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Mississippi Cruise?


Tom O.
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First, I just wanted to say that I am not sure I am posting this in the right forum. I could not find a forum dedicated to North American River cruising.

Although I have a lot of experience with ocean cruising, I have never been on a river cruise. My wife and I thought that a Mississippi cruise or other North American River cruise would be an interesting experience.

It seems there are two competing cruise ship companies that do these cruises, and I don't know anything about either one.

If I pick the Mississippi, I have a choice of Northern or Southern routes. While the Southern route might be more traditional, I am concerned that I will be mostly looking at barges loaded with shipping containers and such.

We aren't interested that much in excursions, mostly we like sitting on a balcony watching the world go by. So a river cruise might be just what the doctor ordered.

So, I am open to all suggestions. Go ahead and tell me if these cruises are any good or not. Which river or route is the best? What cruise company is best? Ship recommendations?

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Scroll down and you will find a very helpful thread that will help answer your questions. It deals with American Queen Steamboat Company and its rival American Cruise Line. There is also a link to Cruise Critics' comparison of the two lines listed in that thread.

 

Personally, I would not travel on American Cruise Line. Over the past several years ACL according to governmental filings by the Washington, DC lobby group Blank Rose has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying Congress not to pass legislation allowing the National Historic Landmark, Steamer DELTA QUEEN to steam America's rivers once again. (Currently legislation to allow the DELTA QUEEN to operate has passed the Senate, but sits in the House Committee on Transportation awaiting mark up. See 115th Congress HR 619, and then write your Representative to become a supporter of allowing this nation treasure to operate again!)

 

American Queen Steamboat Co. currently offers cruises aboard the paddlewheel steamboat AMERICAN QUEEN, and in August the smaller diesel powered AMERICAN DUCHESS will be christened. The DUCHESS will be able to offer trips on smaller rivers such as the Illinois River to Ottawa, IL near Chicago. Personally, I would recommend the Upper Mississippi River or the Ohio River to Pittsburgh on the AMERICAN QUEEN. The Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers are quite nice too. Travel on all of those rivers have lovely vistas, interesting towns, and locks and dams to traverse. The Lower Mississippi is wide and muddy. If the water is low you'll see the flood protection works, sand bars, ocean ships between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and large tows being pushed by towboats. If the water is high you'll be able to look over the levees and get a glimpse of the rural south. It's interesting, but to me the vistas and towns on the Upper Miss. or Ohio make a nicer cruise voyage.

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Thanks everyone, especially Calliope for that analysis.

We will probably try a Northern Mississippi route for our first river cruise. We are just in the very early planning stages right now.

Thank again.

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Thanks everyone, especially Calliope for that analysis.

We will probably try a Northern Mississippi route for our first river cruise. We are just in the very early planning stages right now.

Thank again.

 

Wise choice. I would go from St. Louis to St. Paul. The scenery improves as you get farther north, and heading against the current there has to be less time in ports and more steamboatin'!

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Our first riverboat cruise was on the American Queen, St Louis to St Paul. Enjoyed all the stops, especially Hannibal where we toured Tom Sawyer's cave. Last year we did the Columbia and Snake river, Clarkston to Portland, cruise on the Empress. We again had a great time touring the wine country and Multnomah Falls. We will be on the Queen this August , having booked the Music of America, Memphis to Nashville, cruise. We like big ship cruising but really like cruising our rivers!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Tom! I too have much experience with the "Blue Water" cruises and this will be my first American Queen Steamboat cruise on the Ohio River to the Grand ole Mississippi! We depart from Louisville, KY July 17 and end in St. Louis MO on the 24th. I am looking forward to experiencing the classic steam driven boat and the slower pace of river cruising. I'll post a review in August. From what I have seen, they book up about a year in advance, but they are getting more competition in 2018/2019.

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