Trip planning help, please?

Suzanne,
The company will provide buses leaving the boat typically at 8 and 8:30 am. The bus ride if I remember takes about a half hour to 45 minutes tops, especially since traffic flow/rush hour is going the other way (PIT is away from downtown to the south and west, I'm guessing 15 miles). If your flight is later and you plan on taking a cab, the crew doesn't mind you hanging out on the boat for a little later (Deb and I have hung out 'til 11 for instance) as long as you stay totally out of the crew's way as they are going to be real busy with cleaning and greeting new passengers arriving as early as 11 o'clock.
Got more ? Feel free to ask...
Bruno

Hi Bruno,

I didn't know the company provided buses to the airport......sweet! Is there a charge for that?

And you just answered another question........you can board at 11:00 a.m.? We're planning on visiting friends in Marietta before the cruise and we'll drive to Cincinnati from there, so we can be there bright and early and get on the boat as soon as they'll let us. 🙂

Suzanne

Turnover Day as the crew calls it- consists of trying to get everyone off the boat as early as possible so that crew members can turn things over to welcome the new passengers on as early as possible. Between 10:00am and 2:00pm there won't be available crew members to ask because they are all already busy trying to make sure people get off and on as planned.

Thus the bus runs (and available taxi service) between airport and boat all day at frequent intervals. It is pretty busy on such days. But if your flight was not booked through the same travel agent, the bus driver won't know to be looking for you. You have to tell someone.

However, make sure before you get on your flights that you have checked with your travel agent or the boats themselves for any changes in itinerary. One of the aspects of people who have arranged their own air fares is that changes do not get passed along in a timely manner. Changes can happen for any number of reasons just like airlines have flight delays. If passengers are being bused from Marietta to Cincinnati because of some problem- how would you know?

You will have the time of your life! And pack light! Remember there is little if any space available in rooms aboard a steamboat- plus I notice the airline industry keeps substituting smaller planes so I have reached the conclusion that one should travel with lots of cash or credit cards and one of those portable zipped up bags that unfolds into a suitcase for their trip back home. It is a bizarre way to travel but it works.

The only charge on the bus is what you choose to tip the driver for help with the luggage. But, again, the bus company won't have you on a list unless someone tells them to put you on the list. There is plenty of room most of the time but tell whom you booked your tickets with of your ground transporation needs. You can also ask if your friends can be your guests to see you on board.

Because of homeland security and other planning factors, the company may legitimately say no. But if you ask in advance, it can frequently be in the company's best interests to allow brief PR visits. So, I recommend asking if that is an appropriate option for your situation.

Be careful- you could become as addicted as Bruno and Deb- its an easy addiction to get.

Suzanne,

Your docs will say "boarding at 1 pm". But it never was a problem to board at 11 am. We did so last summer in Pittsburgh. There will be someone available to care for your luggage. Staterooms won´t be ready prior to 3 pm. And check in (purser) might not be available until 1 pm. Just show your tickets and you are able to board. As soon as the purer´s office is open you can check in, slide your credit card for your onboard purchases, let a photo be taken and get your boarding passes. Keys for your stateroom will lay on the bed.

Carmen

What Carmen and Elaine said...

The transportation from the airport to the boat and from boat to the airport are free...actually not free, as they were a part of your ticket cost. At Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International (CVG) there will be a representative from the company to greet you in baggage claim. The representative will probably be wearing a maroon Majestic America Line golf shirt and carrying a sign identifying the company. The representative will gather up your luggage and direct you to the company bus. It may be a great guy named Chip, as he followed the DQ all last year, nice guy.

Now this is important...DO NOT PUT YOUR CRUISE TICKETS IN YOUR LUGGAGE! At the airport, the company will take your luggage to put it on the bus, and the next time you will see it, it will be just outside your stateroom, on deck. As you will need your tickets to be allowed to get on board for the first time, your tickets will need to be on your person. Think of your cruise tickets as boarding passes and you can't get through security without them, same principle. Deb and I learned this the hard way, thank god the security crew recognized us...

Now you will receive your cruise ticket roughly 4 weeks before cruise date. Whether or not you booked directly with the company or through a travel agent, and even if your travel agent knows your flight and/or airport arrival times, you will receive from the company a form to fill out with your airline travel/airport arrival plans. They need this to know to have somebody at the airport at the right time to greet you and direct you to the bus. Same goes for your travel plans when you will be leaving the boat, the company needs to know whether to put you on an early bus or to allow you a later bus time. Make sure you fill out the form with all airline/arrival info and get it back to the company.

You will also be given luggage tags with your tickets. Fill them out, but do not put them on your luggage until you are at the baggage claim at CVG, as Deb and I have had the tags tear off in transit. The tags tell the porters which stateroom the luggage is to go to as they are carried onto the boat. At this time, at the baggage claim, I suspect you will see a bunch of people with Majestic America Line tagged baggage, wearing all kinds of Delta Queen and Steamboatin' memorabilia standing arround with really silly grins on their faces, whispering to each other about "the boat". These will be your fellow cruisemates, and this is a great time to start talking to the friendliest group of people you will ever meet, I can't say that enough...

May 5th, 5 nights right? Great, very pretty part of the Ohio River, with wonderful river towns to explore. And the view of Pittsburgh's point the last day is something else, but I'm biased being a 'burgher, myself. The boat will be moored that last day on the north bank of the very, very beginning of the Ohio, if you know anything about Pittsburgh, you will be docked where Three Rivers Stadium used to be, just upstream from the Science Center and it's WWII submarine...

Now if you have more questions feel free to ask. This little group of lunatics we have here lives to convince people to love THEIR boat, the LEGENDARY ONE, the Delta Queen. Trust me, you're gonna love it. However, I suggest you search through past forum postings within the last year and a half, there have been a gazillion posts about what the grand ol' lady is like. You might find some interesting topics, you might even see pictures of what your exact stateroom looks like (don't let the size of the room scare you, some of us, especially me, are BIG people and we enjoy even the smallest staterooms), and you may have some questions answered that quite frankly you probably didn't know needed to be answered. Especially look for postings by David Dewey, starting around January 2007.

But again feel free to ask, we love answering this stuff...

Ok, I'm just too curious...Suzanne, what stateroom are you in?

Great Stuff

Great stuff. You folks really make it all sound so exciting- a classic example that "word of mouth" is the best advertising. Having never been a passenger on a steamboat cruise, but coming from the opposite perspective, I am hearing another side of the steamboatin' experience. But believe me, getting the boat turned around and ready for departure with a boatload of happy guests "with silly grins on their faces" is just as exciting and rewarding as riding, I'm sure.

Sam, ever thought about taking a ride? ...seeing the other side? I know there are a mess of us that would love to hear your stories.

Speaking way off topic, I just saw some incredible pencil portraits of you and your fellow crewmates, done in 1971, as printed in the S&D Reflector. You make my Fumanchu moustach of the same time period look a little girlie-mon 🙂

The '70's

Those were done by the late Captain Lloyd Ostendorf of Dayton, Ohio. Lloyd, wife Rita, and daughter Roxanne were aboard for a trip (the girls also were featured as dancers with Vic Tooker and the RB Ramblers), when he did pencil portraits of many of us that Cap'n Way published in the REFLECTOR.

That stache, by the way, was as wide as my shoulders when pulled out. The '70's were incredible times; a great time to be young. Then it was hair, now it's tattoos and piercings.

Hi Suzanne,
Bruno covered it very well, and I would have posted sooner with similar info, but I'm kinda busy helping take care of my Mom & Dad, as Dad had a stroke last Saturday (while driving down I-80--Mom saved the day by turning off the ignition and rubbing the car against a guard rail to stop it--WOW!). While he's doing very well (His left side was parallized, but the motion is returning--he can even walk now) we have been busy transporting him to a rehab center and getting mom settled into a friends house which she can "house sit" while they're on vacation. Things should get back to normal soon, and I can get back to posting rabid DQ fetish stories, etc. You're going to LOVE the trip! Trust us!!
S'
David Dewey

PS,
Now that I've posted it, I think that picture was taken by Bruno, not me, I'll check later--meantime, my apologies to whomever took it!
S'
David D.

David, great to hear your Dad's doing a bit better. You know New York has been praying a little.

That picture isn't one of mine, I'm pretty sure. Really nice picture though, especially with the uniqueness of very early morning AND the stack being down. Actually, I suspect that the picture was taken early evening from the amount of people on deck, just a little unusual to have the river like glass in the evening, I think.

...saved to my desktop pictures file...

Thanks to all of you for all the great information! I think I'm going to print it all out for future reference so I don't forget anything.

You all helped us out back in November, too, when we were trying to decide what type of cabin to choose. (We're in 215.) And I did indeed read lots of posts.......and particularly enjoyed all your pictures, Dave. The ol' MAL website and brochure are both totally devoid of pictures of the boat, so yours were like gold! I loved the ones of your dad flying the kite. I hope he's doing better.

(I just dug up some old pictures my mom took of the DQ back in 1975 when we lived in Marietta and posted them to the forum, too.)

Yep, we're on the 5-day cruise, Cincinnati to Pittsburgh.
I'm looking forward to seeing Pittsburgh, Bruno. I have fond memories from my one and only trip there. I went for a few days with a friend and her parents (they were from Pittsburgh and still had family there). It was over the 4th of July. We went sailing on a lake, went to Kennywood, saw a baseball game at Three Rivers Stadium, and watched the fireworks from Point Park. I had a great time.

We haven't booked any plane tickets yet, as we haven't quite decided if we'll be visiting our friends in Marietta before or after the cruise. It's looking like before right now, and we'll be flying home from Pittsburgh.

Are you getting crazy weather up north, Dave? I'm down in the valley near Modesto. The rain just started again here. It's supposed to pour tonight and tomorrow. I love a good storm, as long as I don't have to be out in it. 🙂

Thank you all again for all the information. We're really looking forward to the trip. We've wanted to go for, oh......30 years now. It took the "retirement" of the DQ to get us in gear. I'm sure we're going to kick ourselves for not having gone sooner.

Suzanne

Ah, Kennywood. Much of my summers growing up were counting the days until the school outing to Kennywood...

Nice Pictures. I especially like the little stained glass lights over the calliope console, I wonder where they went? And I wonder who had the guts to say "today we strip that ugly red paint off the console?" Also, did the crew warn the passengers that hoards of "tourists" were coming onboard, and to be careful to lock your stateroom?

So, 1975 still had the two portholes, the circus was up, no wing bridge stairs, "Voyages to America", short stack and the funnel ventilators were still present. I'm slowly getting it down...and the Spirit of '76 Flag on the bow was just so cool...

Bruno, the calliope console was originally just galvanized steel, painted red. It had to be scraped and repainted periodically. I'm not sure when they built/installed the brass console, though I do like it much better. That console you see in the pics, by the way, was the second console for that instrument...the original was the same general shape, but much smaller, and had only one 32 note manual. The larger one was put on with the addition of the Unafon and its larger (lower) manual, around 1971 or 1972.

I cannot remember if anyone was warned about hoards of tourists, but that was a common occurence. It kind of grew out of the '70's "Save The DELTA QUEEN" campaign, as the idea was to let people along the rivers see the boat and what she had to offer. Who knows what the percentage was of tourists who eventually booked a trip as a result of those visits, but I'm sure they paid off. What used to happen was that we would charge a small fee (50 cents or so) for admission, and this went to the "Captain's Fund" which went for crew parties (bought kegs of beer, limberger cheese, etc.) and also for other things like maybe a VCR (when they were new and expensive and not ubiquitous), or some other special item the crew might like. By the way, every time I was on as a passenger and always as a crew member (even in the Sun Deck Officer's Quarters) I, and everyone else, always kept our doors locked.

"Who" knows what happened to a lot of things like the stained glass lights above the calliope, the beautiful brass running lights, the old brass-backed searchlights, etc. Someone does, but no one admits it!

Bob, thanks! You know I always assumed that the calliope console was the same one, as those disgustingly cute brass cherubs on the sides seem to still be there, are they the same ones, someone transfered those from old to new?...and is that the Unafon on the deck, with even more "circus" around it, to the right of Gabe as he's playing? And I noticed the "Delta Queen" above the console used to be white background, now black. and the stateroom windows were painted beige?

Bruno, correct on all counts. I guess the window frames are now stained/varnished? I can't really recall. I do know the doors are now. The stripping of paint from stateroom doors was a project undertaken by Commodore Harold DeMarrero in the early 1980's.

While I can't really lament the removal of the Unafon, I like the natural wood much better. I also like the portholes in the splashboard as opposed to the big windows, but we each have our own likes & dislikes!

Suzanne, I thought your name sounded familiar, I went back and re-read your questions from September, sorry didn't at first recognize you...
And now I know you'll be staying in the Mullen Suite...nice room! Deb and I have stayed in 216 which is a mirror of 215, we always liked that room...