websailor

We plan to go on American Song from Portland to Clarkson. We're just looking at some of the details now. 

I've been trying to find out where this ship actually departs from. On Google Earth, I can see our Holiday Inn and right across the street is American Cruise Lines, and a ship docked right there. But I've seen other web references that they leave from 121 NW Everett St along the Willamette River....but there are no facilities there on Google Earth... 

Anyone know where they leave from and if we just walk across to the ship?

Also, do people typically take a taxi from the Airport to the Holiday Inn because it is a short trip?

Ernie

Thank you for the fantastic pictures!

We're thinking of booking this cruise for 2023. Thanks for your great review!

Question - do you think it matters which side of the ship you are on in regards to sights to see? I.E., better/more on Oregon or Washington side?

Also, You said you enjoyed the food, but could you describe the food a bit more? 

Thanks!

2 hours ago, erber said:

Here are a sampling from our cruising in Neumayer Channel. It still takes a long time to post these so I'm only doing a few so you all get the idea of the beauty of this particular experience on this itinerary ( although be aware that neither Charlotte Bay or Paradise Harbor were on our specific itinerary. They were added 1. since we would not be going to Esperanza Station; 2. due to weather issues; and 3. We had a little extra time). 

 

 

Ditto for Paradise Bay pictures - Wow, such lovely pictures! Makes me want to go back to Antarctica! Thanks erber!

2 hours ago, erber said:

Here are a sampling from our cruising in Neumayer Channel. It still takes a long time to post these so I'm only doing a few so you all get the idea of the beauty of this particular experience on this itinerary ( although be aware that neither Charlotte Bay or Paradise Harbor were on our specific itinerary. They were added 1. since we would not be going to Esperanza Station; 2. due to weather issues; and 3. We had a little extra time). 

 

 

Wow, such lovely pictures! Makes me want to go back to Antarctica! Thanks erber!

2 hours ago, erber said:

The whole sunset and sunrise thing is crazy. They do have good blackout curtains so that is helpful. Nonetheless, we have woken up at strange times ( last night at 3:00 a.m.  for some unknown reason), but have been able to go back to sleep. We are on an early schedule as we arrive at many of the places early.

The early schedule I believe is that it is usually calmer then. Also, if it is not, it gives the ship a chance to go to an alternative destination (there are many places they can possibly go). 

Good blackout curtains are nice!

I saw some nice sunsets but we were usually quite tired by then. However I got this moon rise peekaboo shot when leaving Usuhaia on our cruise in December 2018. I call it that because it only lasted about 30 seconds!

6 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

Thank you so much for all the information.  A question about viewing the area from your veranda.  Is one side or the other of the ship better for doing this?  We currently have a port side stateroom for our cruise next December but could change if the other side is preferable.  Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

 

When we were there in 2018, I'd say "neither". There were so many sights to see on both sides. Though cold sometimes, the best place was up on deck where you could go from side to side. Also, when you saw a lot of people on one side, there was usually something happening there.

Hello,

Editing my signature

Thanks for the wonderful review! It will help a lot with our (I'm Cflutist's hubby) trip this December on the Cloud. We are really looking forwards to it.

A few more questions if you don't mind....

Can you give us an idea of the range of weather conditions you encountered on the shore excursions? I'm think we need to be prepared for anything from bright, warm (okay, 32 degrees) sunny weather to gusty, rainy/sleet/snowing conditions. But I could be wrong. :-)

Regarding photography, are most of the things/animals that you wanted to photograph (yours were great!) close to you or far away. Anything else to mention about taking pictures?

At the end of the trip in Ushuaia, did anyone try to do a bit of sightseeing while waiting (rather than just sitting on the bus). Any recommendations of things to see?

On the Zodiacs going to shore, did you need any wind protection for your face?

We've never had a butler before - anything we should know beforehand?

Thanks!

Ernie (aka websailor)

...

Beginning with my first cruise, I have booked each subsequent cruise onboard as they offer a 15% discount and waiver of port fees if you book while onboard.

 

I'd be happy to answer any questions, either generally or my experience on the itineraries.

Do they have a Future Cruise Person (lol, we usually sail on Princess) onboard to help you out booking a next cruise? I'd like to go on a Rhine River cruise that focuses on music (Classical Composers like Bach, Beethoven, etc) but I'm not sure which of the many ACL cruises would be best suited for that. I'd like to talk with a knowledgeable person.

Hi All,

After over 100 ocean cruises (and two European River Cruises), we wanted to see more of the United States, via our preferred mode of travel (cruising). We originally booked with a different river cruise company, before doing due diligence information gathering. The more we learned, the more consideration we gave to American Cruise Lines (ACL), before finally casting our lot with them......

Thanks NRayH! I'm just looking into an ACL river cruise and your review helps fill in a few of the questions forming in my head. This was very helpful! Now back to reading more postings in the ACL forum.

what becomes of all that food that is destined for the cruise ships when cruises are cancelled?

The crew has to eat it. Just kidding...

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It's just some tables in the MDR, nothing special.

I'm thinking you haven't eaten in Club Class dining. There were many things that were special about it when we ate there.

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Boots -- on first sea day-- the crew will put a tag number on each boot for you with a little cubby hole assigned in the prep/changing room......

Ahhhh, this helps a lot. So we do not have to bring them back to the room which is great because we had a bit of worry about the smell. I fully appreciate and agree with not contaminating any of the antarctic island ecosystem.

The slippers idea is brilliant!

We were brainstorming a way to mark our boots (that we bought). It helps if the crew tags the boots. I think I'll still try to make some very distinctive marking on them in light of the next comments.

I'm looking at three Silversea backpacks and all three are built different........

Thanks, this helps a lot. I won't worry about our trekking poles then.

I'd love to hear a description of the process in regards to your penguin poop smeared boots and rain pants when you get back to the ship on the zodiac! Hopefully it is not that the crew breaks out a ships fire hose and turns it on you to hose you down.:D

After getting washed off, what do you do with your boots? Are there lockers or do you bring them back to your cabin? I have a picture in my mind of 100 identical looking boots all lined up and no one knowing which are theirs after the first zodiac trip. ;)

Thanks in advance, an Antarctic future first timer here.

A question on the SilverSeas Backpack since my wife wants to take trekking poles - does anyone have a closeup picture of the backpack? Does it have a way to strap the poles on (like my backpack) for when we ride in the zodiacs? Or, what do you do with your poles on the zodiac?

Since the Club Class dining on the Pacific Princess is actually Traditional Dining at a fixed time (although you can switch which time you want), you are really not missing much by not being in Club Class. The extra item on the menu is the main benefit that you will not have.

I wouldn't quite agree with this. While the difference isn't as extreme as economy vs first class on an airline, it is different. I thought there was more space in the the Club Class area, we were not so jammed together. it also seemed quieter, perhaps because every table there was not occupied when we went to dinner. I also thought we got more attention from the waiters and at least on our cruise, the waiters were all superb. Lastly the Maitre'd and Head Waiter were right there, so I suspect that kept the service levels pretty high also, plus we got to talk to them each night and more that just in a quick pass-by.

Lastly, as Cflutist pointed out, there were extras in regards to food every night and any food related variations we asked for were taken care of.

It was a different experience.

All that said, for some people it would not be any different, nor would they want to pay more (and be able to go to the Club Class area). As a backpacker, there is a great saying - "Hike Your Own Hike". I'd say cruisers should go on their cruises with a "Cruise Your Own Cruise" attitude. :)

On board the Royal Clipper in St Barts, two of the crew working on the rigging after we anchored

From our balcony on board the Royal Clipper, in the BVI

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... PS. I looked at your signature. Be warned...we also had lots of experience with Princess (and Oceania) prior to our first SS cruise, which was an expedition trip to Antarctica back in 2009. You may never want to go back to a mainstream cruise line...

LOL, I've been trying to get Cheryl to expand her cruising options a bit. ;-) So now we've done a cruise on the Royal Clipper (Star Cilppers cruise line) as a treat for me, and will soon do a Norway cruise on Princess (European cruise for me, compromise on Princess for some familiarity for her), and in 2018 an Antarctic cruise on Silverseas (since on Princess ships go there). We've talked about some possible river cruises. I think we'll be a bit more adventurous from here on....

But gosh, the prices are different than Princess! Personally I think it is worth it but it does stress her out some.

LOL, it's all my fault anyway, I twisted her arm to go on a cruise for the first time when we went to Florida for my Brothers wedding. The Voyager of the Seas totally amazed her! Boy, did I create a monster. ;-)

Glad you had a good time.Some friends of ours had a bad time in November on Royal clipper. It was sailing from Martinique to start the Caribbean itineraries.The weather was poor too, which didn't help.So you have returned my faith in the ship.

I have forgotten about drinking water.Do we pay for the water or are bottles free?

Where did you have the beach bbq?

Who served the best cocktails?.😀

I'm afraid I might not be much help because of the way we do things. ;-)

We had two free bottles of water in our cabin when we boarded. After that if you wanted a bottle I think you would have to pay. But I don't really know because we just use the tap water and refill the bottles.

Our Beach BBQ was at Falmouth Harbor, Antigua but I think it might vary locations. We went to it for a short time. The food was okay (I don't think they really know how to BBQ) and well suited for me (In comparison the lunches on board were too fancy). I had a hot dog with all the extras and greatly enjoyed it. The swimming looked good also, but I don't think the snorkeling was good at the beach location.

LOL, cocktails - I have no clue! We had only 2 drinks on board - we are not drinkers!!! That said, the Tropical Bar on the Main Deck was THE social gathering place on board. The bar there was also serving drinks and people had a great time there. It was covered, so you (usually) did not get rained on and when the wind was up, they'd put up a side canvas wall to block it. I think they had 3 bartenders and I suspect they are all very good. From my limited experience I'd say the drink prices are quite reasonable.

Hope this helps.

We had Cabin 312 on the Royal Clipper. I've posted a batch of pictures of it - see the Pictures link in my signature.

We really liked this room. We were not sure about the tender overhead, but that turned out to be quite nice. It's fun to watch it being launched and recovered. It also shades you from the sun and rain while not getting in the way of your view.

This cabin is right next to the swinging doors, so it is easy to leave you room to go elsewhere on the ship. You also do not have to go outside to get to dinner.

Our cabin steward was fantastic also!

The library was fine for me. I read a lot and on our 10 day cruise I think I read 8 books that I got from the library. I think about half or a little bit more of the books are in English, the rest in other languages (mainly German I think).

I had to search a bit to find books I wanted to read, but it was not hard. Near the end of trip when I returned a book, I noticed other ones that were not there before, so I picked up two of those to read.

Overall I'd say it was nice if you like to read a variety of topics. If you like just one (say murder mysteries), you might find it to be more limited.

...and did you enjoy it?

YES, it was fantastic! There is something magical when the Royal Clipper puts up her sails. The ship comes alive and leaps forward to her next destination.

Being a small ship, you get to know people on board. It was fun talking with people from other countries. Another wonderful thing is that all the crew are very approachable. We had meals/snacks with most of the senior officers (including the Captain) and the owner. It was so nice talking with them.

We enjoyed the food which is quite plentiful and always well prepared. We also liked all the things to eat other than at mealtime. The 24/7 coffee/tea pot was great also.

I have some of my pictures posted - there is a link in my signature. I have a lot more to edit and post.

If you have any specific questions, I can try to answer them.