Tennessee Williams once said, “America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.” So how do you take that singular culture of New Orleans, put it on a boat, and set it out to sea? You get Trombone Shorty & Orleans, Cyril Neville with Omari Nevill and The Fuel, and George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners on board, for starters.
The Big Easy Cruise will take its third voyage January 18th–25th, 2026, bringing the spirit of New Orleans to ports in Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Cozumel, MX; and—for the first time in two years—Crescent City itself. Among the highlights of the 2026 itinerary is a 24-hour dock in New Orleans, where passengers will disembark the 2,100-capacity Holland America Line Eurodam to see Galactic featuring Jelly Joseph perform at the legendary Tipitina’s.
“Yeah, it’s the music… but it’s also more than just the music,” said Big Easy Cruise founder Mike Jason. Rather than trying to export NOLA’s unique cultural DNA and sail off with the profits, Jason’s team has worked alongside local organizations like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, local FM station WWOZ, OffBeat magazine and its publisher Jan Ramsey, and many more community representatives. Louisiana Culinary Legend Chef Kevin Belton will keep up his perfect attendance cooking on the cruise, while local institution Trixie Minx will bring her renowned burlesque shows aboard.
There’s also, of course, the music. Over 100 artists hailing from and inspired by New Orleans dot the lineup, including swamp rock veterans Little Feat, guitarist Samantha Fish, roots-rock duo Larkin Poe, singer-songwriters Anders Osborne and Marc Broussard, pianist Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, blues singer Marcia Ball, and brass unit The Soul Rebels.
“But there’s other artists like Chubby Carrier and Pine Leaf Boys and John Papa Gros and people that bring the kind of vibe of real New Orleans,” Jason said, adding, “We figured let’s get the music right, and that’s what moves people and that’s the magic.”
Keeping with the collaborative spirit at the heart of NOLA’s musical DNA, the Big Easy Cruise hosts jam sessions every night at midnight. Organizers simply assemble the band and put out an open call to anyone who wants to drop by.
“Effectively, you roll the basketball out and you see who wants to play the pickup game,” Jason said. “So you can’t plan it too much, but you can give it some structure. … But in New Orleans, it’s not hard to get artists to sit in with each other.”
With all this attention to detail, it begs the question: why not just visit the actual New Orleans? Why not just save your money and go to Jazz Fest instead?
“We would love for them to do both,” Jason said in earnest when asked why the cost-conscious concertgoer should pick Big Easy cruise over Jazz Fest in 2026. “You have creature comforts. You are three floors away from your room. Someone’s cleaning your room. Someone is serving you food. … I love Jazz Fest, but it’s hot and once in a while it rains. I got stuck in the infield a couple of years ago. It rained. I couldn’t go anywhere. I was just soaked to the bone. So you get the fantastic music, and you get the unique experience and size [on Big Easy Cruise].”
As opposed to the mad dash across the French Quarter and beyond during all those Jazz Fest late nights, incredible performances are just an elevator ride away. The ship hosts six venues ranging from 75 to 900 capacity, so if one room is full, you can get to another one in minutes. No Ubers necessary.
“They go for the headliners, but they come back for the things they discover as well,” Jason said of his repeat cruisers. “It’s a community, you’re with a bunch of like-minded people of a somewhat similar age, a lot of the same interests. A lot of the guests become friends and it’s a reunion for them.”
To illustrate his point, Jason tells a story: One year, there were a few extra luxury rooms on one of his cruises. As a thank you to loyal repeat customers, he decided to give away some free room upgrades. The only problem was, nobody was taking them.
“I’m like, ‘How could they say no to a free upgrade?'” Jason asked himself. “So I called [and they told me], ‘I really appreciate it, but we’re here with the Smiths from Chicago and the Joneses from Tennessee. We’re in and out of each other’s rooms. We go to dinner together.’ They ended up building a community on the ship, and I didn’t realize that was going on. I probably should have [laughs].”
And in the end, Big Easy Cruise 2026 passengers do get to go to New Orleans and see Galactic at Tipitina’s, so it’s kind of the best of all worlds.
“There’s nothing better than the sail away party where the artist is playing and the sun’s going down and the community’s together,” Jason concluded. “We pinch ourselves once in a while. We’re like ‘You don’t see what happens backstage and all the other chaos of it,’ but that’s the way it should be.”
Cabins for the 2026 Big Easy Cruise are on sale here. Check out the full lineup below.
