Two daytime sailings cover most reasons people come to this river: the steamboat's two-hour jazz classic, and a 75-minute narrated run that costs less than lunch. Both sail daily, both pass the same crescent bend.
From $25.75 for 75 minutes to $43.50 for the two-hour jazz cruise. 4,692 traveller reviews between them, free cancellation on both.
Short answer
The Steamboat NATCHEZ daytime jazz cruise is the one most people mean: two hours, live jazz from Duke Heitger and the Steamboat Stompers, full narration, $43.50, optional Creole lunch bringing it to $65. If two hours is more river than your itinerary can spare, the 75-minute cruise on the Riverboat CITY of NEW ORLEANS runs the same French Quarter bend for $25.75, with the captain narrating and kids under 6 free. Both sail daily.
Daylight is when this river explains itself. The narration has the port to point at, and the port performs: grain elevators loading, tugs shoving barge strings around the bend, ocean ships swapping pilots a hundred miles from the sea. At night that all becomes scenery. By day it is the busiest port stretch in the hemisphere doing its shift, and the reason New Orleans exists at all.
The choice between the two boats is really a choice of commitment. The NATCHEZ gives the full ceremony: calliope concert, steam whistle, a band, and a proper two hours. The CITY of NEW ORLEANS runs a tighter loop with live narration and bars on every deck, and at $25.75 it is the cheapest way onto this river short of the Algiers ferry.
From-prices per person as the listings show them today; your date can move them either way.
Most reviewed in this category
The sailing most people mean when they say they rode the steamboat: two hours on the river with Duke Heitger and the Steamboat Stompers, the calliope playing you aboard, and the full harbor narration. Lunch is a genuinely optional add-on. 4,639 travellers have rated it.
Seventy-five minutes, $25.75, and the same French Quarter bend the two-hour boats sail. The captain narrates live, every deck has a bar, and kids under six ride free. The right pick when you want the river without giving it half a day.
| NATCHEZ daytime jazz cruise | 75-minute CITY of NEW ORLEANS run | |
|---|---|---|
| Time on the water | 2 hours | 75 minutes |
| Music | Duke Heitger and the Steamboat Stompers, live | No band; live captain's narration |
| Food | Optional Creole lunch, $65 with lunch | Snack bar, no meal service |
| Boat | True steam sternwheeler, 1975, engines from 1925 | Modern riverboat, 1,000 passengers, elevators on decks 1-3 |
| Departs | Toulouse Street Wharf, boards 1:30pm, sails 2:30pm; morning sailings in season | Wharf at 101 St Louis Street, daily |
| Adult fare | $43.50 | $25.75; children 6-12 $12.75, under 6 free |
| Boarding | The operator boards at 11:00am, 2:00pm and 6:00pm for cruises sailing 11:30am, 2:30pm and 7:00pm. Thirty minutes early is the stated minimum; the calliope makes it worth more. |
|---|---|
| What you pass | The French Quarter and Jackson Square from the water, the Crescent City Connection bridges, the working port, and the Chalmette bend where the river turns. The narration names all of it. |
| Summer heat | July and August afternoons are serious. The dining rooms are air-conditioned and every deck has shade, but the 11:30am sailing beats the 2:30pm one in comfort. |
| Accessibility | The NATCHEZ is stairs-only between decks. The CITY of NEW ORLEANS has elevators to decks 1, 2 and 3, which makes the 75-minute run the accessible pick. |
| Parking | Paid lots on Decatur Street and next to the dock. They fill on weekends; the Quarter's walkability is the better plan. |
$25.75 for the 75-minute narrated cruise, $43.50 for the two-hour steamboat jazz cruise, $65 with lunch aboard. Children 6 to 12 pay $12.75 on the short run and under-6s ride free. Evening and brunch fares run higher; the full price table is on our prices guide.
Yes, genuinely. Steam engines built in 1925 for the sternwheeler CLAIRTON drive a 25-ton white oak paddlewheel, and the boat is one of only two true steam sternwheelers still working the Mississippi. The engine room has a public viewing area, and watching those engines run is half the reason to pick this boat.
The 75-minute run for younger kids: shorter, cheaper, free under 6, elevators instead of stairs, and a snack bar. Older kids tend to prefer the NATCHEZ for the engine room and the whistle. Both are narrated, and neither has a dress code beyond shoes.
Yes, both run daily year-round, rain or shine, with the schedule published on the operator's site. Cancellations happen only on a Coast Guard severe-weather call, which is rare on this sheltered stretch.
It is convenient rather than memorable: a Creole buffet cooked on board, $21.50 over the cruise fare. Most travellers on tight budgets skip it and eat at the French Market ten minutes away. Travellers with kids often take it just to keep the day simple.
The same river with the Dukes of Dixieland and the city lights.
Downriver to the 1815 battlefield, with an hour ashore.
The riverboat folded into a full narrated city day.
Reading first: The Steamboat NATCHEZ in full · The CITY of NEW ORLEANS, the river's newest boat · Riverboats with kids
