River Cruising in the USA

[Stratheden]

I have searched as best I can but I cannot find any river cruises in the USA apart from paddlesteamers (either real or fake).

 

Are there any other river cruises.

[alexandra cruiser]

Not that I know of either,did take a paddlewheeler yrs.ago and was awful.But hear they ve updated and changed hands.Still they remain quite expensive,as compared to Europe.Heard its due to USA wages and rules.?

Did the Mississippi one>but boat was old,staff poor,and cabin stunk(literally),food awful...sounds great,eh??:confused:

[Canal archive]

From the UK brochure Scenic do an escorted tour part of which is a paddle steamer from Memphis to New Orleans, last time we were in New Orleans we took a day paddle steamer cruise and really enjoyed it. Must admit though river cruising does not seem to be the thing in the US.

[Shmoo here]

From the UK brochure Scenic do an escorted tour part of which is a paddle steamer from Memphis to New Orleans, last time we were in New Orleans we took a day paddle steamer cruise and really enjoyed it. Must admit though river cruising does not seem to be the thing in the US.

 

Probably mostly due to the fact that there's really only one river that's long enough to even think about doing a multi-day river trip. There aren't many options for river cruising in the USA.

 

That and the costs involved with having to conform to US wage laws.

[steamboats]

There are two river cruise lines in the US

 

American Queen Steamboat Company - operating the paddlesteamer American Queen on the Mississippi river system and the American Empress (paddlewheel but no steam) on the Columbia/Willamette rivers

 

American Cruise Lines - operating the Queen of the Mississippi (paddlewheel, no steam) on the Mississippi river system and the Queen of the West (paddlewheel, no steam) on the Columbia/Willamette rivers. There´s another boat announced for the Mississippi river system. Besides those boats they do have smaller boats in several areas

 

There are some small cruise companies on the Columbia/Willamette rivers (no paddlewheel) and some doing single cruises on the Mississippi river system (I think Blount, meaning there´s only one or two cruises per year).

 

Viking announced a non paddlewheel river cruise ship for the Mississippi river system. But so far no further information as they still have to find a ship yard to build it.

 

steamboats

[joanne2]

We cruised twice on the Mississippi Queen (Delta Queen Line) and absolutely loved it. It's what made us consider river cruising in Europe. Delta is no longer in business but don't know if Mississippi Queen was renamed or is just gone. It was a wonderful boat.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Hi, that boat is now part of the American Queen Steamboat Company (link: http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=649) -- we did a short cruise last summer and absolutely adored it. A colleague was on American Cruise Line, which has a new paddlewheeler on the Mississippi, also last summer, and she had a blast (link: http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=57).

 

Both companies are also operating ships in the Pacific Northwest this year, so that's kind of exciting too (definitely it's on my bucket list).

 

If/when Viking River has a ship -- wow, the Mississippi will be a hotspot, for sure.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

We cruised twice on the Mississippi Queen (Delta Queen Line) and absolutely loved it. It's what made us consider river cruising in Europe. Delta is no longer in business but don't know if Mississippi Queen was renamed or is just gone. It was a wonderful boat.

[jklc123]

We are thinking about a 2015 7-night cruise on the Hudson with ACL. They have numerous cruises on various rivers in the USA.

[Stratheden]

Thank you for all the replies, I had looked at the Scenic Tour including the cruise on the Mississippi. It looked really appealing as we avoid coach touring as much as possible. We really like the idea of unpacking once.

 

I gave it a miss as soon as I saw the paddlesteamer. I kept thinking of James Garner and Jodie Foster in Maverick. :D

 

We have a hold on a Canada/New England tour/cruise for 2015 but I am still browsing for alternatives.

[steamboats]

We cruised twice on the Mississippi Queen (Delta Queen Line) and absolutely loved it. It's what made us consider river cruising in Europe. Delta is no longer in business but don't know if Mississippi Queen was renamed or is just gone. It was a wonderful boat.

 

The Mississippi Queen has been scrapped in late 2011/early 2012 - unfortunately.

 

steamboats

[Canal archive]

I read a book not so long ago by a guy who took his Narrowboat down the inter -coastal I know it's not a river and the boat was at most 70 ft long so I wonder if that's worth cruising.

[fred111]

American Cruise Lines has a week long cruise on the Chesapeake Bay. We see it at the Yorktown dock pretty often. I think it starts in Baltimore.

[cbb]

Previous posters are right; American Cruise Lines offers Mississippi, Ohio, Columbia, etc as well as New England & SE US cruises.

 

http://www.americancruiselines.com/

[Stratheden]

I have been browsing through the American Cruise Lines website. There are some really interesting cruises on there.

[Hydrokitty]

We are thinking about a 2015 7-night cruise on the Hudson with ACL. They have numerous cruises on various rivers in the

USA.

 

Wow, I really hate to do this, but I'm going to strongly advise that you reconsider cruising ANYWHERE with American Cruise Lines (not to be confused with American Steamboat Line). We did the Lewis & Clark Expedition last summer with them. You can read my review on CC by typing in the name of the ship, Queen of the West, and line ACL. There are many reviews, mostly negative, unfortunately. Briefly, our cabin was clean, the itinerary was great, the scenery and excursions were pricey but did not disappoint....problem was the dining room. First thing we were told was that we could order anything within reason if we did not like what was on the menu. I do not eat hot lunch so I requested to have the lunch menu for dinner on one occasion. It took 45 minutes to get the hamburger sandwich that had been served at lunch and ordered at breakfast. Speaking of breakfast: dairy items (cottage cheese, yogurt, milk) were set on a table near the door to the dining room in uncovered bowls without ice or refrigeration for the duration of breakfast service. Additionally, one of the passengers fell (she was 90+) and cut her arm enough to require stitches. There is no first aid kit on board and when asked if someone could take her to a local hospital was told she could order a taxi but it would probably take several hours. She walked into town, found a drug store and the druggist drove her to a walk-in clinic where she had quite a few stitches and then drove her back to the ship.

PLEASE read all of the reviews before you spend your money because while the trip itself was worth going, this cruise line is not and it costs a lot more than some of the European river cruises I've taken.

[steamboats]

Hydrokitty, and there are hundreds of people who had a very nice cruise experience but who might not be on here.

 

We really had a very nice cruise on the Queen of the Mississippi last summer. But I don´t write reviews on here (as I do write pretty long reviews in German).

 

steamboats

[cbb]

re: costs of cruising within US. Remember the cruise lines must offer US salaries to primarily US employees--not the salaries that can be offered to Eastern Europeans. That cost and other costs associated with a US flagged ship are going to be passed on to the passenger.

 

The story of the 90 year old is a disgrace. Hopefully, the cruise company has learned from this terrible mistake.

[AmberCascades]

Out of curiosity (aroused by the OP's question) I Googled "river cruises in Canada" and a company called USA River Cruises came up. I had never thought to look for river cruises in Canada. They look a bit more expensive than ocean-going cruises but I don't know what's included in terms of amenities, excursions, etc., nor what fees might be included in that price. They looked like nice tours, especially if you haven't been to Canada and wanted to check out places like Toronto, Niagara Falls, etc. that aren't near the coast.

[steamboats]

AmberCascades,

 

Actually that company is a TA not a river cruise company.

 

The new Pearl Mist (Pearl Sea Cruises is a sister company of American Cruise Lines) is doing the Great Lakes.

 

steamboats

[AmberCascades]

I didn't say it was a river cruise company, I said that's what came up. I see that they also offer train tours. I see they also offer tours of the St. Lawrence and the thousand islands area. That's one I should look into. I just never thought about looking at cruising within Canada.

[Hydrokitty]

Hydrokitty, and there are hundreds of people who had a very nice cruise experience but who might not be on here.

 

We really had a very nice cruise on the Queen of the Mississippi last summer. But I don´t write reviews on here (as I do write pretty long reviews in German).

 

steamboats

 

Of course you are right, and perhaps Queen of Mississippi was better managed than Queen of the West, but based on my experience I still cannot in good conscience recommend them.

[jklc123]

Hydrokitty, I've been concerned about some of the posts about ACL, too. If we go, it will be for the itinerary and not the food. If the meals are better than expected, that will be a plus!

[nana541]

Check the Tauck website for trips that they do in the US....

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Hydrokitty]

Check the Tauck website for trips that they do in the US....

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I would check Tauck too, ACL is not cheap by any means and it's a lot of money to spend for a one week trip that is less than expected or advertised. I would also check American Queen Steamboat. They also do the Mississippi and it looks very nice. I believe both companies use paddle wheelers but the wheels are "assisted" shall we say and it makes for a very smooth ride. When you're on a river like the Mississippi or the Columbia you really do want to be slow moving so you don't miss anything.

[steamboats]

Check the Tauck website for trips that they do in the US....

 

Haven´t found any US river cruises on the Tauck website (only land tours). Anyway Tauck does not have any river cruise ships in the US. Any river cruise line like Tauck or Scenic offering river cruises in the US do offer cruises either with American Cruise Line or American Queen Steamboat Company.

 

steamboats