When most people think of cruising, Port Canaveral on Florida’s east coast or Miami and Fort Lauderdale often is the chosen departure port. But for another convenient option, don’t overlook a New Orleans cruise. Fares may be lower for a New Orleans cruise down the Mississippi River, which offers a unique and fascinating journey.
After many years of traveling to Florida ports, we recently completed a journey on Norwegian Getaway on a New Orleans cruise. We made the easy drive from our Atlanta-area home to New Orleans. Surprisingly it’s approximately equal drive in time as Port Canaveral. We paid hundreds of dollars less for each passenger in our party as compared to a similar Florida-departing cruise. And we enjoyed a less-crowded ship after reveling in some New Orleans entertainment and food, too.
Down the Mississippi
The daylight cruise down the meandering and historic Mississippi River enthralled us. The river twists, turns and almost meets itself before disappearing in as a brownish tide into the deep, blue Gulf.
Now, as Louisiana natives, the Mississippi River portion of our New Orleans cruise was especially memorable. At the foot of Canal Street, we waved goodbye on our New Orleans cruise. Amazing views of downtown and the historic Jackson Square in the French Quarter revealed themselves. Further downriver, we passed the site of the Battle of New Orleans, sugar and chemical manufacturing facilities and more ferries, tugs, barges, crewboats and ocean-going ships than we cared to count.
As darkness approached on the river, we stood on our balcony and marveled as our river pilot navigated downriver. We glided around a 90-degree bend, effortlessly and silently slipping past a huge upriver-bound freighter – all with other ships anchored in the river nearby!
Onboard the Getaway
After leaving the US on our New Orleans cruise, we spent a sea day aboard the splendid Norwegian Getaway. We’ll say here that this was our first Norwegian cruise. Previously we’ve cruised Holland America (our most frequent line), Royal Caribbean, Princess, Cunard and Carnival. We’d compare Norwegian directly and favorably with Royal Caribbean, as the ships, amenities and vibes are similar. So, expect active families, but also to be thoroughly entertained, well-fed and comfortably quartered in well-appointed cabins. (Click here to jump to our direct comparison to other cruise line experiences!)
Our “public” ports included stops at Costa Maya, Roatan and Cozumel. Frankly, the port experiences are no different than on any cruise line. Enjoying a beach outing or other excursion, the experience largely was similar to other lines. It’s was easy and convenient to book an excursion with a cruise line. At the dock, there were more options and lower costs, but always with the risk of getting left behind. (While we didn’t do it this time, we often book our excursions through TripAdvisor and Viator. We also noticed — too late for this cruise — that Costco is again offering excursions after dropping the service during Covid.
Ports of Call
In Costa Maya, we joined a tour of Mayan ruins at Chacchoben, or “place of the red corn.” After a one-hour bus transfer, we reached the not-fully-excavated site of large temples and massive platform groups. Our guide led us on the circular path that includes excavated and restored pyramids, as well as walls and staircases. Overhead, a few howler monkeys loudly disrupted the sound of jungle birds. (We had a momentary scare when a mobility-challenged member of our group unwisely chose to climb the uneven stone stairs and fell. While he was unhurt, it’s a reminder to know and recognize your abilities and limitations when choosing or pursuing excursions. And, if you find yourself feeling uncomfortable, just talk to your guide. They’ll likely be able to suggest an accommodation.)
At Roatan, a port which we had visited previously, we selected a relaxing day visiting a coconut farm and processing facility. What we didn’t see was that it also included a stop at a “straw market.” That turned out to be a cheesy souvenir trap where tourist boats depart for reef and mango grove tours.
Private Island
Our stop in Belize featured Norwegian’s “private port” at Harvest Caye, the only port in Belize with a cruise ship dock rather than requiring a tender ride to shore. The 75-acre private resort spreads across two islands, and offers pools, beaches, wildlife walks and lots of other free activities. If you’ve experienced the “private islands” of other lines, this stop is most comparable to Royal Caribbean’s “Perfect Day at Coco Cay.”
There’s also a full range of the port excursions accessible, without the hustle and bustle of a busy shared port. We chose a small-boat nature and jungle tour on Monkey River. The bumpy ride across open water in white-capped seas proved a bit harrowing and very wet due to windy conditions. But we really didn’t mind the cool ocean spray blowing into the boat constantly.
Disembarking and Pro Tip
We did find that Norwegian’s disembarking process was always efficient since we were docked rather than tendering. In Cozumel, we docked nearer to the downtown area than all other lines, which made it easy to walk into town. We’re not sure if that’s always the case with Norwegian, or if that’s a port decision based on dock availability.
One more port note, and that’s on the return of our New Orleans cruise. After disembarking, claiming luggage and clearing customs, we encountered a long, snaking, slow-moving line approaching the arrival terminal. Frustratingly, lots of the New Orleans cruise terminal doors were closed and blocked by security guards who refused to let us out to the street. As it turned out, the line was for group transportation and taxis, which we didn’t need. So, pro tip, if you’ve parked your car or have another pre-arranged ride, just bypass that line New Orleans cruise terminal line — despite the evil stares you’ll get.
Cruise Line Comparisons
We promised some comparisons, so here goes. Recognize that all comments are based on our experiences, preferences and requirements. Thus, this may not apply equally to your situation. Plus, full disclosure, our preferred line is Holland America, where we enjoy a top-level loyalty status (Click this link for a video of our recent Panama Canal cruise on HAL). On other lines, we’re just regular passengers.
We’ve found that the secret to cruising is understanding the type of vacation you want, then selecting the right type of voyage and cruise line in accordance with that. Those critical actions virtually assure your expectations will be met and that unwanted surprises are avoided. While different people likely would describe their views differently, following is how we group (and rank, in order) the experiences we expect on the lines we’ve travelled (so far) AND would travel again without any hesitation:
Elegance, luxury, comfort, service, culinary relaxed, informative: Holland America, Cunard
Comfort, luxury, culinary, entertainment, activity: Princess, Celebrity
Comfort, entertainment, activity, high-energy: Royal Caribbean, Norwegian
Never again: Carnival
Comparing Norwegian
As noted above, we directly compare Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. They deliver active, high-energy family vacations where you’ll enjoy comfort, entertainment and an incredible on-board experience. Both lines feature fun-filled ships, with all the latest in on-board activities. You’ll find water slides, go-cart tracks, ziplining, boogie boarding, and an incredible variety of entertainment.
For onboard entertainment and kids activities, we’d give Royal Caribbean a slight edge, especially on the newest mega-ships in the Royal Caribbean line. Aboard the 5,700-to-6,900-passenger Wonder of the Seas we occasionally felt cramped or crowded. But we found the 3,900 passenger Norwegian Getaway to be less crowded in all important areas, even on sea days. The only time we felt a little crowded on the Getaway was on boarding day. Everyone was required to be onboard 2 hours before sailing time but most of the cabins were not yet ready for occupancy. Then, it was a little “snug” around many public areas.
Food and Beverage
In the food category, we thoroughly enjoyed the “freestyle” dining of Norwegian. That means you can just “show up” during open hours at the buffet, dining rooms and casual dining locations. And it means there’s no strict dress code at those locations either. Now, that might bother some more traditional cruisers who enjoy the elegance of dressing for dinner and the people watching that goes along with it. But freestyle also means you can dress up to formal wear, gala wear or “resort casual” style. And when you do, you’ll really stand out among the fancy crowd to your fellow cruisers.
We also found Norwegian’s food offerings to be comparable to that which we enjoyed on Royal Caribbean. Main dining room fare included some fine dining-style dishes and desserts, though sides offered were more ordinary. The service didn’t measure up to higher-end cruise lines, nor did the tableside presentation, variety or culinary “wow.”
Specialty Dining
Our experience in “specialty dining” (at an extra charge) truly was hit-or-miss. The seafood-centric Ocean Blue delivered an outstanding food experience that we’d match against any we’ve enjoyed, even on the high-end lines.
The entertainment and food quality at the shared table Teppanyaki was enjoyable, too. Our chef was entertaining and energetic, amazing us by juggling raw eggs. He also checked twice with everyone regarding food allergies before starting, and made a point of checking again before serving the cooked items. Servers seemed to be stretched thinly across lots of tables, so they could have been more attentive to our drink replenishments.
But our experience at Cagney’s Steakhouse proved truly disappointing. Though the steaks were tender and moist, they lacked any sort of charbroiled or grilled flavor, even when consumed with one of the sauces.
That said, overall and consistently, the variety of food offerings, the elegant presentation and culinary delight that we’ve enjoyed on Princess, Holland America and Cunard just wasn’t to be found on Norwegian. But, we also didn’t expect it, so Norwegian met all our food expectations for the type of vacation we chose.
Casual Dining
In addition to the buffets, main dining rooms and specialty dining, Norwegian (like Royal Caribbean and Princess) offers a variety of casual dining outlets. These are smaller venues featuring limited menus of different cuisines, and are included in the base price. On Getaway, we frequented American Diner for their huge burgers and their quiet breakfast buffet. We also enjoyed O’Sheehan’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill, an Irish pub as you can deduce from the name. Of course we sampled the delightful fish and chips, and we appreciated the order-from-the-menu option at breakfast versus the more crowded dining rooms.
Shows and Entertainment
We mentioned that we’d give Royal Caribbean a slight advantage over Norwegian here. But that’s largely because our experience on Wonder of the Seas included a high-dive water and musical extravaganza, an ice skating show, an incredible multi-media production show, and more.
On Norwegian, we enjoyed the production shows, which included a full presentation of the Broadway production, “Million Dollar Quartet.” Multiple comedy shows and small-venue music shows were offered each night, delighting those who could squeeze in to the often-crowded sites.
While we didn’t participate in the family-oriented escape room theater events, we heard great reviews from fellow passengers traveling with their families.
Norwegian also has adopted television game shows as onboard interactive entertainment. Audiences are able to join in with selected players in Deal or No Deal, complete with a grumpy banker persona positioning for bargain buy-outs.
One of our favorite shows was a cake decorating “demonstration” or “competition,” featuring the pastry chef, the cruise director and the director of food and beverage. While the pastry chef’s decorating was impeccable and the cruise director’s meticulous effort drew praise, the wacky antics and wild results from the F&B director stole the show.
And The Rest
There’s just too much available to compare every ship offering. We’ll note that both Norwegian and Royal Caribbean offered adults-only areas, allowing for an oasis of quiet away from all the frenetic family fun. And both offered “exclusive” ship areas accessible to those willing to pay for an upgrade.
On both lines, you’ll find an incredible array of on-board active areas. Getaway featured a ropes course, multiple water slides, two arcade areas, a dedicated kids area, plus the age-segregated kids’ clubs common on most lines. On Royal Caribbean’s newest mega ships line Wonder and Icon, there are more of these with greater capacities. But on the older Royal Caribbean ships, the offers are very similar to what we saw on Norwegian Getaway.
Oh, and if you’re celebrating a special occasion on Norwegian, let them know at time of booking. My wife received a colorful plate of chocolate-covered strawberries and a bottle of wine in our cabin. Then, when we presented a note at the host stand of the main dining room, she was treated to a special cake and — of course — birthday sing-along.
Final Verdict
We definitely would go back again on any Norwegian ship, without hesitation, when we were looking for an active vacation onboard a high-energy floating entertainment palace. And we’d certainly choose recommend Norwegian (and Royal Caribbean!) for active grandparents like us traveling with their multi-generational families.
In fact, we’re booked for a Thanksgiving time cruise around Hawaii on the Pride of America with kids, spouses and grandkids This time, we’re opting for a suite, so we can better handle the inevitable on-ship visits. Check back in December 2025 for a full report.
