The American Canadian Caribbean Line has its long name on the sides of some of the shortest ships in the cruising fleet. But ACCL is not short on hospitality, good food, great staff, interesting history and fascinating destinations. My wife Susan and I sailed on the ACCL ship Grande Caribe in a cruise up the Intracoastal Waterway from Jacksonville, Florida to Rhode Island in the spring of 2008. Since most Sentinel readers are familiar with these east coast destinations, here I will describe the line and its ships, and outline the line’s international destinations.

ACCL got its start in 1966 when the legendary Luther Blount (1916-2006), a ship-builder from Rhode Island who had built over 300 vessels, decided to get into cruising. He built small ships, each carrying less than 100 passengers, and started cruising the canals, rivers and coastal waterways of the US. Eventually he expanded to international cruising in Central and South America, the Panama Canal, and Caribbean. His philosophy was that cruising should be like cruising on your friend’s yacht. Luther even patented a major cruising invention—the integrated bow ramp. This narrow passenger ramp is built into the bow of the ship, can be lowered, and allows the vessel to be driven up onto remote beaches to disembark passengers. Almost all other expedition vessels have to carry numerous Zodiacs (inflatable boats that carry about ten passengers) to ferry people to the beach, but ACCL ships do not need Zodiacs.

Luther also listened to his passengers—a rarity! — and made changes accordingly. According to Dixie Keith, First Mate of the ACCL Grande Caribe, “Luther and now his descendants who run the business read every single passenger comment sheet. Passengers have a lot of clout in this company.”

Currently the line has three similar ships: Grande Caribe, Grande Mariner, and Niagara Prince. Our vessel, the Grande Caribe, measured 183 feet long, with a 40 foot beam and draft of only 6 feet and 6 inches. This shallow draft allows the vessel to enter remote waters that large cruise ships can only dream about. She has 50 cabins with a maximum capacity of 100, but often sails as we did with only 35 or so.

A useful feature of the ACCL vessels is the retractable pilothouse. The entire pilot house, about 12 feet square, can drop down 10 feet, so that the ship can pass under bridges that are 19 feet high. All ACCL ships are inspected by the US Coast Guard and meet stringent safety standards.


ACCL crew members are young, enthusiastic and very eager to please. Many are from Rhode Island and have long family ties with the company. Our cruise director, Mark Alvarez, was one of the best cruise directors we have ever had—smiling, genuine, efficient, caring, and a very hard worker.

The dress code on board is always casual. Coats and ties are unnecessary. At the first and last Captain’s dinners we noticed that most men wore nice polo or dress shirts and nice slacks, while most women wore similar outfits or perhaps a summer dress.

An early arrival policy, for a charge in the range of $95 per cabin, is usually in place for ACCL voyages. This means that you can arrive at the departure port and board the ship the day before the actual departure of the vessel, sleep in your own cabin, and eat dinner and breakfast aboard the ship. This allows you time in case your plane connections are problematic. I always recommend arriving a day or more ahead of the departure date, for any cruise. This gives time to explore the departure port, and eliminates worrying about a missed connection.

Meals are open seating at round tables seating about 10 passengers. Breakfast is buffet style but lunch and dinner are sit-down, served meals. The quality of the food is high, and the quantity is plentiful. The chefs, usually recruited from the well-regarded Johnson and Wales University or the Culinary Institute of America, are not aiming for haute cuisine, but rather for very tasty, home-style cooking. They succeed. A typical dinner on board consisted of Greek salad for a starter, followed by fillet of beef with Hollandaise sauce, rice pilaf, tomato-basil bread, and a dessert of crème brûlée. It was excellent.

A wonderful feature of ACCL is a careful effort to avoid “nickel and diming” the passengers. Many cruise lines today are constantly trying to sell the passengers jewelry, clothing, high-priced excursions, high-priced liquor, over-priced soft drinks, and other items to add to their profits. ACCL is just the opposite. In fact, ACCL is one of the only cruise lines in the world that has a BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze) policy! If you want to drink, just buy some cheap liquor at your local Costco, and bring it aboard! There is no corkage fee. Generally there are one or two free rounds of mixed drinks or wine, with hors d’oeuvres, offered in the lounge before dinner. Soft drinks, coffee, tea and snacks are free at the soda fountain in the lounge, 24x7. Excursions are extremely reasonable—we usually paid only $15 to $40 per person for city tours of one to three hours, and in remote areas there is often no charge for guided shore excursions. According to First Mate Dixie, a typical free excursion off a remote part of Belize might include a trip in a “cayuga” dugout canoe, or a trip in the ship’s glass-bottom boat.

There is no expensive ship’s store, just a two hour period at the end of the voyage where you can buy an ACCL tee-shirt, cap or fleece. Credit cards are generally not accepted on board, so bring enough cash (or a personal check) for tips at the end of the voyage and to pay for excursions.

The main public spaces other than the dining room are the lounge and the upper deck. The lounge is forward with large windows, and is the focus of the social scene. There are no Broadway-style shows, but there is usually a lecture or character re-enactor each evening, and passenger games or movies. When GPS maps of the area are available, these are continually projected onto a wide screen in the lounge. This is a great feature, as it shows exactly where the ship is and what landmarks you are looking at as you cruise along in a relaxed style. Bring your sunglasses and binoculars!

The upper deck has a great view of the sea, is partially protected with an awning, and is a terrific placing for relaxing on nice days. Since the ship is so small, it is easy to get to know your fellow passengers and make friends and exchange travel tales. There is no gym or pool, but 17 times around the deck makes a mile of walking.

The ACCL vessels average about 65-70 percent repeat business, quite high for the cruise industry. After ten trips on ACCL, you get one trip free.

The international destinations for ACCL for 2009 include Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, with a focus on barrier reefs and visiting exotic small islands and remote villages. These voyages are 11 days long and all depart from Belize City. Other destinations for 2009 include the Intracoastal Waterway, Great Lakes, Eire Canal, Mississippi and Hudson rivers, the Massachusetts and Maine coasts, and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

All in all, ACCL appears to me to be a perfect fit for many Sentinel readers—small, relaxed, informal, inexpensive, friendly, and with lots of fascinating destinations. Who could resist that?

ACCL can be reached at 800-556-7450, 401-247-0955, or at P.O. Box 368, Warren, RI, 02885. The website is www.accl-smallships.com.

Lew Toulmin is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Order of Descendants of Pirates and Privateers. He lives in Silver Spring, MD.

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