Sunny Sunday Morning in Key West

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Good Morning all – Just thought I’d write this (it may be my last missive) whilst we have all been confined to cabins because the ship’s on fire!!!!!! Always best to keep a sense of humour although I have registered my disappointment as the band is not playing! Joking apart we are instructed to stay in the cabins whilst a fire in an incinerator on deck 3 is being dealt with and all crew have their life jackets and special hats on and are standing at their muster stations. I was in the middle of playing bridge so a bit inconvenient!!! Just listening to the captain now who says fire is contained but we must still stay in our cabin.



We left New Orleans last night after a really enjoyable couple of days – it’s a great place!! It was only slightly marred by enjoying myself a little too much on the first evening singing, dancing and drinking in several jazz bars and ending with running through a what I thought was a puddle (it was really pouring down at the time) but which turned out to be a large hole in the pavement. This resulted in my feet suddenly stopping but my body carrying on and then further resulted in a very expensive 3 stitches being put in my knee once back on board. Fortunately I had my jeans on (which didn’t rip) and when I peeled them off the muscle could be seen through the blood!! Bit of a bugger really as I now cant get said knee wet for at least a fortnight and we are just heading for Florida and the Bahamas. (That’s if we get there – cos I can smell smoke now!!)



Just seen a lady heading for her cabin I think – a very large lady in nothing but her costume and holding a lilo _- she didn’t think it at all amusing when I said she looked already for the imminent disaster – and told me quite sternly she was just leaving the swimming pool. That’s me told!!!



Captain is just on again with placating words but also adding he doesn’t want anyone to leave their cabins. He does seem a jolly nice chap and the last time I was speaking to him he was telling me how all captains took the security of the ship very seriously – I pointed out that maybe not all – as in the case of Captain Costa!!!! He found it difficult to argue the case – but this one does seem a genuinely nice bloke and am sure he wont be first in a lifeboat!!



Right back to New Orleans!!! What an interesting place – would love to come back and spend 3 or 4 days here – lots of history and lots of friendly (and enormous) folk. The French Quarter is fab but Bourbon Street is a little bit seedy. The music is everywhere and lots of people watching opportunities – wonderful art and craft shops all around and the buildings are beautiful. Photos will be attached. We stopped in a bar called Krazy Korner with the most wonderful band playing (called Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers believe or not), but I do think maybe a little too loudly as our hearing seems to have been seriously affected since!! We then went and did a few more bars with music – the bar tenders don’t know when to stop pouring!!! One thing I didn’t like too much was the food and after tasting Jumbalaya I don’t ever need to taste it again – revolting!!!



(Have just had the stand down message from the Captain who tells us that the smothering equipment has worked very efficiently – so hopefully he means the fire is out – so back to Bridge – will carry on with this later) xx



Back to New Orleans – we also were able to participate in a wedding which was going on in the street which was interesting. Then the rain came down again heavily so back inside to the bar. The Mississippi is really high at the moment and very muddy. It’s also an incredibly busy river and after sailing up it for just over 100 miles it wasn’t hard to see how it flooded the area.



On the second day the weather brightened up enormously and we strolled around (on the leg I was told to rest – but you cant waste these opportunities). We took a trolley car which only costs 3 dollars for a whole days use – you do get the urge to sing lots of old songs!! We went past enormous and wonderful houses set along really wide streets and took the car to the end of the line and reached the levy. It was breached during Katrina – and really hard to imagine that amount of water pouring over the edge and down the streets. It isn’t a very pretty spot and after all the songs about levys I had imagined something a lot more romantic instead of lots of industrial machinery!! After riding back on the trolley car we had a look around the Downtown area which was also quite nice but without the character of the French Quarter and then strolled back via free wifi hotel through the French area. I also bought two pairs of sensible shoes – for the knee you know!!



Then it was back on board for 5pm sail away. Really really liked our time in New Orleans and would love to come again for the Jazz Festival – so much to see and do during the Mardi Gras.



Well its now coming up to dinner time on the 24^th after a day at sea with the weather being fairly mean to us – its rained on and off most of the day and when we haven’t been confined to cabin due to fires have spent most of the afternoon playing cards. Also got my washing done which is an enormous achievement as one has to be very brave to enter the realms of the launderette on this ship!!! Knew you’d want to know that. The alarm has been raised a couple more times during the day but our jolly Captain tells us that the problem is contained so will just have to hope we make it to morning!



Well, we arrive in Key West tomorrow all being well. Hopefully the weather will come good again – but might sulk a bit when everyone else is enjoying the sea. It will be interesting to see if we get held up here whilst they fix any problems they may have down below. So long as the sun is shining it wont be too much of a problem for us.



Need to go and put a frock on now so we can go and have free cocktails as its dress up night tonight. This bit of it is quite different to the Queen Mary as after half an hour you get invited to leave!!! Will hopefully send this along with photos of New Orleans tomorrow.



Bye for now – hope everyone is well and happy xxxxxx We got here 😉

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Photos

New Orleans
In the rain

New Orleans
Wedding in the street

New Orleans
Wedding watching

New Orleans
Band at the wedding

New Orleans
Cheers

New Orleans
Dancing of a fashion

New Orleans
Krazy Korner

Krazy Korner
Still dancing

After the fall
The gin anesthetic seemed to work a treat