American Queen Steamboat Company — Local services in Memphis

September 1st, 2021 American Queen Steamboat Company 40 S Main St. Memphis, TN 38103 Attn: Mr. John Waggoner

Dear Mr. Waggoner,

We just returned from The American Queen last night and we feel compelled to express our displeasure with our cruise experience at this time. We do not think you are ready to host passengers in the United States. Online and in your brochures, your ship looked fine but once we arrived at The Brown Hotel for the complete lack of efficiency began with the check in for our cruise. We stood in line for over one hour in the basement of the hotel, behind ailing seniors who could hardly stand. You had two agents to check in 400 people! The agents were very courteous but totally overwhelmed with the amount of people to check in. When we thought we were done, we had to stand some more in another line to take masked ID pictures! What good is an ID with a mask on?? Then, on to another line to do the Covid19 test where, again, only two people to test 400 people. We had made an appointment, but appointments were not honored. It was survival of the fittest!

Arriving at the ship we had to experience the line for the slow elevator with our carryon bags. Our room stewart was nowhere to be seen until the second day and disappeared a few more days during our cruise. I had to call the reception desk to get towels, toilet paper and some other issues. The rooms supervisor mentioned that she was new and disorganized. Our suite was uncomfortable. No chair at the desk. Only one chair for two people in the room. The veranda was dirty and filled with spider webs. The Direct TV had to be constantly rebooted, blocking the picture of the show we were watching. You have one commercial free movie channel from TMC. You have a Movie Theater onboard. Why not show movies there more often? We were stranded on board for a whole day because of engine failure, why not allow people to see movies?

In the Front Porch the indoor, 3rd floor restaurant, food was scarce. The officers in that area would not replenish food. The food was exposed to the air and flies were landing on the food. A gentleman with stripes on his shoulders (I assumed he was an officer of the food area), just waved his hands over the flies and continued walking towards other food dishes. The dishes should be covered with a screen, at least.

The main restaurant is a beautiful setting. However, the buffet’s trays of food, were empty with a promise that more was coming up in a minute. More like ten to twenty minutes, with annoyed passengers waiting in line. The hotel manager you advertise as having 40 years of experience should have retired a long time ago! He just stood there and observed the people complaining but would not even make eye contact with the guests, knowing they were mad about the wait for more food. One great service group were your bus drivers. They are a first-class, professional & courteous bunch, Tour guides, not so much.

Many passengers were your repeat clients, and they were adamant that this was not what they were used to.

An Ozzie pod broke during the trip, making us miss one destination because we were late. You gave each of us a $100 credit on board which could not be used for gratuities but there were no other services to be used on. There was no masseuse onboard, the gift shoppe had a minimum amount of merchandise. The person in charge was polite and very accommodating but could not help us due to poor stock.

The disembarkation in Memphis was another fiasco. We had to go 50 miles away from the center of Memphis and that ramp coming off the ship is made for Olympic athletes, not for the seniors I saw struggling to make it to the top.

During the cruise we constantly heard your staff say that you were short of staff and the ones you had were new to the company and were not yet trained.

It is our belief that you should have given us the opportunity to cancel the trip and go when things were normalized. We were your guinea pigs!!! We have travelled extensively worldwide both by land and...

I have been on 11 cruises with Regent Seven Seas, Norwegian, Celebrity, Holland America and Viking, and American Queen Steamboat Company beats them all!

I just Finished the cruise from Memphis to New Orleans. Memphis is such a cool city. It has a great vibe. The first stop after Memphis was the Grammy museum in Greenville Mississippi. Did you know that more people from Mississippi have one Grammys than any other State?

The food is outstanding. They have prime steaks and lobster available every night included so you can order lobster with your entrée every single night. Which I did. They also have open bars all throughout the day with no limit and no excluded alcohol. Lots of people were experimenting with different cocktails and enjoy themselves every night before dinner. The wine pairings with dinner were excellent.

We had an inside cabin and it was spacious. There was plenty of room for the two of us to store our belongings. We never felt crowded in anyway. The bathroom was really large. Everything is beautiful on the Countess.

The highlight of the cruise was the entertainment. The stage band is comprised of extremely talented musicians from some of the best musical universities in the United States. The singers and dancers were fresh off of Broadway. Of course, Broadway he has been closed for a year, so it’s nice to see these people having a chance to earn a living. One night we had a magician perform. He was funny, talented, and engaging. It was a great show.

Each day, all of the excursions were included. We learned a lot about history and culture, music and food. The excursions are very interesting. The nice thing also is they have their own dedicated buses so your same bus driver stays with you throughout the cruise and the buses are extremely comfortable.

I am booking their Columbia and Snake River cruise for 2022 right now!! This was the best vacation of my life and I have been to 45 countries.

American Queen Steamboat Company hires only US citizens. Support America. Support our economy and our jobs! These River towns depend on the tourists to survive.

Book your...

We love this boat. Trip was Feb.25 New Orleans to Vicksburgh Missippi.It is our second time on this boat. Were back on the american queen river boat our 1st. trip was 2 years ago and fell in love with the boat. So back for 2nd. time and we weren't dissappointedat all. Whenyou stepon this boat you are part of a family from start to finish.

We were pleased to be greated again by Kriss ( with a K ) with that big smilewarm greetingand he remembered usso we also got a hug. What a great person to be the one to say welcome.

Next we ran into Adam he took care of us 2yrs. ago and of all the people that go on this boat he remembered us and also got a hug. He has a different job now but but his warmpersonalitly just shines.

Next was Kim on the front pourch also with a hug and big smile and said i remember you. There wassome changes to the menu on the pourch but all was good. If you forgot spoon , juice, or anything she was there to take care of you. Great gal.

Next was something we didn't pick up on our 1st. time but sure needs a comment now. The young man Calvin who drives the golf cart OMG he helped with the older ones off the boat or on the boat with care and gentleness holding hands or arm to make sure they were comforable on the golf cart. Great job young man and I can't wait to be old and it would be my pleasure to take a ride in your golf cart.

Why i right about these people is because what i said at the beginning you are took care of from the time you get on to the time you get off and your treated like family

Hop on hop off tours are great. The food , entertainment were outstanding.We love this boat your crew and the amazing mississippi. Look forward to the last leg of this river and boat to we meet again.

Sandt / Mary Please excuse spelling i can't find spell check and it helps to no i'm not a expert...