Year 4, Day 179, “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 10/26/2024. Clifty Hill 2 – Day 2 of 16-night KY to New Orleans and Day 1 of 14-night New Orleans Carribean cruise on Brilliance of the Seas. Today was a fun filled day. We woke up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi at a Fairfield Inn and Suites. The hotel is being refurbished. Our room must have just been completed. But wow, I can paint, and spackle better than this work crew and I am terrible at it. There was paint and spackle on everything including the lampshades. The bed was wonderful, and the carpeting was nicely padded and clean. Went down for breakfast and they had a little table set up with a few microwaveable items. Yup, we went to Cracker Barrel.
We will not be boarding until 10:30pm in New Orleans at the Julia Street Cruise Terminal. The delay is due to the ship’s Azipod issues. This terminal handles Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, and Disney Cruise Line. We were less than two hours away. We really didn’t want to get into New Orleans with the town being so crowded with the Swifties. So, we went to the Gulfport Mississippi outlet stores. The driveway into the outlet mall ran along beside a small pond. I wanted to stop and walk up to the side of the pond. Steve would not allow me out of the car to go near the pond. The signs about Alligators and Snakes worried him. Therefor I was only able to take a picture of the sign from the driveway in the car. Lots of nice stores, but no one was really shopping. It was very quiet. Steve actually was approached by a young man who said “Brooks? Watch yourself someone will take those”. Hmm, maybe time to move on to another place.
We were less a half hour to Biloxi, Mississippi. So, we headed to see what Harrahs was like in Biloxi. The casino was pretty run down compared to the casinos in Las Vegas. Ate lunch there, played a few slot machines, and walked away with an additional $20.00. Woohoo.
It was still pretty early as we entered Louisiana and Brilliance of the Seas was not docked yet.
So, we headed to the Lakeside Mall New Orleans. The mall was very crowded with beautiful places to sit all around. Dillards had a lovely Christmas department and gorgeous clothes. I was amazed at the crowds. It was like we were back in the 80’s when everyone went to the mall to walk around. The food court was huge and packed. I thought malls were deserted now. Not this one. It was so clean and beautiful. Check out the short video of the pumpkin face in the falling water fountain. So cool.
Then on to New Orleans cruise port at 8pm. Our ship is waiting for us. By this time all the Swifties were in Ceasars Superdome. We arrived at the Julia St. Terminal dropped off our bags and parked at the Cruise terminals garage near the Hilton. It cost $350.00 for two weeks. Payment up front credit card only. We went up, up, up to the 6th floor to park.
They had shuttles to take you to a spot near the Julia Street train terminal. From there, you walked over the railroad tracks to the terminal entrance. We had to wait for a fire truck turning around while sitting in the shuttle bus on the train tracks. To say I was paranoid. I could see the headlines already in my mind. Please, please, PLEASE get off these tracks kept screaming in my head. How stupid are these people. The Port of New Orleans is the center for international trade. It is the only deep-water port in the United States served by six, class one railroads.
From there it was quick and easy boarding. We were on by 9pm. We made it. GOOD NIGHT! Luggage hopefully will be outside our door in the morning.
Cruise Daily information
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Kohler Ready Latch toilet seat: https://amzn.to/3PpYd6G We always replace all the toilet seats in the bathrooms of all our houses with these easy lift off ones. Cleaning around your toilet is no problem. Just lift off the seat. Highly, highly recommend them.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned