Always wanted to travel the Mississippi River by riverboat. It was a relaxing and very informative cruise. Especially liked the shore excursions to the Civil War battlefields. The boarding process was the easiest and quickest that I have experienced. We took advantage of the pre-cruise package that included a tour of Graceland, two nights as the Graceland hotel and transportation to the ship. The ship as immaculately kept and the staff could not have been more professional and attentive. Our cabin was the largest we have had on a cruise with floor to ceiling sliding glass doors opening to a private balcony with chairs and table. We made stops in Vicksburg, Natchez, St Francisville, Baton Rouge, Oak Alley, and New Orleans. There were on board lectures about the Mississippi River and the Civil War battlefields that we visited given by very informative experts. The shore excursions were excellent with very informative tour guides. The food was excellent and service was quick and efficient. Disembarkation was very organized. They provided transportation to the Airport in New Orleans as well as an optional two hour bus tour of the city on the way to the airport. We have already signed up for another cruise with American Cruise Lines in 2019 "Maine Coast and Harbors". Read Less

We took the Pearl Mist 11 night cruise from Chicago to Toronto last August 2018. This cruise is targeted for people 75 years an older, many of which need assistance. That's ok but it should be clearly stated. Let's start by saying the good things: 1) Stateroom and bathroom are very big. 2) Probably the best thing was the Staff, they are very friendly and helpful 3) Food was ok. 4) Drinks are included. 5) Some ports of call are very interesting: MACKINAC ISLAND, MUSKEGON / HOLLAND, Parry Sound and Niagara Falls. 6) Cruising the Welland Canal and going through 8 sets locks from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. Now the bad things: 1) Overpriced at 20 grand per stateroom for and outed ship with little to do in it. It has no pool or good onboard activities. We spent 2 days cruising with little to do. The Gym consists of 4 machines located on and outside deck. 2) The TV in the stateroom is ridiculous 3) The ship is very small 108 cabins. 4) Some ports are call should be eliminated specially Sault Sainte Marie and Little Current. Nothing to do in them. 5) The time allocated in each destination is not well planned. We only spend 2-3 hours in Niagara that had a lot of activities to do and spend a full day at Sault Sainte Marie with almost nothing to do. Read Less

We were interested in this 10 day cruise since we haven't been to this area other than Chicago & Cleveland. We also wanted to see Niagara Falls. We purchased this cruise thru Vantage which leases the ship thru Victory Cruiseline. The Victory I holds about 200 passengers. There was 115 passengers on the cruise we took - 93 being Vantage passengers. There was one Vantage staff person (cruise director called an Adventure Leader) who worked in tandem with the ship's cruise director (Expedition Host). We flew into Toronto the day before the cruise and met the Vantage Adventure Leader at the Marriot Hotel. The next day, we took a city tour and then embarked on the Victory I. Hiighlights include: Niagara Falls, Niagara area winery lunch, Lolly Trolley in Cleveland, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village (purchased ticket separately), cruising the St. Clair river, going thru the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie into Lake Superior (we can say we have been on all 5 Great Lakes), info about the Edmund Fitzgerald & Mackinac Island with the Grand Hotel buffet. Cruise Lecturers - There were 2. One focused on the port talks and history of the area. He also talked about etiquette - it's history and application into today's business world. It sounds strange, but many of us found it very interesting. The second lecturer had worked for NASA during the Apollo project & he had lectures on astronomy. They were well informed and enjoyable. We also had a guest lecturer from the Grand Hotel the evening after our visit to Mackinac Island. Very funny! Service - The staff & crew onboard were friendly, courteous & efficient. The morning after cruising on the St. Clair river into Lake Huron, we found the crew washing off the many bugs that collected overnight (Mayflies?). The Wi-Fi was included & reception was pretty good. Food - We found the food was varied & very good. There was a cocktail hour before dinner where announcements were made. Beer & wine were included on the cruise. Breakfast was buffet style, however you could order from your table if you wanted to. You ordered from a menu for lunch & dinner. There was also an outdoor grill where breakfast & dinner was offered. We did not go to any of the meals there, hubby would walk over to it in the morning for his coffee. It was a great place to have a drink and see sunsets in the evening - weather permitting. Afternoon Teas - There was 3 afternoon teas. A Royal High tea, Spirit of the Maharajahs, and a Viennese Afternoon tea. Lots of goodies to be had. Disembarkation was at an industrial port south of downtown Chicago. Transportation was arranged by the Vantage Adventure Leader. We ended up sharing a taxi - our share, $20. We are very glad we went on this cruise. I am looking at another Great Lakes cruise advertised by Victory Cruiselines - Western Great Lakes. It includes ports in Lake Superior. Read Less

It was an Anniversary cruise that was supposed to be aboard a luxury cruise ship with a wheelchair accessible accommodations. My husband was assured that he would be able to use his motorized scooter for excursions ( he used it twice) the scooter had to be lifted up and over the ramp. The ramp isn't even wide enough for a wheel chair people were made to get up and walk up or down the ramp. The elevator only accommodated the wheelchair if my husband stood up and we folded the wheelchair. The room was anything but luxury the bath room was disgraceful and outdated. The room was sold as a king but it was two twins pushed together with a piece of foam running down the middle. (Pictures to follow). Now the entertainment was 1 hour each night some nights it was a talk about what some people got to see if they were able to go on the tours that day. Happy hour was just that 1 hour then the bell was rung and everyone is shuffled off to the dining room after dinner the 1 hour of entertainment.There are only two things this cruise line has going for them the food and some remarkable young people that work their butts off. Serve your food in the morning clean your room later then back to the dining room to serve again. We paid to be transported back to our car in charleston sc and a very nice shuttle bus showed up for other passengers we had to wait for a taxi that would accommodate our scooter this was a 3 hr ride in a old,loud taxi. We have been on at least 8 cruises and never have I felt so scammed. $10,800 dollars lighter we will always remember this nightmare and I will warn everyone I can not to take a cruise with this company. Read Less

Chose this cruise because we were celebrating both my husband and I 65th birthdays. Wanted something special. This was not what we expected. The weather is obviously nothing that can be controlled but it was bad enough that out of 7 days we could only use the deck twice. Force 8 gales and it was not pleasant. The average age appeared to be older generation, lots of disabled people, more like a care home, with knitting and sewing circle every day in a beautiful lounge are. Not able to watch football in the pub on board due to having bingo everyday. Also very regimented, don,t even think of this ship, if you don,t like being told what to do and when, we paid for a princess suite, and if we had not dressed how we were told on a particular day then we could not eat dinner in the restaurant that we had paid a lot of money for. Read Less

This was a 90th birthday cruise for a long-time Cunard passenger. Embarkation took over two hours(one person fainted) and young children were being held by parents for long periods of time. Dining room service was extremely slow and the servers were not pleasant. Took 20-25 minutes to get a beverage. We were rushed out of the dining room every night. Sheet cake ordered and paid for was not delivered to our party. Dining requests(number and size of tables) that was requested many months in advance was not honored. On July 5th, lunch in the Britannia took 2 hours. Breakfast on the day of disembarkation took over and hour and there was no one in the dining room.Spent hours at the Purser's Desk trying to set up an account for beverages to all be transferred to host. This did not get accomplished until last full day of sailing. Had to sign out for two decks of playing cards and had to return. No recognition for a Cunard World Club Gold member. Lost hot water one evening. The showroom temperature ran close to 80 degrees. Very overpriced cruise. No dining room staff member seemed to care about anything except rushing us out for late dining. Only thing that did not get messed up was disembarkation. On a 1-10 scale, this cruise was a 1. Staff needs training.Having corresponded with Cunard post-cruise, they still have shown indifference to all our issues. And we had 42 passengers in our group in balconies and a Princess suite. Read Less

We had a delightful introduction to River-cruising in the USA with American Cruise Lines up the Mississippi. Their attention to every detail made the trip pure pleasure for us. And we thank their wonderful chef for accommodation to our vegetarian meal requests. Every staff person on board was helpful, anticipating all needs even before we realized we needed them! The shore excursions at each River stop were perfectly arranged. The experts on board added immeasurably to our experience, with their lectures about the River, the Civil War, and the river-boat culture. We now know that it's all about the River! A special commendation for Bill Weimuth whose outstanding presentations and multi-faceted entertainment skills are tailor-made for River cruising in the USA. Read Less

Our cruise starts in Memphis with an overnight stay at the Sheraton. We weren't very impressed with this hotel or the breakfast laid on for all the passengers making this overnight stay. On to the boat and we were on deck 4 in an outside stateroom. The cabin was cosy a little bit smaller than the only previous cruise we've done. It was 160sq ft if that helps. The food was very good the crew were very good and the daily organisation of going ashore and visiting historical sights and communication of information was very good. Everyday there were additional tours at an extra cost around 59 dollars plus per head.The nightly entertainment was a matter of taste. It was mostly musically based and was ok. The WiFi was pretty poor unless you were in specific areas. The main restaurant was fine with tables set for 2 up to 8, there was another restaurant at the front of the boat where you could eat 24 hours a day. We went there for breakfast one morning and it was just too noisy for that time of day so we didn't go back. We disembarked in New Orleans. Read Less

American Cruise Lines- Historic South and Golden Isles Cruise March 19-26, 2016 We arrived in Charleston two days prior to the cruise departure and stayed at the Hyatt Place historic district on King St. The hotel is only 5 months old and the accommodations were very nice and convenient to shopping and dining in the King St. area. I would caution anyone against ordering any foodstuffs from the “Pickup and Go Menu” in the rooms as these items are all pre-packaged and hardly edible to say the least. There are plenty of local eateries offering a wide selection of lunch and dinner options all along King St. that would be a far better choice and cost about the same. On the other hand, the downstairs daily hot breakfast at the Hyatt was quite good and plentiful. We left for the City Marina on Lockwood Dr around 10 am on Saturday and were the second to check in. ACL representatives met us at the end of the pier and took all luggage to the ship at that time. They also provided golf cart rides out to the ship for those with limited mobility. Cabins were not available until 11:30 or so and we were directed to the Chesapeake lounge where warm cookies, soft drinks, coffee, water and espresso were available. These were available all throughout the cruise at no charge. Surprisingly enough the ship also furnished free WiFi during our cruise. When we entered our cabin there were nice ACL lanyards, nametags, and room keycards along with a folder of information about our cruise and staff. We were in cabin 212, an AAL balcony cabin adjacent to the mid-ship lounge. We liked our location so much due to the proximity that we booked the same one for our next cruise. The décor was a bit dated looking but the cabin was very clean and the staff maintained that during our cruise. The AC was good as I kept the temp in the high 60’s most of the time. Each day offered delicious meals in the dining room on the first level and were among the best we have had in our cruise history. Breakfast service began at 7:30 am and choices included both hot and cold items. A table just inside the dinning room featured cold selections such as yogurt and fruit parfaits, smoked salmon and capers with bagels and cream cheese available on request, and various pastries. Hot, cooked-to-order options were provided on menus at each place setting. The reverse side of the breakfast menu featured the day’s selections for lunch and dinner as well as places to indicate whether you’d be dining off-ship for any meals. You would make a selection from offered appetizers and entrees so that the chef would have a better idea of how much of the various dishes to prepare. This was an excellent way to prevent a lot of waste with uneaten foods which ultimately helped the kitchen deliver better-cooked, more flavorful meals. Lunch commenced at 12:30pm. In addition the appetizer and entrée, dessert options were available. If you missed lunch onboard due to an excursion, the staff provided options for boxed lunches with ham or turkey sandwiches that you could take with you. We did this one day and were really surprised at how good the sandwiches were and how much they put into the boxes. The evening’s meals began with a cocktail party at 5:30 in the Chesapeake lounge and featured heavy hors d’eouvres which changed nightly. It’s worth noting that if you have a favorite brand of liquor, you can simply call the home office with your booking number pre-cruise and they’ll have it onboard for you. Dinner followed in the dinning room at 6:30. They started with appetizers and always had a soup option. The soups were outstanding and some of the best any of our four had ever had. Entrees followed and varied from seafood to beef, chicken, pork and lamb. One evening we enjoyed filet so tender you could cut it with your fork. Desserts were good as well and there were about 8 different kinds of ice cream which were always available. The servers were attentive and friendly which made for pleasant meals. We took at least one shore excursion in each port and were pleased with the cost of each. The ship was able to dock in all but 2 ports (Hilton Head and Sapelo Island) and for those we had only a short tender ride to shore and back. Toward the end of the cruise there was a presentation about future cruises with an offer to book while onboard for 15% off and free port charges and taxes ($500). If should be stated that there was no pressure and we were not asked but the one time. We were not hounded to book additional cruises. However, after consulting with our traveling companions, we did book a future cruise to the New England Islands. Being long-time Princess cruisers we were amazed at the free drinks, cocktails and coffees not to mention the free internet. The only downside we could come up with was the lack of laundry as we usually send out clothes a couple of times during a cruise. There were no telephones in the cabins; but since nothing was more than 100 feet from our cabin door none were needed. On the wall next to the desk was a large red emergency call button if anyone were to have need for assistance. All in all, we had a wonderful time and felt the value for the money was very good. The crew were all very friendly and accommodating. They really wanted us to have a great time. Obviously we’d do it again as we booked another cruise with ACL. Read Less

The catalog seems to be different from what we received on the cruise. We complained when the air conditioning did not work properly, toilets did not flush, could not get a bottle of water and public bath room was dirty. There were four couples that complained and the cruise line sent a director of hotel operations to talk with us on the fifth day of the cruise. He listened to our complaint and said he was sorry and would see if he could do something for us once he talked to the home office and would get back to us after the cruise. That was 9 days a go so I feel like I was lied too. We were told the college age people working the ship were on 12 weeks contracts and than let go, that's why we felt service like eating at a IHOP and the place was dirty. We have been on river boat cruises in Europe that cost the same $10,000 that have been fantastic and twice as long for the same amount of money. The food was OK but for the cost of the 7 days I thought it could have been much better. We felt this cruise was a waste of money. Read Less