We started our vacation with a couple of days in New Orleans. Spend Friday and Saturday nights at the downtown Sheraton. Spendy, but within walking distance to everything we had time to see--Harras Casino, Riverwalk, French Market, and of course Bourbon Street a couple of times! A couple of interesting occurances while we were there--while walking from the French Market area, we found ourselves in the middle of a parade, complete with a police escort, band, carrage, and lots of people. We later found out this was a wedding. Also, on Sat evening on of the Mardi Gra Crews had a parade of their own on Bourbon Street. Couple of bands, floats, and dressed up walkers. Lots of beads. Good food and lots of beer on Bourbon Street!!

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We arrived at the Julia street pier at about 10:45AM on Sunday.No line to get processed for boarding. Boarding did not start until about 12:15 so we had a little wait, but we were in the first group to board. Once we were on the ship, we took in the lunch and walked around the ship to get familiar with things--they provide a directory which was very helpful for the whole trip. We met with our group to determine which shore trips to take and completed the forms and submitted early. (we received all we requested) Our luggage arrived about 3:00. My daughter-in law was missing one piece of her's and about 4:00 someone called and advised her that it had been dropped into the river while loading and they were going to clean and dry it and get it to her as soon as they could. A couple of her blouses were ruined and they were more than fair in compensating her for them. Everything else turned out OK. Lifeboat drill was at 4:50PM and lasted about 30 minutes. Very serious affair. The life jackets are very uncomfortable, but wearing them is required. Ladies, be careful when taking them off--my wife lost an ear ring when she took hers off. We went to the Lido deck at 6:00 to watch the ship leave the pier. Left a little late at 6:30 and started down the Missippi. We had the late seating for dinner. (I would not choose it again as it is too late when you finally finish at about 9:15PM)

The first two days were at sea. On the first day we went to the dining room for breakfast and we were not impressed. Food was not too good and the service was bad. We did not go there again for breakfast. The buffet on the Lido deck was good, both for breakfast and lunch. These two days were lazy with not too much activity going on. We were able to catch up on lost sleep from the trip down and get ready for the shore activities. Monday night is one of the formal nights. Saw some people "formally" dressed with tux and formal dresses and some with dockers, white shirt and tie. Don't worry too much about the "formal" part if you don't want to. On teusday night we decided to have dinner on the Lido deck instead of the dining room as we felt our head waiter was pre-occupied and not providing very good service. The food for dinner there was not too good, so all of the other nights we went to the dining room. The waiter was much better after Tuesday night.

Every morning we ordered coffee from room service and it took the a maximum of 5 minutes to deliver. It was very fast service.

Wednesday we were at Montego Bay, Jamica. We went on the shopping tour in the morning and on the Pirate Boat in the afternoon. The shopping tour took us to a special shopping area that was completely fenced and guarded. Was interesting and lots of good deals on jewelry. Sales people were not too pushy, but the cab drivers were very very pushy. The tour bus took us back to the ship where we then got onthe Pirate Boat. Fun time, with lot of music and punch. We snorkled for about 45 minutes then back to the ship (Total time on the Pirate boat was about 21/2 hrs). We also stopped at Marguaritaville for about 30 min. This was a great trip, with snorkling gear and rum punch provided.

Thursday, we stopped at the Grand Cayman Island. We took the tour and swim with the sting rays excersion. Unfortunately, our visit to Grand Cayman was less than expected. The tour was good and swimming with the sting rays is something you don't want to miss. The boat we went out to the sand bar on was old and had a mechanical problem when we started to return to the docks. It appeared the other boats were much better. When we were taken back to town, we walked around and went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. The staff at the Hard Rock were very rude and we felt like they were upset that we walked in the door. Shopping there was very expensive. Next time we would not go off the ship in this port!

Friday was Cozumel. We did some shopping at the shops on the pier then went on the Party Boat. This was really a party!! Included all the drinks you could drink-Rum Punch, Marguaritas, and Mexican Beer. They also had soft drinks. Took us to Play Sol. This is a private beach with swimming, snorkeling, jet skis, para sailing, etc. Also had a restuarant and bar. The snorkeling was included, but everything else was extra. This was a good time and I would do it again. We were back to the ship about 3:30 which did not give us sufficient time to go downtown to shop as the ship left at 5:00. (we actually needed more time in Cozumel.

Saturday was another day at sea and again was a day to be lazy and catch up on some needed rest. We entered the Mississippi about 7:45pm for the cruise back to New Orleans. We packed our luggage before dinner and put it out to be picked up for delivery tomorrow morning.

Sunday, we had breakfast on the Lido deck and waited to be called for debarkation.We were the 4th group to be called and were off the ship and catching a cab to the airport by 10:30.

A couple of things we noticed while on this cruise. The ship is in need of some updating and repairs. The beds need to be replaced. The carpet in the cabins need to be replaces, and the bedding could use some work or be replaced. It was not dirty, but well worn. There were alot of the decorative lights that were not working, and don't plan to win a fortune at the casino. The shows that included the Inspiration Dancers were excellent and the rest were OK.

Overall, the trip was fun and we look forward to taking another cruise in the future. If you have any questions that I might answer, please don't hesitate to ask. I will respond when I receive them.