New Orleans, Louisiana

Arrival Time

creeunique1 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:06:53 GMT

I've only cruised out of Miami before and do not know if the same applies to all ports. I'm planning to cruise out of New Orleans in June 4:00. Wha time should I arrive to the port

GPS theft @ N.O. port

cajungranny — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:41:35 GMT

*** Did anyone else on the Sept. 24th cruise from N.O. to Cozumel have any issues with their vehicles parked @ the N.O. port terminal? We had our GPS with case and plug taken out of our glove box compartment - thankfully they left my husband's house keys in the pouch - hope copies weren't made. There was no sign of "forced entry" and signs are everywhere that the port is not "responsible" for stolen items. Locking our car doors is as "automatic" for hubby and me as turning off the ignition. In the excitement of taking stuff out of van "maybe" it got overlooked but I'm almost 100% sure I locked the glove box after putting the GPS in it. We did neglect to take the GPS mount off the dashboard so that made it easy for thieves to know which car to target.................. Hope everyone else had all their belongings intact after the cruise. Silly part is - had about $25. in cash (for toll roads), a CB radio, basket of music cassettes (probably not their kinda music and plenty of other stuff they could have taken but NOPE - just the GPS. Our Garmin is a model where you set up a 4 digit code and the device is worthless unless they "crack" the code so maybe it will end up in a trash can somewhere................Have read on the internet recently to always lock car doors from inside instead of with your car key as there is a device now that thieves can read the key code (maybe from as little as 30 ft. away).
If this saves anyone else any hassle in the future it is worth the time. We told the port employees before driving out of the garage of our "stolen item" and they said the port gates are locked at all times (maybe an "inside" job - you think?)

As always the cruise was a blast and we will still go out of N.O. in Dec. and next April. Won't leave any valuables in the car on future cruises - that's for sure!!!!!!!!! By hey, this could happen at Walmart or any other parking place.........................

Hampton Inn, Convention Center Blvd

bama49 — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:08:23 GMT

Has anyone stayed at this Hampton Inn? I was told they were the closest to the terminal, but don't knw how far that is.....also any suggestiong on getting back to the airport from the terminal? Do cabs, shuttle or others leave from the cruise terminal directly to the Airport? First trip to New Orleans, first cruise,,,,,so many things to ponder...............

french quarter landmark hotel

iowacouple — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:12:24 GMT

anybody erver stay here , safe area ? ok to walk down to bourbon st.

any recent returns off fantasy? weather?

carriejo — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:22:10 GMT

I looked at weather.com today and it keeps saying, rain, rain & more rain in progresso & cozumel. I was just wondering if anyone recently returned from these places & how was the weather??

Stay & Parking - suggestions please

vbhaskar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:14:22 GMT

Any good suggestions on where to stay in New Orleans - preferebly places that allow parking till the length of cruise...and any related suggestions welcome...

Cheers!

Hotel St. Marie

Mike & Michelle — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:19:38 GMT

We stayed one night here after our cruise. What a great location!!! Only 1/2 block off of Bourbon Street, but surprisingly quiet. The staff was very friendly, rooms were clean and roomy, and they have valet parking right next door for I think 24 a night. The decor is representative of New Orleans and gives you a true Nola feeling. We paid around 50 per night booking through Hotels.com. It also has a very nice courtyard with a pool and offers continental breakfast. I highly reccommend!!!!!

TRIUMPH

rose — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:41:28 GMT

ANYONE GOING ON TRIUMPH DECEMBER 12 2009

I HAVE A GROUP OF 13 PARTY PEOPLE

COME JOIN US ON THE LIDO DECK AT THE POOL BAR

Easy on -- Easy off

forwardcabin — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:05:39 GMT

I have read with interest that it is fairly easy to drive up, park, and embark on a cruise at the NOLA terminal. How easy was the reverse?...debarkation, customs, getting your vehicle, loading, and leaving?

We are having family drop us off...where do we go, and is it a long ways to bring our stuff?

mjrich73 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:12:06 GMT

Thanks!!!

Question about New Orleans... the city

msann74 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:30:55 GMT

Hello everyone. My family and I will be arriving in New Orleans 2 days before our Fantasy Cruise in October. I am interested in driving around New Orleans so that we can sight-see and show our children some of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, however, my husband is a bit skeptical as he has some concerns for our safety because we aren't familiar with the city... this will be our first time there. Can someone please tell me what areas are not safe and should be avoided? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Tiffanni

lodging near port

threegirls — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:01:24 GMT

Looking for a hotle near the port. Clean, safe, inexpensive.

Any Car Rentals At Port

Tam — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:01:37 GMT

Hey

just wondering if anyone would know which car rental places they have at the Port? We we are looking to rent a car while in NO, but would rather do it at the Ships Port.

Thanks

Getting to the port from the airport.

Nick — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:52:45 GMT

My gf and I are looking at booking the Triumph in April out of NO. The last cruise I took I did all the airfare and everything through Carnival. It was my first cruise and it was just easier. We are looking to get our own airfare, to save money. My question is does anyone know the approximate price of a cab from the airport to the port? Would we be better off purchasing the transfer from carnival? Thank you all for your info.

Nick

Louisville KY

Caravan to NOLA!

danzer2106 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:33:34 GMT

We are leaving Sept 27 early morning to drive to NOLA, neither of us have been there! Anybody want to drive as a group??

Fantasy......September 28th

bsfireman — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:58:24 GMT

anyone else sailing on the Fantasy leaving September 28th?

Clarion Suites - Gretna

CruisinPenguin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:18:17 GMT

Anyone have any experience with the Clarion Suites in NO? Just wondering if it's a nice hotel or better to find another.

Getting to the port from the airport

Nick — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:54:34 GMT

Nick

Louisville KY

priority debarkment

rebric — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:52:45 GMT

I sailed on the Holiday a few months ago and their priority self debarkment was great. The ship personnel checked peoples status as they came down to the lobby area and if they were not priority the people were told where to go and wait to be called. Well I just got off the Fantasy in New Orleans and their priority debarkment was an absolute zoo ( and that is putting it mildly.) There were people standing in the Atrium lobby, lined down one hallway, and crammed into the area by the elevators. Priority self debarkment was supposed to be before general self debarkment. The crew definately should have had a lot better control of the situation because it really was a hazardous situation.

VIP Priority Embarkation

maritaysa — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:17:12 GMT

Can anyone tell me how their process is in New Orleans?

We Departed From New Orleans On The Fantacy

texaspepper — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:27:08 GMT

Cruise Date July 6-11, 2009

New Orleans - We arrived in New Orleans 2 days before the cruise. Stayed in the Four Seasons By Sheraton in Metairie - about 10 miles out of the French Quarters. Ate at Acme Oyster House in Metairie just about 2 miles from the hotel on Veterans Blvd. Excellent. Always eat at the one in the French Quarters, but can tell you the food is the same at the one in Metairie.

Arriving At The Port - We choose to park at the Port Of New Orleans Parking Garage as it is the most convenient. Drive up. Insert credit card or pay cash @ $14 per day. Press button. Take ticket drive up the ramp and there are the porters waiting to take your bags. Drive up one more level and park. Ride the elevator down to go through security, Carnival check in and your in the waiting area. We were sitting in the waiting area by 9:25am. A bit early but time went fast. We boarded at 11:30am and was having lunch on the Lido Deck by 11:50am.

Our Room U137 Upper Deck Starboard - Room was ready at 1:30pm. Outside room. Large bath room with good size shower space. No frig or sitting couch on the Fantasy class ships. Safe to put your money, etc in and lock with your own 4 digit code. Good closet space and two robes to use. Pool towels fresh every morning. I had a medium size collapsible plastic cooler that our room steward would fill with ice in the am and pm. Tipped her $8.00 extra at the end. Room was clean and quiet. ONLY ONE 110 volt outlet in the room. I took a power strip with 4 plug slots for my laptop, battery charger, night light clock.

Food & Dinning - We had late dinning in the Jubilee dinning room. Went the first night and ate. Food and service was good. Table for 10. The rest of the cruise we did not feel like dressing up and so we ate on the buffet for the rest of the cruise. Most nights we looked on the dinning room menu and the buffet had many of the same item. PLUS my wife, Linda loved the fresh cooked hamburger served on the Lido Deck buffet.

For lunch I went to the dinning room once and also for breakfast one morning. Food was good. I was impressed. I am really a Royal Caribbean fan when it comes to dinning. Having cruised also on the CCL Conquest a few times I always preferred RCL but the Fantasy was very good. . .NOTE. I went to the Purser Information Desk and asked about the tips for the dinning room. Told them we ate all but one meal on the buffet. No problem. They credited back our dinning room tips -@$27.50 per person. Thought that was very kind.

Ports Of Call - Soon as you get off the ship in Progreso and get through the shopping area there you board the free bus ride to the town. When you get off the bus walk 1/2 block-turn left and walk one block. Ta Da! The beach. We rented a plastic beach lay down chair. $2 each. The first place has padded lay downs for $8. We took the next place for $2.00 as we were only staying 3-4 hours. Shopped for a massage. . .or should I say they shopped me. Got a 30 min (she said 45 min) for $10. It was good. We opted not to do the Corona Beach Party for $39.00 per person. Did not want to drink at 10:30am.

Went for a swim in the water. Refreshing. Read other posts about the beach saying . .dirty. . .brown water. No so. The water is shallow and sand is light brown on the bottom. Do go to the beach in Progreso. Very nice time.

Cozumel. Not much to say as we have been there many times and seem to do the same thing. Walk, shop (well I watch as Linda shops) and eat at the Casa Brava Cafe on Cale 7th. Went back on board and went for a swim in the ships pool.

Entertainment - Did not go to any shows. Really just enjoyed sitting on deck at sunset. . .prefer the aft Lido Deck with a full view of the water at sunset. Did get chosen to preform in the Wed Night Talent Show sing live with the Fantasy Orchestra singing "My Way". There were 6 other guest chosen to preform in the show. Went very well. We all got the 24 carat gold plated plastic Fantasy Ship Trophy and a $5.00 discount coupon to purchase the $29.00 DVD of the show. Hey, the Conquest gave us the DVD for preforming in the Legend Show. . .I did not buy the Fantasy DVD

Disembarkation - Packed our bags on Friday night and put them in the hall at about 11pm. We were Zone 7. Breakfast was served in all areas from 6:30am to 9:00am. We both had a nice parting breakfast and headed to the Promenade Deck to wait. Took about 20 min after Zone was called to get to our bags. Had the porter load them and went through US Customs in less them 2 minutes. I declared every thing we bought on board the ship. . .well over the legal limit I might add. . .Customs agent look and said. . .welcome back and have a safe trip home. That was it. Porter took our bags to elevator to the Port Parking and right to our car. Tipped him $1.00 per bag plus a extra $3.00 and I loaded the bags and we were out of the garage in 3 minutes headed to the French Quarters for Linda to shop at the Open Market for a hat and purse. Then lunch at Acme Oyster House for Gumbo and Jambalaya. Oh. . .for got to mention. . .Pat O'Brians first for a hurricane. A must. .maybe 1 or 2 of them. We were at our Sheraton At The Galleria by 2:30pm headed for the pool. Of the two Sheraton's we stayed. . Sheraton At The Galleria was the better of the two. Clean, newer and a full complementary Breakfast Buffet served on Sunday to guests. Other days is is Continual.

In closing. .I was surprised and impressed by the Fantasy experience. I did not think it would measure up to a Conquest Class Ship or even to a Royal Caribbean Voyager Of the Seas. . but was a good experience over all. Fantasy will move to Mobile, Alabama in Nov 2009 and I understand the Triumph will replace her in New Orleans, LA. The Big Easy was really EASY. Go there and help New Orleans rebuild their economy back up to pre-Katrina days. Very friendly city and very nice place to cruise from.

anyong going on Triumph out of NOLA - Nov 28 2009 ?

Nola_Cajun — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:50:14 GMT

My boyfriend and I originally from New Orleans (well the north shore really) and this will be our 1st cruise ! We invited a bunch a friends but unfortunately none of them will be making it b/c of school.

If anyone is interested we would love to hang out with others around our age. We are both 26. We're both pretty normal lol Love to go out at night, drinking and socializing.

I hope we have time relax on the beach if our shore excurstions doesn't take up all the time.

Gabrielle

Anyone Else Cruising On The Triumph On 12/07/2009?

Too Blessed To Be Stressed — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:08:39 GMT

This will be our third cruise on Carnival

Time is passing too slowly

CUSTOMS

We Be Floatin — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:53:53 GMT

ANY INFORMATION WOULD BE APRECIATED ! WE RETURNED FROM FANTASY ON AUGUST 3, 2009 ONE PERSON IN OUR GROUP HAD PURCHASED IN COZUMEL A PAIR OF ALLIGATOR BOOTS IN A STORE AT THE PIER AREA IN COZUMEL. BEING HONEST HE DECLARED IT ON THE DECLARATIONS FORM. WHEN WE DEBARKED AND ENTERED CUSTOMS THEY SENT HIM AND HIS DECLARED BOOTS TO AGRICULTURE PART OF CUSTOMS. WAS TOLD THE GAME AND FISH EMPLOYEE WHO WOULD HAVE TO CLEAR THE BOOTS WAS NOT IN AND SO THEY CONFICATED THE BOOTS AND SAID IF THEY CLEARED THEY WOULD MAIL THEM TO HIM. THEY GAVE HIM A PHONE NUMBER TO CHECK IF HE DID NOT RECEIVE THEM AND IT IS A DISCONNECTED NUMBER. AT LOSS OF WHAT ELSE TO DO. ANY SUGGESTIONS IF YOU HAVE HAD A SIMILAR PROBLEMS WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANKS

getting to the port from I-10

rebric1234 — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:48:24 GMT

can anyone tell me if it is fairly simple to get from I-10 to the Terminal Parking? I have never been to New Orleans and I am driving from North Alabama. Thanks.