Complete Mississippi River Cruise, Day 1

Photos

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Last night we ate our kolache pastries from Kramarczuk's and brushed our teeth because we found nothing to watch on TV and went to bed about 8pm. We needed the sleep badly. We both slept well and long and woke up around 6am. This morning, Clay had his sandwich and I had a yogurt and a coffee in the room. So we had an easy morning before we headed off to find our bus ride to La Crosse, Wisconsin at the Crowne Plaza. All things considered, it could be a lot worse. While I still wish I’d been able to see the Queen of the Mississippi out our window (I have a perfect view of where they said it would be!), I am thankful it is only this.  My frame of reference is being ditched in Vienna by Viking Cruises after riding a bus there from Amsterdam (minus the Main-Danube Canal for 4 nights) and not ever being informed where to locate the bus they were planning to drive 3 days to Serbia to meet the next boat below the floating pontoon bridge on the Danube in 2003. So, my standard being that at least it is not a 3-day bus ride to Serbia is not setting the bar that high and we were possibly more laid back about today than some.

We had arranged to have a complimentary Holiday Inn shuttle ride to the Crowne Plaza and he was early as were we so we rode over alone. It was a little further away than would have been a nice walk with luggage. The bus was parked right where the shuttle dropped us and there were already people onboard and the driver was putting luggage underneath. So, we walked right over and asked the driver if it was the bus to the Queen of the Mississippi. He said it was and took our rolling duffels. He saw our bus voucher in my hand and asked me if I had an address he could entered into his GPS. I did, so he borrowed it.

There was a woman on our bus who never did identify herself, but was in charge. We thought from her comments that she might be our Cruise Director, but she isn’t and she isn’t onboard. No one at the bus or the boat ever checked us for our bus voucher or our cruise documents. (Later, Robert one of CDs told me when I asked that they figured anyone willing to ride buses for 5 1/2 hours from St. Paul was entitled to a ride and entry to the boat.) Anyway, she told us that the Queen of the Mississippi couldn’t get to La Crosse, WI where we thought we were meeting it around lunchtime. The story from her and the Riverlorian that we have put together is this. Wisconsin along the Mississippi is the main sand mining area for the fracking industry. That has caused excessive sand erosion into the Mississippi River and the Army Corps of Engineers for this and other reasons of extreme weather (flooding) and budgetary issues has not kept up with dredging. So, the area of the river between Dubuque, IA and St. Paul, MN has been closed to commercial traffic by the Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers for the past month or so and just reopened on Friday the 8^th  of August. Meanwhile, there are billions of dollars of goods lining the river’s edges in barges waiting to ship. The Queen of the Mississippi tried to go up to LaCrosse, but at some point spent 12 hours waiting to get into a lock before the decision was made to turn around and go back to Dubuque because if they got to St. Paul, they might have the same kinds of delays trying to get back down again. So, last week's passengers were bused to St. Paul for disembarkation after a wasted last day or so of their cruise. While we had 3 buses full that had been hired to take us to LaCrosse and they did. They said they were trying to arrange touring for us there since it was in our itinerary and then we’d only have missed Red Wing. That didn’t happen. They dropped us at the Radisson where they had a cold salads and lunchmeat buffet for us. They had another bus company bring 3 new buses and moved our luggage over while we ate.

We all got to lunch around noon and the buses left at 1pm, 1:30pm and 2pm. Or so we were told at lunch. We went out to try to catch the end of the farmer’s market along LaCrosse’s Riverwalk and caught some as they were closing down. We bought some flowers and some ice cream cones and saw the 1^st and 2^nd buses leave on schedule. We were onboard the last bus early, but not as early as those who couldn’t get on the earlier ones. The driver told us when we boarded that he had been instructed to leave at 2:30pm instead. By whom, we don’t know. But the Riverlorians were the last 2 people to board this bus and then we left at 2:30pm. 

We had crossed the river to get to LaCrosse and the landscape was completely different after lunch. Before lunch it was just miles of cornfields and not much different than SD or MN. After lunch, it was hilly with rock escarpments visible. According to the Riverlorian, this is because of where there were and were not glaciers a long time ago. This morning we watched a movie on the tablet and the time went quickly. We also with a sense of irony, ate a bag of caramel popcorn that Clay bought at Candyland yesterday evening when he went out alone. We started a second movie as we waited for the half hour delay departing LaCrosse, but once the Riverlorian started broadcasting we gave that up. He would talk very loudly for extended stretches and then be quiet for 15 to 20 minutes and that pattern went on the whole afternoon. It was about 2.5 hours over some very rough roads that we took because the driver had been advised by the earlier buses that the river road was closed at Prairie du Chien for a festival. Thus we got to drive by the Dickeyville Grotto! We had no stops except when the bus A/C stopped working and the driver and the Riverlorian got off and fixed it thankfully.  It seems that there was one last bus from the MSP airport at 12:30pm that stopped for lunch in Rochester and got to the boat about 7:15pm. I guess all things considered ACL did not do a bad job and it certainly wasn't 3 days to Serbia. They had bottled water for everyone on both buses and plenty of alcohol pouring on our arrival at the boat.

They greeted us with the calliope playing and a man singing from the top deck front rail. It was either touching or cheesy. I was going to say either way it was notable, but when I asked Clay what he thought about it, he said he hadn't noticed. So...

Cocktail hour was an hour later than normal as was dinner for the late arrivals' benefit. We had a long wait for dinner after arriving at our table because it seemed they had given our waitress the day off. Once a woman at our table pointed it out, we waited for her to be summoned from her quarters and report. How does that happen? Dinner offerings were first course, tomato-blue cheese napoleon or scallops. Second course, Prime rib or pork tenderloin or salmon. Dessert, cheesecake or sticky toffee pudding or ice cream.  It was neither excellent nor bad, just good. They offer ½ servings but the woman directly across from me ordered the same thing I did in a ½ portion and we both got exactly the same size serving.

The Queen of the Mississippi was built in 2012. I like it. It is not fancy, but it is functional and pleasant. We are in the handicap cabin 206, so our room is larger than normal. We did not ask for this cabin but when we booked in January it was the last cabin on this deck available for the back to back cruises that would make up the Complete Mississippi sailing they were offering so they assigned it to us. That said, it is spacious with lots of storage drawers with little hanging space. The beds are comfortable, but they have 2 little square pillows per person. There is a Keurig and an ice bucket as well as a TV and a telephone. There are a lot of outlets with a nightlight in one. We found a power strip plugged in with only a bedside lamp plugged in behind the nightstand so we moved it over by the desk for electronics. There is a hairdryer in the bathroom cabinet and very nice Judith Jackson Spa toiletries. The other upside of 206 is an extra wide balcony. Ours has 2 windows and a door while the others have one window and one door. (Sadly, 209 that Mom & Judy chose for the 2^nd week is directly across from the office which always seems to have a noisy line out in the hall. I hope their room won’t be too noisy.) We have 2 cabins between us and the Magnolia Lounge. On the other side is a computer and printer nook, the elevator and a small game lounge with a jigsaw puzzle.

There is food and drink available almost all the time in multiple locations. There are 3 lounges on deck 2 (our hallway). Forward is Magnolia where they hold meetings and entertainment as well as cocktail hour. It is about 15 feet forward of our cabin.  That is where our noise is, but it is only from time to time. At the back of the boat is the Paddlewheel Lounge and they have an icemaker there, a coffee pot almost always on with hot water for tea and hot chocolate, pocket-pack snacks or cookies and early riser breakfast (which seems to just be some muffins and juice). Upstairs in the same spot on 4 they have an espresso machine too.

Beer, wine and as far as we can tell mixed drinks are included and available at lunch, dinner and cocktail hour. You order your breakfast the day before if you want room service delivered. You order lunch and dinner at breakfast. The menu in the morning has breakfast on one side and the other is an order form that you fill out and give to the waitperson before you leave breakfast. You do have remember what you ordered!

Entertainment is usually music every evening in the Magnolia Lounge. We never went but we could hear it just fine from our cabin #206 every evening. What we mostly missed by not going was the popcorn, sundaes and root beer floats served every evening. I don't know how anyone could have eaten more but we did see them go by with carts loaded with them every evening. One evening I scored an untouched basket of popcorn after the lounge emptied!

We were docked overnight in Dubuque and so it was a quiet night and we slept very comfortably. Let’s see what else… Oh, on the top deck there are 2 elliptical machines (I think that’s what they are) and an exercise bike and some weight machine and a 2-hole putting green. There is also a complimentary washer and dryer for passenger use! We weren’t expecting that as I hand washed and had a Woolite container failure twice since leaving home.

Photos