Anyone booked on July5-12, 2008 SL to SP?

[jjmcc367]

Looking for anyone booked on above dates, out of St Louis to St Paul. I have heard both great reviews and boredom reviews. Guess it helps to have good travel guests aboard. Jeanne & Curt

[steamboats]

Jeanne & Curt,

I´ve done this cruise twice, once aboard the Delta Queen, once aboard the Mississippi Queen. This is "the" cruise for beginners with a wonderful scenery which is getting better the farther upriver you are going.

You´ll find my reviews linked in my signature. The MQ cruise was still with Delaware North.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

steamboats

[ocpeach]

We are booked for this cruise. Planning to fly fron California (3 flights, beginning at 5 AM) on July 4, catch the Cardinals/Cubs ball game on the 4th, got the hotel/cruise package for a stay at the Drury on the 4th, then a tour of St. Louis in the morning of the 5th, and to the boat in the afternoon. Have relatives to meet at a couple of the upriver stops, then will spend a few days exploring Minneapolis and Minnesota before we fly home on the 17th. Have booked a handicapped accessible cabin for the cruise. Am bringing along my small electric scooter; hope I'll be able to putt around the port towns. Looking forward to learning more about port excursions.

[ocpeach]

We cancelled several weeks ago due to a medical emergency.

[steamboats]

ocpeach,

Sorry to hear about your medical emergency. I hope it´s better now.

Anyway I fear that this July 5 cruise won´t go as scheduled regarding the current flood situation on the Upper Mississippi river. So far all locks starting with lock 25 to lock 12 are closed for all kind of river traffic. There´s no possiblity to land in St. Louis right now (at least not at the usualy landing below the Arch). This might have changed until July 5 as there are still a bit less than two weeks. Even the locks might be open again by that time. But anyway the gerneral situation meaning that the river is much higher than usually might go on. The American Queen is quite a tall boat which has problems with the bridges when the river is a bit higher.

steamboats

[steamboats]

An update on the current high water situation.

Majestic America Line (http://www.majesticamerica.com/Press/News.aspx) has changed three cruises of the American Queen:

June 28 Memphis - Cincinnati (instead of St. Louis)
July 5 Cincinnati roundtrip (instead of St. Louis - St. Paul)
July 12 Cincinnati - St. Louis (insted of St. Paul - St. Louis)

Hopefully they can resume their Upper Mississippi schedule by July 19.

steamboats

[pengle]

Found this updated information on the Delta Queen and the Ohio River on Saturday, June 28, 2008

Delta Queen – Ohio River Update
As of today, the US Coast Guard has closed The Ohio River at mile point 848, just north of Paducah, Kentucky, until further notice. The ACE will be dredging this part of the river due to conditions caused by low water levels. This closure makes it impossible for the Delta Queen to sail up The Ohio River to Cincinnati on her current itinerary. The vessel will now sail to Chattanooga where the July 1, 2008, cruise will begin. The July 1, 2008, cruise will disembark in Memphis as scheduled.

Revised Delta Queen Itineraries:

June 24, 2008, Nashville to Chattanooga 7-Night Sailing

Date Day Port Arrive Depart
6/24/2008 Tue Nashville --
6/25/2008 Wed Nashville -- 5:00 p.m.
6/26/2008 Thu Dover 8:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m.
6/27/2008 Fri Paducah 8:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m.
6/28/2008 Sat Cruise Day -- --
6/29/2008 Sun Decatur 7:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m.
6/30/2008 Mon Cruise Day -- --
7/1/2008 Tue Chattanooga 4:00 a.m.

We are scheduled for an Aug 19th departure from Nashville. Hopefully, the dredging will be finished by then.

Pat

[steamboats]

Pat,

Don´t worry about Aug 19. The dredging should be done by that. It usually takes a couple of days up to a week. BTW there are a lot of our friends on this cruise and we´re planning to meet the DQ in Louisville on Aug 24.

What I´m wondering about is the changed schedule of the American Queen. The AQ has left Memphis yesterday and is scheduled to arrive in Paducah on June 30th (tomorrow). Unfortunately there´s nothing online about how long the dredging is going on. This website (http://www.lrd-wc.usace.army.mil/text/navrpti.txt) is just stating that the dredging has started on June 27 at 7:15 am (it´s a report which updates several times a day). So obviously as of today the closure is still effective. If they are still dredging by tomorrow the AQ can´t go up to Cincinnati either.

steamboats

[steamboats]

Sorry, double posting.

[steamboats]

Update: The Ohio river is open again and the American Queen is currently on her way upriver to Henderson, KY.

steamboats