Does it really take 4 hrs. to go down the Mississippi into the Gulf?

[jordanaire]

On our cruise last year we planned on staying up for the 6 hours they said it would take to get to the gulf, but we fell asleep.... oops lol. This time we WILL make it, because I want to watch!

 

You're on the same cruise as we are! Cool!

Cant't wait!

 

:cool:Bill

[*jess*]

woo!! we'll see you then!! You'll find us outside on a deck for the night

[citcatt1]

I can't wait for our next trip down the Mississippi....it's so cool winding your way down the river.I never stayed awake to see us enter the Gulf but I'm going to try this time...:rolleyes:

[curcurt]

Its too bad it happens in the dark, because I think the geography would be interesting to see. The river boat pilot steers the ship down the river and what's really cool is to watch him jump off the outside of the ship onto his tug boat that pulls up next to the ship. We were starboard on the fantasy and were able to watch from our balcony.

 

Actually there was two different river pilots that guided your ship out into the Gulf. The first one is a Crescent River Port pilot and he takes the ship from New Orleans to area called Pilot Town, about 15 from the Gulf. The next river pilot is with the Associated Branch Pilots and he takes the ship from the Pilot Town area out into the Gulf where he jumps off the ship onto a pilot boat.

 

If the ship would travel during the daytime, you would see numerous small communities inside of the levee protection system. Once you reach the town of Venice, which is about 5 miles north of pilot town, you will no longer see any inhabited areas. There may be a camp or oil field building along the remaining route down Southwest Pass, but you have pretty much left the inhabited areas. There will be about 100 miles of inhabited area as you leave New Orleans, this area south of New Orleans was pretty much wiped out from Katrina. Where New Orleans and areas around New Orleans flooded, these communities down the river were totally gone from a storm surge that reached almost 20 feet in the towns of Empire and Buras. The levees in this area were about 16 to 18 feet, so levees didn't help, can't stop Mother Nature.:(

[jordanaire]

With the oil spill happening off the coast of Louisiana, I can't help but wonder what lies ahead for our October 2nd sailing aboard the Triumph? Certainly they will have found a way to plug that leak by then!

 

According to the news last night, they mentioned that there are 30,000 oil rigs in the gulf. Is that true? That many? I thought that maybe they should have said 3,000 instead. How many will the Triumph navigate past on our cruise?

 

I know when we sailed out of Galveston, we saw MANY oil rigs during the night. It seemed as though we were sailing along the coast..there were so many lights!

 

:cool:Bill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[curcurt]

With the oil spill happening off the coast of Louisiana, I can't help but wonder what lies ahead for our October 2nd sailing aboard the Triumph? Certainly they will have found a way to plug that leak by then!

 

According to the news last night, they mentioned that there are 30,000 oil rigs in the gulf. Is that true? That many? I thought that maybe they should have said 3,000 instead. How many will the Triumph navigate past on our cruise?

 

I know when we sailed out of Galveston, we saw MANY oil rigs during the night. It seemed as though we were sailing along the coast..there were so many lights!

 

:cool:Bill

 

 

 

The number is around 4,000 rigs in the Gulf along the coast of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The news agencies like to make things up as they go along, that is why you should not rely on them for getting the truth out.

 

You will see a few rigs as you travel down Southwest Pass and enter the Gulf. You may be able to see a couple dozen as you head away from the coast. I have fished around the Green Canyon area which is around 100 miles from the coast and there were about half a dozen floating rigs in the area. This was the best deep water fishing trip I have ever had. We have a blue marlin on one line for a few minutes, caught numerous wahoo, barracuda, yellow fin tuna, and black fin tuna.

 

As far as stopping the leak, it will take the second rig, drilling a relief well to bottom of the drill pipe and pumping cement or whatever they will use to clog the existing drill pipe. This will still be about 4 to 6 weeks.:mad: The biggest problem is the depth, where the leak is at (1 mile). Everything is done using these underwater robots, there is only so much these small machines can do. They had some success today, but the oil is still leaking. They will continue to make some small progress in slowing the leak(s) or at least catching the oil before it gets to the top of the Gulf.

 

So far it has not stopped any ships from entering or leaving the river. I have heard they set up cleaning stations to remove oil from vessels as they head up the river. Not sure this is true or not, but not a bad idea of trying to keep the river open. May cause some delays as this cleaning will have to take some time.

[jordanaire]

The number is around 4,000 rigs in the Gulf along the coast of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The news agencies like to make things up as they go along, that is why you should not rely on them for getting the truth out.

 

You will see a few rigs as you travel down Southwest Pass and enter the Gulf. You may be able to see a couple dozen as you head away from the coast. I have fished around the Green Canyon area which is around 100 miles from the coast and there were about half a dozen floating rigs in the area. This was the best deep water fishing trip I have ever had. We have a blue marlin on one line for a few minutes, caught numerous wahoo, barracuda, yellow fin tuna, and black fin tuna.

 

As far as stopping the leak, it will take the second rig, drilling a relief well to bottom of the drill pipe and pumping cement or whatever they will use to clog the existing drill pipe. This will still be about 4 to 6 weeks.:mad: The biggest problem is the depth, where the leak is at (1 mile). Everything is done using these underwater robots, there is only so much these small machines can do. They had some success today, but the oil is still leaking. They will continue to make some small progress in slowing the leak(s) or at least catching the oil before it gets to the top of the Gulf.

 

So far it has not stopped any ships from entering or leaving the river. I have heard they set up cleaning stations to remove oil from vessels as they head up the river. Not sure this is true or not, but not a bad idea of trying to keep the river open. May cause some delays as this cleaning will have to take some time.

 

Thanks for your reply! I'm sure that someone will finally find a way to stop the leaks! As for the so-called 30,000 rigs in the gulf, I did find that hard to believe.

 

:cool:Bill

[tallyho8]

They probably meant that there were 30,000 wells in the gulf. Each rig has quite a few wells operating.

[tootsiebit]

Hubby and I just booked a December sailing on the Triumph with a couple of days in N'awlins....I am from Louisiana, but NOLA is just a fun town to go to...but after years in Texas, I can't remember exactly how cool (or still hot) it is at the first part of December....and now after reading some of the posts on Triumph and NOLA I am a little nervous about going down the Mississippi and hoping to not get seasick before I even get out to sea...Could someone give me an idea about the weather in Dec. and as to why it is so darn rough sailing on the river?

[Lynda59]

I have sailed from New Orleans 4 times and have never had a problem in the Missssippi River. I have never sailed in Dec., but have sailed in Nov. & Feb. and it was never rough. If you have a cold front come in though that could change.

 

The weather for Dec. is unpredictable, but I would definitely bring a jacket.

[tallyho8]

The river is very calm. It never gets rough before you hit the gulf and the gulf is only rough sometimes.

 

You can usually wear a t-shirt in New Orleans in December unless a front is coming through and then you might need a heavy jacket. Check for fronts before you leave. They are very predictable.

[tootsiebit]

I have sailed from New Orleans 4 times and have never had a problem in the Missssippi River. I have never sailed in Dec., but have sailed in Nov. & Feb. and it was never rough. If you have a cold front come in though that could change.

 

The weather for Dec. is unpredictable, but I would definitely bring a jacket.

 

The river is very calm. It never gets rough before you hit the gulf and the gulf is only rough sometimes.

 

You can usually wear a t-shirt in New Orleans in December unless a front is coming through and then you might need a heavy jacket. Check for fronts before you leave. They are very predictable.

 

 

Thanks for ya'lls answers....what I will probably do is just see what our weather is like here on the Coast of Texas and realize it is about the same in NOLA...maybe a few degrees cooler....and thankd for the other info on the river...not sure why so many have stated how the ship rocked back and forth on the river, but it just doesn't make any sense to me that the river would be worse than the Gulf and I have already cruised the Gulf with no problem

[Sargent_Schultz]

There are bends in the river and the ship needs to follow the river, but the water is relatively calm.

[EaglesRock]

Thanks for ya'lls answers....what I will probably do is just see what our weather is like here on the Coast of Texas and realize it is about the same in NOLA...maybe a few degrees cooler....and thankd for the other info on the river...not sure why so many have stated how the ship rocked back and forth on the river, but it just doesn't make any sense to me that the river would be worse than the Gulf and I have already cruised the Gulf with no problem

The ship doesn't really "rock" in the river because there are hardly any waves in the river. Rather, it leans and sways from side to side as it navigates all the bends in the river (as Sargeant Schultz stated). I have cruised out of New Orleans nine times and have never found the ship's motion in the river to be unpleasant; I rather like it!

[cjalphonso]

Here is a great pamphlet that shows some of the highlights of what you will see going down the might Mississippi.

 

http://www.visitstbernard.com/pdf/St.%20Bernard%20Brochure%20For%20Website.pdf

[tootsiebit]

Here is a great pamphlet that shows some of the highlights of what you will see going down the might Mississippi.

 

http://www.visitstbernard.com/pdf/St.%20Bernard%20Brochure%20For%20Website.pdf

 

 

 

Well that was very interesting to look at and read...am going to try to print it out so I will have it ...just in case we get to see some of the places as we sail down the Mississippi...thanks again!!!:)

[tallyho8]

Sorry, but it gets dark so early on December 11 that all you will be able to see is lights while sailing down the river.

 

And the ship may even sail a little later than usual if they have to wait until daylight to navigate around the main parts of the oil spill in the gulf.

[TATAR63]

We cruised down the Mississippi for the first time in 2003 (approx) on the Carnival Holiday. We stayed in a hotel on the river so we could see the ship come in. I got up at 6:00 am, no ship yet... waited and waited! Finally got in around 1 or 2 pm. Cruise was delayed for about 8 hours. The rumor was it got stuck on the way up the river, but we never heard what really happened. I have always wondered what the real story was! Have cruised down the river three more times since then, we enjoy using our Garmin and watching it till we get in the Gulf. I would love to cruise all the way to the Gulf in the daytime! Maybe some day they will offer this!:D

[cjalphonso]

Sorry, but it gets dark so early on December 11 that all you will be able to see is lights while sailing down the river.

 

And the ship may even sail a little later than usual if they have to wait until daylight to navigate around the main parts of the oil spill in the gulf.

 

I am from and have sailed out of N.O. 15 times, we do a family reunion every Thanksgiving. The sun sets on Dec 11 at 5:01pm, if it is not cloudy you will still have light until 5:30. As long as the boat leaves on time (assuming a typical 4pm departure), you have about an hour of daylight left. All the sites in the pamphlet I mentioned are within the first hour of the cruise. Enjoy the sites :)

[cjalphonso]

Just did an entire tour style writeup on going down the Mississippi River. Here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1211622

[TATAR63]

Thanks cjalphonso! I will print this out and take along for our next trip down the Mississippi. Being a Journey fan I love #12:cool:

[tootsiebit]

Just did an entire tour style writeup on going down the Mississippi River. Here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1211622

 

 

Thank you so much....I too am going to print this out...:D

[3Hearts]

Just did an entire tour style writeup on going down the Mississippi River. Here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1211622

 

 

Thanks :)

 

We will be doing a Thanksgiving day cruise this year..our 2nd cruise. Very excited..I do wish it would stay lighter longer. I was very surprised to find out how long it takes to navigate the Mississippi.

 

If your doing your TG cruise this year stop in on our Roll Call page..Thanksgiving at Sea! Nov 20, 2010 Triumph Roll Call I am sure everyone would love to hear all about what you have experienced!

Take Care

RoxAnne

[QNTMLPR]

I've stayed awake through the 8+ hour journey down the Mississippi and even took photos of the River Pilot boat meeting up to pick up the pilot.

 

 

More pictures here

http://public.fotki.com/apjung/vacations/2007/carnival_fantasy/1/dsc02360.html

 

I like cruising from New Orleans just because of the extra scenery. You can also use your cell phone all the way to the mouth of the river before it switches to the cellular at sea. Before the ships installed satellite cell towers you could use the cell towers on the oil rigs but there was a roaming charge.

[mafig]

I read an earlier post that stated the port

side is the better place for our balcony cabin

(if we can't get aft).

 

Is this correct?:confused:

 

:)