denmor428

The food was fine. There were as many hits as misses and I don't remember anything as the best I ever had. The menus are sometimes unclear and the philosophy seems to be "if you want it, ask for it" so if you want toast or fruit with breakfast, ask for it since it is not listed on the menu. I learned to ask how something is prepared after ordering the seafood salad (shrimp, crab and scallops on a bed of greens) and receiving an emulsified concoction of jelled seafood, wrapped in a cucumber slice. The alternate dining was much simpler and the description matched the food received. We ordered the burger and the pizza and were happy with both.

We were on ACL for a Christmas cruise on the Mississippi. Differences from American Queen that I noted were: ACL has open bar included all day, ACL has junk food snacks available all day (chips, cookies, etc.), ACL brings two cookies at evening turn down, ACL has open seating in the DR so only one show at night at 8:30, ACL has limited menu in the DR and bare bones in the "alternate" dining upstairs, ACL has free washers/dryers, ACL rarely had anyone at the "front desk" to answer questions. I very much preferred American Queen but will have to adjust since American Queen is gone and we still need one more leg of the Mississippi to complete. So sad.

Has anyone been onboard over Christmas when they had the Yankee Gift Exchange? Can you tell me some of the gifts that were given? Our guidance from American is $35-$50, maybe a souvenir from the trip. I think it should also be easily packable for the giver and receiver. Any suggestions welcome!

Our paddle wheel trip in Dawson was cancelled because the boat was not operating. Our city tram tour in Skate at was cancelled. We rebooked through Victor and their first stop was our ship. Definitely pack snacks and any off meds you may need. We paid $15 for 3 oz of robot us din at Denali

We are on the last day of the triple Denali trip that started with the 7 day cruise out of Vancouver May 22. The cruise was wonderful and it has been downhill since we got off the ship. The HAL hotels are understaffed and the food ranges from ok to awful.We have been served a salad greens turning yellow, old, dry meat and cold rubbery eggs. Excursions on and off the ship have been cancelled incl one of the "included" excursions.Whoever designed this itinerary never worked it. We had too much dead time, too much time in one place, not enough in another, etc.. I feel totally ripped off. HAL took my money and failed to deliver the promised vacation experience. If your trip was cancelled, count yourself lucky. You dodged a bullet.