Cruise out of New Orleans during Mardi Gras

[kimhinterman]

Considering a cruise out of New Orleans but it's during Mardi Gras, I have never been to New Orleans and just wondering how difficult it will be to get a hotel and how crazy it will be prior to the cruise.

[patannel]

Totally CRAZY! Would not take a chance on getting to the ship!

[Lovemygreekgeek]

I was just in New Orleans for a land based vacation, and ended up walking through the area with the cruise terminal (it's an outlet mall). The good news is that it's outside of the French Quarter, the bad news is that the area that the terminal is in is still VERY busy during Mardi Gras season because some of the parades are nearby. If you were dead set on going at that time, you'd probably save money staying outside the city and heading in early in the day. As far as I know, the parades start at dusk, though there are other things going on during the day.

[herdingdogmom]

We sailed during mardi gras 4 years ago. We stayed at the hotel NCL uses which is right on the parade route. It was fun the night before. But, there were some parades during the day which means the streets are closed and it can be difficult to get to the port.

 

There are schedules for the parades so you can plan around them. Staying outside the French quarter would make it easier to get to the port.

[arlettecruiser]

If you olan to cruise around mardi gras, you need ro get to the terminal before 11. Streets shut down by noon

 

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[amandA53]

Do it! A group of 6 arrived the day before our cruise left a few years ago and it was a lot of fun. Had no issues with our 3 rooms, although we were only in our rooms a couple of hours. Really it was more of a place to hold our stuff. I mean it's Mardi Gras! It was in the garden district. Taxi van took us to the terminal that morning. He knew what he was doing and had zero issues. I'm sure we were all still drunk and we could still figure it out so it couldn't have been that hard.

 

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[Yorkvillain]

Considering a cruise out of New Orleans but it's during Mardi Gras, I have never been to New Orleans and just wondering how difficult it will be to get a hotel and how crazy it will be prior to the cruise.

 

 

Somehow I survived Mardi Gras five years in a row. We always booked our hotel rooms about 6 months in advance because they fill up fast.

 

FYI: The Omni Royal Orleans on St. Louis Street was perfect since we wanted to be right in the middle of the action.

[runner15km]

We went to Mardi Gras and cruised 2 times. One time our hotel was in walking distance to the ship and the other time our taxi dropped us off just a block from the ship. Most hotels require a 2 night stay.

[morrisretired]

We went out of NOLA last year on the Dawn, the Sunday before Fat Tuesday. The hotels in NO fill up months in advance of Mardi Gras, and they get expensive. We drove over from Texas early that Friday morning, and the traffic was bad. We went past NO and stayed in Biloxi, Ms. Left there Sunday morning around 8 am, drove the 90 miles back to cruise terminal. Arriving around 9:30 am, a lot of the freeways and streets needed to get to the cruise terminal were already blocked off. There was only one route in to get there, and the area was very crowded. We would never book another cruise during Mardi Gras! There were quite a few cruisers that didn't make it, and ended up boarding at our first port. Some complained that the taxis from the NO Airport, did not know how to get to the cruise terminal, with all of the streets blocked off. I would be sure and buy a trip insurance policy, to be on the safe side.

[tallyho8]

I have cruised twice out of New Orleans during Mardi Gras and am booked again for this Mardi Gras. We live on the West bank of the river and to get to the pier we cross the Crescent City Connection and the ramp to the pier is the first one that you come to. When arriving at 10 AM we have never had more than 15 minutes wait in traffic before getting to the pier after leaving the bridge.

 

No parades are in this area before the afternoon and no roads are blocked around the pier before the afternoon. Staying at a hotel on the West bank insures a quick trip to the pier.

[rluzius]

Considering a cruise out of New Orleans but it's during Mardi Gras, I have never been to New Orleans and just wondering how difficult it will be to get a hotel and how crazy it will be prior to the cruise.

Book a hotel on the Westbank ( Gretna, Algiers, Marrero, Harvey, etc.). The hotels will not be world-class like the French Quarter hotels are, but access to the cruise terminal is quick. Cross the river and take the first exit and you are only a few blocks from the cruise terminal.

 

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[pete_coach]

Are you intending to cruise the Sunday before Mardi Gras or the Sunday after Mardi Gras? We are on the cruise right after (18 Feb) and had no problem with getting a hotel. (Hilton Riverside, you can walk to the cruise port from there).

Anyway, the Sunday Before (11 Feb) should not be to difficult to get a hotel either? You don't have to stay near the French Quarter. New Orleans has many hotels :)

[gambit57]

In this case, I just wanna say I'd recommend getting a hotel and not an AirBnB. When popular events happen (among other reasons), AirBnB hosts are much more likely to cancel on you. It can happen with hotels as well, but much less likely.

[mein18]

Somehow I survived Mardi Gras five years in a row. We always booked our hotel rooms about 6 months in advance because they fill up fast.

 

FYI: The Omni Royal Orleans on St. Louis Street was perfect since we wanted to be right in the middle of the action.

We stayed in the Omni Royal 2 years ago pre-cruise and during Mardi gras. Fantastic time, great hotel and no problems getting to the port.

 

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[300dtc]

We stayed in Lafayette and returned the rental car to the airport the next day. Took a shuttle to the port which was a little challenging with parades lining up and streets closed but got there with not that much of a problem.

 

 

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[caribsun]

We sailed three times during Mardi Gras, booked hotel real early and walked to the ship.

[kimhinterman]

Thank you so much for all the great feedback. We are booking for 2019 so have plenty of time to get a hotel and now I want to come in on Friday to enjoy the city before we sail!

[gooch47]

Mardi Gras isn't a single day or weekend. It lasts about a month. You could run into parades on many days. Check the schedules posted online.

[cml4958]

Fat Tuesday in 2019 is Tuesday, March 5, 2019. There will likely be parades and such for two weeks to a month prior to that. Mostly night parades but day parades on the weekends. I'm leaving out of NO February 7, 2019 but have found that the hotel that I want to book doesn't have rates for February 2019 yet.

[pete_coach]

Thank you so much for all the great feedback. We are booking for 2019 so have plenty of time to get a hotel and now I want to come in on Friday to enjoy the city before we sail!

2019? I don't think that some hotels will allow you to book more than a year in advance.

 

Again, are you sailing before Fat Tuesday or after? The hotel rates and availability will be quite different.