PRE CRUISE PLANNING... DREAM out of NOLA and WHAT TO EXPECT

Sometimes you read reviews of people on their cruises and those are always fun to read, this is a prep thread to talk about what to expect the day of your cruise and what to pack. Disclaimer, these statements and ideas are a gathering of ideas and experiences I have learned along the way to make my cruise enjoyable. I have learned most of my ideas here from CRUISE CRITIC! No one has to like everything!!

And off we go!

We flew in to NOLA on a Saturday before our Sunday cruise and took a taxi cab from the airport to our hotel. The taxi cab ride for the two of us was a flat $33. Uber wanted $75!! We stayed at the SPRINGHILL SUITES on ST. Joseph. The reason we stayed there is because our rooms were at no cost to us. The rooms are OKAY… clean… but if we had not gotten our rooms at no cost we would have stayed at THE DRURY INN on Poydras.. I love that place. They have a cocktail hour and appetizers in the evening and a great breakfast in the morning. DRURY INN is a step above SPRINGHILL SUITES. Our hotel room at SpringHill Suites had a balcony and I was able to see the CRESCENT CITY BRIDGE from the balcony. It is very pretty all lit up with lights at night too. Next morning when I went out on the balcony about 6:30am I could see our ship.

Excitement starts to rush in. We ate breakfast downstairs at the complimentary breakfast area. It was OKAY… I knew It wouldn’t matter because in a matter of time we would be eating like crazy on the ship. We thought we would leave the hotel at 10:30. They tell you not to get there too early!! But we thought 10:30am was plenty early. We got our luggage and there was a cab outside. Took the short cab ride to the port. We were traveling down Convention Center Blvd to Henderson Street and the traffic stopped for a train that was going very slowly down the rail.

Turning onto Henderson St.. blurry :-(

It was crazy because there were cars everywhere getting to port and here I thought we left early!! The cab driver finally turned the meter off after a bit. Traffic started back up and we made our way past MARDI GRAS WORLD and onto the port.

I had been looking at the NOLA Port Cruise Webcam so it all was looking familiar to me. Also be sure to check out some of the other cruise webcams. Just google to find. My favorite was “CRUISIN. ME dot com”

We slowly went under the CRESCENT CITY BRIDGES, traffic was heavy and finally arrived at the ERATO STREET CRUISE TERMINAL.

The taxi cabs go to an area that is under the building to drop you off.

Our cab ride was $14 from the hotel. I was just so surprised by the amount of people who were already here. It looked chaotic. Also you could see all the people who just came off the ship. What was even crazier is when our cruise was over and we were the ones leaving, we got off the ship at 8:30AM and people had already been arriving for the next cruise. Sooooooo I will have to say that leaving at 10:30am was NOT THAT EARLY.. LOL

When you arrive at the port, the porters will take your luggage from you and the next time you see it is when it is delivered to your cabin. Make sure your cruise luggage tags are printed out and attached to your luggage prior to getting to the port. Also have your boarding pass handy as the porter will need to see it. Make sure you tip the porter too! If you don’t have holders to put the luggage tags in, you can reinforce the luggage tags with packing tape. There are a couple of YOUTUBE videos regarding preparing your cruise luggage tags. I bought some plastic holders from this site. http://www.sears.com/favors-by-serendipity-cruise-luggage-tag-holders-set/p-SPM10052407425 I have used them numerous times.

Some people like to get started on their vacation right away when they first get on the ship by lying out by the pool. For this reason they may pack their swim suits and suntan lotion in their carryon. The cabins generally are not ready to enter until 1:30pm and you won’t see your luggage for a while. So keep anything you might need for those first few hours in a carryon or purse.

If you are anxious to start your vacation right away, consider purchasing FTTF (FASTER TO THE FUN). Faster to the Fun Program allows you: Priority Check-In, First to board the ship, Stateroom is ready when you board so you can relax or freshen up. Express Luggage Service, your luggage is expedited to your cabin. Guest Services – dedicated phone line, and dedicated line at the Guest Services Desk in the Lobby. Plus you get Priority Main Dining Reservations, Specialty Restaurant Reservations, priority Tendering and Debarkation. How do you get this FTTF PASS? Go to the excursions under NEW ORLEANS.. These are $49.95 / Stateroom and they are limited. So if this is something that appeals to you then I urge you to check into it ASAP. We loved this priority treatment. They sold out fast about a month before our cruise.

After you have said goodbye to your luggage you will proceed into the port and someone is there at the bottom of the stairs directing you up the escalator.

At the top of the escalator you will see signs saying no photography allowed. OOPS…

Then you wind your way around to the right and you are now in line for getting your first official cruise picture taken infront of a ship backdrop. They have two lines and the process is very quick.

From there you go into the next area and this is where someone is actually verifying your government issued ID and boarding pass. Kind of like a TSA deal. So have them ready. After this process has been completed you will place your carry-on items through the scanner, similar to an airport and walk through the metal detector. If you have brought on any bottles of wine or champagne then you are directed to a table where someone has to examine the bottles to make sure they are sealed. So be prepared to take them out. We had priority boarding, (FTTF also goes here) so we were then split off from the rest of the group and directed into a private area, the private area had a table of cookies, containers of ice cold water infused with lemon or oranges, coffee and tea. We were told to help ourselves and then continue into the next room and have a seat until your name is called. Very impressed with this process. The next room where we went to wait for our name had nice leather chairs and sofas and TV’s.

There were probably about 6 check in stations. Like a hotel. We were the only ones in there and as soon as we attempted to sit down they called our names. We were led up to the check in counter and I was prepared to show my passports again and credit card but they didn’t need anything!!! They had our SAIL & SIGN cards ready to go. (SAIL & SIGN cards are your cabin door keys and charge cards for items on the ship)

The lady then took a head shot picture of each of us and had it embedded into the Sail & Sign cards, gave us the cards and we were on our way. Super-fast and easy!! We were then directed to go out of the room and we were back in the area were all the passengers were. I did not see the checking in process for the passengers who were not priority so I can’t say how that went. We were directed into a sitting area for priority and then as we prepared to sit down they announced that boarding was open for the priority passengers. I was able to slip in a few pictures while inside the port on the way to board.

The whole process from the time our cab dropped us off, until we got on the ship was 25 minutes. Fantastic!!

SAIL & SIGN CARDS - The ship uses a cashless system so for purchases it all goes on the SAIL & SIGN card and then at the end of your cruise the total is transferred to the credit card you give them when you check in. (Similar to a hotel) We use lanyards that hang around our necks and attach these cards to it. The Sail & Sign cards have a little hole punched in the corner of the card so you can easily attach it to a clip on your lanyard. It needs to be removable because you will be giving your card to people (bartenders, shop clerks….etc..) They also sell these lanyards in the gift shop but the gift shops aren’t open until the ship has departed. As you enter the ship for the first time your Sail and Sign card is given to the attendant and it is put into a machine which logs you in. This is how Carnival knows who is on the ship and who isn’t. Plus your picture appears on their side so they can tell it is really you.

Awesome start!!!!:D:D

Love your writing style and detail. Pictures are great!!!

Patiently waiting for more!:D:D

It is never too early to start gathering things up. I have started with a few things and just add to it as time goes by. I call it my “staging process”. Besides the obvious clothing items here are a few things I just can’t leave home without.

First, we have a clear over the door shoe organizer. I say clear because you would want to be able to see inside each of the pockets. This we would hang on the outside of the bathroom door and place all of your little items in it to keep your counters free of clutter. This idea was passed down to me from another fellow cruiser so I don’t take the credit for it but I certainly think it is a great idea. You can get them Walmart/ Target or on Amazon

One of the first things we do when we get in the cabin is wipe down all the door knobs, handles, phone and remote control with those Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. If you think about it, but the time you get in your cabin, another couple or family has been living in it for a week and has touched everything. The cabin has been cleaned but who knows if they wipe every little thing down. This is for my own piece of mind. So I would add that to your shopping list. I carry my TO GO PACK of Clorox Wipes in my purse because once I get to the cabin I do it right away as the luggage won't appear for a couple of hours. I also use these to clean my tray table when flying.

Here is a general packing list I have used over the years when cruising.

Ø Zip-lock bags – different sizes for many different things

Ø Hangers – I think you can ask your room attendant for extra but I always bring mine own. The room attendant may not get the hangers to you fast enough because they are generally still delivering things to the cabins, introducing themselves and then they have to go to the life boat drill. We did not see our attendant for a LONG TIME… and had already set sail before we got to meet him.

Ø Clothes Pins

Ø Alarm Clock – Some people just use their cell phones.

Ø Night Light – Cabin is dark, if you don’t use your cell phone for light then bring one.

Ø Bathroom Spray –

Ø Lanyards – these are those things you wear around your neck and attach your Sea Pass card to it.

Ø Bar Soap – I like to bring my own instead of using the small bars or pump soap they give.

Ø Portable Ipod Speakers- so you can enjoy your downloaded Caribbean music as you sail.

Ø Motion Sickness Medicine – if you think you need it, some you need a written RX. Keep in purse and take as directed before the ship leaves if you think you need it. We never needed it

Ø Prescriptions and Medicine – the over the counter, Tums, Imodium, Pepto Bismol, aspirin. These OTC items are also sold on the ship but very costly.

Ø Sudafed, tooth ache gel, Band-Aids, mole skin, aloe vera lotion for sunburns

Ø Suntan Lotion also very expensive on the ship so make sure you pack enough, spray goes everywhere so might need to bring cream as well.

Ø Cell Phone charger – you will need to charge up before you get home!

Ø Extra Camera Memory Card - Last thing you want to do is run out of memory!!!

Ø Extra camera batteries or rechargeable batteries and charger.

Ø Small spray bottle.. use this up by the pool to spray myself when it is hot, this was a blessing!!!

Ø Walkie Talkies- we always bring them, keep the volume low.. Traveling with large groups on a large ship we sometimes need to find someone. Or if you need to find your kids. Please note this can be disturbing to other travelers so we really keep the volume very low!

Ø Binoculars –

Ø Suitcase scale – We bring one of those luggage weight scales to we can make sure we are within our weight limits as we fly.

Ø Hand sanitizers – small kind to put in pocket purse or clip on lanyards

Ø Sports Bottles – We use these at the pool and around the ship for “special drinks”

Ø Snack Items We have cocktail parties in our cabins with our friends so we munch on snack or salty items. We buy these at the store before we go to the port.

o Wine Opener / cork screw

o Cheese in Can

o Nuts

o Cookies

o Candy

o Plastic Glasses as the ones in the cabin are too small.

o Powdered Crystal Light – for our bottled water or other drink mixes you like

Here is the fun stuff that we just won’t cruise without.

Ø Small Folding or Inflatable Ice Chest that packs in your suitcase– We bring this to keep our drinks really cold in our cabin. Tip your attendant when you first meet him and ask him to fill it with ice daily for us. Got mine on Amazon. I also pack this in my carryon and blow it up when we first get in the cabin for our water. We kept ours in the bathroom with a towel under it. It isn’t insulated but it was filled up with ice twice daily and my water was always so nice and cold…

http://www.amazon.com/Inflatable-Pir...r+pirate+chest

Ø Rum Runners – google these if you need to know what they are you will see a picture of one of our s inside the ice chest. I took 4 runners and placed them throughout my suitcases. I have never had a problem with my rum runner. Never place them together or in the same area of your checked luggage. I have the SPRING BREAK SET..

Regarding the water we have in our cabin. Carnival recently changed their policy and they do not allow passengers to check in cases of bottled water and soda. We used to travel this way, so we were able to have drinks in our own cabin. Carnival lowered the pricing of the water they sell. It is $2.99 a six pack. So we ordered two cases of water through the Carnival Website (FUNSHOP) . The water was in our room waiting for us. So as soon as we got in the cabin, my husband blew up the ice chest and we put the water in it ready for the ice. (I had the inflatable ice check in my carryon). Also.. we just left our ice chest in our cabin after our cruise was over. Our room attendant was happy to get it. LOL

Here is the beverage policy

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2633

https://help.carnival.com/app/answer...1096/related/1

Our counters stayed clutter clear!!

Ø Power Strip – not many outlets in the room. This is a must have

Ø Extension Cords - I will run an extension cord if I need to. We need two because my husband has a CPAP machine and there were no outlets close to the bed. Thankful I brought two.

Bring adapters too!

EXTRAS:

v We bring lots of one dollar bills for tipping.

v We tie bright colored ribbon on our suitcases to help us identify them.

v Bungee Cord - Brought a bungee cord to secure a door that we wanted to keep open from banging. We once had all of our cabins next to each other and had the doors to the balconies opened up all the way. Our door kept banging.. so this helped it to stop.

Also might need:

Folding tote or beach back for going ashore

Hats/ caps

There are laundry rooms and ironing rooms on the ship

Laundry Rooms - Decks 11 & 7

Ironing Rooms - Decks 9, 8 & 6

If you think you might need to do laundry bring a baggie of powdered soap and some dryer sheets. The machines are cashless so you will use your Sail & Sign card. It is like $3.25 a load.

The cabins have hair dryers and robes in (some) them. AND get some water (aqua) shoes for going ashore; you will want them in the water.

If you pack your clothes in dry cleaner bags that they will not wrinkle.

Tips for packing: http://www.fodors.com/news/story_1449.html

I make copies of our passports / credit cards and keep them in our safe in the cabin. I also call our credit card companies and banks and give them the dates we will be traveling so they will not lock down our account thinking the card was stolen. If they tried to call us, we would not be home to answer the phone!! Sooooooo call your credit card companies/banks and let them know.

We had a CLOUD NINE SPA SUITE on this cruise and it was heavenly. We were on deck 11. Cabin number 11206. Having a spa suite gave us access to the spa areas. If you don’t have a spa cabin then you could pay $299 per couple for the length of the cruise, or a per day rate to have this spa access. The showers are huge. My husband would just go up to the men’s locker room in the spa area and take a shower when we were getting ready.

CLOUD NINE SPA AMENITIES

Thalassotherapy Pool, they were filling it up

Lanconium Spa Suite

Thermal Suite

Gym

Hope this pre-cruise thread has helped somewhat. Packing and planning are so much fun!!

Don't go on your cruise without hearing from the CRUISE DIVA... I find all my best stuff there!!!

On the web you search for "cruisediva dot com".

I have a printable packing list I can email you if you want.

HAPPY SAILING!!

THE END~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for the info. We are going on the dream in March.

What a fantastic post, thank you very much. We will be on the Dream Sept 13th for our 14th cruise and first time out of New Orleans

I always try to spend a ester day befor and after the cruise. Just to,spend some time in NOLA. Get a great meal. Have a few drinks

Thanks for posting this! I'm sailing on the Dream in a couple months (my first cruise), so I appreciate the detailed boarding description. [emoji4]

Just an FYI, though: the FTTF passes for 5 days or longer cruises is now $59.95.

What are the hours the spa is open?

Thanks.

Spa Hours are 8am - 10pm

Great stuff....like the detail with the pics...

Thanks for your review - we sail Sept. 20 and this helps us plan what time to get to the port - early!(first home game of the season for the Saints that day.) We were also wondering where the embarkation photo is taken, so was glad to find out about that.

Spa Hours are 8am - 10pm

Thank you!

Thanks for your good overview of the embarkation and preparation process; this should be especially helpful for first-time cruisers. The only thing I would add is that the self-service laundries in some ships ARE coin operated (Recently off the Victory and that was the case) I always take a roll of quarters just in case.

Great packing list!! Thanks for posting. We will be on the Dream for the August 23rd sailing!! So ready for this vacation!😎

I forgot this important detail. It takes 7-8 hrs to get out of the muddy Mississippi River. Another fellow cruiser on CC - cjalphonso - had typed up this play by play on another board. I printed it out and did some research ahead of time so I could be familiar with the different sights. These are all on the PORT SIDE.. We also happened to see the pilot boat meet up with the ship.. cool to see..

We sat on our balcony sipping champagne and looked at these sights for the first hour.

Quite interesting!!

Backgournd: I was born and raised in New Orleans, La. and lived the first 30 years of my life there. For the past 15 years, we have taken a family reunion cruise every Thanksgiving and always sail out of New Orleans. I love the city and enjoy being able to point out the hidden secrets and historical landmarks, which most people just pass by as they cruise out of New Orleans. The boat moves fairly quickly and everything here will be seen within the first hour of departure, so pay close attention.

I will attempt to create a play by play tour of exactly what you will see as you embark on your journey down the mighty Mississippi, so here goes:

The French Quarter:

1. Ernest N. Morial Convention Center: This is the massive building you will see where the boat is docked. This is actually the original location of the 1984 Worlds Fair. You can still see the decorative waterfall staircase that was just adjacent to the Space Shuttle display during the Fair. The Convention Center is the 6th largest in the country.

2. Riverwalk: This mall was built for the words fair and has remained a great specialty shop and upper end type of mall. This is also the mall where in 1996 the MV Bright Field ship lost power and rammed into while thousands of tourists where still inside.

3. Harrah’s Casino: It is what it is…

4. Aquarium Of The Americas: Great place to spend a day.

5. Woldenberg Riverfront Park: Great park to see the river and possibly hear some musicians.

6. Jax Brewery: Formerly where Jax Beer was made, now it’s a shopping mall

.

7. St. Louis Cathedral: One of the oldest cathedrals in the country, original structure was completed in 1793 on the location where the former Catholic Church was destroyed by the Great New Orleans fire in 1788. A Catholic Church has stood on that ground since 1718. It is still a working Cathedral and therefore receives no historic funding.

8. Jackson Square: Park in front of the Cathedral with large statue of Andrew Jackson on his horse. The statue is significant as it was the first statue of a horse and rider standing on its back legs, very difficult balancing problem.

9. The Moon Walk: This is the small riverfront boardwalk area in front of Jackson Square. You will always here a saxophone going in this area 

10. The French Market: Open air market with shops, flee market and produce stands.

11. The New Orleans Mint: In operation from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909. It is now part of the Louisiana State Museum.

Leaving French Quarter to Bywater, Upper and Lower 9th Wards:

12. Old docks: Doesn’t seem significant unless you a fan of the group Journey!!! This is the location where they filmed the video for “Separate Ways”.

13. Bywater and Upper 9th ward: The neighborhoods you see in the background.

14. Industrial Canal: man made canal for shipping purposes. This is the canal where one of the major levy breaches took place during Katrina and Rita. You can’t see the location; it’s on the other side of the St. Claude Bridge, which you can see.

15. Lower 9th ward: heavily damaged during Katrina.

16. Holy Cross School for Boys: This is where I went to high school. The school was established in 1849. The original administration building, which is still standing and you should be able to see, was built in 1895. Katrina damaged the campus beyond repair and after over 150 yrs of being on this location, it was moved to a new location on the other side of town.

17. Fats Domino’s house: you can’t see it, but its there.

18. Jackson Barracks: Originally designed by Andrew Jackson and built in 1834-35. It now houses the Louisiana National Guard Headquarters. It also serves as the dividing line between Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes.

Entering St. Bernard Parish and Chalmette: This is where Katrina hit the worst, even more so than the lower 9th ward. Abandoned by its country, the first responders here where Canadian Mounties.

19. The Le Beau Plantation: It’s about 2 blocks in and hard to see so look real hard. It’s in bad shape and has not been restored, would be beautiful if it were restored.

20. Interview with a Vampier fire: This area is the location where they burned a bunch of old warehouses and whatnot for the movie.

21. Domino sugar: One of the oldest sugar refineries in the country dating back to 1909. It produces 6 million pounds of sugar per day and more than 2 billion pounds per year about 19% of the country’s sugar. Now that’s a lot of sugar!!!!!!

22. Cavaroc House: Located at Domino Sugar, looks like a small plantation but dwarfed by the massive Sugar refinery.

23. St. Bernard Port: It was once talked about to build the cruise terminal at this location.

24. Chalmette Battle Field (Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve): This is where the Battle of New Orleans was fought during the war of 1812 one of the greatest land victories of the war. You should be able to see the “monument”, which looks like a small version of the Washington monument in DC.

25. The Beauregard House: Built on this site in 1832.

26. Chalmette National Cemetery: Veteran cemetery established in 1864.

27. Kaiser Aluminum: This plant pretty much established the town of Chalmette. Its smoke stack has become a local landmark of years past. The plant was the largest Aluminum Smelter in the world until it closed down in 1983.

28. Chalmette Refining LLC: This used to be Mobil which used to be Tennecco etc. It is now a venture of ExxonMobil and the Venezuelan State Oil company. Some of the fuel you and others used to get to N.O. was refined at this very location. If your lucky you may catch them Flaring the Boom. If so you will see a massive fire ball which will light up the entire sky. This is all part of the refining process.

29. Chalmette Ferry Landing: This ferry landing is still used to get residents from one side of the river to the other. To go around is a twenty mile journey, but the time can be the same if you don’t catch the ferry right 

That pretty much sum’s up the first hour or so of your 7-8 hour cruise down the might Mississippi. The rest of the trip is still very interesting, but not too many landmarks. You will pass multiple oil and gas refineries such as BP and Chevron on your way down to the mouth.

River Pilot: The very last thing of interest is when you get to the mouth of the river. A pilot boat will meet up with the ship, the ship will slow to a crawl and you can watch as the river pilot (who has been navigating the river) will jump from an open bay door on the ship to a small pilot boat. This will happen late at night usually somewhere between 10-12 depending on departure.

Remember this phrase: “White over Red…Pilot Ahead”. The pilot boat will be a small vessel and at the very top of it, you will see 2 lights, a white light that sits above a red light. This is how you can identify the pilot boat ahead of time.

That’s it, you have officially finished you sailing of the river and are entering the Ocean Blue. Oh, don’t forget to watch for the more then 3000 oil rigs along the continental shelf. Have a great trip.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! Although we're seasoned travelers, there's always a thing or two that you can glean from someone else.

Thank you especially for the MS River tour information. We've seen several of the places that he mentioned but I will be looking for the rest when we sail in November. I've copied and pasted this and will include it in my vacation planning folder.

I forgot this important detail. It takes 7-8 hrs to get out of the muddy Mississippi River. Another fellow cruiser on CC - cjalphonso - had typed up this play by play on another board. I printed it out and did some research ahead of time so I could be familiar with the different sights. These are all on the PORT SIDE.. We also happened to see the pilot boat meet up with the ship.. cool to see..

 

We sat on our balcony sipping champagne and looked at these sights for the first hour.

Quite interesting!!

 

Backgournd: I was born and raised in New Orleans, La. and lived the first 30 years of my life there. For the past 15 years, we have taken a family reunion cruise every Thanksgiving and always sail out of New Orleans. I love the city and enjoy being able to point out the hidden secrets and historical landmarks, which most people just pass by as they cruise out of New Orleans. The boat moves fairly quickly and everything here will be seen within the first hour of departure, so pay close attention.

 

I will attempt to create a play by play tour of exactly what you will see as you embark on your journey down the mighty Mississippi, so here goes:

 

The French Quarter:

 

1. Ernest N. Morial Convention Center: This is the massive building you will see where the boat is docked. This is actually the original location of the 1984 Worlds Fair. You can still see the decorative waterfall staircase that was just adjacent to the Space Shuttle display during the Fair. The Convention Center is the 6th largest in the country.

 

2. Riverwalk: This mall was built for the words fair and has remained a great specialty shop and upper end type of mall. This is also the mall where in 1996 the MV Bright Field ship lost power and rammed into while thousands of tourists where still inside.

 

3. Harrah’s Casino: It is what it is…

 

4. Aquarium Of The Americas: Great place to spend a day.

 

5. Woldenberg Riverfront Park: Great park to see the river and possibly hear some musicians.

 

6. Jax Brewery: Formerly where Jax Beer was made, now it’s a shopping mall

.

7. St. Louis Cathedral: One of the oldest cathedrals in the country, original structure was completed in 1793 on the location where the former Catholic Church was destroyed by the Great New Orleans fire in 1788. A Catholic Church has stood on that ground since 1718. It is still a working Cathedral and therefore receives no historic funding.

 

8. Jackson Square: Park in front of the Cathedral with large statue of Andrew Jackson on his horse. The statue is significant as it was the first statue of a horse and rider standing on its back legs, very difficult balancing problem.

 

9. The Moon Walk: This is the small riverfront boardwalk area in front of Jackson Square. You will always here a saxophone going in this area 

 

10. The French Market: Open air market with shops, flee market and produce stands.

 

11. The New Orleans Mint: In operation from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909. It is now part of the Louisiana State Museum.

 

Leaving French Quarter to Bywater, Upper and Lower 9th Wards:

 

12. Old docks: Doesn’t seem significant unless you a fan of the group Journey!!! This is the location where they filmed the video for “Separate Ways”.

 

13. Bywater and Upper 9th ward: The neighborhoods you see in the background.

 

14. Industrial Canal: man made canal for shipping purposes. This is the canal where one of the major levy breaches took place during Katrina and Rita. You can’t see the location; it’s on the other side of the St. Claude Bridge, which you can see.

 

15. Lower 9th ward: heavily damaged during Katrina.

 

16. Holy Cross School for Boys: This is where I went to high school. The school was established in 1849. The original administration building, which is still standing and you should be able to see, was built in 1895. Katrina damaged the campus beyond repair and after over 150 yrs of being on this location, it was moved to a new location on the other side of town.

 

17. Fats Domino’s house: you can’t see it, but its there.

 

18. Jackson Barracks: Originally designed by Andrew Jackson and built in 1834-35. It now houses the Louisiana National Guard Headquarters. It also serves as the dividing line between Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes.

 

Entering St. Bernard Parish and Chalmette: This is where Katrina hit the worst, even more so than the lower 9th ward. Abandoned by its country, the first responders here where Canadian Mounties.

 

19. The Le Beau Plantation: It’s about 2 blocks in and hard to see so look real hard. It’s in bad shape and has not been restored, would be beautiful if it were restored.

 

20. Interview with a Vampier fire: This area is the location where they burned a bunch of old warehouses and whatnot for the movie.

 

21. Domino sugar: One of the oldest sugar refineries in the country dating back to 1909. It produces 6 million pounds of sugar per day and more than 2 billion pounds per year about 19% of the country’s sugar. Now that’s a lot of sugar!!!!!!

 

22. Cavaroc House: Located at Domino Sugar, looks like a small plantation but dwarfed by the massive Sugar refinery.

 

23. St. Bernard Port: It was once talked about to build the cruise terminal at this location.

 

24. Chalmette Battle Field (Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve): This is where the Battle of New Orleans was fought during the war of 1812 one of the greatest land victories of the war. You should be able to see the “monument”, which looks like a small version of the Washington monument in DC.

 

25. The Beauregard House: Built on this site in 1832.

 

26. Chalmette National Cemetery: Veteran cemetery established in 1864.

 

27. Kaiser Aluminum: This plant pretty much established the town of Chalmette. Its smoke stack has become a local landmark of years past. The plant was the largest Aluminum Smelter in the world until it closed down in 1983.

 

28. Chalmette Refining LLC: This used to be Mobil which used to be Tennecco etc. It is now a venture of ExxonMobil and the Venezuelan State Oil company. Some of the fuel you and others used to get to N.O. was refined at this very location. If your lucky you may catch them Flaring the Boom. If so you will see a massive fire ball which will light up the entire sky. This is all part of the refining process.

 

29. Chalmette Ferry Landing: This ferry landing is still used to get residents from one side of the river to the other. To go around is a twenty mile journey, but the time can be the same if you don’t catch the ferry right 

 

That pretty much sum’s up the first hour or so of your 7-8 hour cruise down the might Mississippi. The rest of the trip is still very interesting, but not too many landmarks. You will pass multiple oil and gas refineries such as BP and Chevron on your way down to the mouth.

 

River Pilot: The very last thing of interest is when you get to the mouth of the river. A pilot boat will meet up with the ship, the ship will slow to a crawl and you can watch as the river pilot (who has been navigating the river) will jump from an open bay door on the ship to a small pilot boat. This will happen late at night usually somewhere between 10-12 depending on departure.

 

Remember this phrase: “White over Red…Pilot Ahead”. The pilot boat will be a small vessel and at the very top of it, you will see 2 lights, a white light that sits above a red light. This is how you can identify the pilot boat ahead of time.

 

That’s it, you have officially finished you sailing of the river and are entering the Ocean Blue. Oh, don’t forget to watch for the more then 3000 oil rigs along the continental shelf. Have a great trip.

Great info. For the cruise and for things to do while in town. Thank you very much. Diana

Our DS & DDIL set sail on the Dream April 2016; thank you so much for this informative review & for the narration of getting out of NOLA (thanks to the author as well)!! I am passing this info along to them both!!

I agree.. I am thrilled to get as much info as I can pre-cruise so that I can enjoy every moment. I found this great review of NOLA under NORTH AMERICAN HOME PORTS / GULF COAST DEPARTURES / NEW ORLEANS REVIEW which was done by CC poster "Tootall"

The review was written in 2012 but it was really fascinating and thorough. Lots of pictures too. It helped me a lot during my whole year of planning. Tootall was the one who provided the link of the PLAY by PLAY action out of the Mississippi.

As I mentioned earlier, I saw when the pilot boat made it's way to hook up to the DREAM to get the pilot off the ship. It was pretty close to midnight. We had a port side cabin. Was really cool watching that action.

I suggest reading that review too!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1615754&highlight=play+by+play

Love this! We are sailing out of NOLA in 92 days and this report gives very detailed information I haven't see anywhere else! Thank you!

I do have one question, you're over the door hanger. How long is it? I'm looking at one on Amazon and it's 64" long and I'm wondering if that is to long for the door. I can't find the height of the door anywhere. This is the one i'm looking at...it looks similar to yours....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HM5V0A/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER