The cruise started with me driving from the Nashville area to the boot heel of Missouri to pick up my parents. I left on a Saturday afternoon to drive there and spent the night. I went the my mom's clothes to see how many too many she had packed. She has not been too bad but we moved a few things into my suitcase and were ready for bed. We vowed to leave for New Orleans by 7:00 am and we were on track until dad could not find his keys. He finally decided to use his spare and they had a spare house key as well.

The trip went well on the way to New Orleans. We made a mandatory stop at Cracker Barrel on the way down.

The over night stay was booked at the Ramada Inn in Metarie. This hotel was very well rated and did not disappoint us. They also have free cruise parking with a shuttle to the ship, but you have to taxi back to the hotel. The cab is supposed to be about $33-35 but our driver charged $40 so he got no tip since he added it in. Read more