cruzjunky

Hi Wishlist5,

I feel your pain as we had the 7:45 MDR dining time too. You definitely can go to the 1st seating and ask if they have room for you to dine early that night. Several of the people we met did that and had no problem getting in.

There is no night time buffet, only breakfast and lunch. There is room service but my husband refused to utilize it so cannot help there. The room service menu is in the cabin.

As for the River Grill at night. When you are checking in for boarding, you have the opportunity to sign up for 2 nights dining there. This is very popular and few times were left by the time we signed up. It is tablecloth service tho a tad less formal than the MDR. This is where the lobster tails and filet mignon are served. Yes, you can order both!:D There were other things on the menu but that was all we were interested in:o The menu does not change in the River Grill. On the 2 evenings we ate there, the room was 1/2 empty. I asked the server why when so many people wanted to eat there. She replied that there were only 2 servers, so could handle only so many tables each and provide good service. So there is our answer.

The are 2 shows, one for each seating.

yes, the 1st seating MDR is much fuller than the 2nd.

We did not try to change our seating as we did not have any luck doing that on the Queen. However, truth is, the 7:45 worked out well for us. Here is why. You usually return to the boat around 4:30 or 5 pm. Cool off, get a snack and drink in the Paddlewheel Lounge, then get changed and ready to go to the 1st show. The show usually ends around 7 pm, then you go get your HOHO tickets for the next day and mingle with the other 7:45 passengers waiting to enter the MDR!

Hope this helps some.

Hi all, we are just off the American Empress, Vancouver to Clarkston. First I want to say that the crew was phenomenal and the entertainment enjoyable!

To possibly help you that are going on the Vancouver to Clarkston, here goes:

1. Mount St. Helens Tour

Be prepared for a long bus tour. Interesting tour of Portland, then long bus ride to 1st stop for lunch. Enough time to eat (lunch was soup, salad, and a make it yourself sandwich plus ice cream) Not worth it IMHO. Time enough to enjoy the scenery at the lodge. Then next stop was the lake made by the volcano. NOT enough time to enjoy at all. very rushed. Then the Visitor's Center. Seriously, not enough time. This is where we should have spent most of our time! This is where the rangers are giving their talks about Mt. St. Helens and the films describing what happened as well as the best views. We had less than 1 hour there. Then, it is approx a 2 hour plus drive back to the AE. AQSC really needs to rethink this excursion IMHO. Best to arrive a day early, rent a car and see everything on your own.

2. Lewis and Clark Experience

Was good. Our guide kept us quite entertained on the bus ride The Cape Disappointment Visitor Center was educational and we saw eagles and comorants. Nothing noting that it was where The Guardian was filmed. Fort Clapsop was good also, as they had a ranger lead us thru it and explain everything.

3. The first afternoon in The Dalles, we just did the HOHO. The Columbia Gorge Museum was only interesting to me for the raptors on view.

The Fort Dalles Museum was interesting and be sure to go across the street to a old homestead/barn tour. Was free and docents took you on a tour and explained the way of life back then. Then the Winery. They had samplings of 4 reds and 1 white for $7. Many boat people there enjoying! As for the downtown shopping, there was none! At least we did not find it. I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

4. Multnomah Falls and Vista House

Definitely worth the $49 pp. First you make 2 panoramic stops (2nd one is the Vista House), then drive-by's of several falls. As someone else said, best to sit on door side of bus. Then Multnomah Falls. Definitely not enough time there. We had time to quickly walk up to the bridge seen on photographs, take pictures, and walk back down, that was it. no way to shop at the gift store and walk up to the bridge. Again, be prepared to spend most of your time on the bus.

5. Richland. Arriving in the afternoon, we did have time to go to the Reach on the HOHO. Well worth it and very educational about the Tri-Cities and their part in the

Manhatten project. But, only takes an hour to hour and a half tops. Much smaller than anticipated. Again we found no downtown shopping.

The second day in Richland, we did the Sacajawea Park. nice park but the Sacajawea museum will take only 30 minutes tops to go thru.

The people arriving back from the Wine and Spirits on Red Mountain tour seemed to be very happy! They reported the wine was flowing freely on their stops!

We did not meet anyone who did the Hanford B-Reactor tour so cannot comment there.

6. Hell's Canyon Scenic Jet Boat tour. My husband loved it, I did not. There is only some bumpiness to the ride. No getting wet except slight spray to those sitting in the back outside. About an hour boat ride to get to Hell's Canyon. Canyon is interesting but scenery does not change so became boring quick (to me!) The stop is very short. It takes awhile to unload everyone off the boat, you go to a barn-like shelter, get a cookie and a drink, use the porta-potty, then get right back on boat. We did see deer, waterfowl, and big-horn sheep. The guide also stopped and explained the geologic formations and showed us petroglyphs.

What I learned-- prebook your premium shore excursions, they sell out quickly. You have 36 hours to cancel prior to the excursion to get a refund.

Bring a swimsuit. In Richland, you are docked in a park where there is swimming and paddleboards, jet skis and kayaks to rent.

Forgot to add. Our room steward supplied us with an iron and mini ironing board on our cruise at our request.

There is a self-serve laundry onboard. Pretty sure is free but I am certain someone will correct me if I am wrong. If I remember right, there are 2 washers and 2 dryers.

Coffee was fine for me. They also have the machines that brew a latte, cappuccino, etc.

Hi Knitwitt44,

I don't understand why there is not more chatter on CruiseCritic about this cruise line! My husband and I just did the March 7th Memphis to New Orleans trip and it was fantastic! One of our best cruises ever.

I can only help you with a few of your questions. You have early seating. They let you come in from 5:15 to 5:30. At 5:35, they seat the people that would like to eat early that day. (who have late seating normally). We did that twice and had no problem getting a 2 tabletop. Our late seating began at 7:45 and there were lots of empty seats, so no problem getting a late seating! However, we did most of our dinners at the Front Porch cafe (buffet). Why? Because we could eat when we were hungry and the food was similiar to the dining rooms. Unfortunately for my waistline, the soft serve ice cream (with toppings) and cookies were available 24 hours a day! (and popcorn). As for lunch, I encourage you to look at the menu and buffet in the dining room, as well as what is offered at the Front Porch. We would look at all 3 and make our decision. It varied from day to day as to which was best. We never ate breakfast, so cannot help there.

As for the Hop-on, Hop-off bus. There is a kiosk at the shore excursion desk that you sign up and get tickets for what time you want to disembark. Our cruise, most started at 8:00 am. No need to go that early, as most places they stop do not open til 10 am or later! The admittance charges to these places are INCLUDED in your cruise price. No worries, these places will know you are off the steamboat because you will be carrying your ship daily with you! And, quite often, the places are close together and you end up just walking from stop to stop. However, there is a local tour guide on board from 8 am til noon that tells you all about the city and points out all the highlights. After lunch, the buses still make the rounds but there is no tour guide. We found we greatly enjoyed the tour guides and tried to do the hop-on, hop-off bus in the am and the premium shore excursions in the pm.

Since you are starting in Memphis, we can tell you the premium shore excursion to Graceland is well worth it. You get plenty of time at Graceland to do everything you could possibly want! We just left our carry on luggage on the bus as it was locked up. One of the best parts of this cruise is no security lines! They got us to the ship at 4 pm and we just walked on. You just walk on and off the boat. They do scan your card but NO security, x-ray machines that typically hold you up on ocean cruises.

Pro: normal TV channels on the flatscreen in your cabin (able to watch Walking Dead!), Verizon signal strong the entire trip, WiFi free but kinda slow sometimes, all staff were very friendly and helpful, riverlorian and civil war talks were very entertaining and interesting, free bottled water, free wine/beer at suppertime, free soft drinks anytime (fountain from the bars, no cans).

Con: some of the hop-on, hop-off stops aren't the most interesting. Can you believe that is the only con I can think off?!

If I can help with any other questions you may have, just ask. We are planning another cruise with American Queen steamboat this July!