How Long Sail NOLA to Gulf

[In Toronto]

Sailing Dawn out of New Orleans. How long does it take to sail along the Mississippi to the Gulf? I have read 8 hours. Anything of interest to see? Someone mentioned the rigs in the Gulf so hoping it is not going to be midnight before we get there.

Ellen

[www3traveler]

It will be about midnight before you reach The Gulf. If you have a balcony cabin, you can see the lights of the rigs along the shoreline. There are outdoor spaces to watch the traffic in the River.

[James_Elmore]

Something neat to watch for seems like it's around 10 look for a boat to pull up beside the dawn and dock. It will be the river Captain getting off. We saw this happen Port side in oshehans first night waiter told us what was happening.

 

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[Kristi Barber]

Sailing Dawn out of New Orleans. How long does it take to sail along the Mississippi to the Gulf? I have read 8 hours. Anything of interest to see? Someone mentioned the rigs in the Gulf so hoping it is not going to be midnight before we get there.

Ellen

Takes about 7 hours to get out of Mississippi from NOLA. Or at least that's when they stop charging you the US State Tax on drinks. :)

 

Oil rigs, barges, and tour boats about all there is to see on our trip out last month. Enjoy the Dawn, she is great!

[In Toronto]

Yes, we have a balcony on port side so should be able to sit there before our dinner and after the show to see any sites there are to see.

 

Thanks.

Ellen

[VideoTech]

Sailing Dawn out of New Orleans. How long does it take to sail along the Mississippi to the Gulf? I have read 8 hours. Anything of interest to see? Someone mentioned the rigs in the Gulf so hoping it is not going to be midnight before we get there.

Ellen

 

An interesting thing to watch for (fairly early in the cruise down river, just past "twelve mile point"): You will find the ship pointing back towards the city of New Orleans...the river loops back on itself here, so for short time New Orleans appears in front of you.

 

Just a ways further down the river, opposite the town of Belle Chase and Naval Air Station New Orleans is the Stella Plantation. There are other small plantation homes and many churches along the banks. The landscape varies from small old towns, lush green farm fields, and ugly refineries...there's plenty to see if you have the patience to wait and watch.

 

South of the town of Venice, the developed area ends and the river spills out into the delta proper. Just beyond that you'll see "Pilot town" which is where the Mississippi river pilots are stationed...from the docks there, the pilot boats deliver the river pilots out to every ship coming up into the river, and pickup the pilots from the ships leaving the river, as they will from yours.

 

How much of this you'll be able to see depends on the the time of year and the amount of daylight. It's usually dark by the time you reach the delta area and head out to into the Gulf...but it you watch then, you'll often see one of the other cruise lines ships passing you, heading up river to dock in New Orleans the next morning.

[VideoTech]

Something neat to watch for seems like it's around 10 look for a boat to pull up beside the dawn and dock. It will be the river Captain getting off. We saw this happen Port side in oshehans first night waiter told us what was happening.

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

This (a river or harbor pilot getting on or off the ship) actually happens going into and out of every port on any cruise. So if you're watching as you approach any port, you'll see a small boat come zooming up, slow down, and come alongside the ship...the river or harbor pilot jumps off the pilot boat and climbs a short ladder into one of the boarding ports to get onto the ship. The process is reversed when a ship leaves a port.

[In Toronto]

An interesting thing to watch for (fairly early in the cruise down river, just past "twelve mile point"): You will find the ship pointing back towards the city of New Orleans...the river loops back on itself here, so for short time New Orleans appears in front of you.

 

Just a ways further down the river, opposite the town of Belle Chase and Naval Air Station New Orleans is the Stella Plantation. There are other small plantation homes and many churches along the banks. The landscape varies from small old towns, lush green farm fields, and ugly refineries...there's plenty to see if you have the patience to wait and watch.

 

South of the town of Venice, the developed area ends and the river spills out into the delta proper. Just beyond that you'll see "Pilot town" which is where the Mississippi river pilots are stationed...from the docks there, the pilot boats deliver the river pilots out to every ship coming up into the river, and pickup the pilots from the ships leaving the river, as they will from yours.

 

How much of this you'll be able to see depends on the the time of year and the amount of daylight. It's usually dark by the time you reach the delta area and head out to into the Gulf...but it you watch then, you'll often see one of the other cruise lines ships passing you, heading up river to dock in New Orleans the next morning.

 

Thanks so much for all this information. Would we see Stella Plantation from port side? We will definitely be on deck for the first hour or so and will see New Orleans in front of us - interesting!

 

Ellen

[chong67]

So it takes 7 hrs to get to the Gulf.

 

My ship sail at 4 PM.  By 5:30 PM it will be dark in the winter.

 

At least the boat will not be rocking and I got cell phone coverage for 7 hrs.

 

Thanks for the info.