NOLA port update

[Sally Forth]

After another thread that slammed the port, I wanted to reassure people with bookings who might be concerned about making their flights. We sailed out of NOLA on Dec 21, and have nothing but great stuff to say. Getting on and off was the easiest of any cruise we have done.

 

We left our cabin at 8:25 on the morning of Sunday the 28th, and arrived at the airport at 9. Yup, walked off the ship, waited less than two minutes for a customs guy, walked out into ground transportation, and got whisked to the airport. We shared with another family for the airport ride, and it was $12 per person. I'm not sure of the "taxi" definition, but I think that we were actually on a tour van to the airport.

 

People in New Orleans couldn't be nicer. We especially found the young people working in the French Quarter to be dedicated to a high level of customer service and happy to help.

 

Oh, and we stayed at Le Dauphine before the cruise. It's a place that can best be defined as "quirky," with corridors and hidden courtyards and little pocket swimming pools. If you like uniformity, go to the Holiday Inn, but we LOVED it and the staff was lovely. Anything similar in any other major city would be $300 plus. It was $99 a night with our CAA/AAA discount.

 

Viv

[teachswim]

Thanks Sally, that's good to hear.

We are sailing out of NO in 6 weeks.

 

Getting on the boat last year was a night mare - okay, not quite that bad, just a scary dream. It took over 2 hours to get on the boat. There were still people lined up in the terminal at 3:45 p.m. We did sail by 4:30 (30 minutes past posted time). I kept wondering if they left people behind.

 

Maybe this year it will be a little faster. We are bringing extra friends and family this time, I didn't want to scare them.

Thanks for giving me hope. jm

[Sally Forth]

I think the incident in December where people were lined up for hours convinced them to put the pressure on for more customs staff. It was really easy.

 

We always embark a little late so the big noon-2 pm rush is over.

 

Viv