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Columbia Queen - Part 2
Written by: Dominick and Margherita Miserandino
An easy way to see the Columbia River, end to end.
On the other extreme, by the Idaho border it felt like we went to the Old West. The landscape changed from lush forests to sparse deserts with tumbleweeds and bushes. The activities changed to reflect that. In Clarkston, we didn’t take the last train but jumped on a jet boat and rode through Hell’s Canyon to have a picnic by the river. Again, they merged the tour and the cruise by sending the ship’s dining staff to the picnic site to prepare lunch. I felt bad for the maitre’d Daniel who stood in the heat, wearing a suit and a smile.
Between those two extremes, we had a tour of the underground tunnels in Pendleton. Pendleton has a colorful history as an Old West Town. While the Old West was there, the ACLU wasn’t in existence to defend against racial discrimination and the Chinese immigrants were forced to stay indoors at night. With a little resourcefulness, they built a tunnel system that connected nearly every basement downtown. The result was a separate city under the current one.
The tour also takes you up to Madame Stella’s "Cozy Rooms" bordello, which is in pristine condition. Of all the houses of ill repute we’ve seen, it was by far the most elaborate and most historic.
Lastly, and certainly not least was the city we’d love to visit again, Stevenson. Now, to anybody familiar with the area, it might seem a bit strange as Stevenson has one of the highest rainfalls in the area. In fact, while we were there we didn’t see a bit of sunshine. Seeing the gorge all around with the mist floating on the mountains made it stand out. Stevenson encourages tourism by offering free wireless internet to everybody in the downtown area, which makes it an excellent base for discovering the northwest. That’s the advantage of a cruise like this. It gives an intense overview that leaves you wanting to come back and explore more.
Back to the ship though. They did recently launch the ship but in actuality, this was an advantage in terms of staffing. In the United States, there are only a handful of cruise lines. American River Journeys hired the best of the best from these lines and now there’s a staff right off the bat who knows how to work together perfectly.
Michelle the Assistant Wine Steward was already a pro when it came to her wine knowledge. She was good friends with Matt, the wine steward, who we knew from the Delta Queen. Matt gave a full lecture on the differences between brandies and other after dinner drinks -- an education I couldn’t have gotten elsewhere. Matt was friends was Daniel, the Maitre’D whose passion for the job was clear. They were all friends with the cruise director, and well, I could go on and on but you get the idea. This pre-prepared staff made a world of difference and brought the quality up a level.
In conclusion, objectively speaking we consider this one of the best ways to see the North West. Fortunately, the Columbia river hits some of the biggest portions of the north west and from the relaxation of the boat you can run at your own speed. By cruising the length of it, you see ocean, mountains and desert all within a week.
The ship’s staff and passion for the job and their desire to show you a good time add to the experience. It’s hard to pinpoint one portion of the experience that stood out more than the other but it was the combination that made this cruise stand out. It was the combination of a diverse area with a cruise that included and worked in the tours. Not just the fact the tours were included but the tours and the cruise and the entire experience were completely merged together.
Best of all was the integration with the surrounding area via the tours. We’ve never had a cruise line so well integrated with its tours. Some meals were on the boat, others were in local areas. Sometimes the itinerary moved around and they even got down the idea of saving time by having the boat sail ahead while we were on a day of touring. The overall experience is a stand out.
Part 1
Part 2
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