Southeast Louisiana, also home to St. Charles Parish, is beginning to grow into one of the leading hot spots in the world for cruising. The big attraction here, of course, is the world’s greatest river, the mighty Mississippi, which is becoming one of the main waterways in the world for attracting tourists.
A new luxury cruise liner, Europa 2, has been docked in the river near the French Quarter in New Orleans this month.
Some 500 passengers were there ready to disembark and explore the area.
New Orleans with its French Quarter and Riverwalk with its shopping outlets were big attractions for the visitors.
For the Europa 2, the area is not a home port but a destination port of call where cruise ships do not home port but dock at the port as a part of an itinerary that includes visits to multiple cities.
Europa 2 is one of eight ships scheduled to make 19 port calls in southeast Louisiana this year.
That’s a good bit more than the 11 port calls that were made here last year. That indicates a major increase in interest in the Mississippi River as a touring water avenue by people around the world.
Last year, the Port of New Orleans hosted more than one million cruise passengers, making it the sixth biggest cruise port in the country.
This year, it is expected to exceed that. Among the titles of excursions used by P. & O Cruises which also operates out of New Orleans are “Snapshot of New Orleans,” “Evening of Dixieland Jazz,” “French Quarter Walk” and “Mardi Gras Madness.”
And in addition to the cruise ship expansion, new non-stop airline service around the world has been announced from New Orleans to Frankfurt, Germany via Condor Airlines and to London via British Airways.
So here we are nestled in southeast Louisiana which is no longer just a center for oil production but also a central place to dock when one wants to visit the central part of the Western Hemisphere.
And our bayou scenery makes it all the more enjoyable for living and visiting.
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