Memphis, New Orleans & Gulf of America February/March 2025
18 February 2025
Train to Heathrow and night at Crown Plaza
19 February
Cold temperature -5 to -10
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American Airlines to Fort Worth and onto Memphis. Fantastic as almost empty flight, lots must have delayed their flights because of the exceptional freezing weather conditions in Memphis. Hotel Indigo disappointing. We couldn’t walk very far to look for restaurants as it was freezing and slippery. Also, many places closed because staff wouldn’t venture out to work. Settled on Chess cafe , everything connected to chess. When ordering a pint Rick was asked for ID. Only salad on menu for me and then had to spend a while in bathroom. Jet lag set in, awake from 2am when we completed more forms for French bank. That took ages but hopefully will be a fantastic result.
20 February
Temperature -8 to -14 degrees. Compacted snow and ice
The big attraction at the Peabody Hotel is at 11am each morning when the Peabody ducks who live in their Royal Palace on the hotel’s rooftop, come out of the lift, walk the red carpet on their way to the foyer fountain. They waddle the red carpet again at 5pm on their way back to their palace.
Moved to Peabody Hotel which was a great idea. We paid $90 extra for the club floor, this included free breakfasts and free alcohol drinks from 5pm until 7pm. Also, wait for it, I thought he said it included “all day sex”. I asked him to repeat it and it still sounded the same but it was “all day snacks”. What a laugh we all had! Don’t think Rick is up to that.
Graceland was amazing, such a lot to see even if you aren’t a real Elvis fan.
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We went to the hotel club room where there was 2 hours of any drink you fancied and a cold buffet, must have saved over $150 helping towards what we paid to change hotels. Mum and daughter were celebrating special birthday and off to see Hamilton just around the corner. The hotel is quiet but they are waiting for the annual farmers get-together when we are told they drink the hotel dry.
21 February
Just below freezing.
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Sun Studio is known as “The Birthplace of Rock’n’roll”. It’s the discovery location of musical legends from the 50’s ; B.B. King, Elvis, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis; from Blues and Gospel to Country and Rock’n'roll. We stood in recording studio where this all took place.
Beale Street was very quiet but I suppose it comes to life at night. Got our first glimpse of the Mississippi.
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The Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum’s tells the story of musical pioneers who from the 50’s overcame racial and socio-economic barriers to create the music that shook the entire world. Radio played a huge part and there were lots of juke boxes and recording equipment through the ages for us to enjoy.
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Met a great couple, honestly she had the most enormous bottom we have ever seen. They are Peabody regulars on their way to a wedding and stopping off to buy some antiques. Both Trump supporters who had recently sold their business and he was an American Football coach. They think the Ukrainians are crooked and that Trump changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America so he could get a license to drill. Set the alarm on my iPad for 3am. I was up and dressed in minutes but iPad was still on GMT and it was only 9pm and we had only been asleep an hour.
Saturday 22 February
The 9 hour Amtrak train journey to New Orleans wasn’t too bad. Caught up with the news and watched some downloads. A bad week for Zelensky but a good one for Putin. The scenery from the train was a bit monotonous, miles of fields and trees surrounded by melted snow, swampy looking fields with skeleton like trees damaged by the storms. For what is thought of as one of the richest countries in the world, living conditions appeared poor many living in not much more than a shack. We are finding the Ubers reliable and easy. When we arrived in New Orleans we found lots of roads were closed off due to the Mardi Gras parades. The parade started just after we arrived about 2pm and carried on until about midnight. We could see the parade from our window in Le Meridian. I loved the marching bands. Tack, like necklaces and soft toys were thrown from the parade vehicles into the crowds, kids were filling bags with them.
We ate at Grand Isle enjoying blackened oysters and creole fish stew.
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Sunday 23 February
Left New Orleans in rain, all the parades for today had been cancelled. Chaotic cruise checking in even though we are now Platinum level. We got cold at the hotel and Rick thought he had Covid or something else sinister. Fortunately, after filling his tummy and taking some tablets it was a quick recovery. He spent most of the evening checking out what he thought had changed on this ship. Looks like they’ve looked at what makes money and have doubled the size of the Casino, put in a big perfume duty free shop and made more expensive cabins. Hopefully, we will have finally got over the jet lag and will have a good sleep.
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Monday 24 February – at sea
Woke up wondering again what Trump has done or intending to do next. Trying to come to an agreement to stop the war in Ukraine not going so well. Weather was a bit mixed but there were a few warm periods and also a couple of showers. We have been on this boat before but are mixing it up with another, very confusing. Rick’s running from one end to another trying to work it out.
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Found the” Behind the Scenes” tour of the theatre, laundry and kitchens fascinating . The Cocktail Party for guests of certain levels was very boring so we didn’t stay long. Dinner in La Cucina. Still a bit of a settling in day. This is probably the last Norwegian cruise for a while as we are finding the entertainment a bit low level, too much bingo and not any interesting lectures. They try and tie you in by encouraging you to buy Forward Cruise Credits. Now we no longer have the French house I’m looking forward to more city breaks.
Tuesday 25 February
Started the day with a Wine Tasting session that was lacking a coordinator. Wine tasting at 10.30 in the morning is a bit strange.
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Arrived in Costa Maya, Mexico to the sounds of the Mayan drums where the bustling port had a lot to offer. Numerous souvenir shops, bars and swimming pools. There were some beautiful flamingo’s and we watched people swimming with dolphins. Took a taxi to a beach resort $4 each and $15 each for a sun bed and drink. Very entertaining as vendors came by selling cigars, sunglasses, crisps, handbags, shell jewellery, decorations and much more. The sea was so warm with lots of tiny fish.
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Highlight of the trip so far was tonight’s performance of The Million Dollar Quartet, it was brilliant, all about Sun Studio that we had visited a few days ago.
Wednesday 26 February
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The day didn’t start well for me as I regretted trying the breakfast Bircher, the oats must have been contaminated with wheat. Today we are on the island of Harvest Cayne at the southern end of Bélize and about 50 miles north of the border between Guatemala and Honduras. The island only measures about a mile long and about 400 feet wide. It’s a resort owned we think owned by Norwegian Cruise Line. There are free swimming pools, sunbeds, lots of water activities and a zip line going from the lighthouse and across the beach. The beautiful, sandy beach was well maintained. Not a good day for me as I had too much sun and am off the food and drink. It was a shame as we had our best meal so far in Ocean Blue. Listened to Fleetwood Mac “Rumours” album performed in the theatre.
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Thursday 27 February – Roatan , Honduras
We are now in Honduras which is rich in natural resources including minerals, coffee, tropical fruit and sugar cane. Once again the port has been developed into a tourist attraction with swimming pools, bars and souvenir shops. Outside of port the town looked underdeveloped, in 2022, 73% of the population lived in poverty with 53% in extreme poverty. We took a taxi along the rough coast road and passed through small towns with basic shops and primitive living conditions . However, there were several private schools and hospitals . The houses and drainage weren’t as bad as those we saw last year outside the Malaysian cities but they were basic. I felt embarrassed to take photos of their homes. There is still so much of the world living like this . It appears that many countries don’t seem to have gained much by becoming independent.
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Feeling homesick so caught up with the news at home. It’s been busy at Wheelwrights with the new office container in place and scaffolding going up for the roof and chimneys.
Enjoyed the comedian tonight, much more a family show than when we saw him the other evening. Our meal in the Speciality steak house tonight was not a success. Rick’s steak was overdone and I didn’t get my sauces or vegetables until after I had eaten the main affair. They did offer to make it right if we went back tomorrow. Rick is feeling a cold coming on. Shared drinks time with a feisty Canadian who hates Trump. She had a very loud voice and we were getting some dirty looks from nearby Americans.
Friday 28 March - Cozumel
Big event of the day was the shock bullying by Trump and Vance to poor, war worn Zelensky. Interesting difference of opinion of the interview between the American news channels. I feel that Fox News have to be very careful but supportive of the Trump administration.
Rick is miserable as he is not feeling well. Our last port call is on the Mexican island of Cozumel. We were moored next to a Disney ship but we counted 7 cruise liners in the port today. Hundreds of tourist shops everywhere. We found an Island trip for $45 each. There were some very elaborate flashy statues along the sea walls. This island has a much better infrastructure that the others we’ve visited and much improved living conditions . The island is covered in mangrove forests and most of the attractions are found in the D shaped ringroad that hugs the southern coast and divides the island in two. Highlight of the day was the short Tequila tour with tasting. We then spent a couple of hours at a beach club where many water activities were available . Unfortunately, we weren’t prepared as had no towels or costumes. I had a no drinking day apart from the tequila tipples.
Saturday 1 March
Last day and we are at sea on our way back to New Orleans. It’s warm but cloudy with showers. Had our last cocktail before seeing a pretty average performance of a mind reader. Our last meal was probably the best at Le Bistro.
My thoughts on the cruise:
I think it has been one cruise too many. You are encouraged to buy Future Cruise Credits but it ties you into NCL. We’ve gained Platinum Level that entitles us to priority embarkation but that didn’t happen as it was absolute chaos. Other benefits include a free bottle of sparkling water (very mean), a bottle of cava, behind the ship scenes (good), wine tasting (not well organized ), cocktail party (boring), 2 meals one with bottle of wine, in speciality restaurants (ok).
Entertainment is not good or varied enough, the main musicians who performed Million Dollar Quartet and Broadway were excellent. There weren’t enough of other musicians around the bars. Too much bingo and game shows.
Bars were packed and noisy with not enough bar staff and often dirty tables, difficult to get served. A lot of staff were not friendly or interested. Fellow passengers were much more friendly than most staff. When making enquiries in the spa he didn’t even look up from what he was doing.
Food in the main dining rooms was good but repetitive, staff here were very friendly and helpful.
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Last cocktail Last breakfast
I think we must just be getting old as we are finding it difficult to cope with the crowds and the noise. Think we will try a river cruise next.
Sunday 2 March
We are now in New Orleans Hilton and have a view of the Mississippi from our room. Attached to the hotel is an enormous Shopping Outlet. It was about an half hour walk to the exciting and weird French Quarter. Most people are dressed up in bizarre clothes for Mardi Gras. Music playing everywhere but not jazz. Ate at Sonia’s as they do gluten free pizza and pasta, we must have been the youngest by 40 years. We’re not going to get away with anything less than $100 eating out and that’s not going mad. Menu’s don’t include taxes or service charges. Everyone is after a tip. Stopped and watched the procession on the way back. The floats seem to have got bigger and the crowd and noise even more.
Monday 3 March
Today we did an organised trip to Oak Alley Plantation and Airboat Swamp tour £254.60. The entrance to the sugar cane plantation was an alley of more than 200 year old oak trees, similar but not the same oak trees we have at home. They had reconstructed some slave houses and there was a film about the sugar cane crop from planting, harvesting and making it into sugar.
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Tuesday 4 March
It’s Fat Tuesday the final big Mardi Gras day but unfortunately the weather is against it and the big parades with the marching bands and floats have been postponed due to the high winds and rain. Instead we joined the marching bands in the French Quarter. It was such fun, mostly young people dressed outrageously and really enjoying themselves. Interesting to note it was mainly white people. There is such a lot to see here and we could do with another couple of days.
Wednesday 5 March
Left hotel at 8am for 10.30pm flight to Miami then a 9 hour layover made easier by eating and drinking all day in one of the airport lounges. Very much looking forward to going home, but it has been quite an experience. We found the Americans friendly, polite but very loud and will be pleased to escape the tipping culture. Temperatures have gone from -18 deg in Memphis to plus 28 deg in Cozumel. Highlights were Gracelands, Oak Alley Plantation, the alligators and the Mardi Gras parades.