We are mid 60's and retired. This was our 29th cruise. We are Diamond level on RCCL. We chose this cruise because we had never been to New Orleans and wanted to "experience" it prior to the cruise.
Pre-Cruise: We booked this cruise 7 months prior to embarkation, and then had some difficulty booking a hotel room and flights, as it turned out to be WRESTLEMANIA weekend in New Orleans. Got room for 2 nights at Embassy Suites near to the Convention Center, which was hosting the wrestle festivities and 3 conventions at the same time. New Orleans has a good thing going for itself. We were very pleased with the hotel. We did a couple days of sightseeing, "experienced" Bourbon Street for a couple of hours in the afternoon (that was enough) and heard some great music.
Embarkation: We walked out of the hotel, turned left, pulled our bags 3 short blocks, gave them to the porters, registered, and got on the ship. The entire time, from when we left the hotel, took about 30 minutes.