How authentic is the experience?

[Riv39]

Hi,

Just wondering how authentic the experience is? We are looking for a way to really expore the south, hear the history and get a good feel for how things are at present. It will be our first trip to the US (we're from Sydney, Australia) and I've been looking at this boat as a way to avoid the well-trodden tourist trail and was attracted to what appears to be a lot of local involvement which i'm hoping gives it authenticity. Also, my husband and I are quite healthy and just about to turn 50. Will we fill it age-wise?

[Responder]

Hi,

Just wondering how authentic the experience is? We are looking for a way to really expore the south, hear the history and get a good feel for how things are at present. It will be our first trip to the US (we're from Sydney, Australia) and I've been looking at this boat as a way to avoid the well-trodden tourist trail and was attracted to what appears to be a lot of local involvement which i'm hoping gives it authenticity. Also, my husband and I are quite healthy and just about to turn 50. Will we fill it age-wise?

 

I'll give you our impressions of our trip.

We are from Florida..80 years old and quite fit.

 

We chose this trip as it offered immersion into the history of the Civil War in the US.

For us, there was too much immersion as many of the excursions visited battlefields where one saw nothing but the results of death and destruction. One visit was enough for us.

 

The Steamboat experience was a one time thing for us as well. Again, for us, too much stepping back in time...both with respect to the accomodations, food, entertainment, etc., and the age group was much closer to us than it would be to you.

Although we live geographically in the South, the South that the Boat visited was quite different. I don't think the Civil War has ever ended.

 

Having said all that, the cost of the trip and what we received was many times what we thought it was worth.

We know all the reasons and they have been spelled out many times on these boards, but so what. That only explains why but doesn't resolve it with respect to value. We could have taken a luxury cruise on an modern ocean going vessel and been far happier.

 

All of the above is from our perspective and if you have been reading the many posts, you will have seen that many folks were more than pleased with the experience and will return again.

[DebbieMH]

I havent been yet, but your idea sounds like a good one. The prior poster went on a Civil War themed cruise on the AQ, so yes, I'm sure he/she was sick of the civil war by the time the cruise was over. But there is much more to the deep south than the war. I'm a licensed tour guide in New Orleans, and I can tell you that the towns the AQ visits are the real deal and you will get an authentic representation of this great part of the US. And you can do it at your own pace. IMO

[hondorner]

Hi,

Just wondering how authentic the experience is? We are looking for a way to really expore the south, hear the history and get a good feel for how things are at present. It will be our first trip to the US (we're from Sydney, Australia) and I've been looking at this boat as a way to avoid the well-trodden tourist trail and was attracted to what appears to be a lot of local involvement which i'm hoping gives it authenticity. Also, my husband and I are quite healthy and just about to turn 50. Will we fill it age-wise?

I've never been to Australia, but I once had an internet friend who was buillding an aluminum houseboat to cruise the Murrray River, If there are lots of small, historic towns along the Murray, the experience would be very similar.

 

Especially if you take one of the voyages on the Lower Mississippi, (anywhere below Memphis), you will get a good picture of the old South, and since there is no other authentic steam-powered sternwheeler carrying passengers overnight, you will surely be avoiding the well-trodden trails.

 

Couple it with a couple of days or so in New Orleans, and it will be a terrific view of the old and new South.

 

The boat itself is as authentic as you can get within modern safety regulations. Highly recommended.

[Riv39]

Thanks Responder and Debbie. I appreciate you taking the time. I've also looked thru earlier threads to get other peoples' views and trying to come to some kind of decision. The AQ seems to offer something half way between a bus tour and hiring a car yourself and trying to work out where to go and what to see. I guess that was the main attraction to us. I'm still leaning towards a 7 night cruise in May from Memphis to New Orleans. We can get a direct flight from Sydney to Dallas, drive to Memphis then pick up another car in New Orleans and make our way back to Dallas. In all, we're allowing 3 weeks so the cruise itself will only be a third of the trip and the only part that will be 'guided'. Responder, from that perspective, I think I will enjoy the 'stepping back in time' because it will be a time that I know nothing about!

Any other ideas would be gratefully recieved. Thanks.

[Riv39]

Thanks Hondorner, I've just seen your comments now. As you say, it's the only authentic steamer and that was a real attraction to us (i'm the more enthusastic one with regards to cruising the river - it was the steam engine itself that helped hook the husband in as he loves these old engines). Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[steamboats]

Tell your husband he can go down to the engine room and watch the steam engine :D! There´s an engine room viewing area for the passengers and you can go down and talk with the engineers too.

 

AQSC did revive a long time tradition of "choking a stump" meaning just to stop somewhere and tying the boat up to a tree (stump) - or an extra stop which is not mentioned in the regular itinerary when time and river conditions are permitting.

 

So you definitely can experience an authentic steamboat cruise. The only thing being better than the AQ would be the Delta Queen which unfortunaltey is currently serving as a floating hotel in Chattanooga.

 

steamboats

[PennyAgain]

Riv39, Just a bit of information on your flights. You will be landing at DFW International Airport (DFW) not Dallas Love Field (DAL). DFW is about a 30 minutes or so drive to downtown Dallas.

 

We had wonderful boat/touring experiences in Australia and wish you the same for the USA. The hospitality we had in Australia was absolutely wonderful.

 

Driving from DFW airport to New Orleans took me 2 days with a stop for the night in Shreveport Lousiana, but some people do it in one day. Think Australian distances when planning your driving.

 

or you can fly.

 

Plan extra time for New Orleans as it is a wonderful city full of history, fantasic things to see and do, interesting food and people.

 

If you like history, you will find it interesting to be on the river boat and to do some of the tours. But the best part of the trip will be the people you need, talk with and make friends with. If you skip doing the river boat and do your own driving and touring, you won't have the 'people' experience.

[Riv39]

Thanks for this Penny. It's so helpful to hear from someone who's 'been there, done that'. You're right about missing out on all the people we'll meet by doing it the hire car way. We're allowing 4 days in New Orleans and 2 days to drive back to Dallas in case there is something interesting that catches our eye on the way back. Hopefully this will be enough.

 

I'm looking forward to making those friendships as much as learning the history. I've only really known a handful of Americans who've come here to live and work and they've all been lovely people.

[bruisin4cruisin]

It is about an 8-9 hour drive from New Orleans to Dallas. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

[Tigerfan85]

I am your age and it didn't bother me a bit to travel with some older folks. Everyone seemed happy and was having a good time. There were a few people younger than us - maybe 3 or 4.

 

I enjoyed the local guides on the hop on hop off buses in each town. While they did have notes to read about the sights, most of them also injected quite a bit of local color - down to pointing out where they were born and recommending sandwiches. I thought the selection of included sights was great in Red Wing, La Crosse, and Dubuque and Burlington. Davenport was less interesting to me and Hannibal is what it is (ie, the sights are there and they were all included). But it was a great overview and I now know which cities I would like to revisit one day. You can't cover everything in a 5 hour visit.

 

If you are interested in the boat and the river, by all means go to the Riverlorian activities. I attended two of the talks and the nighttime navigation talk up in the chart room. I was also reading Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain and I recommend that too. I was told the pilots STILL have to learn the whole river by heart and take a test that requires them to draw it all out. Wow.

[PennyAgain]

Thanks for this Penny. It's so helpful to hear from someone who's 'been there, done that'. You're right about missing out on all the people we'll meet by doing it the hire car way. We're allowing 4 days in New Orleans and 2 days to drive back to Dallas in case there is something interesting that catches our eye on the way back. Hopefully this will be enough.

 

I'm looking forward to making those friendships as much as learning the history. I've only really known a handful of Americans who've come here to live and work and they've all been lovely people.

 

I've made the drive from the Dallas area to New Orleans and back too often! You need to study some maps. If you find old houses interesting there are many to see in Louisiana that are very similar to your Queenslanders.

 

Many travel sites have suggestions on making those drives.