Havana Daydreamin Back 2 Back on Serenade NOLA "LIVE"

My beloved wife and myself set sail on Serenade of the Seas on Saturday, January 24, 2015. This cruise departs from New Orleans (NOLA) and has been a hope to go down the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico for some time.

This booking was originally done while onboard the Serenade the first time in 2012. Originally, that booking was not for this sailing but for Explorer out of Bayonne to do consecutive cruises to New England/Canada and then to Bermuda. However, the Bermuda leg got cancelled so we needed to move the booking. This we did to an itinerary that we knew we would not take but keep us ahead of the final payment date requirement.

We kept looking and one day on a whim checked what was available out of NOLA.

BEHOLD!!!! There were itineraries AND even on Serenade AND a corner balcony cabin was available for both legs. An immediate hold was placed upon the cabin for both weeks.

Of course, how can one book a cruise without checking with your spouse. When she was informed that we had a Jr. Suite with an aft corner balcony I believe her response was something akin to "OH HECK YEAH!"

We finally had the cruise we were excited for and officially booked cabin 1100 for both weeks. I do not remember the exact date, but we had a very nice price as I think we must have seized the day and booked that cabin shortly after the itinerary was released.

Then came the long wait and ultimately the day for departure was upon us for a long road trip from Kansas to New Orleans! We drove to stay with my Father and Mother in Law in Wichita as they will be on this first week with us. We departed Wichita on Wednesday, January 21 and were blessed with safe travel (sharing the driving privileges) and arrival into New Orleans.

Up next, hotel check into Hotel St. Marie in the heart of the French Quarter.

You will love Serenade. She is a wonderful ship. We were just on her over New Years and we called that cruise our perfect cruise. It was just a fantastic experience. We were in 1604, just down the hall from where you will be. I know that you will love your balcony. The view is amazing. If you can, do the murder mystery dinner. The story is a little corny, but the evening was fun and the food was delicious. That was our best meal of the week. I hope you have a great time.

Anne:)

Hotel St. Marie is located right in the heart of the French Quarter. As this was our first trip to NOLA together, we wanted to experience this area of the city. We wanted something that could be considered quite traditional New Orleans French Quarter styling. We found this hotel early last year and gave it consideration for a couple months and finally booked our stay here in May of 2014.

Arrival was made a bit more exciting by being in the wrong lane on I 10 and getting off at the exit to the Mercedes SuperDome. As I had obsessed over the maps of the French Quarter for quite some time, I felt that we could just hunt and peck our way over to the hotel.

It took a bit of hunting and a bit of my wife pecking on the maps on her phone and we found our way to Canal Street and were only a couple blocks from Bourbon St. Just past Bourbon was Dauphine but that was One Way in the wrong direction, so one more block and then down a few blocks to Toulouse and we were able to pull into the valet parking area and get checked in.

Check In was very pleasant and efficient and before long we were in our room. More about that coming up soon, but first......

UP NEXT, our first views from our hotel of the area.

You will love Serenade. She is a wonderful ship. We were just on her over New Years and we called that cruise our perfect cruise. It was just a fantastic experience. We were in 1604, just down the hall from where you will be. I know that you will love your balcony. The view is amazing. If you can, do the murder mystery dinner. The story is a little corny, but the evening was fun and the food was delicious. That was our best meal of the week. I hope you have a great time.

Anne:)

Thanks Anne! I hope for a great time also. It is vacation, how could it be anything else, right?!!:)

As we checked in, the desk clerk (Jenn) said, "Ooh, you have my favorite room in the entire hotel." I inquired as to the reason it was her favorite and she told me that I would see once we got into the room.

Off we went and into the room we scurried. The room is quite nice. BUT it is the balcony that makes it. It was a CORNER room and that meant......

Looking forward to our corner aft on Serenade, we are definitely treated and have enjoyed our corner hotel balcony each day so far. It is huge.

I will have a few pictures in the daylight coming up in the overview of our first day in NOLA later. Here are some first views off our Corner Balcony:)

Looking toward Bourbon St. which is the first block from the hotel.

Looking the opposite direction down Toulouse toward I 10 just a few blocks away, but you cannot hear the interstate traffic.

Street view of our room & balcony from the opposite corner of Toulouse & Dauphine. Note the upright wrought iron bars on the left and then to the right and you will get a sense of the vastness of that particular street balcony.

Coming back into the hotel from taking the previous picture, I had to check out the garden courtyard and found that the pool, while small, is absolutely beautiful at night!!

In the Jimmy Buffet tune "Tin Cup Chalice" there is a phase, "Give me oysters and beer For dinner any day of the year. And I'll feel fine.", that was going to be the theme of our evening repast. We did not wish to have full dining experience as we had that planned for Thursday evening at the Commanders Palace.

Once again, Jenn at the desk came through. She made several recommendations to us: the Royal House oyster bar, Acme Oyster House, and Felix's.

The Royal House was very close. We needed a stretch and walk down Bourbon about 4 blocks to the Acme Oyster House. There was a line out into the street that appeared to be about an hour wait. We chose not to wait that long.

Felix's is just across the street from Acme (Jenn said it is where a lot of local folks go) it was full and looked like it might be wanting to close down for the evening. So off to the Royal House we ventured.

We ordered a dozen raw oysters on the half shell and a sampler appetizer of Oysters Rockefeller and Royal House Oysters (a house specialty). The beverage selection was beer, of course. But not just any beer would do! We enjoy sampling local brews and our server told us of Abita which is made locally. So we both ordered Abita Amber and it also accomplished its mission of quenching our thirst!

 

 

The oysters on the half shell were so satisfying as was the Abita, that we had another round of both!

It seemed appropriate to have some more oysters and beer since it really was just any day of the year.:)

And we really did feel fine!

We returned to the Corner Balcony at the Hotel St. Marie and I enjoyed a fine cigar and a nightcap of scotch while Barbara enjoyed a glass of wine.

Next: Uploading pictures - Hotel Comments & Picture - Our first day in the Quarter.

Enjoy & God Bless!

Your pictures are amazing. Very cool balcony. I don't know what your plans are for today, but if you have a chance, the WW II museum is a very interesting place to visit, as is the Aquarium. Since you are in the Quarter, I recommend lunch at Central Grocery on Decatur. That place is the home of the muffaletta. That is a sandwich made of ham,salami,cheese and olive salad. A half sandwich with some chips and Barq's root beer will fill up two people easily. If that isn't your thing, there are many restaurants that serve amazing gumbos, perfect for a rainy day (I think rain is in the forecast there today). Also, if you collect Christmas ornaments, there is a little Christmas shop (sorry I don't remember the name) on Royal near the Court of Two Sisters Restaurant that is absolutely charming. Have a great day!

Anne:)

Your pictures are amazing. Very cool balcony. I don't know what your plans are for today, but if you have a chance, the WW II museum is a very interesting place to visit, as is the Aquarium. Since you are in the Quarter, I recommend lunch at Central Grocery on Decatur. That place is the home of the muffaletta. That is a sandwich made of ham,salami,cheese and olive salad. A half sandwich with some chips and Barq's root beer will fill up two people easily. If that isn't your thing, there are many restaurants that serve amazing gumbos, perfect for a rainy day (I think rain is in the forecast there today). Also, if you collect Christmas ornaments, there is a little Christmas shop (sorry I don't remember the name) on Royal near the Court of Two Sisters Restaurant that is absolutely charming. Have a great day!

Anne:)

Hey, thanks for the recommendation. I would love the WW II Museum, but my wife would not enjoy it as long as me. I am not sure what today might bring as it is to be a bit rainy. It was a downpour last evening.

Muffaletta! Heaven in your hand! We in fact had one yesterday on our walk around.

We looked at on Christmas shop down on Decatur. We will have to check out the one on Royal then. That will be fun. We purchased two ornaments yesterday.

Our first day was beautiful in the morning with rain in the forecast and heavy rain in the afternoon into the evening. The forecaster hit it all on the head.

Our morning was wonderful to walk the streets and take in some sights. An overview of the day was a walk toward Cafe Dumonde. On the way, we ventured into the St. Louis Cathedral next to Jackson Square. Before we left, I needed to venture to the vehicle in the parking garage and came across an interestingly decorated car.

Here is a day view of the second floor corner balcony that we have enjoyed.

I monitored TripAdvisor extensively on this hotel before our arrival. I had some concerns as the reviews are either glowing or horrid. I have to say that, while there are some rough edges: the room is very clean and pleasant. I have no regrets of staying here whatsoever. The staff is more than helpful and friendly. Often the staff had been reviewed as being very unfriendly. I believe that is because the reviewer failed to engage them pleasantly. Everyone we have had contact with is very pleasant and helpful. I have failed to see them without a smile on their faces. I recommend the Hotel St. Marie for stay in a historic setting.

More will follow later in the day. We had some connection outage at the hotel on the wifi which delayed some of my posting. I believe that was due to the heavy rain of the last hours. But it is back and doing well.

It is time to venture out for some breakfast and greet the rainy day. Forecast is for rain ending at some point today.

Our first little walk of the day took us toward Jackson Square. It was an easy and brief stroll toward Jackson Square.

The first order of business was to take a quick "on our own" tour of St. Louis Cathedral. We have a propensity for visiting churches and admiring the architecture and spiritual symbolism.

We were in store for quite a treat upon entrance!

 

 

As Barbara is an organist at our congregation, we always take note of the organs in structures such as these. On top of that, we were treated to a mini recital as there was an individual practicing. It is a beautiful instrument.

There is sacred art galore. I was really taken with the high ceiling and its artwork, a sample of which is below.

What follows are brief notes lifted from Wikipedia as it was a bit more concise than the Cathedral's website.

The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, also called St. Louis Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Louis, Roi-de-France), (Spanish: Catedral de San Luis), is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and among the oldest cathedrals in the United States. The first church on the site was built in 1718; the third, built in 1789, was raised to cathedral rank in 1793. The cathedral was expanded and largely rebuilt in 1850, with little of the 1789 structure remaining.

Saint Louis Cathedral is in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, on the Place John Paul II (French: Place Jean-Paul II), a promenaded section of Chartres Street (rue de Chartres) that stretches one block between St. Peter Street (rue Saint-Pierre) on the upriver boundary and St. Ann Street (rue Sainte-Anne) on the downriver boundary. It is located next to Jackson Square and facing the Mississippi River in the heart of New Orleans, situated between the historic buildings of the Cabildo and the Presbytère.

It was just a momentary walk from the Cathedral toward Cafe du Monde. It was time for a beignet break and a sip of coffee. Seating was ample at that particular time and we were waited upon very quickly. Soon we were enjoying our beignets and coffee!

In addition to the goodies, we also observed some street performers. The music by the brass ensemble was very good!

 

We were enjoying spending our time waiting on Serenade of the Seas to make here way to port on Saturday by trying to see as much as we could.

We walked down to the river side of Jackson Square. We climbed the stairs and took a couple shots of Jackson Square followed by walking across the Streetcar tracks to behold the river itself.

Again, the Cathedral continues to impress as the backdrop to the square.

 

 

Our attention was quickly turned toward the river. It also is an impressive sight coming from southwest Kansas where, in fact, the Arkansas River is dry for quite a distance before feeder streams begin putting water back into it again. There was a barge going by and some other ships in the distance.

I wonder if I will be awake to observe the arrival of Serenade on Saturday morning.

Not far from the river side of Jackson Square, one can observe the cruise ship terminals before the bridge. I KNOW that I will be running down to get photos of the two ships that will be making the turn on Saturday.

Next up: On to the French Market

Returning to Decatur St. we turned toward the French Market. Of course, we did some window shopping along the way, stopping at a venue or two.

We came across a gilded stature of Joan of Arc which France gifted to the City of New Orleans. Following is a tidbit of information of this beautiful landmark.

Visitors strolling down Decatur Street toward the French Market are sure to notice the statue of Joan of Arc that rises above the tiny New Place de France Park at the intersection of Decatur and St. Philip Streets. The people of France gifted this golden bronze statue of Joan of Arc riding her horse and carrying a flag to the city of New Orleans. The statue serves as the ending point for the annual Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc parade that strolls through the French Quarter each year on Twelfth Night to honor the Maid of Orleans's birthday.

Shortly, we were upon the entrance to the French Market. It occupies a historic part of the French Quarter also. Founded in 1791, New Orleans' French Market is the oldest public market in the country. There are some fun food vendors inside and the rest is pretty much flee market oriented type of action.

 

 

Here are a couple various street scenes of the area with is apart from the Bourbon St. area.

 

 

Looking toward Bourbon St. which is the first block from the hotel.

 

 

Half a block down on the right side of your picture is the Four Seasons Sheraton where we will be staying for our Feb 28 cruise on the Serenade. Looking forward to the rest of your review. And those beignets look delicious :)

Half a block down on the right side of your picture is the Four Seasons Sheraton where we will be staying for our Feb 28 cruise on the Serenade. Looking forward to the rest of your review. And those beignets look delicious :)

Indeed it is!!! It looks very nice inside. We gave it consideration before finally oping for St Marie. Thanks for coming on board.

As a side note....accept my apologies for some delays in posting. The Internet connection is being very persnickety today. I am almost looking forward to the ship wifi today!

On my playlist for the cruise is the two volume "Meet Me in Margaritaville: The Ultimate Collection" so it seemed right that somehow in some mysterious way we ended up at Margaritaville.

It is just a very fun venue for us. The food is not the focus, but just that we were there. I was disappointed to find out we missed the recording of the broadcast done over the Sirius/XM Margaritaville station on Friday afternoons. It gets recorded at various times and weeks and not necessarily on Friday afternoons.

Regardless, we enjoyed a loaded Landshark. Loaded means it has a tequila shot along with the lager and lime. In fact, we enjoyed a couple and one to go.

The colors are very bright. We ordered the spicy crawfish dip. It was not spicy and in fact tasted like a quest dip with crawfish stirred into it. I do know there are many who are not fond of the venue, but it is a kick in the pants coming from where I do and I enjoy the music variety.

A few shots from there: plus what is my new air guitar as it is hung in the air from the ceiling.

 



 



 



 

 

You will love Serenade. She is a wonderful ship. We were just on her over New Years and we called that cruise our perfect cruise. It was just a fantastic experience. We were in 1604, just down the hall from where you will be. I know that you will love your balcony. The view is amazing. If you can, do the murder mystery dinner. The story is a little corny, but the evening was fun and the food was delicious. That was our best meal of the week. I hope you have a great time.

Anne:)

Not meaning to hi-jack but want to know what they serve at the Mystery Dinner theater. We did this on Explorer, but they used Portofinos and now Serenade has Giovannis.

I am enjoying this review and look forward to our Serenade cruise next year.

We made an afternoon trip to the Garden District on the St. Charles Line to inspect The Commander's Palace in person and confirm our evening reservations.

The Streetcar ride was very full both going to the Garden District and coming back. They do not make very good time. Unless one is just determined to be on the streetcar for uniqueness sake, a taxi is a good way to go. Taxi cost was around $8 from our location.

I made note that in case the dining was so fine Thursday evening at Commander's Palace that I might feel I had died and gone to heaven that the facilities for the dead were conveniently located across the street at Lafayette Cemetery #1.

We had heard that it may not be the safest thing to tour the cemeteries on your own, but there were quite a number of people touring and we stayed pretty much on the main paths and entered into this historic graveyard.

 

Cemeteries can be rather interesting to wander through. This one is no different. We saw a place where an infant died at the age of 1 day due to Yellow Fever as did the mother on the same day and the father dying the next day all due to Yellow Fever as stated on the crypt.

While I wanted to go to St. Louis Cemetery #1 so I could sing the Bobby Bare tune about Marie Laveaux, this cemetery visit would suffice.

I share some random shots that were of interest.

 



 



 

I realized I had forgotten to include the Commander's Palace menu that we enjoyed.

The dinner was absolutely to "die for!" Yet, the Lord preserves both of us on this side of heaven. Thankfully so, because Serenade is in tomorrow.

We both did the "Tasting Menu" called the Chef's Playground. There is a requirement that everyone at the table does the tasting menu. It was much fun for us and every course was simple exquisite!

We did not do the wine pairing, though it would have been fun. We will be doing that at the Chef's Table on Serenade on the first and second leg, so it was not so necessary to do that at this time for us.

On Friday, we did our own walking tour on which we purchased items for our grandkids, a repeat of the earlier cigar. Dining was breakfast at the Old Coffee Pot a block and a half away. I enjoyed the Rockefeller Omelette and Barbara enjoyed Crab Cakes Jonathan. We wandered, window shopped, enjoyed each other's company and the architecture.

We happened past Saints and Sinners where a crawfish boil was taking place. So we enjoyed 1 1/2 pounds of Mud Bugs with a couple Abita Ambers. Then it was off to wander some more where we picked up some other gifts and it was time to dine once again.

There was an even longer line at the Acme Oyster House so we checked out Deanies Seafood, but elected to pass. It seemed really nice but just a bit more formal that we were in the mood for at that time. So back to Felix's we went where there was also a line, but it moved quickly.

We tasted Blackened Alligator and it was quite enjoyable. We shared a dozen oysters on the half shell and then the turtle soup.

I was clicking through the checklist of foods I wanted to enjoy on the pre-cruise days.

Crawfish Boil - CHECK!

Turtle Soup - CHECK!

Alligator - CHECK!

Oysters - CHECK! time after time!!!!

Only the oyster Po Boy was left. We enjoyed that at the Royal House oyster bar with yes, another dozen of oysters. CHECK!!!

We walked up to the Maison Bourbon and enjoyed a 45 minute set of jazz music. It amazes me how many people attempt to video when a rather pointed sign is in plain sight thus causing the trumpeter to interrupt the music to tell them not to. I guess they think it is not too obvious to hold up a smart phone at head height and arms length and may just get away with it.

Time for some rest and quietness to be ready to enjoy the beautiful Serenade of the Seas at embarkation and beyond tomorrow.

Enjoying your pictures. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Enjoying your pictures. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Thank you! I am glad that you are as I enjoy doing them!

Not meaning to hi-jack but want to know what they serve at the Mystery Dinner theater. We did this on Explorer, but they used Portofinos and now Serenade has Giovannis.

 

I am enjoying this review and look forward to our Serenade cruise next year.

The Murder Mystery theater was on New Year's Eve. I don't know if the menu is different on other sailings. Essentially, there were 3 courses. First, we were served bread which was delicious. Then, we were given a choice of soup or salad. We selected a salad which was very good. One of our table partners chose the soup (cream of pumpkin) which he said was very good. For the entree, we were given a choice of shrimp or steak. We chose the shrimp which was broiled and served with seasonal vegetables. It was delicious. The steak looked amazing and everyone who ordered it said how good it tasted. For dessert, there was a choice of tiramisu and something else. The cost was $55.00 per person and wine was included. Service at times was a little slow, but that was probably because there was a snafu with the bookings and I think that more people than usual attended. We had originally booked Giovanni's just for New Year's Eve. They called us on Sunday night and told us that our reservation was cancelled because of the Murder Mystery theater which they said was full. We talked to the maitre'd who worked us in. As I said, the whole show was a little corny, but entertaining. The food was delicious and there was lots and lots of wine. It was, by far, the best meal that we had on the ship the entire week. Hope this helps.

Anne:)

Your day in New Orleans looked amazing. The pictures are fantastic. It is almost like I'm getting to cruise all over again:D.

Anne:)

Suitecruiser106- Yes, the info was what I was looking for. The menu is similar if not the same as on Explorer. I hope they offer it on our cruise.