American Cruise Lines

We loved the entire trip! The staff was so incredibly nice & helpful! The food was top notch and the entire trip was truly wonderful!

Incredible destinations, new boat, and pleasant staff made our journey on the Mississippi unforgettable.

I had a problem with a bed frame that collapsed and the ACL folks were quickly responsive in replacing the frame.

We had been told by friends that American Cruise Lines was best. ABSOLUTELY! Now: Maine's "Coastal Cats!"

Two of us got Covid-19 on this cruise. We have no idea how many other people did. I am updating this now because 6 of us GOT COVID-19. The "cocktail hour" has NO social distancing and no masks and almost no hors d'oeuvres. Most guest then go to dinner without wearing a mask.

Who we are:
We are seasoned cruisers and have been on both river and ocean cruises in Europe, South America, Asia and Australia.

Why we chose ACL:
Like many other travelers we were ready to cruise but wanted to stay in the USA. Wanted to see Washington and Oregon and this sounded great.

Pre Cruise:
We are sorry to say that we could not get answers to questions. If they have been using the Maritime rules for months we thought the answers would be simple. Written information was in our original paperwork in May. We didn't get any questions about COVID vaccination until we called the office.
"if we are arriving in Seattle on October 6th what date for the PCR test is acceptable?" We never got the same answer twice from the home office.
Get the test when you get to Seattle (and recommended a lab with a $425 cost)
Get tested at home (different dates)
"Is the whole crew vaccinated?" Mostly a yes answer
" Are all of the passengers vaccinated?" Kind of waving on this question It sounds like a Yes/No answer.

At The Historical Davenport Hotel:
Beautiful place!
While checking in with the cruise line representatives the morning of departure some people did not have PCR tests or had the wrong dates. This should have been done the night before! This held up leaving the hotel for everyone. Also, two representatives treating the problem 2 different ways.

Dining:
Lunch day 1: What do you have for draught beers? Our Waiter did not know what that meant.
The staff was very nice and helpful. Most had just weeks of experience on the ship and 3 days of training. Many had no restaurant experience at all. The managers had more training and some had come from larger cruise lines.
Our biggest complaint is lack of training
We were often later coming to dinner and our dinners would be warm not hot.
Limited wine selection.
Most staff are wearing many hats and doing the best they can.

On Board:
The historical presentations for this Lewis and Clark cruise were really great. Informative and really well done.

Tours:
Some are good. We had a wine tour that never entered the winery. We had a tour that was reversed because another ACL ship was there before us. Therefore, no guide.
We had a guide on the bus for the fort and cape and this was really good

No other guides on the buses.

The following is a letter I wrote to American Cruise Lines.

July 17,2021
American Cruise Lines
741 Boston Rd., Suite 200
Gilford, CT *******-2743
Mr. Charles Robertson, CEO
My wife and I have been on many cruises, none in the United States. We went on our first United States cruise with American Cruise Lines, Grand New England cruise 11 day, 10 nights cruise. We wanted to let you know of our experiences on that cruise that took place from June 24 to July 4. We already submitted our comments in the Guest Experience Questionnaire. But, knew they would be filtered before you saw them, if ever.
After boarding, we went to our cabin, number 415 and found the carpet wet and a layer of liquid on the floor of the bathroom. We assumed that this was caused by the cleaning people.
After two days, the carpet was still wet, but more like a sponge and the bathroom was wet. At this time we noticed the stench, it was not water but sewage. We called the Hotel Manager. He said, he would look into a solution. The following day we were moved from cabin 415 to 220.
The following describes our dining experience:
Food was in short supply: Dinner appetizers, Breakfast orange juice, Breakfast out of adult cereal, Dinner out of Chardonnay wine, Breakfast out of fruit, yogurt and bagels, Dinner desert pie portions were large but, after a while they became smaller and smaller, ours were very small, Breakfast only one slice of toast per serving.
Food offerings for lunch and dinner was not what you would find on a European cruise that cost the same as our cruise with American Cruise Lines
The following describes our experiences on the ship:
The ship was completely under staffed. The Hotel Manager was not on the ship when it sailed but, arrived the next day. Being over worked, some of the staff left the ship. As you would expect, somethings didn't function on the ship, such as, the WiFi didn't work most of the time, the telephone was out for two days. We needed a refrigerator for medical supplies. A small one was found but, did not work.
We met two staff people that went beyond their responsibilities to their jobs. The first was the Hotel Manager who we got to know well because of the sewage in our cabin and his efforts to find a place for us. The second was a cabin attendant named Brandy who made up our cabin even though it was not her responsibility.
Since our first cabin 415 was a category AAM and cabin 220 is category AAL there is a difference of over $1000 per person for the cruise. ACL should refund $2,000 plus $500 for the inconvenience of being in a cabin with sewage.
Paul