Wonder from New Orleans in 2020?

[tidefan]

I would so love for the Wonder to cruise out of NOLA! It would only be a 4-hour drive for us compared to the 9-hour one to PC...

 

[Pens Fan]

I would be surprised if it's New Orleans. It's one thing for Disney to have a recent animated feature set in New Orleans, and to have New Orleans Square at Disneyland, but to base a ship of New Orleans - I doubt it. We visited New Orleans for a couple of days this summer. It's a cesspool of filth. And I'm not just referring to Bourbon Street.

Charleston makes more sense. Or how about Baltimore? DCL could offer a "The Wire" tour of the City.

I was actually wondering about Charleston myself. I'd love to take a cruise from there, as it's a city we have always wanted to visit. We have actually been contemplating driving down there and splitting a trip between there and Savannah - definitely on our bucket list. I know Carnival sails from Charleston, so it might be possible.

I've only been to New Orleans once and I was about 10 years old. It was quite the eye opener, to say the least. As that was 45 years ago, I have no clue what it's like today. Part of me thinks that as Disney's primary market is families, NOLA wouldn't be a great fit. But as an adult, I admit I'd be game to give it one more try - for the food and music alone!! (but I'd still rather go to Charleston )

 

[ivanp91]

Has the Magic been to GC before?

Yes. I visited GC on the Magic in 2014.

 

[DCL_Wonder]

I was actually wondering about Charleston myself. I'd love to take a cruise from there, as it's a city we have always wanted to visit. We have actually been contemplating driving down there and splitting a trip between there and Savannah - definitely on our bucket list. I know Carnival sails from Charleston, so it might be possible.

I've only been to New Orleans once and I was about 10 years old. It was quite the eye opener, to say the least. As that was 45 years ago, I have no clue what it's like today. Part of me thinks that as Disney's primary market is families, NOLA wouldn't be a great fit. But as an adult, I admit I'd be game to give it one more try - for the food and music alone!! (but I'd still rather go to Charleston )

I've been to New Orleans twice, once in the early 1990's and in July. I thought it was cleaner and safer today than in the 1990's, but it's still a rat-infested heckhole. And out of the 5 of us in our family, I liked it the best. Don't get me wrong, New Orleans has it plus sides, but the negatives are enough that I don't think DCL will base a ship out of New Orleans. Would they stop for a day out of Galveston for example? Perhaps.

Full disclosure, I love visiting Nassau.

 

[Dug720]

I've been to New Orleans twice, once in the early 1990's and in July. I thought it was cleaner and safer today than in the 1990's, but it's still a rat-infested heckhole. And out of the 5 of us in our family, I liked it the best. Don't get me wrong, New Orleans has it plus sides, but the negatives are enough that I don't think DCL will base a ship out of New Orleans. Would they stop for a day out of Galveston for example? Perhaps.

Full disclosure, I love visiting Nassau.

Agreed! I'd visit Nassau any day over going back to New Orleans.

 

[squirk]

As someone who lives in NOLA, I would be delighted to drive one hour to get to my DCL cruise vs. six hours to Galveston or 10 hours to PC.

As for the “cesspool” comments - if you go to Bourbon St., you are getting the “Ground Zero” of the stereotype of New Orleans debauchery. The strip clubs, the drunks, obscene t-shirts, etc. It is not the best place to take a young family.

But skip one or two streets over to Royal or Chartres, it is much more suitable for kids. I take mine down there all the time.

Loads of history and architecture. The D-Day museum. Buildings and structures older than this country. Great restaurants. Street musicians, jugglers, magicians, acrobats, etc. You want authentic “streetsmosphere”? You can get it here.

St. Louis cathedral and the artists in Jackson Square, streetcar rides through the Garden District, riverboat rides on the Mississippi, Café du Monde, Audubon Zoo/Aquarium/Insectarium/Park - all great stuff for families, and all in close proximity to the cruise terminal.

I’m not on the New Orleans Tourist Board, and to be fair, the city does have its fair share of problems, but after living here for 25 years, I feel like it gets a bad rap as a “family-unfriendly” place to visit.

 

[DCL_Wonder]

As someone who lives in NOLA, I would be delighted to drive one hour to get to my DCL cruise vs. six hours to Galveston or 10 hours to PC.

As for the “cesspool” comments - if you go to Bourbon St., you are getting the “Ground Zero” of the stereotype of New Orleans debauchery. The strip clubs, the drunks, obscene t-shirts, etc. It is not the best place to take a young family.

But skip one or two streets over to Royal or Chartres, it is much more suitable for kids. I take mine down there all the time.

Loads of history and architecture. Buildings and structures older than this country. Street musicians, jugglers, magicians, acrobats, etc. You want authentic “streetsmosphere”? You can get it here.

St. Louis cathedral and the artists in Jackson Square, streetcar rides through the Garden District, riverboat rides on the Mississippi, Café du Monde, Audubon Zoo/Aquarium/Insectarium/Park - all great stuff for families, and all in close proximity to the cruise terminal.

I’m not on the New Orleans Tourist Board, and to be fair, the city does have its fair share of problems, but after living here for 25 years, I feel like it gets a bad rap as a “family-unfriendly” place to visit.

I agree there are lovely areas of New Orleans. But even in some of those lovely areas, it smelled bad, granted we were there in mid-July.

 

[mousefan73]

Guess I should cruise her in Feb out of PC or hold off til Alaska. I seem to be the only person on earth who cannot stand New Orleans.

Can’t say anything negative on New orleans, never been. But my initial thought was I hope there are no itineraries I like that depart from there. I come from overseas ( original from the Midwest so my arguement applys if I were still state side). For me a Disney vacation / cruise is a committment in vacation time. If I am paying airfare I want to depart from A market that offer us at least a week planned activities on land. I hear great things about New Orleans and I would love to see it one day but I cannot see me and my family spending a week there. West coast, New York, vancouver, or Port Canaveral offer more for this family. Same with Galveston, the panhandle just doesnt interest us for a long vacation. I’d be interested in a long weekend. The cruise would have to offer a unique itinerary or a super price for me to go there to embark. As it would be a cruise only vacation.

I understand for many families Galveston or New Orleans would be a simplly easier place to drive. So this would offer many more potential customers and easier way to sail DCL. For international customers forget it. On my recent sailing there were many South Americans , aussies and British folks. Pretty sure they did not fly just for the four nights dream cruise. I knew of two international families that were on a three week trip. And Florida and California are states where three weeks there’s plenty to do and more.

 

[mousefan73]

As someone who lives in NOLA, I would be delighted to drive one hour to get to my DCL cruise vs. six hours to Galveston or 10 hours to PC.

As for the “cesspool” comments - if you go to Bourbon St., you are getting the “Ground Zero” of the stereotype of New Orleans debauchery. The strip clubs, the drunks, obscene t-shirts, etc. It is not the best place to take a young family.

But skip one or two streets over to Royal or Chartres, it is much more suitable for kids. I take mine down there all the time.

Loads of history and architecture. The D-Day museum. Buildings and structures older than this country. Great restaurants. Street musicians, jugglers, magicians, acrobats, etc. You want authentic “streetsmosphere”? You can get it here.

St. Louis cathedral and the artists in Jackson Square, streetcar rides through the Garden District, riverboat rides on the Mississippi, Café du Monde, Audubon Zoo/Aquarium/Insectarium/Park - all great stuff for families, and all in close proximity to the cruise terminal.

I’m not on the New Orleans Tourist Board, and to be fair, the city does have its fair share of problems, but after living here for 25 years, I feel like it gets a bad rap as a “family-unfriendly” place to visit.

True every city has is filth side. I would have no issue taking my kids there one day. Same with Vegas.

 

[DCL_Wonder]

Can’t say anything negative on New orleans, never been. But my initial thought was I hope there are no itineraries I like that depart from there. I come from overseas ( original from the Midwest so my arguement applys if I were still state side). For me a Disney vacation / cruise is a committment in vacation time. If I am paying airfare I want to depart from A market that offer us at least a week planned activities on land. I hear great things about New Orleans and I would love to see it one day but I cannot see me and my family spending a week there. West coast, New York, vancouver, or Port Canaveral offer more for this family. Same with Galveston, the panhandle just doesnt interest us for a long vacation. I’d be interested in a long weekend. The cruise would have to offer a unique itinerary or a super price for me to go there to embark. As it would be a cruise only vacation.
.

I hear what your saying, but no one will force you to take a cruise out of New Orleans or Galveston. DCL will still offer cruises out of Florida, Vancouver, and hopefully NYC. I also agree with you that Galveston and New Orleans are worth a couple of days, not a weeklong trip, imho.

As a Disney fan and shareholder, I would love for them to do more West coast cruises with a ship based out of LA.

 

[mousefan73]

I hear what your saying, but no one will force you to take a cruise out of New Orleans or Galveston. DCL will still offer cruises out of Florida, Vancouver, and hopefully NYC. I also agree with you that Galveston and New Orleans are worth a couple of days, not a weeklong trip, imho.

As a Disney fan and shareholder, I would love for them to do more West coast cruises with a ship based out of LA.

Agree!!! On the lack of west coast sailing. We are new to DCL and recently placed a placeholder. It was really frustrating on thenlack of options from the West Coast. We have seen and done Florida so many times and really want to plan a three week family road trip SFO to LA I think with a few days at Disneyland and ending with a cruise. There was nothing for our time. And we were VERY flexible

 

[Dug720]

I hear what your saying, but no one will force you to take a cruise out of New Orleans or Galveston. DCL will still offer cruises out of Florida, Vancouver, and hopefully NYC. I also agree with you that Galveston and New Orleans are worth a couple of days, not a weeklong trip, imho.

As a Disney fan and shareholder, I would love for them to do more West coast cruises with a ship based out of LA.

Even as an East Coaster, I'd love a permanent sailing (or even a lot of the year) out of Los Angeles. Excuse to combine a cruise and DL trip.

 

[cadien]

I loved New Orleans. We didn't do the debauchery side, and didn't really notice it. But the old buildings and vegetation were beautiful. My folks love visiting there too and that may be a way to get them on a Disney cruise with us.

 

[yowcruiser]

Not an expert, but if one is to infer some stuff, from the current port of calls for the Wonder in 2020 (posted on DCL blog), the cruise that calls at Grand Cayman on Jan 16 2020 could be the repo cruise from Galveston to San Juan, spending close to the usual 3-4 weeks there. The cruise that calls at Grand Cayman on March 9 2020 is most likely the Westbound Panama Canal cruise to SD. So it will be interesting to see if the Wonder then repositions from San Juan to this new port or goes to Miami/PC first

 

[darnheather]

Completely uninterested in NOLA as a port but whatever gets me on a Disney cruise.

 

[roysbrew]

I wondered myself if they might swap New Orleans for Galveston. We bring our kids to NOLA and there are so many wonderful things to do, Swamp tour, plantations, music fests, zoos,WWII museum plus the shopping culture and food. I could go on and on. If all you saw was dirty streets and Bourbon street you only saw the visitors not the real people who make up that wonderful city. Most residents stay away from Bourbon street

 

[Dug720]

I wondered myself if they might swap New Orleans for Galveston. We bring our kids to NOLA and there are so many wonderful things to do, Swamp tour, plantations, music fests, zoos,WWII museum plus the shopping culture and food. I could go on and on. If all you saw was dirty streets and Bourbon street you only saw the visitors not the real people who make up that wonderful city. Most residents stay away from Bourbon street

FWIW I was staying in a house in the Garden District, so yes I did see the people. And we did not go to Bourbon Street. But we saw plenty of drunk and disorderly people around. I just don’t like it. And that is fine. I don’t like Galveston either and won’t go there. Not everyone likes old houses and swamps and stuff.

 

[FSU Girl]

I would love for them to sail out of New Orleans. I've always wanted to go there and this would be the perfect way to visit the city paired with a Disney cruise. Sounds like an awesome vacation.

 

[hudsosa]

I visited New Orleans a few years ago with my parents and DS who was 8 at the time around New Year's and we loved it. The food was beyond amazing and there was so much to do as a family. NO is a few hours closer for us than PC so I would definitely be interested in a cruise leaving from NO.

 

[WaywardMemphian]

I've been to New Orleans twice, once in the early 1990's and in July. I thought it was cleaner and safer today than in the 1990's, but it's still a rat-infested heckhole. And out of the 5 of us in our family, I liked it the best. Don't get me wrong, New Orleans has it plus sides, but the negatives are enough that I don't think DCL will base a ship out of New Orleans. Would they stop for a day out of Galveston for example? Perhaps.

Full disclosure, I love visiting Nassau.

I regularly tell friends that Mud Island in Memphis should completely overhaul the River Museum and include a Soarin' type Mississippi River ride from the headwaters to the coast in it. You would smell the the unmistakable scent of the brewery over STL and the Cardinals playing, the Smokey BBQ as you fly over Memphis during Memphis in May and pee as you zoom over the French Quarter.