Monday, Traveled to Slidell, Louisiana We stopped in North Port at Mapco and filled up with gas for $29.49.
We ate lunch at Cracker Barrel in Meridian, MS I ordered pinto beans fried okra, and grilled chicken. $6.53 We also had cornbread, biscuits, jelly, and water. Bought gas at 2.99 a gallon at Mapco in Northport, Al. for $29.49 and bought gas at Texaco Carrier, MS for $3.09 a gallon.
We stayed at Hampton Inn in Slidedell at 4:40 PM. We watched TV and went to bed early. We skipped supper full of lunch.
We stayed one night at Hampton Inn 56460 Frank Pichon Rd, Slidell, La
Carnival Valor Cruise Ship Stateroom Deck Muster Station
2021 Nov 15, Monday
Took a shower ate Reese's cup and finished my Sprite. We ate breakfast at the hotel. I ordered scrambled eggs, sausage, muffins, and cranberry juice to drink. We checked out, loaded the car, and headed into New Orleans. We ran into work traffic on 1-10 going into New Orleans. We parked on 4A in the parking deck walked to the elevators and went to the ground level to wait in line to be processed along with everyone else.
A woman called out Have your boarding passes ready for inspection (not folded)
We walked through several lines. We handed the inspector our passports, boarding passes, COVID cards, and the results of our Covid test that showed we were negative from the results of the Covid test.
Several more lines & finally we were seated waiting to board the ship at 10:40 AM.
Our rooms would not be ready until after 1:30 p.m. After boarding the ship we walked to Guys Burgers where we both ordered a hamburger and fries. I got lemonade to drink.
The dressing for the hamburger was on a buffet, I got onions and fried mushrooms. When we finished we walked around the ship carrying several bags. (Camera bag with Nikon D7200, medicine bag, my purse, and overnight bag) Wanda had her backpack and her purse.
Around 1:30pm we walked to our cabin unloaded everything and rested.
We went back upstairs to watch the ship leave the dock and that’s when the party began. (4-5PM )We watched the sunset as the ship rolled down the mighty Mississippi and it was dark by the time we reached the ocean.
We went back to our cabin and changed into nicer clothes to dine in the Lincoln Room for dinner. I started with a shrimp cocktail, followed by a Caesar Salad, the entree was Sweet & Sour Shrimp followed by Strawberry cake. (5-6PM)
At dinner we sat next to a couple from Tennessee near Cookeville, they had left their 13-year-old daughter at home with her grandparents because she refused to get the Covid shot.
After dinner, we went to our cabin 9268 which had a balcony, and went to bed early.
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| Leaving New Orleans on Carnival Valor |
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| Sunset leaving New Orleans on the Mighty Mississippi River |
Nov 16, Tuesday, Sea Day
Took a shower and we went upstairs so Wanda could get her some coffee and I got some cranberry juice. We watched the sunrise around 6Am then went to the Washington room for Brunch. I ordered a Parfait it had lots of nuts, Blueberries, strawberries, and yogurt.
While we were at brunch they cleaned our cabin and left a towel art laying on the bed. I ate a small taco for lunch. Today is a sea day so we sat outside and watched schools of flying fish. Today was very windy and the water was very turbulent. It was hard to walk and at times everyone looked like they were drunk. We had dinner in the Lincoln Room no one sat next to us tonight. I ordered prime ribs with gravy and potatoes, my appetizer was cocktail shrimp and for dessert, I ordered custard pie.
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| Sunset Gulf of Mexico (Sea Day) |
Nov 17, Wednesday, Mr. Sancho's Cozumel Mexico
Watched the sun come up and then went to breakfast.
For breakfast, I ate cantaloupe, French toast with syrup, eggs Benedict (which I didn't like), and chocolate milk.
Today we docked in Cozumel. We took a taxi to Mr. Sancho’s which cost us 17 dollars both ways. It is a fifteen-minute ride south of Cozumel.
At Mr. Sancho’s it cost us 55 dollars for all-you-can-eat and drink.
We sampled a Margarita, & daiquiris while sitting under a bamboo roof. There was a rain shower while we were there but we didn’t get wet. We watched people swimming, snorkeling, and other activities but we decided to just enjoy the view under the umbrella.
We saw several birds scavenging for food.
We were brought fried jumbo coconut shrimp, with orange sauce, guacamole, salsa, and chips.
We also sampled a Pina Colada, Miami Vice, Banana Mama, and Mr. Sancho’s special. Our waiter was Aldo a charming young man who said he was married with a young son.
He said that we were queens for the day. He introduced us to his co-worker he said the son of another mother both were very gracious and helpful.
We took the taxi back to the shopping area in Cozumel. I bought a pair of pineapple teal shorts and a Burgundy top and spent $34.50.
We went back through security and loaded onto the ship around 2:30PM.
We watched the ship leave port at 4:30PM.
We ate dinner in the Lincoln Room. I ordered Caesar salad, steak with gravy, potatoes, & broccoli. My appetizer was a shrimp cocktail and the dessert was chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.
Tomorrow we will dock in Progresso.
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| Day trip to Cozumel |
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| Our waiter Aldo at Mr. Sancho's Beach |
Nov 18, Thursday, Progresso Mexico
Ate breakfast and saw towel art everywhere around the pool area.
We docked at Progresso and embarked around 9AM with my boarding pass around my neck and my iPad in my hand. We loaded into a van, and there were 14 of us. We rode about an hour to Celestron where we used the restrooms and loaded into three boats. There were 4 in two boats and six in one boat. Wanda said I hope we don’t turn over because I cannot swim and our guide Misael said the water is only two feet deep. We saw pink flamingos at a distance. Flamingos eat small shrimp that live in shallow waters. They also eat algae & crustaceans that contain pigments called carotenoids. These pigments are found in the shrimp and blue-green algae that they eat.
Next, we rode a short distance and saw Blue Herons, osprey, American Anhinga, and pygmy kingfisher.
We rode through a tunnel of Mangroves where we saw several termite mounds in the mangrove Yucatán peninsula biodiversity.
We stopped at a boardwalk where we saw a pygmy kingfisher.
We rode back to where we had parked the van, exited the boat used the rest-rooms, and looked at the trinkets that were for sale. We loaded into the van and rode to the beach area where our meals were being prepared.
At the restaurant, we ate chips & guacamole dip, smoked fish, veggies, and a margarita.
We stayed on the beach for about 30 minutes.
Loaded back into the van for an hour-long ride back to the ship. Our guide played the movie "The Big Year" a nature movie about two bird enthusiasts trying to defeat the cocky, cutthroat world record holder in a year-long bird-spotting competition.
We loaded onto the ship and watched the ship leave port at sunset.
We dressed for dinner, cocktail shrimp, Cajun shrimp, bread, and dessert
We went to a show for about 60 minutes.
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| Island of Progreso |
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| Some of the birds that we saw at Progreso |
Nov 19, Friday, Sea Day
Sea Day we are on our return trip to New Orleans.
We ate brunch in the Washington room, I ordered bread and sausage with cheese grits.
We went upstairs and got in line to purchase an item that benefits St. Jude where I bought a build-a-bear.
We watched the Carnival Valor Family & Mardi Gras giveaway with Matt the cruise director. That night in the Lincoln room I ordered fried shrimp, salad, ribs, green beans, potatoes with gravy, and a dessert. Watched a Dean Martin special on TV, then went to sleep.
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| Friday's Sunrise |
Nov 20, Saturday, Travel Home
Packed the night before, making sure we had everything. We went to eat breakfast a couple of pastries, with two chocolate milk.
Grabbed our bags and met the Silver & Platinum sailors in the Lincoln Dining room. Loaded into the elevators and walked to our car our level 4A. Began our journey home. Filled up with gas at Love's in Sandersville, MS $28.31 We ordered a sausage, and cheese muffin at McDonald's. For lunch, we stopped at Arby’s for a beef & cheddar sandwich with Curley fries and a Coke. We were at Wanda’s by 4:30pm but hubby had not gotten home from work so we sat around and talked until hubby picked me up.
Hampton Inn 56460 Frank Pichon Rd, Slidell, La
Carnival Valor Cruise Ship Stateroom Deck Muster Station
