DragonOfTheSeas goes LIVE to Mardi Gras on the Equinox 2.20.17

[micheleg]

Yes--that excursion is available on this cruise, too. but I agree it is VERY overpriced.

 

One of the people on our roll call organized a group event at 709 St Charles street. that is the name of the restaurant and the address. We paid $105 pp and it includes food, well drinks/beer/wine, grandstands, restrooms and security. DH and I do not want of have to find porta potties. :eek: This is for Monday. After this filled in just a few days they reserved for Tuesday, also. But, we are only doing Monday night. Hours are from 5 pm to when the last parade passes around 10 pm.

 

We are happy with the amount and the security of being with other cruisers. Then we can venture into the quarter after the parades. If it gets too crazy for us we can return to the ship. :)

 

Any update on how 709 St. Charles Street was for the parades? Food, drinks, bathrooms? Any advice, as we're considering this or just buying regular grandstand tickets on our own? No way we're paying Celebrity that kind of money just for a seat. Thanks for all of the information so far! Those of us booked on this cruise for 2018 are getting great information from you! :)

[Stella777]

Dragon, I like the padded lounge chairs better than the non-padded on RCCL. Wish they would replace them with padded loungers. Do they really put all those towels on the loungers or do you have to check the towels out?

[PEIpair]

No, you do not have to check towels out, on Celebrity ships. They place them on the loungers in the Solarium as you see in the photo. At the pool you will just pick up what you need from the carts located there. And return them to the laundry bins when finished with them. Very convenient..

[JaniceB]

Happy Mardi Gras! So excited to find this review today. I am really enjoying it and thank you for taking the time to do it on your cruise. Can't wait to hear about your day!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Any update on how 709 St. Charles Street was for the parades? Food, drinks, bathrooms? Any advice, as we're considering this or just buying regular grandstand tickets on our own? No way we're paying Celebrity that kind of money just for a seat. Thanks for all of the information so far! Those of us booked on this cruise for 2018 are getting great information from you! :)

 

 

709 was not good. We were all very disappointed. There were no grandstands for us. :( Another disadvantage was we were 1 block from the judging. So each band stopped there to preform. So, each band in the whole parade stopped in front of us. But, they did not do any thing. When they left they began to play.

 

There were other restaurants around that had grandstand and they looked good. The MardiGras.com site had a link to those this year.

 

However, I think we enjoyed standing on near the end of the parade the night before more. That is where the families were and there were way less people. It is also only a few blocks from the port in case you get tired. The parades more at a very slow walk pace.

 

But, we are a glutton for punishment. DH and I are heading out to more parades. :D

[TourDeCruise]

Happy Mardi Gras!

 

Thank you--I am enjoying it. I will have to try one of the smoothies.

 

Love your pictures too. Very professional looking.

 

Sorry to hear about the disappointment in the 709 event!

[Rarett]

I'm following your thread (thank you btw) as we are going on the 2018 -- I'm in a wheelchair, is there much transportation issues from the ship to the french quarter? or is it in reasonable walking distance, how long of a walk ? (I'll be in my power chair, but my wife will be walking) --

[WackyWayne]

I am sorry to hear that 709 isn't a great location for the parade. Any suggestions for locations for those of use booking next year are appreciated, either for individuals or if we get a roll-call group reservation going.

[micheleg]

709 was not good. We were all very disappointed. There were no grandstands for us. :( Another disadvantage was we were 1 block from the judging. So each band stopped there to preform. So, each band in the whole parade stopped in front of us. But, they did not do any thing. When they left they began to play.

 

There were other restaurants around that had grandstand and they looked good. The MardiGras.com site had a link to those this year.

 

However, I think we enjoyed standing on near the end of the parade the night before more. That is where the families were and there were way less people. It is also only a few blocks from the port in case you get tired. The parades more at a very slow walk pace.

 

But, we are a glutton for punishment. DH and I are heading out to more parades. :D

 

 

Thanks for the info. Were there grandstands, just no room, or no grandstands at all? Because even the 709 webpage says that there are grandstands. I'll have to take a look at mardigras.com again unless you know the names of the other restaurants. This feedback is incredibly helpful for our planning purposes. Thanks again!

[Pier290]

Continued--

 

I like that the casino is non-smoking.

 

Service as a whole is excellent. Our cabin steward is almost invisible. Yet, our cabin is always done. :)

 

Our MDR waiter is better now. Bar service can be iffy. It is not that they do not want to serve you, rather it is the number of people that have drink packages. The waiters are all busy serving drinks.

 

We get a voice mail message from the concierge everyday [i think it is a broadcast message] However, we have not seen her in the flesh.

 

Staff is very friendly and want to help. They were just as excited as the passengers to be here during Mardi Gras.

 

I have not gone to the gym. So, I can not comment on that.

 

The Solarium has a small buffet with healthy food during breakfast and lunch. . . . I have not tried that either. It looked good. Do you see a theme here? ;)

Small buffet in solarium? ! GREAT TIP as I've never heard that before!! Thanks!!

 

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[Pier290]

What cabin # do u have? We are in Concierge 9366 in April.....

LOVE this review!

Any kids on board??

 

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[DragonOfTheSeas]

I'm following your thread (thank you btw) as we are going on the 2018 -- I'm in a wheelchair, is there much transportation issues from the ship to the french quarter? or is it in reasonable walking distance, how long of a walk ? (I'll be in my power chair, but my wife will be walking) --

 

Thanks for the info. Were there grandstands, just no room, or no grandstands at all? Because even the 709 webpage says that there are grandstands. I'll have to take a look at mardigras.com again unless you know the names of the other restaurants. This feedback is incredibly helpful for our planning purposes. Thanks again!

 

 

I promise there were no grandstands. Here are a few pics. This is the grandstand for the restaurant next door. Notice our people standing on the sidewalk. . . and the sidewalk sloped down from the street. I was uncomfortable.

 

 

You can see the roped in area.

 

 

I took pictures of some grandstands at the Zulu parade this am so you can see what they look like. I will post those after lunch. [i wouldn't want to miss a meal:D ]

[micheleg]

Wow...did they at least come through with food and drinks? Didn't you all get all inclusive tickets? How was that, or was that non-existent as well? Needless to say, I would not be happy besides being uncomfortable. Everyone in short sleeves....surprising...must've been warm. Keep on posting...I'm living for your updates!!!

[Stella777]

No, you do not have to check towels out, on Celebrity ships. They place them on the loungers in the Solarium as you see in the photo. At the pool you will just pick up what you need from the carts located there. And return them to the laundry bins when finished with them. Very convenient..

 

Thank you for telling me that,PEIpair, I have never been on a Celebrity ship yet. I'll have to try one when I retire in the very near future when I really have the time to cruise on any ship I want to!:cool:

[ChucktownSteve]

Small buffet in solarium? ! GREAT TIP as I've never heard that before!! Thanks!!

 

I believe that's the Aqua Spa Cafe. Which btw has nothing to do with Aqua Class cabins.

[acoupleofcruisers]

Thank you for telling me that,PEIpair, I have never been on a Celebrity ship yet. I'll have to try one when I retire in the very near future when I really have the time to cruise on any ship I want to!:cool:

 

 

A tip for anyone going on Celebrity with a balcony but not concierge. The life vests are under the bed in a basket and put on the balcony with a towel thrown over them they make a foot rest. Where there is a will there is a way:cool:

Celebrity has made us always want the little extras when cruising. We have three cruises booked on the Eclipse, this first one being in Oct. TA.

[cruise47]

The floating hotel look awesome and thanks for posting all your pictures of the ship and NOLA.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We were surprised that EVERYTHING is closed today. OK, maybe I should have know that, but I did not. Schools, businesses, everything.

 

One couple walked all the way to the Aquarium and found it closed.

 

I had planned to shop at Riverwalk and we wanted to eat seafood at the Mike Anderson's there. [it is in the food court so it is fast food. but, we remember when it was on Bourbon street.] We walked up to the door and it was locked and dark. The whole mall is closed.

 

The casino is open and all of the bars are hopping. :D

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I have a few pics of grandstands. Maybe it will help you decide what to do.

 

The first area is Lafayette Park. If you look on google maps you can see where this is. [very crowded] I know this is a back view, but you can see how high up you are.

 

 

Just after Lafayette Park the radio station [or maybe TV] had a women announcing the parade.

 

 

It would be good to be near her to hear this. [she is on the balcony]

 

This is a block or 2 farther. You can see the front of the stands and the names of each. These would be good places to be. However, if I was getting grandstand seats I would get them from a business with an even address. they would be on the river side of the street. [closet to the ship]

 

These Poydras Grandstands were on either side of the door of the Federal Reserve building. [can find it on google maps] The judging was just before that, so they got to see a performance by each band.

 

 

 

 

This was a less fancy grandstand at the corner of St Charles and Julia Street on the odd number side of the road.

 

I found that I did not stay for all of the parades. They are Loooooong. We had trouble getting back across the street to go back to the ship. We had to wait between parades last night. [since 709 St Charles is on the odd side]

[DragonOfTheSeas]

These pics are from the begining of the Zulu parade. DH and I arrived at Lafayette Park around 10 am. The parade had started at 8 am in uptown, but did not get to us until 10:20am. [crazy slow]

 

This shows you how far back I was.

 

 

DH decided to sit on a park bench for a time.

 

The Marine Corps flag bearers, band and corpsman lead each parade.

 

 

The Zulus wear feather headdresses and black face.

 

 

 

 

We saw several marching units and then walked around Canal street and back to the ship.

 

 

 

A security guard let me get close enough to take the pic above.

 

This woman was not in the parade, but lots of people had great costumes. I liked hers and asked if I could take her pic.

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I'm following your thread (thank you btw) as we are going on the 2018 -- I'm in a wheelchair, is there much transportation issues from the ship to the french quarter? or is it in reasonable walking distance, how long of a walk ? (I'll be in my power chair, but my wife will be walking) --

 

 

I think the French Quarter is between 1.5 and 2 miles. If you use mapquest.com they will tell you the walking distance. You can get there with out much in the way of obstacles. Your stamina is the issue. Once you reach the Quarter it is VERY crowded. In the day time you would be able to get through. At night it may not be possible.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

What cabin # do u have? We are in Concierge 9366 in April.....

LOVE this review!

Any kids on board??

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Forums mobile app

 

 

We are in 1150. It is on deck 10 about 1/2 way between center and aft.

[lakelady02]

Thoroughly enjoying your posts! We were initially booked on this cruise but opted out in favor of the Baltics. Your pictures and impressions are the next best thing to being there!

 

 

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[DragonOfTheSeas]

Today's parade schedule was Zulu at 8 am and Rex at 10 am.

We returned to the ship after our Zulu parade trip. We tried to eat lunch in the Riverwalk which was closed. So, we ate in the Ocean View cafe.

 

DH decided to take a nap and I decided to see if I could catch the last couple of floats of the Rex parade. I decided if I missed it that was OK.

 

I realized save the best parade for last.

 

As I went up Julia Street around 1:30 pm [remember the parade started at 10 am] I saw a number of family coming back. I asked one if I had missed the whole parade. She said yes Zulu was over--but, Rex as going to begin soon. [What that can't be]

 

Sure enough I got there for the Marine flag bearers.

 

Here is the King of Rex. It is easier to get good pictures in the daytime.

 

 

 

This was the 2nd float. I do not remember the name.

 

 

All/most of the Krewes have masks.

 

 

I really liked the floats for this parade.

 

 

They had all kinds of marching units.

 

 

Here is a close up of one of the floats. It does not do it justice. They were so beautiful.

 

 

I am limited to 6 pictures in a post.

[Aquahound]

Great thread Dragon! You were right in front of my workplace when you were at Lafayette Square. :)