Taking a cruise out of New Orleans in two weeks. Have an afternoon and part of a morning to spend there. What do you recommend? Looking at the map it looks like the French Quarter is perhaps 10-12 blocks away. How about the Garden District or Jackson Square. What should I see or do with my wife with 3 hours to spare from arrival to when the cruise departs?
The French Quarter, no contest. Have a drink or three at Pat O'Brien's. Walk through St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square. Have have some cajun/creole food somewhere (check restaurant reviews, I don't know what's good anymore.) Check out the Moonwalk (a little boardwalk on the levy from which you get a great view of the river and the bridge.) And whatever you do, get some beignets at Cafe Du Monde.
I was going to suggest riding the street car down St. Charles Avenue, but with only 3 hours I would go with Alice's advice. Have fun!
3 hours? Is this a full 3 hours of spare time or does it include boarding and all that? I went on Carnival last March and it certainly wasn't quick getting through the line. Should you have the time and be it the right time of day I'd start in the CBD and go to http://www.grandislerestaurant.com/ for some oysters and an Abita beer. (In the interest of full disclosure, my friend does own the place but it's fantastic. Come to think of it, I met him through playing pick-up soccer. How fitting.). Then I'd do like Alice said, hit the Quarter...peruse the galleries on Royal Street http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Street,_New_Orleans...stroll down Bourbon if that's your thing. Jackson Square is picturesque. Hit Cafe du Monde if you're still hungry. Personally I'd skip the boardwalk because you're going to see a lot of the river once you're on board. Basically I'd take in a little food, a little drink, and just soak up the FQ atmosphere. Let me know when you're here next with a little more time to burn...I've got recommendations out the wing-wang!
Got back from the cruise last night. Here are my thoughts about the cruise and New Orleans. The Fantasy First time on Carnival. Contrary to most of what I read on line, I found the Fantasy to be in need of a major overhaul. The ship is now 18 years old, updated back in 2005, but lacking in many areas. Even if generally well maintained the ship is quite dated. The Celebration dining room is really tacky. Pseudo Las Vegas Casino. The main atrium is still impressive and the game room is nice as is Cleopatras Lounge. This ship went on the cheap in many materials. All of the bars are in laminate. They are not granite or marble. That's cheesy. The staterooms need to be upgraded. The window stool in our Main deck stateroom, oceanview was not wood. It was wallcovering simulating wood, noit even a veneer. The window was dirty from the outside. It had not been washed from the previous sailing. The carpets in most of the common areas have been down for several years and need to be replaced. They look worn and have lost their bright colors. The Crew The pluses are the crew. They were very friendly and made the sail very positive. Butch the cruise director is very sharp young guy, but did one thing that was really inappropriate. A passenger got up during the debarkation briefing and was walking out of the Universe Lounge and Butch asked were he was going, he said to the men's room. Butch tossed him a roll of toilet paper. Funny, lot's of laughs, but if it was me I would not have caught it and told him to pick up his poor taste excuse of a joke. Other than that Butch was very informative and helpful. The Captain and the crew were very nice and cordial. The Passengers Negatives are and I know I will be hammered on this, the passengers. I have never run across a more rowdy and low class bunch of passengers in my life. On formal night I noticed that many men, dressed in jeans, and either t-shirts or any other than a suit. Great you want to cruise casual, then eat at one of the buffet's offered on the Lido deck. But don't show up to formal night dressed like you just went on a shore excursion. Way too many people whistling and screaming to catch the attention of as friend walking across the main lobby several floors down in the main atrium. This happened several times at dinner. Lot's of the rowdy types were wearing their Auburn, Tennessee and LSU baseball caps and t-shirts. I love the Allman Brothers, but if hear Sweet Home Alabama one more time I will choke the somebody. We had some psycho woman across from our cabin that one night was apparently locked out of her room, or maybe her kids weren't in there and she was at 10:00 pm knocking repeatedly for 10 minutes or more on the door, while on her knees. I imagine she was searching her pocket book for he card key. This was definitely a Bud drinkers cruise. I would say the majority of folks drinking, were drinking Bud. Being from New Jersey I felt really out of place. The excursions. We took the trip to Chichen Itza. There was a bathroom stop at a tourist trap. It would have been better to have proceeded directly to the Archaeological Site, and saved 30-40 minutes, since there is precious little time spent there. My wife and I had to walk quite briskly to view the observatory. A 15 minute hike from the main area, but well worth it. What, we saw of Progreso is that it is developing. The pier is very impressive, long and modern. The town is small and quaint, with probably little to do. The bus trip was over extremely well maintained and wide roads. You would not know it was Mexico. You can see there has been a tremendous amount of money invested in infrastructure for the region. A word to the Mexican government, please remove all of the peddlers from inside the Chichen Itza site. It detracts from the experience. I understand the country is poor, but it is ridiculous to see what is a world heritage site and one of the new seven wonders of the world turned over to all of the peddlers. There is a tremendous chance of damage to the surrounding areas. We took the Isla de Pascion VIP Tour. It is a terrific beach set on a peninsula, not really an island. The food was very good. They had Mahi Mahi, rice, Guacamole, Chips, and salsa along with beer, Dos Equis Lager. The tour guides in Mexico were very friendly as were the people. Cozumel's main downtown has a lot of really nice upscale shops. Beautiful stores with first class finishes and displays. Lot's of variety for purchases. New Orleans The ship terminal is within walking distance of the French Quarter. When we first arrived in New Orleans, prior to the cruise, we walked up to Julia Street and had lunch at Emeril's which is in the Warehouse District. Just 4 blocks north of the Julia Street Pier escalators. Had a great lunch and the staff was very attentive. The French Quarter is about a 15-20 minute walk north from the Erato Pier Terminal. The city is very clean. We saw early Saturday morning many businesses sweeping, washing down the sidewalks as well as street sweepers employed by the city. There is a real sense of pride resident's have in their city and rightfully so. Great small city with a unique character and ambiance. Very friendly and appreciative of your support for their city. I must say you can tell right away the difference between city residents and the passengers from the surrounding areas of the deep south. In fact I must say, that many people we met from other parts of Louisiana were very friendly and nice.
Alberto, your account of the cruise confirms everything I've always suspected was the case with most cruise lines so thanks. Now I know that unless I can afford something really deluxe, I won't bother. And I'm happy to read the kind words about NOLA. I imagine that the folks who are still there are totally committed to the place and its rebirth.
By deluxe it should be emphasized a deluxe cruise line. Even with deluxe accommodations you will have to deal with low class people. This was an entirely different experience from Disney. Disney was wonderful. First class accommodations with a friendly staff. Nice finishes marble and granite and brass, even in the staterooms. As my wife said, we got spoiled. It would have been better for us to have upgraded to Disney. By going on Disney first, everything on this Carnival Ship was a disappointment.