Would you recommend the Lower Mississippi cruises for seeing antebellum homes?

[TravelinGert]

Interested in booking a Mississippi river cruise with a specific interest in seeing antebellum homes. Would be especially helpful if there were tours which were on the mild side as to how much walking is involved as one of our party is a bit less mobile. I'm not sure how to put a definition on the limits except to say a short stroll to the Alamo where we enjoyed about an hour and twenty minute tour before walking back to our hotel was fine but about her limit for the day. Have not previously done a river cruise but have done a number of ocean cruises. I have read somewhat about the inherent differences so we are going into this expecting things to be a bit different. Wondering if American Cruise Lines Lower Mississippi cruise would roughly fit the bill or should we look at other lines or other cruises?

[Darrell6t]

You should read the description of the excursions offered to see if they will show you what you want to see.  You will not see much of anything from the boat as you sail the lower Mississippi because the levees block the view of buildings along the banks of the river.  You have to get off the boat and usually drive a bit to see the sights.  If houses are your main focus, I would expect a land tour would be better.  If you like the cruise experience and only want to tour a few houses, then ACL should be a good choice. The small size of the river boats make them very different from an ocean cruise.   

[BaumD]

Did a 4 night lower Mississippi on ACL and saw three plantation homes. They usually have a golf cart to take the less mobile from the ship to the house, but touring the house is all on foot and most if not all, have a second floor. No elevators in those days!

[TravelinGert]

Walking around the ground floor will be fine. The upstairs would depend upon the stairs in question. I hope it may be possible to skip the upstairs but I'm sure the concierge would know. Thank you for the information regarding the levees, Darrell6t. I have been reading the excursion descriptions but asked because I thought someone may have insight into which is especially enjoyable. Looks like we're going to be booking on the AQSC as it appears they will allow us to share a two bathroom loft suite.