Anyone Sail out of New Orleans Thxgiving wkend?

[RealDeal]

Considering the Serenade at the end of next November. However, I just learned that they have the Bayou Classic in NO that weekend. Wondering just how much of a madhouse the city will be...any feedback would be appreciated!

[jbarn3]

It kind of depends on what else you wanted to do in New Orleans. If you're just staying overnight then embarking, I don't think it would affect you much, provided you book your hotel early enough.

 

In my experience, downtown is kinda crowded that weekend, but not like many of the other festivals and events we have. Anything short of Mardi Gras, Super Bowl or BCS Championship, isn't that big of a deal.

[RealDeal]

It kind of depends on what else you wanted to do in New Orleans. If you're just staying overnight then embarking, I don't think it would affect you much, provided you book your hotel early enough.

 

In my experience, downtown is kinda crowded that weekend, but not like many of the other festivals and events we have. Anything short of Mardi Gras, Super Bowl or BCS Championship, isn't that big of a deal.

 

Thanks so much. We will def fly in at least a day before, possibly 2 (which would mean coming in on Thanksgiving day).

[jbarn3]

I think you'll be fine. Until Friday evening, I don't think you'll see any sign of the Bayou Classic crowds. I would highly recommend contacting Commander's Palace 100 days out to make Thanksgiving Dinner reservations.

[telecruiser]

We did this last year. We were not aware of the Bayou Classic at the time we planned the trip. We reserved our hotel for the one night pre-cruise way in advance. We arrived by taxi at the hotel at about 10:00PM that Friday night. The downtown area was very crowded and a lot of streets were closed to traffic. It was a challenge for the taxi driver to figure out how to get us to the hotel entrance.

 

But we got there and checked in. We immediately walked out to the French Quarter and it was starting to get sort of crowded. We popped into a place for food and drinks for about an hour, and we came back out onto Bourbon St. it was a total zoo, shoulder to shoulder people. The street was a mess with spilled drinks and we saw people at the curbs losing their drinks. Fun for all!

 

Luckily we booked two nights post cruise for a much more subdued visit.

[jbarn3]

Like I said, it really depends on what you want to do. When Battle of the Bands lets out around 10pm, Bourbon will get packed, but its packed most weekends and there is a lot more to downtown than Bourbon Street. It's nothing like Halloween, Mardi Gras, Decadence, Essence, Super Bowl, Jazz Fest or French Quarter Festival. More like the size of crowds you would see from Voodoo Fest, which is also in November this year. My point is, most weekends there is something going on. It's routine here. Our infrastructure is built for it. Even medical conventions cause traffic and crowds. The Bayou Classic crowd tends to be younger and rougher than say Jazz Fest though. I would probably avoid Bourbon St Friday night, but I avoid it every Friday night...

[RealDeal]

We did this last year. We were not aware of the Bayou Classic at the time we planned the trip. We reserved our hotel for the one night pre-cruise way in advance. We arrived by taxi at the hotel at about 10:00PM that Friday night. The downtown area was very crowded and a lot of streets were closed to traffic. It was a challenge for the taxi driver to figure out how to get us to the hotel entrance.

 

But we got there and checked in. We immediately walked out to the French Quarter and it was starting to get sort of crowded. We popped into a place for food and drinks for about an hour, and we came back out onto Bourbon St. it was a total zoo, shoulder to shoulder people. The street was a mess with spilled drinks and we saw people at the curbs losing their drinks. Fun for all!

 

Luckily we booked two nights post cruise for a much more subdued visit.

 

UGH...Well, our only saving grace (I guess) is that if we come in Friday, we'll arrive early (by noon or so).

[garnete]

we did this last year and flew in early Friday morning and enjoyed our day roaming in NO...

 

then by evening we ate dinner out then headed to hotel pretty early 10:30 or so... it was crowded only on burbon but not too terrible.. since we love to people watch it was great for us ;)

[aftop]

Considering the Serenade at the end of next November. However, I just learned that they have the Bayou Classic in NO that weekend. Wondering just how much of a madhouse the city will be...any feedback would be appreciated!

 

I sailed the Voyager that weekend in 2011. I wanted to avoid the crowds so I stayed in a Holiday Inn across the river in Gretna. I drove to NO and parked at a private lot for the cruise. Short less than 10 min. drive to parking and another 10 min.shuttle to cruise terminal. However, I think if I had driven to the port it would have been cahos getting through traffic and finding the port entrance.

[RealDeal]

Thanks everyone...I think I'm going to go for it.