For those wanting a Hotel close to port.

[indiaksue]

We just returned on Jan. 31st from the Conquest. We flew in to NO the day before we left on the cruise and were so worried about how to get to the port. There were 14 people in my family and we didn't want to have the expense of a Taxi. We have also heard bad things about traffic too.

 

We booked the Embassy Suites. It was a nice hotel and plenty of room. We had my husband and myself and our 15 year old son with us in one room. Our son opted for the living room couch and let us have the 2 beds in the bedroom. It had a nice balcony right on Julia Street and we could see the terminal and our ship from there. I also noticed many people wheeling their luggage up the street. The Courtyard by Marriott was just across the Street from us also. We were 2 short blocks from the Riverwalk mall which was huge. I am not sure why people think you could wheel you luggage from the Riverside Hilton, it is so much further and up the stairs.

 

On the morning of our cruise we waited till 11:00 and then started our trek to the port. You go all the way past the rail road tracks and then turn right. Here you go another block to the entrance. It says "no pedestrians" on a sign, which freaked me out the night before when we did a trial run, but we called the port and they said just disregard the sign.

 

It took about 10 minutes to make it to the entrance and then some of our group went back to help my elderly parents with their luggage. Both trips and the whole process took about 30 min.

 

I hope this will help some people because I was a wreck trying to figure it out before we left. I am happy we stayed where we did and saved our family all that money for the taxi.

 

Also if you want something to do in the evening, there is a nice Restaurant called Mulate's just a block toward the pier. It is an authentic Cajun place with a live Cajun band and dancing. It was a really nice evening for our whole group. We also walked through the Riverwalk Mall and then headed to the French Quarter. The hotel is about 5 or 6 blocks from the bottom corner of the French Quarter. If you like to walk it is a nice walk after Dinner. If not it would be a short taxi ride.

[cali-croozer]

Thanx........last time I checked the prices were high there, so I've kept my reservation at the Hampton Inn Convention Center ($71, including taxes). Anyway, did you see the Hampton Inn from your hotel? I keep getting conflicting information about how close the port is from there.

[CruiseMark]

Thanks for the tip! That sounds great. How long did it take for you to get on the ship once you got to the terminal?

[kujobie]

FYI.. I recently got a great deal on the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel. It is not real close to the port, but one block from the French Quarter. We are not going for a cruise but just to stay for a weekend. Anyways, we got a AAA advanced purchase rate of $87 per night. This is a 4-star hotel that is currently going for about $250 a night. The only catch is that we booked about 3 months in advance and had to pay a one night non-refundable deposit. Booked directly with the hotel (renaissance is owned by Marriott) on the Marriott website.

[indiaksue]

Cali-Yes the prices are high there, but it was worth the extra for us with a teenager. We had more space, plus the free breakfast buffet, fed the 3 of us which would have cost probably $ 30.00 plus saving a taxi ride to the port we saved $25.00 so for us it was the equivalent of a $ 99.00 hotel.

 

I do not remember where the Hampton Inn is from the Embassy Suites. I can say this about the New Orleans Map. The streets are pretty straight forward in that area. They are city blocks. The only problem I had with a map was trying to figure out if Julia street went all the way to the pier. It does and it is the only way to the port unless you travel the entire length of the convention center and go in the same way as the one way traffic. The convention center is 1 mile long. So where ever the hotel is in relation to Julia street is how many blocks you will have to travel.

[indiaksue]

Mark-We left for the terminal at 11:00. That is the earliest they will let you in. Like I said we made 2 trips. Those of us who waited watched the line as they filed in. It just continued to get bigger and bigger. By the time we got in line, at 11:30 there was quite a few people already in line. We waited about 45 min. before we made it on the ship. They do have a good system and the lines traveled pretty quickly. I would try to get there as close to 11:00 as possible.

[kbaartman]

Thanks for the great information Indiaksue!!! A couple of questions?

 

1.) What mode of transportation did you use to get from the airport to the Embassy Suites?

2.) We will be leaving on Grandeur of the Seas (RCCL). Would you make the same recommendation for Grandeur?

 

Thanks again.

[cali-croozer]

Cali-Yes the prices are high there, but it was worth the extra for us with a teenager. We had more space, plus the free breakfast buffet, fed the 3 of us which would have cost probably $ 30.00 plus saving a taxi ride to the port we saved $25.00 so for us it was the equivalent of a $ 99.00 hotel.

 

I do not remember where the Hampton Inn is from the Embassy Suites. I can say this about the New Orleans Map. The streets are pretty straight forward in that area. They are city blocks. The only problem I had with a map was trying to figure out if Julia street went all the way to the pier. It does and it is the only way to the port unless you travel the entire length of the convention center and go in the same way as the one way traffic. The convention center is 1 mile long. So where ever the hotel is in relation to Julia street is how many blocks you will have to travel.

 

Thank you.........the Hampton Inn also has the free breakfast (I look for that too since we are a family of 4, including 2 hungry teen boys:) ). I was hoping to not have to take a taxi either. We'll have to check it out once we get there. I'll keep checking the price at the Embassy Suites.....right now, it would be $80 more than the Hampton Inn (regular room, not suite). Again, thanks for posting.

[indiaksue]

kbaartman

Since we were a family of 14 I called the airport shuttle service on the official NO Airport web site. We got a deal of that made it $10.50 each for our group. It looks to me that you can just get on a shuttle anytime. They have a Kiosk at the baggage claim area and the shuttles are all outside (I think it was around the number 10 baggage claim area) Anyway it is really easy to get on a shuttle.

[KathieP]

We also stayed at the Embassy Suites prior to our cruise at the end of December. We got a great deal with a group rate. If you need 4 or more rooms, make sure to ask for the person in charge of groups once you call the specific hotel. We also wheeled our bags to the ship.

 

As to the transportation to the hotel from the airport and then back to the airport from the ship, if we had less luggage, we would have used a taxi but we have 5 people in our family and 10 (I don't know how to pack light) bags so we didn't think we could fit everything in a taxi. We took the shuttle. The problem with this was we got round trip tickets and when we were ready to go back right after getting off the ship, they put us on a full size bus with 55 seats. The driver would not leave until the bus was full. So even though we were some of the first people off, we sat in the bus for a good 20 or 30 minutes waiting for it to fill.