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 og 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.