Mardi Gras Dates In NOLA

[Raxter54]

We are sailing on the Dream out of NOLA next Jan 31. Do any frequent NOLA cruisers know if Mardi Gras is in progress at that time? Just wondering if parking will be a problem...

[nydney1]

We sailed out on Feb 1st this year and there was a Mardi Gras parade in the French Quarter that Saturday night. We had little ones so we skipped the parade.

 

We stayed at the Hilton and had no issues parking. For the cruise we parked at the Fulton Garage for $8 a day with no issues.

[Raxter54]

We sailed out on Feb 1st this year and there was a Mardi Gras parade in the French Quarter that Saturday night. We had little ones so we skipped the parade.

 

We stayed at the Hilton and had no issues parking. For the cruise we parked at the Fulton Garage for $8 a day with no issues.

 

Thank you for the information. We also used the Fulton garage earlier this year, so I guess we'll get out parking spot reserved early :)

[luvnola66]

Fat Tuesday is February 9 next year so yes you will be there at the height of the Mardi Gras season

[Raxter54]

Fat Tuesday is February 9 next year so yes you will be there at the height of the Mardi Gras season

 

Since we are just driving in to park at Fulton Garage and then back out after the cruise, hopefully there won't be much traffic by the pier...

[nydney1]

Apparently only folks from Illinois can reply to this thread.

 

We were down the same time you will be going down. All of the stands and port a lets for the parades were already up but traffic was not a problem. We had been to NOLA before and I did not notice any additional traffic.

 

I will tell you the drive is a long one from Illinois. We are two hours north of Bloomington and it took us 15 hours. It's much better to split it into two days.

[Raxter54]

Apparently only folks from Illinois can reply to this thread.

 

We were down the same time you will be going down. All of the stands and port a lets for the parades were already up but traffic was not a problem. We had been to NOLA before and I did not notice any additional traffic.

 

I will tell you the drive is a long one from Illinois. We are two hours north of Bloomington and it took us 15 hours. It's much better to split it into two days.

 

We're in East Central Illinois, SE of Champaign. On our first trip down we stopped in Brookhaven MS for the night. That left us a leisurely 2 hour jaunt to reach NOLA. Probably do the same thing this time. Why change something that works :D

[jgmpuma]

The parades on your departure date won't get downtown until early afternoon, so you shouldn't have any problems with traffic.

[luvnola66]

I would check the NOLA Mardi Gras sites for parade times and street closures.

Edited April 8, 2015 by luvnola66

[Raxter54]

I would check the NOLA Mardi Gras sites for parade times and street closures.

 

Looks like the parades on Jan 31 are in the afternoon, and Feb 7 they are all after 11 AM. Hopefully I'll be boarding the ship before the Jan 31 ones, and leaving town before the Feb 7 ones. I'm hoping Carnival allows self-disembarking like Royal Caribbean did. DW and I were the 3rd and 4th people off the Serenade on our cruise :-)

 

Does anyone know if the parades would be affecting Interstate 10 heading out of NOLA?

[nydney1]

I Think the parades are more on city streets instead of the Interstate.

 

When we sailed the dream at the end of January they had self assist. Even with two children we were off by 830.

[Raxter54]

When we sailed the dream at the end of January they had self assist. Even with two children we were off by 830.

 

Sweet! Surprised that Carnival doesn't sell "Faster Off The Ship" like they do "Faster To The Fun". Missing out on some revenue there....

[jgmpuma]

Carnival allows self-disembarkation.

 

Within a few blocks of the terminal you can get on I-10 and avoid any parade traffic.