Caribbean Princess out of Houston Review Nov 9-16

[caribill]

once we tried to find that sun deck above the bridge. I thought by the deck plans it was on Deck 14, but it is actually Deck 15. When we got all the way to the front, the doorway was closed off on the starboard side. So we went to the port side, and that doorway was accessible, but the door was locked.

 

Did you try to do this when the ship was in port or was sailing? This area is not available unless the ship is in port.

[caribill]

Balconies/rain

When it rained hard, the balconies below us got flooded. I think these were Caribe and Dolphin deck? The ones that stick out more. I'm glad we didn't get those Decks bc not only do you not have privacy (upper decks can see down upon you) but the rain/flooding issue.

 

The reason you can see down onto those balconies is because they are larger and thus extend out further.

 

Princess took care of this on the Royal by giving small balconies to almost everyone. You can no longer look down and see other people's balconies on that ship.

 

I bet most people would be willing to have larger balconies on the Royal even if it meant others could look down upon them.

[whataboutport]

Did you try to do this when the ship was in port or was sailing? This area is not available unless the ship is in port.

We were still docked. I think it was Roatan day, when we got back on a bit early.

 

The reason you can see down onto those balconies is because they are larger and thus extend out further.

 

Princess took care of this on the Royal by giving small balconies to almost everyone. You can no longer look down and see other people's balconies on that ship.

 

I bet most people would be willing to have larger balconies on the Royal even if it meant others could look down upon them.

I have not had a larger than usual balcony before, but I've felt the regular sized balcony is just fine. Personally I would prefer the normal sized balcony over loss of privacy. Even when our neighbors are on their balcony I don't like to be out on mine.

[whataboutport]

After a mini cont. breakfast to tide us over until we had a decent meal, we headed back over the river into the city. Now in the daylight I could see there were two cruise ships at the NOLA dock, a Carnival ship and an NCL ship.

 

 

Here you can see a peek of a whale tail.

 

This was Sunday, and I noticed that the next day Mon, the Carnival ship was still there, which I thought was weird.

 

Anyway, we headed over to this cafe called the New Orleans Cake Cafe & Bakery in the Marigny area. I looked it up on Yelp and it had good reviews, esp the crab sandwich. So we got that for $11 and an order of shrimp and grits for $9 plus $2 for two eggs. Also we got their fried potato salad balls, three balls for $3.

 

 

 

The crab sandwich was served on challah bread with bacon, spinach, and brie. Well it tasted more like a bacon and brie sandwich. Those two were much too overpowering for the crab. The brie was cut about 1/4" thick. I tasted some crab by itself and it didn't have a very strong sweet crab flavor. Some on Yelp complained the crab was fishy, I could barely taste it.

 

The shrimp and grits were ok, but the shrimp were small and pretty salty. I noticed most the shrimp served around NOLA was all about this size. The best of this meal was the fried potato salad balls.

 

So after tax and tip this meal was about $30. Pretty pricey for a place that's rated one $ out of $$$$. The other customers all looked like they were homeless or hippies. Don't understand how they could afford to eat there. So, so far two overpriced mediocre meals in NOLA. This was not looking good.

 

We signed up for a Free Tours on Foot of the French Quarter at 2pm so we headed over after lunch. I found the tour guide very long winded, and bf's eyes were glazing over within half an hour. So we left the group and did our own thing. FQ is actually pretty small and very walkable, no hills.

 

 

 

There are a lot of interesting buildings. The pharmacy museum had really cool showcases in there, but they were closed on Sun. Actually a lot of places that are not restaurants and bars are closed on Sun and Mon. Even a few restaurants in the FQ are closed on Sun.

Edited November 25, 2013 by whataboutport

[whataboutport]

The thing I did like about NOLA is they are very pet friendly. I saw a lot of people walking their dogs, eating al fresco w their dogs, and a lot of shops had shop dogs and shop cats.

 

 

This guy was sitting on a showcase in an art gallery shop. He was very friendly. Whenever I tried to pet him goodbye he would grab my hand with his razor sharp claw laden paw and make me continue to pet him.

 

We wandered into the French Market.

 

It's half "farmer's market" half "swap meet". One side has food for sale at small booth sized restaurants, the other half sold Made in China souveniers. We bought a shot glass.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the shops. There are a lot of art galleries here, so if that's your thing, you can spend a lot of time looking at all the art. Apparently if you buy locally produced art in NOLA you don't have to pay tax. We wandered into this antique shop with a lot of brightly colored hand painted signs. We saw the artist working and looked around, but didn't really pay much attention to what he was doing (not our style), but after we left, we started noticed his signs all over the city. Lots of shops bought signs from him, like "Open" signs, etc. Then I even saw a billboard for the local news was done by him. I think his name was Simon.

 

I loved this building.

 

This place Napoleon looked burned out and abandoned, but it was just closed for the day.

Edited November 25, 2013 by whataboutport

[whataboutport]

We went to breakfast at this place call Milk Bar in the Touro neighborhood, near the Garden Dist, however they serve sandwiches; it's not a milk bar. It's cow themed and very cute. From the pics on Yelp I was almost certain it was Asian owned from the kawaii overload of the place, but when we got there, nope, no Asians. No biggie. From the reviews online, the thing to get was the Shrimply the Best and the Thai Chili Lamb sandwiches.

 

 

 

The Shrimp had pesto and lots and lots of cheese. The bread was perfect, almost like pizza crust. I actually liked this one, so I decided to try the lamb, in case I didn't like it, at least I could have my last bite to be of the one I like. Well the lamb meat was good, but the sauce was WAY too sweet. The sauce ruined the whole sandwich, bc the lamb was very tender, the bread was crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. But this sauce, wow. It was like teriyaki sauce with extra sugar on top. I don't know why so many places make "thai" sauce so sweet. Thai food isn't really sweet. So I went back to the shrimp, and now in comparison, the shrimp was now bland. I noticed a lot of the food in NOLA was overly sweet. Maybe it's a southern thing. I don't know.

 

So after mediocre meal #3 we went to Lafayette Cemetery #1. I love old cemeteries, so this was right up my alley. It was a rainy day too, so perfect day for taking pics in a cemetery. I learned that all these tombs are above ground bc of the risk of floods. The bodies are not embalmed but wrapped in linen and put in the tombs. They seal them up and are not allowed to open them up for one year and one day. During this time the temp inside can get upwards of 300+ degrees and basically cremates the bodies. So if another family member died, they would open up the tomb, push the bones and ashes towards the back so they fall down into a pit, and put the new body in. One of those tombs could hold hundreds of family members! Some of the tombstones I saw dates from the late 1700s!

 

 

 

 

[whataboutport]

 

 

After we had enough to being around dead people, we went for a drive down St Charles to see all the mansions. Some of them are ginormous! You can take the St Charles street car from the FQ all the way thru the Garden Dist to Carrollton/Uptown. There is a gated neighborhoos called Audubon Place that made all the other mansions look puny. I could not wrap my head around people that rich living in houses that big.

 

This is the guard gate to the place.

 

Tree lines streets just gorgeous.

 

 

[whataboutport]

Did I lose everyone? Anyone still interested in the last day? Any other questions about the cruise itself?

[kellor]

You didn't lose us! Keep going please! I have really enjoyed this review and your pictures. Thank you, thank you, thank you~ Lori

[Liz54]

We are all still here. Enjoying your review!!

[whataboutport]

Ok great! I thought I was just talking to myself. I will finish up the rest of NOLA tomorrow! :)

[ASeaPrincess1]

Ok great! I thought I was just talking to myself. I will finish up the rest of NOLA tomorrow! :)

I'm still here, too!

Loving your NOLA pictures as well.:D

[sminfiddle]

It gets a good amount of cargo business weekdays; each time I've driven down they are loading or unloading a cargo ship.

 

Another day, another cargo ship.

They look so small compared with the cruise ships.

 

[whataboutport]

Sometime between Mon night and Tue morning we ate at two other places but I don't have pics. These places were actually pretty good, and both are open 24/7. Verti Marte in the FQ. The potato salad was really really good. Potatos were not gummy at all, right ratio of mayo/mustard. Their sandwiches are served either on a roll po boy style or on a bun for a few bucks less. We also got two Newcastles there. The food was good, however, I think they overcharged my be about $10. Total came out to $34, how was that possible? Two sandwiches, two beers and a potato salad. I should have said something.

 

Later we ate at the only other 24/7 place that wasn't in a bar, Cleo (mediterranean) in the CBD. Very easy to get too, right off the fwy on O'Keefe. Like Verti Marte, they are part cafe, part convenience store, also Cleo actually has places to sit, and they don't overcharge you. We got a combo kabob plate w gyro and beef, and a lamb pita sandwich. Less than $20 for that, now that's better! The meat was decent, not the best I've had, but at midnight, it'll do just fine. Only thing is they don't have toum (garlic sauce) but they did have tahini. Sorry no pics of either of these places, but this place is very clean and bright, and not in a sketchy part of town.

 

Next day, we really didn't do much. To be honest, we were ready to go home a few days ago already. We did pretty much everything on our list except a plantation visit. Bf wasn't too keen on the idea in the first place and I didn't want to force him. Plus it was an hour or so drive, plus $20 each admission, and the eek! guided tour! So basically we did more antiquing that day.

 

First tho, time for another mediocre meal. We were really craving some Asian food now, so we found Lilly's Cafe (Lower Garden Dist) on Yelp that had great reviews. We looked at some other places, but this place seemed the most highly rated, and was owned and run for the most part by Vietnamese people. I can tell you this place is still geared towards non Asians. The prices are a lot higher than what we are used to paying for pho. $9 for a pho dac biet (combo pho), $4.55 for two tiny Summer rolls, $6 for crab rangoon. We were gonna get a cafe sua da (ice coffee) but it was $4! And we were gonna get a banh mi but it was $5.25 ($5.75 for beef) and $1 for adding an egg. Remember I mentioned my fave place in Little Saigon, 3 for $5.50? So about $20 for a bowl of pho and two apps.

 

 

So the food was edible but overpriced, but the pho broth was very salty and lacked the deep beefy flavor. Also they do not have tendon at this place, which is my fave cut of meat in pho. =( The rolls were the smallest I have ever seen, and usually you get two large ones that fit three halves of shrimp. These only fit two. So that's only ONE shrimp per roll. Break that down and that's over $2 for one shrimp and some lettuce.

 

After eating we continued to walk down Magazine St and checked out some antique shops. There wasn't anything we loved, and even the stuff we were interested in, we've seen locally and on eBay for cheaper. Plus we'd have to have it shipped back to CA so we didn't get anything.

 

Once we got hungry a few hours later, we decided to try Mother's. We drove by this place the other day and the line was about 10 people deep out the door. Since it was only about 4pm, there was no line now. For the line to be out the door, there's another about 20 people waiting inside! So we got their "famous" Ferdi po boy which is roast beef with ham. Dry and flavorless. To make it edible we asked for more mayo and mustard, and I doused it with their chili vinegar (which was not spicy btw) and hot sauce.

 

 

We also got a seafood gumbo which was $8.25 for a small cup; the size you'd usually get a clam chowder for, and there was only shrimp inside, no other seafood. This was also bland.

 

 

The only saving factor to this place was the woman who brought us our food. She was very friendly and had great energy. When we asked for pickles, mayo and mustard, she gave us mayo, two types of mustard, and a mound of pickles. She had a great smile and was friendly with everyone she was serving. The lady at the front counter was another story. We asked for another Coke bc when we got a refill from the back it was completely flat. She made it seem like we were totally inconveniencing her.

 

Late bf told me that there's a sign in the front that says not to leave tips for the servers. :eek: What? Why? I left our lady a few bucks and she seemed appreciative. I hope they pay their employees enough to not have to depend on tips.

 

Up next: more dead people

[Bimmer09]

Excellent food porn! Never been to NOLA but will someday no doubt.I have no interest in the Mardi Gras debauchery but it looks like an interesting city. Food-wise I know I could be happy there (the current Top Chef contest is filming there)

 

I am sailing on the CB in January-if we are not trapped in port by the wind or the fog or the plague of locusts that is sure to hit this unlucky port at some point (LOL)

 

Thanks for sharing and taking so many good photos!

 

Norris

[HBINLA]

This probably sounds like a stupid question, but does the Promenade (or other deck) have the "old world" dark wooden slatted lounge chairs? Surprisingly, some ships don't (like the Golden) and some ships do (like the Island).

Thanks for indulging me!

[whataboutport]

Excellent food porn! Never been to NOLA but will someday no doubt.I have no interest in the Mardi Gras debauchery but it looks like an interesting city. Food-wise I know I could be happy there (the current Top Chef contest is filming there)

 

I am sailing on the CB in January-if we are not trapped in port by the wind or the fog or the plague of locusts that is sure to hit this unlucky port at some point (LOL)

 

Thanks for sharing and taking so many good photos!

 

Norris

No prob! Yea I would not recommend going to NOLA during Mardi Gras. It's hard enough to find parking in the FQ I cannot imagine what it's like during MG. I'm sure there is great food at the fancy places, but we just could not swing it this time, esp at the tail end of a cruise! No money left!

 

Hope you have a great cruise and no major issues.

 

BTW, your screen name; are you a Bimmer enthusiast? Bf has a few now, has always liked them.

[whataboutport]

This probably sounds like a stupid question, but does the Promenade (or other deck) have the "old world" dark wooden slatted lounge chairs? Surprisingly, some ships don't (like the Golden) and some ships do (like the Island).

Thanks for indulging me!

I only went out on the Promenade deck a few times, and if I recall correctly, yes they do have the wooden chairs and benches out there. I don't remember which side, but one side of the Promenade deck (the side where there aren't the life boats in the way) gets a lot more splashback than the other side, and it can get slippery. I was wearing my flop flips and slipped a few times, so I ended up walking it barefoot.

 

BTW I love your avatar. I love dogs. Is he a Bichon or Coton de Tulear? I can't tell bc the pic is so small.

Edited November 27, 2013 by whataboutport

[whataboutport]

By now we were flat broke. I mean we had our credit cards, but all our cash was spent, and I'm not gonna lie, kinda bummed we spent so much money on bleh food and parking. So we were driving around looking for something free to do. We went over to the City Park, went to the sculpture garden. It was free.

 

 

I really liked this spider. Looks like he's squashing "Love" lol.

 

 

 

There was also a Storybook Land for kids and a Botanical Garden. We love plants, but it wasn't free to get in, and it looked like they were setting up for an event of some kind, so we decided not to go in. This area is also right next to the NOMA (museum of art), so if anyone is interested in that, you'd probably spend a whole day there.

 

So after killing about 20 mins, now what? We drove around again, and woulnd up at St Louis Cemetery #1. We had yet to hit this one, and I knew the Marie Laveau tomb was here. This cemetery has a lot larger tombs, but I really liked the trees in the Lafayette cemetery. And it was free.

 

 

Edited November 27, 2013 by whataboutport

[whataboutport]

I also knew that supposedly Nicolas Cage has a future tomb here. It was pretty easy to find. It's shaped like a pyramid.

 

 

Then we came upon this tomb covered in XXXs.

 

Was this the Marie Laveau tomb? No tombstone on it, but the XXXs all over it, it had to be it. After walking a bit more then we stumbled on this.

 

Hmm, another one but still no tombstone? Which one was it? NOLA is a city with a ton of ghost stories and urban legends, so perhaps there are a few supposed sites of where Marie Laveau's final resting place is. After walking around some more, we saw yet another one!

 

 

This one had a plaque.

 

It was at this point we ran into a man who claimed he was the maintenance man and was talking to some people. He was talking about the debate on ML's final resting place and more specifically the plaque on this one. You'll notice it's mounted very low. In order to read it, you must stoop down; exactly what I did. He said it was purposely mounted there bc when you stand up, the first thing you see is the tomb of NOLA's first black mayor. You can see his tomb to the left of ML's in this pic, and a plaque curiously mounted on the side of the tomb, where you would naturally look once you stood up.

 

He said at the time of his death, supposedly he was in the act of cheating on his wife, and suffered a fatal heart attack. Well long story short, he did a lot of good for the city of NOLA that his family didn't want people to forget the good over the bad of how and when he died. So they had that plaque put there stating all the good things he's done, and was buried next to ML, which is one of the most visited gravesites in the world (according to the maintenance man) only after Elvis and Jim Morrison; so that people visiting ML would also see his. True? Who knows, but this guy was a really great storyteller so we stuck around.

[whataboutport]

So I asked him, is this where ML was really buried? He said he has been told by psychics who have visited there and that none of them have felt a presence at the third tomb. All of them said they felt it at the second one. That, plus Mr Maintenance Man said his mother told him the same when he was 7 years old, so no arguing with his mother!

 

We continued along with him and as we walked past the Nic Cage tomb, he said that he actually saw Nic Cage there once and asked him about it. Turns out the movie studios had that tomb made for National Treasure 3 and no he is not going to be buried there. So when the movie comes out, we will know if it's true or not if it makes an appearance in the film. But you guys will have to tell me, bc I am not planning on watching it. Sorry, not really a fan.

 

Mr MM then took us by the "Easy Rider" tomb.

 

I thought it was curious that the statues had no heads.

 

He said it was done purposely, that it represents everyone and no one at the same time. He also said in the movie, there are heads on the statue. This tomb was gigantic, and I thought it was for rich people to be buried there, but he said it was actually for the poor. Don't know how that works. But he said when it was constructed in the 1800s(?) it was made in Italy and cost $40,000 at the time. Wonder how much that translates to now?

 

There were a few other interesting tombs he took us to. Earlier he explained to us how the bodies were not embalmed nor put in caskets. He showed us this one tomb and there were some loose bricks on the front. He removed them.

 

He said before this tomb was supposed empty. Well not empty, but just with ashes and bones. Then he told us to get out our cameras and turn on the flash and he took some pics for us.

 

 

That's definitely a casket. He said that people were saying this particular tomb was a portal to the other side, and apparently it works both ways bc that casket didn't come in from this side! They don't use caskets in this type of cemetery with above ground burials.

 

He then took us to another tomb that also had loose bricks in front and told us to get out our cameras.

 

You can see bones in the back. He said this tomb had been struck by lightening several times.

Edited November 27, 2013 by whataboutport

[whataboutport]

He also pointed out this tomb, that supposedly the Lestat character from Interview with the Vampire is based on. This guy was a vampire? Well at least one of the guys in there. By looking at the stone, there's a bunch of people in there!

 

The tomb has the badge on it that all vampires wear around their neck, so must be true!

 

This tomb had a very funny story, but again, who knows if there's any truth to it.

 

Mr MM said this was some rich guy's second wife (Ok I don't remember who these people are). But his first wife died and was buried across from where this second wife is. When the husband died he was entombed next to his first wife. Second wife didn't like this. So when she died, she had her tomb placed across the way from the two of them, and in order to "keep an eye" on the two on them in the afterlife, her tomb was built up higher, and tilted to the left so she could see around another tomb that stood in the way between her and the husband and first wife. Also the relief carved onto Second Wife's tomb is of her relaxing on a chaise lounge, with Husband kneeling at her feet.

 

Last few random shots:

The big one is like tomb apartments. You rent those on a monthly basis, when the family tomb cannot yet be opened (before the one year and one day waiting period). That's where the dearly departed must stay until the family tomb can be opened.

 

 

 

 

After we were done, Mr MM said, well usually I charge $15 for the tour but today I'll just do $10 a person, how's that? Doh! I knew we weren't going to get away with not paying him a tip, but we were thinking more like $10 total. Oh well. He was very entertaining and a much better storyteller than the other guides that we ran into and I overheard (they were super boring!). The fact that bf didn't leave a few minutes in to it meant he was enjoying it. So we paid, thanked him and shook his hand. It was finally(!) time for us to head to the airport and go back home. We hadn't seen our furbutts in almost two weeks. Good thing NOLA is so pet friendly. We were able to pet some nice dogs and cats to tide us over till we got home.

 

Our flight was about 7:30 pm and when we got there, there was NO line at TSA. Don't know if that's normal or not but we were pleasantly surprised. Flight was packed to the gills but otherwise uneventful. The inflight movie was Grown Ups 2, and if you haven't seen it yet, don't.

 

Any other questions, let me know! That's about all I got! Thanks to those who followed me to the end. I know it was long.

 

Hope everyone has many great cruises planned in the near and far future, and may your tacos overflow with cabbage! =D

Edited November 27, 2013 by whataboutport

[ASeaPrincess1]

Thank you!

Great review. Now I know what I want to see and what I don't want to eat! :D

[caribill]

Thanks.

 

I really enjoyed your review from start to finish.

[HBINLA]

 

Thanks - that's Barney, our Bichon!