NCL Dawn and Port of New Orleans- any and all information welcome please!

[mommy2libras]

Hello everyone. My husband and I will be taking our first cruise this December. I've been reading everything here for the last several days and all of your information is very helpful and appreciated! I have found some info on the Dawn and PoNO but not a lot. If there is anything you can tell me about the ship itself, the port, checking in, favorite spots to sit, eat, activities, etc, I would be eternally grateful. And I thank you in advance for sharing your experiences with these things, bad or good.

[retiring soon]

Hi & welcome to Cruise Critic!:D

 

On the home page you will find many topics such as "first time cruisers" & further down the page "ports of call". Up near the top of the page is a section for reviews where you can find out what others think of the ship you'll be on.

So much info available, even things like following "Dancing with the Stars". "Project Runway" etc under "cruise fashions".

 

Good luck finding the info you want.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[Hockey19]

You will be glad you picked the Dawn and NOLA is a great port. Need to include more detail. When are you arriving? Where are you staying? What do you like to do? We have done this trip before and it is great. We are on the 12/7 departure.

[wdowns9]

Sailing out of NOLA is a breeze. We head over a day early so we are not pressed for time. We park at the Fulton Street parking garage and they offer shuttle service to the ship. We normally check our luggage in before 1030 and have lunch in the MDR around noon. Head to the upper decks and watch the city go by. It will take around 8hrs to transit the Miss river to get to the Gulf. We are going on the Dawn Nov30th and will be our first time on her. We've been on other NCL ships before.

[garycarla]

Assume you will be driving over from Florida.

 

You can also park right at the pier. You pull up and unload, then drive up a level or two to park and come right back down the elevator to board. Very easy. Somewhat expensive, but parking in New Orleans is not cheap in most areas.

 

Come in a day early and enjoy New Orleans.

[www3traveler]

If you have not done so already, please join the Roll Call for your cruise. I am sure that your fellow cruisers have lots of information about where to stay and what to see.

 

I will be coming to New Orleans for a 4 night pre cruise stay for my January 18th sailing. this will be my fourth sailing out of New Orleans but my first on The Dawn.

 

Have a great cruise.

[mommy2libras]

Thanks everyone. Yes, we'll be leaving from Florida for the 12/21 cruise. Unfortunately, we're not able to leave until early that morning. Our trip takes us about 3 - 3 1/2 hours so we're leaving early that Sunday. I'd love to go the day before but have to drive to north Alabama to drop daughter off for Christmas with her father. It sucks because I love NO (have family there and get to visit about once a year). We're planning to arrive at the terminal around 10- 10:30. Is this a good time or too early, late? We were told to be there about 12 (sail at 4, I think) but I've seen a lot of people say they get there quite a bit early but then I'm not sure what time they were told to be there/leaving.

 

One thing i can specifically think of is a luggage question. I have heard that carrying drinks in at Port NO, I have to carry thrm on myself, that they can't be checked at that particular port. Is this true? I have no problem doing so because I have to have my Coke but it will make a difference in how I pack.

 

Thanks again. I'm extremely excited for our first cruise so I'm sure I'll come up with more questions.

[cruisinmeme]

Assume you will be driving over from Florida.

 

You can also park right at the pier. You pull up and unload, then drive up a level or two to park and come right back down the elevator to board. Very easy. Somewhat expensive, but parking in New Orleans is not cheap in most areas.

 

Come in a day early and enjoy New Orleans.

 

 

It has been a year since we cruised NCL. When did this change? CCL used the garage , then down the elevators to ck in. NCL parked in the open whale lot.

We used Fulton garage and shuttle ourselves.

Is the new garage they were building complete and now NCL has a garage also? We are going in 8 weeks.

[sparkinator]

We've cruised out of N.O. for the past few years, and only once have we parked in the garage. Normally that is where the Carnival passengers park. There is a parking lot on the next block that has an aquarium murial that NCL passengers park.

 

As far as the port of N.O. It is really a great place to cruise from. Everything is really close and you don't have to use a shuttle. Drop your luggage and passengers off and the porters will direct you where to park and what all paperwork you will need. It's just a short walk back to the port from the lot.

 

After the cruise, porters are waiting to collect your luggage, and they will speed you through customs as quickly as possible. They will also carry your luggage to the parking lot, so you don't have to pull back to the port to load everything up.

 

It's also scenic when leaving port. Sailing down the Mississippi is a lot more scenic to me, than just pulling out of the port in Miami or Galveston. You won't actually get out into the gulf until after dark.

[FF Woman]

We sailed in February of this year from NOLA and the garage with the elevators was for CCL only at that time. I hadn't heard of any changes but it would be very convenient if it was available for NCL.

 

Yes, you do have to carry on your water or soda in NOLA. We just put it in a small roll on piece of luggage and it wasn't a problem at all to bring it along with us.

 

We arrived around 11AM and it was quick and easy to board.

 

Next year we're cruising out of Houston on the Jewel (new port for NCL) and are really anxious to hear how that is working for everybody.

[mommy2libras]

 

 

 

It's also scenic when leaving port. Sailing down the Mississippi is a lot more scenic to me, than just pulling out of the port in Miami or Galveston. You won't actually get out into the gulf until after dark.

 

This is something I'm looking forward to. I've been on one of those dinner cruises on the MS and it's really pretty to look at out. In some spots anyway, lol.

[Rebec31]

Is there a shuttle service from harrahs to the port?

[rvsullivan]

No shuttle service from Harrah's. Cab is about $9. I would not walk, but some do anyway. Traffic, weather and the cops sometimes make walking not so much fun.

[JMHAM1]

They would not let us slap a tag on our Coke. We had to carry in ourselves.

 

We used Machu Picchu for parking since we had LOTS of luggage for the 8 of us and we had to deal with a rear luggage carrier. It was nice that the parking was inside because when we left the ship, it was pouring! It took a bit of time to secure the luggage carrier and get everyone situated. If we were in the Whale lot, we would have been soaked. Also, one of our kids left the DVD player going in the back and our car was beyond dead. The Machu Picchu folks could not have been nicer helping to get us going in no time. They dropped us off at the pier and we were glad to know that our car was secure. Their garage was near a Wal-Mart (convenient if one of your kids totally forgets to pack underwear :eek:). We would use them again.