I traveled with the Marshall Center group yesterday on the Portland Spirit from Portland, Oregon to Astoria, Oregon.  I called the Portland Spirit office to book the cruise however it was completely sold out.  So I called Marshall Center to learn that they had one opening which  I quickly booked.  

We loaded two vans at 6:00am and departed Marshall Center at 6:30am.  We boarded the Portland Spirit a few blocks south of OMSI after 7:00am.  They took my photograph which turned out fairly well.  The Portland Spirit has two luxurious enclosed decks that seat 340 guests plus two outer decks.  I took a window seat on the port side of the ship.  

We traveled south up the Willamette River past Ross Island and then turned north to the Columbia River.  We had a buffet breakfast and lunch with choice of desserts - chocolate chip cookies, lemon cake, cheesecake and chocolate cake.  I briefly visited the wheelhouse.  I spent a lot of time on the main or upper decks enjoying the scenery and wildlife.  There was a fat sea lion that swam alongside the ship when we were docked in Astoria.  We boarded large buses for the journey back to Portland.