Background: We were on the Conquest on 1/9/2005. We are a family of two adults (mid 30's) and two children ages 4 and 2. We flew out of O'Hare International. We traveled with my parents and their best friends.
New Orleans: We enjoyed our time in New Orleans. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel which was very nice. The staff was great. They called our room after we had been there about a ½ hour and told us to have a nice visit and to hit the button on the phone if we needed anything. If you have the money (my DF used his travel points) it is a very nice place to stay. We had a FANTASTIC meal at the Gumbo Shop. I would recommend this to anyone. We had a party of 6 adults and 2 kids, so we were able to sample from one another and each dish was excellent. The gumbo itself is especially A+.
The hotel set up babysitting that night for our children and the sitter, Chendreka, was really nice. The kids loved her and I would recommend Dependable Kid Care to anyone. We adults went to K Paul's Louisiana Kitchen. WOW! Yummy, Yummy food. I personally had the Fillet and it was like butter. I had heard mixed reviews and am so glad we went. What a treat.