NEW ORLEANS Questions - please read!!

[thymcruisers]

We are sailing out of New Orleans for the first time - have sailed out of Galveston a few times and out of Miami!! We are arriving Feb. 13th for Feb. 14th cruise . . . we are a family of 3 (myself, husband and 17 y/o daughter) looking for a reasonably priced (I guess cheap) place to stay. We will be driving from Minnesota and have never been to New Orleans. Looking forward to "loads" of responses to help make our one night stay in New Orleans great! Also, any info regarding cruise parking would be great!

 

Thanks from COLD (-15 today) Minnesota!

[smoothdancer]

My very favorite hotel in New Orleans is the La Pavillion. It is a few blocks walk to Bourbon Street but I think it truly offers all of the wondeful charm and Southern flavor of New Orleans....

Here is a link to our webshots pictures of this hotel.

http://family.webshots.com/photo/1378119514051395705PZGkDM

 

We have also stayed right on Bourbon Street, nice but no comparrison to the first hotel. Here is a link to our picture cruise review, the first 2 pages are of New Orleans and the hotel we stayed at.

http://www.justcruisin-sv.com/CruiseShips/Princess%20Page%20One.htm

[nolaAlive]

Nice pictures. In the second link, do you perhaps mean Royal Sonesta?

 

"The taxi driver takes us down Bourbon Street to the Hotel Senstia"

[nolaAlive]

You will be shocked at the cost of overnight parking at many of the hotels in the French Quarter and surrounding downtown area ($25 or more). Always check on that.

 

Your best be might be to check some of the hotels that offer some sort of cruise ship parking.

http://www.neworleanscvb.com/static/index.cfm/contentID/505/sectionID/1/subsectionID/0

 

Holiday Inn French Quarter might be a reasonable choice.

 

You are coming in after Mardi Gras, so things should be slow and hotels may be willing to cut prices to get business. Try calling the hotels directly instead of through a reservations center.

 

Parking at the port (directly on top of the terminal) is $14/day but is the most convenient and is covered by port security.

 

If your hotel doesn't offer a shuttle to the port (most don't seem to have one), taxi's are a flat fee (from the downtown area) to the port - whether your hotel is across the street or a mile away. $7 per person.

 

Some hotels are within walking distance, but you will still have to haul your stuff a few blocks.

 

Priceline and hotwire often have bargains, but you won't know exactly what you are bidding on.

[Laurablue]

We will be staying one night before our cruise as well...I have a room reserved at the Drury Inn which costs $99.99 with free parking for the week. My DH, DS & I will take a taxi to the port.

[smoothdancer]

Yes, I think you are right and that it was the "Royal".

[SadieQ]

The Drury is a good choice, and even if you can't get the cruise parking deal, their parking is a bit cheaper than most places.

[steamboats]

We´ve stayed at the Drury Inn pre Katrina and it was a great deal.

 

We´ve stayed in the Le Richelieu which I can hightly recommend too. See my short review

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=531396

 

We had another post cruise night in the Queen & Crescent which was a bit disappointing.

 

steamboats

[Ocean Spirit]

What a long trip you have to drive We are going to be driving from Memphis for a Feb. 23 cruise. I've heard Dury inn is about the best deal.

The taxi to the port is about $15.00 each way.

 

We've decided to stay outside of New Orleans the night before. A Microtel near Hammond LA. It's a hour then to the port. We plan to get up early and drive on in and take in some sites. It's around $68 a night. We'll be staying at a hotel in the quarter after the cruise.

 

Once you hit Memphis you have 6 1/2 hour drive. Make sure you say hello to Elvis as you drive through LOL :D

[Ocean Spirit]

What a long trip you have to drive We are going to be driving from Memphis for a Feb. 23 cruise. I've heard Dury inn is about the best deal.

The taxi to the port is about $15.00 each way.

 

We've decided to stay outside of New Orleans the night before. A Microtel near Hammond LA. It's a hour then to the port. We plan to get up early and drive on in and take in some sites. It's around $68 a night. We'll be staying at a hotel in the quarter after the cruise.

 

Once you hit Memphis you have 6 1/2 hour drive. Make sure you say hello to Elvis as you drive through LOL :D

[mct1]

DO NOT STAY AT THE HOLIDAY INN ON ROYAL STREET.

 

I am a local and stayed there over the summer after a wedding, and was embarrassed by the way the hotel treated its customers.

 

I recently stayed at the courtyard by marriott on St. Charles ave rihgt off Canal street, very nice hotel that should be resonably priced.

 

I think cruise parking is $10 a day.

 

As far as parking goes while you are in New Orleans, remember parking meters are free after 6 on friday until monday morning.

 

Also, Harrah's will let you park for free if you gamble for 30 minutes with a players card.

 

This is by far the best option if you are planning on spending anytime in the casino, and don't mind walking a little bit to get to your car.

 

Have fun in new orleans

[selucrey]

DO NOT STAY AT THE HOLIDAY INN ON ROYAL STREET.

 

I am a local and stayed there over the summer after a wedding, and was embarrassed by the way the hotel treated its customers.

 

 

We stayed at The Holiday Inn FQ this past weekend and thought customer service was great. I can't really think of anything other than slow elevators that were a problem. We also stayed there with several Cruise Critic members pre-cruise last January and there were no complaints. We are very frequent visitors to New Orleans and try to stay at a different hotel in the Quarter each weekend. We haven't found any hotels that we would not recommend as of yet.

[firefly333]

You will be shocked at the cost of overnight parking at many of the hotels in the French Quarter and surrounding downtown area ($25 or more). Always check on that.

 

Priceline and hotwire often have bargains, but you won't know exactly what you are bidding on.

 

On hotwire, there is a 3 star hotel in the french quarters showing for $42 for the date Im considering, says it is Resort with free breakfast. yes I know about betterbidding, but no 3 star hotel matches this one. None showing for breakfast and 3 stars that match it on betterbidding.

 

I too was wondering about parking in the french quarter for the hotel and if I was going to get socked. $25 a night??!! yikes. Can I park elsewhere and walk. Now you have me worried.

 

Im just driving in from Dallas, but its just a tad far to do the day of the cruise.

[selucrey]

On hotwire, there is a 3 star hotel in the french quarters showing for $42 for the date Im considering, says it is Resort with free breakfast. yes I know about betterbidding, but no 3 star hotel matches this one. None showing for breakfast and 3 stars that match it on betterbidding.

 

I too was wondering about parking in the french quarter for the hotel and if I was going to get socked. $25 a night??!! yikes. Can I park elsewhere and walk. Now you have me worried.

 

Im just driving in from Dallas, but its just a tad far to do the day of the cruise.

That could be The Historic French Market Inn on Decatur. We booked it once as a three-star mystery hotel on another site. Parking was $24 per night. You might also try The Olivier House which has free parking. http://www.olivierhouse.com/

[McCabe]

You should try priceline.com. Priceline normally lets you check what section of town you want to be in and you can get a 4 star hotel for a really good price. Before I moved to Chicago we stayed in $200 hotels for $75 a night in downtown. Im sure you can get a terrific deal down there.

[firefly333]

That could be The Historic French Market Inn on Decatur. We booked it once as a three-star mystery hotel on another site. Parking was $24 per night. You might also try The Olivier House which has free parking. http://www.olivierhouse.com/

 

Thanks for the information. You booked it as a mystery 3 star too huh? lol

 

That $24 parking adds a sting to the bargain rate.

[selucrey]

Thanks for the information. You booked it as a mystery 3 star too huh? lol

 

That $24 parking adds a sting to the bargain rate.

 

Sure did. FYI, we booked the 4-star mystery hotel and it was the Astor Crowne Plaza. Unfortunately,parking is at a premium due to the historic nature of most of the buildings in and around the French Quarter.

[gordon fisherman]

our group is sailing out of NOLA 03/23/08 and we are staying a couple of days in NO before we float ! what we are gonig to do is stay and park @ the Dury Inn. To beat the 7$X13 of us, per cab fare, we'll drive over and unload/drop-off DW's and Teens, drive back to the hotel and park, the 3 of us men will taxi over to the port (7$X3),every little bit helps !

[gordon fisherman]

hey Laurablue ! It sure is getting colder out(9*) and dropping down to 0*. I can hardly wait to get out of Indiana ! stay warm until then:)

[map70065]

One thing that no one has mentioned is that you can stay in Metairie or Kenner (about 30 minutes from the port) for about 1/2 the price of staying in the downtown area. If you're wanting to drink and party, then staying within walking distance from a hotel is worth it, if not than 30 minutes isn't bad. I agree that those that offer park & cruise deals are a great money saver.

[CRUZFOOLS]

I book thru http://www.bookit.com often. Check the reviews on the hotels thru http://www.tripadvisor.com. The info in great.

[Laurablue]

hey Laurablue ! It sure is getting colder out(9*) and dropping down to 0*. I can hardly wait to get out of Indiana ! stay warm until then:)

 

Hi Gordon fisherman! I am sooo ready for this vacation to begin! We will be arriving in NOLA on Saturday afternoon @ the Drury and hope to get out & see some of the sights there before sailing on Sunday. My oldest DS & his friends were in NOLA last year & loved it!! They want to go back & see more of it! Since we will have a 13 yr old with us, I'm not sure if we can see much of French Quarter....I'm not sure though, any recommendations?

[map70065]

The majority of the French Quarter is family friendly - only Bourbon Street is what I would consider adult content (although there are some questionable t-shirts in many of the shops throughout town).