American Cruise Lines

The pluses: the ship, crew, food, itinerary. Cindy W. was terrific. So knowledgeable of so many things..orcas, fire, trees, etc. Aprilell was our housekeeper..was great. Also Christian and Ariel in the dining room. The negative: The Hilton Comfort Inn at SeaTac. Bed..to hight and difficult to get in. The toilet..so low was uncomfortable to use. The lighting in the bedroom: terrible, was so poorly lit. The lamps on the table between the bed shown down light from 8" above. Impossible to read anything. The layout of the breakfast..difficult to manuver. Had to walk all over the place to get your food.

I liked that American Cruise Lines took care of everything and made everything easy. I thought the crew was extraordinarily friendly and helpful. A few of the excursions were a bit weak because some of these small towns have little to offer. I thought Mike and Matt, who were running the show, did excellent jobs. Rashaad, a waiter, exuded warmth, and went out of his way to be attentive.

The state rooms were spacious and spotless. Staff was great Tour guides were all excellent. Very much enjoyed or off ship excursions. The evening entertainment was outstanding. If I have any complaint, it is the food was too good. I really can’t eat a full gourmet meal every lunch and dinner. Special kudos to our water Ashton and entertainers Michael Miski and John Carboni

Cruise was very good. Crew friendly and helpful. Food was good, not great, but good. Ship was cold !!!! Sky lounge bar hours need to be reviewed. Not open until 5:30; closed for restocking unaccecptable. Most of us are older. Have cocktails and dinner early. Bar should be open 4:30 or 5:00 @ the latest. Schedule should be made in favor of passengers, not crew. Sky Lounge needs to have Jam/Jelly and bread for toast @ breakfast and mustard and catsup all the time. People of Note Matt Fiutem, Gabriela, Savannah, Chef Dennis Ruiling [Room Steward] Jayla, Akaeno, Leslie Lecturer Jared Ozga Very Good !!

We just did the Snake River/Columbia River Cruise Oct 13-21, 2026. Great trip, was our 2nd star and food was fabulous, service was exceptional, excursions great. Shout out yo

We have been on 6 cruises and have been very satisfied every time. Every employee is cheerful and helpful. The food is amazing. The entertainment, enrichment and excursions have consistently been well worth our time. Everything is organized beautifully. I am not very good with the app yet, but I am working on it. Another cruise and I will have it. I am ready to go again.

The overall cruise was really nice! The excursions were fun (for what the ports could offer). The staff were all so friendly and did a great job to accommodate everyone. The rooms were comfortable. The ceiling air vent in our room (Splendor 324) needed a good cleaning. The only complaint that I would offer is with the food service. I am Gluten Free and I met with the chef during the Dietary Restrictions meeting on the first day. He stated that he had many things to accommodate me (pasta, bagels, breads, english muffins and desserts) and I was excited. He only used corn starch for thickening and the soup would be GF. He also stated that he would have some of the breakfast things in the upper floor buffet. I then asked for some things for breakfast and no one could accommodate me. And most of the items on the breakfast buffet (other than scrambled eggs and sausage links) were not GF. For the 3:00 cookie time, when the staff brought the tray of cookies to the lounge, I asked if they could bring a couple GF cookies and I was told that they cannot bring the GF cookies for cookie time. I even waited for 30 minutes seeing if she would bring something and nothing was brought. I was only offered a GF dessert (other than ice cream) starting on the 4th night. None of the soups seemed to be GF. Also, though the lunches and dinners were very good, most of the time they were not hot. Almost every cup of soup served at my tables to other people, they made comments that the soup was cold and most times, the cup was not even half full. But, we booked our next cruise for 2027 and look forward to it.

Cruised on American Encore. New and beautiful ship. Stateroom with private balcony was comfortable, spacious, with closet, dresser, desk area and nice sized bathroom. Lounge areas were nicely furnished and comfortable. Food in restaurant and back cafe was very good with nice alternatives offered. Special dietary needs were met at every meal and initial meeting with chefs and on board manager on first afternoon was very appreciated. Wait staff were always willing to assist with dietary needs and made sure there were no concerns with what was being served. We were with a group of six and generally sat at the same table so we were consistently served by Peyton. He was outstanding. We found him not only to be courteous, friendly, respectful, knowledgeable of menus and accommodating for special dietary needs, but also quick witted with a great sense of humor. He is a great employee and will make a great supervisor in the future. He always had a solution to a fellow workers questions or situations. We enjoyed listening to the on board historian, Doug, every evening. He was very knowledgeable, a great speaker, and his presentation were very informative. We found all staff members to be courteous, friendly, and helpful. A good variety of excursion options were offered and those we participated in were enjoyable. The excursion buses wear clean, comfortable, and always on time. Drivers were friendly, courteous and always had cold water available. On board guides were knowledgeable and friendly. Overall we found the evening entertainment to be fun and enjoyable. We were not particularly fond of the soprano singers performance. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and it met or exceeded our expectations for our first cruise. We booked another cruise before we left the ship.

They bend over backwards to make you happy. We love the idea that the ships are smaller. You get around easy, you meet a lot of new people.\n I love the open seating, the food, the excursions, everything about it is great.The only complaint I had on this ship was my pillow.That might have been my fault, I didn't ask for a different one. There hears me a lot of interesting things to see along the riverbanks.

Our cruise was wonderful! The staff couldn't have been more helpful and patient with the passengers. Enjoyed the off shore excursions. Our speaker, Kirsten was everywhere, doing every job on the ship! She was awesome! Not sure what her salary is but I think she deserves a raise!!! Mark set up our next cruise and was so easy to work with! Dave was an amazing speaker and extremely knowledgeable! Katie, the housekeeper was so welcoming and helped keep our room in top shape. James, the wait staff was so enjoyable to be around. He did a great job of remembering the details of what we liked/disliked and was able to meet any request we had. The only constructive criticism would be that we felt rushed during meals. While we were eating, several different wait staff (other than James) would come by and arms would constantly reach in and remove things from between the guests and on the table before we were finished eating. One night the bread was removed just minutes after the main course was served. Coffee cups, spoons, salt/pepper were removed as well. People want to relax while they are eating. If I were dining at a nice restaurant at home I probably would not return. However, this did not "ruin" the cruise experience and I look forward to our next cruise which is already booked!

I am a hard sell on river cruises since I've cruised many times in Europe! American Cruise Line exceeded by expectations. The Staff, food, entertainment for a small ship was extraordinary! I felt their were staff members that exceeded performed over and above their normal responsibilities such as Hotel General Manager Matt Fiuten EXCELLENT Dining room waiter Ryan Murphy Best Service Ever Forward lounge Server Drew ... always friendly and quick service in the early morning Assist Hotel Manger Eric ... helpful and best drinks We have made a reservation for Sept 17, 2027 ... 16 days Columbia and Snake Rivers. We would love to have Matt and Ryan on this cruise. They would probably love a change!!!! thank you walli and ken h.

Unfortunately, I was taken off the ship in severe breathing distress on day 20 of my fabulous cruise of the Great Lakes. The good part is - ACL did everything they good to get me safely to a hospital in Muskegon,MI. This was my 13th cruise with ACL, and I have 5 more cruises booked! Thanks to Alex, Karis, Steven, deckhands on the Patriot and numerous others for showing me why I choose ACL over any other cruise line! I’m still in the hospital, 11 days after my emergency. I hope to get out of here soon, but meanwhile, I’m where I need to be!

The service is top notch! All the staff were amazing. On the land experience, Miranda, Julie and Scott went above and beyond to provide for our every need! On the boat, Phillip in the dining room was so much fun and provided excellent service! Nieci was great providing lunch and drinks on the 4th floor. Her beautiful smile was always in place even when some guests were not kind! Star, Jay and Colin were all so good! Thank you for everything!

Liked the smiles. Food and service to that food needs to be improved Destiny and Richardo aka Ricky were absolutely great! Stephen needs to follow through on what he says he will do.

loved the 1/2 portions offer. Had 3 different waiters/waitressess and they all forgot something, each time. room steward NEVER introduced himself and did not pick up used glasses and did not always empty garbage cans. need bartender at bar in lounge at all times. when bartender went on break there was no one to take your drink order.

We absolutely enjoyed everything: the crew were exceptional for all services, the entertainment, the food, the informative pre-port presentations, our stateroom, the ports of call and excursions were all wonderful. Our captain was gracious to give a few of us an overview of the bridge deck.

I loved how warm and friendly the crew and staff were. The ship was spotless everyday. Housekeeping services were fantastic. Food was excellent, entertainment was great, we had perfect weather! Would like to give a shout out to Alex, our hotel manager, Moose, jack of all trades😄, and two of our servers, Violet and Agelica.

I like everything about the trip. The accommodations were great and the staff was superb.

We were disappointed in our excursion at The Dallas. It was very hot and the tour guide suggested we not do the whole tour because it was a walking tour of the murals. She gave us the impression she didn’t want to be there. She read the info to us but didn’t use a microphone so we couldn’t hear most of what she said. At the end of the tour, she left us at the Neon Sign museum to find our own way back to the ship. We were not happy about that. It would also be nice if the dining room offered the lunch items we could get at the cafe. Most of the food in the dining room was too fancy for our taste.

I liked the fact that it is very easy to meet and make new friends as the ship capacity is small. I love the staff and crew they are always very nice and helpful. The food is fantastic and they do try to meet your specific dietary needs. They will always try and fulfill special requests, i.e. specific type of liquor, beer or wine. I have been on 4 cruises with ACL and witnessed several occasions where they have went above and beyond to help with guests regarding prescription medications they have lost or needed refilled. Cruises with ACL as opposed to the big ships are a bit more expensive but well worth it for the size of the accommodations, the all inclusive food and drinks, the complimentary shore excursions and the most helpful of staff . I constantly recommend ACL to my friends

I thoroughly enjoyed the ship itself at any time of day or night. Visiting with the staff was also quite fun. I am a people person and enjoying the chance to interact with the staff. ALL staff interacted. Jennifer was our housekeeper, friendly, smiling and so concerned about when she was in our room without being an interruption. Crystal was always wiping down surfaces with a smile. Mason was amazing at taking care of our mother when she injured her leg getting into a golf cart. Always quietly in charge. Chris and Gray covered every need. Gray was seen pushing a wheelchair of an individual cruiser who had no one else. Beautiful picture of going above duty. It did not matter what capacity of a crew's position all were great. Kaneish, Raven, William, 3rd Navigator Mark Several other deckhands were instrumental in assisting mom on and off the boat. SO nice and genuine! Housekeeping-Taylor (gave our mother his coat when she hurt her leg), Faith, Ciani, Ad, Anthony (not sure if he was housekeeping, but so nice to visit with in the 3rd lounge) And then you talk about the dining room, Jerome stepped up to every emergency :o) set before him by his staff. His staff - how fun were they to get to know. We did not make it to all sections, but they all demonstrated care for their guests. Errol was the favorite. Chris, Kiki, Simon - Paul we wished we would have made it to his section. Captains were approachable, friendly and informative! Smooth cruising all the way. The other outstanding individual who helped us enjoy this trip was Thomas the Bus Driver. He took such care of us (that would be 4 sisters) with our mom and her wheelchair, we could not thank him enough. Bob was really informative and knowledgeable. Jeff was just fun on his nights performing. If I have forgotten to thank anyone for a memorable trip for us gaggle of girls, thank them for us. As I finish this, tears well up as I am so appreciative of a lifetime experience which we spent together. Thank you, ALL. God bless you and your continued business cruising America's rivers.

The crew and service staff were energetic and eager to be helpful with any questions we had. The boat itself was clean, quiet, and very comfortable. Sun deck generators were somewhat noisy, but not terribly intrusive. The cuisine was excellent. Half portion option was a good idea. The menu offered gave us plenty of possible choices and I'm sure limited the amount of waste that a buffet style service mandates. This was the Historic SE cruise versus the New England cruise that was mentioned. One item needs mentioning concerning the shore excursions. While they were good, it might have been made better to have more of a continuous "hop on, hop off" type excursions. The historic tours were great, but we traveled thru or near two of the eastern seaboard ports without mention. Along those same lines, the entertainment was interesting. The talent was very good, but with their backs to the room entrance and the "in the round" layout it caused us to not concentrate on the entertainment. With a draft of 6.5' and all that modern equipment, it would be nice to see cruises on rivers such as the Missouri from KC to STL etc. I have some info from previous attempts, if you would like to see it. In short, great cruise made more so by our personnel.

This was our first time with American Cuise Lines for a river cruise. We have done several ocean and similar cruises but never a river cruise. Here are some specific comments about our trip. 1. Staff This was an awesome leadership team. Rick as the GM did a fantastic job. He interacted with us on several events. He came around to our food table to check on any issues. His team was also just as good as he was. Aaron was also especially very helpful for our questions. He would make sure our questions were answered. Tyson, Skyler, Julia, Tim, Brandon, and others all provided great service in their respective areas. This was a great team overall. 2. Housekeeping We have been on past cruises where the housekeeping was not the best. Not on this trip. Our room was always put into great shape for the next day's events. Great job by all. 3. Food All cruises are known for the food they serve. In this case, the food was very good. I personally gained 6 pound on the trip. The food was very tasty. But on the first couple days, some of it was only lukewarm and not hot. I mentioned it to Rick and he took corrective actions with the kitchen staff. But then at the end of the week, it started getting lukewarm again and not hot. So, there are some improvement opportunities in the kitchen area. But the food was very tasty. One other comment on the food. We had Rebeca as a server for most of our meals. She was outstanding and always very pleasant. She made the meals very enjoyable. She is definitely a keeper and needs to be recognized for her outstanding service. 4. Excursions This was the highlight of the trip. There was a wide variety of excursions offered. I am disabled and walk with 2 canes. So, I was limited on what I could do. But the trip information provided allowed my wife and I to pick excursions that worked very well for me. Thank you very much. 5. On Ship Entertainment There were some very good presentations. Steve did an awesome job on his various Mississippi history stories. All of the music singers did a very good job especially the last one in New Orleans with the husband, wife, and 14 year old son who played the piano. They were very good. The only issue we had was Judy D and her comedy routine. Some of her comedy routines were funny. But most of her skits were disgusting and insulting and racist. Most of the people on board were in their 70's, 80's and 90's. Talking with the other guests, we all felt the same way. Her comments were way out of place. You would be much better off finding another person for that routine. When she implied that we the customers were disrespectful of the staff, who have done an outstanding job, she went over the line. That was just downright insulting and disgusting. We went around to our staff members that serviced us the next day and asked if we disrespected them in any way. They all said no. Please get rid of her so you do not lose future customers. I and many other customers felt the same way about her. But the others may not be as outspoken as I am. I am a firm believer that management cannot fix a problem if they do not know it is broken. I mentioned this to Julia and she seemed to defend her. So, clearly, I am not the first one to raise some concerns about her. The fact that Julia defended Judy was a major concern to me. I know Judy has been there for a long time. It is time for a change. 6. Improvement Opportunities I recognize this is a brand-new ship. Overall, it is wonderful. But we noticed a couple of improvement opportunities. I had a discussion with Rick on these items. He said to mention them in this critique form so top management can think about how to solve them. Improvement 1: Add a PA speaker inside the elevator. We were getting on the elevator as Julia was making announcements about times for the land excursions. But as the doors closed, we could not hear her anymore. This should not be an expensive repair. Improvement 2: There are no public bathrooms on the third floor where a lot of activity is scheduled. This one may be a little expensive. But for future ships, please try to have public bathrooms on that floor. Since I am disable and cannot climb the steps, I must use the elevator to change floors. This makes it a little inconvenient. Improvement 3: In the rooms, put some operating instructions on how to use the TV remote and operate the HVAC controls. We both had some difficulties with those pieces of equipment. Several others we talked with also had issues with those items. You have to remember that we are old people and do not understand all of this new technology. LOL. Final Comments Thank you for a wonderful vacation. We really enjoyed travelling with your team. While we were there, we signed up for the Columbia and Snake River tour for the week with June 27 to July 5 to celebrate my 75th birthday on July 4. This year we celebrated our 53rd anniversary on November 21. Thank you again for the wonderful gifts. Joe and Chery R Room 216

It all started with my mother telling my brother, "I'd love to take a cruise but I want to see the shore to my left and right." Well, we all giggled with that and certainly understood what she meant, as several of us have been on the big ships. After researching, my brother decided our family would try the American Cruise Lines. Not a moment of our entire cruise was disappointing. Our family truly loved everything; to the staff, the food, the excursions, the American Cruise Line buses that follow the path to help transport us to all the excursions, the beauty of the ship, the rooms were comfortable. Well, everything was simply lovely. It was so unforgettable that our family put together a keepsake book of our cruise through the Tennessee River. Thank you to all that made our trip one we shall talk about forever!

This was our first cruise and we enjoyed it very much. We felt pampered and special with the attention of the staff. Everyone was kind and caring and took very good care of us. Special thanks to Kaila and Andre in the dining room, Timothy over housekeeping who was always fun to talk to and made sure everything was as it should be or better, and Frances, the young man who took care of our room and always made it spotless. The tender operator, Henry, was always looking out for us getting us from the ship to our excursions (and did his best to keep us dry even when the water was choppy). And Jamila (not sure I'm spelling her name correctly) who helped us out of the boat and always had a smile and a kind word. Those are just a few I got their names, but they were the ones who really caught our attention. Awesome crew!! Our room was comfortable, the ship beautiful and the entertainment was fun.

This was our first river boat cruise with American Cruise Lines; we took the Portland, Maine coastal harbors cruise from Portland to Bangor, Bar Harbor, Rockland, Boothbay, and Bath city harbor 7 day cruise. We wanted to make this trip special since it was our 50th wedding anniversary celebration trip. We could not have been more pleased with the ACL staff, management, operations and service; not to mention excellent weather for 5 of the days. All the staff on the boat were very pleasant and helpful. We also enjoyed the daily presentations by Mark on the history of each port. The dining room staff were especially pleasant. Service was superb; on one occasion I saw a ship worker polishing the inside of the cups on the 4th level putting green!! We could not have been more pleased; even delivered a bottle of champagne to our room on the 5th night.

I just returned from my second cruise with American Cruise Lines. This is an excellent cruise line who get it right. As a solo traveler , I feel very safe and comfortable to travel with them. I love that they have spacious rooms for the solo travelers. This is a major plus. While expensive on the front end, the cost covers everything. You don’t have to pay for “ extras” like Wi-Fi , excursions, alcohol, etc as on other cruise lines. With a smaller number of guests, you get to meet most of the other guests. The excursions are great. I also enjoy the music and lectures. The rooms are clean and food is excellent. I never have been pampered so much in my life. I already booked three more cruises with them and look forward to cruising more with them.

We just finished our 13th cruise with ACL and have booked our 14th for the end of May. Obviously, we are satisfied with ACL overall. They strive to attain their motto of "Small ship cruising done perfectly". That is a very high standard and they have been closer to it more often than not. The ships are usually clean and well kept and are rotated to dry dock on a regular basis for refurbishment and cleaning. The absence of children is not necessarily a negative and should not be counted as a negative. Parents with children should do their cruises on the larger ships. Depending on the specific cruise, excursions ashore can be interesting or not but you can pick and choose which ones you want to take. Personally, my favorite part is just cruising during the day and watching the scenery going by. It is a big plus for me that most of the cruises are in American rivers with very little open ocean cruising. I do not handle open ocean cruising well at all so I avoid any cruises that might involve open ocean travel. The food on board is generally good with several choices. The portions are generous but you can request a half portion if it gets to be too much. If the entrees don't appeal, there are other options available including a back deck cafe on the larger ships. Plus, there are always munchies available 24/7. If you can't find something to eat on a cruise, then you have serious dietary restrictions. ACL is constantly looking for more opportunities to expand their cruises. We just completed the new San Francisco Bay cruise. Since we have already taken so many of their established cruises, we are looking forward to new cruise opportunities. We are only 7 cruises away from our next free cruise.

I thoroughly enjoyed my recent cruise, Exploring Chesapeake Bay, with American Cruise Lines aboard the American Independence. This is a small ship that accommodates hundreds rather than thousands of visitors. I liked this size because I could get to know other passengers on board. At meal times there was no assigned seating and I liked conversing with many different people on board. The food was excellent! Each day we were given a menu with at least three choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was told that if none of the three appealed, I could ask for something else. But this was never necessary. I ate up all the wonderful seafood we were offered and was never disappointed. In fact, my favorite was walnut-encrusted halibut which was white, firm, and delicious. For entertainment, we heard from a historian who told us all about what had taken place in Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, Cambridge, St.Michaels, and Annapolis. These talks were not only entertaining, they helped me appreciate each of our daily excursions even more. Tipping is not encouraged, pushed, or even mentioned at American Cruise Lines. I did choose to tip three of the many outstanding employees because they were so attentive, friendly, helpful, and fun. . Alcohol flowed freely aboard ship. Passengers could ask for it at lunch and dinner, enjoy it at "happy Hour" and again at the evening entertainment. There was mo extra charge for the drinks.We had different musical entertainment each night for an hour or so. I especially liked listening to Robert Yonksie as he sang so many tunes long enjoyed by people my age. One night we got to hear Nathan Richardson as "Frederick Douglass." You would have thought this famous historical figure was standing right in the room, that's how authentic his performance. was. I am an active person so I signed up for excursions every day and I was not disappointed by any of them. Most of these cost extra but I did not think the prices were exorbitant. They included transportation to the venue, guides while there, and time to explore on our own in most cases. One of my favorites was a boat trip to Tangier Island which was included in the cruise. This tiny island is losing acreage every year due to weathering and erosion so I wanted to see it before it disappears. I enjoyed an excellent crab cake dinner while there. In summary, I had lots of fun and would go again tomorrow on another American Cruise Lines trip.

Our First Cruise Ever! We were highly impressed with our luxurious trip aboard the American Melody! From the “Grand Welcome Aboard Champagne Toast” to the exceptional daily services from the entire Crew and Shore Support Staff, it was nothing less than First Class! We will always treasure our first Cruise (10/14 -10/21/22) exploring the Upper Mississippi River in the Heartland of America. We also enjoyed taking videos and photos of the beautiful Fall Foliage from our Private Balcony. We loved every moment of our Cruise. We are looking forward to our second Cruise in May of 2023 aboard the American Jazz as we journey through Columbia & Snake Rivers. Olga & Rich L., San Antonio, Texas