weddingdiva

I enjoyed almost everything in the MDR, but stand outs were the alligator fritters, chocolate melting cake, and braised brisket.

28 Days and counting til we board the Triumph in NOLA! Woo Hoo!

The streetcar is cheap and easy. Kids love it. And not nearly as scary as the cabbies' driving skills! :)

We are staying at the Maison St Charles Quality Inn on St Charles Ave(streetcar line right out front) for the first time in March. Our total WITH on site secured parking is gonna be $179. I'll let you know how the room was, etc.

Gotcha! Thanks so much!

Felix's in the Quarter is our fave for oysters-they serve them several different ways.

We ate at the French Market Cafe the last time we were there for lunch and the boiled shrimp were excellent, gumbo great, and I had a crab/shrimp salad served in an avocado that was to die for!

Never had any bad seafood in the city, though!

I've been to New Orleans several times, and will be back again in March before leaving on my Carnival cruise.

Commander's Palace is near our hotel and I wondered if anyone had eaten there? Does it live up to the hype, or would we be better off at one of our French Quarter faves?

To be clear, you may not have been addressing me, as you say, but the ppl who mentioned this on the board which then prompted my question. BUT, this was not clear to me at all. It is now, finally. But maybe in future, think about your initial response and how it sounds to the OP before actually posting. This would have saved you having to explain yourself several times after. You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. It's not the opinion I felt was insulting-just the wording. Thank you for your input and the clarification. Happy cruising!

Also, just so some of you know, this was not my original idea. I had never thought of giving anyone gifts until I saw it posted on these boards. I thought since it was mentioned several times that maybe it was a thing.

Some of the responses I've received seem to be in the vein of "how stupid can you be?". So sorry for asking. I thought that's what these boards were for.

I would never give a gift INSTEAD of cash. I believe I mentioned this in my original post. I'm glad you veteran cruisers know so much about the crew and their living habits, but as a new cruiser, I don't. I thought you could help me out.

For the most part, responders were nice, but there was a significant amount of people who seemed appalled I would even ask this!

Way to treat a newcomer, folks!

Thanks to everyone who answered my question with kindness and information.

As a newcomer to this community and a new cruiser, I truly appreciate this.

To responder, riffatsea, I don't understand the insults and belittling. Does this make you feel better about yourself? It certainly didn't make me feel good.

Just in case you are interested in tips to save money and make a cruise affordable that don't apply directly to the ship, cabin, etc, I thought I'd add these:

*Book far enough ahead to make changes to your current regular spending habits

*Have a garage/yard sale specifically for cruise funds

*Save dimes in a 2 Liter Coke bottle-should have between $500-700 when it's full

*Scale Christmas down just a little; buy for the kids, but draw names between the adults.

*If you are restaurant folks (like me!) have everyone order water instead of tea or Cokes-saves $12-20 per meal you can put in your cruise purse!

My kids are so excited to be on the boat with all the activities they are not even really interested in a shore excursion, so we are just going to shop and eat at port, and this will save $ too.

We plan on bringing their fave snacks with us because they are three times as much in the shops on board.

Hope these ideas help! Happy cruising!(hopefully soon!) :)

Oh great! Thanks so much!

I will have my kids who are 12 & 16 with us on our next cruise. For Carnival cruises, do I put cash onto one "family" account and we all use it with our cards? Is it by cabin? How does that work?

Thanks so much for the advice everyone. I guess it never dawned on me that they might be 4 to a cabin! Yikes! Appreciate the input!

:)

In March I'll be cruising for only the 2nd time. This time it will be with my family of 4, my parents, and some friends who are like family who have two kids also. I have read a few comments here in passing about some cruisers giving their stewards small gifts. I'd like to do this since our group will probably be pretty needy, what with the kids, but not sure what they would like or what is standard/acceptable for something like this. I would lean toward maybe products made in our home state? Please advise if you have done this in the past.

(By the way, we will tip a bit extra in cash I'm sure in addition to this).

Thanks!

The first and only cruise I have been on was the Carnival Elation two Spring Breaks ago. It was college and local public school Spring Break for most and it was not a problem at all. In fact, there was no noise on our hallway at night at all! We were truly surprised to find out on Day 2 that there was a huge high school band group on board! I understand it depends on the deck for some noise issues though; our deck was deep in the ship away from the clubs, etc.

We have a cruise booked for this coming Spring Break on the Triumph with the 12 yo & 16yo. They are both excited, mainly because they are picky eaters and LOVE the idea of so many food options all day/night and being able to try as many things as they want in the main dining room.

:p

I'll be sailing on the Triumph with my fam in March of '17 and found your review very helpful and entertaining! This will be our first time on this ship and we can't wait! Incidentally, your food pictures are the best I've ever seen! :)