Sailing Out of New Orleans-Getaway

[cruisekitty22]

We are booked on the NCL Getaway Dec 8-13 2019 out of New Orleans.  Just curious someone said there would be alot of NOLA locals on that ship. Can anyone comment on that?  What can we expect?

[perditax]

We sailed out of NOLA last month on BA. It was a very different crowd from what I would typically notice from NCL away ships out of Port of Miami.

 

--Far fewer European and Spanish-speaking cruisers.

--Many more smokers and slot-machine players. (Casino generally was way more packed than on my last NCL cruise, Bliss back in December.) 

--More non-elderly people on mobility scooters

--More aggressive, politicized slogans on hats and t-shirts (one was something about how the wearer had sniper training and would be happy to shoot me). 

 

Not trying to be snarky about any of this, I'm just a people-watcher by nature and I've cruised out of Miami many times in the last few years, so the differences were kinda stark. They became even more stark when we were docked alongside ... can't remember which NCL ship ... out of NY in Costa Maya, and you could see pax from each ship coming ashore. 

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by perditax

[cruisekitty22]

Thank you for the information.

[Sand and Seas]

We are from the West  and cruise out of  Nola at least once a year.    Love most of the people we have cruised with from there.  Very friendly!  We love cruising from Boston and Miami too.  Just returning from MiamI cruise today off the Breakaway.  Slightly different  group than our November  Nola  cruise on same ship.  It was smokier in casino from Miami in our opinion.  Both cruises  great😎

[FranknBeans]

We sailed Breakaway in Late January and didn't run into and real issues other than the odd drunk and certainly not as bad as Bourbon street.

 

We picked this cruise because we have never been to New Orlean's. Now we want to go back but avoid Mardi Gras time. 

 

The MARDI GRAS WORLD is a must to see.

Edited May 15, 2019 by FranknBeans

[quillwercruisers]

We will be on the same cruise.  We've cruised out of NOLA before, and I can't say that I paid much attention to the differences between sailing out of NOLA and sailing out of Miami.  I just love to cruise.  😃

[drumming cruisers]

We went out of Nola in March 2019. Met some nice people. There was an incident in the casino, have never seen before. Drunk guy was screaming at cashier. Wanted money from his account and there wasn't any available. A manager tried to help, guy was F bombing him too.  By the time security got there, his wife had gotten him out of the casino. My only question was in a casino why isn't there always at least on security person at all times?  Other than that it was one of the funniest cruises we have been on. 

There was terrible fog going up Mississippi  river, horn blew all night, docked late. 

[Birdie And Sue]

8 hours ago, cruisekitty22 said:

We are booked on the NCL Getaway Dec 8-13 2019 out of New Orleans.  Just curious someone said there would be alot of NOLA locals on that ship. Can anyone comment on that?  What can we expect?

 

I'm not sure about anyone named alot but there may be a lot of locals! 🙂

[tallyho8]

If you go on a 4 or 5 day cruise out of New Orleans there will be a lot of locals and a lot more "party" people who may tend to be a little more rowdy. The 7 day and longer cruises will have less locals and a slightly older crowd.

 

There are not nearly as many foreigners sailing out of New Orleans as there are in Miami, New York or Seattle.

[cruisekitty22]

Sounds like this cruise is right up our alley! Can't wait!

[KarlChilders]

We will be on the cruise the week before you.  Our first two have been out of Miami.  Looking forward to cruising down the Mississippi (although I know from my 3 years living in NO that there isn't a lot to see downriver.  Still something different. And hitting Cafe du Monde before embarkation will get the day started right.

[SAS21]

Is there something wrong with people from NOLA that would cause someone not to take this cruise? Does it matter how many are locals?

Edited May 19, 2019 by SAS21

[Moonglo]

Im looking to book a cruise out of NOL and am planning on getting there on a Friday and leave for our cruise on Sunday.....def more than enough time to check out some sights. I'm trying to find some good things to check out.....

[justhappy]

I'm booked on this cruise and live 3 1/2 hours east of NO. I can tell you it will be a party crowd, but since it's a week that is before school Xmas break, my guess is that there will probably fewer kids, but  maybe some college students who are out for the semester.

More smoking and drinking and rowdier crowds - if how they act while on vacation at the beach is any indication!

 

 

[justhappy]

On 5/19/2019 at 2:13 PM, SAS21 said:

Is there something wrong with people from NOLA that would cause someone not to take this cruise? Does it matter how many are locals?

Just from my experience dealing with NO and LA folks while on vacation at the beach 4 hours east, I would say no, but people should be prepared for rowdy drunks and smoking everywhere, and no concern if it bothers anyone else.

  Here at the beach, if someone is blaring their music loud enough for everyone to hear the constant 4 letter words and don't care if kids are nearby,  plus they are throwing empty beer cans on the sand when there is a trash can 8 feet away,  and using the beach as their personal ashtray, 9 times out of 10 it's someone sitting under a LSU tent.

30 years of experience.

 I'm sorry if people from LA with manners are offended, I know there are some of you out there!

 

[PelicanBill]

I've cruised Breakaway 4 years in a row... from New York City, and the last one was the repositioning to New Orleans.

 

So sailings from NY have lots of NY-NJ-LI character!  Loud and brash and that's part of the fun.  The repo had half NY half NO character.  The sotherners were just as fun.  Friendlier (southern hospitality!) and yes "redder" than the "blue" city.  But nobody was shooting lol.

[AK Dreaming]

Sailed the Breakaway early March of this year out of NOLA.  I don't really notice much difference in passengers between Europe, Miami, New York or NOLA but I don't really pay that much attention.  Everyone's on vacation!  However, the port experience at NOLA was the worst I have ever encountered.  It was unorganized and confusing compared to all other ports I've been.  Traffic getting to the port was horrible.  It was holiday time and I expected and planned for the traffic but still awful.  Still people were friendly and once you get to NCL employees, the world is right again :)

[Kfamilycruise]

I did the Christmas cruise on the Breakaway from New Orleans and didn't have this experience at all. In fact, I felt it was way more laid back of a Christmas cruise than previous years. Didn't seem any smokier than previous times on Getaway or Escape.

 

Don't know if this really helps, but remember that the same group of people aren't on every cruise. You can't base your experience off of someone else's.

[Sand and Seas]

We have loved every one of our cruises out of New Orleans and have met some really friendly people.   It is so nice to stay a couple of nights before or after in this beautiful city, although we don't find the need to visit Bourbon street every time.  Love to walk around the French Quarter or Garden District.  Have also enjoyed a music festival at Louis Armstrong park.  There is always something interesting going on in this city!

[LeesaB]

I don't know about a lot of NOLA-specific locals, but I imagine anywhere you cruise you'll have quite a few people who were well able to drive to the port, so Louisiana-Mississippi-North Texas-Arkansas-West Tennessee people.  Southerners.  Generally we're polite until we get drunk, then we either get really nice or really mean.  Pretty much like everybody else, but with a southern accent.

 

Now - getting to the port can be a huge pain in the butt, especially if there's a Carnival cruise loading at the same time because it's a tiny road that leads to both ships (and of course, Carnival's first).  Highly recommend that if it looks at all backed up and you don't have a ton of luggage you instead get out at Convention Center Blvd and Julia St and take the elevator at Julia Street up into the building, which is both the outlet mall and the NCL cruise terminal (looking at the building, mall's to the left, cruise terminal's to the right).  It makes more sense when you get there.