March 6, 2025 Sea Day #2

Sea Day #2 found the Constellation in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico en route to Progreso, Mexico. At 9 a.m. there were 327 nautical miles to go. The course is 189°, almost straight south through the Gulf of Mexico, travelling at 16 knots. We could not find information either in the Celebrity app or on the TV channels about the current temperature.

Breakfast was at the Elite breakfast in the Deck 5 San Marco dining room. Today there was a buffet set up for the Continental breakfast. We could still order Mimosas, Bellinis, etc and Americanos or cappuccinos from the server. We sat with Zegrid, the 88 year old German American woman, and were joined by a couple from Los Angeles, who lived in a neighbourhood about eight mies from the closest fire, and Marion and her husband, whom we met at breakfast earlier this week. There were a few dozen people enjoying the Elite breakfast.

The captain’s announcement at 9:45 a.m. advised that the east wind was blowing at 80 miles per hour with a current temperature at 20°C. There was only a slight rocking to the ship if you stopped to pay attention to the motion.

At 10 a.m. we listened to Samatha Olson’s presentation A Brief History of New Orleans in the theatre. People have lived in the New Orleans area since 1300 B.C. To make the transition from the Mississippi River across the silty land to Lake Pontchartrain, land was built up to form a portage between the waterways. It was in the area of Jackson Square through Louis Armstrong Park toward Lake Pontchartrain. New Orleans’ French Quarter was naturally on higher ground. Bajou means slow moving river. The French colonists that arrived in the 1690s were convicts and others who did not arrive by choice, plus fur trappers, explorers and even gold seekers. New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Montréal born Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville allowing the French to control access to the Mississippi River valley. It was declared the Louisiana capital in 1722. Also it was the year that the French experienced their first hurricane. The Code Noir became law in France in 1742. It covered slaves and free slaves who were given Sundays off work so they could dance and sing. In New Orleans an area in Louis Armstrong Park called Congo Square is where the planation slaves gathered. Sugar was grown on the plantations since it was well suited to the area’s climate. In 1753 the Ursuline Convent was built and today is a museum near St. Mary’s church. In 1762 France gave Louisiana (New Orleans and all land west of the Mississippi) to Spain after Spain had lost Florida. There were fires in New Orleans in 1788 and again in 1794 destroying most of the French buildings and were rebuilt by the Spanish. In 1795 the United States were allowed use of the New Orleans port plus access to the Mississippi River. In 1802 the Spanish returned Louisiana to France. France sold Louisiana to the United States in 1803 for $15 million.

In 1812 the pirate / privateer Jean Lafitte assisted the Americans defeating the British in the Battle of New Orleans, in return for erasing any criminal charges against him for his past smuggling activities. In attempt to create municipalities for the area, it was decided to build a canal, but ir was soon realized that a road would serve New Orleans better. The wide road retained the name Canal Street. During the American Civil War, the Union side captured New Orleans early without a major battle which spared New Orleans during General Sherman’s March in the southern states. The Jim Crow laws enforcing segregation of white from coloured people, stayed in effect in Louisiana until the 1960s. In 1910 the first steam engine pump was installed to pump water out of New Orleans after rain storms, since it lies below sea level. New Orleans sinks as it is built on silt. This is a huge problem.

New Orleans had a shipping building industry. During World War 2, the factories produced Higgins boats which were the landing craft used on D Day.

We needed to hurry to the back of the ship go to to the Deck 5 San Marco dining room for the Elite wine tasting. We sat with Bruce and Robin from Tampa.The sommelier told the over 100 people in attendance that there are five “S”s to wine tasting. See the colour, Swirl, Smell, Sip & taste and Savour. The wines were Sauvignon Blanc, from Chile aged in the French style in French oak barrels giving a vanilla note, while those wines aged in American oak barrels have notes of chocolate. Riesling with an alcohol rating of 9% is a dry wine. The next wine was pale rosé from Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay grapes. Malbec was next. On Malbec labels from Argentina, the elevation of the vineyard is noted. The lowest altitude is 1,888 feet above sea level and the highest over 6,000 feet. The fourth wine was Cabernet Sauvignon which can have an alcohol content from 3 to 13 % which is sweeter and 13.5% to 15% which is heavier with more tannin.

We made a quick stop at Café Al Bacio to order two small slider sandwiches and two cookies on the way to the movie in the theatre.

The Matinée movie today at noon was last year’s two hour and 40 minute Wicked, which was shown in the theatre and shown again at 5 on Deck 12’s Rooftop Terrace.

There was a short break before going up to the pool on Deck 10 for a Line Dance class. We were surprised that the temperature felt warm, no need for a jacket like for yesterday’s Salsa class.

There was time to catch some BBC News before dinner. There was an announcement that President Trump had removed some of his two day old tariffs, but only on the goods and services listed under the USMCA trade Agreement which was just 38% of items imported from Canada.

There was time for an Elite Happy Hour complementary drink and some dancing in the Rendezvous Lounge before dinner. This evening we ate in the Qsine dining room for the Le Petit Chef animated dinner. From a ceiling projector a tiny animated chef flits around your place setting “preparing” your meal in four courses. He had an adventure for each course. The restaurant could hold about 60 and there were only a few empty seats.

There was the Senior Officers Cocktail Party in Reflections Lounge for Elite tier passengers, but our dessert was just being served at the time that the 30 minute event started.

The theatre shows this evening featured the vocalist Todd Adamson at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. He had another great show. We skipped comedian Jason Blanchard’s 10:15 p.m. adults only comedy show.

Total Steps 7,188