so confused-NOLA

[Ponchatoula Mayberry]

Sorry if I overwhelmed anyone. I just want to be sure that if anyone comes to our fine city they have a wonderful but safe visit.

The World War II Museum is very nice. There is a blog just on the Museum here on Cruise Critics. You may want the check it out. The only major complaint is that people did not plan enough time for their visit to the museum. The restaurant there is a John Besh restaurant. John Besh is a popular chef here.

Our cemeteries are very unique and worth seeing but it is really best to do a tour. Marie Levaux’s (a voodoo Queen) tomb is in one of the cemeteries one should not visit unless in a large group. In all honesty there really are 3 tombs said to be for Marie. However the tour takes people to the St. Louis # 1 which is the most likely to really be hers. For tours The Friends of the Cabildo would be a good place. Please see links below.

As for the Quarter at night - I really prefer the day anywhy. But then again I've "been there, done that" and am past the college party years.

A nice outing is to take a street car ride down St. Charles and South Carrollton. In the spring or summer months you can get off and go to Plum Street Snowballs. They are located at 1300 Burdette Street. If you get off at South Carrollton and Plum Street the snowball stand is located 3 blocks off of South Carrollton. A New Orleans snowball is made of finely shaved ice and sweet flavored syrups of many flavors. There are several snowball stands but Plum Street is a local favorite. Snowballs are non-alcoholic and run from about $2.00 - $5.00 depending on the size you get.

I hope this is helpful. If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them honestly and hope you enjoy your visit. :)

http://www.nationalww2museum.org/plan-a-visit/

http://www.friendsofthecabildo.org/

[marcyjane]

We are staying at Hilton Riverside.

Marcy

[Lynda59]

Please look in the New Orleans postings (under ports) for info on the WWII museum. It is not to be missed and reasonably priced.

 

The Canal St. streetcars (red ones) are air conditioned. As a local I take streetcars for fun. If you do not have a pass, you do need exact change ($1.25) since the driver does not give change.

 

The spring & fall seasons are peak convention time. Certain hotels (Hilton and Marriott maybe?) also host the football teams for Saints games. I would book one hotel (with a refundable rate)- and then keep looking for a bargain. There are so many hotels.

 

The only "free" hotel airport shuttles will be the hotels that are close to the airport - usually a mile or two from the airport. I have been to Ft. Lauderdale where they have the free shuttles, but paid through the nose for a taxi to go to dinner and church since our hotel was not near anything but the port. Taxi airfare is set to downtown N.O. which is common for major cities like NYC, San Fran, etc. As mentioned in Ponchatoula Mayberry's post the airport is in a different parish (county) and the taxis are separate for N.O. There is also a shuttle to hotels in town - this may be better for a group. Check http://www.flymsy.com for more info. You may also want to check rental cars, but that would depend if your hotel charges for parking (which most do). There are several rental car places downtown where you may be able to drop off the car.

[hlb76]

I just can't get over the cost of taxi's in NOLA. $14 per person to get to our hotel :eek: so it will be $70 for my family!! Maybe I will look into the limo option as there are 8 of us total traveling.

 

I understand the standard rates and appericate them too. Im MIA where we are used to we can get all of us from airport to sea port for less than $30. Sometimes we ahve been lucky and had a van that tranports our whole group for that price!

 

I'm excited to sail from NOLA and spend some extra time there but our cheap little get away is adding up extra FAST!!

[Lynda59]

I feel your pain - I am Catholic and go to Mass even on vacation. In Ft. Lauderdale for a cruise I paid over $20 to go to Mass. In Miami - I paid over $10 (but shared) to go 1.3 miles each way!!! $10 for 1.3 miles! I could not walk it since it was across a big highway. But Orlando takes the cake - over $50 to go to Mass right across the interstate from Disney World - less than 15 minutes. They really know how to stick it to the tourists and they take the longest way possible to get back to the parks. (Disney World used to have Mass on the grounds)

 

Check the shuttles and limos. You may get a better deal for 8 people.

[rav4lady]

I love finding all the info on here that I have been wondering about! No one has mentioned staying in a B&B in NOLA...we have booked at the Ursuline Inn for 3 nights pre cruise. Hopefully, this will not be a problem. My question for the locals...will the taxi drivers know where this is? Is it as convienent to the FQ as the website says? And...how do we get to a plantation for a tour? Thanks! This will be my first trip to NOLA! We will be there in November.:)

[ssca]

I just can't get over the cost of taxi's in NOLA. $14 per person to get to our hotel :eek: so it will be $70 for my family!! Maybe I will look into the limo option as there are 8 of us total traveling.

 

I understand the standard rates and appericate them too. Im MIA where we are used to we can get all of us from airport to sea port for less than $30. Sometimes we ahve been lucky and had a van that tranports our whole group for that price!

 

I'm excited to sail from NOLA and spend some extra time there but our cheap little get away is adding up extra FAST!!

 

We just returned from NOLA yes the taxi is $14pp from the airport to hotels and $7 pp from hotel to port. Even though we could see the ship from our hotel we could not walk! I think you added wrong because for 8 it will be a lot more than $70. There were 5 of us and we took a limo which was $93 total. It could have easily seated 8. We did take a limo back to the airport which was $70 plus tip. We had a few hours after we got off the ship and rather than spend 6 hours at the airport the hotel we stayed at said we could come back there and they would store our luggage for a few hours so the cab fare from the ship was $35 then $70 to airport. I tried to get the driver to give us a deal since we told him when he dropped us off to come back and pick us up but he wouldn't. He even said it would be an extra $3 if we used a credit card????? Try limos.com that is were I got the best pricing. We ended up with Regal they were great!

[hlb76]

We just returned from NOLA yes the taxi is $14pp from the airport to hotels and $7 pp from hotel to port. Even though we could see the ship from our hotel we could not walk! I think you added wrong because for 8 it will be a lot more than $70. There were 5 of us and we took a limo which was $93 total. It could have easily seated 8. We did take a limo back to the airport which was $70 plus tip. We had a few hours after we got off the ship and rather than spend 6 hours at the airport the hotel we stayed at said we could come back there and they would store our luggage for a few hours so the cab fare from the ship was $35 then $70 to airport. I tried to get the driver to give us a deal since we told him when he dropped us off to come back and pick us up but he wouldn't. He even said it would be an extra $3 if we used a credit card????? Try limos.com that is were I got the best pricing. We ended up with Regal they were great!

 

I will look into the limos. We are 8 traveling all together but only 5 of the 8 are my family.. well 4 and a friend if you want to get techinal ;). I am still shocked at the price of things. We got a good rate on the cruise and have always wanted to go see NOLA but now wishing we would of done the Fla ones we looked at.

[Lynda59]

I love finding all the info on here that I have been wondering about! No one has mentioned staying in a B&B in NOLA...we have booked at the Ursuline Inn for 3 nights pre cruise. Hopefully, this will not be a problem. My question for the locals...will the taxi drivers know where this is? Is it as convienent to the FQ as the website says? And...how do we get to a plantation for a tour? Thanks! This will be my first trip to NOLA! We will be there in November.:)

 

I checked the yellow pages and could not find this - could it be Ursuline Guest House at 708 Ursulines? If yes, you are in the middle of the French Quarter! Your taxi driver should have no problem finding.

 

Plantations are not close to the Quarter. They are at least an hour away. There should be bus tours available (but big buses are not allowed in the Quarter, so you may need to walk a few blocks). Check the New Orleans section under the "Ports of Call" board, too. There should be some info there. Also ask you B&B hosts - they should have some ideas.

[Ponchatoula Mayberry]

Yes if it is Ursuline Guest House Lynda 59 is correct. It is a good location.

 

FOR TOURS: Check out Gray Line tours. They have a website and do several types of tours. Friends of the Cabildo have some tours and are located right on the square. They have a web-site also. There is a tourist desk located in the Vieux Carre Police Station located at 316 Chartres Street.

 

Hope this helps and enjoy your visit to our wonderful city.

[tahoemw]

I stayed at the Doubletree; if you are a member of Hilton, it is a good price, depending on when you are going; I would also like to try the Hilton Riverside, it is right near the port; the taxis are one flat rate from airport to hotels; port to airport; my taxi cost about 7.00 from the Doubletree to port. A lot of people stay at the Drury. There is a tour desk near the Jackson Square area where you get the steamboat, they have a lot of tour material.

[udamom]

We are a family of 5 cruising out of NOLA in Aug. I am also very unhappy to find out it will cost us $70 to get from the airport to our hotel. That seems really high! I guess it can't be avoided but it seems like a scam to me!

[ssca]

Yes it is frustrating and then the $35 to the pier. Plus tips!

[hlb76]

We are a family of 5 cruising out of NOLA in Aug. I am also very unhappy to find out it will cost us $70 to get from the airport to our hotel. That seems really high! I guess it can't be avoided but it seems like a scam to me!

 

Glad it's not just me! Next time I will do my homework on the homeport before I book. I just never dreamed it would be so high w/ few options

[Lynda59]

I think you will find it worth the money. I travel a lot, so I understand your frustration with the cost of transportation. Besides New Orleans, I have only sailed from Ft. Lauderdale (and Port Canaveral, but that was with a very large group), but I have been to Mobile, Tampa, & Galveston and New Orleans is far better than most departure cities. Our port is right in the heart of the city. When you go into the city, you are within walking distance (or streetcar distance) to all the major tourist activities.

[rav4lady]

Thanks for the replies and yes, its Ursuline Guest House! I am really excited about visiting the area. I hope its good weather for us too. I am organizing some of my CC rollcall members to take medical supplies for a clinic in Roatan and that will probably be the highlight of the cruise...we get a tour of the clinic too. Since I am an RN and its on my BD, I thought it would make it special to me. I have looked at a lot of info on NOLA and its really hard to decide which tours will be the best for the cemetary and plantation...but I have Frommers walking tours on my Kindle and will probably use those for the city itself. Can't wait to try Cafe Dumond!:D

[ownercarry]

wife and i have done a lot of research and talked to a friend that lives near nola and we've decide to take the airport bus. it's $2pp and will take you to carrollton and tulane on a saturday (our cruise leaves sunday). the schedule says it takes 30m so i'm thinking there are not a lot of stops and the bus is an airport bus (ie, it's ready for people with large bags).

 

we're a family of 4 and this is a big savings.

 

from there, we found a hotel that is only 1m from the port. we can walk that since all our big bags have 4 rollers. as well, we can take the trolley.

 

this just leaves a hole from where the bus drops us off to the hotel. that is 3.3m according to google maps. i'd walk it. on a saturday afternoon in september, i don't expect heat or bad things. but 5 and 7 year olds might get too grumpy. luckily, a .5m walk to canal st puts you on a trolley. reportedly the trolleys frown on people with big bags, but mid september won't be tourist season, so we're betting that there will be no issues.

 

once we return however, it will be different story. not sure if we'll go for all that again, but maybe. guess we'll have to see how we spent on the cruise!

 

update in a few months.

 

but if anyone else has tried this, please LMK

[Lynda59]

I live here and I would not recommend this. The airport bus is a public city bus - the type of bus people take to work. Buses do not run a regular schedule on the weekends. The route would have lots of stops (you can get off almost any block), but would not be busy on a weekend. The problem is where you end - not the worst neighborhood, but not the best. And I would definitely not recommend walking from Tulane & Carrollton to any hotel in town - depending on the route you would take there may be blocks in a rough area or blocks with no one in sight (where they are building the new hospital).

 

I have not ridden this bus in years, so maybe someone who has can share their experiences. My son does have friends who did this, but they were young with no luggage. They did walk from Carrollton and Tulane to the Canal St. streetcar.

 

September is very warm in New Orleans. Expect 80-90 degrees in mid-afternoon.

[bayou cruiser]

I would also have to agree with the above poster and not recommend this walk, especially with young children. You will be walking through a rough area. And the heat and humidity in Sept. can be very high.

[udamom]

I have see such mixed answers on whether you can walk from Harrahs hotel with luggage to the cruise post.

We are 5 ages 17-54. Everyone in decent shape for for walking. Will be carrying/pulling one med or big bag each with maybe 1-2 smaller bags that the bigger guys can carry We are going on 8/21which I know will be a hot time of year. The $70+ to and from the pier is annoying...but paying 35+ for less then 2 miles is ridiculous!

I have seen some posts that say at Harrahs go to the river walk and go upstairs.....turn right and head all the way across the riverwalk on the second floor. then what? when you come back out of the Riverwalk mall will you be near the dock?

thanks for any info!

[jgmpuma]

You can't take the route through the Riverwalk anymore, because of construction near the cruise terminal.

 

When you leave the hotel, go right to Convention Center Blvd. Take another right to Julia Street (first light). Take a left and walk along the walkway towards the Riverwalk. Just before you get to the escalators, take a right across the railroad tracks. There is a roadway between the tracks and the old terminal building. This will take you to the cruise terminal. There are no sidewalks and you will have to dodge some auto traffic.

 

It won't be a pleasant walk in August, but the $70 is a good incentive.

[nickle58]

We just returned from a cruise out of NOLA. We stayed at the Monteleone in the french quarter. It was 99.00 for one night total of about 113 with taxes. For 2 of us taxi was definately cheaper than shuttle. It is a strict 33.00. I believe they add like 1.50pp for more than 2 or 3. From the hotel to the port, it was 14.00. From the port to the airport, it was 33. Do confirm your rate before you get in. One driver would have taken advantage of us if I hadn't known ahead of time what the fare would be. I had asked at the hotel desk. The lowest shuttle I saw was 23.per person.

[krissy72]

So, how hard/easy is it to drive around in NOLA? It looks like maybe renting a car is the cheapest option.

[Lynda59]

Driving is easy, but watch for both red light and speed cameras, especially on Poydras (a main street for the Superdome and the Drury). The cameras can be anywhere -but there are several on Poydras so if you see traffic going below the speed limit you know why!

 

It is parking that will get you. There are meters in places, but you need to feed them Mon. - Sat. now. Parking can be expensive in places in the downtown and French Quarter areas. Some restaurants do validate or discount parking, so always ask. It may only be for certain garages. There is also discounted parking by the "whale wall" by the Hilton/Riverwalk and the Canal Place garage with a shopping purchase. A few of the lots have discounts for the Aquarium and Insectarium, too, but I am not sure which lots. Outside of that area, parking will either be meters in a few areas (like Magazine St.) or can be free, but remember to park in the direction of traffic. Parking is not as expensive here as major cities like San Fran, New York and L.A., but it can add up.

 

There are rental car places in the city. I am not sure which ones offer pick-up at the airport and drop off in a downtown office though.

[KNJforFun]

I live in New Orleans. If you don't want to be in the French Quarter, the Queen and Crescent Hotel is on Camp street and is a very nice hotel and usually has really good rates. If you want to be in the Quarter, probably the most reasonable hotel is the Holiday Inn on Royal....Taxi is the best and easiest way to get to the hotel. Street cars are fun for riding in and seeing things...just remember if you are not on a pass, you must have exact change...they do not give change. Those of you with kids, there are some great places to take them... and don't forget to take them for a ride across and back on the ferry. You catch it at the end of canal street and take a free ride and back across the Mississippi River. You do not have to get off on the other side. My grandsons were down for a visit and insisted on staying on for three round trips....Enjoy New Orleans.

 

Joy