Crescent City Tours & Transportation — Local services in New Orleans

We booked the tour to the Whitney Plantation followed by an airboat ride with Ragin Cajun airboat tours. I wanted to go to the Whitney because it is one of few (if not the only) plantations to focus on the history of slavery and experiences of enslaved people instead of slave owners. It was very educational and powerful. We did three audio tour which provides a lot of information, although it could have been timed a little more clearly as you followed the tour. The airboat tour with Ragin Cajun was a blast! Our guide was friendly and shared a lot of information about the area and the wildlife. We probably saw a dozen alligators and it was fun to see them feed on marshmallows and chicken legs. The most disappointing part of the trip was the commutation and transportation arrangements with Crescent City Tours. Our bus had people going to another plantation, so after our tour of the Whitney, we had to go Oak Alley to pick them up. Our driver was not paying attention as people boarded the bus, so we sat for an extra 15 minutes while we waited for people who had already boarded. So then when we got to Oak Alley, she said we had 20 minutes instead of 30 to eat and use the facilities. She said we wouldn’t have enough time to eat in the restaurant but the gift shop had a small deli counter with sandwiches and salads. They were really lame sandwiches, nothing special and everything was $10, even a plain ham and American cheese croissant sandwich that probably cost $2 for the ingredients at Costco. After lunch, we backtracked to get to the airboat tours. So if we hadn’t gone to Oak Alley, it would have shaved at least an hour off the trip. There was a menu on the bus for a Ragin Cajun food truck which appeared to have reasonably priced food truck items like a $5 hot dog and even a few special things like Red Beans & Rice and a Gator sausage dog. After we ate at Oak Alley, our driver called to confirm that the food truck was closed. Why didn’t she call before was a little confusing, I would have been pretty annoyed if we overpaid for a lame lunch when hot food could have been available. There was no mention of food stops anywhere in the Viator or Crescent City tour descriptions, I only knew that there were places to get food along the way based on other tour reviews. I figured for an 8hour tour, they had to get you food somewhere. I wish the tour company had been more explicit about the timeline of the tour, that Oak Alley was not on the way to the airboat tour, and the food options so we were more prepared. I probably wouldn’t book with the same tour company again, but the tour experiences...

Read to the end please and read the other reviews. Firstly this review is for this particular tour company... the plantation in itself is something everyone should visit but I can not recommend this tour company! There are other companies that offer tours with transportation which can be found via TripAdvisor.

I wish I had read the other reviews because it wasn't explained in the event description that it was going to be an audio self guided tour and not with a tour guide. But the audio ended up being okay but not as engaging and kind of hard to follow / hear.

The bus was also full as they combined several tours together "to save on gas" as Brian said but this means there are lots of stops and that a 2 hour tour ends up taking all day. I also felt rushed to get through each section and didn't feel like I really had time to sit with history and what we were learning.

ALL OF THIS WOULD HAPPY BEEN FINE HAD I NOT BEEN LEFT BEHIND!!! Please see my attached screenshot. We were supposed to be back at the bus for noon, and I knew that so I told one of the front desk employees that I was going to the bathroom and that I'd be right back. I come out less than 10 minutes later and the bus and my whole group has left. I check my phone and I have no missed calls only a text from Brian, the bus driver, saying that he'll come back for me at 12:45 but that he has to continue the tour! I can not describe the sheer panic I felt when realizing that a tour company had left me behind. I was over an hour outside the city and all alone as a single woman traveling. I've been on many guided tours and this has never happened to me before. In fact even that very morning Brian waited on several guests at their hotels delaying the whole group but when I was in the bathroom for less than 10 minutes he left me without a call. Brian continued on with the tour and went to other stops meaning I missed out on lunch and those stops. He did eventually come back for me, AFTER 1PM and after I had called the main office for the tour company to explain what had happened. Never again will I book with this company. They had no regard for my safety when leaving me behind and THEY DIDN'T EVEN CALL!?!?! This whole situation left me baffled and so scared.

Again the plantation in itself is certainly worth the visit but not with this tour company!!

Edit: the companies response is not at all what occurred and I am very disappointed that they took month to reply and then to reply with a false...

Crescent City Tours is my designated plantation tour agency in New Orleans! I have had the privilege of joining two tours thus far with this company, Whitney Plantation in September 2023 and Laura Plantation in October 2023, and they both were very well organized and meaningful trips. There are many tour companies to choose from, and I have journeyed to Oak Alley Plantation earlier in the year with another company (before learning about Crescent City), but I prefer and will continue to go with Crescent City Tours. As a researcher, explorer, and messenger, I enjoy the ability to have access to multiple historical sites along one journey to connect with sacred and powerful places and this company gives me that ability. (Even though not on the trip, you can see the Destrehan Plantation on the return from the bus.) I also am grateful for the combined transportation on one trip, since I can book a trip for one person, and not get canceled due to lack of a quota limit that must be met. (I was the only one booked for the Laura Plantation and it was not canceled with Crescent City. On the same trip/bus, I also notice another lady who was the only one for the swamp tour and her adventure was still on.) I also enjoyed the convenience of the transportation, as a semi-local in the French Quarter/Treme, to easily travel to these important sites. For both trips I had the pleasure of having Brian as the destination guide. He was well organized to facilitate the pickup and drop offs of each guest, he provided courtesy calls right before his arrival, he managed the schedule and itinerary very well, included photo ops pauses for popular movie filmed locations, he enlightened the trips with jokes and humor along the way to easy the ugly side of historical truths, and he was very down to earth and personable. I am extra grateful for Brian because he introduced me to Dr. Ibrahima Seck, an influential pillar figure for the development and continued management of the Whitney Plantation. I look forward to many more trips to continue my ancestral research, spiritual enlightenment, and paranormal investigations...