American Empress Review
Almost Always Met and Exceeded -- but not Always
Rating by category
Additional details
Husband and I have enjoyed 32 cruises prior to this one. We’ve been on 30 “ocean”, from Carnival on up to Crystal, which is now our favorite. Celebrity is our second favorite, of course knowing that the two products are quite different, so our expectations change from one line to the other. The two European river cruises we’ve taken were both on AmaWaterways and we did love almost everything about them. When a friend asked us to consider cruising the Snake and Columbia Rivers on American Empress, I was hesitant, b/c of the high price tag. I did as much research as I could and decided it sounded like we’d be happy, and luckily that was an accurate assessment.
We went east to west, just as Lewis and Clark did on their exploration towards the Pacific Ocean. We flew to Spokane and booked one night prior to the night included by American Queen Steamboat Company. The Historic Davenport is a lovely property and the front desk is very adept at coordinating the night we booked on our own with the night AQSC books for us. Husband had researched restaurants and sightseeing, so we had a great breakfast at Frank’s Diner, walked some of Centennial Trail, saw the waterfalls, saw the Gonzaga campus, and visited the Rose Garden at Manito Park. Dinner at Wild Sage was really great, and a short walk from the Historic Davenport.
Check-in for the Empress was easy, in the Davenport the day prior to embarkation, and we found we had been upgraded from Deck Four (with semi-private veranda) to Deck Three with private veranda and 30 extra square feet in the stateroom. Cue ominous music here, but that will wait until embarkation day.
Cabin Review
The cabin was fine, pretty much what we had expected (small). Shower was great, as long as you realized it's the European or foreign type, where you set the water temperature on one knob and turned it off and on with the other knob. There's a hand bar, but don't make the mistake of grabbing the faucet apparatus instead, b/c it is VERY hot in one spot.
The walls seemed less soundproofed than on ocean liners, but don't believe the reservationist who said there aren't magnetic walls. Of course there are!
Safe was very nice and easily accessible. There were three straight-backed chairs, which we never sat in at all. We tend to lounge on the bed at home, so that's what we did here.
No laundry bags supplied, but Liz, the very good cabin attendant, helped us out with a trash bag (they're large, thin plastic). Really nice bottles of shampoo, conditioner and lotion, and mmm nice soaps. Nice veranda.