Cruising Carnival Triumph // Adventures with MEH

Y'all...cruising is the LIFE! I loved every single minute of it! Unlimited food and drink. Unlimited ice cream and dessert. And tons of live entertainment and fun! I think we ate four or five FULL meals a day. There was every kind of food you could possibly want available on the ship! My personal favorite was the cheeseburger. I don't think I have ever had a cheeseburger that good! We literally had one every. single. day. right before we would get ready for dinner. At dinner, we were able to choose from a variety of options of food and we tried just about everything-even ox tongue! Our waiters were hilarious! I apologize for the blurry picture, but this is an accurate description of how our dinner was every night. They kept us laughing!

There was a ton of live entertainment on the ship. The dancers put on several shows, many of which had live music. And there was at least one or two comedy shows every night. Rob Little (pictured below) was one of the comedians and he was absolutely hilarious! One night, a magician performed and it blew my mind...it was awesome!

Being on the ship itself was so relaxing. There were tons of lay out chairs available and the baristas were constantly at our service-checking to make sure we were okay and bringing us drinks. It was so nice being able to kick back and relax and enjoy the ride.

I was amazed at the view! Looking out over the ship, all you could see was the bluest water for miles and miles. I will never look at the color blue the same again after this trip! All the different shades of the ocean were absolutely beautiful. And the sunset...YA'LL! I have never seen a sunset more beautiful! (Pictures do not do justice.)

Our room was very nice, to my surprise. I was expecting a tiny room with an even smaller bathroom and hardly any space to move around, and a tiny little port hole window. Our room consisted of two beds and a couch that pulled out into a third bed. We had all the counter space three girls could possibly need and plenty of room to all get ready. And instead of the tiny port hole I had expected, we had a pretty large window. And that was the best sleep I have ever had! The room was super dark at night and the swaying of the ship rocked me like a little baby!

The ship itself was very complicated to navigate around. I promise you, we got lost going to dinner every night. Every. Single. Night. Not one time did we find our dining room easily. (According to Emily, a very frequent cruiser, this ship had the worst layout of any that she had ever been on before.) We spent a lot of time on the elevators trying to find everything. (Disclaimer: we got on the elevator one night, took a few pictures, talked for awhile, then started wondering why the elevator wasn't moving. Apparently you have to push a button if you want to go somewhere.) The pools on board were very, very small so they were always super crowded. I don't think it would been very enjoyable for anyone who had small children who would have wanted to be in the pool all the time. Next time, we will definitely cruise on a different ship.

I half way expected for at least one of us to get sea sick and I was really afraid it would be me. I get car sick super easy so I wasn't too sure about how I would feel on the ship for five days. We had plenty of medicine just in case, but luckily none of us got sick.

I had the best time cruising with my girls. It was so laid back, relaxed and drama free. It was a much needed girls getaway and an escape from reality for awhile. We are definitely planning another cruise in the near future.

Where have you cruised and what is your favorite cruise line?

New Orleans // Adventures with MEH

Since the cruise was leaving from the port in New Orleans, we decided to drive down the day before the ship left and experience New Orleans life for a day. We headed out at 5 on Friday morning and got to New Orleans around lunch time.

We booked a room at InterContinental New Orleans through Groupon. The hotel was located about two blocks from the French Quarter, so we were in walking distance of just about everything we could possibly want to see. The room was very, VERY nice and cozy! Our total for the room was right at $150, so split three ways, it wasn't too bad of a deal. 

After getting ready, we headed out to explore. We took off toward the French Quarter and stopped at all the cute little shops along the way! There is a Lush Cosmetics right on Royal street and all three of us were in handmade cosmetic heaven! 

We stopped at Gumbo Shop for a late lunch/early dinner. Now, I have never had cajun food before this trip, so I wasn't too sure about it but I was determined to try something new so I ordered the Creole Combination Platter. It included Shrimp Creole, Jambalaya, and Crawfish Etouffee...DELICIOUS! The restaurant was so cute and the service was outstanding! If you are looking for a quick place to grab some lunch while visiting NOLA, I highly recommend trying Gumbo Shop.

We made our way to the French Quarter after lunch and I absolutely loved it! The buildings were beautiful and as soon as we got there, we could hear the live jazz music playing on the street. I felt like I was walking into a movie scene. The artwork that filled the street was so unique and beautiful! And there were palm readers every where you turned (We didn't get our palms read...even though I really wanted to. Emily said it was of the devil and wouldn't let me.)! It was everything I had hoped it would be!

For dessert, we stopped by Cafe du Monde to try the beignets and they did not disappoint! The cafe itself was very crowded, but to get the full experience we found a table and sat down right in the middle of the chaos and enjoyed our delicious deep fried donuts.

After dessert we made our way back to the hotel and crashed for the night. For breakfast the next morning, we walked down to Cafe Beignet and devoured a delicious belgian waffle and, of course, some more beignets. The cafe was super crowded but we lucked up and got a seat inside.

When we got off the ship, we came back to Cafe Beignet for lunch. A friend had told us to try the muffalettas, so we did and it was so good! This time, we sat in the little seating area right outside the cafe. While we were eating our yummy lunch, we also got some free entertainment. A man was playing and singing right outside the gate. Again, I felt like I was in a movie. It was so cool.

New Orleans is definitely one of my favorite cities. Since we were only there for one day, I know that we did not get to experience the entirety of NOLA so I definitely plan to return for a longer amount of time. If you have been to New Orleans, what are some of your favorite things to do? What are some of your favorite places to eat?