NOLA Booking up for Mar. 30/31 -- get your rooms pronto!

[ailinsh1]

We booked our Mar31-Apr. 7 cruise last week, and I decided to go on and take care of the hotel for the night before (flying in Mar. 30).

 

ALL hotel rooms in New Orleans were booked. WHAT?!

 

Yes, the Final Four starts Mar. 31. So, if you're on a cruise leaving NOLA on Mar. 31 or Apr. 1, find a hotel on the outskirts of the city or look for a B&B pronto. (We did manage to find a B&B in the French Quarter).

 

Who knew?! Certainly not me....

 

Sondra

[ebbinns]

We booked our cruise in July 2011 for the same week. I was confused about why no hotels were available until I found out about the men's basketball final four at the Superdome. We were able to book the Country Inn and Suites on Magazine for about $300 and this was back in July. Since then, I check about once a month and - nothing available within 40 minutes of the cruise port.

 

I expect that once the final four teams are determined the weekend of March 24/25, rooms would open up due to cancellations by fans of teams not making the finals.

[NolaTravel]

Just a li'l travel advice when you're booking during major events in New Orleans (think: Mardi Gras, Final Four, French Quarter Fest, Jazz Fest): most hotels have minimum stay requirements, so if you expand your search dates to include an extra day (even if you end up dumping one day of your reservation), you'll wind up getting a much better selection of hotels and rates. I have friends who do this for Mardi Gras weekend every year. They come Friday and Saturday nights and walk away from the Sunday night reservation.

[Lynda59]

We booked our cruise in July 2011 for the same week. I was confused about why no hotels were available until I found out about the men's basketball final four at the Superdome. We were able to book the Country Inn and Suites on Magazine for about $300 and this was back in July. Since then, I check about once a month and - nothing available within 40 minutes of the cruise port.

 

I expect that once the final four teams are determined the weekend of March 24/25, rooms would open up due to cancellations by fans of teams not making the finals.

 

Also - as teams are eliminated rooms will free up, too.