Marcia Frost

My friend, Lynn, and I had a good night’s sleep at the Radison Blu Mall of America , but we knew we had a very full day ahead. It started with breakfast in the hotel’s conference room with the other passengers to be on our American Queen voyage. Everyone was friendly and we were all excited to be embarking on this journey in the afternoon. River cruises work differently than ocean liners when it comes to check-in. Since there is no cruise port for everyone to gather in and check-in, it’s done in the hotel. This was pretty much the only thing in our weeklong trip that was disorganized. They used temporary workers in the port and we would later learn that most of the information we were given was wrong. Everyone tried to keep their cool and figured they’d straighten things (like dinner seatings and excursions) on the ship. When I found out I would have a free day in the Minneapolis area I wanted to finally visit Paisley Park, Prince’s former home. I thought it would work out, bu...

Like most of the world, I haven’t taken any big trips the last few years. Getting on an airplane or a cruise ship has not seemed like a good idea for someone who is immunocompromised. An opportunity came up that made me rethink this. American Queen Voyages is not your usual cruise line. The majority of their cruises are wholly within the United States (a few stop in Canada). Their ships are all small and they have four riverboats with wide open areas so you are not ever waiting on lines for food or disembarking with thousands of people. I was offered a cruise that was entirely in the Midwest, so if there were any health issues, I could be home within a few hours drive. I have to confess that it was also nice to not have to worry about tropical storms and rough waters as we would only be on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. The ship I was heading to is the America Queen, christened by godmother Priscilla Presley in 1995, and refurbished 12 years later. It’s the largest of th...