American River Boat Cruises ? (reviews, itinerary, experiences)

[sera]

River boats, noticed an advertisement from American Cruise Lines to tour Maine Coast
and Harbors cruise, have you traveled there or the Mississippi, your experiences please.

What cruise line would you suggest; rivers, i.e. the Mississippi, New England coastline?

[AksarbeN]

I was wondering if anyone has been on a St Lawrence cruise and if they liked it? I would love to go in the fall of the year when the leaves are changing color in the New England northeast, and also would like to visit several of the Canadian ports along the way.

[Wilkester2010]

I've never used American Cruise Lines though I have read their literature on their Mississippi cruises. Those sound interesting though expensive. I plan to do a Royal Caribbean cruise that stops in Maine and Canada. They do those yearly though only in August and September. I know Royal Caribbean does a fine job.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Wilkester2010

I've never used American Cruise Lines though I have read their literature on their Mississippi cruises. Those sound interesting though expensive. I plan to do a Royal Caribbean cruise that stops in Maine and Canada. They do those yearly though only in August and September. I know Royal Caribbean does a fine job.

We have friends who did the Mississippi river last fall. It was ok, but very very expensive and the cabins were only about 100sq ft including the bathroom. It convinced me not to give it a second thought. I will stick with mass marketed cruise lines like what you are saying. We did a Princess cruise, from Quebec city to Ft Lauderdale just about 2 years ago. We saw several ports in Canada, stopped in Maine, RI, Boston, NYC and Charleston. The only problem, for us, anyway, was the ship was a mega ship and just a little too big for our liking. The ports were awesome.

[Dd714]

Suprisingly there really isn't much to see on the Mississippi in terms of port stops. It's not doted with colorful port stops like you would expect, maybe because the river is in a contant state of flux, literally moving it's channel from year to year, and is primarily used for moving freight on a brown river (not particularly picturesque) from one industrial stop to another. There is nothing between Memphis and St. Lous, or between Vicksburg and Memphis. And you have to be a civil war fan to really enjoy Vicksburg.
Memphis has tourist riverboats that do a day tour on the MS.

[annerk]

I wouldn't take a river cruise in the US. I'd rather just drive that type of itinerary. Frankly the photos and reviews of the American river passenger ships have left me beyond underwhelmed. The cabins look more like a budget motel than a nice cruise ship.