The Canadian Empress is a grand riverboat that lets passengers relax on scenic waterways.IMAGE COURTESY OF ST. LAWRENCE CRUISE LINES
Increasingly, people are looking to be travellers, not tourists, and are in search of new and unique experiences that are authentic.
Those who are successful in delivering those kinds of experiences deeply listen to what their travelling guests want. For St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, a family built and operated Canadian business with more than 40 years of experience in the cruise industry, adaptability has been a hallmark of its success. Its grand, classic riverboat, the Canadian Empress, offers passengers the best in hospitality and cuisine throughout the cruise season of early May through October as they take in the wondrous beauty of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, including around 1000 Islands. What makes St. Lawrence Cruise Lines especially stand out is the numbers of its returning guests who come back time and after time, says marketing co-ordinator Daniel Beals.
Based on direct feedback from passengers, St. Lawrence Cruise Lines is introducing this year a new Discovery Cruise series, which works in an educational component by diving into the rich history of the St. Lawrence River.
“Our alumni are a growing group for us,” Beals says. “And once they’ve seen the river once they want a little more. They want us to alter the itinerary, to see something different. This is what I would call an enhanced cruise. It offers more, with a focus on the history.”
A good example, according to Beals, is a discussion about the history of the Seaway itself – created in 1959 with locks and channels, which gives the river a profile that passengers can see out their windows. When they are on Lake St. Lawrence between Iroquois Lock and Eisenhower Lock, the history goes deeper. Lake St. Lawrence is a lake that was made specifically for the Seaway project by flooding that region to create the conditions that contribute to the operations of the lock and create a reservoir for the purposes of hydroelectric power at Cornwall. There were a number of small villages in that region that had to be evacuated, abandoned or moved before the flooding could occur.
Beals says they want to get into the stories of the people who lived and worked on the river before it became what it is now. Offered twice annually – in the spring and in the fall – the new program includes having two historians on board for special speaking engagements on the history of the region. Filmmaker Viktor Kaczkowski will show part of his documentary series on the river: Seaway Secrets. Author Maggie Wheeler, whose love for the area dates to her childhood and whose mystery stories focus in part on the enigmatic tales of the St. Lawrence River, will talk about her lifelong artistic relationship with the area, adding a real humanity to the area’s history.
“I arrived in the late 1960s,” she says. “I had never seen a river as large and majestic as the St. Lawrence. Over the years, it became my home, and to this day I live on its shores.”
“The Canadian Empress is a unique ship, built in 1981,” Beals says. “But what we’ve tried to do for alumni, for people who are river buffs, is give them something more than simply a floating cottage. We wanted to give them a more interactive experience, give them the ability to learn something they hadn’t learned before.”
The Sun Deck of the Canadian EmpressIMAGE COURTESY OF ST. LAWRENCE CRUISE LINES
The exterior of the Canadian Empress harks back to classic steamboats from the Victorian era. Inside, charm meets modern technology, with all the comfort and safety features that travellers expect.
The main deck of the ship, St. Lawrence Deck, is comprised of 25 staterooms in total, including two Sterling staterooms and two Premier staterooms, as well as a corner store. The Ottawa Deck, one level up, has eight staterooms, as well as a grand saloon, dining room, observation deck and lounge and bar, with huge windows. The Sun Deck up top is where travellers gather on deck chairs and really take in the beauty of the river.
The tone of the Canadian Empress is purposely relaxed, meandering along the calm waters of the river as the sun beams down. This isn’t like being on a cruise ship on the Atlantic, nor is this a party boat, with dancing to electronic music. Passengers are typically retired couples and young families travelling together. They come for the serenity and to take in all the sights and sounds with a nice beverage after a fine meal.
St. Lawrence Cruise Lines runs four-, five-, six-, and seven-night cruises with Montreal, Kingston and 1000 Islands, Ottawa and Quebec City as destinations. The trips include short tours that shine spotlights on the rich history of the region and offer a chance to take in all the small towns and highlights of Eastern Ontario.
“Springtime is an amazing time to cruise the river, the apple green hue of leaves on the trees, the scent of lilac, all intertwined with the area’s rich history,” Kaczkowski says. “It’s neither too warm nor too crowded and it’s usually a very busy time for ships, which is great for the ship spotters. Honestly, it’s my favourite time of the year.”
Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.