Pre-Cruise Hotels · Port of New Orleans
Twenty hotels for a Port of New Orleans cruise, scored on what gets you to the ship, not on reviews. Pick yours, and let the trip start the night before.
Three taps and we’ll show your best three hotels.
Change any answer and the picks change with it. They’re built from the same published facts as the ranking below. Nobody pays to be here.
Matching weighs your answers against each hotel’s published shuttle, parking, breakfast, pool, beach, kitchen and pet policies.
Five answers, and the page builds the whole thing: the hotel, the ride in, the ride to the ship, what happens to the car, what time to leave, and how you get home. Every figure is one the hotel, the port or the company publishes. Where nobody publishes a number, you’ll see that instead of a guess.
Who’s coming and the mood come from Your Match; the plan uses the same answers.
Partner links (transfers, rental cars, luggage storage) may earn Seabound Journeys a commission at no extra cost to you. They don't change the plan, which is built only from what each company publishes.
All three are a walk from the terminals by their own counts. One prints a cruise parking rate, one sells a cruise package, and one is 0.10 miles out.
Filter by what matters for your night. Save the ones you like, or tick up to three to compare side by side — the order is ours, the shortlist is yours.
Add your sail date and the links open on the night before.
Booking.com links are affiliate links: Seabound Journeys may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It doesn't change our rankings, which come only from what each hotel publishes. Affiliate disclosure.
All 20 hotels
The whole night in one place: 0.40 miles from the terminals, free breakfast, and a published $22 a night to leave the car while you sail. No other hotel in New Orleans prints all three.
The big hotel at the foot of Poydras that says, in writing, you can walk straight to the cruise terminal. A cruise package with discounted parking, whose two pages don't agree on the terms.
The closest published distance in the city: 0.10 miles to the terminals. Suites, free breakfast and a free evening reception. It says nothing about leaving your car.
A quarter mile from the terminal by Hyatt's own count, with free breakfast and a bar pouring New Orleans cocktails. The parking price isn't published.
All suites, free hot breakfast and a pool, under half a mile from the port by Marriott's count. Nothing about leaving the car.
A third of a mile from the port by Hilton's count, with a bar, a pool and the WWII Museum up the block. Breakfast isn't included, and neither is anything about the car.
An all-suite boutique hotel in the Warehouse District with its own Stay, Park & Cruise package: a suite, breakfast and up to 8 days of parking. No price on the page.
At the Residence Inn Downtown's address, now under the Sonesta name: full kitchens, free breakfast and a pool in the Warehouse District. Nothing about the port or the car.
A cruise package with a name, Smooth Sailing: up to 7 nights of free parking, early check-in and cocktails for two. Plus a $30 nightly destination fee, and no price for the package.
Suites with full kitchens, free breakfast, an evening reception and an indoor pool on Poydras. It says nothing about the port or the car.
The best of the suburbs: free breakfast, free covered parking, a free airport shuttle and Hilton's Park, Stay & Go for the cruise. The port is a drive.
Free breakfast, a rooftop pool and the cheapest self-parking downtown at $30. Nothing about the cruise.
Free hot breakfast and a free evening Kickback with food and drinks, a heated pool, and $35 self-parking on Poydras. The best-value evening downtown, with nothing about the ship.
Free breakfast, a pool and $34 self-parking, four blocks from Bourbon Street. No restaurant, no shuttle, nothing about the ship.
Free breakfast, free parking, a free 24/7 airport shuttle and a paid Park Before You Fly service. The port is across town.
Free breakfast, a pool and Stay & Go packages for extended parking, by the airport. No price, no shuttle and nothing about the ship.
The one airport hotel that prints a cruise-friendly number: $10 a day to leave the car after checkout. Free airport shuttle, a bar and grill, and no breakfast included.
On Julia Street in the same blocks as the walkable hotels, with a pool and a bistro. Marriott publishes nothing about the port, and breakfast isn't free.
A rooftop pool, beignets in the lobby and a proper bar, in the Warehouse District. Nothing about the port, and breakfast is extra.
River-view rooms, all-day brunch and a bar until 1 AM, "moments" from the cruise terminals by Marriott's word. The dearest valet in our top 20.
No hotel on the list has all of those. Try dropping one filter.
Booking.com lists airport taxis you can book ahead. Check the pickup point, the price and the cancellation terms before you book.
Booking.com links are affiliate links: Seabound Journeys may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It doesn’t change what we recommend. Affiliate disclosure.
Pick how you’re arriving. The board counts what each hotel publishes, the table lights up that column, and the companies below run from the airport to the port.
Downtown, nobody runs an airport shuttle, and most of the top ten don’t need a ride to the ship either: they’re a walk from the terminals. Three of the twenty publish a free ride from the airport, and they’re all out in Kenner and Metairie. From MSY downtown, the city’s flat taxi fare does the job.
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International · 1–16.3 miles from these hotels, by their own counts
New Orleans sets a flat fare from the airport to the CBD and French Quarter: $36 for one or two people, $15 a person for three or more. The terminals are downtown, inside that zone, though neither the city nor the airport names them. Taxis load outside Baggage Claim Door 7 and take cards.
Rideshare picks up on the Level 1 middle curb: Lyft at Doors 7–9, Uber at Doors 9–11. Uber has no route page to the port; its MSY-to-New Orleans average is about $45 for UberX, 16 miles and 26 minutes.
For Carnival guests only, between 8:30 AM and 1:30 PM on sail day; your flight must land by 1 PM. Meet the rep between Doors 3 and 4. Coming home, Carnival says not to book a flight before 11:30 AM.
Viator lists 36 New Orleans port transfers. The cheapest start around $46, and airport-to-port private cars from about $48; the listing doesn't always say whether that's per person or per car.
Per vehicle, one way from MSY to the cruise terminal: a sedan for two, an SUV for six, a van for fourteen. It adds $125 for pickups before 10:30 AM to a cruise port.
The city bus runs from outside Door 2 to downtown, stopping at Elk Place and the Union Passenger Terminal. It doesn't go to the cruise terminals, so you'd still need a cab for the last stretch with bags.
Driving? The column to watch is “While you sail”. Compare hotel parking with the port’s own garages on New Orleans cruise parking, compared, or price it out in the parking math below.
| Hotel | To the ship | While you sail | From MSY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.40 miles: walk it | Cruise parking $22/night | No shuttlethe hotel says so | |
New Orleans (MSY)Hilton lists no airport shuttle. It puts MSY 16.1 miles away. To the shipHilton puts the terminals 0.40 miles away, so you can roll the bags over. The page title says "Shuttle to Port New Orleans", but nothing on the page describes one, so we don't count it. Ask at the desk. | |||
| 0.4 miles: walk it | Cruise package: terms differ | No shuttlethe hotel says so | |
New Orleans (MSY)No regular airport shuttle; Hilton runs one for groups of 10 or more, for a fee. It puts MSY about 25 minutes away. To the shipHilton's cruise page says you walk "straight to the cruise terminal—no shuttles, no stress", through the Outlet Collection at Riverwalk. It puts the terminal 0.4 miles away. | |||
| 0.10 miles: walk it | Cruise parking unconfirmed | No shuttlethe hotel says so | |
New Orleans (MSY)Hilton lists no airport shuttle. It puts MSY 14 miles away. To the shipHilton puts the cruise terminals 0.10 miles away. No shuttle, and you won't want one. | |||
| 0.25 miles: walk it | Cruise parking unconfirmed | Not stated | |
New Orleans (MSY)Hyatt doesn't mention an airport shuttle. It says the airport is 15 minutes away. To the shipHyatt says the cruise terminal is "just a short stroll (0.25 miles!)" away. No shuttle is listed. | |||
| Under half a mile: walk it | Cruise parking unconfirmed | Ask the hotel | |
New Orleans (MSY)Marriott says the hotel runs no shuttle, but an airport shuttle is available for a fee, on request. It puts MSY 14 miles away. To the shipMarriott puts the Port of New Orleans less than half a mile away. No shuttle is listed. | |||
| 0.33 miles: walk it | Cruise parking unconfirmed | No shuttlethe hotel says so | |
New Orleans (MSY)Hilton lists no airport shuttle. It puts MSY 15.2 miles away. To the shipHilton puts the Port of New Orleans 0.33 miles away. No shuttle is listed. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Stay, Park & Cruise: ask price | Not stated | |
New Orleans (MSY)The hotel doesn't mention an airport shuttle. To the shipThe hotel publishes no shuttle. A third-party cruise site says one comes with the package; the hotel's own page doesn't, so we don't count it. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Cruise parking unconfirmed | Not stated | |
New Orleans (MSY)Sonesta doesn't mention an airport shuttle. To the shipNo shuttle is listed. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Smooth Sailing: up to 7 nights | No shuttlethe hotel says so | |
New Orleans (MSY)Loews says it doesn't offer airport transportation, and puts MSY roughly 25 minutes away. To the shipLoews lists no shuttle. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Cruise parking unconfirmed | No shuttlethe hotel says so | |
New Orleans (MSY)Hilton lists no airport shuttle. It puts MSY 15 miles away. To the shipHilton lists no shuttle. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Park, Stay & Go: ask price | Freehotel shuttle | |
New Orleans (MSY)Free shuttle, based on availability. Hilton puts MSY 9 miles away. To the shipHilton lists no port shuttle here. Its Park, Stay & Go terms say to check with the hotel about cruise ports. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Cruise parking unconfirmed | Not stated | |
New Orleans (MSY)Wyndham doesn't mention an airport shuttle. It puts MSY 15 miles away. To the shipWyndham lists no shuttle. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Cruise parking unconfirmed | Not stated | |
New Orleans (MSY)Drury doesn't mention an airport shuttle. It puts MSY 15 miles away. To the shipDrury lists no shuttle. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Cruise parking unconfirmed | No shuttlethe hotel says so | |
New Orleans (MSY)IHG lists no airport shuttle. It puts MSY 15 miles away. To the shipIHG says there's no local area shuttle. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Park Before You Fly: ask | Freehotel shuttle | |
New Orleans (MSY)Free 24/7 shuttle; reserve ahead. Wyndham puts MSY four miles away. To the shipWyndham lists no port shuttle. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Stay & Go parking: ask | Not stated | |
New Orleans (MSY)Wyndham doesn't mention an airport shuttle. To the shipWyndham lists no port shuttle. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Leave the car, $10/day | Freehotel shuttle | |
New Orleans (MSY)Free airport shuttle for registered guests; IHG's pages list different hours. About a mile. To the shipIHG lists no port shuttle; its shuttle covers a 1-mile radius. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Cruise parking unconfirmed | No shuttlethe hotel says so | |
New Orleans (MSY)Marriott lists no airport shuttle. It puts MSY 16.3 miles away. To the shipMarriott lists no shuttle. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Cruise parking unconfirmed | No shuttlethe hotel says so | |
New Orleans (MSY)Marriott lists no airport shuttle. It puts MSY 14 miles away. To the shipMarriott lists no shuttle. | |||
| No shuttle stated | Cruise parking unconfirmed | No shuttlethe hotel says so | |
New Orleans (MSY)Marriott lists no airport shuttle. It puts MSY 15.3 miles away. To the shipMarriott lists no shuttle. | |||
These twenty are ranked for an easy sail morning, not for the room. New Orleans has no AAA Five Diamond or Forbes Five-Star hotel; its best are Four-Star and Four Diamond, and most of them are downtown, a short ride from the ship. None publishes a ride to it, and only one gives a distance.
The terminals sit on the riverfront at the edge of the Warehouse District, and New Orleans is the rare port where the hotels come to the ship. Eleven of the twenty are in those blocks, and six of them publish a walk. Five are in the CBD, a short ride away, and none of those gives a distance. The rest are out toward the airport: one in Metairie, three in Kenner.
No French Quarter hotel made the twenty. The Omni Royal Orleans, a mile from the terminals by its own count, is on the splurge list.
Numbers are the ranking. Each pin sits where the hotel is — the bands group them by distance, the way we score it.
Five things decide how easy the night before is, and each one is scored only from what the hotel publishes on its own site or its brand’s.
If a hotel doesn't say it, it scores zero there — not a guess, zero. Cruise blogs, tourism-board flyers and expired offers don't count, and when a hotel’s own pages contradict each other, we score the claim as unconfirmed and tell you. Each page lists exactly what we couldn't confirm.
By band: the Warehouse District and the riverfront 30, the CBD, Poydras and Canal Street 25, the French Quarter 20, Metairie and Elmwood 15, Kenner and the airport 10.
Hotel-run shuttle, free or with a published price, 25. A ride only inside a package or offer 20. The hotel’s own ride with no published fare 15. The hotel puts the terminals within half a mile, so you walk 15. A partner shuttle 10.
Published rate to leave the car 20, including a rate that starts when you check out. Offered, price unpublished 14.
Sail mornings start early. A free breakfast on site scores 10.
On the beach 6, pool 3, food or a bar on site 3, a kitchen in the room 3.
Ties are broken in order: the lower published parking rate, any stated way to the ship, free breakfast, parking on site, the closer stated mileage, then the lower guest parking price. That’s why the Hyatt Place sits above the SpringHill, La Quinta Downtown above the Drury, the Ramada above La Quinta Airport, and the Holiday Inn Airport North above the three Marriott hotels it ties with.
What's left out is deliberate. Room rates change daily, so they aren't scored. Neither are guest-review scores — they measure a stay in general, not a sail morning.
The ranking tells you which hotel makes the morning easiest. Your dates and your budget decide the rest, so price your own night before you book the winner.
Set your cruise length and how many people ride. The two hotels that publish a leave-the-car rate are priced out next to the port’s own garage, which charges a flat rate by cruise length — $180 for 7 nights — with no shuttle leg to add.
| #1 Hampton Inn Convention Center | — |
| #17 Holiday Inn Airport North | — |
| The port’s garage, no hotel | — |
Parking and the ride only, at each hotel’s published rate before tax. The Hampton Inn charges its $44 valet for the night you stay and $22 for each night at sea; the Holiday Inn Airport North is free while you’re a guest and $10 a day after. For the port, we use its flat rate for your cruise length ($180 for 7 nights, tax as the port prints it), and $25 a day, the figure in its FAQ, for lengths the table doesn’t list. The Hampton is 0.40 miles from the terminals, so there’s no ride to add; the Holiday Inn reads “+ ride”, and no row gets “Lowest”. Hotels that sell parking only inside a package, or without a price, aren’t priced. Room rates aren’t included.
For the port’s garages and the off-site options, see New Orleans cruise parking, compared.
We checked 50 hotels. These came closest to the top twenty, with their scores and the reason each fell short.
| Hotel | Score | Why it missed |
|---|---|---|
| Hampton Inn & Suites New Orleans Downtown (French Quarter Area) | 35 | Free breakfast on Carondelet Street, 0.2 miles from the French Quarter by Hilton's count, one point out. Valet is $52 and Hilton says nothing about the port or a pool. |
| Hampton Inn & Suites New Orleans Canal St. French Quarter | 35 | Free breakfast on upper Canal Street, one point out. Hilton lists the self-parking as "$25.00 per hour", which looks like a typo, and says nothing about the port. |
| The Higgins Hotel New Orleans | 33 | AAA Four Diamond, on the WWII Museum campus, with a rooftop bar. Breakfast and parking are extra ($45 a day), there's no pool, and its cruise page gives no distance or parking terms. |
| Kimpton Hotel Fontenot | 33 | AAA Four Diamond in the Warehouse District, pets free at any size. No pool, $57 valet and nothing about the port. It's on our splurge list. |
| Homewood Suites by Hilton Metairie | 31 | Kitchens, free breakfast and cheap parking at $7.32 a day. A third-party site describes a 10-night cruise package; Hilton's page doesn't, so it isn't scored. |
| Residence Inn New Orleans Metairie | 31 | Full kitchens, free breakfast, $5 parking. A third-party guide says parking is free during a cruise; Marriott doesn't, so it isn't scored. |
| TownePlace Suites New Orleans Metairie | 31 | Full kitchens, free breakfast, free parking in Harahan. Nothing about cruising on Marriott's page. |
| Holiday Inn New Orleans-Downtown Superdome | 31 | A heated rooftop pool by the Superdome. Third-party sites describe a park-and-cruise package, but they disagree on the terms and IHG's pages don't mention one. |
| DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New Orleans | 31 | At the foot of Canal Street with a rooftop pool and a "Nearby Cruise Port" tag, but no distance, paid breakfast and $57 valet. |
| Hilton New Orleans Airport | 30 | On the airport grounds with a free 24-hour shuttle and Park, Stay & Go, but Kenner is 15 miles or so from the ship and breakfast is paid. |
Not ranked: Residence Inn New Orleans Downtown. Marriott’s site still lists it, but Sonesta ES Suites New Orleans Convention Center has the same address and phone; we ranked the Sonesta, No. 8 here.; Crowne Plaza New Orleans Airport. Now the Wyndham New Orleans Airport & Conference Center. Its pool is closed until further notice; it scored 27.; Staybridge Suites New Orleans French Quarter/Downtown. Reopened as Kimpton Hotel Fontenot in 2020; it’s on the splurge list.; Country Inn & Suites New Orleans French Quarter. The Magazine Street building is now The Eliza Jane, Autograph Collection. Valet is $60 and it publishes nothing about the port.; Harrah's New Orleans. Now Caesars New Orleans; its pages didn’t load their details for us, so it isn’t scored.
Three of the twenty publish a free shuttle from MSY, and all of them are out in Kenner or Metairie. None of them publishes a ride on to the ship.
Downtown is the other way to do it. No downtown hotel runs an airport shuttle, but the city’s flat taxi fare, $36 for one or two people, gets you there, and six of the top ten are a walk from the terminals. The Getting There table shows what every hotel publishes from MSY, and the planner turns your answers into a morning.
Tours, tickets and things to do are on Booking.com. Book the day before, not sail day.
Booking.com links are affiliate links: Seabound Journeys may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It doesn’t change what we recommend. Affiliate disclosure.
On our scoring it's Hampton Inn & Suites New Orleans-Convention Center, across from the Convention Center, and it wins by 13 points. Hilton puts the cruise terminals 0.40 miles away, breakfast is free, and it prints a cruise parking rate: $22 a night. Hilton New Orleans Riverside is second: Hilton says you walk through the Riverwalk straight to the terminal, and it sells a cruise package with discounted parking. Embassy Suites is third, 0.10 miles from the terminals by Hilton's count, with free breakfast and a free evening reception. Best on paper, not best for everyone: the matcher above weighs your own answers.
From six of our twenty, by their own published numbers: the Embassy Suites (0.10 miles), the Hyatt Place (0.25), the Hilton Garden Inn (0.33), the Hampton Inn and the Hilton Riverside (0.4 each) and the SpringHill Suites (under half a mile). All six are in the Warehouse District or on the riverfront. Other hotels in the same blocks don't publish a distance, so they don't get the points.
As of September 25, 2026, none of our twenty publishes one with a price or a schedule. The Hampton Inn Convention Center's page title mentions a shuttle to the port, but the page never describes it. Downtown, most people walk or take a short cab. From Metairie or Kenner it's a cab, a rideshare or a booked car.
At two, with a published rate: the Hampton Inn Convention Center charges $22 a night for extended cruise parking, and the Holiday Inn Airport North $10 a day after checkout. Six more offer it without a price: the Hilton Riverside and Loews cruise packages, the Mercantile's Stay, Park & Cruise, Hilton's Park, Stay & Go at the Hampton Inn Metairie, and extended-parking listings at two Kenner hotels. A nightly valet rate for your stay isn't proof it covers your nights at sea.
Of our twenty, these publish a free ride from MSY: Hampton Inn Metairie, Ramada Kenner and Holiday Inn Airport North. All three are out by the airport or in Metairie. None of the downtown hotels runs an airport shuttle; the city's flat taxi fare, $36 for one or two people, is the usual way in.
Downtown, usually not. The port's garages charge a flat rate by cruise length: $120 for a 4-night cruise, $180 for 7, $350 for 14. The Hampton's $22 a night comes to $154 for a 7-night cruise, plus $44 valet for the night you stay: $198. The Holiday Inn Airport North's $10 a day is far cheaper, but it's out by the airport, so add the ride both ways. Run your own numbers in the calculator above.
Per the port: Carnival, year-round, from the Erato Street terminal on Carnival Liberty (7 nights) and Carnival Valor (4 and 5 nights); Norwegian from October to April on Norwegian Getaway, and Royal Caribbean seasonally, both from the Julia Street terminal. Carnival's own site also lists Carnival Dream. Your cruise documents name your terminal.
Hotel rates move every day and spike on busy sailing days, so any number we printed would be wrong by the time you read it. We rank on what doesn't change daily — shuttles, parking policies, breakfast — and leave the live rate to the booking site for your exact date. Price it for your own night before you assume the No. 1 is the cheap one.
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