wolfmaiden

Thanks for all the great info..we are booked for the 2018 cruise and were thinking of canceling and going to Jazz Cruise instead...still tossing it around!

OK -- we are back from our Mardi Gras cruise and had a blast!!

Prices came down quite a bit -- probably due to all the negative news about Mardi Gras. We were cautioned until we were blue (and maybe that was a good thing) but at no time did we feel unsafe at any point in time. We walked in pairs or a group of 4 to most places. I would not describe it as mayhem or raunchy in the very least. I am sure there are areas around that were like this (as some have warned) but we didn't experience it. We were also warned to take a pair of disposable shoes. The worst thing we ran into was little bits of horse droppings from the parades and that was easy to avoid. From what we noticed, there were a couple of women in the grandstands on Lundi Gras that painted their torso with sparkly paint and one on Bourbon St on Mardi Gras. We were told they really tried to clean it up and from our experience, they have. Once off Bourbon St, while walking down to Jackson Sq, we saw a lot of families on the side streets, some with kids in strollers. We shared our beads with the kiddies, other people shared their unopened beer / waters and even stood in a not too long line to pick up some Cafe Du Monde beignets (sp?) before heading back to the ship in the early evening.

The ship did spend sufficient time in the port and we did hit it during the heart of Mardi Gras. By Tuesday afternoon, they were cleaning up the streets after the parades. There were a lot of beads and empty bead bags. I didn't run into anything disgusting in the streets. Celebrity could have done a few things better -- these would be my suggestions:

 

-More Mardi Gras themed decoration and food choices onboard

-During the New Orleans talks (we may have missed one), let passengers know about the red line that is right at Julia Street and takes you into the French Quarter

-Charge less for the grandstands (the cost, which included transportation -- 1 mile each way) ran $249 pp. We had the same seating but no goodie bag for $30 pp for the Monday parades and $65 for the Fat Tuesday parades (we only went to the Monday parades). So, as you can well imagine, the people that paid more than 8 times as much were very annoyed. I could see $80, but $249 - rip off!!

-Disembarkation when first arriving in New Orleans -- they gave us each a number but then didn't end up using them and let people disembark nilly willy. We waited our turn, not knowing it was a free for all and waited an extra 4 hours to get off the ship. :(

-Work on the re-embarkment procedures in New Orleans - there was a long line every time and you had to stoop way down not to hit your head getting back onto the ship. It was not well planned out.

 

Now that I have done Mardi Gras, I wouldn't have to go back and do it again but it really, really was fun and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the one next year on the Reflection for others. I am sure you do need to be cautious, and we were, but didn't feel it was anymore dangerous than walking in downtown San Francisco.

We joined a group that rented a balcony on Bourbon Street for Fat Tuesday which included food and drink. It was a little pricey and the balcony was a bit small for the number of people that joined in, but it still was a solid plan. The food was just so so, though ... drinks were good once they got it set up properly. Others paid for a different event on St Charles St and were very disappointed ... both those events and ours were booked through our roll call and not through Celebrity.

If you like to gamble, Harrahs is right there on your way to the French Quarter and it wasn't that crowded. If you wanted to eat at a great restaurant, know that you should probably have reservations ahead of time and keep in mind that many things (the Riverwalk Mall, the WWII museum, many shops and restaurants) will be closed on Fat Tuesday ... it is a holiday for them. The transportation may also be limited, especially along the parade routes....especially on Mardi Gras day. I did learn that some of the pedicabs were without charge. Don't quote me on it ... I didn't use one but that would have been fun and my feeties were quite tired with all that walking....LOTS and LOTS of walking but flat and everything was really within a couple of miles or less.

Please don't hesitate to ask away if you have questions ... or even read our roll call but it is on two separate threads with over 10K posts. It has a wealth of information, though!

What do you think about doing the Jazz Festival Cruise instead? Loved your input by the way!

Funny you mentioned that there is one in Feb 2018, just booked mine last week for the 10 days cause had to cancel the 11 day one we booked for this Feb...It actually was cheaper for 2018 by $3000 dollars because I booked later then I should have for 2017 one!

How did they get in touch with you to do that??

LOL loved your description of a crazy Dave and Busters scene..though I have to admit the fat belly contests are very amusing still!