My husband and I are interested in a 9 day Columbia River cruise leaving from Spokane, Washington in October. The cruise is on the MV Island Spirit owned by USA River cruises.
The ship has only 16 stateroom. Bus trips each day are offered to things of interest in the area of Oregon and Washington. We wondered if the rooms were very small and cramped.
Has anyone done this cruise. I posted this message on the cruise board also, but noticed that most of their trips were for overseas cruises. Thank you for your help.

Valleypeach

Did you book your trip?

My husband and I are booked on the October 16, 2010 Columbia River cruise on the MV Island Spirit.

I'll report back upon our return. It will be too late for you, but might help others as I have also been looking for reviews.

USA River Cruises shows a photo of one of the larger staterooms on its web site, and it looks very Motel 6 to me: http://usarivercruises.com/ships/mv-island-spirit.php

This isn't where I would spend my travel dollars, but USA River Cruises (aka Sunshine Travel & Cruise) has a good Better Business Bureau rating.

HTTY

Yes - I agree about the "Motel 6" - that made me a bit worried. But I couldn't get my husband to agree to do the $5,000 pp trip that was way luxurious. This ship is about 1/2 that price.

The travel agent said that the rooms have been remodeled - so we shall see. I will report back when we return (the end of October).

O.K., but why, if the rooms were remodeled, would they not proudly post photos of the remodel? I, for one, can hardly wait for the end of October to read your report.

HTTY

happytrailstoyou - I SO agree with your comments - I plan to take lots of photos of the interior of the boat, rooms etc.

We took a FIRST CLASS trip to Africa last year with amazing accommodations and service - so this will be an interesting trip to say the least!

Good luck, and bon voyage.

HTTY

Any update on this?
It looks like the MV Island Spirit doesn't do any trips on the Columbia River any longer, but we're still considering maybe taking one of their other Columbia River cruises?
http://usarivercruises.com/destinations/columbia-river/

We're also still thinking of doing a trip on the Island Spirit, since it looks like they now offers trips to the San Juan Islands and Alaska... A friend of mine said that she loved the ship but she didn't take any pictures of the cabins! But she also said that the owner is the captain and she LOVED that about it. http://usarivercruises.com/ship/mv-island-spirit/
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Oh, and I just checked the Island Spirit page and it looks like the they've finally posted some pictures of the re-model? At least they don't look very Motel 6 to me...