American Cruise Lines has some new announcements for National Park Vacation lovers! They offer a post-cruise excursion package to three national parks in the American West. This package, a first for ACL, is in conjunction with the company’s Pacific Northwest cruise this summer. The American Riverboat Cruises will be aboard the American Song, American Harmony and American Melody. Rates vary depending on the month your choose to travel. The Paddlewheeler cruises rotate dates between the American Pride and American West. These cruises sail April through November in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
The three parks, Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Teton, are coupled with American Cruise Lines seven-day cruise on the Columbia River and Snake River along the Washington-Oregon border. In the past, the company has offered one-day tours and one-night post-cruise packages, but nothing as extensive as this new package. This guided tour is a comfortable and secure way for travelers to see three landmark parks in rugged and isolated Wyoming and Montana. Guests are interested in exploring close to home these days, and once they are out and about, it is getting popular for extending vacations to see more, especially in the U.S.
Yellowstone, the country’s first national park, was the 12th most visited last year.
ACL’s tour extension comes in a three-night version and a seven-night version. The foundation for both tours is a river cruise that starts on Hayden Island, near Portland, Oregon. It visits Astoria on the Oregon coast and then travels east on the Columbia River past its dramatic gorge and on to the wine country in Clarkson, Washington, on the Idaho border. Day trips to Mount Helens, Mount Hood and Pendleton, Oregon, are offered along the way. The add-on package will be offered as a small-group experience. Transportation will be a shuttle van or an upscale 12-16 passenger minibus, depending on the size of the group. Tours include meals, concierge luggage service, private transport to airports and private guides, as well as local guides and park rangers for daily experiences.
The longer land tour begins in Clarkston with a jet boat adventure through Snake River’s Hells Canyon plus lunch at a private ranch within the canyon. An overnight in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho follows along the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene.
Two days at Glacier National Park is next on the itinerary and then guests are transported to Yellowstone, with a visit to Old Faithful. Two night in Jackson, Wyoming and Grand Teton gives guests a taste of Western art galleries and upscale campfire cuisine experiences. The shorter, three-night version of the land tour includes the jet boat adventure and visits Coeur d’Alene and Glacier.
Two modern riverboats, the American Symphony and American Serenade, will begin sailing this year and two small cruise ships will join the American Cruise Line fleet by the end of 2023.
