Let’s talk about American Cruise Lines. There are so many things I want to share about this company I barely know where to begin.
Briefly, it is an American operator of cruises on great rivers across the country, and on coastal waters. The coastal cruises hug the coastline, never out of sight of land. They are operated essentially like river cruises.
There’s much more to get back to about this company, but first, a quick look at the headlines:
On August 15, the company will have two big events, spread across the USA.
On the west coast, it will be the first departure of the Great United States Cruise, a cruise-based tour of 20 states in 60 days. I’ll let the company introduce its own product:
“As the country approaches its semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of its independence [2026], the new cruise honors America’s living history, and enduring legacies from sea to shining sea. Guests will begin at the Pacific Coast and travel east to the Atlantic, cruising four major rivers and America’s most picturesque coastlines. The Great United States experience culminates in New York Harbor with a viewing of the Statue of Liberty from the ship on the last day of the cruise.”
Here’s how it works. There are four sections. The first part explores the Columbia and Snake Rivers from Portland, Oregon, to Clarkston, Washington, retracing the path of Lewis and Clark.
Second, there is a land portion that explores three national parks of the west, Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton, winding up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Then it flies to New Orleans and cruises the Mississippi north through Memphis (taking in Elvis’s Graceland) all the way to St. Paul, Minnesota. From there, it’s a flight to Boston, and a cruise along the coastline to New York Harbor and Lady Liberty.
American’s other major event August 15, is the launch of its third Coastal Cat (for catamaran).
The 100-passenger ship has passed its sea trials ahead of schedule and is ready to go. The American Liberty is the newest ship in American’s Project Blue series of 12 new small ships for river and coastal cruising.
American Stats
Those two news events can give you an idea of the breadth of what American Cruise Lines offers. Now back to the overview of the company, here are some basic stats from Alexa Paolella, public relations manager.
American is the largest US river cruise line, with 21 ships sailing in 35 states, both coasts and all the rivers in between. It’s the only 100 percent US-flagged fleet of riverboats and small ships.
“We are the only line that is able to sail 100 percent US itineraries along protected coastal waters around the US in addition to rivers,” she said. “All itineraries and ships operate like river cruises. They are all small, just 90-180 passengers, sailing in sight of land and visiting only US ports of call.”
All Inclusive
The all-inclusive pricing concept is one of the best innovations ever in the travel industry ever. It has proved to be highly successful in all demographics. It relieves any requirement to think about finances when you’re on vacation. I always think it’s like being a president or a billionaire who can ask for what he wants without having to think about money at all. It produces a great sense of ease while traveling. All of American’s cruises are all-inclusive. Unlike many ocean cruise lines, they aren’t trying to make you spend money on the ship.
“You can’t pay for anything on board,” said Alexa Paolella. That includes all food and drink, tips, on-board entertainment, wifi, etc. There are some optional excursions offered, but those are in addition to a full itinerary of excursions.
The Mushrooming River Cruise Market
River cruises in Europe and elsewhere have become increasingly popular over the last 30 years. As the many advantages of river cruising compared to either ocean cruises or land tours have become more widely known, river cruising has to a significant degree supplanted motorcoach touring.
Each has its advantages and its place in a well-rounded travel life, but river cruising has emerged from practically nothing in the ‘90s, to a large and growing segment of the U.S. travel industry.
Once you have done a river cruise, it’s easy to understand why. It’s really hard to beat. There are many aspects of that.
With river cruising, as with ocean cruising, you have the advantage of not having to unpack and repack every time you move from one location to another. Your accommodation moves with you. Your hotel and transportation are combined in the riverboat. You move in at the start of the trip and that’s your home while you travel. It’s a huge advantage in the comfort and ease of your trip.
But unlike ocean cruising, river cruising does not take you out into the blue, surrounded by water on all sides as far as you can see. It doesn’t try to keep you on the ship focusing on the bells and whistles and activities there. The river cruise is about the destination. It is always couched in the destination within sight of the land. They travel through the hearts of cities, as in the times before auto and rail travel, when rivers were the principal transportation arteries of the world.
Seasickness is never a problem on a riverboat. They just cruise up and down rivers where the motion does not compare to that of the open sea.
The culture of a river cruise is much more akin to that of a tour operator than it is to the cultures of the major ocean cruise lines. As with a tour operator on land, the focus of a river cruise is always the destination, not the ship itself. The ships are designed for comfort and a congenial social situation when on board. But the company is not trying to dazzle you with “Broadway shows” or rock climbing walls. River cruises cater to people who are interested in touring a place, immersing in it, and learning about its history and culture.
River cruising has become for many Americans the preferred way of touring Europe, for all the advantages named above. The demand for European river cruises has been growing vigorously since the late ‘90s, with a great proliferation of river cruises now available.
In Europe, the river cruising phenomenon began to take shape after 1992, when a canal was completed to connect the Main and Danube rivers. That made it possible to travel by river from Amsterdam straight through to the Black Sea, with stops along the way at cities such as Vienna and Budapest.
As in the case of high-speed rail, when it comes river cruising the U.S. is way behind Europe. But river cruising in America deserves attention. All the advantages that apply to river cruising in Europe also apply here.
American Cruise Lines has been offering a similar style of river cruising in the U.S. since its founding in the ‘70s.
America the Beautiful
This is as good a time as any to make the point that America is a tremendously rich place to explore. That resource is highly under-appreciated here. This country is massive, with a huge diversity of landscapes as well as of cultures. It’s natural to oversimplify and think of the whole middle of the country between Los Angeles and New York as one homogeneous mass, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
It is truly “America the Beautiful,” and traveling it by river is a tremendous way to experience it. When it comes to seeing the country, river cruising can’t be beat. Rail is probably a close second, but people rarely even look out the window of an airplane. It’s not the way flights are structured. Coach travel that takes you off the main interstate highways can also be good for sightseeing. But nothing beats river cruising for experiencing a country.
Being American also means they employ American staff, and because of U.S. labor laws, they pay them much better than you’re likely to see on many major international cruise lines. And gratuities are part of the all-inclusive price structuring.
That’s not all I wanted to say, but the space has run out. You can look at the itineraries and the ships on the company’s site.
David Cogswell is a freelance writer working remotely, from wherever he is at the moment. Born at the dead center of the United States during the last century, he has been incessantly moving and exploring for decades. His articles have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Fox News, Luxury Travel Magazine, Travel Weekly, Travel Market Report, Travel Agent Magazine, TravelPulse.com, Quirkycruise.com, and other publications. He is the author of four books and a contributor to several others. He was last seen somewhere in the Northeast US.
