jgmpuma

If the weather is nice, you may want to consider a pedicab instead.

The fare would be about the same.

You will not have a problem. Bourbon Street is usually pedestrian-only at night, but Royal is the next street over,going towards the river, and there should be lots of cabs.

Same route. The last stop is Julia Street (all cruise lines except Carnival).

Carnival uses the Erato Street terminal. When you get off the streetcar, you have to go up the escalator to the Riverwalk. Cross the Riverwalk to a walkway that leads to the stairs down to the Erato Street terminal.

The bars will be open as usual, but your restaurant choices will be limited. A lot of the restaurants will be closed, and those that are open usually have a fixed-price menu.

When it gets closer to Thanksgiving, you can look here:

http://www.nomenu.com

For a list of Thanksgiving openings. It would be a good idea to decide on a venue and make reservations early, because they will be very busy. The ones I know are open and can highly recommend are Muriel's on Jackson Square, Tujague's on Decatur and Redfish Grill on Bourbon.

Maybe not the closest, but the easiest walk would be from the Hilton Riverside. It connects to the Riverwalk Outlet mall. You walk through the mall, down a covered walkway to a set of stairs that goes down to the terminal. The whole walk is about three city blocks.

The local forecast calls for isolated to scattered afternoon thunderstorms. If you happen to get caught in one, it will be over quickly.

There are parking lots between Decatur Street and the river. Download a map of the French Quarter to see where they are.

What may or may not turn out to be a less expensive option would be to park in the Harrah's Casino parking lot on Convention Center Blvd. Get a player's card, play the slots for 30 minutes and you get 24 hours of free parking.

It is walkable, and not a bad walk at all if you are not hauling luggage.

When you leave the Erato Street terminal, you will see a set of stairs. At the top you will find a covered walkway that leads to the Riverwalk. Go all the way through the Riverwalk to the end. Take a left and you will be at the foot of Canal Street. The FQ will be on your right.

Unlike ellieanne, I was happy to see the tour buses coming through my neighborhood (Lakeview) after Katrina. That was the only way people could actually appreciate what sitting under ten feet of flood water for four weeks could do to a city.

All of the foliage was dead, the smell was terrible, and there was debris piled several feet high (including the contents of my home). No birds, no squirrels, but lots of possums, racoons and rats feasting on the contents of the refrigerators.

Ten years later, Lakeview is a new neighborhood. It is almost completely repopulated, and thriving. It looks better than ever. Not all neighborhoods have been so lucky, of course, and the pain still lingers.

I don't think that even the commercial tour companies still do Katrina tours. As the above poster says, even the worst-hit areas like the lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard have at least been cleaned up, and the people who have moved back into those areas don't like the idea of being part of a disaster tour.

There will be lots of news specials in the week to come marking the 10th anniversary of Katrina, and telling the story of what Katrina did to New Orleans, and how it is still recovering.

You may want to re-think staying in Chalmette. It is a fairly long drive to downtown/French Quarter. There are other suburbs like Metairie which are closer in, with a lot more restaurants nearby.

If you stick with Chalmette, there is a restaurant in the area that has been getting excellent reviews, and may fit your needs:

http://memesbarandgrille.com

Here:

http://www.nomenu.com

Site includes a listing of restaurants by neighborhood, with ratings.

A cab will cost $7 per person, so you have to balance that against the walk.

As above poster said, Riverwalk is on three levels, so you will have to deal with elevators/escalators. At the end of Riverwalk is an elevator that will take you down to the Julia Street terminal (NCL). If you are on Carnival, you will have to take a walkway at the end of Riverwalk to some outdoor stairs that will take you down to the Erato Street terminal.

Total distance about 2 blocks to Julia and four to Erato.

If you have time, try a dry run.

The easiest way is to walk through Riverwalk to the north end of Mall. When you exit, take a left and you are right there.

When you leave the terminal area, you will see a set of outdoor stairs that leads to a covered walkway along the river and to the entrance to Riverwalk. Cafe du Monde is about a city block into Riverwalk, and easy to find.

From where you entered Riverwalk you will see a set of doors on the other side. These lead to an escalator that will take you down to the Julia Street trolley station.

A lot of the cabs are vans, and can easily handle 4 plus luggage.

Same with transportation from the airport to the FQ.

You can't avoid the stairs if you are walking to the terminal through the Riverwalk, but they are not bad, and you end up right at the terminal.

Maybe take a dry run and see if it would work.

The Hyatt is a fairly long walk from the French Quarter, and walking would not a good idea at night.

There is a Cafe du Monde in the Riverwalk Marketplace, adjacent to the cruise terminal.

Between the two, I would choose the one near the airport.

The one on Bullard is farther away from downtown (it is nowhere near UNO) and not in a great neighborhood.

Ask the cab driver how much extra he/she would charge to stop at a grocery en route between the airport and the cruise terminal.

The one closest to the terminal is the Rouse's Supermarket at 701 Baronne Street, about seven blocks away.

Muriel's on Jackson Square.

Great food, live jazz, and reasonable prices.

A cab would be about $10, but it is a pretty easy walk (about 6 blocks), or you could catch the Riverfront street car at Julia Street for $1.25.

You will usually pay more for less square footage in the French Quarter.

The Sheraton on Can Street is only a couple of blocks from the quarter.

Figure about $30 each way from the Best Western to the French Quarter/downtown and back.