American Empress July 26 -August 2, 2021 Clarkston to Vancouver Review

[bob brown]

Cruise Critic's just posted my review.  If interested, you can read it here.  I would be happy to answer any questions regarding my experience...

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=681768

[wandb]

Thanks for your informative review. If you could, expand a bit on the HOHO tours. Did you visit every stop?  Were there some that were not worth getting off?  What were the highlights?

 

Thanks in advance!!

[bob brown]

I rode all the routes, but did not get off at all of the stops.  The stop at the Astoria Column, where I climbed all 164 steps to the top observation platform was my favorite.  The various museum's were interesting as well as the restored mansion tour.  I can't recall all of them, sorry...

[Missouri travel girl]

Thank you, great review.  We will be on Nov. 1 and very excited.  Did you try the River Grille in the evening?  My husband is hoping they serve lamb.

[bob brown]

On 8/12/2021 at 1:52 PM, Missouri travel girl said:

Thank you, great review.  We will be on Nov. 1 and very excited.  Did you try the River Grille in the evening?  My husband is hoping they serve lamb.

No, we generally don't dine in hotel restaurants, other than for comp breakfasts.  We prefer to dine outside.  We tried and enjoyed a nearby sports bar--"24 Taps" for dinner.

 

Here's their site...   https://www.24taps.com/

[ericosmith]

Hmmm...I'm thinking the poster meant the River Grille on the boat.  

[bob brown]

20 hours ago, ericosmith said:

Hmmm...I'm thinking the poster meant the River Grille on the boat.  

Oops...I was thinking about the "Palm Court Grill" in the Historic Davenport Hotel...

The River Grille on the American Empress was not open for dinner on our cruise account of a staffing shortage.  It was eat in the main, "Astoria Dining Room", or room service as an option.

[Missouri travel girl]

Well that’s to bad, I hope it opens by our cruise in Nov. 

Thank you

[bob brown]

On 8/17/2021 at 11:15 PM, Missouri travel girl said:

Well that’s to bad, I hope it opens by our cruise in Nov. 

Thank you

Hopefully so.   I will add that the Grille was open for breakfast and lunch.  I like the buffet (the staff did the actual plating for you), for quick service.  I did find that service in the main dining room was also good...you could complete your multi-course dinner in under an hour, unless you wished to linger.  Much better than most ocean cruise MDR's I have experienced, despite the staff shortage...

[chowmi]

Wonderful review, thank you for posting!

We are doing this Itinerary, also Clarkston to Vancouver in March 2022!

This is our first time on AQSC, but have done 2 Viking river cruises. 

 

1. Which dinner time did you select, and what are pros/cons of each? 

2. We are also on Deck 4 - do you think earplugs at night would be effective if we have snoring neighbors? There is A/C, correct? And is that sufficient white noise when sleeping?

3. What types of food ran out? Did they really have lobster and steak every night?

4. Did you stay extra days in Vancouver/Portland? We are trying to decide where to stay 2 extra days. 

 

Thank you so much for your insights!

[bob brown]

On 8/24/2021 at 11:57 PM, chowmi said:

Wonderful review, thank you for posting!

We are doing this Itinerary, also Clarkston to Vancouver in March 2022!

This is our first time on AQSC, but have done 2 Viking river cruises. 

 

1. Which dinner time did you select, and what are pros/cons of each? 

2. We are also on Deck 4 - do you think earplugs at night would be effective if we have snoring neighbors? There is A/C, correct? And is that sufficient white noise when sleeping?

3. What types of food ran out? Did they really have lobster and steak every night?

4. Did you stay extra days in Vancouver/Portland? We are trying to decide where to stay 2 extra days. 

 

Thank you so much for your insights!

We had no choice left when we booked...only late seating was available.  We much prefer early seating, and were disappointed that the Grille was not an alternative during our cruise.   But after a couple of days, we got used to the late seating, and was perfectly happy with it.  The relatively quick service made it acceptable...we finished all courses in under an hour, without being rushed.  They had the shows before dinner for the late (or "main seating") as they called it.

While you could hear voices thru the walls, it was never bad enough for us to feel the need for wearing ear plugs.  As for "white noise"...I can't recall if the air conditioner blowers ran constantly, or cycled on and off to regulate the temperature.

They ran out of some fresh fruits that I like to put in my cereal for breakfast.  Also some muffins.

They did indeed offer steak and lobster as an option every night, although the lobster was not always a tail...sometimes just "lobster meat"....

We caught the first flight toward home, upon disembarking.  I have been to Portland in the past, and it is a lovely city and area to tour in.  A side trip to Mount Hood is nice...

Edited August 29, 2021 by bob brown