bob brown

I have always wanted to do a Great Lakes cruise, so while still aboard the American Queen enroute from Alton to Pittsburgh, I took advantage of the on board incentives to book the Ocean Voyager for 2024 from Chicago thru all five Great Lakes then down the Seaway all the way to Montreal. I have already sailed the other end of the St. Lawrence from Montreal to the Atlantic on larger cruise ships. I considered the other lines offering Great Lakes cruises, but I believe only American Queen Voyages start from Chicago. The others start from Wisconsin.

We thought we could avoid being tested at the hotel check in by getting tested within 48 hours of checking in at the hotel, which we did, but at the hotel check in, they said we needed to be tested again, as it was needed within 48 hours of boarding the boat, the next day. So we tested at home for nothing, but it at least assured us it was safe for us to fly out. We did complete a one page health questionnaire at the hotel. Check in went very smoothly, as we only had 138 passengers from St. Louis (Alton), to Louisville. From Louisville to Pittsburgh, we had 258.

I too was on the AQ on her voyage to Pittsburgh. Spectacular! We arrived Pittsburgh way early, at about 8:30 PM instead of in the wee hours. We were able to do a night "on the town", and return to the boat as our hotel, before disembarking Monday morning.

On the Insignia, they have a putting course, shuffleboard, and ping pong. Indoors, they have putting thru obstacles, and corn hole toss games. All of these are played daily for 'Big O' points. All participants earn a point, winners earn two or more points... On some days, they have games around the pool. There is also a gym with exercise classes, as well as a fitness track for the more active....

I believe that the small 'O' ships deliver an adequate level of entertainment on board. The main focus for most on 'O' is the fantastic destination's they serve on great itineraries. They are excellent at this. And because of the smaller size of the ship, they cannot offer the level of entertainment that mainstream cruise lines offer, like sibling NCL, which offers superb variety, including full Broadway shows. As a destination focused cruise line, most passenger's retire early, to wake up early for a full day of shore excursions. The ship is indeed quiet on most late nights. But as the dailies posted above show, they do still have a variety of different entertainment, with the ship's own cast, as well as various 'guest' entertainers that are on for a show or two. And lot's of 'Big O Point' earning activities, that can be traded in for much better 'prizes' than offered on the mainstream cruise lines.

Sorry to hear, "H" is treating you this way, Ira. What a contrast from our experience with them, on our Covid 'extended' Antarctica cruise two years ago. They even gave us a free flight home from Chile, even though we did not purchase air from them... Good luck!

I believe you may be able to work around that, if you have two (or more) cabins booked, and have one shareholder 'booked' in each cabin. As for its use...I'm not sure it can be applied to gratuities...it generally is considered "non-refundable on board credit". BTW, it is also good on Regent Seven Seas cruise line, part of NCLH, also...

We received ours about 12 days prior to our cruise. I am surprised that in this 'online' day and age, they still do things the old-fashioned way. I am so used to online check-ins, even including uploading our photo's, as well as printing out our own baggage tags. It is about time for AQV to get a modern booking website...

Good question…doesn’t your insurance contract explain that? I am not sure, but whether you purchased your insurance thru the cruise line, or directly from an insurance company might make a difference…

I don't see how they can offer the shareholder obc, when the shares are selling so low...

I had NCL air, and paid for a round trip transfer. Later on, (prior to the cruise), I purchased some shorex, including the disembarkation tour, that included ending at the airport. So I tried to cancel the return portion of the original transfer, since it was no longer needed. I asked for a refund of that portion, but so far, I have not gotten anything. My TA is trying to see what she can do for me...

It's been about 15 years or so since I was aboard the Spirit...I am most curious if the ship still has its relatively large "bridge viewing room", along with a very nice maritime artifact display, that was accessed from a stairway in the Spinnaker Lounge...anyone know?

Just got off the Dawn, 2 July...Latitudes Party, minus Captain. No dinner with officers, no behind the scenes tour, no wine tasting. This was explained in a cabin letter from Cruise Next rep, who invited us to see him at his office, for 'a special gift'...my Sapphire pin, and my wife's Platinum one, plus $50 OBC for missed activities.

David, the CruiseNext manager, said the itineraries he had printed were the latest, and were NCL’s intention, but I agree with the poster who said they were like the Covid period…they we’re optimistically hoping international relationships would “normalize” by then, or would eliminate those ports later. As long as Putin is the dictator, I wouldn’t go there, but hope that in my lifetime, things change there for the better…

I am aboard the Dawn, on our 20 June Baltic cruise, and went to the CruiseNext lecture yesterday. They distributed the latest NCL itineraries, and to my surprise saw that they were including stops in St. Petersburg and Petropavlovsk in 2024… Seems pretty optimistic….