Mississippi River Cruises ?? Going or Not ??

[petlover]

We have a Mississippi river cruise from Memphis to New Orleans this month on American Cruise Line (JAZZ ship). Any updates? I called American Cruise Line and they said it's still a Go...but with Hurricane Ida it sounds like New Orleans is not doing well at all. I also read that Memphis has flooded streets. Anyone else have a booked September Mississippi river cruise ?

[Host Jazzbeau]

The only two river cruise lines currently operating on the Mississippi are ACL and AQSC, each of which have their own Cruise Critic board – since you weren't likely to reach people with knowledge on the main River Cruising board, I have moved this thread to the ACL board.  I suggest you monitor this board and the AQSC board for the news you want.

[vino100]

I’m wondering the same thing about my Oct 3rd New Orleans round trip. 
 

[Globalfish]

I have a friend who is currently on AQSC’s new ship American Countess which is supposed to sail the full length of the Mississippi.  The cruise began in Red Wing, MN on 28 Aug and so far is covering every port on its itinerary (it is currently in Davenport, IA).  But so far it is only on the Upper Mississippi where things appear to be operating as usual.  Will let you know what happens in the lower Mississippi, but the new ACL vessel American Melody stopped in Vicksburg yesterday and is in Natchez today.  Don’t know what will happen with points further south.

[DaveinCharlotte]

1 hour ago, Globalfish said:

Will let you know what happens in the lower Mississippi, but the new ACL vessel American Melody stopped in Vicksburg yesterday and is in Natchez today.  Don’t know what will happen with points further south.

The Melody began its first cruise last week, getting out of New Orleans before Ida hit.  Got to Vicksburg and was scheduled to turn around and go back to New Orleans, but stayed in Vicksburg (unsurprisingly).  I suspect passengers had to depart there and fly home from Jackson MS.

 

We were scheduled for the next Melody cruise, 23 days New Orleans to Minneapolis, starting today.  This past Monday morning we got an e-mail from ACL saying they were still analyzing the situation and would get back to us. Tuesday afternoon they e-mailed us again, with a new plan:  Embark at Natchez on Friday the 3rd; they will meet us in Jackson MS airport and bus us the 110 miles to Natchez.  They will comp us by making all Premium excursions free (though no advantage to us, as we are Society members).  Was able to change American Airlines reservations online quickly, at no charge.

 

So far, we are pleased with the way ACL has been handling this situation.  

[Globalfish]

Glad to hear really positive things about ACL for a change and that you will be able to begin the American Melody cruise tomorrow from Natchez where it is indeed waiting for you.  Would be especially interested in knowing whether you will be able to do Cape Girardeau and St. Louis further upriver since the current sailing of Queen of the Mississippi appears to have stopped for less than 1-1/2 hours in the latter and skipped the former entirely.  Have a wonderful time on your cruise and will try to do the same on my Ohio River cruise beginning one week from today.  It will be my first time with ACL and my first multi-day cruise on a US River.

[DaveinCharlotte]

2 hours ago, Globalfish said:

Would be especially interested in knowing whether you will be able to do Cape Girardeau and St. Louis further upriver since the current sailing of Queen of the Mississippi appears to have stopped for less than 1-1/2 hours in the latter and skipped the former entirely.

When I went into our "booking documents" (the one you get to from the e-mail they now send), I discovered that they had already revised the itinerary PDF.  The only change was to the first 3 days of the cruise, lower Mississippi.  Everything upstream of that, including Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, show things exactly as they had been.

 

For several days I have been monitoring the Melody's position on MarineTraffic website.  A couple of days ago it reported Melody had left Vicksburg enroute to Natchez, but then updated positions just stopped -- as though Melody had switched transmitter off.  Currently says "out of range" or some such.  Not sure the online readings can altogether be trusted.

[BaumD]

“Out of range” happens a lot on Marinetraffic. Not just for ACL, but all cruise ships. There are other websites to track ships. When out of range on one site, a ship may show up on another site. 

[Globalfish]

4 hours ago, DaveinCharlotte said:

  Everything upstream of that, including Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, show things exactly as they had been.

 

 

Relieved to know that Cape Girardeau and St. Louis are still on your itinerary.  Their omission from the current Queen of the Mississippi sailing at the end of August must have been due to Hurricane Ida.  Haven’t received any emails from ACL regarding itinerary, but just accessed it online through my booking number and see that it was just revised today and includes Cape Girardeau, St. Louis, and all other ports that were part of the original itinerary.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Globalfish

[Globalfish]

This just in:

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/After-Ida-river-cruise-lines-adjust-itineraries

 

Thought ya’ll would be interested. 

[Izena]

I live in the Houston TX area.  My experience with hurricanes has made me only plan road trips from mid August thru mid September.  I choose my cruises carefully focusing on itinerary — east coast hurricanes and storms are less prevalent so harder to anticipate

[nybumpkin]

6 hours ago, Izena said:

I live in the Houston TX area.  My experience with hurricanes has made me only plan road trips from mid August thru mid September.  I choose my cruises carefully focusing on itinerary — east coast hurricanes and storms are less prevalent so harder to anticipate

We can cruise only during mid-June to end of August due to DH's teaching schedule and my work schedule (I'm retiring end of next year, though!) We've had three cruises impacted by storms, and two of those were NYC-Canada cruises over Labor Day weekend.

[chengkp75]

On 9/2/2021 at 2:01 PM, DaveinCharlotte said:

For several days I have been monitoring the Melody's position on MarineTraffic website.  A couple of days ago it reported Melody had left Vicksburg enroute to Natchez, but then updated positions just stopped -- as though Melody had switched transmitter off.  Currently says "out of range" or some such.  Not sure the online readings can altogether be trusted.

Consumer ship tracking sites like Marinetraffic, only "enlist" (pay) certain AIS ground stations to report to them.  If the ship is outside of "line of sight" (about 20 miles at sea, less in rivers) of an AIS land station that is part of the network, then the ship is "out of range".  This happens with ocean ships all the time, as noted above, when outside of site of land.  You can pay Marinetraffic for their "satellite upgrade", but it still will only give two updates from the satellites per day.  The only site I know that is not totally reliable is "Cruisemapper", which uses the ship's itinerary and last known speed to plot an assumed position, when "out of range".  It is illegal for a ship to turn off its AIS beacon.  Very likely some AIS ground stations along the river have gone silent due to the storm.

[ejfla]

Also have a cruise Oct 3, 2021 aboard American Jazz. Spoke to ACL customer service this morning and was informed the cruise was still scheduled. Also told any changes would be sent via email. So we are hoping for the best,

[vino100]

On 9/7/2021 at 11:02 AM, ejfla said:

Also have a cruise Oct 3, 2021 aboard American Jazz. Spoke to ACL customer service this morning and was informed the cruise was still scheduled. Also told any changes would be sent via email. So we are hoping for the best,

We are on the same cruise. Sure hope it sails. The pre night hotel is not open yet, so we shall see. 

[BillHana]

We are booked on American Jazz October 31 2021 from Memphis to New Orleans. When I booked this in March I assumed the virus restrictions would be over and I never anticipated a major hurricane in the area. Now I am just watching and hoping our air travel from Boston works and ship sails.

[vino100]

I spoke with ACL today and my Oct 3rd cruise is still scheduled. The pre hotel is supposed to open at the end of the week. We shall see. 

[BillHana]

To vino100, what is the situation with your Oct 3rd cruise? Is it working as scheduled? Please let us know.

[vino100]

2 hours ago, BillHana said:

To vino100, what is the situation with your Oct 3rd cruise? Is it working as scheduled? Please let us know.

we are at the pre cruise hotel right now. Looks like we will board in the morning. Now we just need to get through the Covid test. 🙀