Loveh2ofl

Does the TV in stateroom have an hdmi port?  And how high is TV mounted?  Thanks!

Wishing you and your husband all the best..

46 minutes ago, kwahl1 said:

Just received a new brochure from American Cruise Lines. Quite disappointed in the brochure, too vague. Oh the itineraries look fantastic, but what ship on what route? No suite pictures. No dates published, just the month of sailing? Sold-out dates? Discounts ($$) published but no details. Worst of all no price ranges. They want you to call 1-800-981-9149, so that's what I will resort to today.

The website has all itineraries and ships and prices and availability - you might check it out.  https://www.americancruiselines.com/

37 minutes ago, Brownie54 said:

We sailed on American Cruise Lines a couple of times a few years ago. Unless things have changed, your same crew will do everything…serve you breakfast, clean your room, then serve you lunch, then dinner! In our opinion they are overworked and underpaid. Our room was sufficient, as was the food, but nothing out of the ordinary. We have moved on…

I believe in the last year or so they changed so that there are now dedicated housekeeping vs dining room staff...basing this on talking with people on board and looking at the actual acl hiring website.

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

I'm sorry to say, but this sounds like typical US cruise ship crew complaints.  Not sure how the crew are "overworked" when there are no passengers onboard.  The crew have signed a contract, called articles of shipping, with the Captain, for a specified time period.  While they are free to quit at any time, being US crew in a US port, on a US ship, their contract that they signed at the time of employment was very clear as to whether they were due transportation home if they quit.  Typically, either these shipping articles, or the crew's union contract will specify whether or not a ship being aground is cause for the crew to be allowed to leave the ship and get transportation home.  Not sure why the ship not docking in a port for a week is a "hardship", since fresh water and supplies were brought to the ship.  Maybe, because the crew have not been allowed off the ship in a week, which is a "true hardship" for a merchant mariner (which this crew is, per USCG).  As noted in ACL's statement, there are a minimum required manning for the ship, per the USCG, and so therefore some crew may not be able to leave when they feel like it (or if they do, as is their right as US citizens, they can be prosecuted by the USCG for violations of their merchant mariner documents.

 

Whole lot of whining and moaning here.

I agree as well - think about the 30+ cruise ships that were anchored off of the Berry Islands and Eleuthera for months during Covid (and some may still be there, I haven't heard).  They couldn't leave to return to their own countries due to Covid, nor could the ships come into port.  They truly were in hardship conditions....contracts seem to mean nothing to these young, inexperienced American crews.

6 hours ago, BaumD said:

Just heard on news that the Jazz has been stuck since Wednesday on a sandbar in Kentucky. Looks like she was outside of the channel markers and is stuck in 4’ of water. 

In the cruise we had on Queen of the Mississippi at the end of May, we had no paddlewheel because on the prior cruise the captain at the time had backed it into an obstacle and damaged it.  On our last night in New Orleans we went to a boat yard (if you can't fix it feature it) and got to see the paddlewheel re-installed over night....

7 minutes ago, Cali Viajera said:

Staffing in the dining room has been short. They have added and taken away stuff during the trip. Wait time for your food is long, one table this am wasn’t even served at all and left for the excursion without breakfast.

Can relate - once we got there right at opening at and breakfast (not a complicated one) took an hour to serve us and we also had an excursion we had to rush to.  But we had staffing issues for housekeeping as well.  Rooms were serviced (after the first day) but hallways, stairs, general upkeep was lacking and the refreshments (and water) in the lounges was not tended to.  Ice machine was out of service entire time in paddlewheel lounge. I've wanted to give the benefit of the doubt since we were the first full ship for Queen of the Mississippi and thus have not written a formal review- but I was hoping to hear that things had improved.  Seems to be a similar situation on several of the other ships as well.

15 hours ago, Cali Viajera said:

We are on our 30th anniversary cruise on the Queen of the Mississippi. If you have any questions, let me know! We are having an awesome time ☺️

How is staffing?  When we were on Queen at the end of May - staff down 9 (out of 45) and it showed.

It can't hurt to call the hotel and see if it offers an airport shuttle.  On my Mississippi Cruise - that was the case....

1 hour ago, pegdit said:

Has anyone used this company?   Have my eye on the Grand New England Cruise for June 2022.   Feel more comfortable staying in the US for now anyway so if anyone has been on this cruise or any of their cruises I would appreciate any feedback.   They definitely are more pricey, more along the lines of Viking but I'm leaning to go on a smaller ship for a change.

Thank you!!

P

As DaveinCharlotte just wrote - you're on a forum for american cruise lines - so read the comments/questions.  Also here is also a link to ACL reviews on this website:  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/american-cruise-lines-cruises/cl/

2 minutes ago, DaveinCharlotte said:

True, but nybumpkin notes that they will have to PCR test anyway... "Washington State's requirement, not ACL's, apparently."  

Typsygirl is going to New England....not Washington state (which I understand) - that's why I replied as I did.

3 hours ago, twototravel said:

Loveh2ofl If you have the time would love to hear about how your cruise goes. Anything of note would be most appreciated, i.e. how meals are served, covid testing upon boarding, ease and quality of the excursions, etc. There are several of us that are scheduled for July. 

I'm sure you'll have a great time.  We did enjoy our trip - but we were the first full set of passengers on our particular ship and they were kind of in restart-up mode so our particular ship was sorely understaffed.  So I don't plan on reviewing our trip as I normally would because any negatives were related to staffing.   

For most of the passengers - this was their first American 'river cruise' yet most were experienced cruisers (on ships), and had taken river cruises in Europe.  With about 150 folks aboard - one gets to meet a great many over the course of a week, unless one stays with a particular group/family/friends.  It was our first small ship cruise of any kind, altho' we too have been on many larger ships.

Covid testing was only conducted in our hotel the morning of departure.  It was done early enough so that one would have been contacted before getting on board.  As I've mentioned above - no one on crew or passengers (at least by that medical officer) has ever tested positive.  Crew wore masks, and by the end of our trip - I'd guess only 5% of passengers still did.  Nor did we wear them on buses or ashore.  Personally - my husband and I were thrilled, coming from the freedom of FL.  

Tables are open seating - smallest I saw was for 5.  You can come as a group, as a couple, individually and sit wherever you please.*  Our meal times were breakfast - 7:30-9, lunch 11:30-1; dinner 5:30-7.  Cocktail hour was 5:30-7 as well and appetizers were available at that time.  Early breakfast was just an assortment of juices, coffee, some breakfast bars, fruit, and perhaps some muffins/coffee cakes packaged - at 6:30am.  At 8pm the lounge was again available for drinks/wine/beer/soda until end of evening entertainment....*that does mean that someone may be on dessert when you arrive at the table and order if you're later... 

We enjoyed our meals - at breakfast one is asked to select choices for lunch and dinner - this is just to give the chef an estimate.  You are not held to it nor does your server know what you'd written down.  Appreciated the ability to have half portions too.

Included excursions were very good - of course in several it depended on the quality of the local guide.  We did choose to pay for a couple and those were excellent.  While I'd selected my choices prior to boarding, on the first day the cruise director gave an overview and handout on all the excursions for the trip and we did change some of ours at that time.  People made changes throughout the trip and since it's really a small ship, things are pretty flexible.  All crew really tried to satisfy everyone as best they could.

Hope this helps!  Have a great voyage!

8 minutes ago, tipsygirl said:

We are vaccinated, and leaving for a cruise of New England on the Constitution in 2 1/2 weeks. No requirements indicated so far for us to get tested. But we have a free testing site near our house with 24-48 hour results, so may just get tested anyway. We have used the site before, and got results the next day by text. 

Not  requirement by ACL on their website - you will be tested prior to boarding as will crew and all passengers.

2 hours ago, Texasramblinreck said:

We’re they incentives like on internet like $1,000 reduced or reduced deposits 

15% savings on any future cruise

waived port charges and fees

10% savings for your friends and family

Had to book prior to leaving the ship but had 2 weeks to change cruise itinerary or date

Yes - on our cruise they had a meeting and offer for future cruise incentives that must be reserved by end of the cruise.

We received a lanyard with our names and the keycard fit in the same plastic insert - on our lower Mississiippi cruise in late May.

I can only answer for Queen of the Mississippi - as of 5/29 when we were tested pre-cruise, our ship's medical officer said he'd never had anyone, crew or passenger test positive at all.  We were not tested again while aboard.

They welcome you to tip tour guides and drivers at your own discretion.  

Written on description of the shore excursions (online) - I printed it out but don't remember the link.

"Tipping policy:  Driver and guide gratuities are appreciated but at the discretion of each guest"

Currently on Queen of the Mississippi with cruise ending on 6/5.  While crew is masked and technically we're supposed to be wearing, 95% of passengers are not masked from day 1.  We were all tested prior to boarding.  On shore same.  Only had to wear mask once in a museum today.  Have been in TN, MS and LA.

Perhaps these changes will impact ACL as well:  https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/cdc-lifts-covid-testing-requirement-vaccinated-passengers

I sent an email to ACL asking - since I'm on Queen of the Mississippi in a week - but have not heard back...