In today's video, we'll take a closer look at the river cruise ship American Harmony.
I'll take you on a full tour of every deck of the ship, from top to bottom.
Everything from comfortable outdoor spaces for enjoying the views...
To the not-so-secret locations of snacks and drinks. Just help yourself!
And another perk, laundry facilities you can use at no extra charge.
I'll give you a look at a standard balcony cabin...
And then show you the roomier suite that I was in for this cruise.
So, here we go, starting out at the very top deck, which is deck 6.
This is a sun deck that has some loungers, as well as tables and chairs.
A small putting green for the golfers to get a little practice in...
And at the front of deck six a little walkway leads to some stairs that take you to deck 5.
Here's those stairs on deck 5 that lead you up to the sun deck on deck 6.
And that door leads to the forward cabins on deck 5.
Through that door is this hallway for the suites on deck 5.
And I'm backing out now in to the vestibule in the middle of the ship.
From here we can enter the first of many little lounge rooms you'll find on the ship.
This one is known as the chart room.
If you're travelling with family or friends...
These little lounges that they have on many of the decks...
Are perfect places for you to get together, have a little privacy...
Be as loud as you want without worrying that other guests will be hearing every word you say.
There are also a few books in here, if you want a quiet place to read.
And a few jigsaw puzzles that you are welcome to work on.
Back out in the vestibule in the middle of deck 5.
Two elevators are all they need for a ship that carries less than 200 passengers.
And if you'd rather just take the stairs to get a little exercise...
Those are here as well.
I like the way this skylight makes the whole area bright and airy.
And those big windows also make this area seem very sunny and open.
We're walking away from the elevator area now… And down the hallway towards the aft of the ship.
These doorways on the left and the right lead to the suites here on deck 5.
And this door at the end of the hallway leads us out to another nice sun deck...
With lots of comfortable seating, some it shaded, some not, if you want to catch some sun.
This is a great place to just sit and watch the scenery go by...
And to get to know your fellow passengers.
One other nice thing out here on the sun deck on deck five is a little powder room.
It's nice to not have to walk all the way back to your cabin if you need it.
Now the 4th deck is really where the action is.
Up at the front of deck 4 is the Magnolia Lounge...
With fantastic views ahead of the ship out those big picture windows.
And this is where a lot of the social events are held...
As well as entertainment in the evenings...
Presentations from the onboard historian...
And at 5:30 PM every day, it's cocktail hour!
This is a very popular place at Cocktail hour!
I had some really nice chats with some of the other passengers over cocktails here.
And, during cocktail hour, they also serve up some nice hors d'oeuvres.
Also, you'll always find granola bars up here in the Magnolia Lounge...
And there is a commercial ice machine, where you can grab ice for your cabin...
And there's always coffee and tea here, too.
A doorway up at the front of the Magnolia Lounge will take you out to a really great viewing deck.
Fantastic views out here of everything ahead of the ship.
Mid-ship on deck 4, this is the elevator landing area, and stairway area.
One thing I want to point out is that in this area on each of the floors...
You'll find a doorway that leads out to a balcony area on the port side of the ship.
There are rocking chairs out here.
And this is a great place to chat with a friend while you take in the views.
If your cabin is on the starboard side of the ship...
And you want to see the view on the port side...
Just come out to one of these mid-ship balconies, near the stairs.
Also on deck 4, mid-ship, behind the elevators...
Is another lounge where you are welcome to just hang out and read a book...
Or work on a jigsaw puzzle...
Or chat with your friends in a more private setting than out on deck.
Also, if you need to get on the Internet, there's a computer here you can use.
There's even a printer, in case you need to print anything.
One other nice thing here, mid-ship on deck four, is a powder room.
That’s especially handy during cocktail hour each evening…
Which happens just down the hall at the Magnolia Lounge.
Now we're heading down the hallway on deck four towards the aft end of the ship...
And here at the aft is the Sky Lounge. A great place to socialize.
There is some very comfortable seating here.
This is also where they have arts & crafts classes during the day.
And it's also the not-so-secret location of snacks and soft drinks...
That you are welcome to take with you back to your cabin.
Or pour yourself a glass of wine.
And just outside of the Sky lounge…
Is a nice little outdoor area with views of what's behind the ship.
At lunch time, this is a very popular place...
Because this is where you'll find the Back Porch Cafe...
Where they will grill you up a hamburger or hot dog.
You can also get pizza, wraps, chips & salsa, or nachos.
They also have a freezer full of ice cream novelties at the back porch cafe.
I especially liked the ice cream sandwiches!
Now let's move down to deck 3.
This is basically a deck full of cabins.
At the forward end, there is an entrance to the ship's pilothouse...
But passengers do not have access to that, of course.
The captain's cabin is also up there, just behind the pilothouse.
As we get back here to the mid ship area...
You have the stairs and elevators just like on all the other floors.
But next to the elevators is the biggest point of interest here on deck 3...
The fitness center.
The ship carries so few passengers that the fitness center only has to be big enough for a few people to use at a time.
I think that's actually a positive.
If my wife and I were in there using the equipment...
I'd like the fact that we wouldn't have 50 other people watching and listening to us...
Like you might have in the fitness center of a big ocean-going cruise ship.
Heading down the hallway to the aft end of deck 3...
More cabins... And at the very end of the hallway...
This door takes you out to a stairwell that you can use to get up to the sun deck on deck 3.
On to deck two now...
Again, it's mostly just passenger cabins on this deck.
Walking up to the forward end, this door leads to an area at the bow of the ship.
This is mostly an area for the crew. Not much of interest here for passengers.
Mid-ship deck two, on the other side of the glass there at the stairway...
Is one of those balconies with rocking chairs. A nice place to relax.
And then to the left of the elevators is the library.
A great place to play cards with family or friends.
And there is a balcony that you can step out on to...
For views of what's to the right of the ship.
It's a good option for people with aft-side cabins…
Who want to see what's going on on the starboard side.
There's not a whole lot of books in the library, but...
I suspect that if you're going to read a book on a cruise...
You're probably much more likely to read a book that you brought...
Rather than some random book you saw in the ship's library.
Heading down the hallway towards the aft end of the ship...
Of course, passenger cabins to the left and right...
And at the end of the hallway... A little lounge called the River Lounge.
Nicely set up with comfortable furniture.
There's also snacks here...
Soft drinks...
Coffee...
And a commercial ice maker.
If you've got a cabin on deck two...
You're going to be coming down here all the time to grab things to take back to your cabin.
There's a patio outside with views of what's behind the ship, but...
Just be aware that this is right above the ship's engines...
So, it's quite noisy back here.
You're really not going to want to spend much time back here...
And you definitely don't want to book a cabin right next to the River Lounge.
The engine noise would drive you crazy!
Now we've made it down to the main deck, deck one.
The main feature down here is the dining room.
You'll have all your breakfasts here... Your dinners here...
You can have your lunch here, or up at the Back Porch Grill on deck four.
Or, on some days, you might eat ashore.
The tables here in the dining room are tables for four and tables for six.
There are no tables for two.
So, in many cases you'll be sharing a table with other passengers.
I actually met some really interesting people this way.
Outside the dining room, at the bottom of the stairs...
Those double doors there... that's the ship's office.
Or what on an ocean cruise ship they would call "Guest Services".
This area here is one of the possible locations of the gangway that leads ashore.
It just depends on where the ship is docked.
Behind the elevators, in this area here...
To the right there's a powder room.
Very conveniently located just a few steps from the dining room.
And this area here is another possible location for the gangway ashore...
Depending on where the ship is docked.
Heading towards the front of the main deck... Down the hallway here on deck one...
These cabins on the left and right... Cabins 123 through 128...
I'm pretty sure they usually use those as crew cabins...
And as we get a little further down the hallway here...
These doors on the left and right are for crew only.
We're making our way towards the bow of the ship.
Another one of the possible gangway locations... Depending on where the ship is docked.
And indeed today, this is the gangway we're using to get ashore.
We have walked down a lot of hallways on this tour, but...
Haven't popped in to any cabins yet, so let's do that now!
This is the most common kind of cabin onboard the ship.
It's one of the standard balcony cabins.
Notice that on the left side of the desk, there's a coffee maker.
The beds in this cabin have been set up as a double bed.
Let me show you the other possible arrangement.
Here's the same basic type of cabin...
But with the beds set up as two singles.
And I'm just shooting from the other side of the cabin...
So, you can see the sliding door that leads out to the private balcony.
And finally, if you'd like more room than a standard balcony cabin... This is what you want to book.
This is what they call a suite.
The suites are all up on deck five.
These are larger than the standard balcony cabins.
In a suite, you have a little refrigerator behind that door on the right side of the desk.
That's handy to keep some soft drinks or a bottle of wine chilled in your cabin.
There are bath robes in the closet of a suite. The other cabins don't have those.
And most importantly, you also have a larger bathroom...
And a larger shower in a suite.
The bed in our suite was extremely comfortable! I slept very well.
The odd thing though... I've been on 52 ocean cruises before this...
And there was always enough room to stash my luggage under the bed.
But on American Harmony, the beds just sit a little too low to the ground...
And luggage could not fit underneath.
If you're interested in booking a cruise with American Cruise Lines...
Or any other cruise line...
Feel free to use the services of my travel agent, Caitlin Gallagher.
It's not about the price. In most cases, a travel agent doesn't get you a better price...
Then you could get by booking it yourself... Directly with the cruise line.
It's about having someone to make things easier for you...
To keep you from making any rookie mistakes...
And having someone to do the dirty work for you.
To be the one stuck on hold with the cruise line, so you don't have to.
So, take my advice! Contact my Travel Agent, Caitlin Gallagher.
Get Caitlin working for you.