"New Orleans" reached Honolulu, Hawaii, on 26 July 1934, and Astoria, Oregon, on 2 August, where the cruise ended. "New Orleans" sailed at once for Panama and Cuba, stopping at San Pedro, California, on 7 August 1934. She exercised off New England into 1935, then visited her namesake city at the end of March while en route to join United States Fleet Scouting Force Cruiser Division 6 (CruDiv 6) based out of San Pedro, and operating along the coast of California and the eastern Pacific. "New Orleans" was open for public viewing while visiting the "Crescent City" and thousands of citizens visited the ship during the time she was berthed there. Shortly after arriving at San Pedro, the cruiser participated in Fleet problem XVI from 29 April to 10 June. It was the largest mock battle ever staged and conducted in five separate stages over five million square miles of the North Central Pacific between Midway, Hawaii, and the Aleutian Islands, involving 321 vessels and 70,000 men. In June "New Orleans" visited San Diego for the first-ever Fleet Week, one of 114 American warships in the "mightiest fleet ever assembled under the U.S. flag" for the California Pacific International Exposition.