American Queen Voyages (formerly American Queen Steamboat Company)

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American Queen

American Empress

American Duchess

American Countess

Ocean Voyager

Ocean Navigator

Ocean Victory

pleasant, easy going cruise

Brisbane

This company has gone down hill.  This was our second cruise with American Queen.  We took the Queen from New Orleans to Memphis in Nov 2019.  It was amazing; great food; great service; great tours.   We were so excited to go on another cruise after the success of our first one. We were so disappointed with the Empress.  Between the cruise and airfare, we (my husband and I) paid almost $10,000.  The boat went from Portland Oregon to Spokane Washington.  The scenery was amazing.  The boat not so much.  The food was awful. There were two dining rooms; one formal and one buffet.  The food on the buffet was always lukewarm.  The dishes were not clean so you had to keep looking to find a clean one.  I finally started taking the dirty ones to the staff.  The soup was so salty that you could hardly eat it.  The formal dining room food was warmer but it was still second rate unlike our previous voyage with this company.  The purser staff couldn't/wouldn't provide the next days schedule until dinner every day which made it hard to decide what you wanted to do.  They seemed to have trouble with scheduling.  You would have thought they would have planned it out before the voyage.  We had a post-cruise tour scheduled on Monday (the last day) that would have gotten us to the Spokane airport at 1:30 pm.  So, we scheduled a hotel room and planned to fly home on Tuesday (of Thanksgiving week).   At 7:00 am on Monday, we were told they had cancelled the tours the night before (without notifying us) and that they were using non American Queen buses with no bathrooms to take us directly to the airport (2.5 hours away).  At this point, it was too late to cancel our hotel and change our flights.  We were stuck at the Spokane airport hotel with no transport and nothing to do.  

We had already planned to take another cruise with this company next year.  I'm not going to waste my time or money on them again.

Empress not up to standard of American Queen

Ahhh, American Queen voyages are always fun and this trip was our fifth. We have sailed on many occasions on large-ship ocean liners, European river cruises, and with AQV. Both of us are in our mid-70's and in excellent physical condition which makes traveling more pleasurable. Most passengers on American Empress are near our ages and many have mobility issues. This can often lead to slow departures and boarding of the vessel. The departure hotel in Spokane is the Davenport Autograph and is very nice. I recommend that passengers arrive a day early and enjoy Spokane. 

Day 1. Spokane: The taxi fare from the Spokane airport to the Davenport requires about 15 minutes and $50. We arrived a day early and the hotel allowed us to keep the same room for both nights. The River Front Park is 1/4 mile north of the hotel and is a fun place to visit with several bridges over the Spokane River. Be sure and note the Clock Tower, 1974 World's Fair pavilion, the huge Red Flyer Wagon, and the Looff Carousel. We ate dinner and sipped beverages at 24 Taps, The Post Street Ale House, and Steelhead which are within a block or two from the Davenport. Spokane has a serious homeless problem so there are annoying beggars and drug users/sellers on the streets. Gonzaga University is one mile away from the hotel and easily walkable. The American Queen check-in is at 2:00 on the 2nd floor of the Davenport. I recommend arriving at 1:40, or you may be 200th in line if you wait until 2:00. This was our most efficient check-in of the four previous ones.

Day 2. Spokane to Clarkston: A full breakfast in the Marie Antoinette room (second floor) begins at 7:00. You will have the morning free or to take a paid excursion to Bing Crosby's house and a city tour. This is a good time to walk to River Front Park. We recommend taking an extra biscuit at breakfast for your lunch. Hotel checkout is at noon so you will have almost two hours to kill. Everyone goes to the Marie Antoinette room at 1:30 with the first bus boarding at 1:45. The passengers that checked-in earliest on Day 1 will be on the early departures and the later ones will be on the 2:00 departure. After boarding the bus, adult 70 year olds will be given a 15-minute safety briefing by the driver. The trip to Clarkston requires 2 hours . The last 10-miutes offers spectacular views of the Snake and Clearwater rivers from high above Lewiston and Clarkston. Upon arrival and following a 5-minute "Welcome Address", passengers are allowed to board the Empress. A welcome reception with champagne is provided in the Paddlewheel Lounge. All passengers will then have to go to their "Mustard" Station for a minute. Around 5:15, the mandatory life jacket drill takes place and all passengers have to put on their life jackets and stand in the hallway looking stupid. This is sooo "old school". All cruise liners now use safety videos that can be watched on TV. We ate all meals in the River Grille and no comments are offered about the Main Dining. Breakfast is the best meal of the day with lunch and dinner being mediocre, at best. Soups and salads are tasty, and for a change, AQ now has an occasional cheeseburger for lunch... but no fries. Who eats a cheeseburger without fries?

Day 3. Clarkston: The first Hop-On Hop-Off (Ho-Ho) bus departs at 9:00. Passengers get their boarding passes the night before at the Kiosk adjacent to the Purser's Office. After a 7-mile bus ride you will visit the Nez Perce National Historic Park which is interesting. The Ho-Ho buses pass every 30-minutes and the next stop is the Nez Perce County Historical Museum and passengers have the opportunity to visit the local museum, see a reconstructed capital building, and tour an old home. The Ho-Ho will also drive by Lewis-Clark State College and cross the Snake River Bridge (Blue Bridge). If you have forgotten something, the Ho-Ho stops at Walmart. We took this opportunity to walk the one mile back to the ship. The Empress has three bars. The popular Paddlewheel is a favorite and well attended by passengers on our ship. There is also, POPCORN. We are "regulars" at the bar and most cruises have a small number of passengers that imbibe. Not so on this cruise. The River Grille is another bar but getting served here is a challenge since there is not a regular bartender. The Show Lounge has five bar stools and is not well attended during daylight hours. Basic alcohol and soft drinks are complimentary, premium beverages are at a cost. Midway through the cruise, the ship exhausted its supply of Coors Light. The Miller Lite was gone in another two days. Very few passengers drank Bud Light but that was all the light beer that remained for the final two days.... I think there is a message here!

Day 4, Richland, Wa. The 9:00, Ho-Ho transports passengers to the Hanford Reach Center which has many exhibits but focuses mostly on the WWII town of Richland which was critical in the Manhattan Project in developing fissionable Plutonium for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. There is also a small nature trail behind the center. This is the only Ho-Ho for the day although the AQ brochure indicated a stop would be made at a park.

Day 5, Richland, Wa. UGGH, something happened to the propulsion  system on the Empress and the ship was dead in the water. We were supposed to be in The Dalles so this day is mostly wasted, although the ship provided some sort of small Ho-Ho excursion. We took the opportunity to hike several miles on the nearby Amon Nature Trail adjacent to the river front. Unfortunately, on 3 of 5 cruises with AQ, there have been scheduled stops that were not made... and 2 of 5 experienced the ships breaking down. Not a good image!

Day 6, Cruise Day: The Empress was healed sometime during the night so today is a day to catch up and the scheduled stop at Camus, Wa will be sacrificed. Many passengers had feared the stop at Astoria would be cancelled. There was not much to do today except enjoy the beautiful surrounding scenery and the Empress itself.

Day 7, Stevenson, Wa.: Whew, cold and windy here. The first Ho-Ho is at 12:30 as the buses were given priority to the paid excursions to Multnomah Falls. We never book paid excursions so we had this morning to hike through this quaint hamlet. At 12:30, the Ho-Ho transported us to Bonneville Dam and we enjoyed observing the fish ladders and viewing the Salmon through the glass windows.

Day 8, Astoria, Or: Always one of our favorite towns. The first Ho-Ho is at 8:30 and carries passengers to the Flavel House which is typical of 19th C. architecture. The next Ho-Ho transports people to the Astoria Column high above the city. There are approximately 167 steps to the top of the column but the view is worth the effort. AQ provides the adventurous a toy airplane to release from the top. There are spectacular views below of the Youngs and Columbia rivers and the Pacific Ocean in the distance. We did not do so but a paid excursion is provided to the reconstructed Ft. Clatsop. This is a fun city to walk the streets and the wharf area.

Day 9, Camus: The Portland dock is undergoing renovations so we docked at Camus. Most passengers gathered in the Show Lounge after breakfast for departure. On our cruise, a complimentary transfer was provided to the Portland airport.  

SUMMARY: This is a fun cruise and we recommend it. We chose to travel from Spokane to Portland rather than the reverse. Otherwise there will be a 2-hour bus trip to the Spokane airport which will mean an afternoon return flight to the east. Missing The Dalles was disappointing, and sitting idle for an extra day in Richland was not pleasing.

SUGGESTIONS: 

A. Have French Fries with the burgers in the River Grille. Have burgers available for dinner. The prime rib gets sooo old!

B. Have a rear deck cookout with ribs, dogs, and burgers like it is done on the American Queen.

C. Video the Life-Jacket drill and have it available on the stateroom TV. 

D. HELLO!...very few people are drinking Bud Light any more! Order more Coors Light and Miller Lite

Guest Relations @American Queen Voyages

Fun Time on the Snake and Columbia Rivers, October 2023

No pre-cruise contact by AQV.  Booked 4/2023. Called early August to see if they were still cruising 9/3. Received boarding documents 2 weeks before cruise.  That was all the pre-cruise information.

Staff on board were terrific.  Very friendly and helpful.  River talks were highlight of cruise. Lots of information and good insights on Lewis & Clark, native Americans and history of the Columbia River.

Entertainment was hit or miss.  Because of the older demographic, the sidewalks were rolled up after about 10:30pm.  

Columbia River very scenic.  Premium experiences worthwhile and suggested.  Hells canyon jet boat tour once in lifetime experience.  No onboard fitness/recreation equipment/area.  Forth deck can be used as a walking path.

Food was good but VERY limited selection and lots of repeats during 7 days on board.  Missing mashed potatoes, French fries and sweet iced tea (I am from the south!).

Boat well maintained.  

I traveled on the American Queen on the Mississippi before this trip so maybe my expectations were too high.  Certainly the Mississippi was the better cruise.

Limited pre-cruise contact by AQV.  Outstanding history and scenery.

This cruise goes from Clarkston to Portland.  The first excursion we took was the JetBoat Tour of Hell’s Canyon.  I have never seen anything like the terrain.  We saw BigHorn Sheep, Deer, Turkeys, and a bald Eagle.  The river is clear and beautiful.

This cruise was wine themed so we had wine tastings onboard and two dinners with wine pairings.  We also did the Red Mountain Vines to Wine excursion.

The boat is smaller than the Countess but perfectly functional and our cabin was roomy with plenty of storage.  Big closets (two of them!) and a private balcony. The bed was so comfortable I hardly wanted to get out of it in the morning.

The Riverlorian, Laurence, is entertaining and a wealth of knowledge,   He taught us so much about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Be sure to see the Maritime Museum when you get to Astoria.

Every stop was filled with history, beauty and interesting details.  Multnomah Falls was breath taking!

As always, the food was exceptional.  The variety and quality of the food offerings was impressive. 

We liked it so much we have booked another American Queen Voyages tour for May from Portland, Maine to Toronto.

Beautiful Ship With Gorgeous Scenery 

The boat was period décor throughout. Having a little balcony was relaxing. I was on a Road Scholar booked trip so excursions were included and well arranged. Learning about the hardships of the Discovery Expedition, it was surprising that the trip was completed. 

The food in the main dining room was sumptuous with a variety of choices. I personally opted for the River Grill. It was more informal and sunny often with what was available below. They also offered prime rib and cold water lobster every evening.

The bed and bedding were both very comfortable and mainly quiet.

I just wanted to mention the two stars of the staff. Amor who took care of the cabin and Traci in the grill. Both are exceptional in their caring. (I hope I spelled their names correctly.) All of the staff were good, I just wanted to mention that these two went above and beyond.

Loved learning about Corps of Discovery Expedition and the river locks

Staff worked very hard to please the guests.  The crew continually displayed great enthusiasm and many wore more than one hat--and wore them well.  Cabin was comfortable.    Dining room food was very good for the most part with enough variety for a week on board.  Excursions were somewhat limited due to inclement weather and location.  Talented musical entertainers.   Our first river cruise after 19 sea-going cruises and not really fair to compare the amenities on a 3,000 passenger ship with a small ship of 180 passengers.  Don't expect fast service in the dining room with lots of food choices nor myriad entertainment venues.     The passengers--95% senior adults--made for a quiet and easy-going week.  ("late night entertainment" ended about 10 pm).  Well stocked library with daily newspapers.   Would recommend this ship for seniors who want to enjoy lovely scenery, pleasant music, and a slow pace.  Biggest disappointment:  poor, sporadic t.v. reception.

We live in the Pacific Northwest, so we are familiar with much of the territory that we visited, but we wanted to see it from the rivers.  Our special interests were the history and geology.  Since we know the area, we did not take many of the special (extra charge) excursions, but the one that we did take...the jetboat into Hells Canyon...was a highlight of the trip for us!  We highly recommend it!  In the other ports we used the (included) Hop On/Hop Off buses to visit one or more of the highlights of the area (museums, visitor centers, Bonneville Dam, Astoria Column, etc.)  Most of the HoHo site admissions are covered by American Queen.  An exception is the (excellent!) maritime museum in Astoria.  For those who are not familiar with the area, I would recommend the excursion to Multnomah Falls!

Some of our favorite crew members were Steven (wine steward in the dining room) and his bartending crew of Hatter and Melissa, Mike, the amazing saxophonic riverlorian, and Marcus who was our server for each dinner.  We also enjoyed connecting with Marc, the future cruise  consultant.  Especially memorable was the very competent Captain Andrea, who slipped the vessel in and out of the locks with nary a bump.  We loved a chance to connect with her on the Pilothouse Tour.  Our only complaint was the housekeeping in our cabin, and that may have been specific to our housekeeping person.  The shelves did not appear to have been dusted for some time, and I don't think the mirror and faucet got wiped the whole time we were on the boat.

In general, though, we very much enjoyed the trip and would do it again!  (PS, yes, as noted in other reviews, the walls are very thin!)

History, geology and geography abound!

Las Palmas (Gran Canaria)

Our cruise trip began with a night at the beautiful Historic Davenport hotel in Spokane Oregon. We boarded the American Empress in Lewiston WA.   We visited Hells Canyon then Richland, The Dallas, Stevenson, Astoria and disembarked in Vancouver WA.   The ship was lovely and food, service and entertainment were good.   In each port we found interesting and/or scenic things to see and do - and learned much about the Lewis and Clark Expedition especially from the fun and knowledgeable riverlorian.  We also enjoyed going through 8 locks.   While there was lots of wine enjoyed on and off the ship - there was no wine expertise amongst the crew.  The wine maker talk was a recitation of types of grapes grown in various AVAs in the area.   The wine reps who came on board were marketing oriented - and did not talk in detail about the wines. The 2 wine pairing dinners were excellent - but again - no wine education was provided.   We found no one on board who could answer basic questions such as - what dry red do you recommend and why.  We are glad we took this trip and would consider this cruise line again- but calling this a Wine Cruise is a stretch.

Not a wine cruise

In midst of wave of new Covid cases,  safety is not a big concern.   They spray the luggage,  but mask enforcement is minimal if at all. It has been shown that contacting Covid from surfaces is at the bottom of the list.  No social distancing in any venue.   Supposedly they follow state law when docked and on land, but not when moving on water.  If you need mask protection when at the dock, you need the same protection when on the River. No reporting as to status of pre board Covid tests or any other health issued during cruise.   

Except for a few, most staff was poorly trained with a very indifferent attitude.  Food was mediocre.  Presentation not at all like the web pictures.  Though did show a little improvement towards the end of the voyage.  Alternative dinning was a joke.  

Cabin steward was very intrusive, inappropriately entering the room on several occasions.  

Now for the positive.   The land is spectacular.  The onboard RiverLorian was superb.  He was the highlight of the trip with a googlesk knowledge base.  The local guides not as well informed as could be.  One had never visited the museum she was raving about.  Basically spit out what the RiverLorian had said in his talks, but in a watered down version.  More like first grade verses University level as the RiverLorian was. For the size of the boat,  the entertainment was 1st class.  The Hopon-Hopoff was a great way to see the local attractions, especially those that were not within walking or biking distance from the dock. With good management, it could be a wonderful product.

Not as described

My mom and I got back two weeks ago from the Columbia river cruise through the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington) with the American Queen Voyages Company.  We were initially booked on this tour in April 2020 just before the world shut down.  We have been dreaming of rebooking since then, and although we were somewhat nervous about cruising at this time, were reassured by the Co-Vid provisions the company has provided.  With masking mandated in all airports and airplanes, 100% of the passengers and crew completely vaccinated, PCR testing provided within 24 hours of boarding the ship, and masking mandated at all ports of call, we decided to take the chance and are So Grateful to have had this Fabulous trip together!    

The cruise was just Wonderful all the way through.  The boat is Beautiful and well-kept with so many comfortable places to hang out and relax.  Our cabin was surprisingly well-appointed with plenty of room for both of us to completely unpack.    

Because we booked the trip at the last moment, we were assigned to the later dinner time, instead of our preferred earlier seating.  The ever-helpful, completely unflappable maitre’d Alan, advised us to come for the early dinner time when that suited us and he would see about getting us seated, which he did on every occasion without any fuss.  The food was consistently Excellent and beautifully presented with a great variety for all the meals in both the main dining room and the upstairs grill.  The waiters were all so welcoming, friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable.  The upstairs grill also has a cappuccino / expresso maker and a soft ice cream dispenser that are available 24 hours/day.  (We especially Loved Carmen, Marcus, Jonathan, and Chef Larry upstairs who paid such good attention to us every day).  We still can't get over that all the alcohol on board (except premium brands) was completely included in the trip.  We had a different cocktail in the lounge each day and the bartenders were Amazing (especially Hadder in the Paddlewheel Lounge), knowing how to make every drink we ordered with a flourish.  We were in wine country and we Loved having a different glass (or two) of Delicious wine with dinner every night.  

The entertainment on board was Fabulous every day and night.  Marcus, the Cruise Director, was so talented and full of fun.  He and his equally incredibly talented band put on a Wonderful and different show every night along with really Terrific guest artists on three nights.  Before and after the show, it was a Pleasure to sit in the lounge and listen to Ryan play the piano and sing all of your Favorites.  They also ran the daytime games (bingo, match game, trivia, etc.) that were silly and fun and made you feel like you were part of the family!  Lawrence, the Riverlorian, was a special part of this cruise.  His well-researched and performed presentations about Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea gave us an insight into the history of the region and really added to the experience of the shore excursions.

We really enjoyed all of the shore excursions that we were able to book in this Beautiful area.  The tour guides and bus drivers on both the premium and hop-on hop-off tours were all top-notch.  Very sadly, the full day Pacific Northwest experience including Mount Hood was completely booked, but we Loved at least having the half day tour to Multnomah Falls and the Hells Canyon jet boat experience.  The tour to Maryhill museum and winery was also completely booked, but after repeated imploring (after having missed Mount Hood), the purser found us a tour that we could book privately with Gorge Us Tours.  We went with 5 other people who were also on the waiting list for the ship’s premium tour and had a Highlight of the trip day with Kenny at the Maryhill museum and two Lovely wineries (Cascade Cliffs and Maryhill)!  Gorge Us Tours offers many different kinds of tours in the area and is a great alternative to the ship’s tours.

The passengers were mostly older adults as there are no children’s programs, pools, spas, or late night activities.  We Loved every bit of this long-awaited trip and recommend it without reservation to anyone looking for a small, relaxing, luxurious adult boat experience in a Beautiful area of the world.

Fabulous cruise

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