The people you'll be asking for help are either going to be tourists like yourselves, or locals who have had a bit too much to drink. If you're staying downtown or in the Quarter, get a good map of the area, like the MapEasy Guide to New Orleans. It's got illustrations of key sights and such, which will help you keep from getting turned around. One of the bad features to the layout of New Orleans is that our high-crime areas are often quite close to the tourist areas. DON'T park a car illegally within two blocks of a parade route.
Parking fines are a fairly sizeable portion of the city's operating budget.
If you park too close to a corner or a fire hydrant within two blocks of a parade route, you're almost definitely always going to get a ticket, and there's an extremely good chance you'll be towed away. The police and fire departments are very conscious of what it takes to get emergency vehicles from one place to another with a parade going on, and that means keeping side streets clear. Of course, you never want to park on a parade route two hours before a parade passes, or you'll always be towed away. In addition to avoiding strictly illegal parking spaces, you want to take care that you don't block driveways in neighborhoods around parade routes. DO go out to the parade route early if you want to be in the first two or three rows of people.