09/15/2022
I would like to compare American Queen Voyages to American Cruise Lines, as I have traveled on both. I will list a topic, then make the comparison.
Pre-cruise, making reservations, etc.: American Cruise Lines was very easy to work with. Very organized and easy to communicate. Received final documents 45 days before sailing. American Queen was less organized. They did not indicate how one was getting from the airport to the pre-cruise hotel. I had to call the hotel to find out. They said I would be receiving my documents 2 weeks before the cruise, but only received them 3 days before we flew to our city of embarkation.
Getting from the airport to pre-cruise hotel and check in to the ship: As I mentioned before, American Queen did not give info on how to get from the airport to the pre-cruise hotel (both lines provide one night in the hotel as part of the cruise package). American Cruise Lines has a representative in the luggage collection point with a big sign showing their presence. When signing up for the cruise, you have to enter your air itinerary so they know when you are arriving. You check in with the representative and they have transportation to take you directly to the hotel. Very seamless. Check in at the hotel and embarking the ship was also very easy with American Cruise Lines. They were organized and made it easy. Not so with American Queen. After getting a hotel shuttle from the airport, it took us 3 hours to check in to the hotel and cruise! They only had one person checking Covid cards and one of the passengers volunteered to take temperatures to help the only person helping with check in. I have written a letter to American Queen describing the experience in detail to find out if this was a fluke or standard procedure. I am awaiting their response.
The ships and staterooms - The American Queen is a real steamship and a glorious vessel. It holds a capacity of 445 passengers. Our sailing had 310 passengers. It is pristine and decorated in high Victorian style. You feel like you are sailing at the beginning of the 20th century! There were several common areas, a lovely performance/lecture space and lovely places to congregate around the ship. The staterooms were on the small side. The smallest being an inside stateroom of 130 square feet. The average stateroom was in the 200 - 240 square feet. Junior suites started around 300 square feet. The service of the rooms were excellent. Everything was clean and the bath products were great. American Cruise Lines sails modern ships. The ones we have been on were built in 2018 or later. Everything is modern with clean lines. The ship holds a capacity of 190 passengers, so it is quite smaller than the American Queen. The public areas were nice, but not large. Large enough for the number of passengers. The staterooms were much larger. The smallest stateroom is around 300 square feet with the suites going up to over 700 square feet. Everything was clean and service was excellent. I would say the service on both ships were equally excellent. The bath products on the American Queen were better than the American Cruise Line. I must also mention that the older ship (American Queen) had a tub/shower in the bath and the newer American Cruise ship had a walk-in shower. I have noticed in hotels that the tub-shower is becoming obsolete as the walk-in shower is much safer.
Food and drinks - Both lines are totally inclusive, so all meals and drinks are included. There are a few bars that serve alcoholic drinks and drinks are also included with lunch and dinner. American Cruise Lines has open seating in the dining room, so you can eat anytime during meal hours and you can sit at a private table or a shared table. It's a nice way to meet different folks on the ship. American Queen has open seating for breakfast and lunch, but has assigned time (early and late seatings) at one assigned table throughout the cruise. Food quality - both lines used fresh local ingredients, which was nice. American Cruise Lines had menus with all meals cooked to order. You also had the option for a half portion, which I used a lot. The seasonings were great and I enjoyed it very much. American Queen had a self-serve buffet at breakfast and lunch with a few items you could order off the menu. I was surprised with the self-serve buffet in this Covid time, so I skipped it. I also found the food to be very bland. The typical passenger is at least 70 years old and perhaps a lot of folks have food issues. I don't know, but I just found the food to be very bland. They do offer lobster daily, which my husband enjoyed. Both lines also offer alternative cafes where you can get breakfast items, hamburgers, etc.
Excursions at the ports - both lines offered complimentary excursions as well as premium ones which were an additional cost. We went mainly to the complimentary ones. Both companies had clean modern buses with excellent guides. I would say they were equally good.
Presentations and music onboard - We loved the entertainment on the American Queen. They had a house band that played great jazz. The also had some singers that put on shows in the evening with the house band. There was also a pianist who played and sang every evening before dinner. He was excellent and had an amazing repertoire. The lectures were not so good. They had an employee talk about the ship, how it was built and other stories. He was not an expert or historian. So I would say great entertainment, not so great speakers. American Cruise Line varied with the music and speakers. When we took the lower Mississippi we had fantastic local Delta musicians every evening. We heard bluegrass, blues, dixieland, cajun and all sorts of music. However, when we took the cruise from Charleston to Amelia Island, the music was not so good. They had a husband and wife team who performed throughout the cruise and brought on a couple of local musicians who varied from excellent to so-so. The lectures on American Cruise Lines were excellent. We had a historian on the lower Mississippi who would lecture every morning about where we were and the history. He was a historian and knew the Civil War inside and out. His lectures enhanced the visits immensely. Same for the Snake and Columbia River cruise. They had a Lewis and Clark specialist who was an encyclopedia of that expedition.
Disembarkation was easy on both lines. They were organized in loading bags and getting us to the airports.
These are my thoughts on the comparison of American Queen Voyages and American Cruise Lines. Please contact me if you have any questions. I will report back when I get the response from American Queen about the 3 hour check in fiasco.
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Sincerely, Anne
S
