Local School Group & Camp
Gray Line 2025 Transportation Rates
LOCAL SAME DAY RATES (WITHIN 20 MILES OF DOWNTOWN NEW ORLEANS)
- All rates come with a 5-hour minimum.
- Surcharges or 8 hour minimums may apply to holidays and special events.
- Rates listed on this sheet do not apply during special event periods of Sugar Bowl, Mardi Gras, French Quarter Fest, Zurich Classic, Jazz Fest, and High School Playoffs.
- Quotes are valid for 10 days or until a deposit has been paid.
- Gray Line reserves the right to impose a fuel surcharge based upon the published diesel prices by the US Energy Information Administration for the Gulf Coast region.
- Tolls, parking fees, and driver’s hotel room for overnight charters are not included.
OTHER CHARGES
Afterhours Surcharge: Applies to any charter lasting after 2:00 a.m. or before 5:00 a.m.
Airport Surcharge: Any charter to or from either Lakefront or Louis Armstrong Airports is subject to this fee
Mandatory Baggage Gratuity: Applies to all Airport Transfers, Amtrak Moves, and Cruise Terminal moves
Tolls: All quotes exclude parking, tolls, and other fees
One Way Transfers: Based upon availability
Driver Gratuity: Driver gratuity is optional, customary, and is not included
SPECIAL EVENTS
- Surcharges or 8 hour minimums may apply to holidays and special events.
Special Event Date
Sugar Bowl/New Year
Super Bowl LIX
Mardi Gras
French Quarter Festival
Zurich Classic
Jazz Festival
Essence Festival
Louisiana High School Playoffs
Thanksgiving
Christmas
New Year
December 30, 2024 - January 2, 2025
February 2, 2025 - February 10, 2025
February 21, 2025 - March 6, 2025
April 10, 2025 - April 13, 2025
April 21, 2025 - April 27, 2025
April 24, 2025 - May 4, 2025
July 4, 2025 - July 8, 2025
Dates TBD
November 27, 2025 - November 30, 2025
December 24, 2025 - December 26, 2025
December 30, 2025 - January 2, 2026
GRAY LINE CHARTER BUS FEATURES
Wheelchair Lifts (Upon Request)
Friendly Professional Drivers
Find Your Driver Technology
24-Hour Dispatch Services
Licensed and Fully Insured
Receptive Services
Luggage Storage
Green Fleet
Restroom
8/25/2025
“STEM”BOAT NATCHEZ ACTIVITY
GOAL: Create your own paddleboat, like the Steamboat NATCHEZ, that moves when the “paddlewheel” is wound and released.
MATERIALS NEEDED: Plastic Bottle (1), Popsicle Stick (1), Rubber Bands (12), Chopsticks (2), Scissors or Craft Knife (1)
*Adult Supervision Required*
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.Place your bottle on a flat surface and secure the two chopsticks, one on each side of the bottle, with your six rubber bands. Ensure both of the chopsticks extend past the bottom of the bottle.
2.Ask an adult to cut your popsicle stick in half with Scissors or a Craft Knife.
3.Insert two rubber bands in between the two halves of your popsicle stick. Attach the sticks to each by wrapping a rubber band around each side
4. Loop two rubber bands onto the ends of the t chopsticks.
5. Wrap one rubber band around the end of eac chopstick to secure your “paddlewheel” to it
6. Pick up your new “Paddleboat” and rotate the stick “paddlewheel” toward you 12 times. Pla “Paddleboat” face up in a body of water and release the “paddlewheel” to watch it cruise!
Teachers/Youth Group Leaders, please contact our team for our 2025 Local School Cruise Rates starting at just $13.00 per person! Call (504)569-1401 or email Groups@glnosc.com to book.
Captain’s Salon
THE STEAM CALLIOPE
The steam calliope, a 32-note steam pipe organ, is a uniquely American instrument. It has been identified with, and inseparable from, the steamboat since November of 1856. This marks when the Steamboat Amazon first pulled into New Orleans playing her calliope. The dulcet tones of this “steam piano” graced the waterfront of the “Big Easy,” starting a tradition that would last for years to come.
The Steamboat NATCHEZ, the only authentic steamboat that remains on the Mississippi River System today, carries on the tradition of calling people to the River with her calliope. When the NATCHEZ was christened in 1975, she was built with a calliope that replicates the original steam calliopes built over a century ago by Thomas J. Nichol of Cincinnati, OH.
A steam calliope’s music comes across as “pure” Americana, upbeat, circus-excitement; it is a visual music! A plume of steam shoots upward from each whistle played. The NATCHEZ calliope has synchronized colored lights that illuminate each time any given note (whistle) is struck. The instrument actually puts on an audiovisual show. It is a testament to the musical skill required to play this extraordinary instrument. The steam calliope is not merely a gimmick to attract attention, although it certainly does that, but it is the continuation of a unique American tradition.
old-time hand held megaphone. The calliope trills a melody into the air while the great paddlewheel, 32 tons of white oak and steel, churns the heavy waters of the Mississippi. You soon find yourself slipping into the spirit of the old, vast and timeless river.
As the NATCHEZ glides past the French Quarter and through one of the world’s most active ports, you begin to understand the magic of the experience. For all its history and romance, the excitement of riding a steamboat is as real and rich and genuine now as it was a century ago.
The NATCHEZ resembles the old Ohio River sternwheelers VIRGINIA and HUDSON in her profile and layout. Her powerful steam engines were built for the U.S. Steel Corporation’s sternwheeler CLAIRTON in 1925. Her genuine copper and steel steam whistle is a treasured antique. Her copper bell, inlaid with 250 silver dollars to produce a purer tone, once graced the steamer J.D. AYRES. Her 32 note steam calliope was custom-crafted and modeled after the music makers of the Gilded Age (1877-1920).
The NATCHEZ is the pride of the Mississippi River, and has become an icon of the City of New Orleans. Many of her crew have been with her since her maiden voyage, and younger generations of their family have joined the crew and now carry on the tradition. Theirs is a whole new chapter in the history of the river, and you are now a part of it. True to tradition in every detail, boarding the NATCHEZ makes you feel as if you have entered another era. The Captain calls his orders through an
She’s the ninth steamer to bear the name NATCHEZ. It was her predecessor, NATCHEZ VI, that raced the ROBERT E. LEE in the most famous steamboat race of all time. Even today, our NATCHEZ is proudly the undisputed champion of the Mississippi, never having been beaten in a race. She’s the best of her line. It’s a line of steamers that follows the course of river history, from the Steamer “NEW ORLEANS” of 1812, through the turbulence of the Civil War, the Gay Nineties, two World Wars, and ultimately, our own 21st Century. When we launched the NATCHEZ in 1975, we revived more than a famous name. We created one of only six fully steam-powered sternwheelers plying the Inland Rivers. In 2023, only three remain. The NATCHEZ combines the best of contemporary construction, safety and comfort standards with all the authenticity and style of her classic steamboat predecessors.
“Miss Calliope” since 1989, Debbie Fagnano
- Saturday
Morning Cruise
Calliope Concert at 10:30 a.m.
Boards at 11:00 a.m.
Cruises from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Afternoon Cruise - Happy Hour Specials (Mon to Fri)
Calliope Concert at 1:45 p.m.
Boards at 2:00 p.m.
Cruises from 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Sunday Brunch Jazz Cruises
Morning Cruise
Calliope Concert at 10:30 a.m.
Boards at 11:00 a.m.
Cruises from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Afternoon Cruise - Happy Hour Specials
Calliope Concert at 1:45 p.m.
Boards at 2:00 p.m.
Cruises from 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Evening Cruise
Calliope Concert at 5:30 p.m.
Boards at 6:00 p.m.
Cruises from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
City, Cemetery & Garden District
Explore New Orleans from the French Quarter to Uptown.
Guaranteed to see a ghost on every tour!
time.
New Orleans Craft Cocktail
2:45
Narrated round-trip
HIGHLIGHTS:
25 square miles of iconic New Orleans neighborhoods
Learn about the tradition of above ground burials as you explore St. Louis Cemetery #3
Free time under the oaks at City Park with option to purchase beignets and coffee at Café du Monde
Travel along the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain, one of the largest brackish estuaries in North America
Guided stroll through the Garden District one of the most well-preserved neighborhoods in the USA
Mansions, churches & universities of St. Charles Avenue
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Eerie stories and dark secrets of the most haunted city in America
• Haunted sites documented by paranormal investigators
• Real chronicles of life and death by fires, epidemics, hurricanes, floods, wars, slavery & conflict
• Using augmented reality software similar to Pokemon GO, and the use of an iPhone or iPad, guests can pose for a picture with Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau or crackle in the Great Fire of 1788
• Venues and stories subject to change
Required
(504) 569 -1401
Learn the rich history of New Orleans one cocktail at a time. 4pm Daily 2.5 Hours
Adult (21+ ONLY): $68
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to departure time.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Includes three full cocktails
Enter Court of Two Sisters’ Carriageway Bar through the Spanish wrought iron “Charm Gates”
Relax in the former residence of Antoine Peychaud, the Creole apothecary who patented Peychaud’s Bitters, which became the key ingredient in the Sazerac
Try the “green fairy” known as absinthe at Pirate’s Alley
End your tour at Fritzel’s European Jazz Pub with soulstirring jazz to raise your spirits... and cocktails!
Locations and cocktails are subject to change
• Cooking Class & Cocktail Tour Combo bookable online
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Daily lunch or dinner buffet, brunch on Sundays
• Full bar and wine list available onboard
• Live Captain’s narration
• Live jazz music by local musicians
• Pre-boarding calliope concert
• Incredible sights from the Mississippi River
• Seasonal party packages available
Airboat Swamp Adventure
& 11am
8:45am, 10:45am,12:45pm & 2:45pm Daily | 3.75 Hours
$65, Child (6-12): $32 Please arrive 15 minutes prior to departure time.
transportation and admission included.
Tour that combines the private Manchac Swamp and
1/4 mile alley of 250 year old oak trees
Ride through the mystical Louisiana wetlands in a comfortable, covered pontoon boat
Local boat captains who share the Cajun culture of fishing, hunting & trapping Large alligators leaping up for a snack
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Relaxing boat ride through the cypress swamps and winding bayous of Barataria Basin
• Meet local wildlife such as alligators, egrets & nutria
• Learn about our wetlands and swamplands
• Commentary from native boat captains
• History and culture of the bayou communities
• Historic fishing village of Lafitte
• Tales of pirate Jean Lafitte and his privateering empire headquartered in the water labyrinth
• Live albino alligators exhibit
8:45am, 10:45am,12:45pm & 2:45pm Daily 3.75 Hours
Small Boat: $119 per person; Large Boat: $90 per person
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to departure time.
Round-trip transportation and admission included. Take a high-speed ride through the swamps and bayous!
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Thrilling ride through swamp, bayou & open waterways of Barataria Basin
• Zoom into marshland only accessible by airboat
• Meet the wildlife who call the swamplands “home”
• Commentary from native boat captains
• Live albino alligators exhibit
• Large boat (15-27 passengers)
• Small boat (6-12 passengers)
Guided tour of Greek Revival plantation home
1/4 mile alley of 250 year old oak trees
Self-guided tour of grounds that includes:
Slavery at Oak Alley Exhibit, “Big House” Exhibit, East Garden, West Garden, Sugarcane Theatre & Blacksmith Shop
Restaurant, café & bar on site
Pass Whitney, Evergreen, Felicity & Laura Plantations
•
• Audio Tour of the 272 year old plantation
HIGHLIGHTS:
• 25 square miles of iconic New Orleans neighborhoods
• Learn about the tradition of above ground burials as you explore St. Louis Cemetery #3
• Free time under the oaks at City Park with option to purchase beignets and coffee at Café du Monde
• Guided stroll through the Garden District, one of the most well-preserved neighborhoods in the USA • Live Captain’s narration • Live jazz music by the Steamboat Stompers •
