American Cruise Lines News Coverage

Our first glance of our Mississippi riverboat was from atop a levee in Memphis. We headed down the steep ramp to board the American Melody through its unusual flipped-up bow.

Riverboats on the Mississippi have a unique challenge. Flood-control levees stretch 1600 miles along both banks of the river, some as high as 50 feet above the shore. To get guests to and from the riverboats, American Cruise Lines (ACL) always carry golf carts to help the elderly and mobility-challenged safely navigate the challenging slopes.

Frances and Michael Howorth have their own tea party in Boston before boarding American Glory, one small ship in a fast-growing fleet of American Cruise Lines.

The names are familiar, but the vistas are not. New England, the northeastern region of the United States of America, boasts a picturesque collection of charming Atlantic seaport towns with English-sounding names. Bedford, Plymouth, and Boston are all ports of call on our voyage around Cape Cod.

We knew there’d be some great music as we cruised down the lower Mississippi River from Memphis on one of American Cruise Lines new, modern riverboats. We didn’t, however, expect the Southern food and hospitality to be so good. Nor as Canadians, to appreciate American history and culture so much.

The music began as soon as we entered the Memphis airport shuttle bus. The unmistakable voice of Elvis Presley singing “Love Me Tender” drifted down the aisle from hidden speakers. Then the bus Shaked, Rattled, and Rolled as it took us to the Guest House at Graceland, a four-star, 450-room hotel adjacent to Elvis’ Graceland mansion.

In business for decades, family-owned American Cruise Lines (ACL), which devotes itself exclusively to the rivers and coastal areas of the United States, is well known for small-ship voyages in traditional U.S. cruising territory—the mighty Mississippi River, coastal Maine, and the Columbia and Snake Rivers of the Pacific Northwest. 

But ACL continually innovates by coming up with other enticing itineraries, too. The company combines cruises with hotel-based tours of national parks; explores the waterways of Florida; and does a deep dive in the Chesapeake Bay region, which I recently sampled and highly recommend, especially for history buffs. The cruise travels round-trip from Washington, D.C. 

Sometimes, international travel feels like more trouble than it’s worth, especially during busy seasons – and lately, all seasons seem busy, particularly when you’re going to Europe. Sometimes, you want a cruise vacation that is easy, that can bring you to places that are familiar, even if you’ve never been there before.

Easy is the appeal that American Cruise Lines, the largest domestic cruise line in the U.S., brings to its guests. Based in Connecticut, with its own shipyard in Salisbury, Maryland, this cruise line specializes in small ship cruising on American rivers and coastal areas, including Alaska.

Charles B. Robertson, President & CEO of American Cruise Lines (ACL), talks with James Shillinglaw of Insider Travel Report.