DaveinCharlotte

22 hours ago, JanetMarie said:

On 9/21/2024 at 3:21 PM, JanetMarie said:

I note that your itinerary has been changed to a one way trip.  We are also going on another cruise next April wherein we recently received notification that it is changed to a one way. As long as the itinerary stays the same, we're good to go!

    This is for our cruise in April 2025, the Chesapeake Bay.  We leave from the docks in         Washington, DC, and arrive back dockside in Baltimore.  

The website shows that the Chesapeake Bay Cruise, 8 days, is round trip from Baltimore to Baltimore.  And the only map and itinerary they provide conforms to this.  Yet when I look at the individual cruise schedule, it shows that almost half of them are one way, Washington to Baltimore!  And these alternate randomly throughout 2025, 2026, etc.  Obviously the two itineraries cannot be the same, and is there no indication there is a Baltimore to Washington option.  Why would anyone now book a cruise where the itinerary was not provided?  

If you find the Hyatt Regency package too expensive and can walk your rollerbag 0.9 miles (or get a taxi), try the Hampton Inn on the south side of the river.  Room and week-long parking very reasonable, by comparison.

They usually have a mixture of craft beers, "boring" beers, and a nonalcoholic beer.  Not a big selection, mind you,  But on 20 cruises I have never been disappointed re the availability of good craft beers.

Open seating: come in anytime during the period, sit anywhere there's room.  Beer and wine available lunch and dinner; hard drinks can be ordered, but be prepared to wait.  Beer and wine available in lounge all afternoon, but bar not open.  Beer, wine, and hard drinks available during cocktail hour and then later in the evening. All meals via order-off-menu; special requests honored, no buffets.  Room service is available.  (This info applies to all ACL ships, not just the Jazz.)

8 hours ago, goinmobile68 said:

Wow! More Windjammer veterans! We also did the Yankee Clipper (honeymoon) & Flying Cloud w/Captain Adrian. We've never done a river cruise but are considering the Columbia/Snake. How would you compare the 2?

Except for the fact we greatly enjoyed both, I'd say no comparison at all.  On our half-dozen Windjammer cruises (all on the Mandalay) 25 years ago, we were in our 50s like most of the passengers.  On our two-dozen ACL cruises, most passengers were in their 70s or even 80s (as we are now).  So the excursions are much less active, and the food, cabins, and lounges much better (and, of course, more expensive).

We've done the Colombia/Snake cruise twice (though on a different cruise line -- "Uncruise") and found the locale to be super.  In fact, in 2 weeks we leave for our 3rd one, which will be different because of the national parks land program tacked on the end.  The Colombia/Snake is very popular...in fact, ACL has no fewer than FIVE ships doing the itinerary.  I think you would enjoy it.  

It appears that all five ACL ships on the Colombia River are now docking at Washougal, WA, and not at Hayden Island.  There is a Best Western hotel at Washougal, but I'm not sure that's the hotel ACL is now using.  For folks starting cruises in Portland this month, can you tell me what hotel ACL assigned you to?  Some of the posts on FB indicate Embassy Suites PDX.  We have a cruise Aug 1.  Called ACL, but rep just said "we don't know yet."

We sailed on this ship several years ago when it was America Queen of the Mississippi II, and more recently as the American Heritage.  It had been substantially upgraded and looked just as the virtual tour shows.  These refurbished Mississippi paddle-wheelers are all just about the same.

Step-in showers.

10 hours ago, Joanandjoe said:

Call them and ask.

Can't.  I'm deaf.  Was hoping someone who had done one of these cruises recently would see this post.  BTW, am pretty sure (from posts on ACL FB) that ACL cruises are using Pier 81 these days.  

For cruises ending in New York City (Hudson River, Yankee Seaports), what airport does ACL take us to?  Or do they offer shuttles to different airports?

On 5/13/2024 at 5:07 PM, sb44 said:

Go  to the  ACL Cruisers page on FB and ask the question. Lots of good info and people to answer this question.

Went on my FB account and searched for "ACL Cruisers" but nothing came up.  You sure this is the right name?

On the Grand New England cruise, I remember just two ports that required tenders:  Bar Harbor and Boothbay Harbor.  There were no ports requiring tenders on our Cape Codder cruise.  (Nantucket does require a tender, but only the New England Islands cruise goes there.)

The new brochure (and the new Vantage Explorations website) make no mention of credits to former victims of Vantage World Travel.

I had been expecting the new Vantage Explorations to feature the Vantage-leased Ocean Odyssey and Ocean Explorer, but apparently the $2 million purchase did not include leasing rights for these ships.  Instead, the brochure just cites the Greg Mortimer and Sylvia Earle (and the coming-soon Douglas Mawson) X-Bow ships, which is what Aurora Expeditions already leases.  In fact, when comparing the existing Aurora Expeditions and the new Vantage Expeditions websites, I found them to be virtually identical.

So why would AE want to saddle themselves with the tainted Vantage brand?  Although I enjoyed my past Vantage cruises, I was never much impressed with their home office staff, and during the meltdown their actions were reprehensible, it seemed to me.  Now Seatrade cruise news tells me AE has hired a dozen ex-Vantage personnel for the Boston home office.

AE has an impressive selection of cruises already; could they not have just sent their own brochure to the Vantage mailing list, with a "welcome Vantage cruisers" banner displayed?   

When we booked our Key West cruise, one of the highlights I was looking forward to was the day-boat excursion over to Dry Tortugas.  I knew that this was pretty much an all-day affair, so expected the cost might be close to $100.  When 60 days arrived, discovered it would only be via an airplane, and the flight would be around $500 pp!.  And you had to meet the pilot at 6:30 am.

To my surprise, one couple on the ship actually did sign up and off the ship they went before it was even light.  Only to get to the airport, wait another couple of hours, and be told, sorry, too windy today!

23 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

By West do you mean the old Queen of the West? Or as we called it, Queen of the Worst. We sailed on that ship 10 years ago and thought it was in bad shape.

I don't know; can't find anything on wikipedia.  ACL just calls it "American West, 110 passengers, Inaugurated 1995."  That's pretty old, so you're probably right.

https://www.americancruiselines.com/usa-riverboat-cruise-ships/paddlewheeler-cruise-ships/american-west

14 hours ago, travelbuds said:

Thank you. It would have been nice if ACL had included more details for the excursions such as times and prices for the non-complimentary tours.

ACL does provide these details, but only after you've booked, and even then not until 60 days before the cruise starts.

15 hours ago, njhoo said:

My immediate reaction is focused on the Pacific Northwest Columbia River cruises.  Will that market support two vessels, certainly different styles, floor plans, etc.?  

I tend to doubt it.  ACL already has five -- count 'm five -- ships operating there, two of which are paddlewheelers.  Those (Pride, West) however are kind of long in the tooth, so maybe ACL would be keen to replace them/

11 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Duchess is 341 ft long but only holds 166 passengers; she has a steam-powered stern paddle wheel.  Countess [same age, similar history] is 318 ft long but holds 245 passengers; she has a paddlewheel and diesel electric Z-drive.

Yes, the Countess has a diesel-powered paddlewheel and 3 diesel-electric Z-drives, but I'm pretty sure the Duchess does too.  I think somebody in an earlier post (TinCan?) said as much, and I can see from our photos that the paddlewheel setups look the same.

I can't see how small passenger size would figure in here, since virtually ALL of the ACL ships -- current and future -- are in this same range.

Countess and Duchess looks very much the same inside as well as out, so I remain at a loss as to why the Duchess price was so low.  I'm thinking there was something wrong with it that ACL thought would be too expensive to repair. 

7 hours ago, dfb said:

Is this across the river from the Hyatt? Did you walk to across the bridge with luggage to the Hyatt dock area?

Debbie - Yes, this is across the river, and yes we did walk with luggage (carry-on luggage -- a duffel bag and a backpack each).  Google Maps says 0.9 miles from Hampton Inn to ship.  We're in our late 70s, and it took us about a half hour.  I recall it being fairly flat, sidewalks the whole way, and the pedestrian path on the bridge is separated from the traffic lanes.  I think this would also be fine for folks with a roller-bags; no steps that I remember.

The Hampton Inn lets you park there for multiple days for the same price per day that applies when you're staying there.  I think it was either $8 or $9 per night, less that what the Hyatt charged.  Also, there's a nice informal eatery just a block from the Hampton Inn called the Southern Grill.

Our very first cruise with ACL was Great Rivers of Florida.  This was in 2014 aboard the first Glory (now resting at the bottom of the sea, RIP, as part of a fish sanctuary).  We enjoyed that cruise, and two years ago decided to do it again.

This is a relatively laid-back cruise.  The little towns of Palatka and Green Cove Springs are places no one ever visits, and the folks there were glad to see us.  St. Augustine and Amelia Island are great stops.  We liked the fact that the cruise was Jacksonville round trip...we found a nice hotel (Hampton Inn) within walking distance of the riverfront, saving us the expense of the costly Hyatt at the ship's docking site.

Just got off the (new) Glory, and can say that the Coastal Cats are excellent ships.  Would amend your post to say there are slightly fewer lounges and features... Their main lounge is excellent, with nice views and a sit-down bar.  They have the same Skylounge and a cafe.  There is a study with computer.  There is a designated walking track on the top deck, although it is small.  Fast dual elevators to all decks.

We decided to do more Coastal Cat cruises...next up is Yankee Seaports in October.

I was on the Glory catamaran this January and we did encounter one passage (Key West to Punta Gorda) with windy choppy seas.  The waves would "catch" between the hulls and slam the ship.  Could hear and feel the slamming throughout the ship, but there was no pitching, no rolling, nothing "nausea-inducing" at all.  This, in contrast with my earlier cruise on the Star, where we left the ICW for one segment and encountered much unpleasant rolling.

I thought this part was interesting:

"The American Pioneer will follow suit in early November, offering itineraries along the Florida Coast and the Florida Keys. During its maiden voyage, the ship will sail from Jacksonville to St. Petersburg, offering a 14-night cruise that connects Florida’s Atlantic and Gulf Coasts."

So this appears to be a replacement for the "Complete Southeast" cruise that debuted early last year but then was cancelled.  Maybe the reason for the cancellation was that they discovered that the catamaran couldn't handle the Key Biscayne - Key West transit, but now they hope a ship with traditional bow will?  

21 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

The website showed a menu with three choices at every course, but we always had just two.

For the past several years, all of our ACL menus offered three choices. Usually beef, chicken, or seafood.  Rarely a vegetarian offering.  Appetizer always salad or soup (excellent soups, though small),  Entrees well prepared, and served quickly.  Great deserts. Good wine selection. Quality did vary somewhat from one ship to another.

We've only been on AQV twice, but both times excellent food, better than ACL.  Service not quite as fast.  Overall, I'd give AQV an "A" and ACL a "B+". Just my take.

11 hours ago, CarolynFH said:

IOW, if ACL says you need to make your own way from airport to their hotel for embarkation, that’s what I’d expect.

OK, thanks for the clarification!

As adstz says, "Shuttles are only at the end of the cruise" and I agree this is the general case.  But when we were on a cruise a year or two ago, the manager pitching the new cruises told us the Florida Keys cruise would include a pre-cruise shuttle from the Tampa airport to the ship in St Pete.  We signed up, only to find that a few months later ACL changed their mind and would not be offering this transfer after all.  So I agree...if the precruise info doesn't explicitly say there's a transfer (and it probably won't), this means no shuttle.

On 3/1/2024 at 3:02 PM, CarolynFH said:

In April 2022 when we sailed Portland to Clarkston, we planned to take a taxi or rideshare to the Holiday Inn, but when we got to baggage claim we found out the ship had a bus there to take us and our luggage, free of charge.

18 hours ago, CarolynFH said:

We flew from IAH (Houston) into the Portland airport the day before embarkation. 

 

We too are planning to arrive in Portland the day before the embarkation.  Until we saw your post, we had planned on taking Max rail from our airport hotel to the Holiday Inn the next morning.  But if ACL really does run a shuttle, we would go back to the airport and use that.  What puzzles me is...sounds like ACL did't tell you about this shuttle ahead of time, you discovered it at the airport.  Since you were there a day early, how did you discover that there would be a shuttle the next day?

We don't want to return to the airport just to see if ACL is running a  shuttle, but on the other hand we don't want to miss out if there actually is one.

Have not been in AAR, but have in the equivalent (i.e., cheapest) category on American Star.  We did not find the cabin to be claustrophobic; it was fine.  I see in the website pictures that there is a glass door to the balcony (vs full-length sliding glass).  But to me this is not a minus, but actually a plus - those sliding glass doors take a lot of effort to open.

But we did encounter one drawback - on the lower deck there can be a lot of coming and going in that corridor.  The crew uses it when they load, and with doors propped open on both ends it often is breezy there.