Great Lakes Cruising In Canada & The United States On 6 Ships In 2022

Great Lakes Cruising

By Theodore W. Scull

Before I share details about the six ships offering Great Lakes cruising in 2022 — Pearl Mist, Ocean Voyager, Ocean Navigator, Hanseatic Inspiration, Viking Octantis and Bellot — here’s some background about why the region is such an appealing place for small-ship cruising.

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What are the Great Lakes?

The Great Lakes form a vast inland freshwater basin that covers an area almost as large as the state of Wyoming, while Lake Superior is larger than Maine.

The five Great Lakes straddle the border between Canada and the U.S. Eight States and the Province of Ontario front on the lakes.

All five Great Lakes — Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior — are interconnected by rivers, straits, and/or canals providing a continuous 2,200-mile deep-water navigation artery from the Atlantic Ocean to the shores of Minnesota and the Province of Ontario.

Great Lakes cruising is to go deep into the heart of North America straddling the borders of Canada and the US.

Passing under the Mackinac Bridge that links the two parts of Michigan with Lake Huron to the right and Lake Michigan to the left. * Photo: Ted Scull

Steamships Open up the Great Lakes to Cargo & Passenger Shipping

At the dawn of steam navigation, the lakes became major trade routes for carrying grain, produce, iron ore, coal, and lumber from the interior of North America to manufacturing cities along the lakefronts and via the St. Lawrence to the rest of the world.

Resorts developed on the Georgian Bay Islands and in northern Michigan, and some of the world’s largest paddle steamers plied from Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee carrying urban folks to the Canadian and American summer retreats for a span of one hundred years.

a steamboat schedule for Great Lakes Cruising

Steamboat schedule from Chicago overnight to Northern Michigan. * Photo: Author’s Collection

They also offered overnight sailing between major cities such as Buffalo to Cleveland and Detroit.

When the pleasure steamers, many built before World War I, wore out they weren’t replaced as most vacationers had taken to their cars.

And so, by the mid-1960s, Great Lakes passenger ships and cruising vessels had largely disappeared.

Great Lakes Cruising Makes a Return

Then in the last few years, a few shallow-draft coastal ships began to venture out onto the lakes as well as an oceangoing cruise ship.

Now we have a half-dozen lines committed to a region unlike any other.

Ted Takes to the Great Lakes

A friend from college joined me to take a trial cruise nearly a decade ago, as the area was mostly new to me. I chose him because he had sailed on some of the pre-WWII-built ships and had a great affection for the region. Also, his family owned a house on Lake Erie’s Canadian shores, and he watched the ships passing by at an early age.

I had visited there a couple of times and wanted to see more.

The author enjoying almost being at sea as the lakes can seem like a vast ocean. * Photo: John Henry

A First Cruise of All Five Lakes

Our ship was the C. Columbus, a medium-size German vessel operated by Hapag-Lloyd that carried just over 400 passengers. While not sailing these waters now, I use this cruise (taken in Sept 2014) to illustrate what the Great Lakes offered us. The ship today trades world-wide as the Hamburg.

The sailing departed from Toronto, my favorite Canadian city with the energy and diversity of my own New York.

We left in the middle of the night to position the ship for a nearly all-day transit of the Welland Canal, which boasts an impressive upward lift from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie nearly four times that of the Panama Canal linking the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Looking ahead along the Welland Canal connecting Lakes Ontario & Erie. * Photo: Ted Scull

Many cruises will also offer an excursion to Niagara Falls before or after the transit.

The Welland Canal is a Coveted Part of Great Lakes Cruising

As we awaited our turn, giant ore and grain carriers ahead and high above filled the multiple chambers.

We then climbed through eight locks and passed under several lift bridges while exchanging greetings with visitors watching from observation platforms ashore.

An empty lake freighter awaiting its turn to continue its passage from Lake Ontario into Lake Erie and beyond. * Photo: Ted Scull

Beyond the canal towns, Niagara Peninsula farms and vineyards abut the busy waterway.

The latter are sometimes listed on the shore excursion programs, and the casual wine drinker who had no inkling of vineyards in Eastern Canada may now realize how good these heretofore unknown wines can be.

Detroit & Sightseeing

Exiting into Lake Erie in the late afternoon, the ship sailed overnight for a sunrise arrival at the mouth of the Detroit River to then tie up at Windsor on the Canadian side. We booked the all-day excursion that used the Ambassador Bridge to access the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village located just west of Detroit.

This fabulous museum featured scores of antique automobiles, including the presidential limousine in which John F. Kennedy was shot, auto advertising posters, videos of early car and mobile home travel, railway locomotives, aircraft, farm equipment, and kitchen appliances.

Outside, Greenfield Village recreates an American town bordering on a village green . It boasts examples of residential houses spanning three centuries, an operating steam railway and locomotive turntable, classic touring cars that can be hired with a driver, buggies to ride, and a paddleboat on which to cruise the small lake.

One of the antique cars for hire with driver at Greenfield Village just outside Detroit. * Photo: Ted Scull

Passing into Lake Huron

Later in the day, we passed residential communities lining the St. Clair River and sailed out into Lake Huron.

Turning into Georgian Bay, the ship threaded amongst dozens of wooded islands to anchor off Midland, a small Ontario town, to witness a demonstration of indigenous Canadian culture and traditions in the enclosed Huron Ouendat Village.

An option provided a self-guided tour see a remarkable set of 36 murals painted on storefronts and exterior walls providing a colorful look into the town’s past as a grain port and a railway-steamboat interchange.

Georgian Bay and its islands, including Manitoulin, the largest freshwater island in the world, shows off dramatic rock formations, rolling farmlands, sandy beaches, preserved shipwrecks, 19th-century lighthouses, and indigenous culture.

Little Current is the island’s largest town with a brewing company to visit, scenic views from the local mountain, and two lighthouses.

Great Lakes Cruising to Sault Ste. Marie

Docking on the Canadian side of Sault Ste. Marie, separate sets of Canadian and American Locks tame the St. Mary’s River rapids that flow from Lake Superior into Lake Huron.

During the call, many passengers rode the scenic route of the Algoma Central Railway to a picnic site and hiking trails in beautiful Agawa Canyon where autumn leaves were just beginning to show their colors.

Entering the Soo Locks en route to Lake Superior. * Photo: Ted Scull

Having taken this highly worthwhile excursion, I opted instead for an all-day outing to a provincial park bordering the north shore of Lake Superior walking amongst the sand dunes and enjoying a wooded trail up to a majestic waterfall. Note: Some people who cannot relax find the ride too long.

The 1917-built Valley Camp, an example of the unusual profile of a Great Lakes freighter, welcomes boarders to tour the exhibits, including an extensive one on Great Lakes shipwrecks, and vessel’s pilothouse, engine room, and crew quarters.

Soo Locks into Lake Superior

Some cruises pass through the canal locks into Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes.

The canal’s origins date back to the mid-19th century, and the present canal sees 7,000 ships annually pass through.

Visitors have a number of vantage points to watch the action. A single 1,000-foot lake ship can carry the capacity equivalent of nearly 600 rail freight cars. Some 90 percent of mined iron ore in the Lake Superior region passes through these locks.

Exiting the Soo Locks into Lake Superior, we cruised westward passing the well-named “sleeping giant,” an island shaped to resemble a reclining Indigenous Canadian, to dock at Thunder Bay.

The steam ferry SS BADGER has operated a passenger and vehicle across Lake Michigan for nearly 70 years. * Photo: Ted Scull

The huge grain port transfers Canada’s prairie province wheat from rail to lake freighter, the ship’s design and profile are like none other. The ship’s funnel, pilothouse end crew accommodations are located in a piled-up superstructure at the stern and the rest of the ship has a continuously covered deck reaching all the way to the bow.

Great Lakes Cruising to Thunder Bay

Ashore we visited Old Fort William, a former British fur trading post and fortification and unusual rock formations deep in Ouimet Canyon. Some interchange of grain sourced in the prairie provinces takes place here between rail and ship.

Isle Royale National Park, just off Thunder Bay, has great hiking trails, but few ships stop though you will have a close-up view.

Then at the southwestern corner of Lake Superior, Duluth became our first U.S. entry point. Here, we passed through immigration, a lengthy process happily not requiring repetition in the subsequent U.S. ports.

Duluth’s Delights

The city’s Depot Museum, housed in a chateau-style late-19th-century stone station, offers a ride on a lakeshore rail line. It also boasts a major train collection that includes a railway post office, one of the world’s largest steam locomotives, and that curiosity — the caboose — that used to be attached to the end of freight trains.

On display at Duluth, MN a Great Northern Railroad dining car for the famed Empire Builder operating from Chicago to Seattle and Portland. Photo: ed Scull

Colorful china and tableware sets from the once-mighty railroads such as the Union Pacific, Great Northern, Santa Fe, Burlington, and New York Central are on display. I have some similar items that are used in our own everyday eating.

A dramatic video showed a huge snowplow operating at speed to clear the tracks, then derailing in a spectacular pileup.

The city’s landscaped waterfront stretches along a promenade for three miles and includes a beautiful rose garden and maritime displays including tugboats and traditional steam-powered lakers.

Leaving Duluth, we enjoyed a sunny day on the lake before retracing the St. Mary’s River and through Soo Locks to enter Lakes Huron and Michigan.

Mackinac Island & the Grand Hotel

Going ashore at Mackinac Island, everyone’s favorite call, we walked the narrow streets of a wooden 19th-century town where automobiles have been banned since before 1900.

The village nestles beneath the mighty turreted Grand Hotel, the world’s largest summer resort.

It features a colonnaded front porch hundreds of feet in length, a handsome, light-filled restaurant seating over 1,000 guests, intimate parlors scattered on several floors and traditional wood-paneled accommodations, including five suites decorated to the style of five living presidential first ladies.

The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island is a favorite destination for generations of families. * Photo: Ted Scull

Cascading flower gardens rimmed terraced lawns set up for bocce ball and croquet. It’s a place I wanted to return to for a longer visit.

And a few years ago, during a two-week driving trip amongst the lakes, my wife and I stayed three nights at the Grand Hotel taking advantage of a midweek special.

It met all our expectations of what a truly grand hotel was and still is here on Mackinac Island.

Suellyn & Ted Scull on the world’s longest colonnaded front porch. * Photo: Unknown hotel guest.

Note: A casual visit by outsiders is not possible to keep down what would be hordes of tourists invading the place, hence have the cruise line make arrangements.

Through Lake Michigan to Chicago & its Attractions

Our ship then sailed overnight to Chicago’s Navy Pier, a grand entry into the city, housing a variety of amusements for children, exhibitions, restaurants, and park gardens.

Early morning arrival at Chicago. * Photo: Ted Scull

Chicago has great museums such as the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the world’s largest collections. Notable are American art, Japanese prints and Buddhist art; great masters and Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings; the Field Museum for Science; Museum of Science and Industry for a full-size coal mine; a captured German submarine U-505; and a vast model railroad.

At 1,451 feet, the Willis Tower gives an outstanding view of the city, Millennium Park, the lake front and Lake Michigan.

The Architecture Center gives regular walking tours of the city’s outstanding buildings and neighborhoods, and occasionally by boat along the Chicago River that slices through the city center as it flows inland from the lake. Yes, the river that flows backwards.

The Cloud Gate reflects the sky and is also known at the Bean – Millennium Park. * Photo: Ted Scull

Milwaukee & its Attractions

Some cruises end in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a possible stopover, and where it’s a 90-minute Amtrak train ride with a half-dozen departures a day.

Places to visit include the Milwaukee Public Museum for a large-scale European village and a recreation of Old Milwaukee. You can also visit the Milwaukee Art Museum, with a hugely dramatic building in a lovely setting facing the lake, to see works by Georgia O’Keeffe and the Ashcan School, as well as Folk Art and Haitian Art. Milwaukee also has a Black Holocaust Museum and a Harley-Davidson Museum.

Former Blatz Brewing Co., once one of several notable Milwaukee names in the industry. * Photo: Ted Scull

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Now, so who goes there?

6 Ships Offering Great Lakes Cruising in 2022

Five small-ship cruise lines have a total of six ships in the Great Lakes in 2022, and most will likely be back in 2023 as well.

The Two Veteran Lines in the Great Lakes

American Cruise Lines

The growing list of companies sailing the Great Lakes includes two veteran lines, one of which is Pearl Seas Cruises, with its 210-passenger Pearl Mist, an operation connected to the parent company American Cruise Lines.

One 8-day itinerary starts in Toronto with a road transfer north to Midland on Lake Huron and cruises amongst the islands and then enters Lake Michigan to then aim for Milwaukee.

The ship then reverses its run and returns to Midland. A longer one of 11 days starts in Toronto, passes through the Welland Canal and calls at ports in four of the five lakes en route to Milwaukee. This itinerary then operates in reverse.

The 210-pax Pearl Mist. * Photo: Pearl Seas Cruises

Great Lakes Cruising with American Queen Voyages

American Queen Voyages, the second veteran, operates the most cruises with two 202-passenger ships the Ocean Voyager and the Ocean Navigator.

Their 11-day cruises begin in May in Toronto and traverse four lakes en route to Chicago, where the ship reverses along the same route.

Other city pairs are itineraries between Montreal and Chicago, also 11 days, and shorter itineraries between Montreal and Detroit. The longest is 16 days, a round-trip from Chicago that traverses four lakes including several ports in Lake Superior.

202-pax Ocean Navigator cruises the Great Lakes

The 202-pax Ocean Navigator. * Photo: American Queen Voyages

Three lines relatively new to the Great Lakes …

Deeper-draft oceangoing ships include three lines, two relatively new to the area.

Germany’s Hapag Lloyd Cruises in the Great Lakes

Germany’s Hapag Lloyd Cruises’ 230-passenger Hanseatic Inspiration undertakes several cruises for both English and German speakers on 10- to 14-day itineraries in May and June 2022 that embark in Toronto, Windsor (opposite Detroit) and Chicago. The final cruise of the season, Chicago to Toronto, includes all five lakes.

Germans like northern climates and many Germans settled in the Great Lakes Region.

230-passenger Hanseatic Inspiration in the Great lakes

The 230-passenger Hanseatic Inspiration. * Photo: Hapag-Lloyd Cruises

Viking Expedition Cruises on the Great Lakes

Viking Expedition Cruises sends the 378-Viking Octantis (slightly above our usual 300 passenger cut-off) from Chicago via Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior on 8-day trips to Thunder Bay from May to September 2022.

The Viking Octantis. * Photo: Viking

Great Lakes Cruising with Ponant Cruises

Ponant Cruises operates one 8-day cruise with Smithsonian Journeys aboard the 184-passenger Bellot from Toronto, departing September 24, 2022 from Toronto through the Welland Canal, to Niagara Falls, and calls in the islands district of Lake Huron, Mackinac Island and ending in Milwaukee.