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American Queen, May 30,2015, Memphis to New Orleans


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Hi, we arrive in Memphis on 5/29/15 and start our River cruise on 5/30/15.

 

Looking forward to hearing any comments and tips from others that have taken this trip. This will be our first Steamboat river cruise.

 

Has anyone taken any other trips with American Queen Steamboat Company?

 

Thanks,

Charliebeth

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We did New Orleans round trip last Mardi Gras. Weather was chilly and windy some of the time as we headed north, but very nice in NO. We loved the organizatrion of the trip--buses, guides, Vicksburg trip. Food and service was outstanding. Big Band theme was excellent. Going again in May on Empress because we liked the Queen experience so much. Ddcruiser

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We were on this exact itinerary in May 2013. It was our first river cruise and we were a little skeptical whether we'd like it as well as our ocean cruises. We loved every minute of it. The hop on hop off buses were wonderful, the towns we stopped at were very interesting, the weather was great and our waiter was spectacular. We liked it so much we are doing another river cruise on the American Queen this October from St Louis-Nashville.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hi, we are disembarking tomorrow from New Orleans to Memphis sailing. Once I'm sitting in my office with a full keyboard vs I-pad I will write out a full review.

 

Hi, I am looking forward to reading you review. Let me know when and what thread you will post. Thanks

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We did New Orleans round trip last Mardi Gras. Weather was chilly and windy some of the time as we headed north, but very nice in NO. We loved the organizatrion of the trip--buses, guides, Vicksburg trip. Food and service was outstanding. Big Band theme was excellent. Going again in May on Empress because we liked the Queen experience so much. Ddcruiser

 

I am glad to hear you enjoyed your trip and the food and service was good. Did you do any of the Premium Tours or just did the Hop-on-Hop-off bus?

 

We are interested in seeing Vicksburg's Battlefield. Can we get there on our own or would we have to do the tour the boat offers? T

 

We are staying in New Orleans for 2 nts at the end of the trip. Anything we don't want to miss seeing/doing? Thanks for your info.

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We were on this exact itinerary in May 2013. It was our first river cruise and we were a little skeptical whether we'd like it as well as our ocean cruises. We loved every minute of it. The hop on hop off buses were wonderful, the towns we stopped at were very interesting, the weather was great and our waiter was spectacular. We liked it so much we are doing another river cruise on the American Queen this October from St Louis-Nashville.

 

I am glad to hear you went in May and had good weather. I am a little afraid that it may be too hot the end of May-first week of June.

 

It says a lot about your experience when you go with the same company a second time. Any tips about the boat or the places we will visit? Thanks.

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I am glad to hear you went in May and had good weather. I am a little afraid that it may be too hot the end of May-first week of June.

 

It says a lot about your experience when you go with the same company a second time. Any tips about the boat or the places we will visit? Thanks.

 

 

You will love every place.

You get an itinerary about what stops the hop-on hop-off bus makes and you can pick and choose what you want to see, or you can just ride the bus around its circuit and get off (or not) anywhere you decide.

Everything is very enjoyable.

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We are interested in seeing Vicksburg's Battlefield. Can we get there on our own or would we have to do the tour the boat offers? T

 

We are staying in New Orleans for 2 nts at the end of the trip. Anything we don't want to miss seeing/doing? Thanks for your info.

 

To see the battlefield the easiest way would be to book the premium tour. I would book it early as it is very popular. The hop on hop off bus runs a circuit through downtown Vicksburg and does not go near the national park. Also Vicksburg sits on a bluff, if you have any difficulty walking the hop on hop off bus and premium battlefield tour are the way to go.

 

In New Orleans there is another paddlewheel steamboat that operates afternoon and evening excursions. The Str. NATCHEZ is celebrating her 40th anniversary this year. (http://www.steamboatnatchez.com) If you appreciate antique steam machinery it's worth a short trip on her. She has an entirely different type of tandem compound steam engine than the AMERICAN QUEEN. Also my favorite restaurant in the Quarter is Galatoire's. Make sure to sit on the first floor with the locals, but they don't take reservations for there. If it's crowded you wait in line, or pay someone to wait for you! Tourist with reservations get put upstairs, and miss what is a quintessentially New Orleans experience in the main dining room. Purchase a $3.00 all day pass to ride the streetcars; it's good on busses too. St. Charles streetcar is the oldest line, and with a day pass hop on and off the streetcar. You can wander around the Garden District, Loyola or Tulane Universities, Audubon Park and the Carrollton neighborhood.

 

I hope you enjoy your steamboat cruise on the AQ, and that you report back on Cruise Critic.

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Getting back to you about Vicksburg. The boat docks along the Yazoo River by the town. The actually battlefield is about 1 1/2 miles from the city. This is the heights area that Gen. Pemberton chose to defend the city. The siege lines run for a couple of miles and since the tour encompasses both the Union and Confederate positions it's about 16 miles.

 

As stated by Calliope, it's best to take the premium tour. It starts with viewing the film from the visitor center while on the boat. You are accompanied with a NPS licensed tour guide on the bus with a lot of the information about the 47 day siege. You will enjoy it.

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Hi, we are on the cruise following yours. We depart on June 13 and are staying 2 nights post cruise in New Orleans. We have booked the tour to Graceland prior to departure from Memphis. This will be a first for us and we are very excited. We are in room 449. Anyone have any info on that room? I'm so glad I found this board. Nice to have some info prior to cruise. :p

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You will love every place.

You get an itinerary about what stops the hop-on hop-off bus makes and you can pick and choose what you want to see, or you can just ride the bus around its circuit and get off (or not) anywhere you decide.

Everything is very enjoyable.

 

I'm glad to hear about the hop-on-hop-off bus and that it is included in our trip. Sounds like a good way to see each town/city. Going on our own time is a bonus, not feeling rushed from place to place.

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To see the battlefield the easiest way would be to book the premium tour.

 

In New Orleans there is another paddlewheel steamboat that operates afternoon and evening excursions. The Str. NATCHEZ is celebrating her 40th anniversary this year. (http://www.steamboatnatchez.com) QUEEN. Also my favorite restaurant in the Quarter is Galatoire's. Make sure to sit on the first floor with the locals, but they don't take reservations for there. If it's crowded you wait in line, or pay someone to wait for you! Tourist with reservations get put upstairs, and miss what is a quintessentially New Orleans experience in the main dining room. Purchase a $3.00 all day pass to ride the streetcars; it's good on busses too. St. Charles streetcar is the oldest line, and with a day pass hop on and off the streetcar. You can wander around the Garden District, Loyola or Tulane Universities, Audubon Park and the Carrollton neighborhood.

 

I hope you enjoy your steamboat cruise on the AQ, and that you report back on Cruise Critic.

 

Thanks for the info about Vicksburg. I will look into a ride on the Str. Natchez, sounds interesting. Galatorie's restaurant also sounds great. I'm glad you said to sit on the first floor.

 

We are renting a car in New Orleans so that we can travel outside of the city. Maybe it would also be good to get the $3.00 all day pass on the streetcars. I would imagine parking is difficult to find in New Orleans. Thanks for your info, it is very helpful.

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Getting back to you about Vicksburg. The boat docks along the Yazoo River by the town. The actually battlefield is about 1 1/2 miles from the city. This is the heights area that Gen. Pemberton chose to defend the city. The siege lines run for a couple of miles and since the tour encompasses both the Union and Confederate positions it's about 16 miles.

 

As stated by Calliope, it's best to take the premium tour. It starts with viewing the film from the visitor center while on the boat. You are accompanied with a NPS licensed tour guide on the bus with a lot of the information about the 47 day siege. You will enjoy it.

 

I showed my husband the info about the Premium tour. We are still deciding on what/or any premium tours we would like to reserve. So many to choose from. It looks like we would have full days just using the hop-on-hop-off buses.

 

We have taken several river cruises in Europe and at times felt rushed when we were on some of the shore excursions. This is our first time taking a river cruise in the U.S. This cruise sounds a lot more relaxing.

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Hi, we are on the cruise following yours. We depart on June 13 and are staying 2 nights post cruise in New Orleans. We have booked the tour to Graceland prior to departure from Memphis. This will be a first for us and we are very excited. We are in room 449. Anyone have any info on that room? I'm so glad I found this board. Nice to have some info prior to cruise. :p

 

Hi Lynda, wish you were going on our cruise, it looks like we are the only 2 people on the May 30th cruise, LOL. We are in Cabin # 218.

 

We have rented car's in Memphis and New Orleans. Haven't booked any tours while in these cities.

 

We have choosen the later dining time (7:45) since we are coming from Arizona and there is the 2 hr time difference. We will plan on seeing the 6:30 shows and hope to enjoy dancing after dinner.

 

We are also staying 2 nights in New Orleans. We are staying at the Wyndham on Royal Street, near Canal & Bourbon St. I want to be close to the French Quarter.

 

Just found out there will be the 9th Annual Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival in the Louis Armstrong Park on June 6th & 7th. Excited about going, we love this type of music.

 

Charliebeth

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Hi Lynda, wish you were going on our cruise, it looks like we are the only 2 people on the May 30th cruise, LOL. We are in Cabin # 218.

 

We have rented car's in Memphis and New Orleans. Haven't booked any tours while in these cities.

 

We have choosen the later dining time (7:45) since we are coming from Arizona and there is the 2 hr time difference. We will plan on seeing the 6:30 shows and hope to enjoy dancing after dinner.

 

We are also staying 2 nights in New Orleans. We are staying at the Wyndham on Royal Street, near Canal & Bourbon St. I want to be close to the French Quarter.

 

Just found out there will be the 9th Annual Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival in the Louis Armstrong Park on June 6th & 7th. Excited about going, we love this type of music.

 

Charliebeth

Really sorry we aren't on the same cruise. Would be fun to know someone. We have also chosen late dining. Early dining was way too early for us. I hope we get what we chose. We are also on a 2-hr time difference and are from Portland, Oregon.

 

We decided to book the extra nights in NO through the cruise line. Way too expensive but it does include a premium tour and all transfers. Probably won't do that again. Is there a way to find out what's going on while we are there?

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Really sorry we aren't on the same cruise. Would be fun to know someone. We have also chosen late dining. Early dining was way too early for us. I hope we get what we chose. We are also on a 2-hr time difference and are from Portland, Oregon.

 

We decided to book the extra nights in NO through the cruise line. Way too expensive but it does include a premium tour and all transfers. Probably won't do that again. Is there a way to find out what's going on while we are there?

 

Hi Lynda, I was hoping that others on our cruise would find this site. It would be fun to chat & get to know them a little before the trip.

 

I did a search for New Orleans and found one that is helpful with info <www.neworleansonline.com> this is where I found out about the Cajun-Zydeco Festival. I signed up for their NOLA Insiders Guide and the Visitors Guide. I like the way the site is set-up and it has a great calendar for events. Charliebeth

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Hi Lynda, I was hoping that others on our cruise would find this site. It would be fun to chat & get to know them a little before the trip.

 

I did a search for New Orleans and found one that is helpful with info <www.neworleansonline.com> this is where I found out about the Cajun-Zydeco Festival. I signed up for their NOLA Insiders Guide and the Visitors Guide. I like the way the site is set-up and it has a great calendar for events. Charliebeth

Thanks for the info. It doesn't appear that anything special is going on while we are there. I'm sure we will find lots to do.

 

Do you know the name of the pre-cruise hotel? Thanks! :p

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Thanks for the info. It doesn't appear that anything special is going on while we are there. I'm sure we will find lots to do.

 

Do you know the name of the pre-cruise hotel? Thanks! :p

 

Someone from the American Queen Company told me it is the Sheraton Memphis Downtown.

 

I did a little checking and found out it will cost approx. $32.-$35. for the 2 of us to take a cab from the airport to the hotel, it depends on the traffic. We would be the only 2 people in the cab. The shuttle was $20.p/p, but it was a shared ride and could possibly make other stops.

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Someone from the American Queen Company told me it is the Sheraton Memphis Downtown.

 

I did a little checking and found out it will cost approx. $32.-$35. for the 2 of us to take a cab from the airport to the hotel, it depends on the traffic. We would be the only 2 people in the cab. The shuttle was $20.p/p, but it was a shared ride and could possibly make other stops.

There is also transportation provided by AQ for $30pp. Sounds like a cab would be the way to go. But, if there is a lot of traffic....I don't know!

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There is also transportation provided by AQ for $30pp. Sounds like a cab would be the way to go. But, if there is a lot of traffic....I don't know!

 

It would probably depend on what time you arrive. We arrive at 1:50pm. It is only a 15-20 min ride to the hotel. We should arrive before any rush-hour traffic.

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It would probably depend on what time you arrive. We arrive at 1:50pm. It is only a 15-20 min ride to the hotel. We should arrive before any rush-hour traffic.

 

We will be at the Sheraton Memphis Downtown hotel on Friday, May 29th in the afternoon. Anyone interested in getting together? Thanks, Charliebeth & Jim

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It would probably depend on what time you arrive. We arrive at 1:50pm. It is only a 15-20 min ride to the hotel. We should arrive before any rush-hour traffic.

We don't arrive until 3:51PM which could put us in rush hour. :confused:

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We don't arrive until 3:51PM which could put us in rush hour. :confused:

 

Hi Lynda, you could do a search and call a couple of taxi companies, tell them what time you are arriving and ask them what they charge.

 

I think we have everything ready for the trip. We wanted to do something special for our anniversary in June and saw the American Queen sale on Travel Zoo. We booked our trip on March 20th. I feel very fortunate that we were able to book a cabin at the last minute.

 

Gosh, I am beginning to get excited about this trip!!

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