New Orleans, October 4-11, 2022

We arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA) on Tuesday, October 4th.  We were staying in the French Quarter, our first 3 days at The Quarter House which was an RCI property.  Once we got checked I. We went to our room on the 5th floor.  The room was small, and the only window was at the end of a long hall and looked out at the building behind us.  But the room had been updated, the bathroom was nice, and the queen size bed was comfortable.

We settled in then decided to look around. We were on Chartres and Bienville, which as two blocks from Bourbon Street so we decided to walk over to Bourbon Street.  First off, right to the left when we left our hotel was a couple seedy bars. The sidewalks were in terrible condition, so we really had to watch where we were walking. Cracks and bricks missing and uneven spots.  

 

We walked a couple blocks over to Bourbon Street, and even before we got there, we could hear the noise.  I wouldn’t even call it music, there were drums banging, herons playing and a whole lot of drunk people walking (some stumbling) about.  The first decent place we found was he Hard Rock Cafe so that is where we decided to eat our first night.  The food was good.  After dinner we headed back to our hotel for the night.  We arranged with the front desk to take a swamp tour the next morning.

 

Wednesday morning we were downstairs by 8:30 am or so and walked up the street to a little coffee shop called The French Truck.  The coffee and pastries were great! We walked back to our hotel to wait for our shuttle driver to take us on a Swamp Tour with the Louisiana Tour Company.

 

Since this was Doug’s first visit to NOLA I knew he would enjoy the swamp tour.  We were driven about 1/2 hour from our hotel to the Bayou where we boarded a covered boat with about 12 other people.  Our guide was very informative and took us to several areas to see different alligators.  He had a call that he used to get their attention and soon we were able to see several gators. He tossed out marshmallows near the boat, so they swam close to the boat.  We learned a lot about the gators and other creatures of the swamp lands.  Before we headed back, he passed around a baby alligator for us to hold.

 

After we got back to the hotel and rested for a while, we walked over to the Rib Room which I had reserved for dinner.  I had a salad and a bowl of gumbo which was seafood.  Only later did I find out it had oysters in it.  It was good but I was expecting chicken and sausage with okra, which I have made at home. Doug enjoyed his oysters and gumbo.

 

On Thursday we took the streetcar down to the French Market and walked through it, then to the Market Cafe for lunch.  Doug had a burger and I had a great greek salad which we listened to the jazz musicians that were playing in the cafe.  We walked to the waterfront Riverwalk then to the streetcar to get back to our hotel. Once there we got ready for our 3-hour city tour. 

 

Greg picked us up in a comfortable large passenger van, and after picking up more people from other hotels we were on our way.   He gave us a little history of the French Quarter, the #1 cemetery with a personal tour, the garden district and then we had a short break stop at the New Orleans City Park where we had beignets at Cafe Beignet for the first time this trip.  The fried dough dropped in powdered sugar were so yummy, but messy. We finished up our trip by going out to the area where the levees broke in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina hit.   Most homes were rebuilt but you could still see some of the devastation.  We headed back to the hotel for a rest before dinner. 

 

That evening, when we were walking to the streetcar, there was a marching band walking up our street.  It was fun to watch and after the band there were several people walking along, drinking and yelping and hollering, and throwing beads. It was fun to watch.  We made it to the streetcar and got off down ant the waterfront and walked up to Landry’s Seafood.

 

I had the cedar planked salmon which was wonderful, and Doug had the shrimp Po’boy which was huge. It came with fries, but the sandwich alone was too much for him to eat.  It was a good dinner, just too much.  Afterward we just went back to the hotel.

 

Friday, we had to move to the Royal Sonesta Hotel which was where Doug’s conference was.  It was on Bourbon Street, about 3 blocks total from our hotel.  We weren’t comfortable walking with our luggage, so we checked out but left our bags with the front desk.  We headed to the streetcar for a ride to Waffle House. Doug’s favorite place! It was a good breakfast, so I was glad we had the opportunity to go. It was only a mile or 2 from our hotel.  

 

After our breakfast we called Uber and got dropped off in Jackson Square. We went into the cathedral first then the history museum in the Presbytere, which is next to the cathedral.  Although it is not the Katrina Museum, the entire first floor is dedicated to the events that happened in Sept 2005 when Katrina hit, and the levees were breached due to the water surges in the days following.  It’s very moving to see what they went through back then.  This trip is just a little over a week since hurricane Ian landed on the gulf coast of southern FL and decimated several towns in and around Fort Myers, in some cases taking out their only access bridges.   It really puts things in perspective and gives me more reason to be thankful that we are not faced with those challenges.

 

After our museum visit, we called Uber and got the same driver we had earlier.  We explained that we had bags to move only a few blocks to another hotel and wondered if we could just hire her off the clock to help us out. She showed us how we now have an option on the Uber app to add a stop so we did then gave her an extra-large tip.

 

The Royal Sonesta is right on Bourbon Street, and later that evening we found out how loud it could be! It’s a freak show with drunks, druggies strung out, people in very little clothing, etc.  In 2018 when I was here with Ruth and Carol we went to a few restaurants and jazz clubs, and I don’t remember anything like that.  Think Fremont Street in Vegas on steroids! Fun to watch for a few minutes but way too loud!

 

We got checked into the hotel and we’re given a room on the 5th floor overlooking Bourbon Street.  Surprisingly, it was not too noisy so they must have good soundproofing.  Our room was small but had a king size bed, a chair, and a desk.

 

We had dinner at the House of Blues which was a couple blocks away from our hotel.  We ate in the courtyard and listened to their jazz band for a while then headed back to our hotel.  Later that evening we went to the hotel’s Friday night show in their Jazz Playhouse. It was a burlesque show that featured 4 dancers, and a female blues singer. The dancers each danced twice to individual numbers and teased as they playfully removed layers of clothes until they were down to thong undies, stockings with garters and pasties on top.  One of the dancers was a male dressed as a woman…. I wouldn’t call it a family show, but it was all done tastefully and not at all raunchy.

 

On Saturday I went to the pool after getting coffee at PJ’s in the hotel lobby.  I found a shaded area and spent a few hours their before it started to get too warm. The water itself was a little cool but it was refreshing.  Doug met me about the time I was going to move so we went over to the pool bar and had some lunch.

 

Saturday at 5pm we walked over to Preservation Hall to listen to a little jazz music.  We had front row seats which was great since several people were standing in the back during the performance, which was about 50 minutes.  We really enjoyed the band.   Afterward we walked over to New Orleans Creole Cookery for dinner, which was for MSPA board members and spouses. There were 24 of us.  Dinner was very good. After appetizers of hush puppies, calamari, and oysters, I had a bowl of jambalaya and Doug had crab cakes.

 

Sunday morning Doug’s conference officially started.  He went to a board meeting for most of the morning and I went back to the pool. It was a little cooler than the day before, so I didn’t swim.  Doug had an afternoon break so met me at the pool bar for lunch and to watch the Seahawks/Saints game (in NOLA).  After being ahead most of the game we ended up losing! 

 

After another early evening meeting I met up with Doug for a special event for the conference. It was a party with a stilt walker, juggler, tarot card reader and caricature artist, as well and dinner and drinks.  Dinner included all the Creole dishes including jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, sautéed green beans and seafood. Dessert was bread pudding, another southern dish.

 

On Monday, I got up early and started off with coffee and beignets at Musical Legends Park which was across the street from our hotel. The park has a bar and Cafe Beignet coffee stand, and lots of places to sit and listened to music and visit. They have musicians daily.

 

I walked to the streetcar and went to the World War II Museum.  I was there at least 4 hours and I’m sure I missed a lot of it.  In addition to the museum admission, I purchased a ticket for Beyond all Borders, a 45-minute film narrated by Tom Hanks, as well as a ticket for The Final Mission: USS Tang Experience.  I learned so much of what our country went through during that time.  It was a great experience, and I would highly recommend it to anyone going to NOLA.

 

Dinner that evening was with some of Doug’s colleagues at the Bourbon House, a block from our hotel.  I had a great bacon, pimento burger and fries and Doug had oysters.  We both enjoyed it very much.

 

Tuesday morning, our last day. While Doug finished up at his conference, I packed up then roadie the streetcar to the waterfront to check out the outlet stores.  I bought a few shirts and pralines then just had a bite to eat in the food court before heading back to hotel.  We requested a late checkout so we could go straight to the airport for our 4:30 pm flight.  We ended up getting there about 2 pm.

 

We both decided that We have no need to go to NOLA again. I enjoyed the things we did but overall, it was just too much of a party town, especially staying in the French Quarter area.

 

Time to try somewhere new!

Alligator on Swamp Tour

Swamp Tour

We had front row tickets

Courtyard at Quarter House hotel

Dinner at Landry's Seafood

Musical Legends Park

Yum! Gumbo

After the Preservation Hall performance

Dinner at Landry's Seafood

Musical Legends Park

Jazz Club in the Royal Sonesta Hotel

Jazz Club in the Royal Sonesta Hotel

Musical Legends Park

Memorial to Hurricane Katrina

Saint Louis Cathedral

Saint Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square

Courtyard at the Quarter House Hotel

Courtyard at the Quarter House Hotel

 

Alaska Cruise, Quantum of the Sea, July 18th-25th, 2022

We are still making up for all the lost travel over the last couple years, and specifically using future cruise credits from a Panama Canal cruise that was canceled in May 2020.  Doug and I decided we would do another Alaska Cruise.  We had gone several years ago with family, but this one would be just us. 

We decided on July, hoping the weather would cooperate.  Last time as a family we had gone in June, and it was beautiful weather the whole time. Surely, July would bring us good weather, right?  More about that later.

 

The plan was to leave on July 18^th out of Seattle on the Quantum of the Seas.  Our stops were Sitka, Skagway, Juneau and Victoria, then returning on July 25^th.

 

Since we were leaving out of Seattle, we made arrangements to park our car at one of the “Cruise and Park” lots near the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Pier 91.  Once at the lot they shuttled us to the terminal. It all went very smoothly and within a short amount of time we were through the line and getting on the ship. 

As in my other cruise posts I will tell a little about the ship, and then the excursions.

 

Ship

Quantum of the Seas.  I would consider this a mid-size ship. It had 16 decks.  We were on deck 6 forward, near the elevators.  We had a beautiful balcony room with plenty of room to move around.  It had a small sofa, a king size bed and a desk.  

 

The “promenade” deck was on 4 and included all the shops, Sorento’s (pizza), Café Promenade for coffee and snacks, and la Patisserie for coffee and pastries to purchase.  There was also and English Pub and the Main Dining rooms at the back of the deck and the Royal Theatre at the front of the deck.

 

Deck 5 had several of the guest services, the upper tier of the Royal Theatre, the Schooner Bar and the Bionic Bar, which was an experience of its own.  We were given a tablet to select a drink.  Once we ordered it went into a queue and the one by one the robotic arm selected a glass, moved around to get the “shots” and other ingredients from the bottles suspended from the ceiling, added ice if desired, blended if needed, then poured it into a cup.  When we saw our name on the reader board we approached and pressed a button which then brought the drink forward.  It was fun to watch, and of course the drink that anywhere else on the ship cost $11, was about $16.

 

The pools and Solarium were on deck 14, as well as the Windjammer Marketplace, the restaurant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you didn’t want to eat in the Main Dining room.  Also on 14 was the North Star which was a capsule that elevates up to 300 feet above the ship for 360 degrees views.  I had scheduled to go on it ($20) however, at the time I was to go it was foggy and rainy out with not much visibility.   

 

Spa

Because we had purchased the cruise through Costco, we received 2 spa treatments, $50 in onboard credit and two soda packages.  I used the spa treatments for a 50-minute massage and a 50-minute facial.  Both were wonderful.

 

Entertainment

The welcome aboard show was comic and impressionist Dylan Mandlsohn, who reminded us of Jim Carrey. Later that week we watched ventriloquist Michael Harrison, also very funny, and Elton John tribute by Andy Elton.  The final show was a production show “Sequins and Feathers”. 

 

Ports of Calls and Excursions

Sitka

It was cold (56 degrees) and threatening rain when we pulled into Sitka.  The pier is about a 15-minute shuttle ride from downtown Sitka.  We had an excursion which included the National Historical Park and Cultural Center.  The park has a mile long Totem Trail which had beautiful totem poles, each with their own story to tell.  Our shuttle driver gave us the history of Sitka as we made our way to the park.  After spending time in the park and cultural center she dropped us off near downtown Sitka for some shopping.  Also included was an Indian Dance at the playhouse, but we opted to walk around the town.

 

Skagway

It was rainy and cold in Skagway.  Our original excursion which was sightseeing was canceled so we went on an excursion to a “mushers camp” up in the hills, and a stop at a pioneer cemetery along the way.  At the camp we learned about the Alaskan Huskies that pull the sleds during the annual Iditarod Dog Sled race, and even got to spend a few minutes with some of the puppies, which of course was the highlight of that tour.

 

Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier 

The plan was to sail into Endicott Arm at about 5am and stay until 9:30am.  If able, we were going to see Dawes Glacier.  Apparently, several ships had not been able to see the glacier because of the ice chunks prohibited them from getting far enough up Endicott Arm.  The plan was to be in Juneau about 1pm. 

 

I woke up about 6am and when I looked out the window and I saw that we were in port, which was confusing. Even if we had not been able to get as far up as the glacier, we would not have had time to get to Juneau after entering Endicott Arm.  Well, at about 8am the captain came on and explained that they had an emergency the night before and had to make the difficult decision to head straight to Juneau.  We found out later that a child had jumped down a staircase and shattered his elbow.  So, no glacier this time around.

 

Juneau

Since we were in port earlier than we originally planned we decided to get off the ship a little early and check out a few of the stores before went on our excursion.  It was very rainy and cold.  Our excursion was again about the Iditarod Dog Sled Race, but much more in-depth.  The musher’s camp included 40-50 dog houses, a training track and sleeping tents for the mushers.  We learned a lot about the training of the dogs, preparing them for the race.  We got to spend time with some of the puppies again.  The tour ended with everyone getting the opportunity to ride in a sled that was pulled by 12 huskies.  It was a fun experience that we both agreed we would do again!

 

Victoria

Our last port of call was Victoria.  We didn’t even arrive until about 4pm, and it was beautiful and sunny, about 70 degrees.  We had a 7pm “city tour” which was ok, nothing special.  

 

My least favorite part, the next morning was having to get off the ship so early.  We were back to our car by about 8:30 and home by 9:30 am.  We spent the rest of the day unpacking and resting….. The following day Doug tested positive for Covid.   I had it back in May, so I did not get it again.

I was hoping after finally be able to have this make-up cruise (after our Panama Canal cruise was canceled in May 2020), that Doug would decide that he wants to do more cruising.  Although we had a little trouble with the internet, which he needs to have for his business, overall, he did enjoy himself and said he would like to go on another cruise.  We’ll see!

Baltimore, Bahama Cruise April 20th - April 30th 2022

Another cruise! I think I’m going to like this.  This cruise was to use up some of the future cruise credit that we were given when we had to cancel the Panama Canal 15-day cruise due to the Pandemic. Doug wasn’t keen on another 15-day cruise, so we opted to schedule an Alaska cruise for July 2023.  We were able to split up our cruise credits by using all of Doug’s credits and some of mine for the Alaska cruise, which gave me some additional credit for another cruise.  I hadn’t seen my friend Anita for a while, so I thought she might like to go with me.  The credit worked great!  I was able to use all my credit for the larger portion leaving a more affordable amount for Anita. Win-win for both of us.

We originally scheduled a 7-day round trip cruise leaving Barbados, with several island stops.  We purchased tickets from Seattle to Miami, then to Barbados, then back to Miami and home.  We selected several excursions and were planning on going March 2022.  However, with the pandemic still raging we started thinking about changing plans.  The CDC had a recommendation not to go to some of the islands, Barbados had several health mandates in addition to the cruise line mandates and lastly, American Airlines canceled our flight to Barbados without warning and without giving us additional options.  

We selected several excursions and were planning on going March 2022.  However, with the pandemic still raging we started thinking about changing plans.  The CDC had a recommendation not to go to some of the islands, Barbados had several health mandates in addition to the cruise line mandates and lastly, American Airlines canceled our flight to Barbados without warning and without giving us additional options.   

After reviewing several options, mostly in the Caribbean, we decided on a round trip cruise out of Baltimore with stops in Charleston, Orlando, Perfect Day in Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean’s private island) and Nassau, Bahama’s.  The cruise I had taken in October also went to 3 of those ports (all but Charleston), but I was fine with that.  We booked it for April 2022.

 

We flew to Baltimore on Wednesday, 4/20 and stayed at the Comfort Inn and Suites, Inner Harbor.  Our first order of business was to take our cruise mandated Covid tests.  We purchased the eMed tests from the cruise line so we each took our test verified by a proctor.  Both negative, whew! That’s always a relief. We walked down to the harbor that evening and had dinner at Phillips Seafood, which was great, other than the fact that they had inadvertently given one of our entrées to the wrong person, so we had to wait quite a while.  They offered us free dessert for the mix-up.  Didn’t need it but it was good! 

 

Thursday morning, we got up and took an Uber to Penn Station Baltimore to catch the train to DC.  It was about ½ hour ride to Union Station in DC where we go on the light rail to ride to the National Mall area.  We visited the Smithsonian Castle where we had lunch, and the American History Museum before heading back to Baltimore.  We got back to the hotel after 6.  Anita wanted to purchase a couple bottles of wine to take on the cruise, so we found a liquor store just around the corner from the hotel and next to a pub called the Pour House.  Their menu looked good, so we ate dinner then stopped at the liquor store before walking back to the hotel.

 

Cruise day! We had an 11:00 am check-in so we took an Uber to the cruise terminal, and we were able to get right in line with just a few people in front of us.  Once we checked in, we walked up the long ramps to the ship.  The first thing I noticed was that Enchantment of the Seas was considerably smaller than Oasis of the Seas which I was on in October.  I’m going to break down the descriptions in categories:

Ship 

Enchantment of the Seas.  There really wasn’t a “promenade” deck, however the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th decks were all open in the center.  The 4^th floor was the “Centrum” which was midship. Several events were scheduled daily in the Centrum area, including group games, music, napkin folding, dance classes, etc.  The main dining room was on the 4^th floor forward. The casino, theatre, upper level to the dining room, a bar/lounge and “services” were on the 5^th floor. The shops, Café Latitudes, Schooner Bar, the Spotlight Lounge (nightclub) and the upper theatre were on 6.  The main pools, Solarium, and the Windjammer restaurant were on the 9^th floor.  Deck 10 was the “activity” deck with a rock-climbing wall, a track and other sport options. Our room was on the 3^rd floor, about mid ship.

 

Ports of Call and Excursions

Charleston

I love Charleston! It is such a beautiful city with a lot of rich history and beautiful architecture.  We left the ship to go on a carriage ride.  We spent an hour, and our guide was informative, and funny at times.  After the carriage ride, we walked around town for a while then to the straw market before we got back on the ship.  

 

Orlando

We got off the ship and went on the Ron Jon shuttle.  We spent a little time looking over the famous Ron Jon Surf Shop, then we walked across the street and had the best key lime pie whle we waited for shuttle to take us back to the ship.

 

Perfect Day at Coco Cay

This was a favorite of mine when I went on the cruise with Mary Kaye in October 2021.  This time we opted not to purchase the Coco Club beach excursion, but instead go to beach.  It is one of the less active beaches and we thought it would be a good place to swim, read and just relax.  We found a couple chairs under an umbrella with no trouble at all.  The water was much colder than it was in October, but not so uncomfortable that I didn’t want to go in.  It was a little disappointing as I didn’t expect it to be so cold.  Our lunch was buffet style at the main concession area which had a lot of seating.  Overall, although I really liked the Beach Club last time, this was a great bargain for free!

 

Nassau

Our least favorite port.  We went on a land and sea tour.  Our understanding was we would get a tour of the city, then get on a boat which had windows for viewing under the sea.  When we were picked up our guide didn’t explain anything. We first road to an area where we were dropped off and told to wait.  No explanation.  After 10 minutes in the heat and wondering what was up, another tour bus came in the parking lot.  The driver said to follow him, so he walked us down to a nearby marina where we got on a boat.  No lower level.  He did give us a guided tour of the area and eventually we anchored next to another boat.  Finally, the one we were expecting with all the windows!  We climbed on board that boat and were directed to the lower level.  The upper level had several people waiting to get on to our boat.  Once we started touring the water we were disappointed that it was so murky it was impossible to see anything but a few fish.  Our guide took us to an area where he said there were schools of fish, however even there the fish were not colorful and everything was murky.  Very disappointing.  Eventually we went back to the spot where we had swapped boats, got on the other boat and went back to the marina.  From there we got in a van and had our tour around the city.  We stopped at the Queens Staircase and another spot where there were some vendors, but most people stayed on the bus.  We were ready to go back to the ship.   Note to self:  Next time in Nassau either look for a day pass at one of the hotels, or stay on the ship!

 

Food

We ate in the main dining room every evening including “Dress to Impress” night.  The menu had 5 “classic” choices that were options every night, and 5 specials each night, including starters, entrees, and desserts. The food was always served at the right temperature, and the service was impeccable.  The rest of our meals were at the Windjammer which was “buffet” style with a lot of choices, or continental type food at the Café Latitudes.  The Solarium Park Café on floor 9 had pizza daily.

 

Entertainment

Headliner entertainment varied every night We usually had dinner at 7 and went to the later show.  We enjoyed all the entertainment.  The list of shows and performers: singer Zoe Tyler, comedian George Kanter, comedy duo Alfred and Seymour (hilarious!), and two different shows with the vocal group The Alley Cats (Doo-wop) who were our favorite.  We also watched karaoke throughout the week and the grand finale the last evening.  

 

Once we docked in Baltimore, we had to get off the ship early morning, which is always the case.  Our cruise did not have a Baltimore excursion with airport transfer, as several do, so we opted to go to the airport, even though we had a late afternoon flight.  Although we wanted to spend more time in Baltimore, we didn’t have a way without taking our luggage with us wherever we went.

 

Once we got to the airport, unbeknownst to us, the airport is very small and there wasn’t an Alaska Airlines attendant until almost 4 hours later!  We couldn’t even get through security until then.  So, we found a small area with some tables and chairs, so we went there with our luggage to wait.  Good thing I brought the 5 Crowns game with us.  There were a few restaurants open, so we ate lunch while we waited.

 

We loved our cruise and I can’t wait to cruise again!