Viewing Fall Foliage on the St. Lawrence River

In a timely turnabout, your window could drift by the autumn leaves in September or October on a river-boat cruise through the Thousand Islands near Kingston in Ontario province.

Most of the estimated 1,870 islands in this part of the St. Lawrence River have stands of hardwood trees, so when they put on a fall foliage show you can count on high-voltage displays in scarlet, gold, russet and orange, set off by the jade green of jack and pitch pines.

Because the leaves turn later along the river than inland, the best time to enjoy the color is Sept. 26 to Oct. 27. And, according to a sizable group of Americans and Canadians, the best place to enjoy it is aboard the 66-passenger Canadian Empress, a steamship replica complete with brass steam whistle, pressed-tin ceilings and expansive Grand Saloon with Tiffany-style lamps and polished brass.

Agreeable Travelers

The motor-powered ship, which cruises the St. Lawrence and the Thousand Islands between early May and late October on three- and five-night itineraries, attracts an agreeable group. They enjoy sitting on the top deck watching the progress through the seven locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway, going ashore to a historic re-creation of an Upper Canada Village, engaging in a cutthroat game of “Trivial Pursuit” or singing along with a lively piano player after a home-cooked dinner served by pretty waitresses in Victorian garb.

Ten of the 62 passengers aboard this sailing are from Ontario and 10 from California, with the remainder from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Oregon and Newfoundland. Most are couples near or beyond retirement age; one Canadian was celebrating his 86th birthday.

“The only people who don’t like this,” a man making his 18th cruise told us, “are people who wouldn’t be happy if you gave them a million dollars.”

Informal and completely unpretentious, the Canadian Empress has no swimming pool, gambling, masquerade parties or dress-up dining. It does have a taped narration about points of interest along the river, homemade brownies and chocolate chip cookies for snacks, and a shallow five-foot draft that allows it to tie up every night at small marinas along the river.

The ship has been sailing through the Thousand Islands and downriver as far as Montreal and Quebec since 1981, when Bob Clark, a Kingston real estate developer and builder, got the idea on an earlier autumn afternoon. He and a neighbor were watching the excursion boats that take 13,000 people a day sightseeing along the river, but none of them overnight.

Studied River Boats

A cruise ship patterned after a traditional river boat sounded like a good idea, so Clark began studying configurations of old vessels, journeying to Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport Museum where, he said, “I crawled all over and measured.” Then he sailed aboard two American-flag river vessels, the Mississippi Queen and the New Shoreham II.

“Had I known what it was all about, I might not have done it,” he said, grinning ruefully and shaking his head.

He named his company Rideau St. Lawrence Cruise Ships, with the intention of cruising the mild-weather Rideau Canal between Kingston and Ottawa at the beginning and end of the St. Lawrence season.

But when he set out with his new vessel that first year to cruise the Rideau Canal between Kingston and Ottawa, “the canal wasn’t as we were told she was,” and the 4-day-old Canadian Empress struck an obstruction that was not on the charts and tore a 34-foot gash in the hull.

Now, with frequent sellout sailings and a long list of repeat passengers, he could, but probably won’t, bring a second ship into his fleet.

He says his Canadian Empress, the only Canadian-flag cruise ship, “couldn’t be duplicated today” because of increasingly stringent regulations.

Small Cabins, Two Beds

The cabins are quite small, with most having two lower beds, one of which can be folded up against the wall to allow space for a director’s chair. While closet and drawer space is limited, the relaxed dress code and casual ambiance aboard don’t call for anything fancy. Basic bathrooms contain shower and toilet, with a washbasin and mirrored wooden medicine chest in the cabin.

All cabins are outside, with windows or portholes that can be opened. The sunniest are a pair of six-window “scenic” cabins; the largest two are “premier” category cabins.

Canadian Empress cruises cost about $420 to $545 U.S. per person, double occupancy, for a three-night cruise between Kingston and Montreal, depending on accommodations and season, and $700 to $910 for the five-night sailing between Kingston and Quebec City. All shore excursions and entertainment are included in the base fare. There are no elevators aboard and the ship does not staff a doctor or nurse.

You can get there on nonstop Air Canada flights from major U.S. gateways to Montreal or Toronto, then by low-cost VIA Rail connections to Kingston or Quebec City. Call the Canadian Empress toll-free at (800) 267-0960 for information and brochures.

American Canadian Caribbean Line also cruises the Thousand Islands in autumn on the 72-passenger New Shoreham II and the 78-passenger Caribbean Prince as part of a 12-day itinerary from Warren, R.I., that includes the Hudson River, Erie Canal, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

Prices range from $1,375 to $1,895 per person, double occupancy; the lowest prices are for small inside no-smoking cabins. Call ACCL toll-free at (800) 556-7450 for more information.