Music to my ears!

[shipgeeks]

Last evening we heard a sound we haven't heard for years: a calliope.

We live near the first lock on the Ohio River just downstream from Pittsburgh.  Long ago, when a calliope was unexpectedly heard, many of us would run down to the viewing area to watch a riverboat lock through, with calliope celebrating the beginning of a river cruise.  We sometimes felt like extras in "Showboat".  Then, apparently, someone complained about the noise, and the boats came through silently.  We missed those events.

In this morning's paper we learned that American Queen was the boat.

Wishing all of you aboard a wonderful cruise, and happy viewing to all of us on shore along the way.

[mreasier]

We just got off the Queen.  Loved the calliope.

[wandb]

5 hours ago, mreasier said:

We just got off the Queen.  Loved the calliope.

We love the Queen and can't wait to be on her again.  But first the Duchess---in just 3 weeks. 
Can you tell us a bit about the procedure for checking in. Is there a health questionnaire in place of the Covid test? Or is health not addressed at all?

Check-in should be pretty quick, I think. 

[bob brown]

I too was on the AQ on her voyage to Pittsburgh.  Spectacular!  We arrived Pittsburgh way early, at about 8:30 PM instead of in the wee hours.  We were able to do a night "on the town", and return to the boat as our hotel, before disembarking  Monday morning.

 

[bob brown]

On 8/9/2022 at 6:40 PM, wandb said:

We love the Queen and can't wait to be on her again.  But first the Duchess---in just 3 weeks. 
Can you tell us a bit about the procedure for checking in. Is there a health questionnaire in place of the Covid test? Or is health not addressed at all?

Check-in should be pretty quick, I think. 

We thought we could avoid being tested at the hotel check in by getting tested within 48 hours of checking in at the hotel, which we did, but at the hotel check in, they said we needed to be tested again, as it was needed within 48 hours of boarding the boat, the next day.   So we tested at home for nothing, but it at least assured us it was safe for us to fly out.  We did complete a one page health questionnaire at the hotel.   Check in went very smoothly, as we only had 138 passengers from St. Louis (Alton), to Louisville.  From Louisville to Pittsburgh, we had 258.

[wandb]

12 hours ago, bob brown said:

We thought we could avoid being tested at the hotel check in by getting tested within 48 hours of checking in at the hotel, which we did, but at the hotel check in, they said we needed to be tested again, as it was needed within 48 hours of boarding the boat, the next day.   So we tested at home for nothing, but it at least assured us it was safe for us to fly out.  We did complete a one page health questionnaire at the hotel.   Check in went very smoothly, as we only had 138 passengers from St. Louis (Alton), to Louisville.  From Louisville to Pittsburgh, we had 258.

Thanks Bob. I forgot you were already on the first leg of your cruise when the new Covid regulations took effect on August first, so you had to test under the old rules.  Hopefully, these new rules will be successful and we can continue to cruise without the ineffective Covid testing. 
 

A lot of folks on our last cruise (in June) got Covid by the end of the cruise, and a few got it a few days later. All tested negative the day before the cruise began. 
 

I'm looking forward to this Upper Mississippi/Mark Twain cruise in 3 weeks. Just wish someone else would sign in. It's always fun to meet up with the folks we have "met" on CC. 

[bob brown]

4 hours ago, wandb said:

I'm looking forward to this Upper Mississippi/Mark Twain cruise in 3 weeks. Just wish someone else would sign in. It's always fun to meet up with the folks we have "met" on CC. 

We are also looking forward to our next cruise on the AQ...Minneapolis (Red Wing) all the way to New Orleans on Oct 1, 2023.   I too wish there was more roll call activity, then what we have experienced so far on our first two AQV cruises...