation. Read more