Upper Mississippi Roll Call - American Symphony 6/30/23 - St/ Paul to St/ Louis

[Joanandjoe]

We are looking forward to our 4th ACL cruise on the American Symphony, 6/20/23 to 7/7/23, from St, Paul to Sr. Louis.  We've booked our flights and hotels (including the "free" night pre-cruise in St. Paul before the cruise and 3 nights in St. Louis, where a good friend lives, after the cruise).  We've even renewed our Global Entry cars, which include TSA pre-check, for what will be our first flights anywhere since August, 2019.  All of our vacations since 8/19, including an ACL Chesapeake Bay cruise, have involved driving rather than flying.

 

We suspect that Davenport, Iowa may be the highlight of the trip, since we hope to see the Field of Dreams during the day and a July 4th celebration sometime while we're in port. (This year, though, the fireworks and air show were on July 3rd, not the 4th.)

 

Will anyone be sailing with us?

 

[BaumD]

Just finished the same cruise in the reverse direction. I know the ship travels faster downstream than upstream, so you will probably spend more time in Port than we did going northbound. As far as seeing fireworks, it may be unlikely. In most ports you leave during the afternoon or early evening and I would suspect fireworks don’t start till after 9 o’clock at night. If you happen to pass a large town or city at fireworks time, you might get a good show as they may be firing fireworks across the river.

[BaumD]

Another fact to consider. Your cruise is not from St. Paul to St. Louis. Your cruise will start in Redwing Minnesota and end in Alton Illinois. Redwing is about an hour south of the MSP airport and Alton is about 30 minutes north of St. Louis.

[Joanandjoe]

2 hours ago, BaumD said:

Just finished the same cruise in the reverse direction.

How was the cruise?  Was it impacted by the low water levels of the river, or was it OK for the northern part where you sailed?  How did you get between St. Louis and Alton, and between Red Wing and either the airport or one of the Twin Cities?

 

Yes, we're aware that the cruise is actually Red Wing to St. Paul.  We'll be staying at the ACL Hotel, the Hotel St. Paul, and ACL is supposed to get us to the ship.  At the St. Louis end, our friend will pick us up in Alton.

 

I'm hoping that ACL will alter its normal departure times so that we can see fireworks. We are, as you stated, going downstream.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Joanandjoe

[BaumD]

Cruise was good. Although northern Mississippi is low, not as bad as lower. Our cruise was not impacted by water levels. Arrived at each port either on time or early.

half the passengers stayed at a hotel in Alton, near the pier. About a week before the cruise, ACL moved about 1/2 the passengers to a hotel in St Louis, a block way from the Arch. Much better than Alton! ACL busses picked us up in downtown St Louis and took us on a tour of Alton (home of worlds tallest man at 8-11) before taking us to the boat. After the cruise the busses took us to MSP airport. Bus left the ship in Redwing at 7:30am.

Edited October 26, 2022 by BaumD

[Joanandjoe]

We now have our flights and an extra night in St. Paul.  Will anyone be joining us?

[Joanandjoe]

I guess we'll be the only CC people on this cruise, which sails on Friday.

[mj_holiday]

I am looking at Rivers cruises in the USA.  Would be nice if you give us some experiences of your cruise, likes and dislikes etc.