Recent Reviews

[twototravel]

Has anyone else scanned the recent reviews posted in May and June for ACL? The majority are terrible. Sounds like lack of staff and inexperience is bringing their reputation down. One reviewer stated their cruise director quit on the second day! We are now 3 weeks until our cruise and hoping for the best. As most reviewers state, we pay premium prices for these cruises, so a certain standard is expected. There are a few good reviews posted...I wonder if its a generational thing...younger versus older people and their expectations.

[Texasramblinreck]

I don’t share your opinion.  I do think there is low activity on this site and more should post reviews.  I have asked my times for reviews of recent America Jazz cruises, but only one I think.  We start our cruise July 11 and I plan to give a good review for others.  You cannot speak your peace on this site, if you criticize wearing masks, you get censored.  There should be more discussion of what’s going on during the cruise and maybe some of the excursions.

[nybumpkin]

I just posted a review of our American Spirit Puget Sound cruise from two weeks ago. It was our first ACL cruise so my only comparison is with the main line cruises we have taken, but we were very pleased with our cruise - enough that we've already booked a Lower Mississippi cruise on Queen of the Mississippi in 2023.

[PeabodyMa]

Hello, 

• Does ACL have free wifi or paid wifi?

• Are meals always at shared tables or will they seat you at a table for 2?

 

thank you.

 

 

[BaumD]

Wifi is free, however it is cellular based and can be very slow or not available depending on the ships location.

 

most tables are shared. You might find a few two tops.

[PeabodyMa]

Is there a safe for documents in the room? Thank you 

[PeabodyMa]

Back again, forgot to ask if there is a mini-frig in the room? Again, thanks

[nybumpkin]

No to mini-fridge, and if there was a safe I missed it. Then again, I wasn't looking.

[PeabodyMa]

1 hour ago, nybumpkin said:

No to mini-fridge, and if there was a safe I missed it. Then again, I wasn't looking.

Thank you so much. I didn't see mini-fridge listed for rooms, but I was hoping there was one. Perhaps, someone else knows about a safe. 

[whoopie]

I was just on the Song. While all staff were very friendly and wanted to be helpful, the ship was woefully understaffed. You could wait an hour to order and another hour to be served. 
 

The ship's WiFi was useless. Either I couldn’t log on or it said the network had no WiFi. I used my cell phone as a hotspot for my iPad until my cell provider said I was at the limit for that. 
 

I have cruised over 20 times and will not use ACL again.

 

To answer questions I noticed—there is a safe in the room, no fridg. 

[PeabodyMa]

12 minutes ago, whoopie said:

I was just on the Song. While all staff were very friendly and wanted to be helpful, the ship was woefully understaffed. You could wait an hour to order and another hour to be served. 
 

The ship's WiFi was useless. Either I couldn’t log on or it said the network had no WiFi. I used my cell phone as a hotspot for my iPad until my cell provider said I was at the limit for that. 
 

I have cruised over 20 times and will not use ACL again.

 

To answer questions I noticed—there is a safe in the room, no fridg. 

Hello Whoopie. Thank you for this review. This definitely is not how I want to travel. I am sorry it was such a disappointment and problematic. And thank you for letting me know there was a safe. 

[Balliett]

Thanks for the mini-review, Whoopie.  Tex, looks like we will be on your cruise.  We had our molecular Covid tests today and are awaiting results.  First time river cruisers, long time ocean cruisers.  We will go with the flow, masks or no.  We booked the cruise planning to escape our Las Vegas heat, but at least the drinks will be cold.  Jim and Grace

[MSEm]

Off the  Constellation June 14-24, 2021 Alaskan Cruise.

Safe in bottom draw of desk.

Bath: nice layout with vanity.  Cabinet under sink contained extra tissues, soap, shampoo, etc.  Also 2 drawers for storage with a Hair Dryer. 2 small shelves in shower.

NO INTERNET or TV.  Ship does not have satellite connection.  Only had some internet connections when in port.

Food  Below par with any other cruise line.  (this was cruise 39.  We have been on a 78 passagener sailing ship for 4 cruises.Small ships with less than 100 passengers can have wonderful food. Almost no veggies lunch and dinner were meat and potatoes. Last night dinner , 2 round pieces of (New York Strip STEAK????) with large baked potato and 2 pieces of fresh steamed Asparagus. Another night I got the beef tips??? in peppercorn sauce with about 1 1/2 c cubed potatoes and 2 small pieces of carrot. Salad every night, the same mixed greens with 3 halves of graph tomato.

First night I ordered Grilled Halibut. tough, cold and tasteless. Remained me of a frozen microwave fish dish.

Alternated Entree was HAMBURGER, no chicken breast.

Ran out of Vanilla, chocolate ice cream on day 3.  Then ran out of butterpecan, strawberry and coffee ice cream.

I took pictures of the Salmon and Shrimp being served.  On our Alaskan cruise, ACL served Alantic Farm-raised Salmon and Farm-raised Shrimp. Seems like ACL could have purchased Alaskan Salmon.

The wait staff and housekeeping staff were very good and tried to please.  I cannot fault the wait and housekeeping staff and very hard working.

2 special extra cost excursion not do take place because no one arranged transportation from ship to tour locations. One was a raft trip out of Haines and the other was an E Bike and hiking in another location. These were offered through the ship.

I enjoyed the walks in the towns with local guides, expecially the Petersburg Commerical Fishing Dock tour. Guide was a retiree (30 years in Peterburg) US Fisheries Manager for the area.

 

[PeabodyMa]

Thank you so much for your extremely detailed review of your Constellation experience. You have given the most details of anyone, and I am thankful for your complete review. 

 

Wishing you better and happier travels.

[Whatever2020]

On 7/5/2021 at 7:30 AM, twototravel said:

Has anyone else scanned the recent reviews posted in May and June for ACL? The majority are terrible. Sounds like lack of staff and inexperience is bringing their reputation down. One reviewer stated their cruise director quit on the second day! We are now 3 weeks until our cruise and hoping for the best. As most reviewers state, we pay premium prices for these cruises, so a certain standard is expected. There are a few good reviews posted...I wonder if its a generational thing...younger versus older people and their expectations.

We currently are on the Song and while the ship was noticeably understaffed at the beginning of the cruise, things have improved. From watching the staff, most were pretty new and I think are being trained on the job rather than having advanced training. I think ACL has run into the same problem as everyone else in hiring. Full cruises came back faster than anticipated and finding experienced people to hire is difficult. After a few hiccups the food and speed of service has been good. 

[PeabodyMa]

7 hours ago, MSEm said:

Off the  Constellation June 14-24, 2021 Alaskan Cruise.

Safe in bottom draw of desk.

Bath: nice layout with vanity.  Cabinet under sink contained extra tissues, soap, shampoo, etc.  Also 2 drawers for storage with a Hair Dryer. 2 small shelves in shower.

NO INTERNET or TV.  Ship does not have satellite connection.  Only had some internet connections when in port.

Food  Below par with any other cruise line.  (this was cruise 39.  We have been on a 78 passagener sailing ship for 4 cruises.Small ships with less than 100 passengers can have wonderful food. Almost no veggies lunch and dinner were meat and potatoes. Last night dinner , 2 round pieces of (New York Strip STEAK????) with large baked potato and 2 pieces of fresh steamed Asparagus. Another night I got the beef tips??? in peppercorn sauce with about 1 1/2 c cubed potatoes and 2 small pieces of carrot. Salad every night, the same mixed greens with 3 halves of graph tomato.

First night I ordered Grilled Halibut. tough, cold and tasteless. Remained me of a frozen microwave fish dish.

Alternated Entree was HAMBURGER, no chicken breast.

Ran out of Vanilla, chocolate ice cream on day 3.  Then ran out of butterpecan, strawberry and coffee ice cream.

I took pictures of the Salmon and Shrimp being served.  On our Alaskan cruise, ACL served Alantic Farm-raised Salmon and Farm-raised Shrimp. Seems like ACL could have purchased Alaskan Salmon.

The wait staff and housekeeping staff were very good and tried to please.  I cannot fault the wait and housekeeping staff and very hard working.

2 special extra cost excursion not do take place because no one arranged transportation from ship to tour locations. One was a raft trip out of Haines and the other was an E Bike and hiking in another location. These were offered through the ship.

I enjoyed the walks in the towns with local guides, expecially the Petersburg Commerical Fishing Dock tour. Guide was a retiree (30 years in Peterburg) US Fisheries Manager for the area.

 

To MSEm, 

Thank you so much for your extremely detailed review of your Constellation experience. You have given the most details of anyone, and I am thankful for your complete review. 

 

Wishing you better and happier travels.

[twototravel]

I hope ACL management are reading the comments on this board and the reviews posted in the "member review" section. Some issues sound like minor irritants, while others more serious. For the more serious, ACL should be compensating passengers.

[SargassoPirate]

We received a nice glossy catalog of ACL cruises a few days ago and She Who Must Be Obeyed was interested since no international travels would be involved.    Once we got over the sticker shock of the prices, I came to cruise critic and read some of the posts here and the reviews.  

 

We decided ACL is not a cruise for us.  Why pay premium prices for substandard accommodations, food, and service?  One recent reviewer commented likened ACL to a Motel 6 experience.  I have nothing against Motel 6, but I'm not going to pay Waldorf Astoria prices to stay in one.

 

 

 

 

[BaumD]

On 7/9/2021 at 12:35 AM, Whatever2020 said:

We currently are on the Song and while the ship was noticeably understaffed at the beginning of the cruise, things have improved. From watching the staff, most were pretty new and I think are being trained on the job rather than having advanced training. I think ACL has run into the same problem as everyone else in hiring. Full cruises came back faster than anticipated and finding experienced people to hire is difficult. After a few hiccups the food and speed of service has been good. 

Big ship cruising returning to service has nothing to do with ACL staffing. As American cruise lines ships are registered in the US all employees must be US citizens. Most if not all of the housekeeping dining room and other staff on big cruise ships are foreign workers and not from the US. American has always had staffing issues but now every restaurant retail store airline and other small businesses are having staffing issues. That just makes it tougher for American cruise lines.

[twototravel]

Reviews are even more scathing on Yelp. You would think after a couple of sailings, the crew and service would improve. We embark next week and excited about finally traveling to see New England, but not so much with this company. This will be our first ACL cruise and probably the last. If they don't have enough trained staff for these cruises they should cancel them until the staff is ready. This doesn't happen on cruises overseas where workers are happy to be employed. 

[NCFoodFan]

We are scheduled to cruise on the American Harmony next week for Snake/Columbia River excursion.  Has the service/food/staffing gotten any better in July?  Please give us some hope!

[jagoffee]

4 hours ago, NCFoodFan said:

We are scheduled to cruise on the American Harmony next week for Snake/Columbia River excursion.  Has the service/food/staffing gotten any better in July?  Please give us some hope!

We are also scheduled on the Harmony at the end of August.  Please come back and let us know about your experience or any suggestions.  I have adjusted my expectations and hoping to be surprised.  

[suzyluvs2cruise]

24 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

We are also scheduled on the Harmony at the end of August.  Please come back and let us know about your experience or any suggestions.  I have adjusted my expectations and hoping to be surprised.  

 

That's a great way to look at it. We're booked on American Jazz 7/25. After 9 days grounded on a Sandbar on Lake Barkley Kentucky she was finally floated off this afternoon. Our cruise....if it goes....will be the 1st one after 2 cancelled cruises. I'm trying to be optimistic but it's not easy considering they have to determine if there's any damage and re-crew and re-supply the riverboat. 

 

[Cali Viajera]

We cruised on the Queen last month. We had an excellent time. Staff went overboard to please, delicious food, enjoyed the ports, and met wonderful people. Minor annoyances are standard on any trip, one just needs to go with the flow. We highly recommend the Queen of the Mississippi NOLA to Memphis trip.

[twototravel]

9 minutes ago, Cali Viajera said:

We cruised on the Queen last month. We had an excellent time. Staff went overboard to please, delicious food, enjoyed the ports, and met wonderful people. Minor annoyances are standard on any trip, one just needs to go with the flow. We highly recommend the Queen of the Mississippi NOLA to Memphis trip.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. I agree, minor things occur on any type of trip, but not getting your food served before an excursion, arriving on day 1 to a dirty room, unable to get soap and linens in a timely minor, receiving cold food, excessive serving time at meals, missed excursions due to poor planning, no buses scheduled to take people back to the airport, etc, etc. are not minor in my opinion. For the money paid for this cruises, expectations should be high.