New Orleans and Dream 8/16/15 Review

I am still recovering from our awesome 10 day vacation in NOLA and then on the Dream to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. This is our third cruise and first one out of New Orleans. While we loved NOLA, the ship, and our ports, we'll probably return to cruising out of Galveston just because it's a drive up port for us.

We left the Friday before to spend a weekend in the French Quarter. When I booked the cruise, we initially planned to drive over Saturday but after considering it, decided since we'd never been to NOLA this was a perfect opportunity to experience it! New Orleans did not disappoint! Even with a 12 year old boy with us, we still had a great time see this amazing corner of our country. From the architecture and food, to the music and friendliness of the locals, it was a great experience.

We stayed at the Le Richelieu hotel on the out skirts of the FQ and it was a beautiful hotel. Historical, on point, and very friendly and helpful staff. It was also very affordable and I highly recommend a stay there. It's rumored to be haunted but we didn't experience anything (and have at other haunted hotels).

The food was excellent in NOLA, but expensive! Most plates were $15-22 regardless of where we went so if you plan to make a weekend out of the French Quarter, increase your budget. We probably went over our budget by $200 easily. While we were there, we did a swamp tour and visited the aquarium. The swamp tour with Cajun Encounters was well worth the price and drive to Slidell. The aquarium was ok but over priced.

Aquarium pics:

We did visit Bourbon Street like any good tourist should do. We went during the evening, grabbed a drink, and just enjoyed the people watching as we slowly worked our way back to our hotel. Had we been childless, we would have stayed longer/later. Regardless, we still managed to enjoy ourselves!

More later today. Got to head to work!:(

Can't wait for the rest! We're going on the same one over spring break.

Awesome pictures, love NOLA as you can see, WHO DAT!! How was the passenger flow, we found on the Breeze it was crowded, enclosed decks

Actually, we didn't find it crowded it all. During Elegant Night, it did get a little crowded because of the photographers and lines but over all it wasn't bad.

TIP: AFT elevators are less crowded/busy than the forward and atrium. We routinely walk to the AFT elevators (even though we're closer to the atrium and forward ones) to get to places faster.

We were on the Valor and the lido buffet always had repetitive food, how's the Dream do they mix it up and is the MDR open for breakfast and Lunch, I couldn't remember if it was on the Breeze.

Good to know about the AFT Elevators. We will be in the L-Shaped Stateroom and my Sister & BIL will be in the Wrap-around next to us. Can't wait for December! This will be our 2nd time in NOLA at the Drury Hotel & Suites.

We were on the Valor and the lido buffet always had repetitive food, how's the Dream do they mix it up and is the MDR open for breakfast and Lunch, I couldn't remember if it was on the Breeze.

The lido was ok. I didn't care for it. I cruise for the customer service so I'm not crazy about standing in line for my food. Breakfast was pretty much always the same and the eggs were horrible. The MDR was open for brunch. For lunch, we usually had a hamburger or a slice of pizza. Those were pretty good.

Looking forward to your review. Thanks for posting it [emoji3]

Following- hubby and I are cruising same in December!

Did you try Pasta Bella? Here it's a good place to go on embarkation day, usually not very crowded.

We're trying RC next year, something different

Pasta Bella was excellent! We went on the last sea day and it was not crowded at all.

The lido was ok. I didn't care for it. I cruise for the customer service so I'm not crazy about standing in line for my food. Breakfast was pretty much always the same and the eggs were horrible. The MDR was open for brunch. For lunch, we usually had a hamburger or a slice of pizza. Those were pretty good.

so is MDR NOT open for breakfast and lunch? My kid wakes up early. And I don't do buffet foods anymore, I like to be waited one...

Wonder why RC does it but not Carnival, only time they do it is on sea day brunch

so is MDR NOT open for breakfast and lunch? My kid wakes up early. And I don't do buffet foods anymore, I like to be waited one...

From what I've read, the MDR does a great brunch on Sea Days. Not sure if it is open for breakfast/lunch on port days. There is also a Seaside BBQ on the Lanai deck for lunch, but once again, not sure if it is open during port days.

Too bad on the MDR breakfast, we really enjoyed the Eggs Benedict and smoked salmon. I agree with the other poster who said they like to be served. Do they still have an omelette station at the breakfast buffet?

Too bad on the MDR breakfast, we really enjoyed the Eggs Benedict and smoked salmon. I agree with the other poster who said they like to be served. Do they still have an omelette station at the breakfast buffet?

From my understanding it's brunch on sea days so you can sleep in and breakfast/lunck in port days. I could be wrong, but that's what I got out of my research

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There is breakfast in the MDR on port days, it is just a smaller menu and less hours.

The pasta place is fantastic. We also hit it up on embarkation day and enjoyed a very quick meal, no one knew it was there. It is quite hidden.

I have my Fun Times and when I get a moment, I'll scan them regarding the MDR questions. We never ate there other than dinner. Husband refuses to "wait" for breakfast or lunch. Hopefully, I'll get a moment today to add to my review!

Sunday morning, rain woke me up after 1am and of course, I had to check the marine traffic to see where the Dream was in the Mississippi.

Of course, that got me excited so I didn't sleep well after that which allowed me to watch her dock!

Everyone is up because it's cruise day!

We had prebooked and paid to park at Fulton Garage. This was probably the most frustrating place to find as the directions and gps were vague and the garage is not marked well as Fulton Garage. Here is a pic for anyone on their first trip.

It is in front of the convention center and the terminal for the cruise ship is on the back side of the convention hall. There is a free shuttle that does an excellent job of getting you there with your luggage if you choose to carry on.

One thing we've decided since we prefer to carry on is that if we're going to do more 7 days then we need bigger luggage. Our airline carry on luggage was not large enough for a 7 day so we had about 2 extra bags that would have been nice not to have.

Check in at the terminal was about the same in Galveston. There's a good walk from where you drop off and escalator you have to go up. Make sure you have your health paper work filled out! We arrived early and were some of the very first to get our sign and sail cards.

Here and ready to board!

One other note about downtown NOLA. Do they have a problem with people stealing street signs? We passed several intersections with no street signs. Thank god for GPS!