Tag: Ohio River

My Replacement Cruise

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. So let’s recap. After 24 cruises at sea via Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Disney – I declared that my 24TH cruise (and 16TH on Carnival) would be my final cruise ever. It was one of my greatest cruises ever on the newest and biggest ship I’d ever been on. (That was 3½ years ago in January 2023.)

Fast forward to 2025, and I was getting that cruise feeling again. Ads in print and on television for American Cruise Lines were increasingly intriguing to me. Research ensued, and during the final week of February 2026 I booked my cruise online on the Ohio River for nearly 5 months later during the latter portion of July 2026.

As I revealed in last week’s #TravelThursday (and to some museum friends a few weeks earlier) – that cruise was cancelled due to emergency drydock repairs that had to be made to the ship that I was booked on. (The ship was repaired within a week down in the Louisiana Bayou, and it resumed its regularly-scheduled voyages on the Ohio River starting with the immediate cruise after the one that I was booked on.)

I was given 3 options to proceed. One of the options was a definite no-go for me – a full refund of my cruise. Nope. I didn’t want my money back. I want to cruise a river. I want to see America. And I want to do so as soon as possible.

The other 2 options were enticing to me for different reasons. One of the options was to rebook on a 16-day / 15-night Grand Ohio Cruise for no additional charge. In other words – nearly double the cruise that I was originally booked on. It was a repositioning cruise at the end of the ship’s Ohio River season in late-August into early-September from Pittsburgh all the way to St. Louis. It would travel the entire length of the Ohio River downstream (981 miles), and then up the Mississippi River a bit (195 miles). YES PLEASE !

The caveat for that is that there must be a single balcony stateroom available on that cruise (which is what I booked for my original cruise). For a couple of days – there was one available. And then there wasn’t.

Oh well – it’s on to the last remaining option, and it’s a good one too. Choose any upcoming 9-day / 8-night cruise anywhere (among 28 ships and 50+ itineraries), and rebook for no additional charge – AND – get 30% off my next cruise after that. YES PLEASE !

I already knew which cruise I wanted to book. It would’ve been my Spring or Summer 2027 cruise that I would’ve booked during the original Ohio River cruise. It’s on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers through Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky. It runs between Chattanooga and Nashville (both directions). I’ll be flying in to Chattanooga the day before the cruise. Ports-of-call are Decatur / Huntsville Alabama, Florence Alabama, Savannah Tennessee, Paducah / Grand Rivers Kentucky, and finally Nashville. I’ll be flying out of Nashville. Airfare is included, and American Cruise Lines books the flights based upon my requests.

Incidentally – I plan to use the 30% off my next cruise after that – on the Ohio River cruise in Summer 2027. Starting with next season – it becomes a 10-day / 9-night cruise with an additional port-of-call added. (I believe it’ll be Wheeling West Virginia.)

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Volunteer State” – Tennessee. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Alabama, Chattanooga, Cruise, Cumberland River, Decatur, Florence, Grand Rivers, Huntsville, Kentucky, Nashville, Ohio River, Paducah, Savannah, Tennessee, Tennessee River

Blogging Geography Travel

My Ohio River Cruise

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about my Ohio River Cruise – that didn’t happen. Starting with this edition I would’ve begun a multiple-week series (probably lasting at least 10 weeks into October) recapping my first-ever river cruise. That’s why I posted about Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania over the past 5 weeks. Those are the 5 states I would’ve visited along the 600-mile journey upstream from Louisville to Pittsburgh.

But something terrible happened early in the morning on Wednesday July 01ST 2026. Reports were vague at first, but then they started leaking out on the Interwebs (mostly on Facebook and Reddit). The front-end of the ship was severely damaged in an accident with a tugboat on the Ohio River between Paducah Kentucky and Evansville Indiana a day before it would’ve arrived in Louisville on July 02ND. Everyone on that New Orleans to Louisville cruise was evacuated off the ship about 20 hours later in Evansville Indiana, and the passenger-less ship eventually made its way back down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Amelia Louisiana for what turned out to be a week of drydock repairs.

The first Louisville to Pittsburgh cruise was immediately cancelled, and that’s when reports began appearing on Facebook about what happened. A few days later the Pittsburgh to Louisville return cruise was officially cancelled. (That was pretty much a given since the ship goes back-and-forth between Louisville and Pittsburgh during much of July and August.)

My cruise was the next cruise after that, and it was officially cancelled on Friday July 10TH 2026 – 8 days prior to when I would’ve boarded in Louisville alongside 140+ other passengers. (I received an E-Mail and text message with instructions to rebook a different cruise or receive a full refund.)

I was actually given 3 options to proceed with the refund being one of them. I didn’t want my money back. I want to cruise a river. The other 2 options were enticing to me for different reasons. I knew which option was my first choice, but would I get it ? I’ll share that with you – next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Cruise, Ohio River

Blogging Driving Geography Military Nature Shopping Travel

The Keystone State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about the great state of Pennsylvania – America’s second state. It became a state just 5 days after Delaware became America’s first state in December 1787.

The last time I was in Pennsylvania was almost 19 years ago in October 2007 when I flew from South Florida to Philadelphia International Airport (#PHL) for my overnight flight to Rome Italy (#FCO) where I embarked on a 14-day Transatlantic Carnival cruise from Rome (Civitavecchia) back to Miami. (What a great cruise that was – one of the best ever.)

13 months before that in September 2006 I was in Pennsylvania on a military work trip at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove (north of Philadelphia).

15½ years before that in March 1991 I was in Pennsylvania en route to Miami out of #PHL. Me and a group of Airmen had arrived at Dover Air Force Base from Saudi Arabia (Operations Desert Shield / Storm), and we were transported (by bus) up to the Philadelphia area for a night at a hotel before flying back to Miami the next morning.

Of course – as I’ve written about for the past 3 weeks – I drove I-70 from Illinois to Maryland way back at the end of October 1985 as an 18-year-old. 168 miles of I-70 are in Pennsylvania.

Before that in the Boy Scouts – we may have entered Pennsylvania once or twice along the Appalachian Trail at the Mason-Dixon Line. I may have taken an elementary school field trip to Philadelphia during the mid-1970s. And I definitely visited Hersheypark a few times as a kid with family and extended family (cousins). We also visited the “Outlet Capital Of The World” – Reading – a few times so that my parents could go shopping at the Vanity Fair Outlet Center.

Late tonight I was supposed to be entering Pennsylvania again as part of my Ohio River cruise. We would’ve been docked in Pittsburgh shortly after daybreak tomorrow. I would’ve been exploring Pittsburgh (for the first time in my life) in the morning via a guided tour – and in the afternoon visiting the Heinz History Center. There probably would’ve been a third guided tour this Saturday morning.

I was supposed to be on the Ohio River right now (and since last Saturday). But it wasn’t meant to be. I’ll share why next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Hersheypark, Ohio River, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading

Blogging Driving Geography Nature Travel Weather

The Mountain State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about the great state of West Virginia. A very short 14½-mile portion of I-70 passes through the middle of the northern panhandle of West Virginia, and when I drove that Interstate from Illinois to Maryland way back at the end of October of 1985 as an 18-year-old – that was the last time I was in wild and wonderful West Virginia.

But that was not my first visit to West Virginia. About 6 or 7 years earlier when I was an early Boy Scout (age 11 or 12) our troop would go hiking and camping during the wintertime up along the Appalachian Trail – mostly in Maryland. (We lived in Lanham Maryland at the time – just outside of Washington D.C., and the Appalachian Trail was a little over 60 miles away from our town.)

We hiked much of the 41 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland – not all at once, but in lengths of about 10 to 20 miles over a couple of days spanning several different trips in the wintertime. Most of our trips were in the snow with subfreezing temperatures. We learned to hike properly (with our backpacks) and stay warm while doing so. And we learned how to setup a campsite with tents and start fires to cook and keep warm.

Once (maybe twice) on our trips we made it across the West Virginia state line along the trail at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. It’s known as the “psychological halfway point” of the 2,192-mile Appalachian Trail. Statistically it is actually 1,167 miles to the north-end of the trail in Maine – and 1,025 miles to the south-end of the trail in Georgia. Harpers Ferry is at West Virginia’s lowest point in elevation – just under 250 feet. It’s where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet at the eastern tip of the state.

I would love to visit Harpers Ferry again for the first time in nearly 50 years. I could spend several days there exploring it all and the surrounding countryside across the river in both Maryland and Virginia. It’s about 40 miles from Washington Dulles International Airport (#IAD).

Soon I’ll be visiting West Virginia again as part of my Ohio River cruise. 277 miles of the Ohio River forms the state’s entire western border with Ohio. The river itself is entirely in West Virginia. The north shoreline (historical low-water mark) is where Ohio’s land begins (or ends). All of the islands in the river, and all of the bridges that cross the river are part of West Virginia. Nearly half of my approximate 600-mile cruise will be in West Virginia even though we will never walk on land.

Maybe I’ll sing this while sailing the Ohio and admiring the West Virginia landscape:

♬ Country roads – take me home
To the place – I belong
West Virginia – mountain mama
Take me home – country roads ♬

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Keystone State” – Pennsylvania. Let’s keep traveling together.