Mardi Gras On The Mexican Riviera!
Sunday, February 3--Sunday, February 10, 2008
Catch Endymion's grand parade on Saturday and all the daytime parades on Sunday. Then sail away to the warm Yucatan beaches on our own Carnival party! Carnival's big ship in New Orleans, the Carnival Triumph, leaves the riverfront for seven nights of fun!
Click here to reserve or for more information.
We're ecstatic that New Orleans once again has a big Carnival ship that it can call its own. And in 2008, the Eat Club's Mardi Gras cruise returns for the first time in three years! By the time it gets to the Sunday before Mardi Gras, many Orleanians have had their fill of the parades. If that sounds like you, escape with me and our fellow avid diners for a warm Caribbean cruise Mardi Gras week! (You won't get anything done that week anyway.)
And the best part about it is that we depart from downtown New Orleans. No flights! No getting up too early! We just roll up the gangplank in the afternoon, and away we sail, down the Mississippi River into the Gulf as the sun goes down.
Sunday: One of the most interesting things about this cruise is the time on the ship. We'll have cocktails and dinner as we sail down the river, passing Pilottown and the delta, out to the spot where the muddy water suddenly becomes dark teal. That blue water is a hint of the beautiful sights in store as we head for the Mexican Riviera.
<>Monday and Tuesday: These are relaxing days at sea. Have breakfast, go to the spa, take a swim, hit the casino, have a great ethnic lunch in the buffet, work out, join Tom for afternoon tea and classical music, take a nap next to the pool, join us for early-evening cocktails, enjoy dinner, take in the big-production show, or listen to late-evening jazz. Whatever you like.
Monday will be Formal Night. Dress up and join the Captain for his cocktail party. Since we have our best clothes on, we'll take our group picture (you get a free copy). And you won't want to miss the opportunity to have your own pictures taken. The photographers on the ship are excellent. We always wind up buying more pictures than we thought we would--they're too good to leave behind!
Tuesday, of course, is Mardi Gras, and with a ship full of New Orleans people, it will be quite a party all day and night.
Wednesday: Belize, formerly known as British Honduras, is a tropical paradise. Crystalline rivers flow through impressive lowland jungles, home to a myriad of rare wildlife. Silky sand beaches, waving palms and colorful coral gardens are just part of Belize's natural wonders. Whether mountain biking through a lush rainforest or snorkeling with sharks, you'll experience things you've only imagined.
Thursday: Cozumel is a wonderful island off the Yucatan coast. Besides swimming in clear aquamarine waters, it is a snorkeler’s paradise. Iguanas run everywhere, close enough to eat the tropical fruit out of your drink! The cruise terminal in Cozumel is great for shopping, and there is a really nice national park called Chankanaab, which offers an array of watersports. And you can take a short ferryboat ride to Tulum, a village of Mayan ruins. It sits on a bluff. Below, the sea is a delicious pale turquoise bordered by a long strip of perfect white sand. The water is the most refreshing temperature, the sea is tranquil, and the beach is nearly deserted. Magnificent!
Friday: Progreso is a seaside retreat just 24 miles north of Merida, on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Founded in 1872 and heavily influenced by the Mayan culture, Progreso enjoys a very simple and relaxed lifestyle. Its white-sand beaches, emerald green waters and cool Gulf breezes are marvelous.
Saturday: We're back at sea, on our way home. Whatever you didn't have time to do onboard the ship on Wednesday you can do today--or you can do more of what you enjoyed the first time around. We'll have our group cocktail party and pass out the photographs in the afternoon, have a farewell dinner, and exchange phone numbers with the new friends you've made. Tonight will also be the Guest Talent Show. I have made it onto the stage for this every cruise so far, so I'm giving you fair warning. We'll be back in New Orleans Sunday morning, hating the idea of getting of the ship.
Staterooms
are available in many configurations at many different fares. In the
fares below, a Double means a room with two occupants, a triple means
three people in a room, and a quad means four. The fares are per
person. Single rooms are available, but they incur a rather steep
single supplement.
The
fares are per person, and include:
- The cruise, in a luxurious stateroom with
full amenties in the stateroom
- Round-trip transfers between airport and ship.
- Port charges, departure taxes and airport charges.
- All
meals, including
stateroom service, and all on-board
activities and shows.
- $100 per stateroom on-board ship credit to
spend as you like.
- Not included: Gambling, drinks, gratuities, and a very few optional extras.
| Category/Cabin |
Inside (4a) |
Outside (6a) | Balcony (8a) |
| Two in room |
$756 | $906 | $1055 |
| Three in room |
675 | 785 | 895 |
| Four in room |
635 | 725 | 815 |
Documentation Required: U.S. citizens must present proof of citizenship in the form of a valid passport. In addition, all guests 16 years of age or older must provide an official photo I.D. It is important that guest names on travel documents be identical to those on the cruise and airline tickets.
Click here to reserve or for more information.
Or call Debbie Himbert:
504-456-0846 or (cell) 504-338-3376.
You can also direct questions to me personally by e-mail: cruise@nomenu.com.
The Advantages of Eat Club Cruising
The greatest advantage to traveling as a group is the camaraderie that gets going after the first day or two. We've had many people who were strangers to one another when they travel with us end the cruise as fast friends. Having a group allows us some other benefits, too:
Special
Seating in the Main Dining Room. We reserve a group of large
tables in the main
dining room for our nightly dinners. Join me and others in the group
every night and watch some special service come down. (But you can dine
anywhere you like, anytime.)
Daily Newsletter.
Every day during the cruise, I write a newsletter full of tips for the
next port of call, plans for our group activities on and off the ship,
and other timely news. It's delivered (usually by me personally) to
your stateroom mailbox.
Eat
Club
Cocktail Party.
The
ship throws a private afternoon gathering for us during the cruise.
This is always one of our favorite onboard events, with an open (free)
bar and appetizers. We
do this at the end of the cruise, so we can hang out and talk one last
time, now that we all know one another.
Daily Informal Get-Togethers. Nothing on the cruise schedule (other than the safety drill) is mandatory. But we organize tours, dinners in the ports, and onboard gatherings where members of our group can socialize if they care to. I announce the venue for our daily gatherings in the newsletter I distribute daily on the ship.
Group Photo. We
gather everyone together for a group shot on the ship (which is like
herding cats, I've found). Why would you want this? Believe me, you
will. Each cabin gets a free eight-by-ten.
Pre-Cruise Get-Acquainted
Dinner. A couple
of weeks before we depart,
we'll plan a dinner for cruisers at Drago's. It'll give us a chance to
meet one another, compare notes on the on-shore tours available, ask
and answer questions, get your travel documents, and have a great
dinner, too. The dinner is $45 per person, inclusive of tax, tip, and
wines, and they really feed us well. It's not required that you attend,
but you won't want to miss it.
Please Read. Every cruise, we're asked whether one can book one's own cruise online or through another travel agent and still join the Eat Club's group activities. Let me explain why the answer to this is no, even for my best friends. The cruise line gives us special considerations based on the number of people we have in our group. Passengers who reserve outside the group do not count in that tally. If we included them in our activities, their participation would be subsidized by passengers who did book with our group. And it would compromise our ability to offer the amenities we provide. We can't make any exceptions. I appreciate your understanding.
Meet Debbie, Our Travel Agent
I know about eating and drinking and being a good host. But I leave the details of the travel arrangements to a professional: Debbie Himbert, our travel agent. Her phone numbers are 504-456-0846 or (cell) 504-338-3376. She will answer your questions quickly and thoroughly, and leave no stone unturned in trying to accommodate you. But first--so we can have you on our list (we will just use this for matters pertaining to this cruise, and not for anything else)--please. . .
Click here to reserve or for more information.
I sure hope you can join us on one of our cruises! They're always relaxing, fascinating, delicious, romantic. And, best of all, fun!
Tastefully yours,
Tom Fitzmorris
Host of The
Food Show on WWL Radio and publisher of The New Orleans
Menu Daily.