Its very nice. I just wish it could be in the day time, so you could see everything. It takes all night to reach the gulf. So when you wake up Sunday morning, you'll see oil rigs. They are specially pretty during the holidays, because some of them have christmas lights on them.
We left out of NOLA on the Grandeur in March 04 at 5:00 PM. We entered the Gulf around midnight. I was amazed at the number of oil rigs and refineries along the Mississippi. We met the Conquest coming back in but couldn't see too much other than her lights due to very dense fog.
The trip is about 6-8 hrs. depending on traffic and currents. Within the first 45 min. if you look closely and know what your looking for you will see...The St. Louis Cathedral, the Magnolia Plantation, Domino Sugar Refinery w/small plantation house in front, Chalmette Battlefield where the last battle of the war of 1812 was, Chalmette monument at the battlefield, Malus - Beauregard House at the battlefield, Chalmette National Cemetery, DeLaRonde Ruins, Chalmette Oil Refinery, Chalmette Ferry and much more. However if you don't know what your looking for you'll miss most of it, espedially at night. Check out this link and this is what you could see in the first 45 min. http://www.st-bernard.la.us/tourism/.../Scenicbw2.htm
Oh, and if your worried about sea sickness the river will test you the most. So if you can get through it without getting sick you should be fine the rest of the way. When the boat makes large turns in the river, which it does all night long, the boat will list to one side and this is a good test for sea sickness.
Is it a scary experience? Is it like a constant swaying back and forth (from side to side) like it does sometimes out in the ocean? If it is not drastic leaning to one side (like a quick jolt like you are going to tip) I think that I will be fine! I am assuming that you are not going very fast as it is in the river and probably a "no wake" zone. Thanks
The trip down the river was mostly uneventful for me. (We live in the area). I didn't notice much swaying on the Conquest, but I did on the Holiday. One plus feature of going down the river, is that you will have cellphone reception to the mouth. Not that you need a cellphone on a cruise, but you can call your friends back home and gloat what a good time you are having, maybe even send them one of them fancy pictures via the phone.
Turkeyman- I see that you went on the Conquest in April. Was that a nice time to go? We are going this April (on the 3rd). Also, when you were on the Conquest, what shore excursions did you do?? We are trying to decide! Thanks
Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you. No its not a scary experience at all. The ship lists but not that much, just enough for you to get a feel that your on a ship. When it lists it stays on the list for the entire turn, so no it does not rock back and forth, just genly leans to the opposite side of the turn. This is why the pools are always empited, so water doesn't spill out, but its not enough for glasses to move and such.
While in the river the boat is piloted by a river pilot and not the captain. All ships in the Miss. have to be piloted by a river pilot. Once you pass Pilot Town, and guess where it gets its name, a pilot boat will come to the ship and the river pilot will jump from the ship to the pilot boat. Usually this happens about 1am if your still awake you can go watch. Sometimes if the weather is rough the boat will turn 90 degrees to the wind to block the wind so the pilot can get off. So if you go looking for this event, just remember the phrase white over red...pilot ahead. Which means if you see a white light over a red light on a boat comming towards you, that is the pilot boat.
neet.
cruised down the mississippi on conquest march 04----- not daylight savings time yet it was great to sit on the balcony, smoke a cigar with bourbon in my hand watching the river. only problem was it was dark when the ship left and the farther down river boat travelled and the less populated the river was, could see less and less--- got into the gulf at midnight or 1am if i remember corectly am going on sensation in june----no balcony----i plan to be in the bow of the ship, smoking cigar, drinking bourbon watching the river go by it will be daylight savings time then and the sensation leaves at 4 instead of 6 what a great way to start a trip i think i'm looking more forward the trip up and down the river than cozumel conquest got back to the mout of river before midnight and took longer to go up the river than down i assumed boat was ahead of schedule and they slowed down as an aside, if u're not form new orleans, go down early or stay on after the cruise new orleans is coolest city in america have been 100 times in my life and if i only go 100 more won't be enough
We were on the Grandeur in March 04, and were amazed how long it took to get to the gulf, actually we were asleep by that time. We will be sailing down it again on the Conquest in just 9 short days!!! We have a corner aft balconey to enjoy the view.
Connect with Facebook
Mississippi River
Just curious 
. Thanks you guys.
Linear Mode
