North or South on the Mississippi? Help!

[wandb]

I’m looking for advice from some of you who have done the upper Mississippi Cruise. I need to make a decision pretty quickly on which cruise to book. 

 

Both cruises have several ports in common. (Red Wing, LaCrosse, Dubuque, Hannibal, Alton.) But there are some differences:

 

Cruising north from St Louis to Red Wing,  you have a day of river cruising, plus a day in Clinton, IA. 

Cruising south from Red Wing/Minneapolis,  you have Port stops in Bettendorf and Burlington, IA. There are no days of just cruising the river. 

 

Any opinions?  Is it worth giving up a day of cruising the river to see those two cities?

or is it worth skipping those two ports to have a day on the river?

 

Are there other considerations to take into account?

 

Of the dates we are considering (Fall of 22) , one is on the Queen (loved her on the lower Mississippi), one on the Duchess (which we have not yet cruised on).

 

Fall of 22 seems a long way off, but FCC and special offers require me to make a decision quickly. 

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

Barb

[Calliope]

I recently made a trip on the Upper Miss from Alton up to Red Wing on the AMERICAN DUCHESS. IMHO I would go from Alton up river to Red Wing. I did so just because of the extra day of being out on the river. The scenery on the Upper is 180 degrees different than what is down south on the Lower. There will be plenty of islands, hills and bluffs, and twenty three locks to go through, and that day out on the river gives you the opportunity to enjoy the scenery during day light.

 

I have no desire to go on the DUCHESS again; it's been there done that. Honestly, I don't think her interior appoints are that attractive. She has all the charm of a modern convention hotel and none of the warmth of an old time paddle wheel steamboat.  My choice would be to book the AMERICAN QUEEN up to Red Wing.

[wandb]

Thank you, Calliope!  I knew I could count on you for good honest opinion!  I’ve benefited from your posts in the past. Hope to meet you on a cruise one day. 

 

We had thought to try the Duchess, as the first cruise that was cancelled for us last year was on the Duchess. However, when I see pictures of her, she looks very nice, but doesn’t seem to compare to the Queen. As you said, a very nice hotel. 

 

 

If anyone else has any other thoughts, I welcome all opinions and insights.

 

Thanks,

Barb

 

 

 

[ericosmith]

If I had my druthers, I'd do at least part of everyday on the river instead of in town.  I don't know the stops on the upper Mississippi but I wish there was less time in port and more time on the river.  It seems like most everyone does the morning HOHO and spends the afternoon on the boat anyway.  On the smaller boats the HOHO busses can be an hour apart which isn't really worthwhile unless there is someplace you want to go for that period of time or perhaps take an extra cost tour.  There's just not much time to see the sights of the river, especially in the fall when almost all the river time can be after dark.  

 

I don't know the height of the Queen vs the Duchess but that might be something to look at.  If memory serves me correctly there have been bridge issues on the upper in the past.

[Oldone79]

We have the American Countess Sept 19-27. St. Louis to Red Wing booked. We chose this direction just to have the extra day on the river.  For us that is the entire reason for taking the Upper Mississippi River cruise.

Just curious - is there a reason you only mention the Queen or the Duchess?

[wandb]

1 hour ago, Oldone79 said:

We have the American Countess Sept 19-27. St. Louis to Red Wing booked. We chose this direction just to have the extra day on the river.  For us that is the entire reason for taking the Upper Mississippi River cruise.

Just curious - is there a reason you only mention the Queen or the Duchess?

We are booked for the Ohio River Exploration on the Countess in June. So wanting to do something different. We do love the Queen, so I’m really leaning toward her. 

[Calliope]

On 10/27/2021 at 8:26 PM, wandb said:

Thank you, Calliope!  I knew I could count on you for good honest opinion!  I’ve benefited from your posts in the past. Hope to meet you on a cruise one day. 

 

Thanks,

Barb

 

 

 

Thank you for the kind compliment. I too hope that we can meet on a steamboat trip one day.

[blubberwon]

On 10/27/2021 at 8:18 AM, wandb said:

I’m looking for advice from some of you who have done the upper Mississippi Cruise. I need to make a decision pretty quickly on which cruise to book. 

 

Both cruises have several ports in common. (Red Wing, LaCrosse, Dubuque, Hannibal, Alton.) But there are some differences:

 

Cruising north from St Louis to Red Wing,  you have a day of river cruising, plus a day in Clinton, IA. 

Cruising south from Red Wing/Minneapolis,  you have Port stops in Bettendorf and Burlington, IA. There are no days of just cruising the river. 

 

Any opinions?  Is it worth giving up a day of cruising the river to see those two cities?

or is it worth skipping those two ports to have a day on the river?

 

Are there other considerations to take into account?

 

Of the dates we are considering (Fall of 22) , one is on the Queen (loved her on the lower Mississippi), one on the Duchess (which we have not yet cruised on).

 

Fall of 22 seems a long way off, but FCC and special offers require me to make a decision quickly. 

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

Barb

It's a personal decision to make with two completely different ships. I am cruising on the Duchess, which I haven't cruised on, south from Red Wing to Alton in July 2022, then off to the hotel in St. Louis, and board the Countess, St. Louis to Chicago. The two ships are completely different, I would choose the ship I haven't cruised on, so that I can see the differences.