We have cruised well over 900 days on ocean going ships and I wanted to try a river cruise. Having lived in Wisconsin and Illinois all our lives, we decided a cruise down the Mississippi River would be a good start. We embarked on the American Cruise Lines ship the Melody on November 4th at Red Wing, Minnesota. Embarkation was very smooth and probably took less than 15 minutes. Our itinerary took us to Winona, Minnesota; Dubuque, Iowa; Davenport, Iowa; Fort Madison, Iowa; Hannibal, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; and Memphis, Tennissee. However, just north of Memphis our ship came to a 23 hour stand still as two separate barges broke loose of two separate tugboats. As a result our stop at Memphis was deleted from our itinerary. Once we were cleared to move, our ship, the Melody, then went on to stop at Vicksburg, Mississippi, Natchez, Mississippi and finally New Orleans where we disembarked smoothly and quickly on November 18th.
On board with us was a historian who filled us in on a daily basis about the immigration of Europeans to the Mississippi River area and the interactions with the Indians in that territory as well as the geology of the river basin. But the real entertainer was Richard Garey who was a one man impersonation of Mark Twain. He entertained us every evening with a dialog taken directly from Samuel Clemens writings. Richard's silver white hair and mustache, soft blue eyes and ever present southern white linen suit helped to make his impersonation the closest I think one could come to being the real Mark Twain. His impersonation was filled with laughter, insights of living on the Mississippi River and in Hannibal, Missouri, and poignant perspectives on life in general. He truly was the daily highlight of the entertainment. Musicians from on board as well as musicians that joined the ship at different ports helped to keep people singing along and clapping to the music. In addition, there was a popular watercolor class for those who wanted to try watercolor painting for the first time. The last evening during the cocktail time, the class hosted a display of their work . . . which I might say was excellent! One day there was a class on Tequila tasting and tequila drink making. In the game room, couples played cards and bingo as well in the River Lounge. While those intent on keeping fit used the two fitness rooms equiped with a wide variety of equipment.
The meals were outstanding. Whoever the chef was, he/she needed to be given a gold star! The wait staff was also great. They quickly knew how we liked our coffee and had it ready as soon as they spotted us entering the dinning room. They were accommodating to special requests even to the point of getting something at the next port that they did not have in stock. I would say the quality of the meals and wait staff service was better than on some large ocean going ships I have been on!
Our cabin was a first deck cabin that was larger than some newer ocean going ship's cabins. It was well appointed with two twin beds as requested, plenty of storage drawers, closet area and a private safe. The bathroom and shower were large enough to accommodate two people at once. The outer cabin wall was entirely windows with a sliding glass door to a patio/deck out fitted with two chairs and a small table. The patio/deck was shared with the next door room. The Room Stewards kept the room clean and fresh by cleaning twice daily. That included remaking the beds I had already made each day!