Limited time--what to prioritize?

[acpalmer]

We will be in New Orleans for just a day prior to our cruise in late March. We fly in LATE Friday night and have just Saturday to explore--cruise departs on Sunday. Some background on our group--two adults, a 15 year old boy and a 13 year old boy. None of us have ever been to New Orleans before and as much as we would love to, we can't extend our vacation to have more time before or after our cruise. I'm sure we'll (at least the adults) be back for a "real" vacation sometime in the future. We are staying at the Drury and will be relying on public transportation/walking--we will not have a rental car.

 

My husband really wants to do a cemetery tour and eat a beignet at Cafe DuMond. The 15 year old will go along with anything, but does love all aspects and time periods of history. The 13 year old has listed a ghost/haunted tour as his must do. I would like to see the French Quarter and the Garden District.

 

So I'm wondering what to spend our time on for Saturday. We arrive so late (land at midnight) that I just don't think we can be up and out the door bright and early. I think planning to be anywhere before 10 is pretty unrealistic.

 

We have thought about all of the following:

 

Cemetery tour at St. Louis #1 or Lafayette #1--St. Louis #1 looks more interesting to me, but Lafayette is appealing because we could combine that with seeing the Garden District.

 

Taking a walking tour of the Garden District or the French Quarter--We have found one through Free Tours by Foot that combines Lafayette and the Garden District, but I'm concerned looking at houses over and over is going to eventually bore the boys. Maybe this is a better place for a self-guided quick one? (They will want to see Archie Manning's house because we are from Denver and therefore the Peyton Manning connection will interest them.)

 

Mardi Gras World--This just looks fun, quick, and the parade floats seem "quintessential" when you think of New Orleans.

 

WWII Museum--This looks AMAZING but knowing how we tour museums, we would need most all of the day to see it all. I can't see doing this to the exclusion of nearly everything else and I don't know if it's worth it to do for just a couple of hours, which is probably all I really want to devote to any given thing. I'm thinking we save this for a longer trip?

 

Ghost/Haunted Tour--This is pretty much a definite and it looks like if we take one in the French Quarter, we could easily hit Cafe DuMond before or after. Would this give a good idea of the French Quarter or do we really need to see it in the daylight also? Maybe a carriage tour during the day?

 

I know that New Orleans is known for it's food, but we have more than one in the group who can't eat any fish or seafood and so "foodie" type experiences aren't what we are looking for. And I know there are also a ton of other things to do, but we've pretty much narrowed it down to these. I get that it's still way too much for one day, though, so any help from experience and/or experts would be great!

 

TIA!!

[Carriecruises]

What time is your cruise Sunday? I am squeezing our Café du Monde on the morning of the cruise and our cemetery tour.

[acpalmer]

What time is your cruise Sunday? I am squeezing our Café du Monde on the morning of the cruise and our cemetery tour.

 

The tour that morning is a possibility, I suppose. Cruise leaves at 4 which means we need to be on board no later than 2. St. Louis #1 tour would end at 11 (assuming they are running on time). Leaving time to get back to our hotel from the Cemetery (looks like about 30 minutes total--walk plus trolley), get luggage, take taxi to pier and check in...

[Saint Greg]

WWII Museum takes 3-5hrs. I did it in 3hrs in a rush one day...but really need to go back and spend more time. It's outstanding if you can squeeze it in.