Saint Greg

That's all I'm asking. Anytime the ship isn't at full capacity you think the Stewards are getting cheated.

I haven't done any organized tours. I know Garden District and Cemetery tours are popular during the day. Ghost tours at night. I covered a lot of the Garden District here if you want to check it out. https://www.saintgregtravel.com/new-orleans-garden-district/ I have seen free tours by foot recommended a lot. You may want to check out their tours. The guides just work for tips. https://freetoursbyfoot.com/new-orleans-tours/

Port Parking for carnival is good. You said brilliance. They don’t use the Carnival garage. They use this open whale lot which is less good. I would think you could drop your bags off. But I don’t know what the traffic flow is like at Julia Street terminal. I don’t know how they turn around. That may be a question for someone who uses Julia street. Fulton likes you to drop your bags downstairs before you park anyway. You could even drop them right where the shuttle parks and just have one person stand with them while the other parks. They have people to load and unload luggage. They load the shuttles along this left side (facing the river) of the building. Then you should be able to make a right and enter the garage.

That’s not what my post was about. I was talking to the person who said the steward is getting cheated out of gratuity with a solo in a two person cabin. I’m wondering if they also feel the same way about two people in cabins that hold 3-5 people.

Absolutely. Cooper Manning is part owner there. The bayou bar on the first floor is where the Saints franchise was christened on all-Saints day in 1966. It’s usually out of my price range but that doesn’t stop me from frequenting their Hot Tin bar.

I’m all for a loyal royal containment area.

How do you feel about rooms that hold 3-5 people but only have two booked in it?

The normal lot for that is the whale lot which is a wide open surface lot right by the river walk mall. I would recommend Fulton Parking Garage instead. Security is going to be better and they have a free shuttle to/from the port. The absolute cheapest cruise parking is their rooftop parking. But indoor isn’t that much more. Make sure you switch the drop down from hotel to cruise parking and you’ll see the indoor and rooftop options. https://www.neworleansparking.com What you may want to consider is booking Hilton Garden inn as well. Book one day of hotel parking for that. Then book your cruise parking. HGI is right by Fulton. Park, walk across the street to your hotel, Then walk back across the street the next morning to take your shuttle to the port. I did that before my Glory cruise in 2019. What I did was just bring enough stuff for the night over to the hotel. Then when I came back in the morning I dropped my dirty clothes in the car and grabbed my suitcase for the cruise. Took the elevator downstairs and got on the shuttle. https://www.saintgregtravel.com/new-orleans-hotel-review-hilton-garden-inn-convention-center/

Not yet. Definitely in my plans at some point though.

I stayed there in December. I have some pictures and stuff on that one starting with post #485 on page 20 of this thread.

My argument has been New Orleans should have a vista class ship before Long Beach should’ve had two. So it makes sense to compare the two. If you know of any TA discounts for cruising out of New Orleans on Carnival, please send them my way.

What I know is I'm always looking for the cheapest price on an interior and Panorama is always at the top of the list. It's been that way for years. And now Firenze is right up there with it. Fine... I decided to do a little random search I wouldn't normally do. A balcony for four during the summer. I first tried fourth of July but it's sold out. So I decided the last week of July. I came out with a total of $3,652 on Panorama. And $3,619 on Liberty. So in that case the really old ship with no bells and whistles..not even a waterpark for the kids...is selling for the same price as the much newer Panorama. Let's do Firenze and Valor on the 5-day that same week. Valor $3,190 Firenze $2,732 Unfortunately I don't have time to search for every category on every cruise for the entire year, but I've seen enough over the years to have a good idea of how it would come out.

I have read about people getting turned away for being too early or because of a debarkation delay. Not sure where they go in that case since I don't know that area very well. In my case I got in the line at 10:30. I'm not sure what time I got parked but I was in the port at 11:11.

Well there's only one parking option. The line to get in the garage went all the way back to the interstate and up the ramp. I came from the other direction so I had to go all the way down, make a U-turn and force my way into the line. They don't start letting people in until people start coming out so I have seen posts about it being an issue if debarkation is delayed. Then once inside I had to sit in my car and wait for the people in front of me to get out and unload all of their suitcases before I could park. I waited until after the rush to leave the ship so I don't know how it would've been earlier. It's unlikely I'll ever cruise from Mobile again but if I do I will check into one of the park and cruise hotels for sure.

You definitely want to check out this: New Orleans Hotel Guide: Hilton Riverside Yeah I'm over there all the time during football season. Early morning before the sun even comes up. I never feel unsafe. The riverwalk. Waldenberg Park. A lot of early morning joggers around there. What I tell people is at night walk on the heavily populated streets as much as possible. So Poydras, Canal St., St. Charles Ave., etc.

Which hotel are you looking at? Hilton Riverside?

Definitely. And a lot more I need to post. I'm actually working on one for the Maison St. Charles now to post next week or the week after. They have a park and cruise package so I think it may interest some around here. I'm going to have a gap in August where I'll be able to post some more New Orleans hotel reviews. I have a lot of catching up to do with that.

Hilton St. Charles is a historic building. It was a masonic temple from the 1920's-1990's.

They're going to need an investment to do more. Definitely more parking. It's a mess as it is. But I would love to send a conquest class ship there if they put a Dream or Vista class ship in New Orleans.

I never said anything about a third ship. I was talking about replacing Liberty with bigger ship. It's nothing they haven't done before. Dream was there for a long time.

Are you flying or driving?

You probably want to check this out.

Love that quote when we're talking about building something designed to keep them from connecting with the local culture and people.

There's definitely money being left on the table. Especially during summer months when Carnival is the only game in town. Hopefully as other lines continue to build new ships, they'll fill that void if Carnival doesn't. I definitely won't book another cruise out of New Orleans on conquest or lower. It would have to be a special cruise like I did with Glory and the Sailabration in 2022. Or it would have to be really cheap which is highly doubtful.

It is underserved. That's why the cheapest 7-day out of New Orleans on an old ship like Liberty is still more expensive than the cheapest on Luminosa, Firenze, Panorama, Magic, and Venezia. That's why NCL canceled a bunch of European cruises and a transatlantic to bring Getaway to New Orleans two months earlier this year. I'm not arguing for an Excel Class ship in New Orleans. But Dream or Vista class for sure. Especially when Long Beach has the two lowest priced Vista class ships. And one of them is "new" and hasn't even sailed yet. It's clear Long Beach is overserved. I could make a case for Excel New Orleans if they ever drop Mobile which takes a lot of passengers within two hours of New Orleans. https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-Getaway-Epic-move-to-Caribbean-in-fall