Photos & Videos from a Puget Sound Cruise On American Constellation

[Spaniel Lover]

 

American Cruise Lines recently invited me aboard American Constellation to shoot photos and videos for them during a 7-day Puget Sound cruise.  I'm a professional photographer/videographer, as well as a licensed commercial drone pilot.  I thought I would share some of the photos & videos with the ACL fans here on Cruise Critic.  Hopefully, someday, some of the photos that I'm showing you here on this page will appear in brochures and other promotional material for American Cruise Lines.

 

This was my 57th cruise overall, but most of those have been on big cruise ships carrying thousands of passengers.  A cruise on a small ship like this (there were only 100 passengers aboard the week I sailed) is very different.  You get to know your fellow passengers much better, since there are only a small number of them.  Once you find someone you enjoy chatting with, you tend to share a table with them at meal times and get to know them much better than you typically do with passengers on the mega cruise ships.  It's a more social cruise than my big-ship cruises have been.

 

The other huge difference with a cruise like this is that it's not about the ship...  it's about the places the ship takes you to, and which you get to explore.  This cruise took me to several different small towns in the Puget Sound area that I'm sure I never would have visited if not for the ship taking me there.

 

An aerial shot I took of American Constellation as we approached Poulsbo, Washington.
You can see the Olympic Mountains in the distance.

 

The cruise began in Seattle, Washington.  American Cruise Lines flew me in to Seattle the day before the cruise began, and put me up in a nice high-rise hotel for the night.  This gave me a few hours to head down to Seattle's waterfront and get some aerial video and photos of the Seattle skyline from my drone.

There are very strict rules for drone pilots about where you can and cannot fly your drone.  The city of Seattle has specific rules that forbid launching a drone from any public property, including parks, walkways, streets, etc.  That means that you really have to launch from private property.  The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates airplane and drone pilots, forbids flying drones over people.  So, to stay legal, I launched my drone from the end of pier 56, and flew it over the water to get this next shot of the Seattle Great Wheel, the skyline, and (in the distance, on the left) the Space Needle.

 

 

There were about 50 of us who were staying in the hotel the night before the cruise.  This is part of what ACL calls the pre-cruise package, which includes a nice breakfast in the hotel the morning of the cruise, and a bus tour of Seattle as we made our way from the hotel to where the ship was docked.  During the bus tour, the bus stopped at Dr. Jose Rizal Park, which sits on a hillside with a fantastic view of Seattle.  This was one of several photo opportunities during the bus ride on the way to the ship.  I was able to get this photo:

 

 

Just to be clear, that was not a shot from my drone.  I shot that with my Canon camera from a viewing location in the park, overlooking the city.  Another stop during our bus tour was Seattle Center, the home of the Space Needle.  Because this entire area is city property, I could not launch the drone from here for an aerial shot of the Space Needle...  not to mention the fact that the area is crawling with people, and you can't legally fly a drone over people.  So, I had to settle for a shot of the Space Needle from the ground, looking up.

 

 

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time during our bus tour for us to actually go up to the top of the Space Needle...  but that was okay, since I actually have visited Seattle before and been up to the top of the Space Needle.  If you've got a lot of time to kill and would like to watch a 33-minute long travelogue I made about that previous trip, click here.

 

[Spaniel Lover]

At the conclusion of our bus tour of Seattle, we were dropped off at the ship...  at the marina in Ballard, on the north side of Seattle.

 

 

Once everyone was aboard, the ship sailed north to our first destination of Anacortes, Washington.  There were a lot of interesting views along the way, and my favorite of all was this lighthouse...

 

Here's an aerial photo I shot of American Constellation once she was docked in Anacortes...

 

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[Spaniel Lover]

The next day, with the ship docked in Anacortes, I went on a boat excursion exploring the area near the north side of Whidbey Island.

 

This is the Deception Pass Bridge that links Whidbey Island to the mainland of Washington.
I like the photo because it really captures how beautiful the scenery was in this area.

 

Another very scenic place the ship visited was Port Angeles, Washington.
You can see the Olympic Mountains in the distance of this shot.

 

With a big telephoto lens mounted on my Canon DSLR camera, I got this more detailed view of the mountains...

 

 

[Spaniel Lover]

The highlight of the entire cruise was a day trip in to British Columbia, Canada, to visit the world-famous Butchart Gardens...

 

 

The most famous scene at Butchart Gardens is this view of "the sunken garden" as seen from an overlook above it.  Almost everyone that visits Butchart Gardens comes home with a shot that looks a lot like this!

 

 

This is just one of many beautiful water features at Butchart Gardens...

 

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[Spaniel Lover]

On the way to our next port of call, Port Townsend, I saw another beautiful lighthouse...

 

 

While in Port Townsend, I had a burger, fries, and a shake at this 50s-style diner...

 

 

Our final port of call was Poulsbo, Washington.   From my drone, I was able to get this shot of the ship anchored just off Poulsbo...

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Spaniel Lover
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[Spaniel Lover]

An unexpected benefit of this trip was getting to know the man in this next photo.   His name is Jim Walker, and he is a historian that was traveling with the ship to inform the guests about the history of the places we visited.  He was one of the most interesting and charming guys I've ever met.

 

 

Hotel Manager, Rick Di Censo, was also a real pleasure to sail with.  He was very cooperative with my mission of shooting photos and videos of the ship.

 

 

I also snapped pictures of a few of the deck hands , and thought I would include them here  in case someday any of them (or their parents) do a Google search for American Constellation.  I think it will be a nice surprise for them to find these pictures...

 

 

 

[Spaniel Lover]

Still photos are great, but a video is even better!

Have a look at this video I made about my visit to Butchart Gardens...

 

 

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[Spaniel Lover]

If you'd like to see a 19-minute video that tells the full story of all the places our ship visited during the week, head on over to my YouTube channel.  You'll find it there.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/jimzimmerlin/

 

 

That's the story of my Puget Sound cruise on American Constellation.

If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them.

 

But be aware that if you ask questions weeks or months after my original post, I most likely won't see them!  I'll be checking this post for question for about a week after posting this.

Edited May 30, 2022 by Spaniel Lover
Improving the formatting

[jklc123]

Thank you for your post. This is a cruise I’m considering — my father was posted in Port Townsend during WWII and my mother was able to join him. I do get seasick so I now know not to take the ferry to Victoria! We have visited Butchart Gardens.

 

We are booked on an ACL Hudson River cruise in October. Was that one of the 3 ACL cruises you have done, by chance? It’s our first American river cruise after thoroughly enjoying several river cruises abroad.

[nybumpkin]

Jim - I enjoyed your photos and video. Looking forward to your video of Butchart Gardens! We sailed the Puget Sound cruise last year on American Spirit. Sorry your missed Friday Harbor and going up into Olympic National Park while in Port Angeles. If it's any consolation the folks on our cruise who did the whale watching tour in Friday Harbor saw one whale - which was one more than folks saw the week before.😮 Of course, being 2021 we didn't get to take the ferry to Victoria - Coho sat forlornly at her dock.

 

You're right about this being a very different experience from large cruise ships - and it's all for the good.

 

jklc123 -am I correct that your Hudson River cruise is rescheduled from last year? I'm a local - I've seen the ships out on the river, and can help with questions about the ports.

[Spaniel Lover]

1 hour ago, jklc123 said:

We are booked on an ACL Hudson River cruise in October. Was that one of the 3 ACL cruises you have done, by chance?

 

Prior to the Puget Sound cruise, I did the Columbia/Snake River cruise and then the Upper Mississippi cruise.

[jklc123]

10 hours ago, nybumpkin said:

Jim - I enjoyed your photos and video. Looking forward to your video of Butchart Gardens! We sailed the Puget Sound cruise last year on American Spirit. Sorry your missed Friday Harbor and going up into Olympic National Park while in Port Angeles. If it's any consolation the folks on our cruise who did the whale watching tour in Friday Harbor saw one whale - which was one more than folks saw the week before.😮 Of course, being 2021 we didn't get to take the ferry to Victoria - Coho sat forlornly at her dock.

 

You're right about this being a very different experience from large cruise ships - and it's all for the good.

 

jklc123 -am I correct that your Hudson River cruise is rescheduled from last year? I'm a local - I've seen the ships out on the river, and can help with questions about the ports.

 

10 hours ago, nybumpkin said:

nybumpkin:  Thanks. We’re hoping for fall colors, of course.Yes, we were originally booked for last year. Our dates are Oct. 15 - 22. I’m wondering if it would be feasible to walk from the Lyndhurst Mansion to Washington Irving’s Sunnyside. It looks to be just a mile walk. ACL offers excursions for both for a fee ($40 each, per person.) Instead of being bused back to the ship from Lyndhurst to the Sleepy Hollow port for lunch and then bused back to Sunnyside, I’m thinking of asking ACL for a sack lunch and doing the walk. It doesn’t look like time is provided for visiting the touristy part of Sleepy Hollow. Would you advise doing both excursions or missing one to explore Sleepy Hollow on our own?

[DaveinCharlotte]

23 hours ago, Spaniel Lover said:

If you'd like to see a 19-minute video that tells the full story of all the places our ship visited during the week, head on over to my YouTube channel.  You'll find it there.

Superb video, Jim - very professionally done.  You're a great narrator!  Glad you focused on the water and the ports, not the inside of the ship. 

[websailor]

Thank you for the fantastic pictures!

[nybumpkin]

18 hours ago, jklc123 said:

 

nybumpkin:  Thanks. We’re hoping for fall colors, of course.Yes, we were originally booked for last year. Our dates are Oct. 15 - 22. I’m wondering if it would be feasible to walk from the Lyndhurst Mansion to Washington Irving’s Sunnyside. It looks to be just a mile walk. ACL offers excursions for both for a fee ($40 each, per person.) Instead of being bused back to the ship from Lyndhurst to the Sleepy Hollow port for lunch and then bused back to Sunnyside, I’m thinking of asking ACL for a sack lunch and doing the walk. It doesn’t look like time is provided for visiting the touristy part of Sleepy Hollow. Would you advise doing both excursions or missing one to explore Sleepy Hollow on our own?

I think this is what you're looking for - the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail: https://www.walkingoffthebigapple.com/2020/08/in-washington-irving-country-walk.html. Walking between the sites on the trail is fairly easy. What you'll need to figure out is transportation to and from the houses to where the ship docks. Public transportation isn't great and you're probably docked in a fairly industrial neighborhood or a yacht club, and there's a main train line (Amtrak/Metro North) running along the river.

[nybumpkin]

Jim, I apologize for going OT.😐

[jklc123]

5 hours ago, nybumpkin said:

I think this is what you're looking for - the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail: https://www.walkingoffthebigapple.com/2020/08/in-washington-irving-country-walk.html. Walking between the sites on the trail is fairly easy. What you'll need to figure out is transportation to and from the houses to where the ship docks. Public transportation isn't great and you're probably docked in a fairly industrial neighborhood or a yacht club, and there's a main train line (Amtrak/Metro North) running along the river.

Yes, that is the trail I was looking at online. My plan is to see if we can get to the Lyndhurst House with the morning ACL excursion and take the bus back to the port with the afternoon Sunnyside group, paying for the excursions and doing the guided tours arranged by ACL. Of course, I’d have ask the cruise director if that would be feasible. Have you been to either house? 

[GT38]

On 5/30/2022 at 10:04 AM, Spaniel Lover said:

 

American Cruise Lines recently invited me aboard American Constellation to shoot photos and videos for them during a 7-day Puget Sound cruise.  I'm a professional photographer/videographer, as well as a licensed commercial drone pilot.  I thought I would share some of the photos & videos with the ACL fans here on Cruise Critic.  Hopefully, someday, some of the photos that I'm showing you here on this page will appear in brochures and other promotional material for American Cruise Lines.

 

This was my 57th cruise overall, but most of those have been on big cruise ships carrying thousands of passengers.  A cruise on a small ship like this (there were only 100 passengers aboard the week I sailed) is very different.  You get to know your fellow passengers much better, since there are only a small number of them.  Once you find someone you enjoy chatting with, you tend to share a table with them at meal times and get to know them much better than you typically do with passengers on the mega cruise ships.  It's a more social cruise than my big-ship cruises have been.

 

The other huge difference with a cruise like this is that it's not about the ship...  it's about the places the ship takes you to, and which you get to explore.  This cruise took me to several different small towns in the Puget Sound area that I'm sure I never would have visited if not for the ship taking me there.

 

An aerial shot I took of American Constellation as we approached Poulsbo, Washington.
You can see the Olympic Mountains in the distance.

 

The cruise began in Seattle, Washington.  American Cruise Lines flew me in to Seattle the day before the cruise began, and put me up in a nice high-rise hotel for the night.  This gave me a few hours to head down to Seattle's waterfront and get some aerial video and photos of the Seattle skyline from my drone.

There are very strict rules for drone pilots about where you can and cannot fly your drone.  The city of Seattle has specific rules that forbid launching a drone from any public property, including parks, walkways, streets, etc.  That means that you really have to launch from private property.  The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates airplane and drone pilots, forbids flying drones over people.  So, to stay legal, I launched my drone from the end of pier 56, and flew it over the water to get this next shot of the Seattle Great Wheel, the skyline, and (in the distance, on the left) the Space Needle.

 

 

There were about 50 of us who were staying in the hotel the night before the cruise.  This is part of what ACL calls the pre-cruise package, which includes a nice breakfast in the hotel the morning of the cruise, and a bus tour of Seattle as we made our way from the hotel to where the ship was docked.  During the bus tour, the bus stopped at Dr. Jose Rizal Park, which sits on a hillside with a fantastic view of Seattle.  This was one of several photo opportunities during the bus ride on the way to the ship.  I was able to get this photo:

 

 

Just to be clear, that was not a shot from my drone.  I shot that with my Canon camera from a viewing location in the park, overlooking the city.  Another stop during our bus tour was Seattle Center, the home of the Space Needle.  Because this entire area is city property, I could not launch the drone from here for an aerial shot of the Space Needle...  not to mention the fact that the area is crawling with people, and you can't legally fly a drone over people.  So, I had to settle for a shot of the Space Needle from the ground, looking up.

 

 

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time during our bus tour for us to actually go up to the top of the Space Needle...  but that was okay, since I actually have visited Seattle before and been up to the top of the Space Needle.  If you've got a lot of time to kill and would like to watch a 33-minute long travelogue I made about that previous trip, click here.

 

What hotel did you stay in on the pre cruise?

[Wasasalad]

Spaniel Lover

Thank you so much for the incredible reviews!

I just booked the Puget sound cruise today! I planned on booking Columbia/Snake but I mentioned Puget Sound is always sold out for a solo! She checked and yes there was a cancellation! I booked it! I’m so excited! Thank you so much for your beautiful photos!