Ship Tour of American Melody - The Newest Mississippi River Cruise Ship

[Music] 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 on board 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 on board 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 arts 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 showerhead 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 sundeck 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 4 now a sky lounge is a nice place at the back of deck 4 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 cafe 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 op the fourth 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 midship fourth 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 3 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 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 that's got outstanding views of what's ahead of the ship a great place for photographers midship on deck 3 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 3 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 cafe 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 2 is mostly passenger cabins but there are a few interesting places hidden here on deck 2. 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 2 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 2 just outside the exercise rooms there's a little viewing deck and a stairway leading to the upper decks midship deck 2 near the elevators is another small lounge where you can sit and relax have a quiet conversation with new friends you've made on board and also on most of these midship lounges look for a little doorway that leads to a balcony viewing area outside at the very front end of deck 2 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 on board made all the difference in my overall dining experience midship 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 on board 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 into 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 buses 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

Channel: Jim Zim

Views: 68,910

Keywords: American Melody, American Cruise Line, American Cruise Lines, cruise ship, ship, river, Mississippi, boat, cruise, vacation, review, tour, Jim Zim, Jim Zimmerlin

Id: T-eeGyjNaw0

Length: 11min 23sec (683 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 17 2021