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Seeking information on the American Duchess


vlinbin
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Nicely written, lots of info there. Great review!

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Just submitted a review of our Duchess cruise, comparing it with our previous Mississippi cruise on American Cruise Line.

 

Cruise Critic has posted the review I submitted. This is the link they sent me:

 

American Duchess Review by DaveinCharlotte

 

One embarrassing typo: I described two different complaints as my "biggest gripe." Oops. Meant to describe the second one as my "next biggest gripe..."

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DaveinCharlotte -- found your review very interesting. Having no experience with other cruises on US Rivers, the comparison with another line was very helpful.

 

What surprised me was that you were cold in many locations. I don't remember experiencing that anywhere, but I tend to dislike heat so maybe just didn't notice. The one time we tried to sit outside at the River Grill, Greenville was being infested with ladybugs. They were everywhere. Thus we quickly went back inside, but not due to the cold.

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What surprised me was that you were cold in many locations.

 

Well, our Duchess cruise was pretty late in the season, December on the Cumberland River. Several mornings were below freezing, and the entire top deck was dismantled and closed. One day they even posted signs saying all outdoor decks were closed, due to slippery ice conditions.

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Good morning......thanks for posting those 2 reviews:)........I am trying to decide about trying a Mississippi River

Cruise.......I have been on a European River Cruise.................

 

Dave the AMERICAN CRUISE COMPANY sounds like there is more included.......than the AMERICAN QUEEN...........

I will be celebrating a 60th birthday in March..........and I sail solo. I have been on many cruises over the years......

Which one of these companies would you recommend?

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Dave the AMERICAN CRUISE COMPANY sounds like there is more included.......than the AMERICAN QUEEN...........

I will be celebrating a 60th birthday in March..........and I sail solo. I have been on many cruises over the years......

Which one of these companies would you recommend?

 

That's a toughie. ACL's America suits my own situation and personality more than AQSC's American Duchess, but that's just me.

 

The only AQSC boat I have been on is American Duchess; I have not been on American Queen. American Queen is much larger.

 

I note that American Duchess has no cabins specifically for Solos, but both American Queen and ACL's America (and its sister ship Queen of the Mississippi) have plenty.

 

AQSC's American Duchess struck me as an elegant, spacious, and slightly more formal ship. ACL's America had more of a "steamboat" feel, with many comfortable lounges.

 

Both AQSC and ACL demonstrated an equally high level of overall organization. I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

 

(An afterthought: Despite the relative elegance of American Duchess, it's actually the cheaper of the two, at least on the lower-end of the cabin categories.)

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Lois -- as you know I cannot compare the two steamboat lines having been only on the AQSC boat. But, I have done a European River cruise (on Tauck) from Paris (Lyon) to Monte Carlo. I far prefer the AQSC cruise due to the flexibility involved. The Tauck cruise seemed regimented -- everyone ate together in just one restaurant, all went on the same tours (though in small groups of about 30), and the choice of cabin styles was limited. Of course the ports in Europe were more interesting but that has nothing to do with the cruise company. When we went on bus tours of any length, all of the tour buses stopped at the rest stops at the same time-- making lines for the restrooms quite lengthy especially for those on the last bus to pull up.

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Lois -- as you know I cannot compare the two steamboat lines having been only on the AQSC boat. But, I have done a European River cruise (on Tauck) from Paris (Lyon) to Monte Carlo. I far prefer the AQSC cruise due to the flexibility involved. The Tauck cruise seemed regimented -- everyone ate together in just one restaurant, all went on the same tours (though in small groups of about 30), and the choice of cabin styles was limited. Of course the ports in Europe were more interesting but that has nothing to do with the cruise company. When we went on bus tours of any length, all of the tour buses stopped at the rest stops at the same time-- making lines for the restrooms quite lengthy especially for those on the last bus to pull up.

 

I LOVED my European River cruise:D....it was not on Tauck but on AMA Waterways...as for dining, everyone went into

the main dining room at the same time on our cruise too......but that is part of the plan......so not sure we are in

agreement on that part.......I loved the food and service and met some lovely folks throughout the cruise and ate with

some multiple times. Most of our tours had less than 30 people. But of course there are cruises for all of us out

there:D......glad you enjoyed the American Queen. :)

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Good morning......thanks for posting those 2 reviews:)........I am trying to decide about trying a Mississippi River

Cruise.......I have been on a European River Cruise.................

 

Dave the AMERICAN CRUISE COMPANY sounds like there is more included.......than the AMERICAN QUEEN...........

I will be celebrating a 60th birthday in March..........and I sail solo. I have been on many cruises over the years......

Which one of these companies would you recommend?

 

I have been on the AMERICAN QUEEN and AMERICAN EMPRESS, and enjoyed t hem both. In fact I have reservations on the AMERICAN QUEEN for early next year. It will be my tenth trip on their boats.

 

I will not go on any of American Cruise Line boats. Their owner has paid over a half million dollars to Washington, DC lobbyist Blank Rose to prevent Congress from passing legislation to allow the national historic landmark Steamer DELTA QUEEN to operate again on America's rivers. The DELTA QUEEN operated safely from 1927 until 2008 when Congress did not renew her exemption from SOLAS regulations due to her wooden superstructure. If the exemption is renewed investors plan on returning this American icon into service, and I find it unpardonable that American Cruise Line and its paid lobbyist so far have kept this from happening.

 

Earlier this year the U.S.Senate passed the legislation to allow the DELTA QUEEN to steam once again carrying overnight passengers, but the House's HR 619 still languishes in committee. You can write or call your Representative in Congress to urge the bill's mark up and to place it on the House floor for a full vote by the House.

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Their owner has paid over a half million dollars to Washington, DC lobbyist Blank Rose to prevent Congress from passing legislation to allow the national historic landmark Steamer DELTA QUEEN to operate again on America's rivers.

 

Trying to dig into this a bit further. Did you mean to say "lobbyist Blank Rome"?

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Merry Christmas to all...........

 

Dave, if you check in here again, I see you have some different cruises than the usual in your signature.........how did you

enjoy the "UNCRUISE"?

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Dave...how did you

enjoy the "UNCRUISE"?

 

I give the UnCruise company top marks. Did 2 of their Alaska trips (superb), 2 of their Portland OR trips (one wine, one regular, both superb), and a Costa Rica/Panama trip.

 

 

It's a company where the very-much "hands-on" CEO likes to show up unexpectedly and meet with the passengers. The ships are small. The crews were enthusiastic, and the food was good.

 

 

You can find several threads about them under: Cruise Lines P-Z, then Other Cruise Lines subforums, then put "uncruise" in the search box.

 

 

Happy new year!

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  • 2 months later...

Vinlinbin - my husband and I read your review of the Am. Duchess and I have a couple of questions. Like you I cannot stand or walk for long periods/distances (shattered left pelvis) and I tend to get seasick in rough waters. How did you like your cabin location as we were thinking of booking that level and how easy was it to walk around the Duchess.

 

Thank you in advance and hoping that you see this post! Mary-Margaret

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Dulcie, we were on the Dutchess the same trip with Dave. We were in cabin 304 and there are elevators between decks and the passage ways we pretty easy to navigate. That being said, we recognize that we have really no mobility issues at this time. The Dutchess isn’t really that big. As to motion, with the rivers there are really no waves to cause rough waters.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dulcie -- sorry for the delay in responding to your question. I haven't checked this thread for awhile. Since the American Duchess is small there are not great distances between the suites and the venues like the theatre and the restaurants. And there are elevators at one end and also in the middle.

 

For the excursions, there was a golf cart available to escort you from the boat to the HOHO bus. I was concerned that there would be long Ines for the golf cart but we never had to wait.

 

We used the HOHO bus frequently -- often going on an early round to see what the sites were like. We then visited those sites that were of interest and relatively close to the bus stop. The only difficulty we encountered was the need to stand and wait for the HOHO bus after visiting the site since many locations did not have any benches. Had we thought about that in advance, we could have checked on our original round. The buses do run every 15 to 20 minutes, so even when we had to stand, the wait was not too long.

 

I hope this information helps.

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Thanks vlinbin and njhoo for the information. I haven't checked back until now because of a cold BUT I'm going to call our travel agent today to book the trip. My big concern was getting around cities but I'm really grateful for the information and feel we can do this! I went on the Delta Queen when I was single (and I've been married for 36 years) but that was so, so many years ago. And I loved every second. My husband has never been to New Orleans and really would like to do this trip. I fell in June of 2015 and broke my hip and shattered my left pelvis. I'm up and walking thanks to a great surgeon in Seattle and anxious to get back to traveling. I hope you see this message and know and I really appreciate you both responding! Now off to call the travel Agent.... Mary

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