The cruise of the St. Lawrence River with the St. Lawrence Cruise Lines aboard the Canadian Empress was very disappointing. This is not an inexpensive cruise and one would expect first class service. However the opposite was true.

The ship is too old and is beset with mechanical issues the largest of which is the ship's inability to deal with sewage. The boat reeked of sewage and the night cruise of Quebec City on our first night was cancelled due to mechanical issues. We could not hear the captain's explanation of the problem as the sound system was not working.

The cabins are very small and ill equipped. Sometimes the showers worked sometimes not and one was never certain if you'd get hot or cold water. The sewage issues persisted throughout the cruise despite two pump outs!! We encountered some very heavy rain on our cruise and the ship had leakage issues as a result. Read more