Embarkation Day Onboard Experience

After being scanned in during our first steps onboard American Harmony, we took the time to find our cabin and drop off our carry on bags. We then found our way to the single dining room onboard and seated ourselves at a shared table for lunch. Everyone on ACL seats themselves wherever there is room and all tables are designed to be shared. One strategy we found during the cruise that worked best service wise was to try and start an empty table. Many times joining a table already a course or two in to their meal meant the servers were too busy to notice we'd recently joined and needed to have our order taken. No worries, you won't be alone at a table for long. Plus it was a great way to routinely find new friends and new old friends because you'd either have a shared excursion to chat about or get to see someone from a previous excursion and hear about the other tour option you didn't choose.

At the dining room entrance, the day's menus will be posted so you can check each morning to see what's planned if you're considering dining in town instead. Also, at each place setting during the breakfast service, the current day's lunch and dinner (one sheet with lunch on one side and dinner on the other) menu will be placed along with a pen to encourage each breakfast diner to fill out their choices for lunch and dinner. This is not legally binding if you decide not to eat dinner onboard after all or you decide hours later that you're no longer feeling like having what you chose that morning. This is simply a guide for the chef and crew to get a feel for how many of each dish they should plan to prepare and serve. You'll find that many river cruise chefs will try and cater their menus to feature local cuisine for the area you're visiting. The dinner menus always offered the option to get a half portion of the entree if you didn't want to eat much. A few times we noticed couples ordering different entrees and sharing so for each person it was like half a portion. 

Since American Harmony also had a continental style breakfast in the Sky Lounge and hot items from the Back Porch Cafe each morning, these menus could also be found on tables in the Sky Lounge. We ended up stopping for a quick and light breakfast routinely in the Sky Lounge before a morning excursion.

Today's Lunch Menu options were as follows: 

Pacific Seafood Salad with shrimp, crab, scallops, lobster, mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumber strip, cheddar crisp and citrus vinaigrette. While I didn't order this, I did view other's plates and think it looked super familiar to the seafood salad presentation we had on the Inland Waterway cruise. I'm guessing it was probably called Atlantic Seafood Salad on that menu.

Chicken Avocado & Spinach Wrap with tomato, swiss cheese, lemon cilantro yogurt sauce, and slaw. The slaw ended up being a carrot and raisin slaw. The wrap was quite substantial and I could have easily been satisfied with only one half of the wrap per serving. I liked how there was not only spinach leaves inside the sandwich but it was all enclosed by a spinach flavored tortilla wrap. Everything was fresh tasting and the flavors worked well together.

Toasted B.L.T. with pita bread, bacon, lettuce, tomato, garlic mayo, broccoli salad, and pickle spear. A BLT sandwich is one of Dad's favorites so he loved this choice. I liked the use of pita bread versus toasted sandwich bread. It provided a nice contrast for the crunchy ingredients inside. Benefits of traveling with someone are not only just companionship and the sharing of experiences. Find you a travel partner that will happily trade the pickle spear and broccoli salad parts of their dish in exchange for the carrot and raisin slaw that came with your wrap. Bonus is that he's now tried raisins and decided they "aren't half bad." Don't think there will be any raisins encroaching into his favorite oatmeal cookies anytime soon though.

After lunch and the muster drill, we headed to the River Lounge for an introductory talk and meet the officers. Cruise Director Rhiannon shared a few welcoming words before introducing our Excursions Director Lindsay and our onboard historian and lecturer, Doug Crispin. Lindsay went over the list of tours spreadsheet included in our welcome folders and then asked everyone to either make or confirm their pre-cruise choices before turning in the papers to her. Later we had a printed copy showing our choices slipped under our cabin door so everyone had a new copy to refer back to for the rest of the cruise. Being the first day, Rhiannon took the time to go over today's daily schedule of activities and explained how they do a briefing about the next day's schedule each evening before the nightly entertainment. 

For those with dietary issues, there was a time set aside on the schedule after this talk to meet with Executive Chef Ricky, Restaurant Manager Dionte, and Chef's culinary team down in the restaurant to discuss any allergies, special diets, or food restrictions you may have. Each day's menu also features a blank space to write in any such concerns. It's also a space where the crew encourages you to write in any specific items you'd like to see offered on the menu. Dad's go to when nothing else seems appealing on the menu is to get a grilled cheese sandwich. The previous cruise we were able to write in a request for pizza as suggested by a crew member. A couple times in the past I've asked for a small plate of fruit or berries as a starter which turned out great.

We then chose to stick around and listen to Doug's first lecture titled Lewis and Clark Expedition - Getting Started. Doug previewed the sites of the Corps of Discovery that we would be visiting on this itinerary. Afterward, a meetup was held for Singles and Solo travelers in the Sky Lounge. I appreciated how much more proactive Rhiannon was versus my last ACL experience. Rhiannon included a lot of extra activities to keep passengers active and entertained as well as worked with Lindsay to make sure any issues were handled and things offered were delivered as promised. 

Two of the most popular times of the day on an ACL cruise is the twice daily (10AM & 3PM) fresh baked cookie deliveries and the pre-dinner cocktail hour. You thought trying to get the hottest toy of the year at Christmastime was a frenzy - get between cruisers during these two times of the day and you might lose more than a chocolate chip! To their credit, American Harmony's culinary team brought out a whole platter of multiple cookie flavors each time versus Independence's tray of 5-8 cookies total. Though I must say, offering a single individually wrapped cookie as the "provided snack" on excursions left me feeling cookie'd out. 

After taking some downtime in the cabin to relax and unpack, we headed to dinner. Unlike ocean cruise lines, there is no set dress code for dinners or any formal, evening chic, or dress to impress nights. No need to rush to change after an excursion unless you want to.

The dinner menu options each night feature an appetizer course, an entree course, and a dessert course. Usually the appetizers consist or a soup or salad option. We learned from another cruiser on Facebook that if you want more than a tea cup's worth of broth for your soup portion, you need to ask for the soup to be served in a bowl instead. I wish I could have gone back and gotten new servings of the previous soups before I learned that tip as some were soups I'd never tried before. We chatted with one of the servers about the bowl versus cup presentation and she explained that they stopped letting the servers do the ladling. Now instead of a thoughtful server stirring up the big pot's contents in order to serve a little of all the ingredients, we were getting small cups of the broth sitting on top of the pot.

My appetizer choice tonight was the Italian Wedding Soup. Don't think there's much to this marriage:

The other option was an Organic Spinach Salad with roasted grapes, feta cheese, candied pecans, and red wine vinaigrette. 

Tonight's entree choices:

Pan Seared Halibut with yukon potatoes, braised leeks, blistered baby heirloom tomatoes, and tomato tarragon butter.

Herbed Airline Chicken Breast with rice pilaf, french green beans, mushroom and tomato brown sauce.

Slow Roasted Pot Roast with yukon potato puree, roasted baby carrots, and bourbon demi-glace. Meat serving was plentiful and tender with plenty of sauce included. 

A slice of strawberry cheesecake for me to finish off the night:

After taking in views of the sunset from the River Lounge, we turned down the nightly offerings of popcorn and sundaes during the evening entertainment. The bar also is staffed where many take advantage of another cocktail, glass of wine, or soda to sip while enjoying the evening performance. 

We listened to the rundown of our next day's excursion instructions for our first port stop of Astoria, Oregon from Lindsay and a rundown of the offered activities for anyone wishing to stay onboard from Rhiannon. Doug next gave a brief explanation of what we were going to see in Astoria. 

While ocean cruises will feature full stage production shows as well as guest entertainers, river cruises will offer a more low key selection of nightly entertainment. Occasionally, this will be someone showcasing something unique to the area you're visiting like the woman who did a wonderful interactive presentation on Gullah culture during the last cruise. Most of the time it's single performers, couples, or family members performing a musical and/or variety act. Tonight's performance was "An Evening with Rock & Roll Piano Man Brady Goss." After catching some of the show, we opted to head back to the cabin and get ready for the next day's excursions.

Time for some falls on the way to the ship

After a crowded but included breakfast from Embassy Suites, we returned back to the room just in time to see our luggage collected for its journey to American Harmony. We soon donned our lanyards and embarkation group tags and joined everyone down in the lobby. We didn't have much chance to mingle as our multiple tour coach buses arrived right on time. 

Today's tour was called The Multnomah Falls Exploration. It was a complimentary (aka included) tour that was listed as lasting three hours. We chose to reserve this excursion pre-cruise believing that it was the only way to get a transfer to the ship. This decision was made before the change in embarkation dock so ACL provided a transfer for everyone. 

During our sailing, most every tour coach bus used was one branded and owned by ACL. It was a nice touch to see that ACL always had the first couple rows of seats marked for those with disabilities as well as anyone who suffers from motion sickness. The ACL buses were always locked when we got off so it was safe to leave any belongings onboard during the tour. We did have a few buses that had a few rows of seats on one side of the bus locked and unusable because they were where the wheelchair lift operates. We never saw it in use but that was the explanation the driver gave when asked why the seats weren't able to be used.

It did take a little bit of a drive to get to Multnomah Falls but our guide provided a good running commentary and took questions from passengers. The only downside of this excursion is the lack of time that was left for us to explore once we arrived. We were told to not walk further than the path up a hill and around the corner that leads to the middle bridge because we would not be able to make it back to the bus within the 45 minute time allotment we were given. The site has various levels with paved ground that can be accessed via steps or a ramp. There was also a small museum on site, a coffee counter, and a gift shop. 

After walking through a paved path under a bridge with views of the creek fed by the falls, you reach an open paved section with a slight incline. You can see the falls right from this level and the museum, coffee counter, and gift shop are just to the right.

If you continue up to a decent sized viewing platform (accessible via steps or a ramp), you can enjoy a closer view of Multnomah Falls without other people in your pictures. Several people chose to use the falls as a backdrop for their selfies. The bridge in the middle of the picture below is named Benson Bridge. Simon Benson bankrolled Lead Engineer for the Columbia River Highway Samuel Lancaster's idea to build a footbridge so visitors can stop in the middle to see both levels of the falls. When the bridge was nearly completed in 1914, subcontractor Robert Ringer asked to put his name in the concrete of the bridge. While most everyone seemed happy with his request, the bridge company engineer made him cement over the inscription. Left alone to cover up his work, Ringer purposely spread a layer of wet clay between the letters and the cement. This gave the appearance of a cemented over surface but the cement wore away after being exposed to nature's elements over the next two years. Ringer's signature work can now be seen by all who visit Multnomah Falls.

Looking back at both options for reaching the viewing platform - it had recently rained the night before so the surface was wet but not slippery.

Looking back at the paved path under the bridge:

Make sure when visiting to take a moment to look back at the sign posted on the bridge:

The gift shop was super crowded with people and displays but I managed to pick up another wooden magnet for my collection:

We spent our last few minutes on site cheering marathon runners whose route weaved through the walkway up to the falls. Everyone got back to the bus on time and we were soon arriving at our ship now docked at Washougal Waterfront Park Dock in Washougal, WA. With our first tour and first time crossing back and forth between state lines done, we arrived at the ship just as the crew was unloading everyone's luggage to load onto the ship. Several ports offered a golf cart ride if you needed assistance traversing the pier. Plenty of crew was on hand to help anyone needing extra support to make their way up the gangway. 

Tune in to the next post to find out what embarkation day is like on American Cruise Lines and of course plenty of menu and food photos to come!