Final Thoughts about the Voyage

We’ve known Doug and Betty since introducing ourselves to them at a Disney Club meeting in 1992. Usually they will ride along with us when we go to our monthly Disney meetings. Karen and Betty used to walk 4 miles at the mall together about 4 or 5 times per week. Karen works now so it is usually only once or twice per week. We spent 17 days with them and Karen and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was an extremely enjoyable time. They are a great couple to vacation with.



Before we left we were concerned about the heat and humidity but we managed to stay in the shade when possible just like those guys in the movie “Missile to the Moon” so that they wouldn’t burn up when the sun shone on them.

We really needed two days at Dollywood and I’m glad we had the time to spend there. It’s a great family park, the coasters were fun, and it was a plus to be able to see Dolly Parton there.

After we were off of the Delta Queen we took a trip back to Louisville – we had more to do there. On our way back to Cincinnati our group decided to talk about what we liked and didn’t like on the Delta Queen. A few minutes into the discussion I asked Karen to start taking notes. These are her notes. My addition explanatory comments are in parentheses.

Pat liked Kevin’s service (he was our server at breakfast and lunch; a servant with a servant’s heart).


(Here we are "serving" Kevin on the last morning of the cruise)

Talks with Toni (she was the maitre de and found time to talk to everyone at every meal it seemed. She still works at WDW at the Grand Floridian). Bread pudding (it took me three nights of Doug saying how good it was before I succumbed and then I, too, ordered it the final four nights).



His room, but not how the shower drained (I guess the boat is so old that we had to take “Navy showers”). The variety of soups.

Betty didn’t like the Captain in shorts and messy hair. She thought he needed to be more professional (late at night when the boat was going through a lock he would come out in shorts and direct the boat). Not enough items in the Gift Shop. She wanted a photo album and a T-shirt. She bought a T-shirt but wanted a better one. Some food had a lack of flavor but mostly the meals were pretty good. The diet coke was watered down. Liked all of the Help; they were very courteous. She slept well. She liked the tours of Fort Donelson, Henderson walking tour, and the Paducah museum. She thought it was great that Majestic provided buses for all of the old people to get up to the top of the steep landings in the towns we landed at.

Doug liked the storytelling by Mary Charlton, our Discovery Guide, AND the bread pudding.



Karen loved the whole boat – every inch of it – especially the paddlewheel and the calliope. Toni was her favorite staff person – she always had a smile and always took the time to really talk to people. She told lots of stories about her personal life. She worked on the boat AND had a Disney connection – practically perfect in every way – or at least “no worries”, her favorite saying. She made sure that every desire was fulfilled including getting us copies of the menus AND the bread pudding recipe.



Karen continues… Kevin was the best server on board so we made sure we got him for breakfast and lunch. Novie (a DQ crewman we met on the bus from Nashville to Clarksville) was very personable and would always have a smile and time for a chat.



Bruno and David, passengers who were members of www.steamboats.org, who she wished she had more time to talk with.


(Linda and David on "dress-up" night)


She liked visiting the little river towns along the way, like Madison and Henderson.

Deep Breath…And finally…Her favorite thing was sitting in the rocking chair in the sunshine with the calliope playing as we traveled along the river.




Random Statistics:

Pictures: (Karen took most of the still shots): 4,950
Video (Pat shot most of the video): 8 ½ hours

States visited: Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio,

Cities visited: Knoxville, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Nashville, Clarksville, Dover, Paducah, Henderson, Owensboro, Louisville, Madison, Cincinnati, Kings Mills, and Santa Claus

Rivers floated on: Cumberland and Ohio

Amusement Parks: Dollywood, Holiday World, Kings Island

Coasters: Thunderhead, Mystery Mine, Blazing Fury, Tennessee Tornado, Raven, Legend, Voyage, Beast, Backlot Stunt Coaster, Firehawk, The Racer, Adventure Express, Flight Deck, Fairly Odd Coaster, and Rugrats Runaway Reptar.

Miles on the road: 1,050
Miles on a bus: 75
Miles on the river: 604

DQ paddlewheel going 12 rpm = 9.3 mph
DQ paddlewheel going 16 rpm = 10.9 mph
DQ paddlewheel when racing on Derby Day = 19 rpm