St. Louis Hotel

[ericosmith]

I'm looking at the Upper Mississippi cruise.  In the description it says there is an included hotel night.  There is also an optional hotel night offered at the Four Seasons.  I'm confused about whether a hotel is included or it is at an extra cost.  

[BaumD]

This is from my summer of '23 trip. The ship sails from Alton, IL, a suburb of St. Louis. The precruise night was included. I believe the 4 Seasons is an upgrade. We were originally scheduled for the Best Western in Alton, but two weeks before the cruise they changed about half of the ship us to the Drury Hotel next to the St. Louis Arch, a much better location. There is nothing near the Best Western in Alton. The ACL bus picked us up in St Louis, we went to the Best Western to pick up those passengers then took a tour of Alton (home of the worlds tallest man), then onto the ship.Not sure if 2025 cruises follow the same program.

[Globalfish]

I took the Upper Mississippi River cruise last Oct. and stayed at the Best Western in Alton, which I wouldn’t recommend.  Unfortunately for my particular departure they didn’t change anyone to the Drury Plaza Hotel St. Louis at the Arch (or any other hotel in St. Louis).  However, since I figured they weren’t going to do so, I spent 3 nights in St. Louis on my own prior to the cruise at that particular hotel and had a wonderful time.  I made my own hotel arrangements beforehand and had to provide my own way to Alton (by Amtrak and then taxi).  It was hard getting a taxi at the Alton train station to the Best Western.

Edited September 8 by Globalfish