Royal Caribbean Grandeur Of The Seas Repositioning Cruise - New Orleans Journal & Photos - December 2 & 3, 2006

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas

Caribbean Repositioning Cruise

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We had to be out of our cabins by 8:00 AM so even though dad called me at about 7:00 AM saying he was ready I just chilled out in my room until about 7:55 AM before heading to their room.  We went up to the Windjammer Café for our last breakfast then headed towards one of the areas designated as a departure waiting area.  While on the way to the Singing in the Rain Lounge we heard that people in wheelchairs were supposed to go to Deck 4 and the Centrum.

On the way we ran into Alison and Carol who had made their tour of the ship’s various staterooms this morning.  They pointed to Jon and Eric who were sitting with Clyde and Debbie.  We said our ship good byes but we would see everyone in New Orleans before we left.  When we got to Deck 4’s Centrum area we saw Alex and Maricel and sat down with them and waited to be called.  I was certain it would take awhile since we didn’t have a flight today and we had a lower category cabin.

Departure Information At New Orleans From The Grandeur Of The SeasWhile talking to Alex an old man overheard that we were from Maryland and proceeded to screw with me big time.  He asked me if I heard that they would be no soft shell crab harvest from the Chesapeake Bay this summer.  I freaked out completely and said that I hadn’t heard this terrible news.  Well, that just set up his punch line perfectly.  He told me that it wouldn’t be possible this year because somebody had dumped a whole lot of Viagra in the bay.  I felt like a fish on the line that had bit hook, line and sinker.

Alex and Maricel were called to depart, then we saw Jon and Carol with the kids depart.  The girl letting people depart started down the line of wheelchair passengers and started to let all of us depart before our departure color was called.  We thought this would help us get out before the rush at our luggage area but we were wrong.  I found my luggage right away then I found 4 of mom and dad’s 5 bags but one bag eluded us.  Dad and I walked up and down our area 10 times each at least without finding the final elusive bag.  Our color area had been called and the orange passengers started taking luggage away.  Again we thought that would help and we were wrong.  I checked the red area just in case someone mistook orange for red but had no luck.  I checked the area for luggage that didn’t have tags and didn’t have any luck.  Finally, dad came across the last bag in the middle of the orange section in a place we had both passed numerous times.  We think someone grabbed the bag and realized it wasn’t there bag and returned it. 

We got a guy to help us with all of our bags and headed to customs.  I was a little worried because the ship television and literature claimed that we were only allowed one liter of liquor per person but I was pretty sure it was two liters.  Also they said that we were only allowed $400 per person duty free but I’m pretty sure it is $800 per person.  Either way it didn’t matter, customs ended up being a Royal Caribbean employee collecting the forms without even looking at them.

We got outside the terminal and it was madness.  A police officer running the taxi area saw mom in her wheelchair and had us go to a separate location across from the taxi line.  I felt bad because I saw Alex in the long line and he had finally made it to the front.  I mouthed I was sorry but noticed Maricel wasn’t with him.  She was halfway back in the line with the luggage.  Maybe the police officer didn’t see they had a wheelchair. 

I was a little worried also about the amount  of luggage we had fitting in a taxi butCafe Du Monde In The French Quarter those fears were alleviated when I saw that 90% if the cabs were vans and Suburbans.  I felt good when I saw Alex get his cab but realized nobody was going to help him.  So I ran across the street to assist with his luggage.  He pushed Maricel to the cab and told me he had the three red bags and one duffel bag by her wheelchair.  I grabbed them all and took them to the back of the Suburban then picked Maricel up and put her in the back seat. 

I found out later that Alex had made a slight error.  They got to the Embassy Suites and Maricel told him they had four red bags and not three.  He told me the story that evening and I apologized but he took responsibility remembering he had told me only about the three red bags.  He quickly made it back to the cruise terminal which was only about six blocks away and found the bag.  The police officer apparently wasn’t very happy and it sounded like the bag wouldn’t have been there if Alex hadn’t high tailed it back right away.

We finally got a van and barely got everything inside.  Apparently we got ripped off on the fare though.  We found out that rides from the cruise terminal and airport are a flat $7 per person plus $1 gas charge.  Our guy charged us $28 figuring we were as large as four people after two weeks eating on a cruise.  We finally got to the JW Marriott on Canal Street though and checked in. 

Craig was supposed to get into New Orleans at about 4:30 PM and we had dinner Pascale's Manale World Famous New Orleans Restaurantplanned for 6:30 PM.  We arrived at the hotel at about 1:00 PM or so.  Dad called at about 2:00 PM panicked because Pascal’s Manale’s restaurant finally called back and said they couldn’t accommodate 10 people until 8:30 PM.  He had got a hold of Alex and that worked great for Craig since he was having some delays in Atlanta but we couldn’t reach the Willie’s.  Of course I thought he was overreacting like usual and he didn’t settle down until Jon finally called him back. 

My mind wanted to go do something while waiting but my body was enjoying just doing nothing and watching some college football.  Craig finally showed up and we went and got mom and dad to go to the lobby bar to wait until it was time to leave.

We left a little early and got to the restaurant pretty quick.  I had a beer and dadCraig, Dad And Glenn With Giant Shrimps At Pascal's Manale had some oysters while we waited.  Alex had rented a car and they drove the Willie’s to the restaurant with them arriving about 10 minutes after us.  Craig finally got to meet everyone we had been eating with for the last two weeks.

Of course we had been boasting of Alison and Eric’s eating habits but we might have picked the wrong restaurant to prove this.  I think they freaked out a little by dad eating raw oysters.  Carol was constantly amused by mom and Eric’s on going conversations.  We finally were seated in a private room at about 8:40 PM.  It took about 20 minutes though before somebody came in to wait on us.  There had been a mix up with two waiters each thinking the other had our room.  It wasn’t a big deal as we all just recapped the cruise with Craig.

Debbie and Clyde had taken us to Pascal’s Manale once when we had come to New Orleans a few years ago.  I absolutely love this place.  Unfortunately, Clyde and Debbie had babysitting duties and couldn’t make it this evening with us.  We all ordered and the food was great again.  Like in most restaurants mom ordered the most expensive thing, the filet mignon.  Most of us got the Barbeque-Bayou Shrimp and Alex and Maricel got some pasta.

We enjoyed the waiter we finally got.  He was definitely from New Orleans with the Cajun accent.  He explained that he could tell what part of New Orleans you were Pascal's Manale's Wonderful Barbeque Shrimpfrom your accents.  I couldn’t always understand him and he was telling us about the real Cajun- Bayou people that he couldn’t even understand.  We asked him about the hurricane and it ended up the restaurant was in an area that had about five feet of standing water.  We were in the Garden District and last time we came we had taken the street car but it hadn’t run since Hurricane Katrina to this area.  He told us it wouldn’t be up and running until probably 2008.

Well this is when things got funny, at least for some of us.  Pascal’s Manale is about 100 years old and invented the barbeque shrimp meal.  Unknown to Carol and the kids was the shrimp was cooked with the heads on and brought to the table that way.  Again, after telling Craig that Alison and Eric ate everything on the ship, we found one of the few things they had no interest in.  I really wished I had a video camera when they brought all the bowls of heads on shrimp into the room.

I looked at Alison and she was sitting near a wall and she backed up as close to the wall as she possibly could get.  Carol and Alex just had blank looks of disbelief that the shrimp came with their heads on.  I really had a bunch of jokes I wanted to pull out at this time but thought it would be the final nail in the coffin on their meal if IPascale's Manale Logo went with the jokes.  Plus I might have ruined their appetite for any type of meat from then on and I didn’t want to do that.

Jon on the other hand jumped right in and started pealing away.  Carol and Alison did finally end up eating a few shrimp and Carol admitted they were great.  Eric was a harder sell though.  Since mom ordered the filet mignon and wasn’t eating it I gave Eric some.  He did finally eat one shrimp though, so that was good.

Jon was pretty funny, they had two bowls of the shrimp and he had to peel every one of them.  He looked like he really enjoyed the shrimp and he reminded me of people back home when crabs come.  You enjoy them so much that you just kind of are quiet and workman like while opening and eating.

Well we finally finished our last supper together and got ready to leave.  I figured he would do this because dad is just an incredibly nice and generous man.  He had given his credit card to pay for the entire meal for all of us before we were seated.  He figured we invited everyone so he wanted to treat.  Everyone argued in vain that they wanted pay but I knew dad wouldn’t have any of that.

Alison, Mom And Eric Outside Pascal's ManaleWe exited through the kitchen which allowed us to avoid the stairs.  The kitchen was huge, way bigger than you would have thought be looking at the outside of the building.  Unfortunately we had to say good bye to our new friends which was sad.  We really enjoyed everyone’s company and definitely will keep in touch.  Carol joked as I said good bye to her that she wished she had a recording now of what mom and Eric had been talking about for the last two weeks.  We really lucked out with the switch of families after the first night on the cruise.  We couldn’t have asked for nicer tablemates.

Alex drove them all back to the Embassy Suites and we got a cab back to the JW Marriott.  Again, my mind said, “Go out to Bourbon Streetâ€