A great service of having a hotel and reserved reviewing stand on the parade route. Suggest charge a little more and include more than one "good" N O restaurant. Lectures were good. If you like breakfast (more that a pastry and coffee/tea) do it on your own. Pre program information on parking was inadequate. Staff could do a better job of locating reasonably priced parking which was available (learned after I had parked at A/P). Staff included family members in our reserved area but we were not allowed ot have a guest. Botton line: Good program--so-so management. Perhaps 90 participants is too many for 2 leaders.

If you want to see the real Mardi Gras in New Orleans, this is the ONLY way to do it. Crowds, traffic and porta-potties beset other visitors, but not us! The staff made our experience virtually free of inconvenience and discomfort. The only criticism I can think of is that the food on offer was disappointing to the extent that we resorted to buying our own meals. My advance request for vegetarian choices went largely ignored, despite the fact that the course description offered a vegetarian option. Lunches consisted of meat sandwiches, chicken salad--no vegetarian options whatsoever. A hotel buffet that offered not ONE meatless entree--when I pointed this out to the group leader, I was told "Well, there's some lettuce over there!" Breakfast? Just a low-fiber pastry and coffee in a paper cup from a kiosk. This is not a good program for those concerned with healthy eating.