Never river cruised....

[RedJessi]

Hello! I am considering a river cruise for our family summer vacation.  We've done a fair amount of Caribbean cruises with several different lines, and one alaskan, but have never river cruised. I'm having some difficulty understanding what's included in the fare looking at the American Cruise Lines website. I am looking at the Maine itinerary and each day lists excursions but provides no info about costs associated. It would seem to good to be true to think they were included - where can I find out the actual costs so I can see if this is in our budget?

Thank you!

[adstz]

If the excursion is included, it will say that. If not, there is a price. Other than searching these boards the only option for finding out the price is to book and wait. From my understanding, 60 days out they provide an excursion and price list.

 

[BaumD]

There are three levels of excursions. Complementary, premium and signature. Each port will have at least one complementary excursion, which usually involves a local loop, bus trip, or possibly a trip to a museum or gallery. The cruise line makes arrangements with the museum for free admission for its guests. premium excursions are much less expensive than the big cruise lines. Expect between 20 and $50. Signature excursions can be very pricey and won’t be available in most ports. These excursions are very limited in capacity when they do have them. I have seen signature excursions for $175 up to $480.

[Funroe208]

As noted in other posts, every port will have a complementary tour. Some ports have more than one. As an example of the different levels on a Tennessee River cruise last summer, there was a complementary tour of the Quilting Museum in one port that ACL paid the entry fee for. There were low-cost premium tours of Lookout Mountain and The US Space and Rocket Center in other ports. We did not go on any Signature tours on that trip, but an example of a signature tour would be like the Anan Bear Observatory in Wrangell Alaska.

 

You probably know this, but there are no kid programs on these cruises. Based on the one we were on, 60 and up are the usual passenger age. If your family would not be comfortable just watching the shoreline go by on some days these cruises may not be a good fit.

 

Having said that, we are going on another one in June, so ACL does do a lot of things right.  

[JanetMarie]

I agree with the post above mine.  The age is 60 on up.  At least it was on the two cruises we've taken with ACL.  We have not seen children or teens on either sailing.  There are no programs for them.  I'm not sure how comfortable they would be . . . personally, we would not take kids/teens on these ships.  Whatever you decide, though, have a wonderful time!