NOLA - Mardi Gras after a cruise - advice?

[jaded99]

Hi,

DH and I want to book a cruise before Mardi Gras for 2015 (not this year but next) and then stay in NOLA for Mardi Gras.

 

I'm looking for recommendations for both an airport hotel for one night pre-cruise, and a hotel to stay at for Mardi Gras (we'd get off the cruise the Sunday before and leave on the Thursday after).

 

We want to be able to see some parades, also go to the FQ/Bourbon St for night life... but want to be somewhere relatively safe, and easy walking distance to parade routes and nightlife spots.

 

Never been to NOLA and excited to try it, so anyone with any tips for hotels or just general info please post :)

[Carolin]

I did this exact cruise this year. LOVE LOVE New Orleans. Now your going to get some sticker shock. We stayed at a private B&B in Marigny which is a little neighborhood just out of the quarter. Quiet, safe and easy walk to the action. It was $500 a night but all of the B&Bs/hotels go UP for Marti Gras. So I don't know how much you want to spend. To me, it was worth it.

[jaded99]

We actually decided to book the cruise AFTER Mardi Gras instead, so now we'll be looking at a whole week in NOLA before the cruise. Totally understand that the Saturday-Tuesday will have sky-high rates anywhere, but hopefully the days after Mardi Gras (Wed-Sat) might get a little cheaper?

 

We know we want to stay in the French Quarter, want to be walking distance to parade viewing spots and nightlife. B&B or hotel are both fine, but we probably want to stay away from chain hotels so we can get the real experience :)

[SOMBRERO6]

We just stayed there for 4 days last week-end. It is at the corner of Bourbon and Iberville. You can walk out the door and be right where the action is, yet if you walk out a different door, you can be near a Walgreens and a CVS. We visited Bourbon St everyday and a couple of nights. It's the strangest place I have ever been. I would not suggest it for kids but an adult should experience it, Check out Trip Advisor and type in Bourbon St. We used the airport Shuttle to go to and from the Hyatt. There is so much to do in the French Quarter, we couldn't do it all. I felt very safe with my husband and with a small group, but as a woman didn't venture too far by myself.

[bptex]

I always stay at the Drury Inn. There is a street car stop right outside but it's also 3 blocks away from the quarter, an easy walk. Crossing Canal street is the longest part.

 

I've never stayed there for Mardi Gras but I have for other festivals and it's convenient and very affordable compared to hotels actually in the quarter.

[skandls]

I do not think there are parades after Mardi Gras. You might check the schedule for the parades. They seem to start about 2 week prior to Mardi Gras.

[RunnerGirl26.2]

I am from Louisiana and we lived in New Orleans a few years. Parades are not just in the French Quarter. Metarie, Mid city area, west bank, and uptown also have parades. Routes are usually the same from year to year. Take a look at http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/

 

I would stay more uptown or garden district. You could also look for a condo to rent and you could save money on meals. If you go to a lot of parades I would plan to ship a box of your "throws" home.

 

Parades start two weeks before Fat Tuesday. Floats repeat from parade to parade too. For example, Endymion rolls on a Saturday, but the same floats are in a parade in Metarie on Sunday or Monday.