I Heart New Orleans!

Oh, I love this city!  Today is our only full day in New Orleans is today, and it is the last non-travel day of our holiday, so we have a lot to squish in!  Luckily, I was up early.  Actually, I was up most of the night.  Andrew has a cold, so his snoring was about the same volume as a Boeing 747 landing.  Even wearing earplugs and with a pillow over my head, it was loud.  Andrew is typically not a snorer, thank goodness, so I'll forgive him this time.

Once Andrew woke up we got ready and walked over to my favorite New Orleans bakery, Croissant D'Or Patisserie, for breakfast.  I didn't take any pictures, so you'll have to take my word for the fact that this place is straight out of a little Parisian neighborhood and they have almond croissant to die for!

After coffee and croissant, we continued our walk through the quarter and poked around in a few shops along Royal Street.  We eventually ended up at the Museum of Death.  They have all kinds of macabre items on display - crime scene photos, letters and art by infamous serial killers, shrunken heads, etc.  We found it entertaining.  About 10 years ago, this place would have been quite shocking but, now that everyone has a cell phone camera, crime/death scene videos/photos are commonly seen on line.  

Our lunch spot today is a New Orleans institution.  It will come up on any Google search for where to eat in New Orleans, and it is reputed to be the best fried chicken in the country.   Willie Mae's Scotch House was first opened in the 50's, and has remained a family-run business.  I like the fact that it's has always relied heavily on the women in the family - first Willie Mae, and now her great-granddaughter (the current owner).  I am always a supporter of women-owned businesses.  I'm also a supporter of fried chicken, so this place was a must-do on this trip. 

We arrived about 1:30 pm and there was a bit of a line under the iconic sign.  The building itself is not much to look at but, as we've seen, Andrew and I will eat food out of a box off the street if there's a line in front of it.  A line is one of my favorite things to see in front of a dumpy restaurant.

The sign!

We didn't have to wait long to get inside and seated.  We had already seen the menu online, so knew what we wanted.  Chicken!  I had mine with butter beans, and Andrew had his with mac and cheese.  We didn't have to wait long to get to chicken heaven.  The chicken was so good!  Really.  So good.  I've never had butter beans before, but they were also pretty darn good.  You could taste the pork and peppers they were cooked with.  Yum!

Fried chicken with butter beans.

We made our way back to the hotel, after a brief stop at the store to get Andrew some cold medicine.  Keep your fingers crossed!  Andrew wanted to relax in the room, but I wanted to squeeze in as much of the city as I could so I set off on foot around the quarter.  I spent the better part of two hours just wandering around and taking in the sights, sounds and smells that are New Orleans.  Did I mention that I love it here?  If you haven't been, hurry!  If you have, hurry back.  You won't be sorry.

The pickles, olives and capers section of Central Grocery.  AKA my happy place.

St. Louis Cathedral & Jackson Square.  There were several brass bands playing and a few singers.  Mix those in with the fortune tellers, magicians, and artists and it's a real feast for the eyes and ears.  

View of the square and cathedral from the riverwalk.  

The Mississippi.  The water is really, really high this year!

Fountain along the way.

The French Market.  Mostly junk in the stands but fun to walk through and is great people watching.

The infamous Lalaurie Mansion.  Did you watch American Horror Story:  Coven?  It's empty now, but one of the more recent owners was Nicholas Cage.  Rumor is that he only spent one night there with his family before being scared out by all the ghosts.  

It's Carnival time!  Mardi Gras is less than 2 weeks away so the houses are all decked out!

Last night in New Orleans deserves a Hurricane!  Or a Monsoon, as Port of Call dubs theirs.  Either way, they are delicious and potent.  We shared this one!

Caution! Rough seas ahead.

Back to back sea days for the last of our time aboard the Carnival Dream.  Upon leaving Jamaica, we headed northwest around the island, and then past Cuba.  Once we cleared Cuba, it was almost a straight shot north up to New Orleans.  The weather on Friday started out hot, but there was a lot of wind because we were really moving (about 30 km/hr, when we've typically been going about 20 km/hr for most of the trip).  We spent a few hours out on the Panorama Deck this morning enjoying the sun and trying to keep our belongings from ending up at the aft of the ship.  By 11:45 am it was completely overcast with rainclouds threatening so we packed it in and went for lunch.  We were only at our table for about 10 minutes when the drenched masses started streaming in.  Good timing on our part!

After lunch, we spent some time reading in the cabin.  Afterwards, I went up to the gym for an hour and Andrew hung out on the balcony watching the ocean rage. 

Oh - and check out the wave pool resulting from all the movement of the ship!  They had to drain the pool right after we shot this video.  It was making the deck too slippery with all the water sloshing out.

The rest of the day was fairly standard for us:  dinner, an hour out on the lanai for Andrew's scotch and cigar, reading, bed.  Some fellow passengers had attended the Captain's talk this afternoon, and they reported to us that Saturday was expected to be another day of rough seas.  As well, the Captain had stated that the entry in to New Orleans would be a bit challenging because of wind, high tide and swells.  He stated that we may be late getting in to port, but extra time on the ship is just fine with us.  

Here's a night version of the ocean from our balcony.  I had to link to a YouTube post because the file was too big to upload here in any reasonable amount of time.  Sorry!  We were in a cove balcony on this sailing, which is Andrew's favorite because they are very close to the water.  He was absolutely delighted with the waves and spent quite a bit of time out there today watching.  I, accompanied by my bottle of Gravol/Dramamine, went to sleep!

Saturday's weather was a different story. It was sunny, but windy and cold at 56F/13C.  We actually turned the heat on in our cabin!  Up on the Promenade Deck people were wearing long pants and coats.  We even saw a toque or two.  The pool had turned in to a wave pool and was closed.  They drained it by noon because it was flooding the deck.  We read up in the common areas for a couple of hours and then came back to our cabin after lunch to relax.   

Right before dinner was the Platinum and Diamond Guest party.  We are lucky enough to have Platinum status on Carnival, and even luckier to have obtained that status after completing 10 cruises on Carnival.  At that time, it didn't matter if your cruise was 3 days or 14, they each counted as one cruise.  Just after Andrew reached his Platinum status in 2013 (I'm two cruises ahead of him so got there sooner) Carnival changed to the new plan where they count the number of days you have cruised towards your loyalty status.  You now have to sail 75 days to get to Platinum status and 200 to get to Diamond.  I'm now just a few days short of 100, so we have a LONG way to go yet before we reach Diamond.  Oh well, we're happy with our Platinum status.  We always get a "gift" when we get on the ship.  This time it was Tervis tumblers with the Carnival logo - perfect for the trailer!  We also get VIP boarding and debarkation, preferential loading at tender ports, two free drink coupons and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries.  Our favorite perk (other than VIP boarding) is the free laundry service.  On this cruise, we each could have three bags of laundry done for free - or six total.  We used every single one.  Oh - and the Platinum/Diamond party where they give you free cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.  :)

At dinner, we drank the last bottle of wine (we purchased a wine package where you get six bottles of wine for a set price) and said goodbye and thank you (with tips) to our fantastic dining room team Alexandrou, Eloyd and Yousef.   Though we had "Your Time" dining, we sat at the same table every night and they took excellent care of us.  Our room steward, Heru, was also amazing.  All the staff are.  It never ceases to amaze me that they remember not only our names, but my coffee order (iced latte, no sweetener) and Andrew's preferred scotch (double Macallan, neat).  They really put the icing on the cake for these trips.  

That's it for this cruise.  However, we had so much fun we booked another one for January of 2017.  We'll do Carnival's partial transit through the Panama Canal - a bucket list trip for Andrew.  We have a couple of certificates for $200 of onboard credit/cabin that we can give to family or friends who want to join us.  Holler if you want one!  The itinerary is below.  The ship leaves January 2nd from the injecting drug capital of the USA!  Who doesn't want to visit Baltimore in January?!

Carnival Pride - Partial Panama Canal transit - 13 days leaving January 2nd, 2017

  
Postscript:  Despite the rough seas, we made it in to New Orleans without any incident.  Nice driving, Captain!  AND, the holiday isn't over yet!  We've still got two days in the Big Easy before we head home.  

Wait for it...

Hey, everyone!  I have a post about our last two sea day, but I want to include some video clips so I'm going to wait to upload until we're back on land tomorrow.  The wifi here is SO SLOW that it takes hours just to upload a 15 second video.  Sorry for the delay!

Jamaica

Last port today - Montego Bay, Jamaica.  We've never been to Jamaica before, but we didn't get much time to explore the island because we went zip lining.  Here's what we did learn about Jamaica from our guide on the drive up to the zip line area:  Jamaica is about 150 miles wide by 50 miles wide.  There are fourteen parishes on the island and three major "cities" - Negril, Montego Bay & Ocho Rios.  About 2.7 million people live on the island - most of them in one of the cities.  Their main industry is tourism, but they also do big business in rum, citrus, tobacco & coffee production/export.  They accept almost any foreign currency in most shops, but they have a local currency (the Jamaican dollar).  1 USD = 118 Jamaican dollar.  Just in case you were hoping to relocate, the minimum wage in Jamaica is about $60 USD/week.  Ugh!

We've done zip lines in numerous other places - Mexico, Roatan, Belize, and at least one other place that I can't remember.  The best one was probably in Roatan - long traverses and way up high in the air.  This one was pretty because it was in the jungle, but the zips were quite short and there were only 6 of them.  Regardless, we had a good time.  The guides were great and really made the time enjoyable.  No pics of us on the zip lines.  They wouldn't allow cameras.  They said "for safety" but it was really because they had their own photographer who would sell you photos after.  :)  

Calabash "fruit" - which are really not fruit at all, but a type of gourd.  They use these to make moroccas - who knew?!

At this same location, they had a river tube excursion.  The first line went across this little river.  

Can you see the line?  

Now can you see the person in the blue shirt going across? 

Another portion of the river

Lots of huge trees and bamboo.  The bamboo grows several inches/day.  Once the bamboo reaches about 100 feet, it falls over and dies unless it is in a large cluster, as it can't support its own weight. 

Pretty water.

From what we saw, we liked Jamaica.  It looks like there are a lot of outdoor activities, such as river tubing/kayaking, ocean sports, and hiking.  We may think about coming back here for a land vacation, although we didn't see a reef and we really, really like a reef right off shore.  

Two more sea days left and then we'll be in New Orleans on Sunday morning.  Keep your fingers crossed for nice sunny weather!

Grand Turk

...or at least the shores of Grand Turk.  As I said in the previous post, we planned not to get off the ship today.  We did have a great day, nonetheless.  We spent some time up on the deck, I had a run on the jogging track, and we spent hours sitting out on our balcony reading and looking at the beautiful blue ocean. After dinner, we sat up on The Lanai (where cigars are allowed) where we chatted while Andrew enjoyed a couple of the cigars he bought in San Juan.  It was really a gorgeous day. 

The view during my run.  Isn't that the most gorgeous water? 

On our balcony at sunset. 

A whole lotta nothin'

First sea day of the cruise yesterday (Monday).  After our hiking adventure in St. Kitts we were ready for it!  I'll tell you that Andrew spent more time napping than he did awake.  :)  I spent a lot of time on the balcony reading and a little time at the gym.   Other than that, there is sadly little to report.

Today (Tuesday) is the port of Grand Turk.  We were here once a few years ago.  We rented a golf cart to explore the island and it broke down.  Ringing any bells?  Here's the link to that post, which you'll need to read if you want to know anything much about Grand Turk because we're not getting off the boat at this port.  Of all the places we've been in this world, Grand Turk is one we don't need to repeat.  The beaches and ocean here are some of the most beautiful in the world, but they'll be mobbed today with all the cruise ships in port and we had decided at home that we weren't going to dive on this trip.  Other than those two activities, there really isn't much to see or do here that we haven't already. Instead, we'll enjoy the ship with most of the passengers on shore - which is a treat!  

Karin & Andrew vs. the Volcano

In  preparation for our excursion, we re-read all of the information they sent to us last night.  The brochure assured us that the "Eco Volcano Hike" would be "heart pounding" and "life affirming".  Oh oh.  When we were looking at activities for this cruise it was October.  In Minnesota.  In our living room.  Now that we actually have to DO the activity we're in a tropical country.  Where it is hot.  And humid.  And there's an actual volcano.  Oh, and did I mention we've been on a break from the gym?  Did I mention that break has lasted several months? 

We met our guide, Hilton first thing this morning, and were joined by a gentleman from BC named Michael.  There was supposed to be another woman named "Janice" but she reported that her husband was "incapacitated" so they wouldn't be joining us.  Clever people, that Janice and her husband.

The drive to the trailhead lasted about an hour.  The scenery was beautiful with the rainforest on one side and the ocean on the other.  We saw some monkeys and a rainbow.  The last 15 minutes of which was on a rough and rutted goat path.  There were actual goats on it (and a mule). 

Rainbow!

The trailhead was little more than a small cleared area for parking and an iron gate.  Andrew, Michael & I laced up our expensive hiking boots, got our camelbak packs situated, and our carbon trekking poles adjusted the exact right height.  Hilton also donned his fancy hiking gear, which consisted of gum boots, a shirt with the company name on it, and a walking stick that was an actual stick.  We started off down the trail and it was immediately apparent that this was not Hilton's first time.  His pace through the muddy jungle was just short of a jog, and he was a surefooted as a mountain goat in those big ol' boots.  Right away, we could tell that the trail itself was going to be a challenge.  There were roots and rocks transversing every inch of the trail, making it necessary to mentally pre-plan every step to avoid twisting an ankle.  That, combined with the slick soil (remember, it's the rainforest), and the incline (3/4 of a vertical mile in 2.5 miles of distance) made for tough going.  Oh, and did I mention Hilton was jogging?  

After about an hour, Hilton announced that we were 1/2 of the way up.   The hike itself was difficult, but the pace was grueling.  Hilton told us that he normally does the 5.5 mile round-trip hike in about one hour and 15 minutes if he is alone.  Our port time in St. Kitt's was not very long (only about 7 hours total), so we asked Hilton if the current pace would have to be sustained if we were to make it to the summit and back in time to get back to the ship before it sailed.  He said that it would.   Michael, who was in amazing shape, said that he was doing ok, so Andrew and I opted to stop so that he could summit without us slowing him down.  Hilton & Michael left us with strict instructions to "don't move".  Yeah, ok.  As soon as they were out of sight, Andrew and I continued up the trail at a pace that was much more comfortable and we had a perfectly lovely time.  We were able to raise our eyes up from the trail and look around at the plants, spiders, and monkeys that live in the jungle.  We stopped when we wanted.  We helped each other up the giant steps built in to the steepest inclines.  Seriously, some of the steps had a rise of about 3 feet.  Apparently Gulliver made this trail.  

We made it about another 1/2 mile and then decided we'd head back down so that we'd have the same luxury of taking our time.  Down was slippery and steep in places, so we were grateful for our trekking poles and to be able to go at our own pace.  We made it back to the parking lot about 45 minutes ahead of Hilton & Michael, who did 5.5 miles compared to our 3.  On the upside, Michael looked exhausted and we completely enjoyed ourselves.  

A pretty standard section of the trail.  Note that towards the back of the trench the trail goes straight up for about 5 feet.  I took about a dozen pics of the trail, but this is the only one that wasn't a complete blur, for some reason. 

Back on the ship we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then had a nap before dinner.  Even I slept for a little bit.  We agreed that we would try the hike again, should we return to St. Kitt's, but on our own or with a private guide when we didn't have to worry about missing the ship.  We also agreed that the hike was, indeed, heart pounding and completely affirming.  Of our need to get back to they gym!  

The volcano.  From the ship.  

Dominica

Today's port - Dominica.  Doe-min-ee-ka.  I'm sorry to say that I had never heard of this cute little place before this cruise.  We had a tour booked that included some snorkeling and sight seeing.  Our tour guide was named Calvin, and he knew a ton about the island, including the plants and spices you could fine everywhere.  He picked us fresh bay leaves, lemongrass, and ginger.  He also showed us how to make dish soap out of a type of fern leaves.  Fascinating!  Dominica was occupied by the French, so many of the locals speak creole.  The island boasts the highest number of centurions per capita in the world with more than 100 people over the age of 100 (population is about 70,000).   Their oldest resident ever lived to be 128.  Ugh! 

Our first stop was a snorkel through the Champagne Reef - named for the escaping volcanic gasses that cause bubbles under the water.  The reef had a lot to look at but the snorkel tour, itself, was a bit of a disaster.  There were about 10 groups snorkeling at the same time in a very small area.  Average age was about 60.  Snorkeling experience was limited.  Anytime someone from a group would spot something and call out, every snorkeler in the area would swarm over to see.  Ever been to soccer game being played by 5 year olds where you never have to wonder where the ball is?  Same concept, but imagine a turtle in place of a ball.  I spent the better part of an hour trying to avoid being kicked in the head by someone's flippers.  Andrew's strategy was to abandon the tour completely and do his own thing about 100 yards away.  Smart guy.  After about 45 minutes I headed for shore. Uncle!

Tube coral

Coral

Ok - bear with me on this one...it's hard to tell what you're taking a picture of under the water.  At the very top of the frame, just to the left of center there is a blobby thing. That blobby thing is an octopus.  Trust me, it really is. 

The "champagne" bubbles of Champagne reef.

After the snorkeling gong show, we loaded back in to our tour van and started to drive up the "mountain".  Technically the mountains here are volcanos.  The view was spectacular.  

View from up the volcano.

Next stop was Titou Gorge - a fresh water swimming area.  They told us that some scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed here, but I can't verify.  They also told us that the water would be "refreshing".  In case you were wondering, that means "freezing cold".  Luckily you have to swim the whole time (the floor drops away right away) or you'd freeze to death.  The whole swim took about 30 minutes, and was pretty neat.  There was a waterfall at the end of the cave and some rocks you could jump off.  

The opening to the cave

Inside the cave

Looking up.

Cave selfie

Last stop was Trafalgar Falls.  It's actually plural - there are two waterfalls.  The drive up the mountain was quite the adventure - more hairpin turns than you can count, narrow roads, and places where sections of the road had dropped off in a cliff.  We had a good driver so nothing to worry about.  

Trafalgar Falls

The other trafalgar falls

The walk to/from Trafalgar falls.  Beautiful light in the rainforest.

A banyan tree.

The guide dropped us back off in Roseau (the main city and where the cruise ship was docked) just in time for the first parade of Carnival.  

Stilt walking kids in the Carnival parade.

Our final glimpse of the island as we boarded the ship was this...

Some of the volcanos that make up the island.  There are 7 total.  All are active.

Next port (tomorrow) is St. Kitt.  We booked a 6-hour hike up a 3,700 foot volcano.  It sounded super fun when we were sitting in our living room.  Now that it's here, it sounds like torture.   If we don't die, we'll let you know how it goes tomorrow...

St. Thomas

First port of the cruise - St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.  Which means that our phones work (without roaming) and you can be guaranteed to find all of the standard US stores and restaurants.  Oh, and Senor Frog's.  Seriously.  I hate that damn Mr. Frog and his insidious presence at every single city south of the US/Mexico border.  But enough about my desire for more locally-owned businesses in small countries...

We didn't have anything much planned for St. Thomas so we ordered a breakfast tray to the room and took our time getting going.  By about 9:30 am we were off the ship and made our way to the Sky Ride.  You may not know this about Andrew, but he loves sky rides.  Of any sort.  On the upside - this attraction does not appear to be owned by a mass conglomerate.  We paid our $ and were on our way.  The view from the top is really beautiful. 

Sky ride selfie

Part way up!  Two ships in port today - ours & a very fancy Celebrity ship.

At the top

After the sky ride, we walked around town to see the sights.  There are some massive yachts in the harbor.  We Googled the name of one of the largest ones we saw and (good news!) it's for sale.  There wasn't a sale price associated with that, however it did indicate that you could lease it for $1 million/week (fully staffed), so imagine the purchase prices is a bit out of reach for us now that we didn't win the Powerball.

We didn't stay in town long - this is mostly a beach port and we weren't interested in that.  Back on the ship we took advantage of the fact that most passengers were on shore - we enjoyed the waterslides, played mini-golf and didn't have to wait in line for lunch.  About mid-afternoon, Andrew went back to the cabin to nap and I hit the gym.  

Dinner tonight was "formal night", though it's gotten much less formal than in the past.  We don't get particularly dressed up, but we do wear things that had to be ironed, so that's fancy, right?  After dinner we lost $20 in the casino and then sat out on the cigar lanai before heading for bed early.  We're a little crispy for our time in the sun today, and only one of us had a nap.