One hundred travellers, fifty crew
The American Liberty made her first cruise in August 2024, the New England
islands out of Providence: New Bedford, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Block
Island, Newport, Bristol. Seventy-four metres, 56 cabins, 100 travellers, fifty
crew.
That last figure is worth pausing on. One crew member for two travellers is
a ratio normally found on far more expensive luxury ships. It shows in the
dining room, in housekeeping, and in the availability of the excursion staff.
It is probably the strongest argument of this class.
The cabin and the ground
Every cabin has a real balcony with a full-height sliding door: on the 2024
hulls the line dropped the fixed-window category that survives on the 2023
ones. Two lifts serve every deck.
Two hundred and sixty-eight dates with us. Summer in New England out of
Providence, autumn on the Hudson, winter between Charleston and Amelia Island
with runs up to Washington and Philadelphia. The catamaran hull opens the
Intracoastal Waterway and small-town quays.
Neighbouring ships
The American Splendor and the American Heritage are Mississippi paddlewheelers. The American Constitution and the American Constellation are the
fleet's only two seagoing ships, deployed in Alaska.
Owner, builder and operator
Three roles usually held apart, gathered here in one hand. The line owns the
eighteen ships it sells, builds seventeen of them in a family shipyard in
Maryland, and operates them itself with an American crew. No chartered hull, no
third-party owner, no capacity announced by someone other than the seller.
That settles a question which arises everywhere else: when the builder's
sheet and the seller's diverge, here they are the same house. The gaps in
figures that remain come from third-party databases, not from two businesses
contradicting each other.
On the flag: the American law of 1886 targets foreign ships, imposing a
foreign call between two American ports. An American ship is exempt. This line
could leave American waters; it has chosen not to.
The fare in detail
Included are the cabin, full board, crew gratuities, the pre-cruise hotel
night and transfers, at least one excursion per call, port taxes and satellite
internet access. That is generous content for the North American market, and it
should be said.
Two reservations. The first is alcohol: beer and wine at lunch and dinner, a
cocktail hour in the late afternoon, and nothing resembling a permanently open
bar. Several reviews note that the evening fades early aboard.
The second is excursions: at least one is included at every call, but
premium and signature outings are paid. The flight is never included; an
optional air package exists and must be added well before embarkation.
The ship, the clientele, and what cannot be checked
One dining room with a single seating, a panorama lounge, a sun deck, talks
in the evening. The day happens ashore, not aboard. No facility for children
exists on any ship in the fleet, and the clientele is markedly older than the
line announces: seventy-five and over for most, according to a professional
review.
Accessibility first. A settlement reached in January 2024 with the United
States Department of Justice covered the accessibility of the seventeen ships
operated at that date. The line advertises accessible cabins without publishing
a per-ship inventory. Written confirmation required, case by case.
One last point nobody makes. The CDC's vessel sanitation programme only
monitors ships with a foreign itinerary. No ship in this fleet has one. There
is therefore no public sanitation data on these ships, neither good nor bad. It
is a regulatory blind spot, not a clean bill of health.
What this trip asks of you from Quebec
A valid Canadian passport, first. The line sells its American clients the
idea of leaving the passport at home; you enter the United States to reach the
ship. And on two itineraries, Alaska and the Great Lakes, the ship herself
skirts or crosses Canadian waters.
The flight is booked separately, but the pre-cruise hotel night and both
transfers are included. That is generous content which cuts the risk of a
missed embarkation, provided you arrive the day before as planned.
A word on recourse. The contract of passage provides for United States
maritime law, the courts of Connecticut, and short claim deadlines. Nothing
establishes a Quebec licence in the line's name. Voyages AquaTerra holds that
licence: trust account, Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents, and
one file for flight, cruise, hotel and insurance.
