Carnival Season on January, 2025: When is Carnival Season in Rio de Janeiro and how long does it last?

January, 2025 is Carnival Season 2025.

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The Carnival Season in Rio de Janeiro will begin February 20, 2009 and it will finish February 29, 2009.

carnival cruise-hurricane season?

Considering that HURRICANE Irene is expected to hit south Florida Friday morning, I would say its time to panic as you put it. The ship will NOT pull into Miami during a hurricane on Friday morning. But you really should check with Carnival first. If THEY cancel the cruise, THEY will give you a refund (or credit). If you decide not to go but the cruise is still on, THEN contact who you got the travel insurance through. Its possible Carnival wont know until the day before (Thursday) what they are going to do, but certainly call before you fly down there!

Is the first weekend of Mardi Gras season (Jan 6) in New Orleans a lot less crowded but still festive?

Carnival does officially start on January 6th each year, but even we can't keep up the parades and celebrations for 6 to 8 weeks.

Mardi Gras Day in 2012 is February 21st. The parades start in New Orleans about 10 days before MGD and cover two weekends plus Lundi Gras (Monday) and Mardi Gras (Tuesday).

The huge crowds (and wild behavior/video) are typically during the second weekend as the last 5 or 6 days (Thursday evening to Tuesday at Midnight) are absolutely the height of the celebrations. The "super parades" Endymion & Bacchus are during the weekend before MGD and Rex & Zulu are on MGD. If someone wants to experience the maximum during Carnival they should visit during the last 5 days. The down side is the last 5 or 6 days is otherwise a bad time to visit as Carnival tends to take over. Attractions & museums close, the hotels are all completely full + expensive, traffic & parking become a nightmare, there are lines for everything, restaurants go to limited menus, etc.

The weekend 10 days before MGD still has parades and traffic/parking can be an issue, but the city operates almost normally.

For more on Carnival in New Orleans, go to:

www.mardigras.com

www.mardigrasguide.com

For general information:

www.frenchquarter.com

www.frenchquarterhotels.com

There is always music, but the bands change: Go to www.bestofneworleans.com and click on Music then Listings or to www.offbeat.com and click on Listings, then Music.

Note that music clubs often advertise "No Cover", meaning there is no charge for entering. However, clubs with "No Cover" often require that customers buy a beverage each for every "set" of music (which can be every 20 minutes) so KNOW THE PRICE before you sit down. Clubs do that because some people will sit in the club all evening drinking nothing (clubs only make money from the drinks they sell - not from the music). It is also a good idea to pay for each round of drinks (in clubs on Bourbon Street) as it is delivered so there can't be any confusion at the end of the evening.

An incomplete guide to bars & clubs:

www.neworleanscheapdrinks.com

About certain alcoholic beverages: Realize that some famous drinks are VERY potent compared with regular cocktails that have only 1 to 1 ½ ounces of alcohol. For example, a Hurricane is basically 3 or 4 ounces of rum in something like red Kool-Aid, and a Hand Grenade has at least 4 ½ ounces of Everclear + rum + vodka mixed with melon liquor. They don’t necessarily taste like an alcoholic beverage and it is easy to over over-indulge.

Cafe du Monde is in the French Quarter and you shouldn't miss having cafe au lait & beignets (www.cafedumonde.com).

Another great coffee shop is the Croissant d'Or (at 617 Ursulines Street), which is open from 7:00am to 2:00pm and has food in addition to pastry.

Visit the Bottom of the Cup tea Room for a reading:

The Palm Court restaurant is very nice, has moderate prices, and offers traditional live jazz starting at 8:00pm: 1204 Decatur Street, tel 504-525-0200 (reservations are important and they are not open every day).

Maximo's Italian Grill has great food and atmosphere: 1117 Decatur Street in the French Quarter, (504) 586-8883. www.maximosgrill.com

All of the famous restaurants (Antoine's, Arnaud's, Brennan's, Commander's Palace, etc.) reopened after Katrina. The Pelican Club (on Exchange Alley in the FQ) is not as well known but is the same type experience. Reservations are a good idea, and probably essential on weekends. Tujaques Restaurant (823 Decatur Street) is very traditional and has moderate prices: www.tujaguesrestaurant.com

Cafe Degas is a very French restaurant near City Park at 3127 Esplanade - which is not within walking distance of downtown (5 to 10 minutes by taxi). They are closed on Mondays & Tuesdays (504-945-5635). www.cafedegas.com

The Napoleon House restaurant is at 500 Chartres Street in the FQ, and has a menu of great local dishes: www.napoleonhouse.com

More restaurant suggestions:

I hope you have a great time!