How I wish this review could be positively glowing, because steamboating on US rivers ought to be a glorious experience.
Our recent cruise on the American Queen, however, showed that this enterprise is not only suffering from a number of Start-Up-Company ills, but seems to be run by people who are actually amateurs in the cruise business. We all know that you only get one change to make that all-important, great First Impression, but Great American Steamboat made poor impressions at every single opportunity. The short version of my review is this: Do Not spend your vacation money on the American Queen until at least 2014 - if this company is still in business in 2014, they will probably have fixed their boat and their operations, and may have even reached the point where they have looked at how the passenger experiences their performance, rather than being so fixated on managing their procedures and frequent mistakes.
To be more specific, first the cabins. Even though we expected our Inside Cabin to be substantially smaller than staterooms on an ocean cruise ship, our room was so small that the two of us could not unpack, dress, or move around the cabin at the same time. The foot of the beds were so close to the wall of drawers / closet that we had to sidle in sideways, and could not turn around. Furthermore, there was only one electrical outlet in our cabin, and that was located just above the bathroom sink. If a passenger has a cell phone / laptop that needs recharging or has to use a C-Pap machine at night, the only electricity is right above the water taps in the bathroom. That is not only inconvenient - it is downright dangerous.
Cabin 366 (and all like it) are really much too small. All but the very smallest passengers will have difficulty moving around in this room at all. The bathroom is also small, and inconveniently arranged. Passengers may even find themselves opting to leave this cabin to use public restrooms (which are larger) on a regular basis. The beds themselves were clean and comfortable, but we do not recommend this cabin.