Mississippi River cruise

Hola, amigas/os -

I haven't been able to find a comprehensive Miss. River
"paddleboat"* cruise on-line. Most are short.

Can anyone recommend such a cruise? Ideally, I'd
like to go from St. Paul all the way to N'Awlins, with
side land trips.

Would prefer"folks-y", non-touristic cruise.

Very grateful for any suggestions.

Aspasia

> Thanks...I did check them out, but could not find a full-length Miss. cruise.  

They used to cruise pretty much the whole length of the river, all the
way to New Orleans. You could book individual segments or the whole
trip. But I don't think those cruises are as popular as they used to
be and perhaps they've cut back.


> Or be directed to a forum for Miss. travelers? Does one exist?

You could try the cruise newsgroup -- ,cruises. Or contact
the visitor's bureau in New Orleans for info on cruises. But your
best bet might be to see a good travel agent, especially one who
specializes in cruises.

> Thank you, Friend Clarke and JamesStep as well,
> for this fantastic help!

Glad to be of assistance. :)

> Just blue-skying, since I don't know the areas, but of
> the three legs, would Memphis to New Orleans answer
> more to some of the above adjectives?

My Delta Queen cruise was on the Ohio River, so I don't have first-
hand experience on that route, but my suggestion would be to take the
last leg, because when I think of riverboats and the Mississippi the
image that comes to mind is the old south, with plantations, New
Orleans, etc. (And I believe they stop for a few hours at Oak Alley,
which is one of the most beautiful old plantations.) But you'd really
need to read a full description of the routes at their web site to see
which one appeals to you personally.

> is it possible to get off the cruise, spend some land time,
> and get back on the next boat?

The next boat? No. You've booked a cabin on that particular boat for
those specific days.

Now they certainly they have stops where you can get off and look
around for a few hours. You're free to wander on your own, or you can
take a tour organized by the boat company (at an extra charge). Their
web site will list these.

But if you stay too long, the boat will leave without you and you'll
have thrown away a lot of money. Your only option at that point is to
take a bus or rental car to the boat's next stop and re-board there.

James

On Mon, 05 May 2008 03:06:41 -0400, Brian K
<brian1951BLOG@> wrote:

>On 5/2/2008 10:34 PM JamesStep@ plucked Senior Frog's Magic
>Twanger and said:
>>> Thanks...I did check them out, but could not find a full-length Miss. cruise.
>>>
>>
>> They used to cruise pretty much the whole length of the river, all the
>> way to New Orleans. You could book individual segments or the whole
>> trip. But I don't think those cruises are as popular as they used to
>> be and perhaps they've cut back.
>>
>>
>>
>>> Or be directed to a forum for Miss. travelers? Does one exist?
>>>
>>
>> You could try the cruise newsgroup -- ,cruises. Or contact
>> the visitor's bureau in New Orleans for info on cruises. But your
>> best bet might be to see a good travel agent, especially one who
>> specializes in cruises.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>FYI - After November 1, 2008 the Delta Queen will be no more. It's a
>long story but essentially the DQ has a wood superstructure which is not
>supported by the Coast Guard and safety legislation. Recognizing the
>economic and historic value of the Delta Queen congress passed
>legislation allowing an exception for the Delta Queen. This year the
>exception for the Delta Queen runs out on November 1st. Congress has
>decided not to renew the exception to the safety law. It is unknown at
>this point what the fate of the Delta Queen will be after November 1st.

Thanks for great info.

I finally heard from my friend who did the trip in 2003 on the
American Queen.. She still raves about it. She went in October, and
had a 4-person room to herself!!!! Now that's the kind of deal I
could use!!.

She corroborates that to do the whole River it takes 3 tickets back to
back. She did Memphis to N'Awlins, which is basically what I would
like, since I share her interest in ante-bellum plantations and Civil
War sites. She said there isn't a Memphis-N'Awlins trip in Oct, but
there is one Nov. 1, I think, so I hope, being "out of season" I can
score a cabin to myself w/o paying supplement.

What sounds so neat, according to my friend, is that the boat ties up
right at the (city) (landmark) and one can just go ashore and spend
the day either on a group tour or on one's own.

Yay! I'm all "steamed up" in advance! Is it too soon to contact my
travel agent? Or should I wait till near the trip dateand hope to
score a single cabin?

Any more hints, input on things to see at the various stops, and
general info, warmly welcomed.

Aspasia

Would like to hear from anybody who has taken one of the
"Queen" cruises down the Mississippi lately -- emphasize "lately"
because (a) prices have gone up and (b) I think some of the
vintage boats have had to be retired for fire liability reasons.?

I'm particularly interested in the St. Louis or Memphis down the
river to N'Awlins stretch.

I've been to the Web site several times, but the reason for
this request is to get some real world experience.

I really don't want to share a cabin,but at the same time I
can't afford a single. A friend who took this trip about
5 years ago mentioned there are ways to get a room to oneself,
but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Thanks for any input.

Aspasia

> Would like to hear from anybody who has taken one of the
> "Queen" cruises down the Mississippi lately -- emphasize "lately"

I took a cruise on the Delta Queen, but it was years ago. But anyway
just wanted to suggest that you also post your question to the cruise
newsgroup.

James

On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 20:02:49 -0700 (PDT), JamesStep@ wrote:

>> Would like to hear from anybody who has taken one of the
>> "Queen" cruises down the Mississippi lately -- emphasize "lately"
>
>I took a cruise on the Delta Queen, but it was years ago. But anyway
>just wanted to suggest that you also post your question to the cruise
>newsgroup.
>
>James

Thanks! Didn't realize there was one. Will post there.

Aspasia

On Jun 6, 4:43 pm, aspasia wrote:
> Would like to hear from anybody who has taken one of the
> "Queen" cruises down the Mississippi lately -- emphasize "lately"
> because (a) prices have gone up and (b) I think some of the
> vintage boats have had to be retired for fire liability reasons.?
>
> I'm particularly interested in the St. Louis or Memphis down the
> river to N'Awlins stretch.
>
> I've been to the Web site several times, but the reason for
> this request is to get some real world experience.
>
> I really don't want to share a cabin,but at the same time I
> can't afford a single. A friend who took this trip about
> 5 years ago mentioned there are ways to get a room to oneself,
> but I'm not sure how to go about it.
>
> Thanks for any input.
>
> Aspasia


I had forgotten -- Several years ago I got on a standby list for a
couple of the Queen cruises, open dates, ready to go anytime in the
summer. Didn't get it.

The idea was that if a couple had to cancel last minute, they would
lose their one-half deposit on the cabin, and then the standby single
would pay single fare, i.e. the other "half" of that cabin's cost.