Flight/hotel/transportation help for New Orleans please?

[BBigfoot613]

I'm looking at possibly booking a surprise cruise for my DW (just the 2 of us...NO KIDS!!!wooohoo!)in March. I ony have a few logistical things to work out before I can book. Usually I book months in advance and have time to make the proper reservations and do a hefty amount of research. Unfortunately I'm not sure when things will get figured out and might be stuck booking last minute (read: Valentines day or later). I haven't been able to do much researching where DW won't catch me and ruin the surprise.

 

I need...

 

1. an opinion on where to stay. Near the airport or closer to the terminal.
   
2. Any suggestions on what hotel would be good (not hard to please but don't want a dirty dump).
   
3. And finally any suggestions on possible transportation (ie cabs, car services) from airport to hotel and then hotel to port.
   

 

I see N.O. has a bazillion hotels to choose from. I doubt we'll be doing any sight seeing as the flights will arrive from the cold north east in the early/mid afternoon and I doubt we'd want just a tease of what New Orleans has to offer.I'll thank anyone that replies ahead of time as it'll be a huge help and somewhere to start.

[firefly333]

While there are hotels with shuttle to and from the airport (one on hotwire for cheap even), to me Id want to stay in or near to French Qtr. Whats the point of going to New Orleans and then being off stuck in a hotel where you cant walk around and sample some coffee or local food??

 

I wouldnt want to be in a airport hotel myself without a car.

[Tahlulla-Hula]

Check out the Drury Inn. We loved it and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was, especially for the $79.99 price we got. The hotel is really lovely and our room was very, very nice and super comfy (they just finished renovations)! It was originally $99 (which is still well worth it), but if you keep checking their site, you can sometimes find price drops. It is about 3 miles or so from the port and 4 blocks from the Quarter which we walked both day and night and did not feel unsafe. It is on the street car line as well. We usually stay in the Quarter, but that weekend I had a hard time finding a hotel I could book just for a Sat night - most required a 2 night stay (and at twice the price per night!). There is a free Happy Hour and hot breakfast included as well. I'm still amazed at the quality for the price!! This will be the first place I try to book anytime we head back to New Orleans!

[BBigfoot613]

Ok I've been looking around with a little sucess. I'm curious if anyone knows which hotels offer a shuttle to the port or a site that might have this info.

 

I've also been looking at flights. Being in the north east and only having ONE flight from PHL to our dinky airport locally, we'd have to catch a 11am flight after the cruise. Is this doable or would we be better off staying saturday night post cruise and catching a flight on sunday morning?

[Razorbackfan2010]

The Holiday Inn French Quarter has a park and cruise special. We have a room booked for August for $129.00 with parking for a 7 day cruise.

[knarf]

Hi Big foot :p,

We are flying to NO in April on Airtran for $178.00 for the two of us from Pittsburgh(one way). We, too, have stayed at the Drury Inn. and found it to be very nice. Price was $99.00 ask for the cruise special. From my reading on this board and my experience in NO, Cabs seem to be the main choice to downtown No from the airport. Cost is about $25.00. And we took a cab from the Drury to the port..short ride, about $10.00 I believe. The Drury is a fairly short SAFE walk to the French Quarter. The St Charles trolley runs right by the Drury and is a very nice ride out to the end of the route and back past old homes and a very scenic route. Last Feb. flew from Pitt to NO on Continental for $328.00 round trip. We flew home the next morning after our cruise ended..so can't help you with the 11:00 flight. But I can say it was so nice taking our time getting off the ship, having a nice breakfast on the ship and avoiding the hassle of having to hurry off the ship and worrying about getting to the airport and catching a flight. We then had the day to enjoy NO. Have you been to No before..if not enjoy it for at least a day. There is so much to see and do in NO. These are good sites for NO info. www.norta.com ( has a good map too) www.nolafunguide.com taxi company is www.unitedcabs.com

Drury Inn tel. # 504-5813328

Have lots of other NO info ..so ask away.

Later,

Knarf (Frank back wards)

[BBigfoot613]

Hi Big foot :p,

We are flying to NO in April on Airtran for $178.00 for the two of us from Pittsburgh(one way). We, too, have stayed at the Drury Inn. and found it to be very nice. Price was $99.00 ask for the cruise special. From my reading on this board and my experience in NO, Cabs seem to be the main choice to downtown No from the airport. Cost is about $25.00. And we took a cab from the Drury to the port..short ride, about $10.00 I believe. The Drury is a fairly short SAFE walk to the French Quarter. The St Charles trolley runs right by the Drury and is a very nice ride out to the end of the route and back past old homes and a very scenic route. Last Feb. flew from Pitt to NO on Continental for $328.00 round trip. We flew home the next morning after our cruise ended..so can't help you with the 11:00 flight. But I can say it was so nice taking our time getting off the ship, having a nice breakfast on the ship and avoiding the hassle of having to hurry off the ship and worrying about getting to the airport and catching a flight. We then had the day to enjoy NO. Have you been to No before..if not enjoy it for at least a day. There is so much to see and do in NO. These are good sites for NO info. www.norta.com ( has a good map too) www.nolafunguide.com taxi company is www.unitedcabs.com

Drury Inn tel. # 504-5813328

Have lots of other NO info ..so ask away.

Later,

Knarf (Frank back wards)

 

Thanks for all the valuable info and sites. Great reading there.

 

Now I have a question err statement in need of approval LOL. After doing some posting on here and a few calls to carnival we ruled out the 11am flight. I'd love to fly out of our home town but it's not possible at a later time so off to harrisburg we go. I booked us on a 1240ish flight home. After talking to carnival and having them say 1130 or later and the mixed replies here I felt it'd be fine. Now DW is having second thoughts and is worried about getting to the airport in time for security and making this flight. At first I thought we'd be ok and wouldn't have to be the first off the ship. Now I'm not sure. I'd guess we'll want to see the pursars and make them aware of the early flight (if they don't know already) and request low # tags. We'll only have a few bags and will be carrying them off ourselves. Also due to ingenious packing (thankyou thankyou lol) we'll only have carry ons for the flights.

 

So my question to ease DW's mind... We do self assist and get off early we'll have plenty of time for 1240 right?

[Tahlulla-Hula]

I think you will have more than plenty of time!

 

We did not leave the ship (NCL Spirit out of Nola) until the last group (10am), had to find and collect a bunch of luggage, go through customs, grab a cab, etc. We were only going to the train station, but we were there by 11am. I think you will be absolutely fine, especially if you are just doing carry ons - you can leave the ship whenever you want to. (Good job with that packing!!)

[BBigfoot613]

(Good job with that packing!!)

 

It only took 2 days worth of packing and unpacking to get it down to ALMOST 2 carry ons. Then I called the airline after reading something and wanted to confirm. They told me I could bring a carry on size piece of luggage AND a backpack/purse/laptop. so we went back to what we had before shuffling and even had enough leftover room for DW to get a souvenier or 2.:D

[knarf]

Hi Foot That's Big :p,( I just watched Dances with the Wolves)

Would you come to my place in April--I promise you NO snow at that time) and help me pack for our cruise !! Good job in packing !!:)

In my experience(15 cruises), I do not think you will have any problem with the 12ish flight. Get off the ship and I would definitely take a cab to the airport and NOT a transfer thru the ship. After you go thru customs, just walk outside and grab a cab. Where do you live in PA ?

Later,

Frank-Knarf