Evening jazz cruise · New Orleans
Two hours on the river with live jazz from the Dukes of Dixieland, a captain's narration and an optional Creole dinner buffet.
Likely to sell out. Live jazz on deck, the river sliding past, and a Creole buffet if you add it.
Why this river
New Orleans stands on the Mississippi, upriver from the Gulf of Mexico, and its nickname, the Crescent City, alludes to the course the lower river takes around and through it. French colonists founded the city in 1718. In the years before the Civil War the river was filled with steamboats, flatboats and sailing ships, so a cruise puts you on the water the city grew up facing.
Jazz was born in the African-American neighbourhoods of New Orleans in the years either side of 1900. The ticket names the Dukes of Dixieland, a band that traces its name to 1948 and plays in the Dixieland tradition. The steamboat company lists the Dukes as house band for its dinner jazz cruises, so the music on deck is the city's own sound, played live.
The Steamboat Natchez carries a 32-note steam calliope, an instrument patented in 1855 whose whistles were driven by steam from a riverboat's boilers. The ticket also sails aboard the Riverboat City of New Orleans, a sister vessel first used as a casino riverboat. The booking page shows which boat and meeting point apply to the date you pick.
From the wharf and back
A jazz cruise is read in order: the wharf, the boarding, the band, the water, the buffet if you chose it, and the walk back along the levee. These eight beats follow a typical sailing.
Which boat you board, where it goes and when it leaves all depend on the date and option you pick. Read this as an outline of the night, and check your confirmation for the specifics.
At the wharf
The Steamboat Natchez docks at the Toulouse Street Wharf in the French Quarter, and the company gives 400 Toulouse Street as the address for the GPS. Cruise tickets are sold at its Lighthouse Ticket Office, behind Jax Brewery.
At the wharf
The Natchez's steam calliope has 32 notes. A plume of steam shoots up from each whistle as it plays, and coloured lights are synchronised to the notes. The company calls it a uniquely American instrument and schedules calliope concerts three times a day.
Boarding
Boarding begins before departure, the ticket gives it as one hour ahead, and the company wants you at the wharf no later than 30 minutes before the boat pulls away. Seating is indoors and on covered parts of the deck, and the boat is non-smoking inside and out.
Under way
Aboard the Natchez you can walk through the steam engine room. The engines were built in 1925 for the sternwheeler Clairton, and they were fitted to the Natchez when she was built.
On deck
The ticket names the Dukes of Dixieland. A Dixieland band leads with trumpet or cornet, trombone and clarinet over a rhythm section, and the leads improvise around one another.
On the water
A captain narrates the history of New Orleans as the riverfront slides past, with indoor and open-air seating to watch from. The sailing is about two hours, and the Mississippi is the second-longest river in the United States.
With dinner
Dinner is an optional extra, a buffet of Creole dishes prepared on board. The cooking draws on West African, French, Spanish and Native American roots, and the menu shifts with the season.
Back ashore
You step off at the wharf in the French Quarter. Parking lots on Decatur Street and beside the dock belong to other operators, and they charge their own rates.
Shape your evening
The fare buys the cruise. Everything else is a choice you make at booking or on board, and each one changes the evening more than the date does.
Dinner can be added to the same sailing. It is a buffet of Creole dishes, with coffee and iced tea included, and the menu is subject to change by season and availability. Without it you still get the music, the narration and the river.
The ticket runs aboard the Steamboat Natchez or the Riverboat City of New Orleans. The Natchez has the steam engine room and the calliope. The City of New Orleans has four decks, and elevator access to the lower three.
Cocktails, beer and wine are bought on board, with bars on every deck. Guests must be 21 or older to buy alcohol, and servers may ask for photo ID with a birth date.
Seating is indoors and on covered areas of the deck. The top deck is reached by stairs, and on the Natchez the upper and lower decks are stairs only. Choose your vessel with that in mind if stairs are hard for anyone in your party.
Along the levee
The Steamboat Natchez under way, her red sternwheel and the downtown skyline, a trombone, trumpet and clarinet front line, the bronze brass band of Louis Armstrong Park, a gumbo, and an 1870 print of two steamboats racing.
Side by side
Two hours on the Mississippi aboard the Steamboat Natchez or the Riverboat City of New Orleans, with live jazz from the Dukes of Dixieland, a captain's narration and an optional Creole dinner buffet.
Best forAn evening out on the water with music, and dinner if you want it.
A two-hour daytime sailing aboard the Steamboat Natchez with live jazz by the Steamboat Stompers, a captain's narration, a calliope concert before boarding and an optional plated Creole lunch.
Best forDaylight on the river and a lighter schedule in the evening.
A small-group walk of about 2.5 hours through Tremé, Congo Square and the French Quarter, ending at a live-music venue with one drink. Guests must be 21 or older.
Best forAdults who want the story of jazz and a club set in one evening.
Jazz and the river, three ways
The first card opens the evening sailing this guide describes. The second is the same company's daytime sailing with an optional lunch, and the third is a walking tour of the neighbourhoods where jazz grew up.
Two hours on the Mississippi aboard the Steamboat Natchez or the Riverboat City of New Orleans, with live jazz from the Dukes of Dixieland, a captain's narration and an optional Creole dinner buffet.
Check sailings ↗A two-hour daytime sailing aboard the Steamboat Natchez with live jazz by the Steamboat Stompers, a captain's narration, a calliope concert before boarding and an optional plated Creole lunch.
Check sailings ↗A small-group walk of about 2.5 hours through Tremé, Congo Square and the French Quarter, ending at a live-music venue with one drink. Guests must be 21 or older.
Check sailings ↗More to book in New Orleans
What to know before boarding
Six guides to the boat, the band and the buffet
Which cruise to book How to choose a New Orleans steamboat jazz cruise: the evening sailing, dinner or cruise only, the two boats, the band and the daytime alternative.
Read on for the details → Boarding and practicalities A practical guide to the evening jazz cruise: finding the wharf, boarding, the calliope and engine room, decks and seats, dress, ID and the weather.
Read on for the details →FAQ
About two hours on the water. Boarding begins before departure, and the booking calendar shows the sailing time for your date.
No, dinner is an optional extra added at booking. It is a buffet of Creole dishes prepared on board, with coffee and iced tea included. Without it you still get the cruise, the music and the narration.
The ticket names the Dukes of Dixieland, a band whose name goes back to 1948. The steamboat company lists them as house band for its dinner jazz cruises. Members change over the years, so the line-up on your night may differ.
The ticket runs aboard the Steamboat Natchez or the Riverboat City of New Orleans. Your boat and boarding point appear on the booking page once you pick a date and option.
Casual is fine, and the company suggests dressy casual for the dinner jazz cruise. Wear shoes, because the boat does not serve guests without them.
It depends on the vessel. On the Steamboat Natchez the top and bottom decks are stairs only. On the Riverboat City of New Orleans the lower three decks have an elevator and the rooftop is stairs only. Call the company with questions.
Yes. Cocktails, beer and wine are bought on board. You must be 21 or older to buy alcohol, and the bar may ask for a photo ID with a birth date.
No. NOLA Jazz Dinner Cruise is an independent guide and runs no boat. Each booking button leads to GetYourGuide, where payment and confirmation happen.
Prices on this page are adult fares in US dollars, and GetYourGuide shows the amount in your currency when you book.