Holiday cruises

[DebbieMH]

Anyone going on one of AQ Holiday cruises?

[Northtexas]

We will be going on the Dec. 9th cruise out of New Orleans.

[DebbieMH]

We will be going on the Dec. 9th cruise out of New Orleans.

 

That is the one we are on as well. It will be our first "river cruise" ... we are really looking forward to it. Have you been on a river cruise before? I know quite a few people have cruised on the Delta Queen and American Queen back when they used to do the Mississippi. We had always wanted to go, but were not in a position to do so. We got the brochures every year and wished! Now we are in a position to go ... and I'm excited!

[Northtexas]

Never been on an authenic overnight steamboat. We have been on 36 "Blue Water" cruises so it will be good to compare. We picked this particular date because of the entertainment. We have done a Concerts at Sea cruise hosted by Harmon Travel featuring Paul Revere and the Raders before and thought this Concerts at Sea would be fun.

 

Keith and Faye

[DebbieMH]

Paul R. Was the catalyst for me to actually go ahead and book as well. Im looking forward to his Christmas concert :-)

Husband has always wanted to do a cruise on a steamboat, and loves Paul R. And Gary P. So, I decided to book this and give it to him for Christmas.

[Sir William]

Anyone going on one of AQ Holiday cruises?

 

Doing the New Year's Cruise, Memphis to New Orleans.

[DebbieMH]

North Texas - have you gotten your paperwork yet for this cruise? My TA is fighting a bit with AQ because they haven't sent it to her yet. We need it now, as we will not be at home from Thursday onward.

 

I told her that she may have to scan it And email it - if they don't get it to her today.

[Northtexas]

"North Texas - have you gotten your paperwork yet for this cruise? My TA is fighting a bit with AQ because they haven't sent it to her yet. We need it now, as we will not be at home from Thursday onward."

 

No, we do not have our either. We are calling again tomorrow. We head down on the 5th.

 

Keith

[DebbieMH]

Thanks Keith. Our TA is going to have to send ours to our Nola address, as we will be in Nola from thursday on. We wont be at the house much as we have a trade show at the convention center all next week. I was hoping to get the docs before we left Alabama because mail disappears if it is left on the stoop in New Orleans. It will all work out, Im sure. Looking forward to meeting yall. Our son and his wife live in "north texas" - well, kind of - they live in Dallas. Btw - i'm Lynn and my husband is Dan.

[Northtexas]

Lynn and Dan, We will be in New Orleans on the 6th. I am Keith and my wife is Faye. Looking forward to meeting you on the boat.

[DebbieMH]

Looking forward to meeting y'all as well. We are scheduled to be in cabin 345. We aren't doing the night in the hotel, as we have a house in New Orleans. See you on board! :-)

[Northtexas]

We are in cabin 382. See you on board.

 

Keith

[sailaway5]

We are booked to go RT out of New Orleans the first week of May and will be very anxious to hear about all of your experiences. It will be our first river cruise too. We are researching New Orleans so we can see some of the highlights too.

 

Have a great time on your cruise.

[DebbieMH]

We have our Documents and they didn't disappear on our front stoop :-). New Orleans is getting better! Now, we just have to finish up our trade show tomorrow, then we are officially on vacation - yippee!!! We are really looking forward to our first river cruise.

[sailaway5]

We have our Documents and they didn't disappear on our front stoop :-). New Orleans is getting better! Now, we just have to finish up our trade show tomorrow, then we are officially on vacation - yippee!!! We are really looking forward to our first river cruise.

 

Bon Voyage to DebbieMH and Northtexas... Can't wait to hear about how you enjoyed this trip. Boy they sure take awhile getting the documents to you. Hope they are a little faster by the time we go.

 

Again --- have a wonderful cruise.

 

Cheers,

[DebbieMH]

Yes, getting documents mailed in a timely manner seems to present a challenge for AQ. But, we got them, so that is what matters. I will post when we return - will try and post some while on board as well.

[Northtexas]

This is the same cruise that DebbieMH wrote about in the other thread but a little different point of view.

 

We stayed three nights at the Hilton riverside prior to the cruise. This is an excellent location and an excellent hotel. The AQ package allowed us to par at the Hilton for $16 per day while on the cruise. The AQ pacage that we bought also had an extra hotel night, NO city tour, breafast and Brennans, and entry to Marty Gras World.

 

Check in on the American Queen was 9 to 1 inside the Hilton hotel. This process took about 5 minutes and we had our boarding passes for 3pm boarding.

 

As DebbieMH said the food was excellent. We had the early seating which was a bit too early at 5:15. Unlike DebbieMH late seating the service was a little slow getting the main course. Three of the five nights the waiter ask our forgiveness in the food being slow. The waitstaff all seemed to wor very hard and very friendly but there was a logjam in the galley. I understand the second seating did not have such an issue.

 

The lunch was the best that I have had on any cruise ship. You could have the buffet in the dining room or order off the menu. Both were excellent.

 

Stateroom- we had an inside cabin which was very small and no place to sit other than the bed or a shakey stool for makeup. After a couple of days we got used to it and I would probably do it again for the difference in cash. The bathroom was large enough and the shower was larger that any we have had on any of the mass market cruises. The bedding was very confortable.

 

Entertainment - All were excellent except the first night which was a play "A Christmas Carol" by a local NO group. Paul Revere was his usual funny self, Gary Puckett was very good, the Annie Moses band a pleasant surprise. We also had Stacy Wayne as Elvis which we enjoyed. One afternoon, the AQ singers and band put on a christmas show which was top notch. One of the female singers was as good as it gets.

 

We also enjoyed the Riverlorian "Riiver Chats"

 

Ports - The hopon hopoff steamcoaches are a real treat. There are right there by the ship whey you get off and they circle the route so that one comes by about every 15 minutes. We did the premium tour to Chef Regina's Twin Oaks and it was also very entertaining.

 

The weather turned cool so there was not much front poarch rocking which made the inside area a little crowded during peak times. I think this would be great to sit out on the open deck in the rocking chair and have your soft serve ice cream but not this trip.

 

Debarkation - We had our breakfast and simply walked of the ship at 7:30. Our luggage was waiting. We rolled the luggage to the front of the river center. I got the car from the Hilton and we were on our way in 15 minutes.

[DebbieMH]

Great review, NorthTexas. I meant to give y'all a buzz - but as you know, time seemed to fly by. Main dining room was the only place that showed any disorganization. But, at our seating/table it was minimal. I liked late seating, went to see the show early and in Paul's case - we also saw the show late! Maybe next time we can actually meet for a drink, take care, Lynn

[sailaway5]

Northtexas: Thanks for the update on your recent cruise. I did not know they have two dinner seatings. What time is the late seating? Did you have to arrange this before you went?

 

How were the ports?

 

DebbieMH: I can't find where you wrote your review... Please point me in the right direction.

 

We are taking this cruise in May, 2013.

 

Thanks for all your input.

[DebbieMH]

Sailaway - look at the thread "On board" . Our TA requested late seating for us (that is what we do on ocean cruises), but I know some people changed their time when onboard. Early seating 5:15, seems to be the most crowded. Late seating is 7:45. Ports were great, only complaint was I would have liked to stay longer in them. With the exception of Natchez, we left port around 1:00 in the afternoon. Not enough time to do it all!