We wanted to check out this Cruise Line from a close enough place that there was no long drive or a flight, before we booked a cruise from this company where we had to add airfare to the cost. We had done two National Geographic/Lindbladt small ship cruises before and loved them, but both involved long flights. Since the Nat. Geo. Cruises were ecco cruises, there were no frills, but lots of nature, walking, etc. American Cruise Line also has small ships, but with much more luxurious staterooms and a wonderful lounge area. We stopped at several ports beginning at Yorktown, VA/ Williamsburg area. Form there we cruised to several places, including Tangier Island, St. Michaels, MD, Chrisfield, MD, Cambridge and Oxford, MD and finally Annapolis, MD, then back to Baltimore to disembark.
This was also a"crab" cruise, so we had Chesapeake Bay crab included in every meal. The food was wonderful and there was free wine and beer available at every lunch and dinner and an open bar for happy hour the hour before dinner. Lots of appetizers were offered during happy hour too. There were less than 100 people on board, so it was easy to meet friendly folks that you could socialize with on board. All the ships employees were friendly, courteous and helpful and the captain and crew were available if you ever needed them for any reason. Because we enjoyed our time with American Cruise Line so much, we signed up for another cruises which we will be doing this fall, cruising the back bays around Maine. We are guessing this will be a lobster Cruise, but we will enjoy it whether we get lobster with every meal or not.
It seemed luxurious compared to the Ecco cruises we did, where we were living like sardines, although we were only in our cabin to sleep and shower. We had a nice TV and a full sized bathroom.