I have long wanted to travel the Mississippi river and finally did it. Picked the American Queen steamboat which is a real steam powered riverboat. Passenger capacity is 450, on this trip there were 358 passengers. Crew was 175. Staff was excellent. They made every effort to make you happy. My table waiters were absolute professionals and accommodated any variation of the dinner meal that was possible. All of the staff were cheerful, pleasant, happy people to be around. My cabin was a luxury cabin that included two writing desks, closet, a couch, arm chair, glass table with 3 chairs, large screen TV and all the drawer space that could possibly be used by two people. The on board entertainment was well worth watching as well as live music in several of the bars on board. Food was good to great with an informal buffet area called the Front Porch open if you didn't wish to go to the main dinning area. The menu was somewhat different between the main dinning area and the Front Porch increasing the food options. The Front Porch had a different version prime rib every night along with chicken or fish. Wine or beer is included with the dinner meal.

The boat was clean and well maintained with elevators for those that didn't want to use the stairs to move between decks. There were open seating areas at both the front and rear of the boat for watching the river and boat traffic. On this trip it was cool most days so a light jacket was needed. I spent a lot of time on the observation deck watching the river. The main froward observation area was just out side the Front Porch so you could duck in and get hot coffee, fresh cookies, tea etc, at any time. There was an observation area with bar at the rear of the boat with shade and sun tables, free hot dogs and a great view of the river. There is a small heated pool and an exercise equipment room. And of course the boat has a steam calliope that was played each time we left a dock.

The shore activities included extra cost tours that were well received by those the took them according to the folks I talked to. I did not take any of those because the boat had a free sightseeing tour bus at each stop. This was a new arrangement to me called Hop on, Hop off. The buses had a circular route with 4 to 6 stops at various sights. The bus would stop and allow passengers to get off and go see the sight or just wander around town. The next bus would be by in 15 to 20 minutes and you could get back on and go back to the boat or to which ever stop you wanted to visit next. These buses ran continuously for the duration of the stop. I found this a great idea that allowed me to visit those things I wanted and get off the beaten path when I wanted to walk around and explore. Due to the high river levels some of the scheduled stops were changed or shortened. Read more