20260603 ACL Encore Columbia-Snake River Cruise - Day 2/10 Multnomah Falls and boarding Encore

American Cruise Lines Encore - Columbia and Snake River Cruise Day 2/10 – Waterfalls and Water Travel

 We slept well last night after a long day of travel. Granted, it wasn't long when compared to recent travels to Europe, China, and so on, but still, leaving the house at 7:30 am EDT and going to bed at 10:00 pm PDT makes for a long day. By staying up until a normal bedtime, we force our bodies to adjust to the three-hour time change in a day, rather than make a slow transition. 

We headed down for the buffet breakfast at the Embassy Suites

Observing the clientele, most of whom appear to be ACL cruisers, we came to the determination that we will easily be two of the youngest people on the ship, other than crew. If I had to guess, I'd say the average passenger age is 78 years old. It should be interesting.

Getting to the buses was a bit of organized chaos, herding 180 or so guests in four separate groups to their buses

ACL has a fleet of dedicated buses that will follow us for the entire cruise - the steps are short and easy to navigate, and the seats are nicely spaced with plenty of leg room

We took off and headed for our first stop - Multnomah Falls. The falls are on the Multnomah Creek in the Columbia River Gorge. The falls' prominent feature is a 627-foot drop, making for spectacular views.

Our first view of the falls from the parking lot

A bronze plaque honors Simon Benson (1851–1942), a notable lumberman and philanthropist in Oregon

The full falls - we walked up to the bridge

Some type of insect metamorphosis

The view from the bridge

We wandered a little farther up the trail for some views across the Columbia River

Western Columbine

We walked under a railroad bridge to get to/from the falls

Arlona checked out the water in Multnomah Creek

We boarded our bus and made the 30-minute or so drive to the dock to board the ACL Encore.

Crossing the Columbia River on the Bridge of the Gods

Arriving at the port

The 180-passenger American Cruise Lines Encore - this is her fifth sailing

Our room - 311

The room status is decidedly low-tech

Spin the thumb wheel at the bottom to get the room serviced

Spin it more to not be disturbed

A typical narrow entry

Behind the door is the thermostat, an in-room audio volume control with selections for announcements, narration, or music - below that is the pull-for-assistance know - a nod to the demographic on this ship

The room is spacious with a dresser with six large drawers, a desk with three drawers, a king-sized bed, and a large sliding door to the balcony

You can see the dresser on the left and the desk behind Arlona - there are plenty of power and USB ports next to the bed, at the desk, and near the dresser

The bathroom is modest but generally spacious with a good-sized shower

The balcony is narrow and not divided from the neighbor - an interesting design touch

If I had to find something to complain about with the room, it is the fact that the bed sits too low for our suitcases to slide under. Therefore, our suitcases will just be sitting in the corners of the room for the next eight days. The other complaint is that there is no refrigerator in the room. We can't remember the last time we haven't had a fridge in the room. Weird.

Another notable thing about the ship is that since this is a U.S.-flagged vessel, every crewmember aboard is American. We're so used to international cruises where it is all but impossible to find an American worker outside of the entertainment or childcare teams. It is 100% the opposite on American Cruise Lines. Everyone is polite, friendly, and helpful, so we're impressed with the crew so far.

The ship has Starlink internet that seems to be pretty good overall. One really odd thing is that when my laptop is connected, it thinks that it is in Eastern time, not Pacific time. That's really odd.

An America 250 tote was waiting for us

Two America 250 lapel pins were also in the room

We decided to skip the main restaurant and hit up the Sky Lounge and Back Porch Café on deck 4 aft for burgers and chicken wraps. Ann and Dave joined us, and we sat outside and enjoyed lunch and the views.

Next up was the muster drill. We returned to our room, practiced putting on our life vests, and then gathered in the River Lounge on deck 1 forward for a brief presentation and an introduction to the officers. As the presentation went on, we set sail for Kalama, Washington right on time at 2:30 pm. After the presentation, we went back up to deck 4 for a drink and to watch the scenery.

We sailed under the Bridge of the Gods - the bridge we crossed over in the bus on the way to the port

Looking ahead down the Columbia River

The Bridge of the Gods was built in 1926 and spans 1,858 feet between Oregon and Washington over the Columbia River

We passed the Bonneville Dam and proceeded into the Bonneville locks

We snugged up against the wall on the starboard side

This was after we pulled about two feet away from the wall - we were close

Heading west meant that we needed to drop about 70 feet

Once we dropped 70 feet, the doors on the west side opened, and we continued on - note the bridge on the right swung out of the way

If you look closely, you can see that bridge slowly rotating back into place to reconnect the roadway over the river

As we sailed west, we passed Multnomah Falls

The trees obscured the bridge

With the wind and cooler temperature today, it started getting a little chilly, so we returned to the room to hang out before dinner.

Let's take a quick tour of the ship.

Deck 1 - Main Deck

This is the entry point of the ship, sitting just above the waterline

The ship's dedication plaque

You enter into the main atrium that spans decks 1-4

The River Lounge sits at the front of the ship and is the main entertainment venue

The Restaurant sits aft and is the main dining venue for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Deck 2

Deck 2 is dominated by guest rooms

Forward, we find a lounge called the Chart Room, featuring sweeping forward views, a telescope, and binoculars

Ahead of that is the Bow Terrace with very limited seating, but unobstructed forward views

Decks 2-4 all have mid-ship lounges - this is the Storyteller Lounge 

All lounges have an Elkay water bottle filling station

Two elevators sit midship opposite the atrium stairs and run between decks 1 and 4

The complimentary laundry sits toward the back of the ship and features four washers and dryers, a tub of soap pods, irons, ironing boards, a basket to move laundry to the folding table, a TV, and a stocked refrigerator

The gym is right next to the laundry and features a modest set of machines, benches, kettlebells, resistance bands, yoga mats, and more

Deck 3

Deck 3 is also dominated by guest rooms

Deck 4

Deck 4 has premium rooms including the 1,500 square foot Signature Suite at the front of the ship

The Sky Lounge is toward the rear of the ship and has snacks like chips, pretzels, nuts, and such available, plus fresh cookies twice each day

At the very back is the Back Porch Café, offering lighter fare like burgers, dogs, wraps, soup, and such during lunch along with a lighter breakfast

Deck 5 - Sun Deck

Deck 5 is the top deck of the ship and is uncovered with a large number of chairs and lounges

The sun deck - deck 5 - has a shuffleboard court, an oversized chess set, and a walking track

We enjoyed dinner in the Restaurant. 

Here was tonight's dinner menu.

Dinner Appetizer

Italian Wedding Soup

Carpinito Farms Baby Spinach Salad

-Roasted Grapes, Glenview Farms Feta Cheese & Candied Pecans on a Bed of Carpinito Farms Baby Spinach, Drizzled with Red Wine Vinaigrette.

Dinner Entree

Pan-Seared Alaskan Halibut with Tomato Tarragon Butter

-Served with Airfield Estates Chardonnay-Braised Leeks, Baby Heirloom Tomatoes, and Roasted Yukon Potatoes.

Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast

-Pan-Seared and served with Herb Risotto, Tri-Colored Carrots, and Washington Apple-Sage Chutney.

Angus Beef Pot Roast with Bourbon Demi-Glace

-Slowly Braised, served with Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes & Sautéed Broccoli Rabe with Garlic.

Garden & Feta Pasta (Vegetarian)

-Penne Pasta, Artichoke Hearts, Heirloom Tomatoes, Kale, Capers, Kalamata Olives, & Fresh Basil. Tossed in a Warm Balsamic Vinaigrette.

The thing to note in the Restaurant is that, as I mentioned before, ACL attracts a very mature crowd. People of a certain age either have hearing aids or need hearing aids. In our experience, in either case, that leads to extremely loud talking. Tonight was a prime example of that. Holy moley, it was loud in there, to the point that Arlona and I had a hard time holding a normal conversation with each other, and we weren't going to yell like the other guests. That will be a challenge to deal with for the next week.

Back in the room, we were able to watch the port talk for Kalama, Washington, live-streamed on the TV. We appreciate this, as we don't always want to go to the venue to watch the port talk. They are also recorded, so if we miss it, we can watch it afterwards.

That led directly into tonight's guest entertainer, Mario Carboni, and his show, 10 Fingers, 88 Keys and A Bit of Horn. He toured with Merle Haggard and was country-focused. He was quite talented, but the music wasn't our preferred style. Watching in the room proved to be a great option for us.

About 8:40 pm, we came alongside the dock in Kalama.

Docking at Port of Kalama Marine Park

We were tied up before 9:00 and in our spot until tomorrow night.

To summarize, we're on the ship, we've been in two states today, Oregon and Washington, and we're already at our first port, Kalama, Washington. Tomorrow afternoon, we will be touring Mount St. Helens.