After landing
MSY to your hotel
A hotel airport pickup is property-specific. Confirm its final pickup time, or take a direct car after a late MSY arrival.
Choose an overnight hotelPort of New Orleans · Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to Port of New Orleans
MSYTouch down
PortGet to your ship
MSY to New Orleans, as published
Corridor guide · sources dated on this page · checked August 25, 2026
Taxi
$36 for up to two passengers
The airport's own flat fare to the CBD and French Quarter, where the piers are.
Taxi, three or more
$15 per passenger
The same published rule, so a party of four pays four fares rather than one.
Airport Express bus
$1.25 on RTA Route 202
It reaches Elk Place or the Union Passenger Terminal, not the pier.
Typical drive25-35 min
Distance15 miles
Getting from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to Port of New Orleans — 25-35 min, 15 miles
Your fly-in plan for MSY
Arrive the day before.
Give your MSY flight one night of breathing room before you board at Port of New Orleans.
MSYLand
HotelSleep
Port of New OrleansBoard
Tonight / embarkation morning
Embarkation morning
Hotel to Port of New Orleans
Pick the hotel first. If it offers a morning transfer, confirm its terms; otherwise use a taxi, rideshare, or booked car.
Hotels near Port of New OrleansFlying into MSY on cruise day?
Avoid it if you can. If you have no alternative, compare the direct options on this page and protect the time you have left.
CruiseDayGuide · Updated August 25, 2026 · sources checked August 25, 2026
New Orleans publishes a real flat fare downtown, and the cruise terminals sit inside the zone it covers. The catch is the per-person rule above two travelers.
MSY to the Julia Street and Erato Street terminals, mode by mode
The airport publishes the fares and the port publishes the streetcar routing, so both ends of this table are official.
| How you travel | Price as published | Time and distance | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxi | Price as published$36 for up to two passengers, or $15 per passenger for three or more | Time and distance25-35 min, about 15 miles | What the source saysThe flat fare covers the Central Business District and the French Quarter west of Elysian Fields, which is where both cruise terminals are. Taxis must accept cards. |
| Uber or Lyft | Price as publishedNo published fare — both price by demand at the moment you book | Time and distance25-35 min, about 15 miles | What the source saysThe $36 flat fare is the published benchmark to check an app quote against, though above two passengers the per-person rule applies instead. |
| RTA Airport Express, Route 202 | Price as published$1.25 single ride | Time and distanceTo Elk Place or the Union Passenger Terminal | What the source saysPickup is at Level 1 baggage claim outside Door 2. Neither downtown stop is the pier, so the last stretch is a streetcar ride or a short cab. |
| Streetcar, for the last leg | Price as published$1.25 single ride | Time and distanceThe riverfront line runs past the terminals | What the source saysThe port describes itself as centrally located on the riverfront streetcar line, five minutes from the French Quarter. |
| Shared airport shuttle | Price as publishedNone published for individuals | Time and distance— | What the source saysThe named New Orleans airport shuttle now states it carries groups of ten or more only, so the per-person shuttle this corridor used to have no longer exists. |
marks a row read at the source, including the rows where the source publishes no price. The $15-per-person rule above two travelers is published by the airport, not a surcharge a driver invents, so it is worth reading before you split a cab.
Questions people ask about this route
How much is a taxi from New Orleans airport to the cruise terminal?
Thirty-six dollars for one or two passengers, on the airport's own published flat rate to the Central Business District and French Quarter. For three or more the rule changes to $15 per passenger, so a bigger party pays by the head rather than by the cab.
Is there a shuttle from MSY to the New Orleans cruise terminals?
Not for individual travelers any more. The named airport shuttle now carries groups of ten or more only. What remains is the RTA Airport Express at $1.25, which reaches downtown rather than the pier, and the published $36 flat taxi fare.
How do I get from the airport to Julia Street or Erato Street cheaply?
Route 202 from baggage claim Door 2 costs $1.25 to Elk Place or the Union Passenger Terminal, then the riverfront streetcar is another $1.25 past the terminals. Two dollars fifty against thirty-six is a real saving and a real amount of walking with bags.
How do I get from the cruise terminal back to MSY after my cruise?
The published flat fare runs from the airport rather than to it, so the meter governs the return leg. Debarkation mornings put a whole ship on Julia Street at once, so arrange the ride the night before instead of queueing at the rank.
Where these figures come from
- flymsy.com — Taxis and published flat fares · read August 25, 2026
- flymsy.com — Public transportation · read August 25, 2026
- norta.com — Fares · read August 25, 2026
- portnola.com — Cruise parking and directions · read August 25, 2026
Published fares change without notice, so every figure here carries the date we read it. Reconfirm anything time-sensitive before you travel.
Local Tip
MSY's rideshare and taxi pickup is curbside outside baggage claim in the terminal that opened in 2019 — it's well signed. Airport shuttles run scheduled departures with multiple hotel stops, not on demand, so confirm your pickup time and the last morning run when you book. International arrivals should budget 60-90 minutes for immigration and customs before that 15-mile ride even starts. If you are flying in from outside the US, sort your entry authorization before you book: most visa-waiver travelers need an approved ESTA, it is not issued at the airport, and without one the airline will not board you. Apply through the official CBP site at esta.cbp.dhs.gov — never a paid intermediary.
Once you arrive, find your terminal:
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