In today's video, I'll give you a full tour of American Eagle...
The brand-new ship from American Cruise Lines...
And the first of an entirely new class of ships for the line.
Construction of the ship completed over the summer...
It's only been cruising for two months now...
And there's eleven more of these Eagle-class ships coming over the next few years.
So, let me give you the tour...
And I'll show you what's so special about these new Eagle-class ships from American Cruise Lines.
Let's start the tour up here at the very front of the ship.
One of the first things you notice is the catamaran-style bow.
This design provides more stability than a traditional bow design would...
In the lakes, rivers, bays, and coastlines where this ship cruises.
This outdoor viewing deck at the front of the ship...
Is one of my favorite places to be...
Because of the great views you have up here when the ship is underway.
I spent hours and hours up here, enjoying the views...
And the great weather, as the ship took us from one gorgeous place to the next.
During times when the ship is sailing out in open ocean waters...
And there’s some swell… It’s fun to watch it crashing up against the bow.
Now next on our tour, we're going to head to the very top of the ship and work our way down...
Deck by deck, from top to bottom.
This is the sun deck, up on the very top of the ship.
Imagine yourself relaxing here on a nice warm day.
Having a nice conversation with whoever you've brought along with you on the cruise.
Maybe you're drinking a beer up here, or a glass of wine, or a soft drink.
There’s very comfortable furniture up here.
It’s a place you’ll enjoy spending quite a bit of time relaxing.
One thing to keep in mind is that this class of ships...
Carries a lot less passengers than the other ships in the ACL fleet.
People have always loved the fact that ACL ships are so much smaller...
Than most other cruise ships they’ve been on.
And with this new class of ship, ACL went even smaller still!
Typically, there’s about 100 passengers onboard, but sometimes less.
The week I was aboard, there were only 89 passengers.
The amount of space up here on the sun deck is very generous.
You’ll never feel crowded.
It’s kind of like having your own yacht and bringing a few friends along.
Notice that there are lots of tables and chairs.
It's a great place for a game of cards, if it’s not windy.
And on a small ship like this with a small number of passengers who all get to know each other...
It's easy to find someone willing to join your card game…
Or to join you for the ultimate mental challenge…
A game of chess on a (pardon the pun) king-sized chess board.
With so few passengers aboard, it's just a completely different atmosphere...
Than cruises you may have done on big ships with other cruise lines.
Everyone onboard is friendly...
You'll have a lot of interesting conversations with your fellow passengers...
And the crew quickly gets to know you...
And really delivers a higher level of service than you get on those mega cruise ships.
Taking our tour inside now. We're still on deck four...
And you can see the sun deck out those windows on the left there.
Notice the big skylight.
Between that and all those windows, there's tons of natural light pouring in...
And pouring down that staircase.
There are, of course, elevators in addition to the staircase... But here's the thing...
This ship only has four decks.
Some of the other ships in the ACL fleet have five...
So, on this one, with only four decks...
It's especially easy to use the stairs to get a little exercise.
From the stairwell, if I pan the camera to the right...
You'll see that there's a little hallway that leads to the forward half of deck four.
Behind those doors on both sides of the hallway...
These are all the Grand Suites and the Sky Suites.
Those are the largest staterooms on the ship.
They're all located here on deck four.
And as I walk up this hallway towards the front of the ship... You see that door up ahead?
That leads out to a small outdoor area that offers a view of what's ahead of the ship.
There's no seating up here, but...
It's a convenient place for the folks in the suites to step outside...
And get a view of what's out there in front of the ship.
This stairway leads down to the third floor.
It's used by crew, because it leads to the entrance to the pilothouse.
The tour continues!
In this aerial view from my drone, we're looking at the back end of the ship.
To give you a good view of how on deck 3 there's an outdoor area...
That's just below the sundeck on deck four, above.
And there's a staircase that connects the two.
This outdoor deck at the back end of deck 3 is a really good place to hang out, because...
It's wind protected.
It tends to be very comfortable back here.
There are tables and chairs where you can sit and relax.
And I especially like that little spot where those folks are sitting there...
Enjoying a glass of wine.
Here's a shot of it on a different day, with a different couple...
Enjoying a meal and a glass of wine.
That little countertop they're at has great views of what's behind the ship.
Now this outdoor area at the back of deck 3 is where you'll find the Lookout Cafe.
That's the casual breakfast and lunch spot on the ship.
So, if you don't feel like eating at the ship's main restaurant...
It's a good alternative.
For breakfast there's eggs, bacon, sausage, a breakfast sandwich, and more.
For lunch... Pizza, burgers, hot dogs, wraps, nachos.
Here's a look at the pizza they made for me one day.
And for dessert, the Lookout Cafe has a freezer stocked with ice cream bars.
You can eat your meal out here on the outdoor deck...
Or just go in through that door there on the left...
To the Sky Lounge, where you'll find indoor seating.
The Sky Lounge is also a popular place at non-meal times, to read a book...
Play a game of cards, or to work on a jigsaw puzzle.
You'll find snacks in here 24/7.
Pastries in the morning.
Fresh cookies are brought out twice a day.
You can pour yourself a glass of wine.
And there's a commercial ice maker... And a refrigerator full of soft drinks.
Help yourself, any time.
Now we're mid-ship on deck 3.
This is the stairway that leads down from deck 4.
Here are the elevators on deck three.
And you can see the hallway where you access the cabins.
For some reason, these balcony cabins on deck 3...
Are a little more expensive than the ones on deck 2.
Yet both are the exact same size, and are basically identical inside.
So, the smart move is to book a cabin on deck 2 rather than here on deck 3.
If you walk the deck 3 hallway all the way to the front of the ship...
You'll come up to this locked door that leads to the pilothouse.
It's OK, though. You're with me... So, let me bring you in.
This is where the captain and his mate navigate and steer the ship.
On those big mega cruise ships you may have been on before, they would call it the ship's bridge.
But on this type of ship, they call it the pilothouse.
Notice that there is no steering wheel...
Like you might imagine a ship would have.
It's a lot more high-tech than that!
There are joysticks that control each of the Z-drives...
And each of the thrusters.
That's how they steer the ship.
A Z-drive is similar to the Azipods that most mega cruise ships use these days.
It's basically a propeller that can be pointed in any direction, 360 degrees.
So, instead of having a fixed propeller in one position...
And a rudder to direct the thrust...
A ship with Z-drives is steered by just pointing the Z-drive propeller in the direction you want to go.
So, there's no big steering wheel here in the pilothouse...
And there's also no paper charts.
Navigation is all electronic.
The charts are just on that screen you see there.
In addition to all the controls inside the pilothouse...
There's a duplicate set of some of the controls outside on what they call the wings.
That's basically a balcony that the captain can step on to...
In order to see the dock, and the side of the ship.
Now if you're interested in booking a cruise with ACL...
I want you to feel free to use my travel agent, Caitlin Gallagher.
She's been fully certified with American Cruise Lines...
And can help advise you on everything you need to know in choosing your next cruise.
Her services don't cost you a dime, either.
They're fully paid for by the cruise lines.
Visit Caitlin's web site at www.AmbrenTravel.com
Continuing with our tour of American Eagle...
We've completed decks 4 and 3... So, now we're midship on deck two.
And look at all that natural light pouring in from outside.
That's a smart design choice.
Now I'm walking down the hallway here on deck 2, towards the front of the ship...
And that brings us to the Chesapeake Lounge.
You'll spend a lot of time here, because...
This is where the entertainment happens in the evenings...
And this is also where they have cocktail hour, starting at 5:30 PM each day.
There are hors d'oeuvres served at cocktail hour...
And of course, cocktails.
Now if cocktail hour is not your thing...
You are welcome to go down to the restaurant...
And have dinner as early as 5:30 PM, if you'd like to, but...
Most passengers come here to the Chesapeake Lounge first...
For cocktails starting at 5:30...
And then head downstairs to the restaurant for dinner, sometime after that.
And then later in the evening, they come back here to the Chesapeake lounge again for the evening's entertainment.
At two different points during the day...
Freshly-baked cookies are set out here in the Chesapeake Lounge.
And in the evening, when the entertainment is happening...
They serve up freshly-popped popcorn...
As well as my personal favorite, ice cream sundaes.
And let me just point out that all of this...
The booze, the hors d'oeuvres, the ice cream...
It's all included, at no additional charge.
Behind the bar, you can see those big picture windows...
With a great view of everything ahead of the ship.
And on the other side of those windows is that outdoor viewing area up at the very front of the ship.
Now continuing the tour, we're still on deck two, but now...
We're headed down the hall to the back end of the ship.
Because there are two very interesting things back here I want to show you.
One is The Study, and the other is the Fitness Center.
If you want to work off some of the calories from all the delicious meals...
The fitness center is a good place for that.
And then right next door, at the far back end of deck two...
This is the room they call "The Study"...
It's a quiet little place with total privacy behind a closed door...
And I never saw anyone else back here.
There are tables and chairs...
And a desk with a computer where you can sit down and access the Internet...
And there's even a printer under the desk...
If you need to print an airline boarding pass, or anything like that.
So far, we have toured decks four, three, and two here on American Eagle.
And that brings us down to deck #1.
Where you will find the restaurant, or some might say the dining room.
And I really like what American Cruise Lines did...
In changing up the restaurant design on this new class of ships.
On previous ACL ships, the restaurant was just one big room...
Where from any given table you could see just about every other table in the restaurant.
It felt a bit like a banquet hall you might rent for a wedding reception.
But here on this new class of ships, ACL got a little more creative...
And this restaurant has a much nicer, cozy ambience to it.
What they did was put the kitchen or as they say, the galley...
In the center of the room... And build the restaurant all around it in a U shape.
What that does is make everything feel so much more cozy.
Most of the tables are right next to a window...
They have a great view as you enjoy your meal...
And you don't feel like you're in a room with 100 people because...
You only see a few other tables...
Most of the rest are hidden out of your view because of that U-shaped design of the room.
Just outside the restaurant, in the reception area near the elevators and stairwell...
Is the desk of the guest services coordinator...
Who can help you with anything you need.
The week I was aboard, Kalei was the guest services coordinator.
When I cruised on American Constitution in the Chesapeake Bay this Spring...
Kalei was my server in the restaurant.
I was so glad to see that they recognized her brilliance...
Promoted her, and put her on their brand-new ship!
And rounding out our tour of American Eagle...
I want to show you the passenger laundry facility...
Which is very well hidden...
On deck one, just around the corner from the reception area.
All passengers are welcome to use these self-service washers and dryers...
And of course, there's no charge to use them.
ACL even provides the soap pods, and the dryer sheets.
So, that's the top-to-bottom tour of American Eagle.
The first in this entirely new class of ship from American Cruise Lines.
And remember, they're going to be building 11 more ships just like it.
The next four are already under construction.
Now there may be some minor differences, but...
This tour should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect...
From every new ship that ACL puts out over the next several years.
The one thing about the new ship that was a little odd...
Is the way they've set up the Chesapeake Lounge for entertainment.
Instead of putting a stage up at the front of the room...
For some reason, they put the bar at the front of the room...
And the "stage", such as it is... Is in the center of the room...
With the audience surrounding on both sides.
It gives a kind of theater-in-the-round feeling, but unfortunately...
That results in the performers always having their backs turned to someone.
And if you walk in to the lounge while the show is in progress...
Or duck out in the middle for a bathroom break...
Everybody in the room sees you walking in or out, because...
The entryway is right behind the performers.
It's a little weird.
I think they should have put the stage where the bar is, up at the front of the room.
And that spot in the center of the room, where the performers are, should have been a dance floor...
And they should have just tucked the bar away in one of the corners of the room.
Well, maybe they'll do that with some of the 11 other Eagle-class ships that are still to come.
But please don't get me wrong. There was a lot I liked about this new ship...
And I look forward to sailing on more of these Eagle-class ships in the coming years.
They have some really sharp people running American Cruise Lines, and my guess is...
With each new ship that comes out...
They'll tweak a few things, try some new ideas...
And each new ship will end up being a little better than the ones before it.
Well, thank you for watching this entire video!
I'd really love to hear what you thought about it.
Leave me a comment here on YouTube.
And listen, I'm just getting started with videos about this cruise.
There will be at least several more in the coming weeks.
And I think the next one will probably be a shorter one...
A tour of the cabin I stayed in, and some advice about what cabin to book.
And then after that, what I think will probably be the best videos in this series:
The full story of all the places up and down the coast of Maine that the ship visited...
And all the things I did at each of those places.
Just telling that story is probably going to take two or three videos, so...
There is a lot more to come about American Eagle, here on my YouTube channel.
Subscribe to my channel (it's free)...
And click the bell icon to turn notifications on...
So that you don't miss any of my upcoming videos...
About this very nice new cruise ship, American Eagle.
I'm Jim Zim. Thanks for watching.