We chose this cruise as to imagine what it was like that Lewis and Clark went through. We had a historian on-board who gave 50 minutes discussions each day about the areas we would go to. He would even ride the bus with us at times to explain even more of the area we headed to. Geography/landscape changed along the way. Starting out in canyons to hilly green tree areas as you go west. Go through 8 locks. Interesting if you hadn't been through one. Cruising the river you could always see Washington State on one side and Oregon State on the other.

Prior to the cruise we landed at Spokane, WA airport in order to rent a car (reserved 3 months ahead of time before prices sky rocketed) to drive to Clarkston, WA. Holiday Inn which was were the ship docked and where we embarked from. Dropped car off at Lewiston, ID airport (4 miles away) and Hotel shuttled us back to the Inn. We did this as part of the pre-cruise premium package to take the jet boat tour down the Snake River. Well worth the time and adventure. If you flew in the night before American Cruise Lines would meet you in Spokane and bus (tour bus - comfortable) you to Clarkston. During the 7 days, a lot of stops along the way and the buses would meet you at the stops to take you to the excursion sites. Pretty efficient system. Longest bus ride was 1 hour 45 minutes one-way to Mt. St. Helens, but was worth the time. Bus drivers very friendly and knowledgably of the areas we stopped.

Food service was open seating, so you meet a lot of passengers over the 7 days. Most of passengers were I would say 60s to 80s. And the excursions included were based on this age group. Read more