MS Columbus - Great Lakes Cruising

[hello]

Has anyone been on this ship, or cruised the Great Lakes on any ship?

[cmthomas]

Well, it has been 4 1/2 years since the prior post so I thought that I would try to bring this to the top in hopes of finding someone going with us this year! We are booked on the Sept. 5 departure from Toronto to Chicago. Since my wife speaks passable German I do not fear the language problem.

 

There is precious little published about this ship and it was like pulling teeth to even get a quote! It seems like only one agent in the U.S. handles booking and all other agents must go through them. Hapag-Lloyd, being mostly a freight shipper, does not have the staffing to handle bookings directly.

 

Life is a series of experiences and after more than 50 prior cruises I guess that we will have a new experience in September. Now, off to buy a pair of lederhosen!

 

Clarence:)

[hello]

I was surprised to hear that they had reinstated this cruise, as I believe that they had stopped it a few years ago. I think ours was just a 10 or 12 day cruise. We had to go through Great Lakes Cruise company ... and they were alright ... nothing special.

 

Clarence, I'm not sure how dressed up you like to get on your cruises ... but we do NOT like to take suit jackets or dress up on the ship. We had asked GLCC before cruising about the necessity of jackets, and they had said they were not necessary. Well, they are necessary if you would like to eat dinner! On our cruise, there was a buffet set up upstairs on the nights of casual dining ... but the buffet was NOT set up on the nights that jackets were required for dinner! There was no room service on our cruise ... so those were the only nights that we made it to the late night snack offerings.

 

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time ... they had a fantastic speaker on our cruise, and he would do the lecture in German, and then at another time in English. None of us spoke any German ... and there was no problem whatsoever, anytime ... anywhere on the ship.

 

We had never been to the Great Lakes before, and were surprised that the lakes actually seemed like OCEANS! There was a lot of rough seas ... we swear by ginger capsules, and this past October we did a 14 day Fall Foliage and tried the wrist bands for the first time (Wal-Mart @ $10) and no one was queasy at all.

 

I'm not sure if you've posted on the Roll Call listings ... but you might find someone going on your cruise there, also.

[LHT28]

Tom I wish we were joining you I am looking forward to your review when you return.

 

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

We had asked GLCC before cruising about the necessity of jackets, and they had said they were not necessary. Well, they are necessary if you would like to eat dinner!

Did you need a suit or will a navy blazer do?

What about ties? required or not?

What month did you go?

 

Lake Superior can be nasty at times

Lyn

[Conte Di Savoia]

We made this cruise aboard C. Columbus in late September of 2005 and had a wonderful time aboard this jaunty small ship for eleven days on the “Grosse Seen”. How many people, even the most avid cruisers, have ever taken a cruise on the Great Lakes? Not many so it is often a great topic when talking about past cruises with fellow passengers on other ships. That it is aboard a German ship makes it even more interesting. You’d be surprised at the number of people who ask how a German ship can get into the Great Lakes. That doesn’t speak well of the knowledge some travelers have of geography.

The cruise is really quite casual. I went back to look at my daily programs to confirm that every night was casual except for a welcome aboard party and the farewell dinner, both of which requested jacket and tie. We did not bring tuxedos but I think we did bring our blazers. You will be fine in any jacket and tie in which you feel comfortable. Bear in mind that this ship is not run to the same degree of elegance or luxury as Europa, the flagship of the line. We found the food to be to our taste, but you won’t be getting caviar. Let me know if you would like to see a sample menu. One afternoon they had an Oktoberfest around the pool, and it was probably the best meal we had onboard. The entertainment might not be what the average American cruiser might want. Some nights there was the band and dance music. Other evenings had singers and dancers. Some of the entertainers were Americans who had developed careers in Germany, so their acts were bilingual. There was also some opera but no big production numbers in the small show lounge. On occasion there was a lecture in the evening. Lectures on the ports and history of the region were given once in German and then again in English and all given by scholars. We speak little or no German and that was not a problem in dealing with the crew, most of whom spoke English quite well. The captain went out of his way to make us feel welcomed. Some of the passengers were shy about speaking to us in English, others not.

We toured with the German passengers while we were in port. On occasion I did feel that there were lengthy explanations in German, but when it came to English, there was less information being given. And that was by English speaking Canadians who were the guides. Not a big deal, but there did seem to be a difference. We disembarked at the Navy Pier in Chicago. Who arrives in Chicago by ship?

Here’s one additional anecdote about the line. A year after the Great Lakes cruise on C. Columbus their office on Long Island, near where I live, contacted me asking if I would like to visit onboard the ship when it was in New York. Of course I jumped at the chance. The ship wound up being delayed because of a storm and so they called me to say that they would not be able to have guests aboard because of the late arrival. They promised to contact me the following year. And they did! So two years after the cruise I visited aboard. They served us a wonderful lunch. I am not a travel agent, but the other members of this small group were and so I gave them the inside dope on the trip. After that they dropped the itinerary, allegedly because falling water levels in the Great Lakes made navigating difficult. Apparently they are satisfied that they can safely offer the trip again. The ship was designed to traverse the Great Lakes. The wings of the bridge retract so that the ship can fit into the Soo Locks.

You’ll have a great time on the Great Lakes!

[cmthomas]

To "hello" and Conte, thanks for your responses. They are most helpful in understanding what to expect.

 

And yes, Conte, I would be delighted to view any sample menus or daily programs that you may have scanned. My email, with obvious revisions such as removing all spaces, is ClarenceThomas3 at gmail.com.

 

I am getting the feeling that this cruise will resemble a river cruise but on an ocean going vessel. Although the fine entertainment that we have enjoyed on 5* cruises may be missing, we also enjoyed the more low keyed entertainment that we found on Oceania and AMAWaterways.

 

I was prepared for the jackets at dinner. I fully understanding the customs of the Germans to be a bit more formal than those of the Americans and Canadians have devolved over the last decade of cruising.

 

We have been fairly warned about what we are "getting into" by the 3* classification so we should not be surprised. What we do expect, however, is a meticulously clean ship which the Germans will certainly deliver.

 

We were slightly disappointed that the ship did not offer veranda cabins. After much evaluation and price considerations we decided that the best value was a cabin on Deck 2 in Category 8 with the big oval window. Any comments on our choice?

 

Thanks again for your contribution of past experiences! We will lift a cocktail to both of you as we sail away from Toronto on Sept. 6.

 

Tom and Ethel Thomas:)

from Lakeland, FL (winter) and

Baltimore, MD area (summer)

[LHT28]

We will lift a cocktail to both of you as we sail away from Toronto on Sept. 6.

 

 

Don't mess up the cruise dates again ;)

You sail on the 5th so make sure your flight will arrive on time

 

Lyn

[cmthomas]

Ah ha! But I did not screw up the dates. Embarkation is on Sept. 5 but she does not sail until 3 a.m. on Sept. 6!!! My guess is that this will provide us with a scenic view of the Canal from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie.

 

Otherwise it would be a difficult journey negotiating Niagara Falls!

 

Tom:p

[LHT28]

Ah ha! But I did not screw up the dates. Embarkation is on Sept. 5 but she does not sail until 3 a.m. on Sept. 6!!!

Tom:p

OK One for you ;)

 

Will you be up at 3 am?? :D:D

It sounds like a good cruise no matter what time you leave

 

TTYL

Lyn

[cmthomas]

One of the other ships that offers cruises on the Great Lakes is the Clelia II - a luxury yacht.

 

You may have seen on TV news film of her crossing the Drake Passage returning from Antarctica last week. The seas were quite high, which is not unusual for the Drake Passage, and a wave knocked out a window on the bridge allowing water to disable some of the electronics apparently causing her to slow her speed which caused someone to panic and suggest that she was in distress.

 

This is the same ship that had some misfortune in the Great Lakes and cut her sailings short last summer. I feel much more comfortable being booked on the Columbus for next September. Regardless of the month, the Great Lakes can be a rough body of water and the additional size of the ship should help smooth the ride.

 

Anyone else booked on the Sept. 5 departure from Toronto?

 

Clarence:)

[chrysalis]

One of the other ships that offers cruises on the Great Lakes is the Clelia II - a luxury yacht.

 

You may have seen on TV news film of her crossing the Drake Passage returning from Antarctica last week. The seas were quite high, which is not unusual for the Drake Passage, and a wave knocked out a window on the bridge allowing water to disable some of the electronics apparently causing her to slow her speed which caused someone to panic and suggest that she was in distress.

 

This is the same ship that had some misfortune in the Great Lakes and cut her sailings short last summer. I feel much more comfortable being booked on the Columbus for next September. Regardless of the month, the Great Lakes can be a rough body of water and the additional size of the ship should help smooth the ride.

 

Anyone else booked on the Sept. 5 departure from Toronto?

 

Clarence:)

 

We spend the summer living on our boat in Little Current, on Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron.

 

Little Current is one of the post stops for the Columbus this summer, and was a port stop of the Clelia. She is not cruising the Great Lakes in '11, and we actually saw her unfortunate loss of power in Little Current similar to what happened recently in Antarctica.

 

Enjoy Little Current on your cruise. We will wave as you sail past.

[chrysalis]

sorry/.....

[cmthomas]

Thanks for you comment, Chrysalis! Little Current sounds wonderful. We look forward to visiting there.

 

We will be in a starboard side cabin but will have no verandah from which to wave. But we will be thinking of your comments as we take in the beauty of the area.

 

Tom & Ethel:)

[cmthomas]

Hapag-Lloyd's charter of the M/V Columbus ends after this year. They are replacing her with one of the Ren ships now being operated by Oceania.

 

I don't know for sure, but I think that the Ren ships are too wide to traverse the locks giving entry into the Great Lakes. If so, the last ocean going vessel cruising the Great Lakes will be gone unless the Columbus is picked up by some company that sees the uniqueness of this itinerary.

 

So, if you have ever had an interest in cruising the Great Lakes in a ship the size of an ocean going vessel this year may be your last chance.

 

I don't even know if there are any cabins left for this year's sailings as they were quite limited when we booked several months ago.

 

Clarence:)