American Queen Nov 8th Memphis to New Orleans

[Haysiedaze]

My wife and I  leave Sunday for Memphis. We will be staying at the Guest House at Graceland. Our Covid testing at the hotel is scheduled.

 

If all goes well we will be sailing on Monday on the American Queen. We have lowered our expectations from when we originally were scheduled to sail March of 2020, based on what we have read. Yet we look forward to our first cruise since June 2019 (Avalon Tapestry II, Paris to Normandy). We are in an LS cabin (517).

 

The service we have been getting at finer restaurants here in NH for the past 6 months hasn't been good as many can't find experianced help. We won't be surprised by it on the cruise. 

 

I will try to update this post as we travel down the Mississippi with some updated observations during the week. Questions are welcome and I will get to them as time permits.

Regards, Steve

[uktog]

Thank you Steve, we are on that itinerary in May so will be following with great interest.  How wise to lower your expectations, it’s something that’s so important in every walk of life just now.  Enjoy your trip 

[LDVinNC]

Even in normal times, expecting perfection is setting yourself up for failure!  We have always tried to appreciate the experience as a whole.  You will have a fine time, I am sure.

[Haysiedaze]

2 hours ago, LDVinNC said:

Even in normal times, expecting perfection is setting yourself up for failure!  We have always tried to appreciate the experience as a whole.  You will have a fine time, I am sure.

My wife always sets very low expectations for our travels, she always has them exceeded😉

[Haysiedaze]

Arrived in Memphis at 10:00 am. At hotel by 10:30. Room not ready so we left our bags at the hotel and toured Graceland. Back to the hotel at 2:00 room still not ready but they took my cell phone number saying they would call when it was.

 

Headed to AQV check in. We had a 5:30 Covid Test appointment but hoped they could take us early.

At first they said no but we took a seat nearby. 5 minutes later a rep came out and said we could go check in and be tested. At the same time we got a call our room was ready.

 

We did the temperature check, showed our vax cards, put our cc on file and had our Covid Test!

We were told our results would be available by 10 pm and would be emailed to us. At 3:32 we got emails saying the results were in. We are both negative and can board tomorrow.

 

Nice room at the Guest House at Graceland. So far so good.

[Haysiedaze]

A quick update.

 

The crew have been excellent. Friendly and efficient. Our meals have been served in a timely manner. It appears things are smoothing out after the restart of cruises.

 

There are 247 guests on board. 100% of us tested negative before boarding. No one was turned away.

 

HOHO busses running and masks are required while on board them.

 

Only hiccups were involving an pre-cruise excursion and we had low water pressue one night.

More on the excursion later but the enginnering crew ressponded quickly and resolved the issue with our water.

 

Steve

[Frncie]

On 11/2/2021 at 5:10 PM, Haysiedaze said:

My wife and I  leave Sunday for Memphis. We will be staying at the Guest House at Graceland. Our Covid testing at the hotel is scheduled.

 

If all goes well we will be sailing on Monday on the American Queen. We have lowered our expectations from when we originally were scheduled to sail March of 2020, based on what we have read. Yet we look forward to our first cruise since June 2019 (Avalon Tapestry II, Paris to Normandy). We are in an LS cabin (517).

 

The service we have been getting at finer restaurants here in NH for the past 6 months hasn't been good as many can't find experianced help. We won't be surprised by it on the cruise. 

 

I will try to update this post as we travel down the Mississippi with some updated observations during the week. Questions are welcome and I will get to them as time permits.

Regards, Steve

Question concerning your LS cabin 517. We were in 519 in September, and our butler was Adam. He had to leave the boat unexpectedly mid-week. We grew very fond of him in just a few short days. Is he back?

[Kellerfrommaryland]

My 84 year old mother is sailing alone on the 12/21 cruise so I really appreciate these details as you go along.  

[AQJazz]

On 11/16/2021 at 10:24 AM, Frncie said:

Question concerning your LS cabin 517. We were in 519 in September, and our butler was Adam. He had to leave the boat unexpectedly mid-week. We grew very fond of him in just a few short days. Is he back?

I was recently on the AQ. Adam was onboard and doing very well.

[Haysiedaze]

On 11/16/2021 at 11:24 AM, Frncie said:

Question concerning your LS cabin 517. We were in 519 in September, and our butler was Adam. He had to leave the boat unexpectedly mid-week. We grew very fond of him in just a few short days. Is he back?

He is and he was fantastic!

 

 

[Haysiedaze]

A quick summary of the trip.

• We enjoyed the cruise and the Covid protocals made it less stressful. 
• We were at 247 passengers (around 50% capacity)
• We found the food to be very good but that is subjective.
• The excursions were hit or miss for us. We did 4 premium excursions.
• The LS cabin was very nice and Adam the River Butler was outstanding (we don't usually travel like this but it was very enjoyable).
• We went to all but the last nights shows. We only enjoyed 2 of them as some were just way too loud for us. I can't imagine how those with hearing aids could stand it (Unless they turned them down).
• Our table mates were 93 and 89 years old (we are in our 60's). They are two of the most blessed people in the world. Their energy and vitality put us to shame. They were very enjoyable to dine with.
• The whole crew was friendly and couldn't do enough for us.
• Our waiter in the dining room did offer and did bring us drinks to the table from the bar.
• I got to tour 7 different cabin categories. The B category had some rooms with a tall dresser but others did not. Be careful booking these as those without it had limited storage.
• The ship was kept very clean and they were sanitizing the public areas daily.

Regards, Steve

[Oldone79]

37 minutes ago, Haysiedaze said:

A quick summary of the trip.

• We enjoyed the cruise and the Covid protocals made it less stressful. 
• We were at 247 passengers (around 50% capacity)
• We found the food to be very good but that is subjective.
• The excursions were hit or miss for us. We did 4 premium excursions.
• The LS cabin was very nice and Adam the River Butler was outstanding (we don't usually travel like this but it was very enjoyable).
• We went to all but the last nights shows. We only enjoyed 2 of them as some were just way too loud for us. I can't imagine how those with hearing aids could stand it (Unless they turned them down).
• Our table mates were 93 and 89 years old (we are in our 60's). They are two of the most blessed people in the world. Their energy and vitality put us to shame. They were very enjoyable to dine with.
• The whole crew was friendly and couldn't do enough for us.
• Our waiter in the dining room did offer and did bring us drinks to the table from the bar.
• I got to tour 7 different cabin categories. The B category had some rooms with a tall dresser but others did not. Be careful booking these as those without it had limited storage.
• The ship was kept very clean and they were sanitizing the public areas daily.

Regards, Steve

Thank you for all of your posts and the summary of the cruise. For those of us who are anticipating our first cruise with AQV they are so important.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Oldone79
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