Anyone done the Mardi Gras cruise

Just curious if you have done a cruise that stays in NO for Mardi Gras how you liked it? We are considering doing the Reflection in Feb 2018 and just trying to get opinions on the cruise from those who have been.

I may be wrong, but I believe the upcoming February 2017 Mardi Gras cruise, with two overnights, is the first time Celebrity has offered this itinerary. We were fortunate to be one of the first to book, one day after release. Today, the available cabins are at prices we would never pay!

The cruise critic roll call is the craziest I've ever seen with over 4K posts.

I note that for 2018 they changed the ship from the Equinox (my fav) to the Reflection (never been) and from 11 days to 10.

If you are interested, I would book now, as the prices seem to do nothing more than go up. Then watch the reviews from the 2017 cruise and decide. I would expect there to be lots of reviews :D

I may be wrong, but I believe the upcoming February 2017 Mardi Gras cruise, with two overnights, is the first time Celebrity has offered this itinerary. We were fortunate to be one of the first to book, one day after release. Today, the available cabins are at prices we would never pay!

 

The cruise critic roll call is the craziest I've ever seen with over 4K posts.

 

I note that for 2018 they changed the ship from the Equinox (my fav) to the Reflection (never been) and from 11 days to 10.

 

If you are interested, I would book now, as the prices seem to do nothing more than go up. Then watch the reviews from the 2017 cruise and decide. I would expect there to be lots of reviews :D

I on a ship and booked the 2017 cruise within 30 minutes of it becoming available. There were very heavy bookings that day and choice cabins sold out quickly. As noted, the prices have gone up significantly for the available cabins. My 1A has more than doubled! My advice, for what it's worn, is to book these special cruises very quickly.

Yes, the price for a verandah is over 4200 now. Crazy.

Thanks for the replies. I didn't realize this was a first for Celebrity. Guess that is why I haven't been able to find reviews, ha. I will keep checking after the 2017 cruise. I think we will put a deposit down for the 2018 cruise, sounds like prices only go up. :)

Thanks for the replies. I didn't realize this was a first for Celebrity. Guess that is why I haven't been able to find reviews, ha. I will keep checking after the 2017 cruise. I think we will put a deposit down for the 2018 cruise, sounds like prices only go up. :)

Not only will the prices go up, the best cabins will get booked early (if not already)

I looked that cruise up and it arrives on Sunday and leaves on Fat Tuesday at 10 PM. Why aren't they coming in on on Monday and leaving on Wednesday at 10 PM? You're missing a great deal of Mardi Gras by leaving so early.

I may be wrong, but I believe the upcoming February 2017 Mardi Gras cruise, with two overnights, is the first time Celebrity has offered this itinerary. We were fortunate to be one of the first to book, one day after release. Today, the available cabins are at prices we would never pay!

 

The cruise critic roll call is the craziest I've ever seen with over 4K posts.

 

I note that for 2018 they changed the ship from the Equinox (my fav) to the Reflection (never been) and from 11 days to 10.

 

If you are interested, I would book now, as the prices seem to do nothing more than go up. Then watch the reviews from the 2017 cruise and decide. I would expect there to be lots of reviews :D

I think there are over 5K posts on this now. It is crazy!!

We were told about this cruise back when our friends first booked it and thought it was to expensive at that time ... silly us!! We ended up booking and were lucky enough to find a discount through the casino...but it is still a crazy expensive cruise and it just keeps going up and up. I think it is approx. $8500 for a regular balcony cabin and nearly that much for the one oceanview cabin that is available. Even the inside cabins are nearly $5000. So, yes...I agree ... book early and make sure your deposit is refundable. You have a lot of time to decide but maybe not a chance to get in on it again at these prices.

Also booked the 2/17 sailing the day it opened with all the 123 perqs, and I'm really looking forward to it. While current price quotes are stratospheric vs other cruises, friends who live in NO say it's reasonable compared to a Mardi Gras land vacation. Air and hotel fares at that time are very high and you'ld have to add in food and beverages. Never been there before, maybe someone with past Mardi Gras experience can comment.

Also booked the 2/17 sailing the day it opened with all the 123 perqs, and I'm really looking forward to it. While current price quotes are stratospheric vs other cruises, friends who live in NO say it's reasonable compared to a Mardi Gras land vacation. Air and hotel fares at that time are very high and you'ld have to add in food and beverages. Never been there before, maybe someone with past Mardi Gras experience can comment.

There are several people on our 2/20 Mardi Gras roll call on the Equinox that have done Mardi Gras. They are educating the rest of us on it.

Brace yourself if you are easily offended. Altho it has actually settled down a bit...or maybe it's that we are accustomed to more of the outrageous.Get yourself a schedule of the parades and routes.

Be sure to take big time precautions with personal items. Looking up to the balconies and people watching finds tourists distracted and easy for thieves.

I looked that cruise up and it arrives on Sunday and leaves on Fat Tuesday at 10 PM. Why aren't they coming in on on Monday and leaving on Wednesday at 10 PM? You're missing a great deal of Mardi Gras by leaving so early.

Exactly. For the price, you'd think you would be there for the heart of the festival.

Even if mardi gras is taking place 3 nights in one port is not for us.....

Funny you mentioned that there is one in Feb 2018, just booked mine last week for the 10 days cause had to cancel the 11 day one we booked for this Feb...It actually was cheaper for 2018 by $3000 dollars because I booked later then I should have for 2017 one!

They have now added a cruise that stops during the Jazz Festival too, that is selling like crazy.

I'm looking at an Azamara cruise that spends two (maybe three) nights in NOLA too. It's not during Mardi Gras though, which I consider a plus. :p It's 12 nights and while Az is expensive, the price is about what X is now.

I looked that cruise up and it arrives on Sunday and leaves on Fat Tuesday at 10 PM. Why aren't they coming in on on Monday and leaving on Wednesday at 10 PM? You're missing a great deal of Mardi Gras by leaving so early.

As someone who used to live in New Orleans and attended seven Mardi Gras', by about noon on Fat Tuesday the celebrations come to an end. The peak of Mardi Gras is actually the Saturday and Sunday before Fat Tuesday, but lots is going on from about the Thursday evening before Fat Tuesday through the morning of Fat Tuesday (and some festivities start even well before that).

As someone who used to live in New Orleans and attended seven Mardi Gras', by about noon on Fat Tuesday the celebrations come to an end. The peak of Mardi Gras is actually the Saturday and Sunday before Fat Tuesday, but lots is going on from about the Thursday evening before Fat Tuesday through the morning of Fat Tuesday (and some festivities start even well before that).

Good to know....thanks for posting.

I looked that cruise up and it arrives on Sunday and leaves on Fat Tuesday at 10 PM. Why aren't they coming in on on Monday and leaving on Wednesday at 10 PM? You're missing a great deal of Mardi Gras by leaving so early.

I've lived an hour from New Orleans my entire life and you have no worries. It's untrue that you're missing a great deal of Mardi Gras. I hope the travel agencies aren't saying that. You're going to be there for the peak/height of all the craziness. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday till about mid afternoon is all you need. Sunday and Monday parades would be my favorites if I had a favorite. You'll see Rex (King of Carnival) and Zulu and all the other popular ones. After noon on Fat Tuesday is pretty much nothing but trash in the streets and people sleeping it off. You aren't going to miss anything. By the end of Tuesday people have had enough and the street sweepers are out, getting ready to wake up and go to Mass for Ash Wednesday. Lenten season has begun its 40 days at that point and the King Cakes are being eaten and people are having their crawfish boils and back to mostly behaving themselves after the debauchery of Carnival.

I think if one has never been it's interesting, but as the years have gone by it's gotten more dangerous. Be prepared for nudity and people making all kinds of poor personal decisions right out there in the street for the world to see. Take a look at some You Tube videos. Lots to see. And be careful. We always pray for a safe season, but there is always something. The locals get crazy enough but it's a magnet for people inclined to a little mayhem. Fortunately there is a lot of police presence. Lots of it. I don't want to discourage anyone. I'm just being real here. I've lived here since 1961. Seen it. Done it. Got the tee shirt. We went our last time about 10 years ago. Had a hotel room on Royal Street in the middle of it. Did the deal for 3 days, about the same amount of time that the ship will be in port. We swore never again. And we haven't. Friends who go regularly report what I've said here. Just be careful.

I know people like the idea of going to Carnival. I get that. We did too. We grew up going in the days when you could bring lawn chairs and a cooler and hang out all day and watch the parades and the kids could run around. Then in the '80s and '90s we spent many years escaping that week for the ski slopes of Colorado. We brought beads and tossed them from the chair lifts onto skiers below. Mardi Gras is not a place for kids. Period. Not in the French Quarter.

I bet many people are going to say they'd love to come back when it's "normal." Browse the streets and antique shops, pop into a legendary restaurant and sit on the steps by Jackson Square and watch the painters. I go down to the WWII museum. Fabulous. Not sure if it will be open during Carnival. Lots of things close for obvious reasons. Louisiana isn't defined by New Orleans, not at all. Return again for Cajun country in Lafayette and New Iberia, and head up the Miss. River to Baton Rouge and St. Francisville for the plantation homes. You can eat yourself through our beautiful interesting state.

People who want to see the parades just know it can be 15 people deep along the parade route in some places. Not sure if the cruise line has rented any bleachers. Now THAT would be good. That's for the high rollers ha! People on the floats literally DUMP on them! Or if you call attention to yourself in some way - that's how you get the throws. I'll leave "call attention" to your imagination. :eek::D

I understand the high prices for a cruise like this. If you were to stay in a hotel during that time, it'd be crazy high. Throw in the meals - you're probably getting a bargain at the cruise price. With the bonus of some Caribbean too.

What do you think about doing the Jazz Festival Cruise instead? Loved your input by the way!

OK -- we are back from our Mardi Gras cruise and had a blast!!

Prices came down quite a bit -- probably due to all the negative news about Mardi Gras. We were cautioned until we were blue (and maybe that was a good thing) but at no time did we feel unsafe at any point in time. We walked in pairs or a group of 4 to most places. I would not describe it as mayhem or raunchy in the very least. I am sure there are areas around that were like this (as some have warned) but we didn't experience it. We were also warned to take a pair of disposable shoes. The worst thing we ran into was little bits of horse droppings from the parades and that was easy to avoid. From what we noticed, there were a couple of women in the grandstands on Lundi Gras that painted their torso with sparkly paint and one on Bourbon St on Mardi Gras. We were told they really tried to clean it up and from our experience, they have. Once off Bourbon St, while walking down to Jackson Sq, we saw a lot of families on the side streets, some with kids in strollers. We shared our beads with the kiddies, other people shared their unopened beer / waters and even stood in a not too long line to pick up some Cafe Du Monde beignets (sp?) before heading back to the ship in the early evening.

The ship did spend sufficient time in the port and we did hit it during the heart of Mardi Gras. By Tuesday afternoon, they were cleaning up the streets after the parades. There were a lot of beads and empty bead bags. I didn't run into anything disgusting in the streets. Celebrity could have done a few things better -- these would be my suggestions:

-More Mardi Gras themed decoration and food choices onboard

-During the New Orleans talks (we may have missed one), let passengers know about the red line that is right at Julia Street and takes you into the French Quarter

-Charge less for the grandstands (the cost, which included transportation -- 1 mile each way) ran $249 pp. We had the same seating but no goodie bag for $30 pp for the Monday parades and $65 for the Fat Tuesday parades (we only went to the Monday parades). So, as you can well imagine, the people that paid more than 8 times as much were very annoyed. I could see $80, but $249 - rip off!!

-Disembarkation when first arriving in New Orleans -- they gave us each a number but then didn't end up using them and let people disembark nilly willy. We waited our turn, not knowing it was a free for all and waited an extra 4 hours to get off the ship. :(

-Work on the re-embarkment procedures in New Orleans - there was a long line every time and you had to stoop way down not to hit your head getting back onto the ship. It was not well planned out.

Now that I have done Mardi Gras, I wouldn't have to go back and do it again but it really, really was fun and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the one next year on the Reflection for others. I am sure you do need to be cautious, and we were, but didn't feel it was anymore dangerous than walking in downtown San Francisco.

We joined a group that rented a balcony on Bourbon Street for Fat Tuesday which included food and drink. It was a little pricey and the balcony was a bit small for the number of people that joined in, but it still was a solid plan. The food was just so so, though ... drinks were good once they got it set up properly. Others paid for a different event on St Charles St and were very disappointed ... both those events and ours were booked through our roll call and not through Celebrity.

If you like to gamble, Harrahs is right there on your way to the French Quarter and it wasn't that crowded. If you wanted to eat at a great restaurant, know that you should probably have reservations ahead of time and keep in mind that many things (the Riverwalk Mall, the WWII museum, many shops and restaurants) will be closed on Fat Tuesday ... it is a holiday for them. The transportation may also be limited, especially along the parade routes....especially on Mardi Gras day. I did learn that some of the pedicabs were without charge. Don't quote me on it ... I didn't use one but that would have been fun and my feeties were quite tired with all that walking....LOTS and LOTS of walking but flat and everything was really within a couple of miles or less.

Please don't hesitate to ask away if you have questions ... or even read our roll call but it is on two separate threads with over 10K posts. It has a wealth of information, though!

We did the Mardi Gras cruise as well. General consensus in our group of 4 is that they could have skipped Costa Maya (and or Mexico all together) and gone to NOLA on Saturday instead of Sunday. Actually it didn't need to be 11 nights. They could have just gone to Key West, maybe Grand Cayman and then right to New Orleans.

We also agree that Celebrity could have, should have done more Mardi Gras themed stuff on board. Perhaps being 11 nights was a stretch for the crew to deal with. In that case make the cruise shorter and make it more of a Mardi Gras cruise like most of expected.

Cruising up the Mississippi from the gulf was pretty cool. Being on the top deck a couple hundred feet up was like flying in a slow moving plane over the very flat river delta. You could see NOLA 50 miles away.

Getting off the ship on Sunday night was a mess, like others we got off the ship 2-3 hours late. However, we got off the ship at 8:30 walked 3-4 blocks up Julia Street (where the ship docks) and caught the beginning of the Backus parade. (we knew it was coming) Had a great time, very family friendly. Did the same thing for the Orpheus Parade the next night.

Next morning we walked to and did the WWII museum and then back to the ship. That afternoon we caught the trolley which is right outside the port and rode it up to within 4 blocks of Bourbon Street. Lots of fun. Rode the trolley back to the ship then back to Bourbon street that evening which was pretty crazy on Monday night. We also saw the Orphieus Parade on the way back to the ship.

On Fat Tuesday morning we took the trolley again and went to the French Quarter which was partying like crazy. We walked a few streets past it and caught the Zulu parade. We spent the rest of the day walking around the French Quarter and had a great time. Went back to the ship at dinner time.

Couple tips if you do a future Mardi Gras cruise...

-If you go to the WWII museum do the extra cost multi media presentation called Beyond All Boundaries. It is amazing. Also be aware that the museum is closed on Fat Tuesday or at least closes at noon, Their info was kind of confusing. We talked to some fellow passengers who couldn't get in on Tuesday.

-Download the Parade Tracker app from the local TV station. I think is was channel 4 but do a search for "parade tracker". It lists all the parades, routes, times and then tracks them in real time. We used it constantly and found parades passing within blocks of us and/or planned our routes to be near them.

-Walk off the ship go up Julia Street about 4 blocks to Tchoupitoulas Street. Many of the parades come down that street. Parades are 3-4 hours long. We stood at the corner of those two streets for a couple hours then walked up the street and went into a nearly empty bar to use the bathroom, sit to rest, buy a drink and then back out for more parade. It was a helluva lot of fun. Use the parade tracker app.

-There is a trolley stop right outside the port.(Julia St. Station) $1.25 per ride or a 24 hour pass for $3. Seniors 65+ are $.60.

- To get to Bourbon St. on the trolley go north and get off at the Toulouse St. station. Go west about 4 blocks.

-If you really want to see some cool stuff on your way to Bourbon Street go by Jackson Square. The square is one block west and two blocks north of the Toulouse trolley stop. Basically go up Toulouse and turn right on Chartres St. Lots of people in costumes, jazz bands, dancing etc. Basically a street fair going on. Any street heading west will get you to Bourbon Street from there.

-Also check out Royal Street. Royal is the street before you get to Bourbon St. Lots of impromptu parades, dancing in the streets and street fair carnival vide. More so than Bourbon St at least on Monday during the day, little kids were throwing beads off of balconies. To us it was more family/fun oriented than Bourbon St. and we got just as many beads.

-Bourbon street isn't too crowded during the day but can get so at night. It is pretty fun however and you should go there just because. Lots of people openly drinking but there are cops everywhere and I mean everywhere. And no, you do not have to expose yourself to get beads. It is actually quite fun to collect them.

-The parades are all very family oriented and you can get lots of beads. There are cops everywhere. IMO you don't really need to book grandstand seats to see them. Again use the parade tracker.

Mardi Gras is something everybody should do once.

Thanks for all the great info..we are booked for the 2018 cruise and were thinking of canceling and going to Jazz Cruise instead...still tossing it around!

OK -- we are back from our Mardi Gras cruise and had a blast!!

Prices came down quite a bit -- probably due to all the negative news about Mardi Gras. We were cautioned until we were blue (and maybe that was a good thing) but at no time did we feel unsafe at any point in time. We walked in pairs or a group of 4 to most places. I would not describe it as mayhem or raunchy in the very least. I am sure there are areas around that were like this (as some have warned) but we didn't experience it. We were also warned to take a pair of disposable shoes. The worst thing we ran into was little bits of horse droppings from the parades and that was easy to avoid. From what we noticed, there were a couple of women in the grandstands on Lundi Gras that painted their torso with sparkly paint and one on Bourbon St on Mardi Gras. We were told they really tried to clean it up and from our experience, they have. Once off Bourbon St, while walking down to Jackson Sq, we saw a lot of families on the side streets, some with kids in strollers. We shared our beads with the kiddies, other people shared their unopened beer / waters and even stood in a not too long line to pick up some Cafe Du Monde beignets (sp?) before heading back to the ship in the early evening.

The ship did spend sufficient time in the port and we did hit it during the heart of Mardi Gras. By Tuesday afternoon, they were cleaning up the streets after the parades. There were a lot of beads and empty bead bags. I didn't run into anything disgusting in the streets. Celebrity could have done a few things better -- these would be my suggestions:

 

-More Mardi Gras themed decoration and food choices onboard

-During the New Orleans talks (we may have missed one), let passengers know about the red line that is right at Julia Street and takes you into the French Quarter

-Charge less for the grandstands (the cost, which included transportation -- 1 mile each way) ran $249 pp. We had the same seating but no goodie bag for $30 pp for the Monday parades and $65 for the Fat Tuesday parades (we only went to the Monday parades). So, as you can well imagine, the people that paid more than 8 times as much were very annoyed. I could see $80, but $249 - rip off!!

-Disembarkation when first arriving in New Orleans -- they gave us each a number but then didn't end up using them and let people disembark nilly willy. We waited our turn, not knowing it was a free for all and waited an extra 4 hours to get off the ship. :(

-Work on the re-embarkment procedures in New Orleans - there was a long line every time and you had to stoop way down not to hit your head getting back onto the ship. It was not well planned out.

 

Now that I have done Mardi Gras, I wouldn't have to go back and do it again but it really, really was fun and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the one next year on the Reflection for others. I am sure you do need to be cautious, and we were, but didn't feel it was anymore dangerous than walking in downtown San Francisco.

We joined a group that rented a balcony on Bourbon Street for Fat Tuesday which included food and drink. It was a little pricey and the balcony was a bit small for the number of people that joined in, but it still was a solid plan. The food was just so so, though ... drinks were good once they got it set up properly. Others paid for a different event on St Charles St and were very disappointed ... both those events and ours were booked through our roll call and not through Celebrity.

If you like to gamble, Harrahs is right there on your way to the French Quarter and it wasn't that crowded. If you wanted to eat at a great restaurant, know that you should probably have reservations ahead of time and keep in mind that many things (the Riverwalk Mall, the WWII museum, many shops and restaurants) will be closed on Fat Tuesday ... it is a holiday for them. The transportation may also be limited, especially along the parade routes....especially on Mardi Gras day. I did learn that some of the pedicabs were without charge. Don't quote me on it ... I didn't use one but that would have been fun and my feeties were quite tired with all that walking....LOTS and LOTS of walking but flat and everything was really within a couple of miles or less.

Please don't hesitate to ask away if you have questions ... or even read our roll call but it is on two separate threads with over 10K posts. It has a wealth of information, though!

I was also on the 2017 Mardi Gras cruise. The ship really lacked as far as theme goes. They handed out about 200 beads when we boarded. Obviously not enough for everyone. Other than that, they set out 2 mardi gras cut outs and a few decorations by Guest Relations (and I mean very few). That is it, no Cajun food, and the only Mardi Gras entertainment was for those that stayed on the ship Monday night. The rest of the entertainment was the typical cruise entertainment, 60's, 80's etc. If I were to do it again, I would only attend the Fat Tuesday parades. Monday night was just too long, and if you are on the wrong side of the parade route, it is very difficult to cross the parade to get back to the ship. Keep in mind a lot of restaurants are closed on Fat Tuesday for the holiday. So if you want to eat local, you need to do it Monday. Do not purchase anything from 709 Events or the address of 709 St. Charles, it is a total rip off, with nasty employees. Buy a grandstand seat from the New Orleans parade website, much more reasonable, you don't need to spend any more.

Couple tips if you do a future Mardi Gras cruise...

Thanks for sharing all this great information. We've been to New Orleans many times, but never during Mardi Gras. Does sound like a ton of fun!