"Back to Life... Back to Reality"
March 14, 2015
"RING RING RING" the alarm rang for the first time in over a week and it was time to get up and face the music. It was 5:15AM and we got up and took showers and got all of our belongings tucked shoved away into our bags and headed down to the Windjammer Buffet for one last breakfast on board. We would have preferred to eat in the MDR but since we were part of the "Self Assist" program and disembarked on our own we had to be ready to go by 7:30AM and the Main Dining Room did not open until 6:30AM on this last day. We were at the buffet and ready to go before 6:15AM and were able to watch as we pulled into the New Orleans Julia Street Terminal. When we cruised on the Carnival Conquest out of New Orleans in 2013 we had already parked when we awoken, so this was really neat to see NOLA under the lights of the night sky as well as watch us pull into our parking spot.
At 6:55AM we pulled out of our 160 sqft hole and trampled down the 3 flights of stairs to get to deck 5 to go to our waiting area before we would disembark. By the time we reached deck 5 it was 7:00AM and we expected to have to wait for another 30 minutes to get off. But instead the line to self disembark was already moving onto the gangway. We passed the computers and heard that terrible last "DING" at 7:04AM and were already through customs and calling our hotel shuttle by 7:20AM. This confirms that New Orleans really is the easiest cruise ship terminal. We have had our BEST embarkation time and CLEARLY the easiest and best disembarkation of all time via New Orleans. I have said this many times and will say it again... If you have get a chance to cruise out of New Orleans DO IT! Try to sail from there AT LEAST ONCE IN YOUR LIFE! It is incredible from start to finish... literally!
We made it back to our hotel and found our car untouched (but I was a little worried... it was not the best area of town) so loaded her up and were on the road to Texas by 8:07am. We made a stop CCs Coffee House in Baton Rouge for another delicious King Cake latte and stopped in Beaumont for lunch. We were home doing laundry, many loads, by 2:30PM which was about average of 6 hours and 30 minutes.
We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and everything about it! It was a different style of cruising for us as we played the role of "Rich and Famous" and really went all out as far as on-board spending and additional eating goes... not to mention living it up with other guests and attending cocktail parties and the such. We also planned on doing more "active" activities like we did on the Navigator but instead we did NOTHING... like most cruisers do! This was not our style but this being a cruise in the middle of the school year (with the worse yet to come) was much needed and DESERVED! We have both agreed that despite what time of year we cruise in the future we will take at least 1 day to do NOTHING! It is a GREAT feeling!
The Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas, while it will not be my favorite ship, was a true beauty and very well kept. The decorations and overall architecture was 2nd to none and will be hard to beat on any other ship, especially mega-ships. We did determine that we like the larger boats better as we both could feel the ship's movement more than the previous ships. The excursions we did on this cruise were wonderful and the parasailing will make it towards the top of our list as far as excursions go. We both enjoyed getting to take a cruise and still stay in the USA. It was a great feeling to be able to call our kids WHILE ON A CRUISE. We have never done that before and it made the 7 days a little bit shorter! The Bahamas were gorgeous and incredible just as I imagined. Both Nassau and CoCo Cay are places we would like to re-visit if possible! The waters and water colors are just amazing!
We set sail on the Carnival Magic out of Galveston on June 14, 2015 for our annual summer cruise. This will be a repeat itinerary from last year as we will be visiting Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel but we are planning some amazing new excursions and we are excited to try-out one of Carnival's mega-ships before it leaves this great state! Less than 80 days to go.. .not that we are counting or anything! Geez... we are addicted, aren't we?
In the past 18 months we have been able to take 3 cruises and in the next 15 months we will take 3 more and we owe all of that to our Lord and Savior for blessing us with all of these opportunities and money to take these glorious and lavish trips. We also are incredibly grateful to my parents, in-laws and Grandma Juanita for helping us take care of our kids while we travel the world in luxury! It was a FANTASTIC week with my wonderful hubby, Chris, and I cannot wait for the next 80 days before we set sail again!
Thank you ALL so much for reading and following along! I love blogging about my cruise almost as much as I enjoy the cruise itself! You have made this blog what it is today! Thank YOU so much! Be on the lookout for our next cruise blog installments! See you in a few months!
Annual Summer Cruise- June 2015
Thanksgiving Cruise with the FAM (1st cruise for the kids)- November 2015
10th Anniversary Alaska Cruise (And Seattle tours)- June 2016
From SEA TO SHINING SEA!
God is GOOD GREAT... ALL the time!
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