AQJazz

I’ve always taken an Uber or a taxi (set rates for going downtown) to the Hilton.

Many years ago I took a shuttle and it seemed to take forever stopping at a bunch of hotels along the way.

Calliope

Loss of goodwill indeed. I’m also shocked at the prices, tests in our area are closer to $100.

After that terrible start, I’m curious how the rest of the cruise went. Please provide some commentary, I’m eager to hear.

Thank you

My best guess is the shows are 45-60 minutes long.

Clarifying an early statement, there is a piano player on the Duchess but no additional “piano sing along” type entertainment (at least not in previous seasons). Something  I really missed on the Duchess, Countess & Empress, is the lack of music compared to the Queen.

On the Duchess, our late dinner service was so slow, we would miss the “late” night music. Very disappointing as the band is excellent.

Duchess from May 2021

Yikes, I gave you the AQ schedule. Duchess is a lot different. 
 

When I was in the Duchess in May 2021 there was an early and late seating. And each seating had a Show (early after dinner, late before). Saying that the Duchess’ dining room and Saloon can handle one seating/show but with Covid they split it up into two seatings/show.

no late nights on the Duchess. The band did play a bit after the last show but not much past 10 pm.

The Entertainment cast was three people vs four on the Queen. Seemed to be the same shows as the Queen.

good band again - all live music.

no piano player or calliope.

Most people love Early Seating at 5:15, which I find a bit too early. The Early seating has their show in the Grand Saloon at 8 pm. Between dinner and the show, they can listen to the piano player in the Captain’s bar, which is located between the dining room and Saloon. After the show, there is music in the Engine Room bar from 9:30 to @ midnight.

Typical Shows

first night- All Hands on Deck- basically meeting the Entertainment staff

- Southern Celebration- to me the best show

- Curtain Up - Broadway music 

- Sock Hop

- Mark Twain 

many other special shows by individual Entertainment staff and special guests.

I think the entertainment is outstanding. The band is great and there is no recorded music - all live!

There is also music in the afternoon including at least once a traditional jazz set, which is outstanding.

I like the late seating as it gives me more time to enjoy the day and then slowly get ready for dinner. I can also enjoy the calliope as the boat leaves port. The show for the late dinner is at 6 pm.

On 11/12/2021 at 5:06 PM, Oldone79 said:

Thank you for sharing.  The fact that you have 5 cruises booked certainly conveys your thoughts on cruising with this line.

We have decided that 2022 and 2023 will see us onboard the American Countess and plan to enjoy a relaxing cruise on the rivers of our country. We see many more reviews about the American Queen and personally being on a "real steam padlewheeler" is not that important to us- the paddlewheeler look will be just fine.  After many years of Ocean cruising we no longer are looking for entertainment to keep us occupied nor are we cruising for "fine dining". From the looks of things Covid is far from gone but hopefully AQV will be able to hire and keep experienced staff and long wait times for food will be a thing of the past. 

There seems to be little said on CC about the American Countess except for a couple of nice reviews with photos. It would be nice if those that have taken a cruise on her would come back with their thoughts. I've been a member of CC for years longer than my profile shows-  (forgot password/changed email address so could not get old account back) and have always enjoyed reading what others have had to say about their cruise - reviews are OK but comments seem to mean more.

Again, thanks to both you and adstz for your comments about the dining room

I’m a big fan of the American Queen, especially for all the great entertainment.
 

For the first time we took the Duchess in May, and I was not impressed. Granted early in the year but dining room service was poor and a lack of music compared to the AQ. And the decor lacks charm.  However our room was spacious.

I had low expectations for the Countess but I really liked her. In the lobby and dining room the view of the river was wonderful. Comfortable spaces (library, card room, grand lobby) to hang out in. The theater had a nice layout and I liked the tiered seating. The quality of the entertainment was very high but like the Duchess limited compared to the Queen. I will say the Countess had a limited number of guests, so I’m not sure if it would feel crowded at full capacity.

I did like the Duchess River Grill, especially the spacious outside area. On the Countess the outside eating area fell short, the spray from the paddlewheel was strong making it impossible to be out there.

The Queen still wins out but we would take a Countess trip again.

In September on the Countess, the table you had the first night was your table for dinner the entire week. Likewise for the Queen.

On 11/16/2021 at 10:24 AM, Frncie said:

Question concerning your LS cabin 517. We were in 519 in September, and our butler was Adam. He had to leave the boat unexpectedly mid-week. We grew very fond of him in just a few short days. Is he back?

I was recently on the AQ. Adam was onboard and doing very well.

A couple of years ago I used Uber to get from the airport to the Hilton. No issues.

Don’t miss Citygarden, a wonderful urban sculpture garden a couple of blocks from the Hilton.

Mostly inclusive 

open bar for most liquors except premium. E.g., Marker’s Mark covered but Markers 46 would be $3 per drink/shot

Soda, coffee and tea free

the hop on hop off tours are covered but premium tours are not, usually the cost of the premium @$79. Example Nottoway house tour covered but if you want to go to Houmas House that would be a premium tour

air and transfers to/from airport not included but transfer from hotel to boat included

free night hotel prior to embarking plus breakfast at hotel the morning of embarkation. Free Covid test too!

tips are not included

not sure what you would include for activities but I would say included. Bikes are available for free. Occasionally dance classes free. Pilot house tour free. Bingo you pay for card(s) and all the $$ goes back to the players, lol no free cruise giveaways like on a mega cruise.

I find it nearly impossible to spend onboard credit especially on the Countess with only a gift closet and if an itinerary has no premium tours. Onboard credit can’t be used to pay tips.

What did I miss on your list?

I’ve done some variation of this itinerary four times. Twice on the Delta Queen, once on the American Queen and most recently on the Countess in September.

Obviously I love it. The appeal for me is it’s something different and with the smaller river you are up close to nature. So many eagles along the river. And in Alton there is a wonderful bird sanctuary.

The shore stops are not well known but I love the smaller towns. This year we were there for Peoria’s Farmers Market, which was great. It was very near where the boat was docked.

It’s a very different cruise - if it’s your first one, I might be hesitant to recommend. It all depends on what your interests are. 
 

On my 40+ cruises over 40 years of cruising I’ve done basically every itinerary and boat. Each one offers something different. While the American Queen is my favorite boat, I really enjoyed the Countess.

First, a big thank you to Mr. Waggoner for  saving the riverboats and for having the best experience on the rivers. The boats and the crew are absolutely amazing. As I look forward to coming onboard again, the pre-cruise documents raised a few questions for me

- the documents mention the Hop On, Hop Off will be different to create a safe bubble, I would be interested to learn more about how the Hop On Hop Off will be different, do you stay in the same group for our time in port?

- it also mentions “port exploration outside of our preplanned excursions is not recommended,” and contact tracing will need to be completed when we return. One of the best parts of a river cruise is exploring the small towns and visiting the shops. Do the cities we visit know that we are not being encouraged to explore on our own? If we do explore, do we need to collect the names of people we encounter?  And will this change after July 1st?

- will the American Queen be able to sail this year if the CDC does not change the no more than 250 capacity requirement?

- I know you are using a very high quality  COVID screening test, but have there been any false positives? It’s a bit scary that there are no second chances and your cruise rests on the results of one test.

- how is the crew feeling about having the vaccine required? I think it’s great you went in this direction but I know people who flat out refuse to get the vaccine.

- with all the new boats on the river, any difficulties in finding crew, especially deck hands and pilots?

I started steamboating in 1980 at age 16, and since then I've been on over 30 trips between the Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen and American Queen.

I've been on over 20 American queen cruises since 1996 with all sorts of rooms but lately I've only booked inside rooms mostly because of my budget but also in bad weather it's much nicer having an inside room. I also agree with a previous post, I don't like the rooms opening to the deck, early morning noise of the walkers is an issue for me. Others probably don't like me walking late night after closing down the engine room bar.

I like the bay window rooms but on a Fall upper Mississippi cruise, it got dark so early, we didn't see much. And in port, the room was often eye level to the town and I felt like a zoo animal in a cage. I of course left the drapes open at night, and was surprised the next morning to see the locals looking in. And in St. Paul, our room was street level at a major intersection. If our room had been on the river side, it would have been a totally different feel.

Just make sure if you pick the rooms 201/202, there is no smoking on the attached porch.

To me, the A rooms with the private verandas are the best of both worlds - outside space and interior hall.

The American Queen is amazing. My next cruise on her isn't until October, but I'm already counting the days.