Rollin' Down the River - it's time to trace the route of Lewis and Clark

For this next cruise blog series, we decided to try something on a much smaller scale and booked the Columbia and Snake River itinerary on the American Harmony riverboat. We've previously sailed on American Cruise Lines (ACL) as a back to back sailing on their American Independence coastal ship doing the Inland Waterway followed by the Golden Isles itinerary. That sailing was not well managed onboard but a few of the ports ended up being some of my favorite towns to visit. 

Like you'll find on many Alaska sailings on the big cruise ships, it seems that this Columbia and Snake River itinerary is the choice for a lot of passengers' first river cruise. Those of us who'd had previous ACL sailings could have fit between two to three shared tables in the dining room compared to the amount of new cruisers. Whether it was their first or their 21st, we have always found fellow river cruise passengers to be some of the friendliest and most willing to gather together with other passengers for chats, dining, and activities. Without all the bells and whistles that one needs to entertain 3,000+ passengers on an ocean cruise line, there's a lot more downtime and chance to interact with one another. 

Our itinerary route went from Portland, Oregon to Clarkston, Washington with a brief blink and you miss it interlude into Lewiston, Idaho. The entire cruise stayed in the USA and featured multiple trips through locks. The planned itinerary always included a one night hotel stay in Portland but shortly before the cruise, a text was sent out informing us that instead of the Holiday Inn Columbia Waterfront where the ship would be docking right by, our hotel instead would be the Embassy Suites by Hilton Portland Airport. Our ship was also going to be docked now at the Washougal Waterfront Park Dock in Washougal, Washington. Due to the change, we no longer had to make our own way from the Portland airport to the hotel as American Cruise Lines provided reps in the airport to corral and direct everyone to the Embassy Suites hotel shuttles. The rep stayed in contact with the shuttle driver by phone so it was nice not to have to wait for one to arrive. ACL also provided a hotel to ship transfer the next morning because of the dock change. 

The hotel itself was good for a typical one night pre-cruise stay, especially with the included breakfast. I had hoped ACL though would have planned something for the hotel stay like a welcome reception/happy hour or a dinner voucher. We ate in the hotel restaurant for dinner, a venue we had enjoyed at the Embassy Suites in Ft. Lauderdale, and it took asking six different employees before we finally got our food and the check. 

The chicken quesadilla Dad ordered for us to split at the hotel bar - that sour cream was more like sour water soup.

Hotel restaurant menu

The Kobe Beef Burger

On the plus side, it was nice to see that ACL provided each of our assigned hotel rooms with a clear document sized envelope packet containing a letter breaking down the next day's embarkation schedule, lanyards with pre-printed nametags, a slip of paper showing which embarkation group number you were and luggage tags for you to fill out so the ship crew can know which cabin to deliver your luggage after it was picked up from your hotel room.

I got a good chuckle out of how the schedule reads "If you wish to not participate in The Multnomah Falls Experience, please meet in the hotel lobby at 12:00AM to be escorted to the ship." I can only imagine someone not realizing that was a typo and standing there at midnight wondering where everyone is. Before the cruise, we had signed up for the complimentary Multnomah Falls excursion and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too given that it took four buses to transport everyone.

These were simple pieces of cardstock that attached to your suitcase handle by looping the tied string. They held up for the journey to the ship but I don't see them holding up through airport baggage handling. I noticed several other passengers' suitcases that were using the sturdy Viking Cruises red luggage tags as their main tags, us included.

These cards fit sideways partially sticking up in our lanyards but were only needed that first morning to show that we were boarding the right numbered bus at the scheduled time. The meeting times were slightly staggered to help with lobby and sidewalk crowding. Otherwise we all ended up at the Falls at the same time and had the same amount of time there. I can't say whether we ended up in Embarkation Group #1 because of our cabin category or by chance since there didn't seem to be any priority benefit on boarding day for being in a suite.

One of the things I found interesting during our first ACL cruise was the lack of security checks as to whether I was really a passenger coming back onboard in ports. There also didn't seem to be any way to verify whether everyone was back onboard before we sailed onto the next port. I was impressed this time to find that our nametags had individualized QR codes that were scanned upon leaving and returning. Every person's nametag featured their full name, hometown, the QR code, and the stars representing how many past ACL cruises you've done. My nametag shows three stars here because it includes the one you're currently on. ACL has some nice loyalty (Eagle Society) perks in that after your third cruise, any excursions listed as Premium (mid level priced point) are also complimentary. If you sail 10 cruises, your 11th cruise is free. To read more about the program, visit here.

We did not receive our cruise cards that unlocked our cabin doors until arriving in our cabins onboard. They work by holding up against the sensor by the door lock. Pictured here is the front of the card as there is nothing printed on the back. They do not have your name, folio, or voyage information anywhere on the card like ocean cruises. I highly recommend taking the crew's suggestion of keeping your cruise card tucked inside the lanyard with your name tag. The door lock will be able to read the card through the plastic. Plus you're less likely to leave the lanyard in your cabin and need your cabinmate to come unlock the door for you, unless of course you're my Dad.