micoman

Unfortunately insurance would not help as AQSC did run a trip. They attempted to provide an additional experience to make up for the missed experiences. The problem was that the experiences they provided were of little value. Compare to being promised trip to the Vatican then being switched to "enjoy a free pizza in Rome".

On September 10th my wife and I and 34 neighbors from our Del Webb community took the American Empress riverboat from Clarkston Washington to Vancouver Washington (not Canada). The costs were $9189 not including flights, gratuities or transfers. I am happy to report that service was superior, food was excellent, Entertainment (Frank Chase) was exceptional,and everyone had a great time as we were all friends prior to this trip. We were however, disappointed that we completely missed the major scenic portions of the river due to the Oregon fire and the Native American salmon fishing rights which prevented our docking at The Dalles.

Due to the fire, we completely missed the Columbia gorge, Mt. Hood, Multnomah Falls, The Old Scenic Highway, Bonneville Dam, and Timberline Lodge. We did feel American Queen SteamshipCompany let us down, when they decided to compensate us with a day in Vancouver Washington, a very small suburb of Portland Or, with an included 15 minute hop on-hop off bus trip, and a second day in Astoria Oregon with anincluded shopping trip to Cannon Beach and Seaside beach (local beaches).

The bottom line is the fire and the blockage of The Dalles port were completely out of American Queens control, however their replacement options simply fell way short of the missedexperiences to say nothing of the $1000 a day cost.

Fun on the boat, but missed much of the scenic Columbia River.