Cruise Day 1 New Orleans and embarkation

On Saturday we dropped the kids off at Nana and Grandpa's house and headed to New Orleans. Dad rented us a hotel for the night so we went straight there to check in. We hung out in our room for a while, then we went out for dinner and headed for bed. The next day was embarkation day. We had to wait until 1pm before we could board the boat so we drove over to the French Quarter to explore for a while. It took a long time to find a parking spot then we headed over to the flea market. Jon had forgotten his coat so we got him a sweatshirt and then walked around the old town. We had Beignet's and hot chocolate at Cafe Du Monde, pralines from a candy factory and Alligator sausage from a street side stand. We watched a street show and just walked around and enjoyed the city. We managed to arrive at the port just at 1pm and got one of the last parking spots in the garage. Boarding was quick, there wasn't much of a line at all. We found our room and then spent the rest of the day exploring the ship. At 5 we left the port and headed down the Mississippi towards the gulf. WE enjoyed a fantastic dinner in the nice dining room that night. I love cruise food!