I’ve had my say during the past week about the pleasures of cruising the upper Mississippi – a journey I found far more engaging than my two previous cruises on the lower river between New Orleans and St. Louis. I’m certainly not the first nor the finest writer to make that observation…but here’s what the man who was – Mark Twain — had to say on the subject in the Chicago Tribune, July 9, 1886:
“It is strange how little is written about the upper Mississippi. The river below St. Louis has been described time and again, and it is the least interesting part. One can sit in the pilot-house for a few hours and watch the low shores, the ungainly trees and the democratic buzzards, and then one might as well go to bed. One has seen everything there is to see. Along the upper Mississippi every hour brings something new. There are crowds of odd islands, bluffs, prairies, hills, woods and villages – everything one could desire to amuse the children. Few people ever think of going there, however. Dickens, Corbett, Mother Trollope and other discriminating English people who ‘wrote up’ the country before 1842 had hardly an idea that such a stretch of river scenery existed. Their successors have followed in their footsteps, and as we form our opinion of our country from what other people say of us, of course we ignore the finest part of the Mississippi.”
I’m sure that if Sam Clemens had been able to join us last week – savoring the splendid weather and the great accommodations, food and entertainment afforded by ACL’s Queen of the Mississippi and her congenial staff and crew – he might wax even more eloquently about the “finest part of the Mississippi.”
When we first laid eyes on the Queen in St. Louis, she appeared to be an enormous vessel. In fact, at 232 feet in length, and capacity for just 150 passengers, she’s minuscule compared to most cruise ships. With five decks she does, however, stand quite tall in the water, towering over the barges and tugs that make up the majority of traffic on the river.
I must interrupt my description of Queen of the Mississippi at this point to note that, effective next year, she’ll be cruising the Columbia and Snake Rivers (renamed American Pride) in tandem with Queen of the West. Replacing her on the Mississippi will be ACL’s brand new paddle wheeler, America.
Nearing completion at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, MD, America is larger than the Queen at 333 feet, with a capacity of 185 passengers and, according to company literature, “will introduce features never before seen on a riverboat.” Rumor has it that ACL’s other Mississippi riverboat American Eagle, introduced earlier this year, will be renamed Queen of the Mississippi – but that remains to be seen. Regardless, it appears that cruising the Mississippi with ACL will only get better.
The Queen features 78 cabins in seven categories, 65 of which have private balconies. They range in size from a 600-square-foot owners’ suite to single cabins at 210 square feet. Our cabin on Deck 3 is one of 49 standard doubles, measuring a commodious 304 square feet — more room than we’ve ever enjoyed on a cruise ship. ACL takes great pride in proclaiming their vessels have the industry’s largest cabins and we’re prone to take their word on that.
Each cabin features a flat screen TV/DVD, Keurig coffeemaker, digital clock, one or two upholstered swivel chairs, one or two three-drawer dressers and a writing desk. Beds are top quality and can be configured as two singles or a queen. There’s more than ample storage space, with a closet, dresser and desk drawers, and yet more drawers beneath the bathroom sink. Luggage fits conveniently under the beds. Bathrooms and showers are surprisingly roomy as well and there’s a full array of Judith Jackson toiletries on hand.
Public areas include six lounges, ranging from a cozy library to the spacious Magnolia Lounge, home to most presentations and entertainment events – and the ever-popular pre-dinner Happy Hour – during which complimentary cocktails, wine and beer are served. Happy Hour is an ACL tradition, offered on all of its vessels.
The Deck 1 Dining Salon is large enough to accommodate an entire complement of 150 guests at a single seating and we applaud the open seating arrangement that allowed us to get to know many of our fellow passengers. The majority of guests on this voyage were 55+ — with emphasis on the plus – but they were an interesting, enthusiastic and well-traveled group, hailing from 23 states and Canada. We thoroughly enjoyed their company and made several new friends that we’re bound to stay in touch with.
The Queen’s galley, under the direction of Chef Justin Reed, a California Culinary Academy grad, turns out excellent food, keyed to regional specialties on any given cruise. I tend to judge any restaurant’s performance on the care taken with the small things – salads, breads/rolls and soups. If my salad is crisp and creative, my bread freshly baked and my soup rich and flavorful, I nearly always find the rest of my meal to be noteworthy. Such was the case onboard Queen of the Mississippi.
The culinary aspect of this cruise also benefited from a three-day visit by ACL’s Corporate Executive Chef Thomas Leonard whose expertise was shared with the galley crew. Tom also presented a cooking demo Wednesday afternoon in the Magnolia Lounge entitled “Cajun vs. Creole” that resulted in very tasty round of snacks.
Service on this voyage, however, was not quite so exemplary. Many members of the Queen’s crew of young 20-something waiters/cabin attendants were brand new to the job and that sometimes resulted in slow and even clumsy service. I’ll have to say, however, that these youngsters were so hard working, friendly and genuinely eager to please that one could hardly get upset over their shortcomings.
On the other hand, Queen of the Mississippi’s management staff was highly polished. Under the leadership of Cruise Directors Robert Alexander and Kevin Snyders, Hotel Manager Drew Godfrey and Housekeeping Manager Tony Eberhardt, our voyage went faultlessly from start to finish.
Adding significantly to the cruise experience were the services of Riverlorians Mike Jennings, and the dynamic duo of Steven Marking and JoAnn Funk. Jennings, a former high school teacher, is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to river lore and history, much of it gained while serving as a guest speaker on Mississippi paddlewheelers going all the way back to the days of Delta Queen. His daily presentations attracted a large following. Marking and Funk not only anchored the entertainment during our voyage but also shared their knowledge of the nature and ecology of the upper Mississippi through a number of presentations.
So there you have it – a rather lengthy dissertation, I’ll admit – but in my own defense, let me share one of my favorite quotes from the inimitable Mark Twain: When berated by his editor at the Sacramento Union newspaper for the excessive length of one of his articles, he had this say: “If I’d had more time, I’d have written it shorter.”
