Sister's cruise 2015

Shantell and I have become frequent travelers.  That's what happens when you are in your 30's and don't have a family of your own.  Our little sister Danielle on the other hand took the family route at a young age and hasn't had as much travel time.   We decided to do a sister's cruise with our mom and my mom's roommate Merrianne. 

We chose to port out of New Orleans and visit Cancun and Yucatan peninsula.  After the 5 day cruise, we spent 3 days in New Orleans.  

Shantell wanted to be frugal so she put all 5 of us in 1 stateroom.  That was very snug!  I would've preferred more privacy, especially since Danielle decided to get buck naked and change in front of everyone the first day, which set the tone for everyone else feeling comfortable enough to get naked in front of each other.  Now, for some families this might be regular practice.  To each their own, but I personally had zero desire to see anyone that much!  Overall, the state room wasn't so bad.  

At Cancun we decided to go to Dolphinarius and swim with the dolphins.  That was Danielle's one requirement for her very first real vacation outside the country.  We were happy to oblige!  Swimming with the dolphins was one of the highlights of this trip!

Can you see the look of pure bliss on that dolphins face?

Our second port was Yucatan peninsula where we did a excursion touring the Mayan culture.  We went to an original Mayan home of this cute little Mayan lady.  She was so tiny!!  I couldn't believe it!  Such a sweet lady!

We also went to some Mayan Ruins, which were so beautiful!  

We had to laugh after seeing the pictures they have you pose for on dress up night.  They are always so funny and awkward.

At one point my mom and her roommate Merrianne got separated from us and decided to take a picture. Well, had we been there with them, we would have never allowed the below picture to be taken.  I don't know how they didn't realize how the picture would turn out by letting the photographer pose them like this.  Pretty sure the photographer thought they were a lesbian couple.  We had non-stop laughs over this one.  Poor mom and Merrianne.  They are just friends.

The cruise was so much fun!  It was great to spend time with  my sisters and Mom!

The second highlight of the cruise was the on-ship entertainment.  There was this singing group that did a show every night.  They were phenomenal!!!  My mind was blown.  One night they did a show called Divas where they dressed up and performed songs by Divas throughout time.  Another night they did one for love songs.  Then the last night they did one called Epic Rock which was all 80's music!  I LOVED IT!!!  I love the 80's and sang along to every song.  I was in Heaven!  I could not believe how talented these young entertainers were.  

The cruise ended and we went to our hotel in New Orleans to get settled.  Since there were 5 of us, Danielle booked us a suite at an older historic looking hotel.  I only post the below picture of me taking a nap on the first day because there will be more comments regarding happenings at this hotel. 

The first day we went and walked around the French Quarter and went on a vampire tour.  The tour was very interesting and semi-scary.  It fascinates me how much the culture in New Orleans accepts vampire folklore.  They truly believe that vampires are present among them.  It's not something I believe in, but I enjoy hearing the stories and theories.  

After the tour, I was kind of creeped out, but not too bad since I don't believe in vampires and it's ghosts that really scare me.  In our hotel, there were 2 bedrooms joined by a TV room between them. Since there were only 2 beds, we decided to give my mom and Merrianne 1 bedroom and the 3 of us girls would trade off between the couch and the other bed.  We were staying 3 nights so we would each take a turn on the couch.  The first night, Shantell decided to stay out later on Bourbon Street, so Danielle and I took the bedroom and Shantell could have the couch when she got in.  

I was so creeped out in that bedroom!!  I couldn't figure out why since I wasn't that scared after the vampire tour.  Sure it was eery how much they believed in them, but I don't believe in them so I wasn't that scared.  Well, let's just say that I slept horribly that night!  Every time I closed my eyes, I would feel like there was someone standing there looking at me.  I kept opening my eyes fully expecting to see a woman standing there.  I don't know why I kept opening my eyes; I would've crapped my pants had I actually seen something.  My mind was so hyper alert and active that I couldn't sleep.  I kept tossing and turning, so scared the whole night.  Needless to say, Danielle was not happy with me.  She got so mad at me for making so much commotion.  I felt bad, but I was so scared!  Finally, I made it through a nearly sleepless night.  The next morning I told them how scared I was and the teasing started.  

I managed to function that day and we had fun.  We ate beignets and Cafe Du Monde.  They were delicious as usual.

I also had my tarot cards read.  I don't necessarily believe in tarot cards, but I was curious so I gave it a shot.  All I remember is that she talked about something big coming up in my professional future, which is true because I got promoted 1 month later.  Everything else was fairly general.  It was a fun experience, regardless.

 We also went to the Houmas House plantation and toured there.  It was beautiful and surrounded by Oak trees. 

The second night we did a ghost tour, which I loved.  Despite my complete fear of ghosts, I actually really like going on ghost tours and hearing stories and experiences.  One stop talked about a place that a gentleman used to own over 100 years ago.  All of the building in the French Quarter are dual level.  Top level has housing and bottom level has the business. This gentleman had a gambling problem.  Story has it he got drunk one night and made a wager that he lost, which lost him everything including the building.  He was so depressed, he took his life.  Years later, the building eventually became a restaurant on the bottom level.  The only problem was, the restaurant kept having hauntings.  Plates would fly across the room, things would move, the usual haunting stuff.  The owner brought in someone to have a seance and find out what the ghost wanted.  The determination was that the ghost was the owner who killed himself and he didn't like so many people in his space, so they decided to always set him a table at the restaurant that would be set aside for him.  Since doing this, the commotion ceased.  Because the building is still an active restaurant, the tour doesn't take us inside but we can see through the window and take pictures.  The below picture was taken of the table that is set aside for the ghost....see anyone sitting at the table?  There was no one there when the picture was taken. 

Since I had such a rough time sleeping the night before, Danielle banished me to the couch our second night there.  It was surprisingly my best nights sleep there.  I popped a Tylenol PM, turned on the TV, and fell asleep to FRIENDS.  Slept like a baby!  Thankfully, I hadn't yet been made aware of the experience Shantell had on that couch earlier that day when she was the only one in the room.  

The 3rd day we did a swamp tour on air boats.  So much fun!  We saw so many alligators.

 

And even got to hold one.  Last time I came to New Orleans I held one but it had tape around it's mouth.  Apparently, alligators are no different than any other animal; they have temperaments of their own.  This alligator was supposed to be really mild tempered and never have bitten anyone.  No tape needed. 

One of the other tour guides is somewhat of an alligator whisperer.  He got the alligator to come out of the water and stop in front of him.  Then when he was done he waved his hand the alligator went back into the water.  Crazy!

I pretended to have an alligator bite my face to send a funny picture to my niece and nephews.  Apparently, my nephew Austin saw it and got worried.  When his dad told him it was a joke, Austin said, "Not funny Holly."  Oh they are so cute!

Now begins our very last night at the hotel.  We went to the front desk to inquire about late checkout. The nice desk worker was friendly and asked us about all the activities we had done.  When we told her about our vampire and ghost tours, we talked about how that's a part of New Orleans culture.  Then I asked the question I would very soon regret asking.  "Is our hotel haunted?"  She immediately responded, "Yes!"  Even though I was terrified, I had to know details.  I asked what experiences people had there.  She shared that there have been many sightings of a lady but she only likes the suites.  She goes back and forth between the 2 suites.  The panic swept in, "We are staying in one of the suites!!!"  We go back to the room and tell Shantell and Merrianne what the front desk lady had told us.  Shantell then proceeds to tell us that the second day when she was the only one at the hotel, she was lying on the couch (same one I slept on later that same night) and the bathroom light turned on.  Shantell is not easily frightened so she just decided to leave it on.  She also said she felt weird in the living room like there was someone there watching her.  Again, not easily frightened, so she just went about her business.  Well....I AM easily frightened, and I was petrified at learning this on top of what the desk clerk told us and on top of my own feelings the first night.  My family had fun teasing me the rest of the night.  "Holly, what's that behind you?"  "Did you hear that?"  "I think I saw something."  Oh the fun they had teasing me.   Despite my annoyance at the teasing, I still couldn't hide my fear.  I made sure to close the doors to the bedrooms when we were all in the living room.  I didn't want to take any chances.  Time for bed came, and thankfully, it was Danielle's turn to stay in the living room while Shantell and I shared the bed.  Danielle was the one who did the brunt of the teasing that night, so you could imagine my surprise when within minutes of everyone going to bed, she was standing at the foot of our bed saying she was scared and she wanted to sleep with us.  We didn't have room for her on the bed, so she slept on the floor beside the bed.  I knew 1 Tylenol PM wouldn't cut it after this new information, so I took 2 this time.  Still, I didn't sleep well at all, but again, I made it through the night. The next morning on our way to the airport, Shantell shared with us what she had looked up the previous night regarding our hotel.  Apparently, one guest opened up a closet door and there was a woman standing in it!  A WOMAN STANDING IN THE CLOSET!!  Holy crap!  Our very first day, I placed my suitcase in front of the Bordeaux in our bedroom and shoved the suitcase as close to the opening doors as possible.  I remember thinking, "that's creepy.  These are not going to open with my suitcase here."  It all makes perfect sense now why I felt that way.  We survived the haunted hotel!  

Overall, the sister's cruise was a blast, even despite the nakedness and hauntings I endured.   Maybe we will have to do it again...less nudity and less hauntings next time....hopefully.