Arrival in NO and embarkation: We arrived in NO on the eve of the 6th of Jan. and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn two blocks off of Canal St. and convenient to the French Quarter. As it was playoff and BCS weekend, the area was hopping and it was fun to see the LSU players checking out the Quarter. Our Bourbon St. experience was limited as we had our 9 yr old DD with us. She did get one set of beads before we ran into too much debauchery. Had good beignets in the morning and headed for the ship around 11:00. Parked in the Fulton St. garage and were shuttled to the port from there. Great place to park! It was a bit of a madhouse at the terminal, but it did not take too long and we were on board by about 12:45. Found a table in the Windjammer after a couple of laps and had a great lunch. After some exploring, we were in our cabin by 1:30 and had our luggage before our My Time dining at 5:45.

The Ship and Personnel: Our last cruise was on the Carnival Holiday which was a much smaller and much less nice ship. The Voyager is gorgeous and big! I don't know that I would want to go much bigger i.e. Oasis or Allure, just because I was worn out walking from fore to aft all day and night as it was. The ship never seemed too crowded. Elevators were an issue at peak times, but as the week went on we figured out how to avoid the busiest ones. There were plenty of chairs poolside all the time and lines were not an issue. The ship does show a bit of wear in some areas, mainly in carpet and upholstery in the stateroom, but was immaculate and our attendant Kerone took excellent care of of us and was just a hard working, genuine and personable guy. Our waiters in the Magic Flute dining room were all friendly and professional and as with Kerone, all called us by name all the time. I was really impressed with just about the whole crew on the ship. There were smiles and an eagerness to help everywhere we went on board. Our DD had a great time at Adventure Ocean and the counselors there were super. She made a couple of BFFs and cried on the last day wishing that it would not end. She loved the pool and the sports deck and ice skating which she did twice. There was always something going on and the DW and I enjoyed a couple of the shows, bingo and some very minor casino action, but had the best time just relaxing poolside, making friends and experiencing the different bars (loved the Pig and Whistle) around the ship in the evening.

Food: In contrast to some other reviews that have been a bit tough on the food, IMHO everything served on board from the Windjammer to the MDR was plentiful, fresh, hot and tasty. If you don't like one dish, you always have the option for another. I do think that the MDR meals are somewhat less extravagant than they were on our first cruise on the Sovereign in '91, but overall, was a big improvement over Carnival. My DW's one complaint was that they never offered just good old fashioned chocolate cake for dessert, but there were good cookies at the Promenade Cafe! Read more