Roxanne's Birthday Fun...
This edition of “Travel Nightmares” begins in the wee hours of the morning. Roxanne arrived at the Reno airport to discover the first leg of her flight was delayed. Fortunately, the second leg was also delayed. While sitting outside of arrivals at 2:30am, a notification came through informing me that our Princess cruise had been cancelled. Kind of last minute… it was a shocking message to receive at that hour! We immediately set about creating a “Plan B”… Thankfully, I have the ability to book 24/7!
Up until four in the morning, we booked and paid for an alternate cruise. The new one means we will be driving to New Orleans, and boarding Norwegian Getaway. Roxanne has not been on this cruise line, but I have spent many days on their ships! Next day, we picked up Sasha and went to Porky’s for music and food trucks! We needed to feed ourselves, get a good night sleep and get on the road. NOLA here we come!
We visited the food trucks and each had our favorite dinner. Going for the Hawaiian food, I filled my belly. Roxanne went to the Fish and Shrimp. She also got mac salad from the Hawaiian truck. The next morning, before leaving town, we met Jeremy for Chilaquiles De Marie. Delicious! After packing the car, we got in and started our drive. With hurricane winds and rain heading into the area, we decided to leave one day early!
What would a Texas/Louisianna road trip be without a stop at Buc-cee’s?!? It’s an experience! Roxanne loved it… and got to meet Buc-cee himself. It’s always nice to break up the drive with this “gas stop”. This was the last area that the weather cooperated!
Hurricane Rafael moved into the gulf and the rains made driving a challenge. Despite the drive only being 6 hours, we decided to only go half way and then on into the port town the next morning. It was so hard to see! Rains battered the windows and began to puddle on the freeway.
Safely tucked in our beds at Best Western Heritage Inn and Suites in Broussard, both of us were unusually exhausted. The plan? Get up at 6:30, grab coffee and make our way, through the rain… to the Port of New Orleans. Parking had been reserved and paid for. We are ready!
Car parked, on the shuttle… we made it to the cruise port. It was really easy. Parking was a breeze. We jumped on the free shuttle that took us the short distance to the check-in area. From our place in line, we could see the colorful NCL logo. Pretty exciting… within minutes, I was in line putting in our dinner reservations and Roxanne was ordering Espresso Martinis! Boarding at the Port of New Orleans means we pay taxes on drinks despite having purchased the drink package. Not a big deal… just thought I’d mention.
With my “duty” of door decorating complete, it was time to head up to the H2O Pool bar. Mind you, the doors didn’t open yet, I just used my ninja skills to get inside and decorate before everyone else got into the hallways. Oh, and while I was there, I opened the door and set our things inside… small cheat.
Up to the bar! Weather was warm. There was a break in the rain so we sat outside and enjoyed the view. Near the French Quarter, the skyline was beautiful and familiar. It’s exciting… we will be sailing down the Mississippi for the afternoon and evening. So, basically, this starts out as a river cruise, kind of.
Calm waters down the Mighty Mississippi made for a nice smooth ride out to the gulf. We saw beautiful bridges and lots of industrial buildings. We were told to keep our balcony door closed because of bugs. Gladly! I don’t want bugs in the room!!!
After a solid night sleep, rocking to the gentle waves… we spent a little time on deck. One thing I’ve always liked about Norwegian is the outdoor areas. Deck 8 is lined with pods of wicker furniture. As a family, we’ve spent hours upon hours hanging out in these social gathering locations to play games. Very relaxing and a sense of being away from the crowds. With a couple of nearby outdoor bars, service is provided. Such a great spot to watch the ocean…
With so much to do onboard, it’s common to hang out by the pool without crowds. Kind of a nice change from most lines. The ship has bowling and an arcade. There are games all day long, painting classes and trivia. Of course, there is food, food, food everywhere!
Evenings are nice. We shower and get ready for dinner. Sunsets are beautiful… every, single night! Our reservations are set. Our cruise came with two free specialty restaurants. My loyalty status provides a dinner for two and another dinner for two with a bottle of wine. So, we knew we would have nice dinners. Or so we thought. As it turns out, Norwegian was a challenge for me with my dietary restrictions. When I made the reservations, I notified them of my issue. When we visited La Cucina, the Italian restaurant, they asked if I had pre-ordered. I’ve never heard of such a thing. The next night, we stopped by the French Restaurant to “pre-order” and the hostess asked if we pre-ordered. Explaining that the reason I was at the restaurant hours before my reservation was to pre-order… despite not knowing what I would want to eat later in the day. How can I know what I’ll be in the mood to eat??? We ended up cancelling because it seemed to be a lot of trouble. The trough had very few options for gluten free. One afternoon, we went to one of the main dining rooms for lunch and had to leave because there was not a single item I could eat. So strange. It’s the first time I’ve been made to feel like a problem. Could be a game changer!
