Mississippi River & Gulf Coast Cruise

Feel the gentle breeze of Southern hospitality on a tour that takes you back to the glory of the Old South! Experience a bygone era in one of the South’s most beautiful settings-Oak Alley Plantation, built in 1839. Marvel at the unbelievable view of a quarter-mile long alley of 28 magnificent Oak trees, each over 250 years old. Perhaps the most photographed plantation ever, Oak Alley has been the setting for such motion pictures as "Interview with a Vampire", "Primary Colors" and the wedding of Bo and Hope from the daytime soap opera, "Days of our Lives". Your guided tour will reveal the fascinating stories of the home and its history. View the Majestic Cypress Trees in Louisiana’s swamps bordering the Mississippi River. You may purchase a snack, salad or sandwich in the Café & Ice Cream Parlor to enjoy at the picnic tables or aboard the coach (Cost is not included in tour price).

Meet your professional driver for a private airport transfer. 

Welcome aboard!

Take some time to get settled in to your cabin, and explore the length of the ship. Your welcome dinner this evening will provide an ideal opportunity to meet some of your fellow cruisemates. Tonight you'll overnight in the port.

Port charges are included in your multi-day cruise itinerary pricing.

Discover New Orleans, described by some as the “most unique” city in America, with a group walking tour of the French Quarter, or Vieux Carré, the 80-block area that is the geographical and spiritual heart of the city.

Sailing the spacious Mobile Bay, Yorktown will dock in the graceful city of Mobile. Tour Mobile’s historic landmarks and sites on a group tour, which include Fort Condé, originally built in 1711, the Condé-Charlotte Museum, the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion, one of the city’s finest Antebellum homes, and the Bellingrath Gardens and Home, beautifully set along the Fowl River.

Pensacola is a beautiful Deep South city with a rich historic past. Join today's tour for a visit the 19th century buildings of Historic Pensacola Village and the Naval Aviation Museum, one of the largest in the world with over 150 restored aircraft including an A1 Triad (1911), the U.S. Navy’s first aircraft. Alternatively, travel to Fort Barrancas, with fortifications dating to 1797 and trails overlooking Pensacola Bay.

Considered the jewel of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, Horn Island is a 13-mile-long isle with lagoons that attract over 280 bird species as well as pine and palmetto forests. Ship Island is the most historic of these barrier islands.

The only plantation that retains its original slave cabins, the Laura Plantation was the location where Alcée Fortier recorded the tales of Br’er Rabbit in the 1870s. Explore the homes of the owners and the slaves in your group tour, as well as the lovely grounds. Continue to Oak Alley Plantation, with its breathtaking onequarter-mile canopy of live oaks that lead from the Mississippi to the entrance of the elaborate Greek Revival mansion.

From the capital city of Baton Rouge, visit at tranquil St. Francisville, set on a hill overlooking the Mississippi River. Founded by Spanish Capuchin monks, the town retains more than one hundred of its 18th- and 19th-century houses and buildings, including grand and small plantations. You will visit some of these sites as you explore this quaint town then return to Baton Rouge for a tour of the Old State Capitol Museum.

Natchez, the oldest city on the Mississippi River, is set on a high bluff overlooking the river. Originally occupied by the Natchez Indians, it was settled by the French in the early 1700s, and later the British and Spanish. Initially, tobacco and indigo were the crops of choice, but the advent of the cotton gin in 1795, along with slavery and its busy slave market, made Natchez one of the wealthiest towns in the United States prior to the Civil War. Today, Natchez boasts numerous Antebellum structures, with more than 1,000 buildings on the National Register. You will visit some of its magnificent buildings and explore its fascinating history.

As Yorktown continues along the Mississippi, you will explore historic Vicksburg. Its position on an end in the Mississippi River made Vicksburg a bustling trade port and a prime target during the Civil War. Tour the Vicksburg National Military Park and see the USS Cairo, the first of the City class ironclad gunboats from the Civil War.

Spend a relaxing day on the Mississippi enjoying Yorktown’s
amenities, as you sail back toward New Orleans.

This morning you'll disembark your ship in New Orleans, back where your voyage began. Bid farewell to your fellow cruisemates as you make landfall.

Meet your professional driver for a private airport transfer.