Sailing out of New Orleans - what to expect onboard

[AuzzieCruiser]

I'll be sailing on the Glory from New Orleans in October for 7 nights and wondering what type of crowd will be onboard.

 

I would have just got off the Spirit 3 days earlier from doing the Panama Canal and I have a feeling that is going to be a more chilled vibe with an older demographic.

 

I have only sailed Carnival twice, both from the US (Miami and Charleston), and the experience was fine even though I'm not a night owl. Is it a party type of cruise when sailing from New Orleans compared to say Charleston? 

 

Thank you

[sparks1093]

I would expect the same mix of people to be onboard but I will know for sure in April when we sail Glory out of New Orleans. I will try to remember to follow up on this question.

Edited January 5, 2023 by sparks1093

[DallasGuy75219]

2 hours ago, AuzzieCruiser said:

Is it a party type of cruise when sailing from New Orleans compared to say Charleston? 

Generally no on a 7 day in October.  The party crowd will be on 4/5 day itineraries or even more likely on Bourbon Street.

 

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

I would expect the same mix of people to be onboard but I will know for sure in April when we sail Glory out of New Orleans.

An April cruise out of almost anywhere is going to have more of the Spring Break party crowd than an October cruise.

[groundloop]

I've sailed multiple times from Jacksonville, Tampa, Port Canaveral, and New Orleans and really haven't noticed a huge difference on the longer cruises.  The only time I noticed a rowdier "party" crowd was on a 4 day.

 

There will be organized parties being held by the pool and probably in the atrium, but if you don't want to be bothered by that you can have perfect peace and quiet in other parts of the ship. 

 

[sparks1093]

13 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Generally no on a 7 day in October.  The party crowd will be on 4/5 day itineraries or even more likely on Bourbon Street.

 

An April cruise out of almost anywhere is going to have more of the Spring Break party crowd than an October cruise.

Possibly, but I just googled when spring break is (to confirm what I thought I knew) and a website had the dates of spring break for 354 colleges and only two had spring break in April, the rest had spring break in February and March, which is what I suspected (and while there are more than 354 colleges in the country I think that is an accurate portrayal of when spring break occurs). For an April cruise I would expect more children since April is when elementary schools and high schools typically have vacation. We've cruised several times in April and this has been our experience. (I would have included a link to the website that I found but it was a travel agency site.)

Edited January 5, 2023 by sparks1093

[Anyislandwilldo]

We sailed out of New Orleans a few times and did not notice any rowdy party behavior.  Plenty of fun to be had at the Lido deck parties but nothing out of control.  

[Eli_6]

The party crown will be on the shorter cruises on the Valor out of NOLA.  The Valor also seems to be the boat people keep falling/jumping off of. 

[Sarcastic Mama]

We have cruised out of NOLA and loved the vibe Have gone in the fall / winter and felt the crowd was a little older, meaning less kids.  Now having said that, the cruise still had the fun energy and there was plenty of goofiness. We also really enjoy the trip down the Mississippi.    

 

[Saint Greg]

I haven't noticed any party crowds on my 5 or 7 day cruises out of new orleans. They're just the same as Galveston or Florida. The difference would be more people screaming roll tide and fewer people speaking Spanish. Less country music than Texas I'd say.

 

I would say the biggest party crowd I've seen in my 20 cruises was the 5-day out of NYC to Bermuda. And by party crowd all I mean is that night club was jam packed every night. it looked like you couldn't even get inside of it.

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Saint Greg

[staceyglow]

All of the real partiers would just stay on Bourbon Street!  😁

[Loritd]

We did the Valor right after Thanksgiving. Yes, it was a party atmosphere, but I saw nothing extreme. Very few school age kids. We are going again spring break with the grandkids, and I expect the boat to be overrun with school age kids and hopefully not too many drunk college spring breakers. maybe the college kids will stay on bourbon street.

[Theosprey247]

Expect to met lots of people who talk funny (Southerners) other than that nothing really different. 

[icft]

Y'all think Southerners talk funny? Bless your heart.

Edited January 6, 2023 by icft

[josieallen]

On 1/5/2023 at 3:53 PM, Saint Greg said:

I haven't noticed any party crowds on my 5 or 7 day cruises out of new orleans. They're just the same as Galveston or Florida. The difference would be more people screaming roll tide and fewer people speaking Spanish. Less country music than Texas I'd say.

 

I would say the biggest party crowd I've seen in my 20 cruises was the 5-day out of NYC to Bermuda. And by party crowd all I mean is that night club was jam packed every night. it looked like you couldn't even get inside of it.

 

And Who Dat will be heard. Lol

[Saint Greg]

33 minutes ago, josieallen said:

And Who Dat will be heard. Lol

I can’t say that Saints fans go around randomly saying that as obsessively as Alabama fans with their roll tide. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

Sailaway out of NOLA is one of the best, it starts as you leave New Orleans and watch the land and people around you become more rural until there's just hours of winding down the Mississippi River to the delta.  It's kind of a "witchy" feeling you get an hour out and it just gets more and more calm, yet spooky.  Then look at the delta on a map and trace how you went around all the bends and turns.  Really a unique experience and one I am looking forward to doing again.

[jsglow]

54 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Sailaway out of NOLA is one of the best, it starts as you leave New Orleans and watch the land and people around you become more rural until there's just hours of winding down the Mississippi River to the delta.  It's kind of a "witchy" feeling you get an hour out and it just gets more and more calm, yet spooky.  Then look at the delta on a map and trace how you went around all the bends and turns.  Really a unique experience and one I am looking forward to doing again.

Great description.  Watching the land melt away late in the evening is fascinating. We came back to our cabin after an evening out and witnessed the final pilot boat, the last channel marker and the open sea close to midnight.

[tcmagnum]

15 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Sailaway out of NOLA is one of the best, it starts as you leave New Orleans and watch the land and people around you become more rural until there's just hours of winding down the Mississippi River to the delta.  It's kind of a "witchy" feeling you get an hour out and it just gets more and more calm, yet spooky.  Then look at the delta on a map and trace how you went around all the bends and turns.  Really a unique experience and one I am looking forward to doing again.

Cannot wait to see this in person!!!

Have not been to New Orleans before and don't have time this trip to make it memorable.

But a taste before the cruise will be a good test to see if we want to come back another time.

And we splurged for a suite on this trip, so YAY!!!

[sparks1093]

8 minutes ago, tcmagnum said:

Cannot wait to see this in person!!!

Have not been to New Orleans before and don't have time this trip to make it memorable.

But a taste before the cruise will be a good test to see if we want to come back another time.

And we splurged for a suite on this trip, so YAY!!!

We're celebrating with a suite a couple weeks after you and looking forward to sailing down the river.

[ledges1]

A cruise from New Orleans in October will include a lot of Saints, LSU, Arkansas and  Alabama football fans. I have been on this cruise many times. Brush up on your Southeastern Conference football.

[jsglow]

26 minutes ago, tcmagnum said:

Cannot wait to see this in person!!!

Have not been to New Orleans before and don't have time this trip to make it memorable.

But a taste before the cruise will be a good test to see if we want to come back another time.

And we splurged for a suite on this trip, so YAY!!!

Absolutely.  And if you are flying in the day before arriving midday and staying anywhere near the French Quarter you will have an opportunity to do a decent overview lap that evening. We can hit 4-5 of our favorite places, eat some great food, listen to some wonderful live music, enjoy an adult beverage (or three) and still get to bed at a completely reasonable hour. New Orleans is fantastic.

Edited January 12, 2023 by jsglow

[slavigne5577]

We love cruising down the river. 2 days left to wait. 

[groundloop]

21 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I can’t say that Saints fans go around randomly saying that as obsessively as Alabama fans with their roll tide. 

 

That's a damned sight better than Georgia fans barking at each other (or at nobody in particular).

[grimpil]

We sailed on the glory out of NOLA on the last cruise before the lockdown. The most memorable thing i recall concerning the crowd is many people dressed in Mardi Gras costumes on formal night. Think masks,feathers, boas the even a few garters. Loved the cruise up the river on return as it was daylight and we could see more than sailaway downstream. It was also cool seeing the oil rig platforms lit up at night. I cant say there was more partiers but a lot more dancing in the bar adjacent to the casino

[Saint Greg]

34 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

That's a damned sight better than Georgia fans barking at each other (or at nobody in particular).

I guess I haven’t been around a lot of Georgia fans. The couple I’ve known would say “go dogs,” which could apply to any of the 100 other colleges that use the bulldogs nickname.

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Saint Greg