aggie182

We had a decent dinner then hung out a bit. Kids went to the arcade and the wife and I went to the adult arcade. The wife is having a hard time finding a drink she likes. She loves Alchemy Bar on carnival but nothing here is quite in that lane. Hopefully she’ll find something she likes before long. 

Current gambling tally:  -$50 ($25 min Pai Gow)

It’s go time!

Starting to deploy ducks!  We brought around 200 and 120 are St. Patty’s day themed. We get off on 3/17, so I figured it was fitting!

Holy narrow stateroom halls Batman!

We bought the arcade package in the arcade for the kids, they said go to guest services. Guest services has sent us to Headliners. We’ll see how it goes here!

I have my first beer at least!

We’re hanging in the room during that awkward pre-cruising too early to leave, not enough time to do something else, time period. We were told to be at valet at 11:15 for our 11:30 shuttle. 

The 12 year old is doing dances with her phone propped in the window while the 13 year old Makes fun of her in the background. 

22 hours ago, aggie182 said:

 

Stay tuned for tomorrow morning’s Hampton Inn toilet paper report!

 

 

I know most of you came back for the Hampton Inn toilet paper report so I won’t keep you waiting any longer. 
 

The toilet paper was essentially the same. The Marriott chain and Hilton chain appear to have the same supplier, or at least purchase the same grade of toilet paper. 
 

Hampton Inn does lose a few points for placement. Why do hotels put the toilet paper holders to where you have to turn over 90 degrees to get it from essentially behind you?  It reminds me of handing fries to a kid in the backseat of the car while

driving! I’m a big dude and I’m in there on business. I have no intent of doing special stretches to prepare myself for deploying toilet paper. Having a foot fall asleep while in there adds enough challenge to the situation!  Not complaining, just reporting facts!

The points they lost were immediately made up by their water pressure. Holy crap, I now know what the sidewalk feels like when I pressure wash it!  The water pressure was glorious and just shy of the threshold of pain!  I loved it. 

Man, I’m so ready to cruise. I’m already in a good place right now if toilet paper quality and placement is my biggest gripe! 
 

The plan this morning is to get everyone showered/pressure washed and ready and to pack the dirty clothes in to our “weekend” bag so we can leave it in the vehicle for the week. We’ll go get the car out of valet and head to the big Cafe DuMonde for breakfast before returning here for final prep!  Let’s go!!!  We have 11:30-12 check in and a 11:30 appt for the shuttle. 
 

One last note…the autocorrect on here is not the same as my iPhone so it doesn’t “know me” yet. Please please please forgive my combination of fat thumbs, horrible spelling, and haste when posting! 

I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!

Bit closer here. 

Welcome back!

Thanks for taking us along for the ride. I caught the tail end of the Carnival Ship before it disappeared behind the convention center from our room at the Hampton Inn. Hoping to see y’all make the last turn before going to jump in the shower. 

1 minute ago, L1211 said:

Enjoy your vacay with your family!  I long for those swim meet, weekend volleyball tournament days!  They grow up fast. 

I hear you. In the stress of it all, it’s rough! We also frequently say that we know we’ll miss it soon!

In the words of Willie Nelson. On the road again. New Orleans bound!

I booked the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Natchitoches for last night, free with points from some work trips. We rolled in at 10:30p and checked in quickly. The room was big and plenty clean. The front desk lady was very nice and we were in the room less than 5 minutes after parking. 
 

One nice thing about staying in hotels a night or 2 before cruises….you get to ease in to the cruise ship 1-ply! Going straight from charmin ultra strong to cruise ship 1 ply can be a difficult and quick transition! Having the step in the middle of hotel level 1-ply better prepares you for the cruise ship 1-ply. Baby steps folks, baby steps!
 

Stay tuned for tomorrow morning’s Hampton Inn toilet paper report!
 

8 minutes ago, Nilbog said:

Glad we're waiting until she's in Miami on May 8th.  Don't need that Texas traffic...

It was rough, with the weather adding to it. What should have been around 4.5 hours + stops took us ~6.5 hours, which included one stop at Bucees in Terrell which was about 20 minutes. 

Since traffic in Dallas wasn’t miserable enough, we decided to fight both human and vehicular traffic with a bucees stop. The parking lot and store are both packed!  Bucees is a road trip tradition unlike any other though!!

Traffic on IH20 south of Dallas sucks!

Traffic on IH20 south of Dallas sucks!

We're a family of 4 heading out on our first cruise on NCL over Spring Break.  I am 43, the wife is 41, and the kids are 13 (boy) and 12 (girl).  All of our cruising as a family of 4 has been on Carnival and my wife and I have a few other cruises on Princess.  We're looking forward to exploring what NCL has to offer!  The goal of this trip is to just get away, as a family.  Work for me has been wild this year and I have experienced some work-load led stress.  I need a week away, though I plan to check in daily and forward emails as needed.

The current travel plan is to pick the kids up from school and drive from there (SW of Fort Worth, TX) about 4.5 hours to Natchitoches, LA tonight.  Tomorrow morning, we'll head the rest of the way to NOLA where we're staying pre-cruise and leaving our vehicle for the week at the Hampton Inn near the port.  In New Orleans, we have no real pre-cruise plans other than breakfast at Cafe DuMonde Sunday morning.  Don't judge if you see me boarding the ship with powdered sugar all over my shirt!

Onboard, we have a few specialty dining meals reserved at Moderno and Cagneys.  Outside of that, we'll likely go to Manhattan, Savor, and Taste.  I like to eat as a family when we're on vacation.  Between soccer, band, church youth group, track, and other kid activities.....dinners at home and at the kitchen table, are extremely rare.  We paid to upgrade to Free at Sea Plus.  I am looking forward to lots of drinks, food, and fun.  I am hoping to spend some time at the tables in the casino and plenty of time at the bars and otherwise just relaxing.  We love cruising because the kids can have their fun in the kids club and the wife and I can hang out kid-free for a few hours at a time (again, with all of the above activities on top of work, that can be rare too!).

Currently we have a few excursions booked:

Cozumel - Playa Mia through NCL

Roatan - Sloths and Monkeys through NCL

Harvest Caye - Nothing booked, just planning to relax on the beach

Costa Maya - Maya Chan

I will apologize in advance for posting while intoxicated while on the trip, poor grammar and spelling, short posts, and the randomness that may appear in this thread.  I will do my best to post as often as I can without making it feel like work!

How was the water clarity at Harvest Caye?  I am contemplating on packing my snorkeling gear.

Following along.  We're boarding the 10th!

Thanks for the review!