cruising out of New orleans

[bhg71]

We sailed out of N.O. in Oct. 2013. No smells at all going down Mississippi but lots to look at. Daughter and I were out on deck late that night around midnight and could tell when we got out onto Gulf. Didnt seem like we were cruising unusually slow either. 223 days and we'll being doing it again on the Dream. Can't wait!!!

[djacobson]

I will be going out of NO this summer for the first time. My question is what time does the casino and shops open? I know it's usually once the ship gets into international waters, does this mean I have to wait 8 hours or so?

 

The shops will not be open on embarkation day. CCL would have to charge tax if the shops were open. The casinos will be open on embarkation, as I remember it is around 6:00 pm.

[Elegant Tragedy]

Ok. I am officially more excited about leaving from NOLA! For whatever reason, I had pictured NOLA just like Galveston, where you sail right into the Gulf. Super stoked that we get to sail down the Mississippi!!! Leaving on the Dream in 129 days!!!!!!

[QTPie68]

Among the other interesting things brought up, I enjoyed the watching the river pilots. I was surprised it took so long to get to the gulf , but it made me think how interesting cruising on the Mississippi could be. I remember when I used to work in downtown Baton Rouge and the paddle boats would dock on the river as the went up, playing their calliope, it was fun to hear and watch.

[snowyowl57]

We are new to cruising- soon we will be on our first cruise in San Juan, Puerto Rico but we are considering a future trip out of New Orleans. We assumed the port was on the Gulf and are surprised about the 8 hr cruise down the river so how far away from the airport is the cruise port and where is New Orleans in comparison to the cruise port? Just wondering how we would get to the cruise port after landing in New Orleans?

[CatlinSTJ]

We've sailed NOLA twice and the trip down the Mississippi is part of the reason a lot of people book that port. It's interesting to see the different marine vessels and be sure to keep an eye on the bank for the locals coming out to wave to the ships as they go by - very fun! We've never smelled the refineries, so no issues there. It's neat when sailing back to the port to see all of the fires though as you enter the mouth of the river at dusk.

 

 

Next cruise: Carnival Breeze June 2014

[CatlinSTJ]

We are new to cruising- soon we will be on our first cruise in San Juan, Puerto Rico but we are considering a future trip out of New Orleans. We assumed the port was on the Gulf and are surprised about the 8 hr cruise down the river so how far away from the airport is the cruise port and where is New Orleans in comparison to the cruise port? Just wondering how we would get to the cruise port after landing in New Orleans?

 

Catch a cab or shuttle, should be about a 20 minute ride from the airport. Our hotel was right around the corner from the cruise terminal but the way it's set up its not really walkable. We could walk from the hotel to all the major attractions just fine even though we stayed away from Bourbon street and the busier areas. (It was a Hampton Inn, can't remember the exact location, but it was in a converted cotton warehouse - very cool hotel, great breakfast, and great rates!)

 

 

Next cruise: Carnival Breeze June 2014

[runamuc]

The shuttle from the airport to terminal is $20 person. Cabs are set fares .

[okgirl]

I was on the Sunshine 2 weeks ago and loved the new VIP lounge area. They are greatly expanding the terminal in anticipation of the Dream coming and the larger volume of passengers.

 

They need to work on the taxi drop off , pick up process. It's very confusing, porters aren't readily available and if I hadn't sailed from there before I wouldn't really have known where to go.

 

The Casino opened at 6pm and the shops shortly after that.

[golfadj]

Always thought NO was further from us than S Florida and only last week realized NO was an hour closer.

 

Looking forward to doing a cruise out of NO in near future.

[Granny1]

I too think it will be a wonderful ride down the Miss, so looking forward to seeing all the sites on the river and the city..It's been 46 years since I have been on the Mississippi. as for the smells if any-so what- have you smelled NYC?? or a country farm???

 

To- ale4692 can you post a link to the web page for the historical sites to see going down the Miss?

 

We are taking two newbies with us on this Crusin with the Gals trip and I think I am more excited to see their expressions when they see the ship and all the new sites to see..

 

Hope everyone has a great Monday..;)

We dodged the bullet from this storm..:)

[Giantfan13]

I can't argue with those that enjoy the ride down the Mississippi. We didn't. We were there a year after Katrina and it DID smell. If some find that enticing, that's OK.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[antiquitys]

We have sailed out of New York, Baltimore, Port Canaveral twice, New Orleans, Vancouver, San Juan, and Long Beach. Our best port experience was Baltimore. Our worst was New Orleans. I have never seen such a disorganized embarkation as that place.

[moni]

I printed the 2010 post to take with us on our April cruise also. It's great information.

 

Can you direct me to this post? (Search engine is not on.)

We cruise April 20th. and would like to have all the info I can get.

[Chmie]

We are really looking forward to our 3 day stay prior to sailing out of NO.

I wasn't aware it took 8 hr to reach the gulf but that is icing on the cake. At least we'll some interesting sights on the Mississippi instead of staring at open water. I'll report on the smells later :D

[Mysticks1]

Can you direct me to this post? (Search engine is not on.)

We cruise April 20th. and would like to have all the info I can get.

 

The CC member that wrote that is on my roll call for our May 11 cruise on the Dream. He re-posted the information for us. Here is a link to that post. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41184442&postcount=84

[Mysticks1]

I can't argue with those that enjoy the ride down the Mississippi. We didn't. We were there a year after Katrina and it DID smell. If some find that enticing, that's OK.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

I don't think you were smelling the refineries. Probably what you smelled was the marsh, it has a very distinct sour type smell and you would smell it pretty much all the way down. I live on the Gulf Coast and am probably used to it but I didn't notice any smells on our 2006 cruise down the Mississippi. I am looking forward to my cruise in May because it will be light longer and we will be able to see more. Our last one was in October and the sun set not long after we sailed.

[Pyxie]

I'm excited about the trip down the river and consider it a part of the experience, even though most of it is at night so from what I understand you don't see much.

 

I think there are a lot of people that don't realize New Orleans is not directly on the gulf. Especially after the coverage of Katrina, it would seem that New Orleans is right on the ocean but it's not.

 

I think this will be a unique experience. I love New Orleans and grew up in Mississippi so this river is significant to me.

[Warm Breezes]

We did a B2B out of NO on the Fantasy a few years ago, and I didn't know about the 8 hour sail, going 5 miles an hour, with the smell of oil refineries everywhere, up the Mississippi. I was like others, who look at NO right on the gulf and couldn't believe we had to sail 8 hours to get out into open water. Then we had to do it all over again. I will never sail out of NO again.

Maybe it didn't bother others, but it did bother us.

 

I wish I had paid more attention at Cruise Critic class.

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

I never even noticed a smell. We thought it was unique and different experience and enjoyed it very much. We were on the NCL Jewel with the CCL Elation following behind us. While I wasn't that fond of NO, I was happy to say we did it and had that experience.

[gregg204]

We have sailed out of New York, Baltimore, Port Canaveral twice, New Orleans, Vancouver, San Juan, and Long Beach. Our best port experience was Baltimore. Our worst was New Orleans. I have never seen such a disorganized embarkation as that place.

 

Guess everyone has its bad days. New Orleans has been by far the smoothest embarkation for us.

[DKF97]

We have only sailed from NO and we love it. This June will be the first time we will actually be sailing down the river with some daylight, so we are excited about that! Never have noticed any smells at all. And having cell reception for that first evening is great and even greater is sometime between 10 and midnight on the last night cell reception comes back and I can get my internet fix again!:D

[Warm Breezes]

We have sailed out of New York, Baltimore, Port Canaveral twice, New Orleans, Vancouver, San Juan, and Long Beach. Our best port experience was Baltimore. Our worst was New Orleans. I have never seen such a disorganized embarkation as that place.

 

Our embarkation went pretty smoothly....now debarkation was something else. The NO Saints had a big home game the Sunday we disembarked and the taxi's were in short supply. It was a good thing we planned to stay in NO for 3 days afterward so we weren't in a hurry to get to the airport. We did join the huge crowd of people walking past our hotel and enjoyed some tailgating :p.

[scuabacruiser]

Of course the trip down is faster than the trip up river. It is a great port of leave from. So much life to see both day and night. I especially like the night with all the lights from everything, it's cool, quiet and a great time to find a spot on deck with your spouse/girl+boyfriend to share it with.

[momof4boys]

Everyone is different. We enjoyed sailing down the Mississippi Delta area. It was fascinating seeing people and their homes set back in the area. I suppose many of those people need boats to get to their homes and to stores, or whatever they need.

 

When we sailed (in the summer) we probably were out in the open sea in about 6 hours. We never smelled unpleasant odors ....we had a suite and were on it the entire time, except for bathroom breaks and dinner that first night.

 

We have loved all of our cruises and would sail out of NO again if the price was right! :)

[mdxter]

The CC member that wrote that is on my roll call for our May 11 cruise on the Dream. He re-posted the information for us. Here is a link to that post. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41184442&postcount=84

 

I have been living in new orleans most of my life and have known about the referenced items but not the history behind them. Great stuff.