We love the "small ship" experience of American Cruise Lines and selected this 11 day Grand New England cruise for the wonderful scenery, food, and ports. Two special highlights - the lobster roast picnic in Rockland, ME at the Sail Power and Steam Museum, and the sail on the Schooner Lannon in Gloucester, MA. The new ship the Constitution was lovely but seemed very crowded. Staff had to conduct Cocktail Hour in both lounges and it was still difficult to get a drink and find a place to sit. Dining room was crowded and noisy. Not everyone could be accomodated on all of the shore excursions they wanted to take. This is the largest ship American has built so far - we had to take the tender in 4 of the ports which really cut into touring and sightseeing time. Was this because the ship was too big to dock at the smaller ports? The food was excellent for the most part with a few misses, and the service was pretty good in the dining room most of the time. Wine is included at lunch and dinner, but American serves very low end inexpensive wines. They are now offering room service breakfast and an additional cocktail time after dinner - I guess to make it feel like a more luxury line - but I feel you still choose American for the small intimate ships and opportunity to see the smaller ports, and this trip did not deliver as successfully as other trips. Some of the staff - Guest Services Coordinator, Assistant Hotel Manager to mention two of them - were especially gracious, and we did book another trip on American. It will be our 14th to clearly there is much to love about this cruise line. We long for the older ships - the 50 passenger Eagle and Glory - but I guess American just can't make a profit with a ship that size.