NCL Spirit 2-27-11
Background: I am a veteran of about 35 cruises on all the major cruise lines. Along for the cruise is my boyfriend Brian on his 4th cruise. Have sailed on NCL 5 times and this was my first time on the Spirit.
Pre-Cruise: We had joined the cruise critic roll call and enjoyed the pre-cruise banter and sharing of ideas for activities on and off ship. Our flight arrived about 3PM Saturday the day before sailing New Orleans time and we had booked on Priceline the hotel Renaissance Pere Marquette. ($95 + fees for our nite there) The hotel was a block off Canal and Bourbon St., very contemporary dEcor, comfortable and clean. Quick check in and off we were to hit the pre Mardi Gras parades and excitement in the city. A few blocks brought us to the first of several parades in town that weekend. Amazing coordination of the police with keeping crowd under control, managing street traffic and placing and removing miles of barricades. It was a thrill to be part of this celebration. We did get plenty of beads, a few mardi gras cups and viewed lots of marching bands, dance groups and watched the steady parade of floats on Canal St. Quite the party!! We walked down towards the waterfront, stopping at a mini mart to get some beers to enjoy on our journey. Very unusual to be able to openly drink alcohol in public on city streets!! Down to the waterfront we still had enough daylight to enjoy views of the Mississippi and see the mix of river traffic, ferries, a paddleboat and the port where we would board the Spirit the next day. Had a snack at the Crazy Lobster before making way towards the restaurant where we were meeting our cruise critic buddies for dinner at Mulates. Mulates is a well known cajun restaurant. Music and dancing available, We had a group of 12 or so enjoying dinner and sharing our backgrounds, cruise plans and having the first round of TOO MUCH FOOD for the week!
good location midship, small but cozy. Nice sized bathroom.