American West (formerly Queen of the West) Review

-- / 5.0
Editor Rating
78 reviews

Great Cruise Not so Great Ship

Review for North America River Cruise on American West (formerly Queen of the West)
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Angiefischer1
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jun 2018

We took my 86 year old mother so we were looking for something she could enjoy with amenities for the disabled. We were told this ship could accommodate the disabled to include most excursions. They boasted the ship had hotel like staterooms and bathrooms and that was not remotely accurate. We paid the big bucks for the owner's suites and thank goodness we did or it would have been a very bad experience. Everyone on the ship complained about the tiny staterooms with no room at all. My mom and two of our friends were in one of the owner's suite and we were in the other. It was tight for 3 people and adequate for my husband and I. The bathroom was a disaster. Tiny like a typical cruise ship and not remotely handicap accessible. Big step up to get into this tiny bathroom and a lip you catch your toe on to go out plus the big step down. It's a miracle none of us fell. Because the bathroom was tiny and there were 3 in the one suite, they looked for another bathroom on the ship and there was only one. The pictures and description of the rooms was totally NOTHING like our rooms or bathrooms. No closet (just an armoire which took up space) and that teny tiny bathroom. We did the Columbia and Snake River cruise and the embarkation port and disembarkation port and every stop in between was fantastic. The food was great! The staff was great! The excursions were great! The entertainment was fair as it was geared for the over 70 crowd (the average age on the ship was 73 so if you are younger like we are, might chose something more for your age). The Historian was boring and droned on and on. He didn't pick up on queues like people sleeping through his lecture. He loved to hear himself talk. He was knowledgeable but yawn! There was one great bus driver, Jodi, who gave a narrated tour on every single excursion. If you got on one of the gentleman's buses forget it. Crickets. One bus driver even turned on a rerun of Johnny Carson while we were driving back from our Portland Tour. He could have told us so much about the city, the area, etc. but instead we watched Johnny Carson. But, overall we really enjoyed it. The scenary was to die for and we learned so much. I would recommend that cruise but I don't recommend that ship.

Cabin Review

Cabin Owner's Suite

Small for the money. Bathroom was TINY and hard to get into (giant step up and giant step down plus a lip going out that you caught your toe on and tripped). No closet as described no hotel size room and bathroom as described and NOTHING like the pictures.

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