We hadn’t seen much of the northwest US so we decided to try the American Cruise Line Harmony's cruise from Portland, Oregon to Clarkston, Washington on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The ship is small and only had 150 passengers on our trip.

We were in Room 308, a comfortable two room suite with a small balcony. I think it was next to the captain's cabin and the bridge was just beyond that. The dining room is on the first deck. The lounge and a casual dining spot are on either end of Deck 4. Our cabin was nicely situated so we could easily use the stairs to access those three areas. Two elevators, which were never slow or crowded, are next to the stairs. This boat is wider than European river boats so our cabin was considerably bigger than a suite on Uniworld.

ACL Harmony has an all American crew. We had never experienced that in our ~ 40 cruises. We have been on two European river cruises and dozens of ocean cruises in Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, the US east coast, the Caribbean and Europe. All river cruises are a different animal from ocean cruises. There is no casino, limited entertainment, 200 or fewer passengers and you have to share dining tables. Read more