My mother and I booked this as a pack and go, which meant the great price of $199 each and only about a month before we left. I am from north Louisiana, so we made the 6 hour drive the day before and stayed at the Clarion Grand Boutique in the Garden District, which was very nice.

We arrived at the pier about 10:00 Monday morning and we were sitting on the Lido deck eating lunch by noon. We carried all of our luggage, so there was no reason to keep going back and forth to your room to see if your luggage had arrived. We were in our room by 1:30 and set off exploring. The ship was very easy to get around.

We had main dining in the Celebration Dining Room at a table for 10 people. There were 6 women and 4 men from all over the United States, which made for an interesting and fun dinner. I made 4 of the 5 nights, and yes, I had the warm chocolate melting cake each night. It was sooooo good!!!! One of the guys from New York loved lobster and he had 4 on the formal night, which was the second night of the cruise. Nobody cares if you order more than one entree or dessert. (Wish I could of had room for 2 of the chocolate cakes each night!!!) I got a piece of carrot cake at the Bistro for $2.25, and it was so huge that I could only eat half of it. I had to put the other half up to eat later. My mother got the strawberry cheesecake and she said that it was wonderful also. Read more