In today's video, I'll give you a complete tour of American Melody.
We'll work our way through the entire ship, starting up on the sun deck...
Go through all the various lounges and hangouts in the middle decks...
Show you some good places to relax onboard...
Take a look at the restaurant, that featured something that surprised me...
And I'll even give you a tour of one of the cabins... Including the bathroom...
Which had a surprisingly good shower!
And at the end, I'll show you a diagram of the secret deck, that passengers never see.
Well, there she is: American Melody...
The newest ship in the fleet for American Cruise Lines.
I did a seven-day cruise on her recently, up the Mississippi River...
Which you may have already heard about in several previous videos I put out.
Today's video is all about the layout of the ship...
And the spaces that passengers get to enjoy when they're onboard.
Let's start our tour today with a place you'll spend a lot of time in: your cabin.
This is a standard balcony cabin on American Melody.
The majority of the passenger cabins onboard the ship are pretty much just like this.
The wall art, the color of the drapes and the carpet are a little different from cabin to cabin, but...
The layout and the furnishings you see here are pretty much what you can expect...
Unless you book a suite, which is larger and set up differently.
The suites are all up on deck four.
The cabin you're looking at here is on deck two.
Every cabin has a balcony...
A great place for viewing the sights as the ship travels along the Mississippi.
There are electrical outlets and USB charging ports on both sides of the bed...
As well as at the desk.
That closet to the left of the desk has a lot of storage space, and a safe.
And this chest of drawers also offers a tremendous amount of storage.
You'd be surprised at how many cruise ship cabins do not have this much storage.
Let's take a look at the bathroom...
There's plenty of room... more than some cruise ship bathrooms have, that's for sure.
They had a really good ventilation system in the bathroom.
It did not get horribly steamed up when I used the shower.
But the thing that really impressed me was the shower.
There are two shower heads, including a rainfall shower head.
This was way better than many cruise ship showers I've seen over the years.
Now, before we go and look at the rest of the ship, let me just mention that...
American Melody was specifically designed for cruising on the Mississippi.
In order to fit under some of the bridges...
It just has four passenger decks, plus the sun deck on top.
Earlier this year I sailed on American Harmony... which has five decks.
But American Harmony sails on the Columbia River where the bridges are just a little taller.
The ship we're touring today has to go under some lower bridges on the Mississippi...
So, she only has four passenger decks.
Right now, we're up on the Sun Deck, which is the very top deck on American Melody.
There is a lot of very comfortable outdoor furniture here on the sun deck.
Some of it is out in the sun...
But there are also a lot of shady spots for those days when it's too hot in the sun.
Notice the track that goes all the way around the sun deck.
Most people walk around the track. A few may run.
The way this top deck has been designed on American Melody...
Is better than the top deck on some of the other ships in the fleet...
Where a walking track is not possible.
I've moved down to deck four now.
The Sky Lounge is a nice place at the back of deck four, with very comfortable indoor seating.
You'll find snacks back here, and you are welcome to help yourself to them at any time.
There's also coffee and tea.
Also, a refrigerator full of soft drinks. You can just help yourself.
There's also an ice machine, if you'd like your drink on ice.
Sliding glass doors at the back of the Sky Lounge will get you out to a nice outdoor deck area.
During the cruise, I spent a lot of time back here, enjoying views of what's behind the ship.
This is also the location of the Ellipse Café...
A casual dining option that's open for breakfast and lunch.
Enjoy a hamburger...
Or a pizza...
Here's the entire menu, so you can see what they offer back here.
There's a stairway that leads from this area up to the sun deck...
And that's where I was able to get these crew members to meet up for this little photo opp.
The 4th floor is where all the suites are located on American Melody.
And also, at the front of the ship, the pilot house, where the Captain navigates the ship.
Mid-ship 4th floor, near the elevators, is the High Note Lounge...
A quiet little room where you can relax, play a game of chess, chat with friends...
Or grab a book off the shelf and do some reading.
By the way, on the wall at the entrance to the lounge is this full set of deck plans.
Which shows everything on the ship including the crew-only areas.
It's very interesting to look at, especially the diagram of the crew quarters below the main deck.
Deck three is somewhere you'll spend a LOT of time...
Because up at the front of deck 3 is the River Lounge...
Where a lot of activities happen during the day, and especially in the evenings.
This is where cocktail hour happens...
And it's also where all the entertainers perform.
And where all the educational presentations are given.
This is also somewhere you can come at any hour of the day to grab a snack...
A cup of coffee or tea...
Grab a soft drink from the fridge...
And there's an ice machine here, too.
At the front of the River Lounge there's a door that leads out to this viewing area.
It's got outstanding views of what's ahead of the ship.
A great place for photographers!
Mid-ship on deck three, near the elevators, you'll find a room they call the study.
Feel free to hang out here, set up a jigsaw puzzle on the table, if you'd like.
And there are a couple of computers hooked up to the Internet, which you can use...
And there's even a printer.
At the aft end of deck three, a door leads out to a little outdoor area.
You can use this as a viewing area to see or photograph what's behind the ship.
But also, there's a stairway you can use to quickly get up to the Ellipse Café, or the sun deck...
Or to go down to the lower decks.
Which is especially handy if your cabin is located near the rear of the ship.
Deck two is mostly passenger cabins...
But there are a few interesting places hidden here on deck two.
The guest laundry facilities are here.
This is a self-serve laundry facility that you are welcome to use.
There's no charge, not even for the soap.
American Cruise Lines is not out to nickel and dime you like some cruise lines are.
Also here on deck two is the fitness facility.
They feed you well on a cruise... so, it's good to work off some of those calories.
I like that they put a TV in here...
And also that there are lots of windows so that you can enjoy the views while you work out.
Right across the hallway from the fitness facility is what they call the exercise room...
With even more equipment that you are welcome to use.
And if you have any questions about how to use any of the fitness equipment...
Just call or visit the ship's office downstairs...
And a crew member can meet you here to help you understand how everything works.
At the back of deck two, just outside the exercise rooms, there's a little viewing deck...
And a stairway leading to the upper decks.
Mid-ship deck two, near the elevators, is another small lounge where you can sit and relax...
Have a quiet conversation with new friends you've made onboard...
And also on most of these mid-ship lounges...
Look for a little doorway that leads to a balcony viewing area outside.
At the very front end of deck two there's a door that leads to what they call the bow terrace.
I'm pretty sure that that electric motor right there is what is used to lift the bow cover up...
To allow them to pop out the forward gangway at ports of call like Dubuque...
Where boarding is done out the front of the ship instead of along the sides.
Finally, that brings us down to deck one.
You'll spend a lot of time down here because this is where the restaurant is located.
I was surprised to see that the restaurant had quite a few tables for two...
Because that's different from what I saw on American Harmony earlier this year...
Which only had tables for four and tables for six.
I really liked the serving staff they had in the restaurant on American Melody.
Because this is ACL's newest ship...
They staffed it by cherry picking some of the best staff from each of the other ships in the fleet.
The server I had during my week onboard made all the difference in my overall dining experience.
Mid ship, in the lobby area of American Melody, tucked just behind the elevators...
You'll find the ship's office.
Stop by here if you need any help with anything.
And they were really sweet and helpful. I really liked this crew.
Another thing I liked was that in the lobby area, there was not just one but two restrooms.
This is handy if you need a bathroom break before, during, or after a meal...
And also when you first get back onboard after going ashore.
I guess since we've been working our way from top to bottom...
I should also mention once again the secret deck underneath the main deck.
This schematic diagram of the ship's layout shows what they call the "hold deck"...
Notice that in the crew quarters, a lot of the crew sleep three to a room.
That's the top-to-bottom tour of American Melody...
Which I shot during my October 2021 cruise up the Mississippi River.
I flew in to St Louis, Missouri, at the beginning of the week, to meet the ship.
And after the cruise ended in Red Wing, Minnesota...
One of the ACL busses drove us up to the airport at Minneapolis / St Paul, for our flights home.
If you haven't seen them already, be sure also to watch my video...
About all the things I saw and the places I visited during the cruise...
And my other video about the onboard experience such as dining and entertainment.
There are also a couple of videos I think you'd probably like...
About my Columbia River cruise on American Harmony earlier this year.
I'm Jim Zim. Thanks for watching!