Please sail out of New Orleans...

There was a lengthy article in our newspaper today with quotes from Bob Dickinson. Some of you know that the city (my hometown) will not be getting the Triumph in August, as previously announced.

Unfortunately, there are not enough cruisers interested in a second N.O. ship because of Katrina. The FACT is that there's just not enough favorable publicity about how the city is rebuilding.

Our main tourist areas are up and running, almost as good as before. The French Quarter - our primary tourist attraction - sustained little damage. All the hotels, bars, shows, etc. are busy, and conventions are re-booking. The sports venues are back to full speed. I enjoyed Mardi Gras on Tuesday - completely back to normal.:)

Carnival says the Triumph will not be homeported in N.O. until August, 2008 at the earliest.

We NEED the tourist dollars, and y'all NEED to come have fun and enjoy our delightful cuisine in our beautiful city...right? So, please rethink your plans and come on down! :D

I have not personally been back to New Orleans since Katrina. The images that were shown on the tv are very hard for me to overcome personally. However, I do know from friends that have been down there since that New Orleans is getting back to normal very quickly. They did say that the French Quarter was still fantastic.

I don't understand Bob's decision to delay putting Triumph there. It just continues to stall the re-birth of the city. Good luck Cotton. I would certainly cruise out of N.O. again as I've done in the past because it's a close port for us!!!

Is this article available online? Many of us would be interested in reading it if you can find and post a link for it.

What will bring more cruise ships to New Orleans is people coming here, having a good time, feeling safe, and getting the word out. That will take time, but it will happen.

2007 was a great Mardi Gras. Lots of people, good weather (for the most part), and no more crime than you would expect among several hundred thousand of us partiers. The French Quarter is cleaner than I have seen it in the 35 years I have lived here.

The national media focuses on crime. It is bad, and there is no excuse for it, but it is happening in areas that no tourist in his right mind would visit, except to buy drugs.

No one should visit New Orleans because they feel that we are a charity case and need their money. They should come here because it is a unique destination, and not just a place to get on a cruise ship.

I just got home from N.O. last week.. it was the first time I visited.

We had a wonderful trip! (We flew from Oklahoma to see a friends of ours who have a band that we love, the LaraPrice Band from CA- they were touring the South and we met them there).

Driving to the French Quarter we saw a lot of rebuilding but noted that there is still a lot of work to be done. The areas surrounding French Quarter were in pretty bad shape and the bars on the doors and windows led us to believe that there was a lot of criminal activity in those specific areas.

But French Quarter was great. No problem. We had not one bad incident and we didn't sleep for five days, haha,fun, fun!

Basically, we stayed up all night listening to music, eating, drinking, dancing and walking around the French Quarter and we weren't bothered at all - we visited Bourbon Street a few nights.. we went to Checkpoint Charlies, Kerrys, Louisinana Music Factory and a lot of other places.. great food everywhere.. we went to Harrahs, the River Walk ( in fact we were there when the Carnival Cruise was cancelled due to being hit by a barge, and we felt heartsick for those passengers) we visited the Imax.. awesome show there - Hurricane on the Bayou.

The band donated 6K to Habitat to Humanity at the Musician's Village (new homes) so we all went to the area of most damage.. that was really sad .. I had a lump in my throat the whole time. But, it was good to see all of the volunteers helping rebuild NO.

Just as any tourist port you visit, be smart and stay safe. Don't do stupid things like flash cash, keep your wallet hanging out your back pocket, women don't get separated from friends.. just like everywhere else - stay smart.

I say go for it. The streets were filled with tourists and at night.. very happy tourists ...

If I get the chance to cruise out of NO - I'm going without hesitation.

We cruised out of NOLA in December, our first trip to your great city.

We were booked on the Triumph for August. Well, since that got canceled we will still be coming in August to sail the Fantasy again. ONly this time we are coming 2 days earlier to spend some time enjoying New Orelans itself!

We stayed the night in New Orleans prior to our Dec. 1, 2002 cruise on the Conquest. As we were checking into the hotel (Chateau Sonesta Hotel New Orleans), down by the French Quarter, the man behind the counter started to apologize. He didn't want us to judge NO by this one visit. Little did we know that the "Bayou Classic" was going on that evening. Not saying that I wouldn't visit NO again, but certainly NOT during that time.

We took a cab to Emeril's in the warehouse district for supper.

Afterwards, we had to walk to Harrah's as you couldn't catch a cab due to the fact that the streets were packed with partiers. It didn't really bother me, but she was in heels. After leaving Harrah's, we again had to walk back to the hotel. Never felt so unsafe before. Back at the hotel, the hallways were a mess by then. People had cut open their pillow cases and flung the feathers down the hallways, food thrown all on the floors.

Was a great cruise, though.

We were with Lewdog in Decenber and are headed back next month...but this time we are staying with friends in Gulfport the night before.

I'm sorry Cotton, I know how much you love your city.

We sailed out of there in 2001? I think? Our experience there was soooooo horrible, I could never think of coming back. I know that people like it there but it just wasn't our cup of tea. It is much closer, and even cheaper to fly into NO, but I love the Atlantic ocean. I love being on the beach the day before, and watching those beautiful blue waves wash up on the shore. I probably wouldn't sail out of Galveston either...I just LOVE Florida.

BUT>>>if I ever do decide to go back, I will definately be calling on you to show me a different side of the city than what we saw...ok?

Best Wishes, and happy sailing!

There was a lengthy article in our newspaper today with quotes from Bob Dickinson. Some of you know that the city (my hometown) will not be getting the Triumph in August, as previously announced.

 

Unfortunately, there are not enough cruisers interested in a second N.O. ship because of Katrina. The FACT is that there's just not enough favorable publicity about how the city is rebuilding.

 

Our main tourist areas are up and running, almost as good as before. The French Quarter - our primary tourist attraction - sustained little damage. All the hotels, bars, shows, etc. are busy, and conventions are re-booking. The sports venues are back to full speed. I enjoyed Mardi Gras on Tuesday - completely back to normal.:)

 

Carnival says the Triumph will not be homeported in N.O. until August, 2008 at the earliest.

 

We NEED the tourist dollars, and y'all NEED to come have fun and enjoy our delightful cuisine in our beautiful city...right? So, please rethink your plans and come on down! :D

My young adult daughter and I spent 3 nights in the Quarter last July in a room with a balcony for our birthdays....fabulous....had a blast. We were kind of wishing for a bigger crowd; but we still had fun.

Then, dh and I drove down and sailed out of N.O. for the third time last December on the Fantasy....didn't need to spend the night that time. The new terminal was super nice; and the embarkation process went super smooth as usual.

I have always felt safe in N.O. Researching ahead of time about the areas to stay away from in N.O.; and following trustyworthy native New Orleanians' directions helped make our experiences in N.O. wonderful and loads of fun. You know, they always talk about crime in N.O.; but it isn't any different these days in ANY large city in the U.S. I'm sad to say. You just have to be aware of your surroundings, listen to trustworthy advise, and trust your inner voice that lets you know you might not be in a safe situation no matter what town your in.

I was born and raised in NOLA and still have a lot of family there. As soon as I heard the Triumph was transferring there, I booked her for September. Now I've had to transfer to the Conquest out of Galveston. I miss going down the Mississippi to begin the cruise and was really looking forward to returning.

From what I hear from my family, crime is still higher than usual, but not in the tourist areas (Quarter, Garden District, etc.). I wouldn't have any qualms about returning. IMHO, Galveston is just boring.

We have cruised out of New Orleans probably 20 times, was on the Princess in December and are returning for the Fantasy in 2 weeks. While we have never had a problem sailing from the Julia street terminal, in December we went from the Poland street terminal, and to be honest, it was scary driving through the neighorhoods. Also, I believe Mobile is becoming more attractive to cruisers like us who are within driving distance, plus their terminal is much easier to access from the interstate, and to us , the employees at the terminal seem much friendlier. With that being said, we will continue to cruise from New Orleans and wish your city well in your recovery. Being from Mississippi,we have some knowledge of the Katrina disaster on our casinos and tourism on the gulf coast. See you in two weeks as we leave on the Fantasy.

Sorry, I heard they closed the Krispy Creme store.

Cotton, you change your email? It came back as undeliverable :(

Email me at AOL.com, and add an LI to my screenname.

I would have loved to sail out of New Orleans! I've been there before and we had a pretty good time. My husband's never been and I know he'd dig the Quarter.

I live in the midwest and still would prefer New Orleans over Miami. Alas, I had to travel during the week since spring break is my only vacation and the New Orleans cruise left on a Friday or some other day I couldn't do. Maybe next time. :)

Until then, please have a beignet at CDM for me!! *drool*

We have 4 nights booked pre-cruise in late September and then on to the Fantasy for 5 nights. We plan on trying all the great food and to hear some fantastic music. Also have some tours in mind we want to take.

I had booked the NCL Sun in mid-October 2005 out of NOLA, but she was moved to Houston because of Katrina. I elected not to do the cruise and just get my money refunded. I'm glad I did because they did not get to any of the ports orginally set up (except Coz) because of all the bad weather. One of the big reasons I had booked that cruise was because we wanted to see New Orleans. Now, this time I hope we will.

I know NOLA has an "uphill battle" ahead of her. Everybody at my job thinks I'm crazy for wanting to cruise out of New Orleans. They think it's been covered in sewage and chemicals because of the flooding and think if the disease won't get you, then the "hoodlums running rampant in the streets will." This is the psyche the city is facing right now, and I fear it will take some time to wear off. Alot of very negative press definitely contributed to this I'm sure. Several of my co-workers have crossed NOLA off their list and have no intentions of visiting now. Fortunately not everyone is so closed-minded, but there are a number of people who are.

Although I won't be doing quite as many tours as originally planned due to the massive changes in the area and smaller vacation nest egg, we still plan on a cemetary tour and several of the old plantation mansion tours. Some of the original tours I had planned to take are either not running at this time or the area has too much damage.

Eventhough I am on a tighter budget this time, we will still be contributing some tourist dollars and truly look forward to experiencing some of New Orleans' hospitality. Best wishes to you, Cotton and your NOLA.

Is this article available online? Many of us would be interested in reading it if you can find and post a link for it.

Somehow, I can't make the link work.... It's not that long an article, so I'll type it for you.:)

CARNIVAL DELAYS PUTTING 2ND SHIP THROUGH PORT OF NEW ORLEANS - (Assoc.Press)

New Orleans - Citing slow advance bookings, Carnival Corp. has delayed putting a second post-Hurricane Katrina cruise ship through the Port of New Orleans, apparently because of the reluctance of some tourists to venture into the city after the storm, a port spokessman said.

The port currently serves as a homeport for another Carnival ship, Fantasy, along with Norwegian Cruise Lines' The Sun, and Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas. All of the ships make voyages from New Orleans to the Caribbean.

New Orleans had expected to see additional service from the Carnival Triumph in August. But Carnival has now decided that the Triumph will not port in New Orleans until at least April 2008.

Although the current Carnival ship that uses the port - the 2,056 passenger Fantasy - has been leaving New Orleans full, advance bookings have been too slow to bring in the 2,700 passenger Triumph as originally scheduled.

"There are lingering misconceptions by the vacationing public as to the recovery of New Orleans' tourism infrastructure, which has necessitated a re-evaluation of our timeline for adding a second ship to that port," said Bob Dickinson, Carnival president and CEO.

"We are committed to New Orleans and, not only will the Fantasy remain there, but we will continue our efforts to build consumer interest in cruising from New Orleans and to counter some of the erroneous perceptions of the city that are currently posing a challenge," Dickinson added.

WOW! Thanks for so many nice replies!:) Even the negative ones are interesting to read.

LHP - Hey, friend. I meant to add to my original thoughts that we'll be MORE than happy to have anyone come on over to the coast and boost our economy, too.:D Our casinos are at full speed, even a coupla new ones.

Have fun visiting your friends in Gulfport...If you drive down the beach, the empty lot at Kelly Ave. and Beach Blvd. is mine. I haven't decided whether to sell it or not. I definitely won't be rebuilding a 160 year old house! Still saddens me so much that I take a detour when going in that direction.

Pete - Will do.

We love New Orleans. We haven't been down by you in a long time now, but if they would put a ship we want to sail on, we'd be back in a minute. Between work and kids in college and hs we haven't had all that much time for vacation.

But my husband and I will probably drop in your city in late sept just for our own little weekend. I had friends who went to college down there so my first experience in no was when I was 19 and how great it was :) Twice I've been to mardi gras and almost went this year, but my husband was way too busy with work to get away.

NO is on my list of my top 3 favorite cities. My kids really enjoyed it when we took them there for a few days before we cruised on the sensation a few years ago.

I'm sorry that they pulled the triumph. Perhaps they will reconsider or put a different ship there.

Worst Police Force in America, thats why most people won't go there, totally out of control. A bunch of Thugs with Badges.

In New Orleans, for example, “public awareness of police corruption and abuse reached a new high in the mid-1990s, as dozens of officers were tried for felonies including murder, armed robbery and drug trafficking. ... One officer was convicted of hiring a professional killer to murder a woman for bringing a brutality complaint against him, and another was convicted for killing a brother and sister who worked at a family-run restaurant where the officer had been a security guard ...

” The New Orleans police force, one might add, is only one of many departments currently under investigation by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

During the 1990s, New Orleans indicted more than 100 crooked or inept cops who had been hired.

Leaving on the NCL Sun....

I had planned to go on the Triumph this fall...but now will have to make other plans.

I had to give my Holiday trip away because of work conflicts (darn)

but some day I will try out Cotton's favorite ship.

Hey Cotton...

is there still any talk of buidling a Cruise Terminal in Gufport.

I would love that...

Worst Police Force in America, thats why most people won't go there, totally out of control. A bunch of Thugs with Badges..

Well, it's my home. To some degree, I understand the tactics of the Police. They arrest people and the judicial system turns them right back out (more so than other cities, by far). Seventeen months after Katrina and we still don't have a crime lab. So, criminals are let go because they can't get a "speedy trial" (a term that Louisiana has specially defined). If I were a cop, I might take a few liberties myself. We have a terrible criminal justice system.

That said, NOLA is a great city and the only truly cosmopolitan, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic city in the U.S.. There's no other place like it.

Except for a few areas, either abandoned since Katrina or where crime is hard to control, the city is safe and a wonderful place to visit and be. It's a treasure that should be explored and enjoyed!

i had 3 wonderful days in NOLA last week over mardi gras. i walked everywhere and at all hours. i never felt unsafe. the only bad experience was at brennans :mad: . i highly recommend the court of two sisters restaurant and restaurant august. click here for some photos of the trip.

Maybe if they had some deals for Canadians to fly there.. maybe under $800 pp for airfare I would consider it.. but until the air drops to a reasonalbe price NOLA is off limiits:(

We had a group of 14 going on the Triumph for thanksgiving and was very bummed out to find out that one of our favorite ships was turning its back on the great city!! We will end up going on the NCL Spirit instead.

Its a great city with its own personality that some will love and others will not but it will bounce back but it does need the help of the rest of the country. The infrastructure is find and can handle more ships. This past

Thanksgiving we found that with the new parking garage its much easier to come and go.

Thanks for starting this thread so that we can get the word out:)

My DH and I cruised out of NO on the Conquest pre-Katrina. He swore that he would not do it again due to the condition of the airport (dingy and unkept) and the unfriendlessness of the people that we encountered. However, I was able to talk him into trying one more time. We are booked on the Fantasy in April and will be driving to NO. My gripe now is that I am used to booking a hotel pre-cruise with free parking and free shuttle to the port. However, I have not been able to find such a hotel in NO.

Maybe the airport and area hotels will wake up and provide services to welcome us to the city

This trip will determine whether we cruise out of NO again. Hopefully, this experience will be better.