Heidi Sarna is the co-founder of QuirkyCruise.com, a guide to small-ship cruising.
In the midst of a multiyear building spree, American Cruise Lines has gotten really good at building ships in the 100- to 180-passenger range.
That should be good news to many residents of Key West, Florida, who have expressed a preference—including at the ballot box—for smaller vessels rather than the cruising behemoths that have inundated the city’s ports. (A 2020 voter-approved measure to limit ship sizes in Key West was later nullified by the state government, though it does seem that the largest ships no longer dock at the city's Mallory Square cruise port.)
Key West was the midpoint on a recent cruise I took aboard American Cruise Lines’ brand-new, 130-passenger American Pioneer, sailing Florida’s Gulf Coast round-trip from St. Petersburg.
Apart from the balmy temps and showstopping sunsets, here’s what else you can expect during the trip.
American Pioneer cruise ship: cabins and public areas
Similar to other American Cruise Lines ships, American Pioneer—the second in the six-ship Patriot class—is gleaming-white and boxy, with rows of cabin balconies topped by a spacious sundeck and a stubby funnel painted red, white, and blue.
Decorated in pleasant, neutral colors, my balcony cabin was nearly identical to the ones I occupied during cruises on two of the line’s Coastal Cat–class ships: American Eagle and American Glory.
Natural light streams in from the floor-to-ceiling glass balcony doors. Generous storage includes a large chest of drawers, a desk/vanity with more shelves, a tall closet for hanging clothes, and more drawers below the sink in the large bathroom.
A similar sense of roominess pervades the ship, from the wide hallways and central staircase and landings to the dining room and main lounge, as well as in two other lounges, the Chart Room and the Sky Lounge up top on the sundeck.
Here you’ll find all-day snacks—chips and granola bars lined up in racks—along with light breakfast, coffee, tea, and other drinks. A small bar operates in the hours between lunch and dinner.
There’s plenty of outdoor seating plus a walking track, as well as a small adjoining café for casual breakfast and lunch options.
American vibes: enthusiastic crew and loyal passengers
American Cruise Lines passengers are incredibly loyal. On a cruise at nearly full capacity, 94 of 106 passengers were repeat guests.
Each of the passenger lanyards that guests use to scan their way on and off the ship has a row of stars representing how many cruises the lanyard wearer has taken with the company. On my cruise, someone had a whopping 20 stars!
Even cruisers who voiced minor complaints about the entertainment repertoire or bar service seemed to rave about the overall experience and voice plans to book the next one.
At several pep rally-esque get-togethers in the main lounge, with trays of mimosas and chocolate-covered strawberries circulating, the cruise director and hotel director spoke with evangelical zeal about new itineraries and special offers.
These staffers never failed to mention how they appreciated guests’ business and loved working for the company, a family-operated American business that builds its ships in the U.S., staffs them with U.S. crew members, and sails exclusively in U.S. waters.
The devoted clientele tends to fall in the senior category; many of them appreciate the pair of elevators connecting all five decks of the ship. If you can take the stairs, you can save yourself some waits.
Gulf Coast ports
After anchoring offshore two sleepy locales along the Gulf Coast—Marco Island and Punta Gorda—the American Pioneer docked 2 days in fun Key West, right in front of Mallory Square, the city’s famed sunset-watching spot.
Steps from the ship, you can walk to bustling Duval Street, lined with shops and bars such as Sloppy Joe’s and Hog’s Breath Saloon, and snap your obligatory selfie at the buoy marking the southernmost spot of the Continental U.S.
Another great way to see the area is by bike. On a 2-hour tour from Key Lime Bike Tours (booked separately from American Cruise Lines), a guide (we had the quirky and superknowledgeable James) takes cyclists to the Hemingway Home and nearby 19th-century lighthouse, and lets you pedal through back lanes where tangles of banyan trees frame old wooden cottages. The tour ends with a complimentary slice of delicious key lime pie.
The ship’s optional tours cost extra and most of them underwhelm, largely because potential wildlife sightings are overhyped. Yes, it’s relaxing to chill with a cold beer on a 2-hour schooner sailing off Key West, but we saw no dolphins or sea turtles.
Similarly, a pontoon excursion from Marco Island into Everglades National Park yielded only a few glimpses of egrets, ospreys, and the distant head of an alligator. The tour is advertised in a way that leaves you expecting to see a lot more wildlife than that.
My favorite excursion sold by the ship was an open-air trolley tour in St. Petersburg, where you learn about the city’s origins, architecture, and eccentricities.
Food, entertainment, and activities on American Pioneer
For many passengers, though, the ports seem to be secondary.
A lot of cruisers I met onboard were there for the ease of traveling with a familiar cruise line, surrounded by friendly crew and passengers while being served nice meals and drinks.
At lunch in the open-seating restaurant, comfort-food classics include crab cake sandwiches and Reubens, as well as delicious salads topped with Gulf shrimp and yellowfin tuna. On the dinner menu you’ll find seared sea scallops and pork chops with a bourbon glaze.
For dessert, there’s tasty cheesecake, or you can get chocolate-chip-mint ice cream any time you want. The restaurant staff is efficient, warm, and accommodating.
Sampling pre-dinner drinks and canapes in the main lounge, passengers mingle as an on-staff singer warbles in the background. After dinner, two outside acts were featured—an excellent Jimmy Buffet–style singer/guitarist and a theatrical doo-wop trio. Otherwise, our witty and very entertaining cruise director, Maria, hosted fun trivia games.
For daytime activities, your options are lectures about the ports from a guest speaker (these tended to be infomercial-like on my trip), arts and crafts, or visits to the small onboard gym.
Who is this cruise for?
If you want a comfortable, warm-weather cruise that includes Key West, and you want to get there on a roomy new ship with luxury amenities, then this weeklong Gulf Coast cruise fits the bill. Active travelers looking to delve into the cultural and natural offerings of the ports along the way might want to keep looking for other options.
One pre-cruise hotel night is included in fares, as are alcoholic drinks, a selection of tours, and tips (though many passengers give cash tips to their favorite crew members).
Eight-night Florida Gulf Coast & Keys cruises from American Cruise Lines run November–April and start at $6,110 per person. Other Florida itineraries include the 8-night Rivers of Florida trip and a 2-week Grand Florida cruise.
For more information go to AmericanCruiseLines.com.
Frommer's Best of Florida
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Get the bookFrommer's Best of Florida
Frommer’s books aren’t written by committee, by AI, or by travel writers who simply pop in briefly to a destination and then consider the job done. We employ the best local experts to author our guides, in this case, Tampa-based journalist Beth Luberecki, Miami-based newspaper reporter Leslie Abrava...