American Countess Review

-- / 5.0
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32 reviews

What a mess!

Review for North America River Cruise on American Countess
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acablitke08
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Oct 2022

We sailed Oct 2022. We were looking forward to MSY - MEM. The line can’t control the river. The day before we were supposed to fly to MSY, we were notified they couldn’t sail south of MEM because the river levels were too low so we needed to change our flight reservations to MEM. We were promised a refund for any change fees w/in 4 - 6 weeks. Fortunately, our Tours By Locals day trip and our WWII museum tickets were refunded. At the pre-sail hotel in MEM….they’ll provide breakfast from 7-11 am. Nope. We arrive just before 9 am and it’s over. Sorry, we close up at 9. We’re still awaiting a refund on our flight change. Mind you, the e-mail address they sent us for the refund was wrong. We didn’t discover that until we were aboard and visited with other guests. When I sent in the change fare to the correct address, I was advised they don’t refund first class fares. Except we booked first class tickets from the start and sent them that receipt. Further, we also learn from these guests, the itinerary changed nearly a week prior. These guests checked into the pre-departure hotel in MSY a week early so as to visit MSY and learned then we were sailing from MEM. So off we go. Most ports were pretty cool. But our day in New Madrid, since we had to await a golf cart to get up to the city, we arrived exactly 2 minutes late for our hop on hop off bus. The travel director explained the wheels turn on time and she wouldn’t let us on the next bus. Seriously?!? We paid $12K for this cruise, we could walk one block to the first stop for this tour and collect the same dang bus, but we can’t join the 14 or so folks on this coach?!? Anyhow, now we’re supposed to sail back to MEM at 1:00. I had the opportunity to visit the pilot house this day. Nice. The officers, however, continued w the ruse they were hopeful we’d be able to sail to MEM. When I returned to our cabin, there was a letter signed by the captain before my tour letting us know we’d be bussed back to MEM. So again, communication rather than lies?!? But the next morning, as we prepared to ride to MEM…..did those wheels turn on time? Nope. 30 minutes late. Finally reaching AQV on the phone, our flight change refund is supposed to be processed the week of Christmas. I can’t imagine they’d care to pay the interest on my credit card since this is taking so long? Mind you, they offered a 25% credit on a future cruise that I requested be applied to this cruise. Their response….crickets. We will never book this line again. And to be fair, we sail three or four times a year and have for decades. So we’re pretty well versed on much of what can go wrong and right on a ship. Never again on AQV. Buyer beware!

Response from BriannaH, Guest Relations @American Queen Voyages

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We are disappointed to hear that you did not have a great experience on American Countess and that the refund process is lengthy. We...

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