Columbia & Snake Rivers Cruise on the
American Harmony
10/6/25 to 10/21/25

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Page 1 – Pre-Trip in Portland, OR
Page 2 – Embarkation, Ship; Kalama, WA; Astoria, OR
Page 3 – Ports of Call: The Dales, OR; Richland, WA;
Page 4 - Ports of Call: Clarkston, WA; Post-Trip to Walla Walla, WA

Ship

The American Harmony was built in 2019 and has a capacity of 180 guests. It is an American flagged ship. With all the ports being in the USA, we didn’t have to deal with immigration anywhere. We were impressed with how well the ship was maintained. The ship ran very smoothly and quietly. Being on a river makes a difference, but we never felt engine noise or vibration. It looked like a new ship. We also liked the layout with so many public areas for reading, lounging, playing games, etc. Below are deck plans.

As with most cruise lines, we found the crew to be very friendly and helpful in any way they can. A difference I noticed with this ship was that the crew worked wherever they were needed, rather than just in their primary job category. Normally dining staff moves around to other dining jobs and housekeeping just does housekeeping. On this ship, the housekeepers also worked in the dining room and bars. The waiters worked in bars and helped when needed in housekeeping.

The various public rooms are shown below.

Dining (Link to Menus)

I have included copies of the menus for the main dining room along with photos of some of the food items at the Menus link just above and at the top of each page of the review.

The Restaurant - There is only one restaurant on the ship. It is located at the back of the ship on deck 1. We were surprised at how much space there was between tables. Very unusual on a cruise ship. Most tables sat four guests, but there were a few tables for six.

On the first day, we sat at one of the tables for six. That is when we met our waiter/server Bradford. He has a great personality and was so much fun. He also took very good care of us. We decided right then that we would try to sit at his table every chance we could. He made dining times very special and most enjoyable for our group.

River cruises have many less menu items than large cruise ships, so you hope that what they do have is something you like. On this cruise we were blown away by how delicious almost every item we had was. We couldn’t believe how well prepared and seasoned almost everything was. For example, I have never had a decent cup of gumbo on any cruise. It just normally doesn’t taste like gumbo. On this cruise, we all agreed that the gumbo was some of best we have ever had. We had the same opinion on some of the meat, fish and desserts too.

Back Porch Café – This is a very small kitchen located at the back of the ship on deck 4 behind the Sky Lounge. They make the normal grill fare like hamburgers and hot dogs, but they also make some items in the morning and snacks during the day. The guacamole and hot sauce with chips was a popular item. If you wanted to order something, the procedure was to order from one of the waiters in the lounge. They would put a metal stand with a number on your table and bring your food to the table when it was ready.

The breakfast sandwiches and burritos were very good, even though we didn’t order any. The burgers and hot dogs were too, although the chef normally waited too long to put the cheese on the burger so that it didn’t melt enough.

Lounges (Link to Menus)

Sky Lounge – This lounge on deck 4 is at the back of the ship. It is a very comfortable room with nicely padded couches and chairs. With it being surrounded by windows, it is a great place to watch scenery pass by when on the river.

This lounge was also where the early riser's breakfast was served daily starting at 6:30 AM. It was a very nice spread. Combining it with the food from the Back Porch Cafe was a very popular breakfast choice.

This is the main bar on the ship with the largest selection of spirits.

With American Cruise Lines, all drinks are included with the fare, so there is no extra charge for any drinks. Each evening happy hour would start at 5:30 PM, the same time as dinner starts in the restaurant. Very nice appetizers are served during happy hour, plus you can choose from a selection of cheeses, dips, vegetables and crackers on a tray near the bar. I at first wondered why they didn’t start happy hour before dinner. Then I realized that by starting at the same time it reduced the number of people that would go to the restaurant when it opened.

We were very pleased with the service received at this bar. Jim and Kathleen like negronis. When they ordered one the first day, the bartender told them they didn’t have Campari, a major ingredient of the drink. He said that he would get some the next day. Sure enough, the next day he got off the ship to purchase Campari for their negronis. Now that is service!

River Lounge – This is the main room for large meetings and the evening entertainment. It is located at the front of deck 4. There are lots of chairs spread around in addition to a few couches. They also have happy hour in this lounge with a food cart for snacks and drinks served at the bar in the back of the room.

Each evening at 8:00 PM, a port preview meeting was held to tell us about the port we would be visiting the next day. It was given by our enrichment speaker, which made it educational and informative. At 8:20 PM we would have a Chart Your Course session. The Cruise Director would tell us what was planned for those that stayed on the ship the next day and the Excursion Director told us about the various excursions that were available. When they finished at 8:30 PM, the evening entertainment would start. A very nice feature was that anyone could watch all of the activities in the River Lounge on channel 28 on their in-room TV.

There was a nice area outside in front of the lounge that could be accessed by doors on either side of the room. I used it to take photos when we were going through some of the locks.

Deck 5 Lounge – There are lounges on the starboard side of decks 2-5. The deck 5 lounge was a comfortable room with club chairs and a couch.

Deck 4 Lounge – This lounge on deck 4 in the middle of the ship is a nice bright cheerful room. There was a chess set table and the other tables were used for other games during the day.

The Study - The deck 3 lounge is called the Study. It has a conference table and other seating, along with two computers and a printer for guest use. There was a door to a veranda to get outside viewing. This space was previously used for the fitness center.

Deck 2 Lounge – The lounge on deck 2 felt like a living room. It was a very nice area. This lounge also had a door to a veranda to get outside viewing

Other

Vestibules – On each of the five inside decks there is a vestibule containing the stairs and two elevators. This was the first river ship that we have been on that had two real elevators instead of a single mini elevator that only goes to a couple floors.

There is also an outside sitting area that can be accessed from each of the vestibules on deck 2 through 5 on the port side of the ship.

The deck 1 vestibule is the entry deck for the ship.

When entering the ship after an excursion, they usually had a table set up with coffee and a nice alcholic beverage. It was a nice touch. In addition to cold cocktails, they also had hot drinks like Kahlua coffee.

There was a nice piece of artwork on deck 1. As with many of the decorations on the ship, it celebrated America.

Behind the elevators on deck 1 is a powder room

Sun Decks – The largest Sun Deck is on deck 5. It is a very nice area that is partially covered for sun protection. There is a lot of furniture available for those wanting to enjoy it.

The Sun Deck on deck 4 was popular because it is very handy just behind the Sky Lounge. It is also where the Back Porch Cafe is located.

The Sun Deck on deck 6 can only be accessed by stairs from the deck 5 sun deck. In addition to a small putting green, they had a corn-hole game set up.

There is a small area on deck 2 on the front of the ship that can be entered, but most of the space can only be used by the crew

Fitness Center – At the back of deck 2 on the port side is a small fitness center.

It shares space with a seating area on the starboard side. It was strange to have these two together. I wouldn’t want to work out while a group was watching me. The entire room used to be lounge before merging it with the fitness center, which was in the space currently being used as the deck 3 lounge. I guess that space was too crowded for the equipment.

Behind the fitness center is an outdoor area at the back of the ship. I wouldn't think that it wouild be frequently used with all the other more desireable areas available.

Ship’s Office – At one side of the deck 1 vestibule is the ship’s office. Other than the first day, I never saw it being manned by anyone. Also when I tried to call the office, I was only able to leave a message for a call back.

Laundry - Just off the deck 2 vestibule next to the elevator is a small laundry with 3 sets of over/under washer/dryers. Soap pods were provided in a bucket in the room. It kept busy, but we were able to do our wash when we needed to. The ship did not provide any laundry services.

Online Information

American Cruise Lines doesn’t have an app like most of the major cruise lines, but they do have a web app that functions similarly. It allowed us see the day’s schedule of activities, excursions booked and available, entertainment and menus. When looking at the menus for the day, you could check off what you wanted to order. This was just used for the kitchen to have an idea of how much to cook, not what you would receive when you sat down to eat. You could still change your mind when you went to the dining room, since the waiters didn’t know what your selections were.

Cabin

We were in Premium Balcony cabin #405 in the forward port side of the ship. Being on deck 4 worked out very well, since we could easily walk to the River Lounge for the information sessions, port talks and entertainment. However, at night we could hear music from the River Lounge during the entertainment hour. Since I was normally there, it wasn't an issue for me. Having the Sky Lounge just down the hall for happy hours or the early riser breakfast was also a plus. The cabin was a nice size at 350 Sq. Ft. We were pleased with the drawer space. The closet was small, but it was only a 7-day cruise, so it worked out fine.

The bathroom was very functional with a nice size shower. There was plenty of counter and drawer space too.

The balcony was a nice size for a river ship. We did use it more than I thought we would.

Each of the end tables have light fixture that have a US 3-prong plug and a USB-A jack. The end table next to the window also has an alarm clock with two 3-prong plugs and two USB-A jacks.

Below the dresser is a very small safe behind a door

We had a very sweet cabin attendant from the Ukraine, Anya. She kept our cabin in good shape and worked in the bars and restaurants when she wasn't taking care of cabins. She kept busy.

Entertainment

Each night at 8:30 PM, there would be entertainment in the River Loung. It would last for a full hour and could be watched from your cabin on the TV if you didn’t want to go to the lounge. My expectations are normally low on a small river cruise ship, but on this one we were very pleased with the quality of the performances.

Performers

Kevin Neil - His performance was called Cowboys and Curmudgeons. He is a very funny guy with clever jokes. The audience really enjoyed his show.

Mario Carboni – His tag line is “The Honkey Tonk Rebel”. He is quite the entertainer. In addition to his most enjoyable music, he shared some moving stories of performers he has worked with, some very well-known. In one song, he covered the keyboard and played through the material. That takes some talent.

Joe Stoddard – Joe is a singer, comedian and impersonator. He kept the audience entertained with so many different stories while singing his songs. It was a good show. He did do a funny Elvis impersonation. This is his website: https://www.joestoddardshow.com

Gosia & Ali – They were the onboard entertainment for the whole cruise, but they also performed in the River Lounge evening performance a couple times. Gosia, the woman singer and flute player, also did a morning stretch program each day at 7:30 AM in the River Lounge. I was surprised at how many people showed up every day. She was also quite a good singer. Ali, the male singer, was an outstanding guitarist. He performed a couple of outstanding solos in the first show. Their first show was much better to me than the second one, but I enjoyed both. Their website is: https://gosiaandali.com

The People – We had a group referred to as the Nez Perce Cultural Ambassadors on the last night of the cruise. They were from an indigenous tribe that helped Louis and Clark succeed on their quest when they were in big trouble. In addition to performing their traditional song and dance, they told folklore that has been passed down for many generations. It was most entertaining.

They told us about the treaty they had with the US and passed around a replica “Indian Peace Medal” that was given to the various chiefs when they signed their peace treaties.

Activities

Enrichment Speaker -

Steve Marking – We had an excellent speaker for the cruise that refers to himself as a Riverlorian. Steve defines that as:
“One who studies rivers and shares all aspects of navigation, nature, history, legends & lore with anyone who will listen. This could expand into river related topics that interest the Riverlorian and possibly even the audience.”

He had several talks telling us about the Lewis and Clark expedition. He also had talks about other river related subjects. He normally does talks on American Cruise Lines’ Mississippi cruises. This was the first time he has been on the Columbia, so he had a lot of research to do and slide/video preparation to make for this cruise. He would work late into the night after going out on tours to be able to create more material for his talks. We learned a lot from him, plus he is a heck of a nice guy. He also got involved in all of the social activities during the cruise. He was a very busy guy but always had time to answer questions or just chat with the passengers. Here is a link to his website: https://stevenmarking.com

Ports of Call

Kalama, WA

The main tour for the port of Kalama is to visit Mt. St. Helens. Almost everyone on the ship was going on the tour, including us. Our friends chose to just explore Kalama, since they had previously been to the mountain. Rather than docking, we pulled up to the side of the river to disembark. We couldn’t dock at the main port for some reason.

The Harmony can open the front of the ship for the passengers to disembark. This would be a first for us. I went to the upper deck to see how this was done. It did look strange. The crew had put out blue plastic mats for the passengers to be able to walk across the sand. It was a good thing, since it had rained during the night.

I went downstairs to see what it looked like from inside the ship. It was kind of a cool way to disembark.

When we did disembark, I was able to take photos of the whole ship that shows better what they did.

After getting on land, we met our guide for the day, Craig. He was the first of the great guides we had on all the American Cruise Lines excursions.

We were very impressed with the busses that were used for the tours. The busses followed us along the river and were there for all our excursions. Another plus was that we had the same excellent friendly bus drivers. We also appreciated that the front of the bus dropped down to allow passengers to enter and exit. It was really nice.

Our first stop on the tour was at the State of Washington Mt. St. Helens Silver Lake Visitor Center. With the federal government shutdown closing down the federal visitor center that is closer to the mountain, we were very glad that the state had one that was open.

As we entered the building, we saw the large photo of the Mt. St. Helens eruption above the lobby area.

The center had lots of displays about the volcano’s 1980 eruption. It was an interesting place about a terrible disaster that killed 57 people and destroyed 200 homes along with bridges, highways and railroad lines.

After leaving the building, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery around the building.

On the way to our next stop, Craig pointed out the thick forests that the lumber companies planted after the eruption. It was great to see how well the forests had come back after being knocked down and covered with volcanic ash.

As we were driving up in elevation, the clouds were getting thicker. We hoped that it would be clearer when we arrived at the Castle Lake Viewpoint, the closest we could get to the mountain. When we arrived, we were so disappointed that we were basically fogged in. We walked up to the viewpoint and confirmed that we couldn’t see anything.

When we got back to the ship, we got a view of the open front from the other side.

Before we left for our next port the sun came out and brought us a rainbow. It was a sign that we would have great weather for the rest of the trip, and we did.

Astoria, OR

Astoria was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The dock is located near the Columbia River Maritime Museum, the official state maritime museum of Oregon.

Our first excursion of the day was what the cruise line calls a Premium Excursion to Cape Disappointment that cost $55 per person. The line also has another more expensive category of tours called Signature Excursions. Since the other two couples had previously been there, they passed on it. There were 35 people on the tour. We had another wonderful guide, Paige.

Paige directed our attention to the 4.2-mile-long Astoria-Megler Bridge that crossed the Columbia River. It opened in 1966 and is the longest continuous truss bridge in the country and the second longest in the world.

I took a photo of it earlier in the morning to get a photo with the whole bridge in it. I also took a photo of the far end of it.

The drive to the Cape Disappointment area was about an hour. As expected, the scenery on the way made it an enjoyable ride. But it wasn’t possible to get decent photos from the bus. Paige told us where the name Cape Disappointment came from. In 1788, a British fur trader mistook the mouth of the Columbia River for a bay that he couldn’t enter due to a shallow shoal. So, he missed out on discovering the Columbia River. It is also where Lewis and Clark were trapped by fierce costal storms for over a week in 1805.

Our first stop was at Waikiki Beach, not the more famous one. This one was very different. With the beach being surrounded on all sides by piles of dead trees, it was difficult to even get a good view of the beach. Plus with the sun shining directly at us from the water, it was most challenging to even take a photo toward the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse high on the mountain. It is a shame because it is a lovely area.

We next took a short drive up to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. The building is constructed on top of the US Army post Fort Canby that was built in 1852.

We first walked around the outside to get a view of the mouth of the river.

We had a good view of the north jetty.

We could also see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, built in 1856, it is the oldest operating lighthouse on the US West Coast.

Once inside the building, there were lots of displays to check out.

After returning to the ship, we had lunch. Our cruise director and guide Paige, both told us about a restaurant nearby called Mo’s. They said that the clam chowder was to die for. I ate a little less for lunch so that I would have room for some chowder. As I walked off the Harmony, there was a nice view of the maritime museum that we would be going to when I returned.

There was a very large bronze ship propeller on the museum grounds.

It was a short walk to Mo’s. I could see the large building built out on a dock. I soon came to the front door.

I ordered a cup of their well-reviewed clam chowder. It was just an outstanding bowl of clam chowder! I was so glad I succumbed to the desire to have some.

On my way back, I called Cathy at the ship to meet me at the maritime museum. We arrived at about the same time.

It is a very nice museum with many interesting displays. The first museum opened in the old city hall in 1963. The current building was opened in 1983. Another building is under construction that will expand the museum.

We had a tour in the afternoon that would take us to the Astoria Column that we could see from the street on top of Coxcomb Hill.

Our very nice and knowledgeable tour guide was Stephanie. She told us history and stories as we drove up the hill.

The 125-foot-tall column sits on top of the 600-foot elevation hill, so it can be seen from all over the town. The column was financed by the Great Northern Railway and Vincent Astor, great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, for whom the city was named. It is a monument to the natural riches of the Pacific Northwest and the people who settled there. It was dedicated in 1926 and has been renovated several times with the most recent one in 2015. It is a beautiful structure with so much detail to take in. I refrained from putting in too many photos of the column, but you can certainly see why it is such a popular tourist destination.