Marge and I paid for the Faster to Fun option which gave us priority boarding and priority disembarking at the end of the trip. So the travelers who wanted to take their own bags off were first followed by Top Tier members of Carnival Club and us Faster to Fun folks. So we were off the ship, had our luggage and were checked in to the Hampton Inn by 10:00 a.m. It all went real smoothly and we could even go to our room after check-in that was nice. We were prepared to leave our bags at the desk.

After a short time in the hotel we were off roaming the French Quarter which was 2 blocks from the hotel . We pretty much just wandered and enjoyed various sites as we walked. I did have a New Orleans walking app that let me know some of the history of the buildings we were seeing. With it's narrow streets, building architecture and ambiance it in many ways reminds one of European cities we have been in.

We started on Bourbon Street which has it's own ambiance with at least 10 Gentlemen Clubs, bars, upscale restaurants, and tourist shops all mixed together on that stretch of road. In the morning when we first went it was pretty quiet but when we returned later that evening there was a significant change. The street was alive with bars and clubs open, people walking the streets (the road is closed to traffic in the evening) and having a good time. Drinks were openingly carried drinks as in Vegas, people walked and enjoyed the evening.

As for what we did during the day we saw many praline stores, gift stores, some very expensive gift stores and best of all just the architecture of the city . Specifically we walked to Cafe Du Munde for a cafe au lait and a beignet which is a type of donut (no hole) covered and I mean covered in powered sugar. The place is definitely a busy tourist spot but we had a refreshing stop and did not feel hurried to open our table. We walked around the shops of French Market some, visited St Louis Cathedral (the oldest cathedral in the U.s.) and the Cabildo museum. This was originally the Spanish Governor's mansion and now a museum o the history of New Orleans and Louisiana.

The Cathedral exterior is not what I would call fantastic but the interior makes up for it with a beautiful simplicity about it. The stained glass is wonderful as is the paintings on the ceiling above the main aisle. I really did enjoy the interior of the church. It was great that there was a Christmas Oregon recital this day at 6 p.m. so after more sightseeing and a rest at the hotel we came back to listen to the wonderful concert . The organist was Karol Mossakowski a 24 year old from Poland. The performance was very good. The works played were:
- Bach's "Wir danken dir, Gott. BWV29"
- Franck's "Pastorale, Opus 19"
- Vierne's "Symphony 32, Opus 20"
- Widor's "Symhony #5, Opus 42"
- Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Ballot" Selections from the ballet
- Improvisations on Christmas Carols by Karol

It was a beautiful day to just walk around the French Quarter and we truly enjoyed just taking it easy doing that. I should mention that we also visited a pharmacy museum at the oldest licensed pharmacy in the U.S. It was interesting to see some of the various medicines that were used and to see how drugs like opium, morphine and heroin were legal and common at times in our history as medically approved drugs. Also interesting exhibit on the Aqua Vitae (i.e. liquor) also has had various phases as a commonly used item in the medicine chest. It was a small museum but enjoyable and Marge and I were glad we went.