Paddlewheeler Creole Queen

The only reason I’m giving any stars is for the cruise itself, which was pleasant, and our waitress, who was as sweet as could be. Otherwise, for $ 150, this was the biggest rip-​off of our vacation to NOLA — the food was inedible. I didn’t expect a whole lot for a tourist-​y buffet, but did expect to be able to at least eat something. Neither my husband or I could eat anything. (How can you screw up rice?) Go for the cruise, forget the food.

Buffet style dinner with live jazz band. Very nice time. Look for s coupon to save a few bucks. Well worth it for a very nice experience.
Good was very good and you can have as much as you care to eat. Drinks are available for an extra charge. Service was a bit slow but friendly. Enjoy and have a good time with the band!

I took the Dinner Jazz Cruise with friends last weekend, and we all had such a wonderful night. Dinner is served buffet style right as you’re boarding, so come hungry. The food was delicious and very New Orleans. Red beans and rice, mardi gras pasta, a carving board with brisket and some very tasty chicken. There were also several sides including a salad. Everything was hot and fresh, exactly what we wanted.
After dinner we grabbed a cocktail from the bar and headed up to the deck. The sun was setting as we got up there and WOW what a view! Took some beautiful photos (do it for the ‘gram) and then sat down to enjoy the tunes. As we were coming back into the city we were treated to yet another incredible view, this time of the sparkling lights of the city over the Mississippi River. Myself and one friend are from New Orleans, and it made us realize how magical this city is all over again. Our other friend, from out-​of-​town, was bowled over.
Definitely recommend the Jazz Cruise and am looking forward to taking the Historical Cruise in the future!

I really wanted to like this, especially with the price tag it came with, but it left a lot to be desired.
First off, let’s start with the basics; the why, who, what, when and all that jazz, no pun intended.
I was out there for my 30^th with several friends right around when NOLA caught a whiff of what Hurricane Patricia had cookin’, leading to event cancellations and a mad scramble to still be able to «get it all in» .
Leave it to a chick to spoil a perfectly good time.
I rescheduled the Creole Queen Dinner Jazz Cruise for the next night, despite forecasts of similar weather, praying the weathermen didn’t have an off night and predict right, because… why not, I may as well try my luck.
[rolls dice] Daddy needs a new pair of shoes.
I awoke to no cancellation calls, turns out weathermen in Nawlins are cut of the same cloth just as the ones back home [shrug] who’da thunk.
With it being New Orleans and all, rich with some pretty effin’ amazing places to eat; we ended up grabbing a bite closer to boarding time than I would have liked and I wasn’t very hungry come cruise time.
In my defense, when that place you «dropped in» at is Willie Mae’s Scotch House who could really blame you?
I specifically asked the person at the ticket window if they would be serving the buffet style food for the ENTIRE DURATION of the cruise; if so, I would keep the dinner option, if not I would change it to just the cruise portion.
She assured me that all the way up till 9 o’clock, which is when we deboarded, to eat. We kept the dinner option.
Welp folks, turns out the weathermen haven’t monopolized getting it wrong cuz that shit appears to be contagious.
Maybe the lady recently changed time zones or something because the staff started cleaning up at 8 pm and looked at me like a re-​re for even thinking food would be available at such a late hour.
The misinformation definitely changed up how my friends and I approached that portion of the night. To add insult to injury, I was no more than 10 minutes off. Left us feeling like we paid something like $ 30 more for something that wasn’t used much.
The only things that kept this from being a totally disappointing event instead of a mostly disappointing one, is the fact that we enjoyed what food we were able to dish up, and the quality of the servers.
Other than that, shit was kinda whack. Boat was slow, small, and otherwise unimpressive, and ditto for the band.
They must have lured the band from a retirement home with promises of extra BINGO cards or something, cuz it definitely wasn’t what was advertised. (I thought it said «live»???)
I mean they weren’t terrible, they were just, you know, a lil’ on the slow and elderly side… jeeze I feel douchey for even saying that, but…
On the plus side it was the most relaxing music I listened to the whole trip, at one point I even took a nice little nap.
…There, that’s better.
I mean come on guys, its New Orleans, step yo music game up!

WELL WORTH the money and time!
The trip we took on the Creole Queen was a highlight of our trip to New Orleans. The time on the river was spectacular. Charles was entertaining from start to finish and his rendering of what it was like in NOLA post Katrina was impressive. Thank you Charles and to the Captain and the entire crew of the Creole Queen for making our time so enjoyable.

Just got off the tour with River Cruises. The drinks made at the bar were really good, and a fair price.
Most importantly our guide was Charles. Not only was he funny and knowledgeable, but he provided an extremely heartfelt and powerful story of the devastation of Katrina and the rebuilding process after. I highly recommend getting Charles as your guide.

Charles’ narration of the battle of New Orleans was topped only by his great passion during the telling of the Katrina story on the return trip.
Along the way the time at the battlefield was memorable and thy food was delicious.
It’s on my list for any return visit.

Cruise time 10 and 2, board 30mins before departure. No outside food, had to trash my café du monde beignet (dammit), was able to take my water bottle. The tour is 2 hrs, but you dock at the Jean Lafitte National Park (battle field), sit under the 200 yr old oak trees and then enjoy another set of history from the park ranger. CHARLES CHESTNUT (Ship narrator/​historian) was witty, sarcastic, informative and knowledgeable. I truly enjoyed the return trip story of the recent hurricane. The story of your texting grandmother was hilarious, wish I could get my 80yr old aunt to text now… lol… $ 14 buffet style meal includes a drink (just get it), 1 dish and a drink will cost you $ 16. so save done money, and eat well. Now I emphasize, it’s not the BEST cuisine, but it was very flavorful. I enjoyed it! Don’t just visit NOLA and stay on stinky Bourbon, get out and learn some history, you’ll appreciate the city more.

Overall an excellent experience. I was hesitate about the food but was pleasantly surprised by not only the buffet selection but the quality of the food. You never know what to expect on a touristy attraction but it was great quality of chicken, brisket, gumbo, shrimp pasta and more. Overall a great experience on a beautiful night on the river. If you’re new to NOLA, it is certainly worth the experience.

Wendell did a great job with naration along the way. The stop at Chalmette was very interesting. There is a nice museum there. My only wish would have been to have a little more time there. Great cruise… great price!

Gosh, this was so damn fun! Maceo Parker was booked to sing on this evening cruise, backed by the Head Hunters (Herbie Hancock’s band.) We were scheduled for a 10p departure but actually left 30 minutes late. The band played downstairs in hold. There was A/​C and full bar but you could barely tell we were cruising the mighty Mississippi. There was no boat and river ambiance. The top deck was really the place to be– the evening breeze, views and river life were magical. Thankfully the promoter had an excellent DJ up there and people were dancing away. I sat in the back bench, watch life roll by and no sooner than we started did the ship pull up to the dock and we disembarked. Quick two hours. I remember thinking «I want to do this again tomorrow night.» Sadly, there was nothing scheduled. Next year please?

We really enjoyed the time on the river during our sunset dinner and jazz cruise, but the dinner service itself was really weird and poorly executed.
You can board the boat starting at 6pm, and the ship departs at 7pm. We got on the boat at about 6:15pm. Both the tickets themselves and the announcements made during boarding say that the dinner buffet will open up at 7pm, as the ship departs. We headed down to the dining room at 5 minutes to 7, and were disappointed and confused to see that most people were already completely DONE eating, and even more disappointing, half the food was cold and they were completely out of a few items. BEFORE the time we were told the buffet would even open!
Also the servers kept trying to take our plates and silverware before we were done. It was like they were highly motivated to get the dinner service over and cleared ASAP, before the boat even pulled out of the dock. So strange.
The bartenders did make good drinks, but they were quite pricy.
The cruise itself was the real winner here. The music was very enjoyable and the weather was just perfect. The sun going down over the water and the city skyline was so serene and relaxing.
I would definitely go again but I’d for sure skip the dinner and just go for the cruise part.

I did the Chamelette Battlefield historical lunch tour. The buffet was small compared to some that I’ve done here in Chicago on the lake front cruises; and especially for the price. I ate the Jambalaya, Gumbo, Cajun Chicken Pasta, and Bread Pudding. I wish there was a meat like Chicken (fried or baked), Beef, or Fish. There are free soda drinks which for some reason that day tasted super refreshing! The tour guide was a native and former history instructor. She was very informative and the views were great.
By the way, Google wasn’t pointing to the right direction on my phone. It showed somewhere north of the French Market area. You actually have to go to the Outlet Collection at Riverwalk. at 500 Port St # 39, New Orleans, LA 70 130. Outside near the riverwalk area is where the boats are waiting for patrons. The ticket lady said that taxi drivers and tourist always go to the wrong spot.

This was a very nice ride and the History Lesson provided was very good. We enjoyed some very nice Cocktails on board too. The kids really enjoyed it and there was a nice breeze on the Upper Deck & there are several covered areas if you don’t want to be in the sun. I have been on the Steamboat Natchez and I definitely prefer this Boat. It seems cleaner and the staff was nicer. Initially, I was not clear on where this Boat actually loads & docks. I thought that it was in the same area as that other boat, but it’s actually near the Riverwalk Mall which is a bit of a hike from Jackson Square so be aware of that. I like the stop at the Chalmette Battlefield where you can actually get off the Boat for a while before turning around to head back.

Myself and my partner had such a nice relaxing time on this boat ride, the historical information from the guide was outstanding and funny at the same time.
I would recommend this tour to anyone and look forward to visiting some more popular spots.
The cost of the tickets was average, we even got $ 5 off all tickets because we had an OAP with us.

If you have the time, this is a relaxing trip where the on board historian gives you history and tells you stories. AND if you go on a Sunday when the Ranger station at the battlefield is closed, the on board historian does an EXCELLENT job of telling the story and giving you all sorts of historical information.
We did not do the buffet, so I cannot comment on the food, but refreshments were available.
AND a bonus, if you have not been to New Orleans as we had not, the historian gives you on optional (you need to go on deck) recount of the time leading up to hurricane Katrina and what transpired during and the aftermath. First hand experience and from his family members too. VERY, VERY Good IMHO…

What a wonderful way to gain a fresh perspective on New Orleans. Traveling on the Mississippi River gives a very different view of the city, and the quality of the accompanying interpretation is top-​notch.
My husband and I, who are both big history geeks, were in town for the New Orleans marathon, along with my mother-​in-​law and sister-​in-​law, who were willing to accommodate our interests. One thing we wanted to do very much was to visit the site of the Battle of New Orleans. What we got was so much deeper than just that.
Our guide to what was basically a walking tour of New Orleans by boat was Christopher Tidmore, and his passion for this city just sparkled during the entire trip. He did a wonderful job not just pointing out landmarks and relating the events that took place there, but building those places and events into a broader narrative about the character of the city of New Orleans. I learned about the origins of the distinctive New Orleans accent, the impact of the unique geography (and limited arable land), and the importance of Sundays off to the richness of New Orleans culture. Mr. Tidmore’s skillful writing, leaping off from what the participants can actually see, is nicely packaged with humor, self-​reflection, and deep affection for the city.
The ship itself doesn’t feel old, but travelling by boat give a very historical pace to the tour, and reminded me of just how vital the river was and still is to trade and the development of the city.
The buffet lunch was not the best food we ate in New Orleans, but it was good, and the bread pudding was a big hit with our whole group.
One complaint shared among my group was that when we got to the battle ground, we were assured that there would be plenty of time to explore the grounds, and that we shouldn’t miss the National Park Ranger’s interpretation of the site. This could have done with a little more coordination with the Creole Queen crew, since by the time our interpreter was done, we had just a few minutes to quickly run up to the top of the monument before we were told that the boat would be leaving. I realize the Creole Queen crew has no control over the length or content of the Park Ranger’s presentation, but it would have been more accurate to let us know that there was a presentation on the battle we could listen to, or we could explore on our own, since we didn’t really have time to do both.
If you’re looking for a unique view of New Orleans’ history, and to hear the story of the early city told by a person who clearly loves it, I can highly recommend the Creole Queen historical tour. It was my favorite «tourist» experience in New Orleans and I love that my ticket price helps to support the Battle of New Orleans reenactment. Now I can think of New Orleans not just as a place for spoiled kids on Spring Break to party, or a place of recent tragedy, but as a place where the those things blend into something kind of sublime and that the blending of the joy and the tragedy of life has been going on as long as there have been people living in New Orleans. Where, «if fire, flood, or hurricane didn’t get you, disease would» so you have to live and enjoy every moment.

Our BEST night in New Orleans at the 2016 Keller Williams Realty Family Reunion was spent on the Creole Queen. Taking off from the dock we made our way down the Mississippi River in the evening watching the lights from both sides of the river. Passing Naval ships and buildings of all sorts, with the stars out and lots of great friends. What a way to spend an evening. Back inside we danced and danced. Everyone of us danced. Some of us surprised each other with how good we danced. We had so much fun other groups tried to come in to our party. Once they were escorted out, but they came back. They joined our fun and at the end of the night a couple got engaged. Although that was a bit weird, since they didn’t know any of us, we were none the less still happy for them. I don’t think they will forget the night and I know we won’t.

Great river tour and the tour guide gave a wonderful narration about the river history and then. When we stopped at the fort the visitor center had great displays and a video about battle of Louisiana
The tour guide name was Charles chestnut
Kudos

This was the best thing I did in New Orleans. I did not eat the food due to friends who had eaten there before. The scene though is worth the ticket.
When the boat leaves, guests get the most beautiful evening skyline view of New Orleans. We did an evening tour which made the view spectacular.
We were dressed for an evening out on the water. It was a bit foggy so it made for a haunting boat tour (I like that kind of stuff so I let me imagination run wild). It was a bit cold, but again we were dressed for it. If you are not dressed to be outside of the ship that is ok. There is plenty of room inside. Many stayed inside and enjoyed the views from the warm insides of the ship.
For those who enjoy the outside, the ship has plenty of room to sit outside or just stand. You will be comfortable which ever option you choose. For our boat ride there was live music. Not sure if that is part of a normal tour or if that was just for our party. Anyway the live entertainment was truly New Orleans! We had a great evening on this ship. Highly recommend a tour of this powerful river.

Charles was well spoken, informative, funny and delightful. Our history teachers should be as good! I especially liked the Battle of New Orleans explanation. Kudos!

Charles absolutely made the trip! I especially enjoyed his narration about Katrina! Very moving.

It was a great leaning and entertaining experience. The guide, Charles, is such a tremendous storyteller. From his narrative my friends and I learned a lot which otherwise would not have been known to us.

We love to travel to all of the different battle grounds around the country. We had spotted the Chalmette Battle ground we had to check it out. Since we did not rent a car we decided to check out the Creole Queen for our ride.
We pre-​booked our cruise with the Hotel and we arrived at 9:30am for our 10:30 Cruise. The staff was very friendly and help us pass the time until we boarded. It was not a long wait. Once we were aboard we bought two cup of their $ 1 a cup coffee. It was actually pretty good.
The cruise along the river was nice and we both really enjoyed Christopher Tidmore’s narration along the way. The one complaint that we had is that the kitchen staff were talking so loud it was really had to follow what Christopher was talking about. It would have been nice if they had gone in to the kitchen to talk or at least tried to be a bit more quiet.
When we arrived at the battle ground we were escorted off the boat by Christopher and introduced to a park ranger that led us to the visitors center and gave us an account of the battles surrounding the Chalmette Plantation. The information was great, but a bit dry.
When the park ranger was done, we only had about 15 minutes to check out the visitor center. I bought a few pins, and the gentleman at the register was having a hard time figuring it out, so me and the person who bought a bunch of books behind me had to run and were rushed onto the boat.
We had other plans for lunch, so we did not try the buffet. It smelled pretty good and the other people seemed to like it.
Over all it was a nice experience. It would have been better if the kitchen staff were a bit more considerate. More time at the battle field would have been nice. and since were were late getting back on board we lost our seat by the window.

Our guide, Charles, was fantastic. The cruise was within a good time frame and very informative. Charles made the trip very fun and he has a wonderful way of talking! Loved it.

I took the historical tour cruise. Let me preface this by saying that I am a history professor, so I am probably holding this to too high of a standard. But, that being said. It is a well meaning enough tour and the Park Ranger clearly knew what he was talking about. But the actual guide on the boat, Charles, left much to be desired. He often passed off his own historical «insights» as actual historical fact, which he had clearly been called on before, because he would tack on «I stand by that characterization» after saying it.
More worryingly was what he didn’t say. Not a single mention of African peoples. How can you talk about the history of NOs w/​out mentioning slavery, the large free black community, jazz, the food, all of which have at least partial Afro-​Caribbean roots? I know this was primarily focused on the War of 1812, but he talked about NOs founding and Katrina. And he found time to mention the French, the English, and the Spanish, but he didn’t have thirty seconds to acknowledge African peoples? Please.
If you are in NO for a while and run out of things to do, it might be worth it, but if not, your time is probably better spent elsewhere.

The cruise is awesome! The guide Christopher Tidmore was so incredibly knowledgeable and entertaining. It was a lovely and relaxing pace for the afternoon. Really enjoyed the break halfway at the Battlefield.

To start, I would say it was more of a 3.5 star experience.
We were in town with family and did the dinner cruise. The resson we selected the Creole Queen over the Natchez was the menu of the Creole Queen looked way better.
Apparently a main difference between the two ships is that with the CQ you get to keep your table whereas the Natchez kicks you out to make room for more diners.
The food was average to slightly above average and included gumbo, brisket, Caesar salad, red beans and rice, bread pudding and more.
The service was the main negative, our server was a very sour lady who was largely nonexistent.
The music was very good, both in the dining area and on the upper deck. The speakers in the dining room are bad which took away from the music.

Booked the 7p cruise, with buffet dinner. I like that this has one dinner seating with assigned tables so that 1) you don’t need to line up early to get a good table and 2) you can keep your table for whole night if you want a break from the outside and/​or to enjoy the dance floor.
The food was good — standard New Orleans dishes like gumbo and red beans and rice but also a brisket in case you have someone who doesn’t like spice. Our server wasn’t overly friendly but she was decent and kept serving us drinks the whole night, including tea and coffee as it got later. They also kept dessert available for the entire length of cruise so we had later.
The music was a highlight. Great three piece band that my daughter danced to the entire three hours of the cruise. And they were so nice to her! Dedicated a song to her and when she came back after being outside for a bit they welcomed her back and said they missed her. ;) outside on top deck there was a gentleman playing a banjo and singing and he was great background music while enjoying the views. And the views were beautiful and there was plenty of seating to enjoy from whatever vantage point you wanted. We never felt crowded.

Took the Creole Queen paddle wheeler down the Mississippi. This tour only goes one stop and that’s to the Chalmette Battlefield where the climatic battle of the War of 1812 — the Battle of New Orleans was fought. The Battlefield was well worth the stop. My only gripe is that we had to leave too early and I wasn’t able to spend any time in the visitor center or check out the battlefield more closely because of the time i spent listening to the interesting park ranger talk.
I enjoyed the view so much, I never left the top deck. I enjoyed the narration during the voyage, especially his description of Hurricane Katrina.

Can you imagine being a Unilocaler who loves great food and getting a poor meal in New Orleans. That’s exactly what happened to us here. This was a special event through the convention my wife was attending. It cost $ 100 per person!
The first thing I noticed when I got on the boat that it did not really have the feel of a old paddlewheeler. The ship is not old it was built in 2008. When I looked up and saw the ceiling tiles it reminded me of being in an office building.
The food was buffet style. They offered Cesar salad, rice, mashed potatoes and bread. The main course was tiny pieces of chicken breast which they served you one of those little pieces. The salad did not appear to be fresh as it was very wilted so I only ate a couple of bites. I tried a little bit of the chicken and it was extremely dry and I could not eat it at all. I have to say that the mashed potatoes were pretty good and so was the bread. I forgot to mention there was also green beans on the buffet which looked good but we’re obviously from frozen. I could not eat the beans either.
Somebody came by to ask is how the meal was and we told him. He suggested that we try the bread pudding because it was good. We chose instead to just get off of the boat before and left and go try to find a better meal somewhere else.

The boat tour on the river was great as was the battle field tour. The highlight however was the wonderful reenactment of Katrina and the devastation it left in its wake. Charles was the narrator of the cruise and he is an unbelievable story teller particularly when speaking about Katrina. Except this wasn’t a story, this was a real life nightmare for the people of New Orleans. He wrote this awesome narration himself.
I highly recommend taking this tour especially with Charles. Definitely a highlight of my trip.

Wow! This tour was everything I could’ve hoped for and more. The boat is nice and clean. The tour guide, Charles, was amazing. His humor and tempo of his delivery was perfect.
Our weather was perfect. Not windy and not too hot.
The tour guide shared a bunch of information you won’t learn in history books and gave some great tips on places to visit.
We didn’t partake in the buffet on the boat since it costs extra but it did look and smell great.
I will definitely recommend this to anyone and do it again.

Went back «home» for my monthly trip to New Orleans to see my handsome BF. Booked a cruise for Sunday, 10÷18÷15 and it was such a gorgeous day on the Mississippi River. New Orleans has really great weather in the fall and spring… like Cali weather!
Had reservations for 10am. We arrived 15 min earlier but we should have gotten there at 9:30am which would have prevented us from missing getting our preboarding picture taken. Boo! I love taking pics with my BF… I cherish all the memories. I’m sentimental like that!
So anyways, it was a 2 ½ hour cruise. We had the pleasure of being able to listen to our Narrator/​Guide, Christopher Tidwell, who had lots of energy and awesome stories to tell us about the history of New Orleans. We had even asked him if he could sit in the back seat of our car and take a tour so we can listen to all his storytelling. Very fun and informative man! He’s got a great voice. Make sure you get him if you book a cruise on the Creole Queen.
We were able to eat the brunch Buffett that they offer at 10:30am downstairs on the boat. For $ 14 each person, they had all you can eat Caesar salad, pasta, gumbo, jambalaya, and bread pudding and it comes with a drink. Not bad at all! The bread pudding was good and they serve it hot too! We went for seconds, thirds… fourth servings.
A little windy during the boat ride so take a jacket.
Half way through the trip we stopped at Chalmette Battlefield and we were able to explore for 30 minutes. Wasn’t expecting to get off the boat but that made it even more exciting! Love the history of New Orleans. This old city has a lot of character. This is one cruise that you don’t want to miss. What a steal on Groupon! Glad I was able to take advantage! Of course, it always matters who you’re with also… it made it such a romantic cruise! LML

Let me start off by saying that I hardly EVER give a 5-​start rating as I believe there is always room for improvement.
If you’re looking for something amazing to do while in NOLA, forget the Natchez Steamship tour, make sure you take part in this highly entertaining historical tour.
The all-​star narrator Charles Chestnutt, made this trip educational, interesting and touching. He is by far, an accomplished narrator and you can tell he loves what he does.
During the trip, we learned about Battlefield history with Andrew Jackson and Katrina hurricane.
We laughed and greatly appreciated Charles charisma and touching personal twist on each narrative.
Food was good and this trip offers great value. A must see.

The guy friend and I came yesterday, as he found a great deal on Groupon. I am so glad that he surprised me with this. And SO HAPPY! The tour was narrated, and gave some insight for sights along the river. We went on the Battlefield cruise, which left the river walk downtown to the Challmette Battlefield, and we were given a chance to get off and explore a bit of the battlefield.
We did go to the middeck, and had a couple of cocktails and a great quick meal of chili cheese dogs, salad and gumbo. The service was wonderful, and the dining room was climate controlled.
I look forward to bringing guests here in the future, as I think this is a good value for the money, even at full price. I am glad that I came!