This was our first trip aboard ACL and the small ship experience was totally perfect for us. Staff were friendly and helpful. Loved the food by Chef Jose - tried almost all the seafood they had to offer each meal. Happy hour in the lounge included drinks and appetizers. Sometimes those appetizers were enough to be a dinner by themselves! Being from the west coast the history of each port was fascinating to both of us. We had never heard of "tabby" as a building material nor the "Gullah" community in the low country. Our docent on that trip was extremely knowledgeable about the history/people/culture of the Southeast. The rear cabins can get a little noisy when sailing / docking since they're over the props/engine & thrusters. Otherwise we loved the room and balcony. Be aware the Jacksonville dock isn't available currently, we had to disembark in Fernandina, Fla and bus ride to the airport / hotels after that. Read Less

This was our first trip with American Cruise Line and we were very pleased. The cabin was larger than on any but the luxury lines. The food choices were limited but the quality was excellent - cocktail hour drinks and appetizers are a very nice touch as were the ice cream sundaes during evening entertainment. The staff was very attentive and cordial. We picked this trip along coastal South Carolina, Georgia and Florida to see the small towns and barrier islands. November was a good time to go - no crowds. The weather was cool with one day with light. The shore excursions were limited due the nature of the area and small towns, but were well planned and interesting. The shrimp boat excursion was a highlight. Local musicians provided good entertainment, unfortunately few guests attended which reflected the age of the passengers this time of year (almost all retired). Read Less

We booked our 4th trip with ACL on their newest ship with high expectations which certainly were not met. The itinerary we were originally given was changed several times including by phone the afternoon before sailing. Perhaps that should have indicated potential problems. Although we were supposed to sail on inland waterways, we found out when we embarked that we would have to go out to sea sometimes because of problems on the previous voyage, problems that were not adequately explained in several different versions. We did find out that many people, including crew, were seasick on that voyage and people did get seasick on our trip as well. Because of high winds somewhere in the area, we were stuck in Brunswick, Georgia for 3 nights--we couldn't continue on inland water and the ocean was too rough for the ship. Unfortunately, the staff on the Constellation included several new and inexperienced members and also several changes in staff were made during our 10 days. Perhaps this was why they were unable to adequately adapt to and cope with the changing conditions. On a previous trip with ACL, itinerary changes were made because of river conditions, but that staff made lemonade out of lemons and we were pleased with the trip in spite of not going where originally planned. Has ACL expanded too rapidly? In addition to an overextended staff, other aspects of the trip were not up to the standards we previously experienced. During the cocktail hour the hors dourvres were significantly less plentiful than on previous trips, there was only 1 lecturer (a nice man, but not up to par) whereas other trips had more, second rate entertainment in the evening. Read Less

This is a nice new ship. Cabin and bathroom are large. The service is excellent. The food is basic American, good but fewer choices than on the larger cruise lines. My husband and I liked everything but I would have liked the food to be more upscale. The cocktail hour was disappointing. You can only get basic drinks. The staff needs to go to bartending classes and the ship needs to be stocked with everything needed to make all drinks. The entertainment was various piano and guitar players. There are no activities onboard. these need to be added. There is a guest lecturer on board. Shore excursions were fine. The big problem was being stuck in the same port for three days due to high winds. This was extremely boring. We had to be bussed to the excursions and that took a very long time. Had the cruise gone to all the ports on the itinerary I would probably have given this a very good. There were no children on this cruise. We live near Charleston and highly recommend exploring this departure city. Read Less

First American Cruise Lines cruise and wanted to experience a cruise close to home and looked forward to the beauty of the Hudson River Valley and its history. Shore excursions were great but I would like to have participated in more of them. Fall color was unfortunately behind schedule but we did see some by the end of the trip. The new ship was excellent with a great staff. Public rooms were awesome. I would have liked more history lectures on the Hudson River Valley. The tour of New York State Capitol, Sunnyside, West Point, the FDR estate were excellent.I have already booked my next cruise with American Cruise Lines to Southeast Alaska. American has an excellent selection of cruises all over the USA. I would like to do the Columbia and Snake River cruise as well as the Mississippi River cruise. Overall I was very impressed with my first American Cruise Lines cruise. Read Less

We have cruised with the American Cruise Line before and like the smaller size of their ships. We selected this ship, the Constellation, because it is their newest ship launched this and had some more modern features including sliding door on to the balcony and two modern elevators. Service was great. The only negative is the loud engine noise experienced in the dining room when underway. The ship has very attentive and friendly American crew. The ship is ideal for older travelers because of the smaller size the short walking distance between the aft dinning room and the forward lounge area. The ship has Wi-Fi through out the ship and a small exercise room on the fourth deck. The cabins are large and have more than adequate storage space, There are two very comfortable and well lighted lounge areas with one forward on deck 3 and one aft on deck 4. Read Less

This was my first riverboat cruise after almost twenty traditional cruises. Pros: 1) Ship was new & beautiful; 2) my single cabin w/balcony was very comfortable and clean with nice bathroom; 3) cuisine was the best I've had on any cruise line in at least 20 years; 4) staff was young, very friendly, and tried to be very helpful; 5) lounges were very comfortable and well laid out; and 6) the included wines at dinner & happy hour were delicious and served liberally. Cons: 1) This particular cruise up the Hudson Valley had way too many rough edges and poor coordination; 2) the complimentary excursion in Martha's Vineyard and the $65 excursion of NYC were well meaning but very poorly done by the respective tour companies; 3) even though the cuisine was delicious, way too many times the food was served either tepid or had completely cooled; 4) loading of luggage at the hotel recommended by American Cruise Lines was absolute chaos...the very worst I've every experienced; 5) there was no reason to leave the vessel at many of the ports of call simply because there was nothing of interest to do or see; 6) Disembarkation involved a very long walk from the vessel to the airport transfer buses; and 7) Laguardia was an absolute nightmare...avoid it like the plague. Having said all of this, I've already booked a second time on ACL for Christmas 2018 on the lower Mississippi cruise, which everyone I've spoken with said was an excellent experience. Read Less

Cabins are roomy and well appointed. The balcony was carpeted and equipped with two comfortable chairs and a nice size table. This ship is new ...May 2017. Service is excellent.. Food is better than average with good choices. Breakfast choices are excellent with a made to order variety of selections. Soups are fantastic for lunch and dinner. The baked goods and desserts are out of this world. Cocktail hour is outstanding with a nice selection of mixed drinks. A red blend wine or old vine zin would be a suggested improvement especially at dinner. This cruise line is best for adults who have travelled before without children. The crew is relatively young with lots of energy and a desire to please you. Be prepared for changes in the schedule due to weather, port availability or customer suggestions. The ports of call are excellent but subject to change on short notice. The lounge areas are many and they create a luxurious atmosphere to read, work puzzles or just have a nice conversation with new friends. Read Less

Summary: Poorly trained staff, inadequate staffing, chaotic alcohol service, mediocre cuisine and 20th century room design made this our first and last American Cruise Line experience. We had cruised on Crystal, Regent, Celebrity, Avalon and AmaWaterways over the past 17 years. Mostly, these involved flights of over 10 hours. We searched for a domestic cruise to equal these experiences and discovered American Cruise Lines. We chose the fall New England cruise due to a nice length, a luxury description and destinations. We booked; we arrived; we cruised. The Constellation is a new ship; 2017 is its maiden year. The overall design is gorgeous. Lounges, public rooms and dining room are airy and bright. The rooms are large, with many storage locations and a tiny closet. There was a single vanity and no (!) refrigerator. The lighting was good. The TV was a standard definition monitor with SD satellite service; this is the 21st century…where is HD? The Wi-Fi barely connected, had low speed and was AWOL a good deal of the time. The safe never worked. We didn’t try room service. The service level, in general, was not up to luxury standards. While enthusiastic and energetic, stewards seem like they had little training and only National Park-level experience. The staffing level seemed to be inadequate for the required tasks. Calls to Maintenance went directly to a full voicemail message box. The cruise “directors” were called on to set-up, tend and tear down bars, manage tours, marshal complaint lines and explain deviations. The dining room stewards tried their best. Dining was disappointing. Early-riser breakfast looked like a 7-11 had exploded. Dining room breakfast was the best meal of the day with lots of fruit, pastry and cereal choices. The hot items were pretty good, too. Lunch was Applebee level, only with lobster (everyday). Dinner was uneven – the soups were uniformly good, the entrees commonplace with insipid saucing. We didn’t try the desserts. Alcohol service reflected a company in transition. (Perhaps an all-inclusive fare is in the future?) There are no bars on-board. Wine and beer were served at lunch and dinner; a cocktail hour preceded dinner and accompanied the evening entertainment. These were from temporary set-ups in the two major lounges. Service was chaotic using a cattle call approach. Quality was poor with wines from Gallo predominating. They ran out of chardonnay, the most popular wine in the country. Scotch inventory dried-up. Gratis tours were okay but nothing special. However, the included lobster bake was delicious and fun. If ACL is going to charge $1000 per day per person, several levels of improvement are needed throughout the ship. Read Less

The Constellation is a new ship with spacious rooms and balconies. Food was fresh and excellently prepared. We loved all the ports on this grand New England cruise. We met great people who enjoyed having fun. The ship's crew were all young energetic adults who did everything possible to make our stay enjoyable. Some were exceptional in their interactions with us. Many of us were seniors but we still asked for more music for dancing in the evening. For the price of this cruise I felt the quality of the entertainment could be better. The comedienne was fabulous and proved to be a fun night with him onboard. I would recommend the grand New England cruise to anyone. Some of the towns are small and not much except little boutiques but the beauty of these ports were fun to visit and other towns had a lot of history and interesting things to see. Provincetown was lots of fun. Read Less