20260611 ACL Encore Columbia-Snake River Cruise - Day 10/10 Home and Cruise Wrap-Up

American Cruise Lines Encore - Columbia and Snake River Cruise Day 10/10 – Home again, time to wrap up this trip

We landed in Orlando around 11:45 pm. By the time we got our bags and met our driver, we were out of the airport a little after midnight. We pulled into the driveway at 1:35 am. Since we were traveling east, that was effectively only like 10:30 pm to us, so at least we weren't exhausted. Still, we left the ship at 8:30 am Pacific time and walked into the house at 1:30 Eastern time. That's still a 14-hour travel day, so we were happy to be home.

We were able to sleep in to 8:30 this morning, so that will help us get adjusted back to home time. Arlona, in her infinite wisdom, scheduled us for the gym at 11:00, so we'll be working out this morning. She'll head out for four hours of water volleyball after that, so we're already back into the home schedule.

Let's talk about this trip.

We started in Portland, Oregon, our 50th U.S. state. We boarded the American Encore in Stevenson, Oregon, and sailed west to Kalama and Astoria. We turned around, making our way to The Dalles, Oregon, Richland, Washington, Lewiston, Idaho, and finally, Clarkston, Washington. 

We sailed approximately 500 miles, give or take, along the Columbia and Snake rivers, passing through eight locks, including transiting one twice. All this was over the course of eight days.

 So? What did we think? We enjoyed this trip. The Pacific Northwest is a beautiful area of the country. Seeing it from the rivers was a terrific way to take in its beauty. So, the bottom line is that we absolutely recommend visiting this area.

Now, let's chat about American Cruise Lines. Here's our take.

Overall, ACL provides a quality experience. Here are some pros and cons.

Pros

• Small ships - they provide an intimate experience with between 130 and 180 guests, depending on the specific ship
• Friendly guests - we found that most everyone was friendly and social
• Generous room size - compared to European river cruises with 150 square foot rooms on the small end, ACL's 300 square foot cabins are huge, plus they are well-appointed
• No dress code, everything is super-casual - this was great - no dressing up for dinner, easy, relaxed, and casual
• Plenty of in-room storage - a small closet, but plenty of drawers made unpacking easy
• Good food, mostly, but it was hit or miss - we never had a great meal, but overall it was good - not the best we've had, not the worst
• They will accommodate special requests - if you want something special, a specific wine, your favorite Boubon, specific soda, etc., all you have to do is ask
• Truly all-inclusive  - Wi-Fi, drinks, meals, gratuities, excursions (other than premium excursions, and those are included after three cruises), everything other than airfare is included in the cruise fare
• Free self-service laundry - four washers and dryers with soap pods make handling laundry easy
• They operate their own fleet of tour buses - the buses are designed for their target demographic with short steps, lots of legroom, a bathroom, and a wheelchair lift

Cons

• Expensive - comparing some itineraries, like Alaska, with other, larger-ship cruise lines, comparing similar rooms and itineraries with everything included, ACL can be twice as expensive - a premium for the small-ship experience
• A very, very mature clientele. The average age of guests is pushing 15 years older than we are - in our mid-60s, we felt like teenagers
• Little on-ship personalized service - we have gotten used to ocean lines like Seabourn and Viking where they call you by name, and already know what you want when you go to the bar, or come in for breakfast - none of that happened here (with the exception of one server with our Coke Zeros in the morning)
• Variable restaurant service - we had excellent service, moderate, but super-friendly service, and absolutely horrible service, all in the same restaurant, depending on the server
• Bar service during happy hour is slow due to limited staffing - ten or more people waiting for one or two inexperienced bartenders
• Very limited entertainment - some folks loved the solo entertainers, but to us, it seemed more like a performer in a retirement home
• All announcements are done in-room, but it can be silenced - if you decide to sleep in, you better turn it off, or you will wake up to the cruise director each morning
• All the lights on the ship flicker a lot - for a brand new ship, this seemed to be an issue
• They might have a design issue with the wastewater system too - ours filled up unexpectedly a day before the cruise ended
• The Internet, even though it is Starlink, is poorly implemented and has unacceptable upload speeds - trying to load photos, even small ones, in the blog was painful, and this was while docked in a clear area, so it wasn't because of a blocked view of the sky

Will we cruise with ACL again? In all likelihood, probably not. At least not for another ten or more years when we'll hit more squarely in their target age demographic. If they offer a new, compelling itinerary that we can't do with anyone else, then we likely would. That was the case with this cruise. It got us somewhere we wanted to go. And we did enjoy the trip and the experience.

Does that mean you shouldn't consider ACL for a cruise? No - you absolutely should. They provide a quality product, albeit at a premium price. But, as with many things, you get what you pay for. They offer exclusively American cruises on American rivers. If you're looking for a premium small-ship experience, with a mature audience, ACL should be on your short list of cruise lines. 

That's it for this adventure. Watch this space for the next one, starting in August. We will be flying to Nairobi, Kenya, to start an 18-day safari adventure, visiting Kenya and Tanzania with Globus.

20260610 ACL Encore Columbia-Snake River Cruise - Day 9/10 Lewiston, Idaho to The Villages

American Cruise Lines Encore - Columbia and Snake River Cruise Day 9/10 – Clarkston to Lewiston to Salt Lake City to Orlando to Home - The Joy of Modern Air Travel

Ah, travel. The joy of seeing new places, experiencing wonder and beauty, and enjoying the luxury of modern air travel. Travel is great, except for that last part. We awoke to the notice above, indicating that our first flight of the day was already delayed. Woo hoo. The saving grace was that we had a three-hour layover in Salt Lake City, so the 40-minute delay shouldn't be an issue.

Our shuttle to LWS - Lewiston Nez Perce Airport was scheduled for 8:30 this morning. We set an alarm for 6:45 to allow for time for breakfast, brushing teeth, tossing the last items into the carry-on, and so on. At 6:30 - *bong*bong*bong* - Cruise Director Chelsea came on the overhead speaker shipwide announcing that the early shuttle was now loading. That's what you call a rude awakening.

We got dressed and went down to breakfast. As we were finishing up at 7:30, she announced that all rooms were supposed to be vacated by now. Yikes, again. We got back to the room, took care of the last-minute things, and went down to the River Lounge to wait for our 8:30 shuttle.

One nice touch was that the bags that we put out were loaded directly on the bus, so we didn't touch them again until we were at the airport.

The welcome sign as we walked off the ship

Like Lewiston, there isn't much right here, but a Walmart, Costco, and other shopping were a short walk away

We made the 10-minute bus ride, leaving Washington and returning to Idaho, arriving at the airport right on time.

Looks pretty impressive

It's not - this is the whole place

We were there before 9:00 am - the Delta counter didn't open until 10:30

ACL has a lounge across from the Delta counter - it wasn't much, but it was a seat

ACL delivered box lunches with a turkey cold-cut sandwich, a bag of chips, and a cookie a little after 10:00. Once the Delta counter opened, we checked our bags. We tried to buy a Coke Zero from the vending machine, but it was broken. Rinky-dink is the name that comes to mind when describing LWS, Lewiston - Nez Perce Airport.

TSA finally opened, and we went through security to the gates - two gates. Lucky for us, there was another vending machine so we could get Coke Zeros. Unlucky for us, even though we could see plenty of bottles in there, the machine kept saying, "Sold Out".  Have I mentioned rinky-dink?

Anyway, we all crowded into the small waiting area, awaiting our inbound aircraft. It eventually arrived at 12:15 pm, seriously jeopardizing our 12:41 departure.

There wasn't a jetway, but there was this spiffy mobile ramp

To understand how small this airport is, it only has two gates - the left door is Gate #1, and the right door is Gate #2

One interesting aspect was that the entire ground and gate crew were women. The ramp mover, wheelchair pushers, gate agent, luggage team, aircraft hookup crew - all female. 

It's always good when you see your bags getting loaded on your aircraft.

There goes my bag onto the aircraft

Arlona's bag went on next

One interesting thing happened before we boarded. I saw our flight crew, specifically our Captain, in front of the aircraft, frantically waving his hands to get the pilot's attention. A disembarking passenger's straw hat blew off his head when he stepped onto the mobile ramp. The hat landed on the front of the jet, directly over the pilot's window. Once our pilot got the incoming pilot's attention, that pilot opened his side window, reached up, and retrieved the hat. I wish I had figured out what was happening, as it would have been a great photo.

Our scheduled 12:16 departure time, which was revised to 12:56, and then revised again to 12:41, turned into 1:03 in reality. It was bumpy much of the way, but we must have gotten a good wind boost, as the planned 1:45-minute flight time only took about 1:15.

Launching out of Lewiston

Catching a little snow on the mountains as we headed southeast

Seeing more mountains as we approached SLC

You can just make out the south tip of the Great Salt Lake in the distance

We made a leisurely stroll from our arrival gate, A18, to our departure gate, A45 - the same gate used for the flight from Salt Lake City to Portland.

Our incoming plane arrived on time, so we had no worries about an on-time departure. We have also received a text confirming that our driver would be there at the airport when we get into Orlando later tonight. That's one more thing we don't have to worry about.

Since everything looks good, I will wrap today's blog here. We should be home tonight, probably around 1:30 am. I will put together a trip wrap-up blog entry tomorrow with a trip summary and our thoughts on the trip and American Cruise Lines.

20260609 ACL Encore Columbia-Snake River Cruise - Day 8/10 Lewiston, Idaho

American Cruise Lines Encore - Columbia and Snake River Cruise Day 8/10 – Lewiston, Idaho - Hells Canyon and State Bouncing

Today took us to Idaho, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Washington, Idaho, and Washington.  Got that? Let's see if I can explain.

We docked this morning in Lewiston, Idaho. This was an unscheduled stop, but required as our wastewater tanks were full, and only Lewiston had the resources to pump them out. The good news is that Lewiston, Idaho, is a short hop across the Snake River from Clarkston, Washington, our intended destination. That just meant the tour buses had to make a small deviation. So it was no big deal.

As we ate breakfast, before we docked, we sailed past cattle farms. We're used to traditional cattle farms with pastures. Here, however, the cows make do with the rocky and hilly land.

The elusive Idaho mountain cow

If that's where the food is, I guess you figure it out

The port

Kind of funny, since we were nowhere near the sea

There you have it - the whole place

Deck hands, tying us up

An osprey next was on a platform in the port

In short order, the septic truck hooked up and started clearing our tanks

The crew was also loading supplies

We stepped off the ship for our tour. This put us in Idaho.

Ann and Dave joined us so we would be on the same boat for our tour

There are several lift bridges here, reminiscent of our time in college and the lift bridge between Houghton and Hancock, Michigan

We made the short drive up the road, over the bridge, back down the road, and to the port in Clarkston, Washington. This put us in Washington.

Our jet boats were waiting to whisk us to Hells Canyon

We zipped under this lift bridge

On the way to Hells Canyon

Hells Canyon, on the Snake River, is the deepest canyon in North America. With the highest peaks at about 9,000 feet - 8,000 feet above the river - Hells Canyon is roughly 2,000 feet deeper than the Grand Canyon. Our tour didn't get to the deepest part, but it was plenty deep and plenty impressive.

 There are a lot of photos coming. That was because the landscape kept changing. It went from sweeping hills, to columnar basalt, to limestone, to craggy granite. I'll let the photos do most of the talking, but I will insert comments where it makes sense.

The start of the rocks

Columnar basalt

These basalt columns were naturally formed, not etched

A pair of bald eagles watching over the river

As we cruised down the center of the river, we were split between Idaho and Washington. The landscape continued to change.

Another of the three tour boats

We spotted bighorn sheep

The terrain kept changing as we went deeper into the canyon

Those layers are natural, not man-made

Limestone formations

Can you imagine trying to cross this terrain?

We made a stop for refreshments. This put us back in Idaho.

The Garden Creek Preserve - there were cherry trees here, but we didn't make it to them

Garry, Arlona, Ann, and Dave, in Hells Canyon

As we departed again, we entered Oregon

The landscape just kept getting more rugged

A small waterfall

Mountain goats (I think)

Taking in the views - the jacket was more for spray and wind than anything

More bighorn sheep

At the confluence of the Salmon and Snake Rivers, where the Salmon empties into the Snake - this was our turnaround point

If you use your imagination, that looks like Mr. Potato Head, playing the piano

We saw a couple of deer hanging out under the tree

Wild turkey

Great blue heron

More osprey

We made a stop to view some petroglyphs in the canyon that have been dated back 2,400 years. There are multiple petroglyphs scattered through the canyon.

2,400-year-old petroglyphs

The Sun really made the landscape dramatic

We arrived back at the dock, placing us back in Clarkston, Washington. Hells Canyon was absolutely stunning and well worth the trip. Trying to wrap our heads around the Lewis and Clark expedition trying to navigate this area was difficult after seeing how inhospitable it was. But beauty was hidden in that ruggedness, and we're glad we got to appreciate it today.

We got on the bus and rode it back to the ship, placing us back in Lewiston, Idaho. As soon as we were all back on the ship, it sailed across the river to Clarkston, Washington, placing us back in Washington for the night.

To understand just how silly this all was, look at the photo below. This was taken from our balcony after the ship repositioned to Clarkston, Washington.

Look at the horizon - that tan building just right of center is where we were docked all day in Lewiston, Idaho

To make it even sillier, tomorrow morning, we will board a bus and go back over the bridge to Lewiston Airport to start the journey home.

We joined Ann and Dave for the final dinner. We all enjoyed lobster tail and beef tenderloin surf and turf. A nice way to enjoy our final evening on the ship.

We watched tonight's entertainment in our room. ACL brought on entertainers from the local Nez Perce tribe. They shared their history, traditional clothing, stories, and music.

We finished packing our bags and put the big ones out to be collected and delivered to shore in the morning. We'll be up early to catch breakfast before leaving the ship at 8:30 for the short drive back across the river to Lewiston Airport.