My DH and I, with another couple,( lets call them C and A),) all above 55, headed out of Atlanta and headed off to Slidell for the night before our cruise. We got a late start and stopped every two hours (smoke breaks-us-not them) and got into Slidell about 7 p.m.. We stayed at the Hampton Inn, nice enough, small out door pool, small gym, breakfast buffet (no meat). We had a smoking room, 101, our friends booked 102. They don't tell you when you book on line that all the smoking rooms are on the first floor. So if the smell of smoke bothers you, book upstairs.

C had done some dining research before we left and we headed to where he had found some good reviews, it was called Keith's. A hole in the wall sort of place, where the Po Boys were over a foot long, very tasty. And he had a small gumbo, which was quart sized. We went in search of a Walgreens for batteries for the cameras, and we found a Starbucks just around the corner. Full, caffeinated and happy with our Walgreens purchases, we headed back to the hotel. Did I mention that from Mobile to Slidell, it was foggy, rainy, and it continued all through the night-but when it was time to leave and head to the ship, it started clearing up.

We left Slidell at 9:45, and got to port at 10:30, we were on board at 11:15. We had FTTF, and C and A had priority plus FTTF. But they were new to FTTF and didn't believe that they could just open the door and leave their stuff in the cabin, so they toted all their stuff around. We on the other hand, knew that while the doors were closed, we were allowed to go in to our cabin, we left our stuff off, and found them on the Lido deck, all of their bags with them. I told them to just go to their cabin, which they did. Not knowing all the ins and outs of FTTF, they believe it was not worth it. But if you are carrying a whole lot of stuff, Priority gets you on early, but not to your cabin early. Read more