Constellation live: 2/10/24 - 2/22/24 12 Night New Orleans & The Caribbean (aka Mardi Gras Cruise)

[Lena11033]

Day 3 New Orleans

 

The day started off with a wicked storm coming down the Mississippi. I was on my balcony and it was pure fog and then lightning. So checked the weather app, oh tornado warning awesome. 
After a couple of hours it died down and the fog disappeared so went out on deck to get some photos and wow it was windy. 

 

 

 

 

After almost being blown away for pictures I headed for breakfast and tried the peach cobbler French toast which is really good. 

After breakfast I did a couple of laps walking to well hope it helps with the food and drink. But realistically I’m going to need a sugar and alcohol detox when I get home. 
 

I had an invite for helipad at 9:15 and I noticed we were close to New Orleans. I knew because I’ve been twice before so grabbed my things from the room and headed to Michael’s club for 9 and yeah they were already leaving. Either unplanned arriving earlier or someone messed up times. 

 

Up there we watched the guys below seem like they made a mess of it first the thinner line went under a truck then the main line slipped off twice. Most people grabbed drinks but I didn’t. Too early need water at that time of day. After pretty much everyone headed down waiting to be let off 

Which in itself was a challenge as the port had no signs so we got lost first. Once out of the port it was smooth as I knew how to get to the French quarter and walked with a couple from the uk showing them where they needed to go in the afternoon for their tour. 

 

After we split I went to the French market to do some shopping. I picked up a hurricane mixer so you just add alcohol to make a hurricane, a mask, Christmas ornament for Mike and a Mardi Gras wine glass for me. I skipped cafe du monde I didn’t want the wait as the line was long. 

I started walking back to canal street and met the UK couple so we headed to Lundi Gras to see some of the people from Zulu, listen to music and get lunch. As someone that’s lactose intolerant it’s always a game of Russian roulette at fairs so I went with seafood egg roll. It was a safer bet than well everything else.

 

 

After we headed to the river walk mall passing through all of Lundi gras events. I found a pet store so my boys have gifts.

 

 

Then I checked out a couple of other stores undecided if I wanted to spend the money I went back to the ship. On the way I stopped at fat Tuesdays for a daiquiri but the line was not worth staying so mine will have to do without the cup for his alcohol tree (until next trip). At the port boarding it was easy although they had to question what to do with my mixer drink. After a discussion with a few of them they let it slide because there is no alcohol in it. 

 

Back on board most people were off the ship so I enjoyed a quiet ship. After doing a call to mine and showing him the pool deck and my room I went to the martini bar. 

Now this is where one poor guy is trying to serve everyone. I waited quite a while with others to be served and because I happened to be next to them thought I had the same drink. Before I could tell him no he was off soi couldn’t correct it and I just took it or I’d be waiting another 10 mins for a drink. 

 

After my wrong drink I headed to the reflections lounge for trivia. This was not my category, musicals. Only ones I knew were rocky horror picture show, burlesque, sound of music and mamma Mia. Well the aperol spritz was good even if my knowledge wasn’t. 

Time to get ready for dinner. Again at luminae I had the scallop crisp, duck and hazelnut cake. 
Dinner was somewhat quiet I think a lot of people were out for parades or booked at restaurants. 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner I headed back to the martini bar (this time seems a bit better for getting drinks and now there was more than one server) after having a drink and chatting to a couple from Scotland I headed back for more games. First one was half the room was one team and the other half another. You had categories once in the category there were tiles with a character on and the captain had to say the name of things that matched. So for alcohol category there would be a R so you’d say rum. Both team tied so each captain got a cap (which I ended up with). Second game was pub quiz I ended up joining a guy that was the captain previously and then another couple joined. Again we won that one after we stayed and chatted for about an hour before heading separate ways. 

 

 

 

[Lena11033]

I know I’m owing the last two days review. Today is a sea day so once I find out why I got logged out the app and can’t get back in (yes password is right) I’ll put together my thoughts 

[Lena11033]

Day 4 New Orleans

 

Today I had the excursion for the ship for Mardi Gras so I’d be with a group rather than alone. It had a meeting time of 8 am in the theatre so for breakfast I ordered room service. I did the 6-6:30 and the butler called shortly after 6 with it I have more thoughts on the food but the order wasn’t correct. I ordered English bacon and received American. Fine no bacon for me but the other thing was because of this I had ordered lactose free milk and there was no note on it so no idea if that was correct or not. 

 

After breakfast I got ready to go to the theatre the wait there wasn’t very long before we were o it on a packed bus to go to the parades. We got there around 8:15 I stayed until about 2pm. The parades weren’t done but I was so took the shuttle back to the ship. The parades were cold for reference I wore a tank top, long sleeve top, Canadian hoodie I bought when in Alberta, thermal leggings and hat and gloves and was still cold. The sun didn’t come out until close to 1pm. The ticket didn’t include food you’d have to go out of the parades to look for a street vender (I didn’t again I’m alone). They did provide hot drinks and king cake and access to the Blake hotel for the bathroom so you didn’t have to use a portable toilet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once back on the ship I headed to cafe al backup to get a coffee and a red velvet cake to keep me going. After I asked Penelope in the lounge to book me for Tuscan for the seafood lunch. 

Once my booking was done I headed to the reflections lounge to watch the games then take part in the trivia. I paired up with a couple of other people I had met on the cruise and we nailed the 80s music trivia we actually got 20 out of 20. For some reason Blue Monday by New Order and Faith by George Michael really stumped people. 
When trivia was over I headed back to my room to relax before dinner. I would have preferred outside but too cold. 

 

For dinner it was quiet I think again a lot of people were staying out. I had actually had two appetizers as I hadn’t had a full meal since breakfast French onion soup, crab cake followed by the hen and then chocolate cake (main dining). Following dinner it was my routine of martini bar again where I got chatting to an ex cop and his very rowdy friends. 
Next up was gameshow and trivia, for the trivia I was with the same people from earlier and again we won. I seem to do ok when there are movies and music. 
After I headed back to the room to call Mike who had decided to go bed early so I woke him up oops.  After I called it a day as I was exhausted and metal bleachers were a little hard on my body but I was not paying $800 for a balcony seat

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lena11033]

Day 5 New Orleans

 

Today wasn’t a full day in the city as we had to be on board for 2:30. I think the excursions today were like French quarter walk or swamp tour. Honestly French quarter is like 20 to 30 min walk from the ship and I’ve done the swamps before so opted to do my own thing. Before starting the day I do like to do some walking while it’s quieter. 
 

 

I started the day with a light breakfast in luminae as I knew I was going to eat out. Then headed out before the rush of people leaving for tours but in time for stores to be open. Once at the French market I went straight for the Christmas store before checking out other stores. I managed to talk myself out of spending a fortune. Then took a leisurely walk back to riverwalk outlets where I went to beach house to pick up two t shirts one for me and one for Mike. Then went to Cafe du Monde for coffee and beignets. I took the food to the food court as there is an outside seating area that faces the ship. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As much as I timed leaving I failed miserably coming back as the tours were all leaving so I was going against traffic coming on. 
I dropped off my items and changed before going to the pool deck and got talking to a guy who turns out lives ten mins down the road from me. Like his family live in the same subdivision as I do. 

After having a long chat I went to the buffet for lunch. Honestly I don’t think there was a lot of choose from. I regretted not staying in the city for lunch. They had small crab which didn’t have much meat when trying to open and one person was told to eat the shell but it was not a soft shell intact really hard. Also they had ‘crawfish étouffél’ I have no idea what it was supposed to be because it was not étouffé I’ve had that before which is like a sauce with rice. This was more like steamed or boiled with a sauce on top of the shell. 
 

After lunch I went to the deck to watch sail away which left on time but a little cold so a good chunk of us (like we packed it out) went to reflection lounge for games. One lady was on a table alone and was trying to keep all the seats and when someone asked if they could have a seat she stormed off complaining it was too crowded (the ship is almost sold out last I looked). 
 

 

I decided today to cell mike early so he wasn’t asleep so he was watching sailing down the Mississippi on FaceTime. Today I had an invitation for a senior officer event in Michaels club for 6pm so attended that for a little bit before dinner. 

Dinner started with a beetroot tartare, then lamb taco and the duck char sui (I don’t know if this is how it was supposed to be but tasted good). Now I wasn’t warned before dessert they were bringing madeleine and macarons out so dessert was a little much for just me. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner because it was later than normal I skipped martini bar (shocker) I headed to effy to collect a charm before the game shows. Tonight was yes/no followed by trivia. Trivia I played alone and well 12 out of 20 is not bad for just me. After I headed back to my room to sit outside and listen to the water as I was not attending Valentine’s Day events by myself. 
 

[calicakes]

I'm so, so sorry about the loss of your Bella.  I'm currently sitting on the sofa with my two standard poodle boys glued to my side. When you don't have children, animals become much more to you than "dogs".  

 

I'm living vicariously through you since we had to cancel our upcoming Edge cruise.  We should be leaving for Sydney on Monday, instead I'm dealing with insurance headaches and trying to recoup the money from cancelling 2 weeks before the cruise. PS: Make sure your travel insurance will cover your costs of trip cancellation.  I found out we only have 5k for our yearly policy.  I did pay for the cruise with our Chase card and that has insurance as well. 

 

Anyway, I was at our local dog park on Saturday when 2 large dogs( I think Labs) barreled into me from behind.  I never saw it coming.  I felt my leg twist behind me and my ankle break.  I was rushed to the ER, had in reduced( popped back into place) and then surgery that afternoon to repair the break( my tib/fib) is also broken.  Everywhere i look, I have things laid out for the trip.  Snacks, toiletries, packing cubes.  So, depressing. It was going to be our first Eclass cruise and I "won" a move up offer from Aqua to a suite. 

 

I hope memories of Bella are sweet and a blessing to you, enjoy your cruise.  

 

[lexmiller]

We are booked on Connie for next year's Mardi Gras cruise, 8 night - still 2 overnights in NOLA, arriving 10am March 3, departing 5pm March 5.  Thank you for your insights and observations!  And of course, deepest condolences on the loss of Bella.  Can you say anything more in depth about the excursions offered by Celebrity to Mardi Gras itself, ie, are tickets to parades on offer with guaranteed seating, things like that?  You did refer to one excursion to a parade, where guaranteed bathroom access at one of the hotels was a part of the ticket......I'd love to hear more about that, to see if we need to be booking things independently, etc, or if Celebrity has extensive ship offerings available.  We are veteran Celebrity cruisers, so we understand how all things shippy work, but we've never been to NOLA!  Also, just curious, ever been to Commander's Palace?  We are seriously thinking of booking dinner there......thank you!

[cruisestitch]

My friends and I did the evening parade on Monday night. It did not go exactly as advertised. The bus did take us to within one block of the adults over Blake hotel. However, on leaving, the bus was a full six blocks away.  We ended up calling an Uber

[Lena11033]

3 hours ago, lexmiller said:

We are booked on Connie for next year's Mardi Gras cruise, 8 night - still 2 overnights in NOLA, arriving 10am March 3, departing 5pm March 5.  Thank you for your insights and observations!  And of course, deepest condolences on the loss of Bella.  Can you say anything more in depth about the excursions offered by Celebrity to Mardi Gras itself, ie, are tickets to parades on offer with guaranteed seating, things like that?  You did refer to one excursion to a parade, where guaranteed bathroom access at one of the hotels was a part of the ticket......I'd love to hear more about that, to see if we need to be booking things independently, etc, or if Celebrity has extensive ship offerings available.  We are veteran Celebrity cruisers, so we understand how all things shippy work, but we've never been to NOLA!  Also, just curious, ever been to Commander's Palace?  We are seriously thinking of booking dinner there......thank you!

Thank you. 
 

 Celebrity has bleachers that were only for us and you had a wristband to show you had entry to that area and the hotel (bathroom was right in the lobby area). Seats though are first come so I’d recommend getting to the theatre early to get an early bus as last bus it was slim choice. I was on the first bus so had the first row I could get. The actual first row is reserved for those with needs. So second row on is what we got to pick from. 
 

i haven’t been to commanders but I’ve heard good things. I would recommend going. I didn’t this time because I was trying to plan things with people and that fell through. You’ll need a cab or Uber as it’s in the garden district. I walked to French quarter and my feet took a beating as I wore the wrong shoes and have been doing lots of steps which I’m not used to working from home 😅

[Lena11033]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

My friends and I did the evening parade on Monday night. It did not go exactly as advertised. The bus did take us to within one block of the adults over Blake hotel. However, on leaving, the bus was a full six blocks away.  We ended up calling an Uber

That’s not good ours dropped off and picked up the same spot. They did do a warning saying ‘police may not let us stay here’ I guess that’s where that came from was Monday night 

[lexmiller]

Thank you to all who are posting this real time Celebrity information - super helpful for our planning for our next year's Connie Mardi Gras cruise!  Please keep it coming!

[hcat]

Finally caught up on this review..We are thinking about a New Orleans  cruise from Tampa itin,  but would prefer jazz over Mardi Gras as a theme.

 

I've been there on a business convention,  but not  with my husb.. Fav spots were the French Quarter (great architecture, and history),   excellent dining and a must do trolley ride to Garden District!  Paddle wheeler was fun too..

 

sad about BELLA.. but she is over the Rainbow Bridge..to re-unite some day!

 

And I love this dress

[hcat]

8 hours ago, calicakes said:

I'm so, so sorry about the loss of your Bella.  I'm currently sitting on the sofa with my two standard poodle boys glued to my side. When you don't have children, animals become much more to you than "dogs".  

 

I'm living vicariously through you since we had to cancel our upcoming Edge cruise.  We should be leaving for Sydney on Monday, instead I'm dealing with insurance headaches and trying to recoup the money from cancelling 2 weeks before the cruise. PS: Make sure your travel insurance will cover your costs of trip cancellation.  I found out we only have 5k for our yearly policy.  I did pay for the cruise with our Chase card and that has insurance as well. 

 

Anyway, I was at our local dog park on Saturday when 2 large dogs( I think Labs) barreled into me from behind.  I never saw it coming.  I felt my leg twist behind me and my ankle break.  I was rushed to the ER, had in reduced( popped back into place) and then surgery that afternoon to repair the break( my tib/fib) is also broken.  Everywhere i look, I have things laid out for the trip.  Snacks, toiletries, packing cubes.  So, depressing. It was going to be our first Eclass cruise and I "won" a move up offer from Aqua to a suite. 

 

I hope memories of Bella are sweet and a blessing to you, enjoy your cruise.  

 

Saw this post..hope you are doing okay..Hope E Class to a great place will be in your future! 

 

Good reminder about insurance..We are on  U.S Medicare (no coverage out of US) so  we buy mega travel ins for medical  and evac.  

 

SORRY I DIGRESSED!

[Lena11033]

20 hours ago, calicakes said:

I'm so, so sorry about the loss of your Bella.  I'm currently sitting on the sofa with my two standard poodle boys glued to my side. When you don't have children, animals become much more to you than "dogs".  

 

I'm living vicariously through you since we had to cancel our upcoming Edge cruise.  We should be leaving for Sydney on Monday, instead I'm dealing with insurance headaches and trying to recoup the money from cancelling 2 weeks before the cruise. PS: Make sure your travel insurance will cover your costs of trip cancellation.  I found out we only have 5k for our yearly policy.  I did pay for the cruise with our Chase card and that has insurance as well. 

 

Anyway, I was at our local dog park on Saturday when 2 large dogs( I think Labs) barreled into me from behind.  I never saw it coming.  I felt my leg twist behind me and my ankle break.  I was rushed to the ER, had in reduced( popped back into place) and then surgery that afternoon to repair the break( my tib/fib) is also broken.  Everywhere i look, I have things laid out for the trip.  Snacks, toiletries, packing cubes.  So, depressing. It was going to be our first Eclass cruise and I "won" a move up offer from Aqua to a suite. 

 

I hope memories of Bella are sweet and a blessing to you, enjoy your cruise.  

 

I’m so sorry about your trip. That always worries me with my dogs because we have three male retrievers and they are al about 100lbs. On is really physically big with his frame and they are idiots when running and don’t know their own strength. One time the larger dog decided to give me his paw but whacked me in the face which left a slight bruise. 
 

hopefully between the two insurances you can get the money back. 

[Lena11033]

11 hours ago, hcat said:

Finally caught up on this review..We are thinking about a New Orleans  cruise from Tampa itin,  but would prefer jazz over Mardi Gras as a theme.

 

I've been there on a business convention,  but not  with my husb.. Fav spots were the French Quarter (great architecture, and history),   excellent dining and a must do trolley ride to Garden District!  Paddle wheeler was fun too..

 

sad about BELLA.. but she is over the Rainbow Bridge..to re-unite some day!

 

And I love this dress

Thanks I think I’m doing ok right now. The cruise is helping but will see how I am when I get home. I think Mike has it tougher as he’s at home so he’s trying to keep busy so I asked him to clean the floor in my office. He said he wanted work and saves me when I get home. 
 

thankd the dress is new, I bought a bunch of new dresses around Christmas on sale and I never go anywhere so cruises are when I get to dress up. Actually I’m probably more dressy than most people in the evening (unless a special event I wear the same style of dresses every night) 

[lexmiller]

12 hours ago, hcat said:

Finally caught up on this review..We are thinking about a New Orleans  cruise from Tampa itin,  but would prefer jazz over Mardi Gras as a theme.

 

I've been there on a business convention,  but not  with my husb.. Fav spots were the French Quarter (great architecture, and history),   excellent dining and a must do trolley ride to Garden District!  Paddle wheeler was fun too..

 

sad about BELLA.. but she is over the Rainbow Bridge..to re-unite some day!

 

And I love this dress

 

About you preferring a jazz theme - are you aware of the jazz charter cruises - for instance, one just ended on Summit, looked amazing!!  It's held every year, the dates for 2025 are out:  January 28, 2025 - February 4, 2025 on Summit, out of Fort Lauderdale.  The lineup of big jazz names is astounding!  The website is thejazzcruisedotcom.  I have a good friend who sailed the one which just ended, and it was pretty incredible.  Since it is a charter, I'm not familiar how that works, ie I am pretty sure you don't earn Captain Club points, and you don't book it through Celebrity.....

[Lena11033]

I am noticing people just have no courtesy. Yesterday I had two people putting their bare feet on chairs (and of course staff can’t say anything). Today in on of the demonstrations two people were talking through the whole thing. I snapped after 30 mins I asked them to keep it down and they used their age so have hard of hearing as an excuse for talking over the sommelier. I’m sorry but that’s not an excuse. My whole table was disrupted and I’m hard of hearing so having two people talk over someone else is not only disrespectful it’s problematic for other people trying to hear. 
funny enough their ‘hard of hearing’ disappeared after and they were able to talk quietly. I’m sorry if these people see this but it’s not fair on everyone else who has paid money to not be able to follow along. 

[spammie]

30 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

I am noticing people just have no courtesy. Yesterday I had two people putting their bare feet on chairs (and of course staff can’t say anything). Today in on of the demonstrations two people were talking through the whole thing. I snapped after 30 mins I asked them to keep it down and they used their age so have hard of hearing as an excuse for talking over the sommelier. I’m sorry but that’s not an excuse. My whole table was disrupted and I’m hard of hearing so having two people talk over someone else is not only disrespectful it’s problematic for other people trying to hear. 
funny enough their ‘hard of hearing’ disappeared after and they were able to talk quietly. I’m sorry if these people see this but it’s not fair on everyone else who has paid money to not be able to follow along. 

It truly is a sad world we are living in.  When we were in the Retreat Lounge on Beyond in November someone sat in one chair with their bare feet up on the chair across from them.  First of all this is NOT your personal living space and it was a rainy, windy day and the Retreat Lounge was very crowded with limited seats.  Enjoying following along with you.  We booked this cruise for next February but cancelled it when they shortened it.  Wanda

[hcat]

8 hours ago, lexmiller said:

About you preferring a jazz theme - are you aware of the jazz charter cruises - for instance, one just ended on Summit, looked amazing!!  It's held every year, the dates for 2025 are out:  January 28, 2025 - February 4, 2025 on Summit, out of Fort Lauderdale.  The lineup of big jazz names is astounding!  The website is thejazzcruisedotcom.  I have a good friend who sailed the one which just ended, and it was pretty incredible.  Since it is a charter, I'm not familiar how that works, ie I am pretty sure you don't earn Captain Club points, and you don't book it through Celebrity.....

thank you. great. future idea!

[Lena11033]

2 hours ago, spammie said:

It truly is a sad world we are living in.  When we were in the Retreat Lounge on Beyond in November someone sat in one chair with their bare feet up on the chair across from them.  First of all this is NOT your personal living space and it was a rainy, windy day and the Retreat Lounge was very crowded with limited seats.  Enjoying following along with you.  We booked this cruise for next February but cancelled it when they shortened it.  Wanda

yep it’s happened in Michaels club on here too. I don’t like feet as it is. Keep that to yourself and like don’t dirty up the furniture. 
 

one thing I’m reminded of is why I like dogs more than people sometimes lol

 

[hcat]

10 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

Thanks I think I’m doing ok right now. The cruise is helping but will see how I am when I get home. I think Mike has it tougher as he’s at home so he’s trying to keep busy so I asked him to clean the floor in my office. He said he wanted work and saves me when I get home. 
 

thankd the dress is new, I bought a bunch of new dresses around Christmas on sale and I never go anywhere so cruises are when I get to dress up. Actually I’m probably more dressy than most people in the evening (unless a special event I wear the same style of dresses every night) 

This was the other dress I liked..

I like the chic nights..no heavy gowns or tuxes,  but most everyone dresses up a bit! I can't compete with Charla who sets a high style mark!

[Sailing12Away]

4 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

one thing I’m reminded of is why I like dogs more than people sometimes lol

Same... I'm in a similar situation life-wise to you and your hubby, but we just have a single chunky 85lb pit mix. She's a couch potato so finding a sitter for her is easy and hubby gets to join me on our trips. Condolences on the loss of your furry loved one.

 

I'll be tagging along in this review as we're booked for next years Mardi Gras trip. Right now we're booked in an aqua class cabin. Since this ship hasn't be retrofitted yet, we couldn't justify the cost to go into the Retreat, but will keep an eye on pricing in case that changes. We figured with aqua we would still get Blu for meals, so considering it a lite version of the Retreat.

 

You mentioned earlier something about Sky suites not having access any longer to the lounge. Did I read that right? Do they not have access to Luminae either? We've only sailed once with Celebrity, so still getting used to the tips/tricks vs what we're used to with NCL, and it seems just when we think we understand things they go and change it again.

[lexmiller]

11 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Same... I'm in a similar situation life-wise to you and your hubby, but we just have a single chunky 85lb pit mix. She's a couch potato so finding a sitter for her is easy and hubby gets to join me on our trips. Condolences on the loss of your furry loved one.

 

I'll be tagging along in this review as we're booked for next years Mardi Gras trip. Right now we're booked in an aqua class cabin. Since this ship hasn't be retrofitted yet, we couldn't justify the cost to go into the Retreat, but will keep an eye on pricing in case that changes. We figured with aqua we would still get Blu for meals, so considering it a lite version of the Retreat.

 

You mentioned earlier something about Sky suites not having access any longer to the lounge. Did I read that right? Do they not have access to Luminae either? We've only sailed once with Celebrity, so still getting used to the tips/tricks vs what we're used to with NCL, and it seems just when we think we understand things they go and change it again.

Chiming in here, as we are veteran Celebrity cruisers - if you have ANY classification of suite, you absolutely have access to the Retreat Lounge/Michael's Club and Luminae, the suite class exclusive dining venue.  You also have access to any suite exclusive deck, which on the Edge Class ships is a major deal - private suite only pool and incredible outdoor decks, really amazing actually. 

[lexmiller]

Does anyone on this cruise still have the shore excursion booklet which is given to you in your cabin on day 1 of the cruise - and if so, would it be horribly difficult to take a few photos of the NOLA offerings and post them here?  Thank you!

[Sailing12Away]

14 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

Chiming in here, as we are veteran Celebrity cruisers - if you have ANY classification of suite, you absolutely have access to the Retreat Lounge/Michael's Club and Luminae, the suite class exclusive dining venue.  You also have access to any suite exclusive deck, which on the Edge Class ships is a major deal - private suite only pool and incredible outdoor decks, really amazing actually. 

Thanks for clarifying. It was this part that caught my eye:

 

"I can also hear a couple asking about what they are entitled to as they booked a sky suite and didn’t know of the changes. I feel for the concierge it’s not their fault the passenger is being nice but yeah if you aren’t online you wouldn’t know and it would be a shock of the changes when boarding."

 

Our trip during Thanksgiving hubby & I were in a Celebrity suite, and my MIL was in a Sky suite across the hall with her cousin. We did have very different experiences in terms of visibility of our 'retreat host', and what they were/were not willing to do for us until we spoke to the concierge. Wasn't sure if that was just due to the luck of who was assigned to our cabins, or because we had different categories of rooms.

[cruisestitch]

45 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

Does anyone on this cruise still have the shore excursion booklet which is given to you in your cabin on day 1 of the cruise - and if so, would it be horribly difficult to take a few photos of the NOLA offerings and post them here?  Thank you!

We did not get any sort of brochure about shore excursions.