American Cruise Lines Reviews

Well planned by American Cruise Line and well executed. Great food, good port excursions and great entertainment in the evenings on board ship.

This cruise up the intracoastal waterway from Amelia Island FL to Charleston SC was a pleasant, leisurely tour. The highlights of the trip were visits to Savannah and Charleston, both already decked out for the holidays. The Charleston tour featured a spectacular holiday light display. Tours focused on the nature of the wetlands and the teeming life that they contained, as well as the legacy of slavery and the economy built in this region. The ship itself was comfortable, but seemed a bit dated in its furnishings. We would recommend this tour highly.

It rained too much, not their fault. Hurricane Lee, 2 days spent in port. More rain. We got colds. No whale watching. Food wasn’t all that great. Doubt I’ll take another ACL vacation.

This was our first cruise experience of any kind, and it was marvelous. Accommodations were clean and surprisingly spacious with a private balcony to enjoy the passing wonder. Food was exquisite with a great deal of variety. I don’t believe that a single meal was ever repeated. The crew were all friendly and truly appeared to enjoy working with us. We had such a wonderful experience that we actually booked a second cruise while we were on the ship.

Captain and crew very professional and competent. Captain is experienced at Alaskan waters and did great job reaching many "hard to get to" places for glacier and wildlife watch. The scenery and wildlife we saw on the trip was fantastic and exceeded expectations. Food quality was good, especially in the dining room. The buffet that was set up in fourth floor lounge for breakfast and lunch was not organized well and quickly became a mess. ACL should have kept to the dining room protocols or only had continental breakfast up there. Too many free range passengers were making a mess out of it and the staff inadequately controlled such behaviors. The happy hours were an extension of the messy buffet theme. Voracious passengers were in line before the happy hour time and the staff loaded up those first plates with so many foods that, many times, there was nothing left for those in the back of the line. We stopped going to the cocktail hour. If staff is serving, as they were, they should limit the portions so that all can enjoy the apps (especially the crab legs). There were way too many new staff on the ship and, in my opinion, the managers were way too inexperienced to manage them well. We saw many "disconnects" in communication between managers and staff. I never once saw the hotel manager walking the halls or the dining room during meals to ask passengers about the service. Housekeeping left a lot to be desired and he should have been more on top of that. Luckily, the food was good and we stuck with one server, Andrew, who is the start among the staff. Regarding menus, the ship would publish the menu in morning and ask that we indicate our choices for lunch and dinner. By lunchtime, the menu changed. Why publish and ask for commitment when it is going to change? Finally, on embarkation and disembarkation, our luggage got soaked after being left in the rain each way. Fortunately, I did not pack my computer in either of those bags. ACL should have some way to keep the luggage dry while being staged. In spite of all the "misses" and challenges on board, we enjoyed the trip with our friends and seeing the wild life of Alaska.

The 8 day trip fulfilled my highest expectations. I loved the lectures, the outings, the crew, the food, the daily music. Didn’t love that the elevator was down on occasion. Just one of those things.

Excellent cruise. Great ship. Very well taken care of by every crew member. Excellent food, entertainment, and amenities.