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American Pride, June 17-25, my impressiosns


Sunburg1
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With the pandemic slacking off but still no other cruise options available we decided to spend the money for a Columbia River cruise. Based mostly on departure date we decided on the American Pride downstream leaving June 18.

After having some questions after attempting to book online we called. “If your call is important to us” is really true they had better hire more agents. Waiting 30 minutes on the phone listening to Dixieland jazz hideously distorted by the tiny telephone speaker is not fun.

Once connected the agent was helpful and professional. We have done a lot of cruises including European river cruises but this was our first American one.

Air travel to Spokane was pretty much routine and we spent the pre-cruise night at the Historic Davenport Hotel which was beautiful and functional. After breakfast the next day we were called to board the busses at about 10:15 for the quite pleasant two hours plus ride to Clarkson. We then had to have a nasal swab COVID test and wait in our cabin the fifteen minutes or so it took to get the results.

On board the staff wore masks, few of the passengers did. COVID capacity signs were totally ignored.

The ship decor is to me bland and somewhat dated. The first night they ran the stern wheel all night which made considerable noise but wasn’t unpleasant. After that they left the obviously non functional wheel to just rotate on its own and the room was quieter.

We were on the third floor near the stern (Cabin 325). The cabin was quite large with a good sized bath. BUT, the beds, while comfortable, were on wheels and rolled when I go in or out of bed. Also they did not have enough room under them to allow our suitcases to be stored there. Also there was no safe or refrigerator. One unmentioned perk is that there were two free washer dryers sets on the top deck.

Meals were generally fine. The first morning we, along with everyone else, got to the dining room when it opened at 7:30. We got our order at 9:00, many who had excursions starting at 8:30 had to leave with out getting their food. This was not repeated on any other day.

One thing I fail to understand is why they schedule both dinner and happy hour at exactly the same time, 5:30 PM. A half hour earlier happy hour or a half hour later dinner would be much better.

The lecturer was excellent! An American history professor from Emory University who was born in England he gave great lectures on Lewis and Clark as well as many other topics on the history of the northwest.

Entertainment (8:30 to 9:30 PM) was a guitar/keyboard duo, a bass keyboard duo and a very entertaining singer comedian who did cowboy songs one night and sailor songs another.

Although most passengers were older as was expected. There were some younger adults and a few kids. Dress was casual all the time.

We missed one mornings excursions and/or time ashore reportedly due to a mixup on the  docking spot. This should not have happened. Some docking spots were just sand bars next to a parking lot. Few were really convenient to towns.

The last morning we took the shuttle to the airport right after breakfast and would have had no problem making our 10:30 AM flight it had been on time.

For the money the cruise was somewhat disappointing, especially compared to European river cruises.

 

 

 

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Thank you for your review. I too question the conflict of happy hour and dinner being served. I would really like to see happy hour 4:30-5:30. It appears to be the same on all the ships. I guess it could be ACL's way to manage the passengers, assuming some will bypass happy hour to eat dinner right away. Disappointing to hear about the wait time for breakfast one day and missing some of your excursions due to docking issues. Was this the first running of your cruise since covid? 

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On 7/8/2021 at 2:29 PM, Sunburg1 said:

One thing I fail to understand is why they schedule both dinner and happy hour at exactly the same time, 5:30 PM. A half hour earlier happy hour or a half hour later dinner would be much better.

 

21 hours ago, twototravel said:

I too question the conflict of happy hour and dinner being served. I would really like to see happy hour 4:30-5:30. It appears to be the same on all the ships. I guess it could be ACL's way to manage the passengers, assuming some will bypass happy hour to eat dinner right away.

It used to not be that way.  Around 6pm or so, someone would ring a bell and we could go down to dinner.  I think they believe staggered arrivals make it easier for everyone, but that's not the case!

 

Old way:  Table of 8, fills in quickly.  Server goes through the hoops:  (1) Take beverage requests for all.  (2) Serve beverages all. (3) Take meal orders for all.  (4) Serve meals for all.  (3) Get refills for beverages for all. (4) Clear dishes for all. (6) Take desert orders for all. (7) Serve desert to all.  (8) Final beverage service for all.

 

New way:  Table of 8, first two arrive.  Server starts #1 and #2 for them.  Then the next two passengers arrive.  Time for #3 for the first two, but server needs to do #1 and #2 for the second two.  Now the third pair of passengers drops in, and...well, you can see it's almost impossible for them to keep up.  8 tasks times 4 different pairs of guests -- 32 events that can go wrong!

 

    

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23 hours ago, DaveinCharlotte said:

 

It used to not be that way.  Around 6pm or so, someone would ring a bell and we could go down to dinner.  I think they believe staggered arrivals make it easier for everyone, but that's not the case!

 

Old way:  Table of 8, fills in quickly.  Server goes through the hoops:  (1) Take beverage requests for all.  (2) Serve beverages all. (3) Take meal orders for all.  (4) Serve meals for all.  (3) Get refills for beverages for all. (4) Clear dishes for all. (6) Take desert orders for all. (7) Serve desert to all.  (8) Final beverage service for all.

 

New way:  Table of 8, first two arrive.  Server starts #1 and #2 for them.  Then the next two passengers arrive.  Time for #3 for the first two, but server needs to do #1 and #2 for the second two.  Now the third pair of passengers drops in, and...well, you can see it's almost impossible for them to keep up.  8 tasks times 4 different pairs of guests -- 32 events that can go wrong!

 

    

Hi All,

 

We agree with Dave -- "It used to not be that way".  Perhaps the "change" is due to re-establishing processes?  Hopefully, they will be able to return to what had been a fairly efficient/comfortable meal-time.  Start-ups, after prolonged shut-downs, often require some time to get into the "new, or previous, routine".

Have been through a number of corporate "disruptions/change-overs" during my "working days".  They can be quite "enlightening/painful".  Based on our previous dealings with ACL, we think they should get things "back on track" somewhat quickly.  We will see come 19 September, when we board "Queen of the Mississippi" for the Ohio River cruise.

 

NRayH

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