American Queen Voyages (formerly American Queen Steamboat Company)

Chicago

Toronto

U.S.A.

Mississippi River

US River

Canada & New England

Caribbean - All

Bahamas

North America River

Great Lakes

Cuba

Very Good

Average

Poor

Excellent

Terrible

American Queen

American Empress

American Countess

American Duchess

Ocean Voyager

Ocean Navigator

Ocean Victory

Cruising the five Great Lakes from Toronto to Chicago

I choose this back-to-back cruise as it was visiting a lot of ports in the US and Canada I never been to before as well as the fall foliage. Note: After disembarkation in Portland (Boston) the ship head to Jacksonville, FL, to be sold as American Queen Voyages was no longer supporting cruise around the great lakes.

The decor of the ship was outstanding. It takes a passenger back to the days when yachts where out fitted with wood paneling throughout. Single seating dining. Salon type of bar.

The upside: First off, the crew on this 21-day cruise went out of their way to make the service portion of the cruise very memorable. They were always smiling, conversations were always fun, and they went out of their way to make a issue prone cruise and fun cruise (if that makes sense). The cruise had extreme weather issues due to the time of year the cruise was going through the great lakes causing missing ports, getting to ports late and at one time having to disembark the major of passengers a day early leaving on the passengers booked on the back-to-back onboard (there were 8); it was like having our own yacht for 2.5 days.

The downside: Due to the major issues American Queen had during the 21-day cruise they informed all the passengers their cruise fare would be refunded as a credit. Trying to get information about the credit has been a total disaster. Every time I called them, I was not able to get a straight answer. Finally, I was able to book a cruise using some of the credit but have not been able to determine how much credit I have left. The credit is a "use or lose" by the end of 2024. I was trying to plan a cruise at the end of April 2024, so I made a call to one of their agents (Tara) who helped another client through the credit issues, but she has not returned my calls. I also emailed her but again I have not heard back from her. 

I have been on 5 cruises with American Queen and some of the cruises have been really great and some have been extremely disappointing. American Queen has been going through a lot of management changes and as far as I am concerned, they are not the cruise line I experienced on my first Christmas Cruise with them.

Guest Relations @American Queen Voyages

Lots of Issues but Great Crew

We learned so much on this trip.  From the Great Lakes, to shipping history, to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, native Americans, Mackinac Island, big cities and small towns, and so much more, this trip had a little of everything.  

We loved the ship and the crew was great.  The dining staff really work as a team with wonderful service and a wide choice of food.  

We especially enjoyed listening to the Lakelorian, Ian.  His vast knowledge of the history of the Great Lakes region really enhanced our trip.  In addition, Ian (acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, saxophone, clarinet, and vocals) joins the Cruise Director, Derek (drums), and James (electric piano and organ and trumpet) for the musical entertainment each night.  This amazing trio changed genres each night from 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, to Blues and Country.  

The included tours were very interesting and varied and the price included unlimited drinks and crew gratuity.  

Our only criticism was the ship had some kind of mechanical problem in the Wallen Locks and was not able to get all the way to Toronto.  When we boarded the bus to take us to the Toronto docks which we expected to be a short distance from the included Toronto hotel, no one told us we would be on a 3 hour ride.  Everyone understands that things happen and while we are grateful that the crew was able to make the necessary repairs so that we could sail, any one of the staff helping with boarding the bus could have told us ahead of time.  That was a very long ride with a locked bus bathroom and only a few of us had water.  It was not a great way to start our cruise but thankfully, it was smooth sailing after that.

It really is unfortunate that American Queen is selling the Ocean Voyager and not continuing these sailings next year.

A great itinerary really made this trip memorable

We chose this cruise for the itinerary, stopping at some very interesting places, between Chicago and Toronto. The ship itself had many good points, with excellent food, wonderful staff and we were very satisfied with our cabin on the upper deck. The evening entertainment however was the biggest disappointment and we can only assume that AQV are cutting corners. The previous reviewer refers to a 3 piece band. We had a single entertainer who really was not up to the job, and quite honestly piped music would have been more entertaining. The best entertainment one night was the showing of an old film.

We only booked one premium excursion, since Cleveland did not really seem to have a lot to offer. This was the Amish tour which had unfortunately been cancelled as soon as we got on the boat. Although we expected this to be refunded immediately, we are still waiting and have now been told this can take up to 90 days! If this is an example of American Queens admin I really would steer clear of them as I really object to a company making so little effort once the cruise is over and they have had my money.

Very interesting trip

I have wanted to do this cruise for a long time, sailing in all five Great Lakes. I have watched the two ships (currently Ocean Navigator and Ocean Voyager, formerly Victory I and II)) go through various owners. Each time someone bought them and started up, I thought next year I'm going to do this. And then they'd go out of business. I really hoped AQV would make a go of them. But the day before my cruise ended, I learned that AQV is selling these ships and getting out of the lake itineraries. So in a way, this review is pointless, as this is the last year for this cruise. But if you really want to see ALL the lakes, this could be your moment. 

There are other, newer, larger ships on the Lakes, but they're more expensive and AFAIK, only AQV is doing the itinerary with all five. That was a bucket list for several people I spoke to. So was Niagara Falls. This itinerary took us through the "Soo Locks" at Sault Ste Marie, and the locks of the Welland Canal, which I found fascinating. 

The booking process and dealing with AQV's bad website and bad phone reps is off-putting. But stick with it because it all gets better on the ships. 

In addition to the itinerary, plusses included good and varied food, good service, comfortable bed. The ship was spotlessly clean. A big plus was the "lakelorian," who gave lectures about the history, geology, and ecology of the Great Lakes. He knew his subjects well and his presentations were entertaining as well as informative. 

Another plus was the selection of tours. Each port had something included, usually a hop-on-hop-off bus that went to at least three and, in one port, six stops. Admission was paid for by AQV. The tours were well organized, the guides knowledgeable, and the drivers excellent. There were "premium" tours for an extra price and those were good, too. I did the Motown Tour (bucket list for me!), which was fabulous. I don't know if the other cruises that stop in Detroit do this one. Thinking back, everyone I talked to about tours was happy with them, both included and premium. Hornblower, a different branch of the parent company organizes the tours, and they got us into places that weren't open on the day we were in port. A minus was that the shorex person on Voyager was useless. She couldn't answer the most basic of questions. So if you want to be independent in port, do some research in advance. Or just get on the bus--the driver and guide will make sure you have a good tour.

A plus/minus was the entertainment. A trio played in the lounge during cocktail hour and also in the evening at 9:00. They all are excellent musicians, and they play well together. Jazz during cocktail time and a variety of sets including country, Motown, Beatles, swing. Like every band, they have a "sound," and while I loved their jazz sound, it did make all the other genres sound the same. I enjoyed them, but I would have liked a change to some other entertainment a few nights. 

Internet was good--the new Starlink--except when we were in a 'dead spot' between satellites. So it was either great or nonexistent. Mostly great. 

The only minus was that the cabins were small and the only chair was the desk chair, so comfortable seating was only in the lounge or adjacent bar. With various programs in the lounge and the piped in music in the bar, the only quiet spaces were my cabin or on deck. The large upper deck area wasn't used much because it had no shade.  Fortunately, on this cruise, port days were long and I was out and about all day so I didn't have a lot of time to sit around. I wanted to make the most of this itinerary!

It's all about the itinerary

My husband and I had never seen the Great Lakes other than a peek from a Chicago hotel window many years ago and decided this would be a great 80th birthday present for me.   We have had great experience with American Queen on two previous cruises and looked forward to this one.   Unfortunately, we were disappointed from the time we got off our plane in Toronto around 10:00 at night expecting to be met.    We spent an hour in the airport looking for an AQ rep and finally took an $80 taxi to our hotel.   NOTE:  This was our mistake. We read our invoice incorrectly and our transfer was only from the hotel to the ship the next day.   We accept that this was our error, but EVERY ONE we spoke with made the same mistake.   Poor communication on the part of AQ.   

       Our cabin was small, but adequate for our needs.   All of the windows everywhere on the ship were sealed and we joked with our fellow travelers that the ship was a sailing Petri dish.  More on that later. 

       On the great side was the service, from our cheerful and always smiling cabin steward, Dewa, to the dining room and bar servers, to any other crew we encountered in the halls.   The entertainment was a 3 piece group who played a different period or style every day.   They were multitalented instrumentally and attracted an enthusiastic audience every evening.     The “Lakelorian” gave an informative presentation on the Great Lakes every day. 

       The food was ok but not special.   It was often just warm by the time it was served. All potatoes other than mashed were hard and not cooked through.   We went to the Grill as an alternative one night and that was enough.  We never went back.    A disappointment to us was that there wasn’t anything to munch on between meals or in the evenings other than cookies in the lounge.  They were delicious but after a day or two you wanted something else.  

      On to the excursions.   Some were great and some weren’t.   The optional (and expensive) Amish tour with lunch was delicious and wonderful.   The small town of Escanaba, Michigan was an absolute delight.   This was the first time our ship had gone there and there was a large welcoming delegation from the Mayor with the keys to the city, to a community band, to the Chamber of Commerce  with cupcakes and coffee.  The included tour was one of our best experiences from a wonderful museum in the Chamber of Commerce to a performance on the Indian reservation featuring a story teller/flute player to a talented and colorful series of Native American Dances.  The storyteller explained the intricacies of each dance so we could understand what the movements represented.   I have been to several Pow Wows and admired the regalia and the movements but I will see it with new eyes now.   

      Our biggest, huge, complaint was related to the Chicago City Stay extension we had purchased.   We were to be greeted in the hotel at a City Stay representative who would provide us with vouchers to breakfasts, a Chicago River architectural tour, vouchers for transportation to the airport at the conclusion of our stay and information on what to do, where to go, etc.    those of us who had booked this extension were wandering all over the huge lobby level (great hotel) looking for them.  When we found them, they were just setting up (late), and didn’t have anything we needed.   We gave them our information for our transfer to the airport at the end of our stay.   They were to make the arrangements and give us a confirmation with time and place for us.   They had no idea what they were doing.  They asked us to come back at 3:00.  We went to lunch, came back at 2:30, and they were gone!    There was a lady at another desk who asked our name and gave us an envelope with breakfast vouchers in it.  She said they would be back the next day.  Even though the hotel’s “board” showed them there on Sunday from 8:00 until 12:00, they never showed up!    We did a scramble and we’re finally able to contact the limousine company and, after a fair amount of searching, they were able to provide us with the information we needed. 

        A great included tour in this package was the Chicago architectural boat tour with a plated meal.  The skyline was amazing and the meal was delicious.   Interestingly, there were four different couples at our table and when we raised our Mimosa’s to make a toast about our toast, we all said “I will never sail American Queen again!”    Sad. 

        Finally, that “Petri dish” comment?    My final birthday gift?   I came home with Covid 19!

We chose this trip as a college group we had traveled with before had it planned. Always a plus to travel with people you know and we hadn't done a Great Lakes Trip and particularly want to see Niagara Falls. Unfortunately we never made it to The Falls or Toronto and got into Montreal so late many missed flights, reservations, etc. All very poorly handled. Promises made about reimbursement but months later...nothing after calling and writing. Rude excursions person but the Cruise director and his band were good. Food was  good a few times, so so mostly. Our waitstaff did try to be accommodating as was our room steward. Captain seemed unconcerned we were all missing so much of the trip. And almost nothing offered as entertainment or movies when we were stuck days in one port instead of going to the ports originally scheduled. It was as if AQ could care less. We were captive! Don't recommend this line.

Mediocre at Best

We had a wonderful cruise this spring on the Empress in Washington and Oregon, and were excited to rejoin American Queen in Toronto. Unfortunately, the Toronto to Chicago cruise disappointed us in so many ways.

The pre-cruise hotel check-in was chaos. There was only one person there who seemed to know what was required, and he turned away many people who had not brought the proper documents with them. There was one person doing the COVID tests, and one person actually registering us on the computer. We spent at least two hours on something that should have taken 15 minutes.

The hotel was very nice and we enjoyed the pre-cruise city tour. Boarding was quick and easy. Every crewmember we encountered was friendly and efficient.

The cabin was cramped. Barely enough room to walk around the bed, but a nice amount of storage. The bath was small but well equipped. We quickly found that we would know when anyone at our end of the ship flushed their toilet, as a valve somewhere behind our bathroom wall wailed with every flush. This got really irritating at 6am when the early risers hit the loo, or when the late show got done at around 10pm and the free-flowing wine needed somewhere to go.

We're not late diners, and the single dinner seating at 7pm was irritating. We loved the dining room staff, and the food was pretty good. 

The entertainment was pretty pedestrian, with a young trio of musicians doing their best. Very little else provided beyond a half hour of music before dinner, and a longer themed show afterwards.

Enrichment on board? Virtually none. The young guitar player/cruise director gave us three episodes of Great lakes history by stumbling through a deck of slides that he might have been reading for the first time.  A local ecologist presented one day, but unfortunately, I missed it. 

While lip service was given to COVID precautions, and the crew was fairly good about masking, it was easy to tell that the latest variant of the virus swept through the passengers. The coughing and hacking escalated every evening. There were lots of permanent 'do not disturb' signs posted on cabins, and meals were being sent up to rooms. Not a word was spoken to the passengers, and the large majority would not mask even when obviously sick. 

The shore excursions were pretty good, if disorganized. We ended up leaving one passenger behind at Niagara Falls because of a lack of clear instructions from the tour guide. Luckily, she saw the bus leaving and was able to flag it down.

The final insult came at Navy Pier in Chicago. After waiting for nearly an hour, the passengers for O'Hare, Midway, and the post-cruise hotel (downtown Hilton) were loaded on a single bus and sent to O'Hare. The driver refused to drop a Southwest customer at terminal 5 "because Southwest doesn't fly out of O'Hare". Yes, they do, and that family got taken to Midway. The bulk of the people flying out of Midway missed their flights. We thought we had plenty of time, but barely made it to our gate to board. The downtown Hilton passengers got a 3 hour tour of heavy traffic.

We booked another cruise with American Queen on board but are seriously considering cancelling it. If this had been our only experience with AQ, we would never have booked another.

Disappointed

Our first problem was after we signed up, we could no longer see the itinerary online. I was told to look at  a different date and use that itinerary. After we filled in the online information form and submitted it we could no longer see what we submitted. We were sent a thank you e-mail and told that they would notify us if they needed any more information. About two weeks before sailing I called to find out where our boarding documents were and was told that they still needed my  address, though I''m sure it was filled in. I feel that I would not have received them if I hadn't called. We had to call to find out how to see the included tours online, but could readily see the fee tours. There was no help getting from the Toronto airport to the hotel. There was many misinformation times between the itinerary, slides and verbal or actual.

The musicians selected songs that could show off their playing ability, but not geared to the crowds. Out of all the songs in the evening, one was slow and filled the dance floor. The rest were faster and maybe one or two dancers would dance.

The tour a Mackinac Island did not give enough option time to really see the fort because they wanted to get you back down to the hotel in case you might want to eat an overpriced buffet. 

The disembarkation slides were for the wrong days and the Toronto airport though we were departing in Chicago.

The only bright side was the option and quality of the dinner meals and the ability to have drinks all day.

Poor website 

Chose due to pricing and new location. Have been on many previous cruises and this by far, the worst. Poor communication, constant changes. Very small ship making one feel trapped due to limited/changed excursions which were blamed constantly on weather (only accurate one night). They added one boring day at sea and second day at Freeport Bahamas which was just primarily poor and pressured shopping, most of which wasn’t even open. Port area enclosed by fence, so you must depend entirely on restricted buses to go on the same tour to get to either shopping area or the beach. Good service first night, deplorable. After that our server was excellent. Food tasted great and presented well. Excursion director did not appear experienced or competent. Other staff the same. Beds were hard. WiFi and tv signals were limited. Won’t use this cruise line again. Reimbursements should be given! We never got to Amelia Island or Port Canavaral. Had only four hours in Charleston , SC.

Ft Lauderdale to Bahamas RT-12 days

We drove to Jacksonville for the pre cruise hotel and COVID testing and boarded the next day.  Cabin was small on deck four and the bathroom had the smallest shower but our attendant was awesome.  Due to stormy weather they canceled  Canaveral but we saw a launch from sea.  Amelia island was also canceled.  There were not enough activities on board to keep us entertained.  Very boring.  Spent 2 days in Freeport and the same included tours were offered both days.  Hubby felt like he was held hostage at the 2 hour shopping center with very few stores opened.  A beach bus would have been nice.  We are in our Seventies and we were the youngsters on the cruise.  The open bar and excellent food and staff helped to keep our disappointment in check.  We did get to spend 2 days in Savannah but had to leave Charleston early due to impending storm.  Will stay with Viking from now on.

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