Picked this Cruise because 1) it is within driving distance of home and 2) it visited countries we haven't been to before. We love to travel and have lived in London, Hong Kong, and Auckland. Since returning to the US because of my wife's health, socialized medicine almost killed her, we have been cruising whenever possible.

We drove down from Memphis TN the day before and spent the evening looking at the French Quarter in New Orleans. We stayed at the Super-Dome Holiday Inn who kept our car for the length of the cruise at no additional cost. Sunday, after breakfast, we took the shuttle bus to the cruise port at 10:30 and were on board by 11:45 after a pleasant boarding process.

Unlike our previous cruises, there was no huge crowd clogging the decks or blocking access to the buffet. We were allowed to our cabins at 2:00 and discovered that while slightly smaller in square footage than on the Carnival Conquest, it seemed just as roomy. Read more