Riverboat cruising returns to Mississippi with American Queen
MEMPHIS – As the American Queen paddle wheeler steams toward the city early one morning last week, all eyes turn toward Richard and Suzanne Martinez, who are strolling onto the boat's forward deck resplendent in antebellum finery.
By Jayne Clark, USA TODAY
After four years of absence, the American Queen has reclaimed the Mississippi.
She's a sweet Southern belle in hoop skirt hoisting a floral parasol. He's a riverboat dandy in broad-brimmed planter's hat and rhinestone horseshoe pin. Suzanne bought the get-ups on eBay to wear on the occasion of the venerated steamboat's return to the river for the first time since 2008. But the Tavares, Fla., retirees figure they'll get plenty of wear out of the costumes as they pursue and wave at riverboats from the banks of the upper Mississippi.
"We've been doing it for years," Suzanne says.
"So, you're, like, steamboat stalkers?" asks a fellow passenger unacquainted with the proclivities of hard-core riverboat fans.
"I'd rather say steamboat groupies," she retorts.
Stalkers. Groupies. Either way, this is a big summer for aficionados of long, languid sailings on the Mississippi River and beyond. After a four-year absence of multi-day leisure cruises, the American Queen, a 436-passenger boat built in 1995, is back on the river.
In August, the new 150-passenger Queen of the Mississippi will enter these newly competitive waters. That boat will have lower density, larger cabins (most with private balconies), and, at an average $640 a day per person, a steeper price point.
Not that the American Queen, with average per diems of $500 per person, ranks as a budget vacation.
Reclaimed and repaired
The boat spent the past few years in a U.S. government repo compound in Texas after its former owner, Majestic America Line, went belly-up in 2008. One sister vessel was sold for scrap. Another, the Delta Queen, is now a floating hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Great American Steamboat Co. bought the American Queen for $15 million, sunk another $6 million of improvements into it and considered it a bargain. Cost of building a similar boat today would be $100 million.
Despite the steep fares, sales have been brisk, in part because of pent-up demand.
"For 3½ years we haven't had any riverboats," says Phyllis Dale of Great Escapes Travel, which specializes in river cruises. "I have customers who've gone into withdrawal."
Count the Martinezes among them. Suzanne still tears up when she talks about the demise of the Queen's sister boats. The couple have traveled with the old Delta Steamboat Co. (the American Queen's original owner) 22 times since 1995 and are on board for both the first and second sailings of the relaunched vessel.
They've got nothing on Jack Steinmetz of Oakland, however. He has cruised on this boat or its sisters 35 or 40 times. "It's calm. The shore is nearby. The small towns are always welcoming," he says. "When they get the kinks out of it, it'll be fine."
Indeed, there are more than a few kinks on its first outings: temperamental plumbing and musty-smelling carpet in some cabins; uneven food quality; and staffers who display more enthusiasm than polish. By the time the boat pulls into Memphis at the end of its second cruise, the chef and general manager have been replaced. And passengers have received promises of "substantial changes" to dining and service, along with a 50% discount on a future cruise.
Carla Raushenbush, who at age 50 is one of the younger passengers, finds the boat too confining for someone as active as herself. (On Day 6, she's still waiting for the small swimming pool to open.) But the yoga studio owner from Madison, Wis., adds that her father, whom she's accompanying, is enjoying the cruise, and that makes the trip enjoyable for her.
Caters to an older crowd
Riverboat travelers skew older than ocean cruisers. (Witness the heavy demand on the American Queen for the 5:15 p.m. dinner seating.) The average age of the line's passengers is mid-60s, and the entertainment and activities reflect that demographic. The Henry James Orchestra boards in Memphis. Other upcoming headliners: the Glenn Miller Orchestra, a Rat Pack show and B.J. Thomas.
The vessel cruises at a leisurely 8 mph or less upriver. The Queen of the Mississippi will be about twice as fast, enabling the boat to linger longer in port towns, says American Cruise Lines president Charles Robertson.
But some riverboat denizens prefer the slower pace. "When you're going 6 to 8 miles per hour, it forces you to slow down," says Mary Charlton, who used to work on the boat and is back as a part-time "riverlorian" interpreting the history and culture of the river.
"I see people coming on who are tense. Then they sit on the deck in a rocking chair with a drink in their hand, and you see them start to relax. After a day or so, they arerelaxed."
Some patrons while away lazy afternoons on the river playing cards and board games in the Victorian parlors. Others settle into armchairs with a book in the Mark Twain Gallery. There's plenty of opportunity to indulge in between-meal grazing — from ice cream and hot dogs on the rocking-chair-lined "Front Porch" to sweets and savories at afternoon tea in the Captain's Bar.
Likewise, the pace is slow in the small riverside burgs where the boat calls. In towns such as Natchez and Vicksburg, Miss., and even in cities like Memphis, locals come out to witness the long-anticipated return of the American Queen.
"This is a big deal," says Marsha Colson, a tour operator in Natchez who has arrived at the dock wearing a 19th-century-style hoop skirt. "I can look at my (profit and loss) statements and know when the Queens were here."
Economic benefits notwithstanding, historic-preservation considerations also account for the glee over the return of this boat. Lewis Hankins, who will be on board periodically doing his dead-on impersonation of Mark Twain, sees it this way: "This keeps a part of America's history — the steamboat — alive. I just hope it can go on and on."
So do some first-timers with no nostalgic attachment to the steamboats.
"There's not a thing I could complain about," says Pam Hiltz of Los Angeles, who is traveling with five family members. "The staff is great. The food is wonderful. The boat is beautiful."
Suzanne Martinez is ecstatic, of course. "Some of us are so happy this boat is on the river, if nothing were right, we'd still be happy."
By Jayne Clark, USA TODAY
After four years of absence, the American Queen has reclaimed the Mississippi.
She's a sweet Southern belle in hoop skirt hoisting a floral parasol. He's a riverboat dandy in broad-brimmed planter's hat and rhinestone horseshoe pin. Suzanne bought the get-ups on eBay to wear on the occasion of the venerated steamboat's return to the river for the first time since 2008. But the Tavares, Fla., retirees figure they'll get plenty of wear out of the costumes as they pursue and wave at riverboats from the banks of the upper Mississippi.
"We've been doing it for years," Suzanne says.
"So, you're, like, steamboat stalkers?" asks a fellow passenger unacquainted with the proclivities of hard-core riverboat fans.
"I'd rather say steamboat groupies," she retorts.
Stalkers. Groupies. Either way, this is a big summer for aficionados of long, languid sailings on the Mississippi River and beyond. After a four-year absence of multi-day leisure cruises, the American Queen, a 436-passenger boat built in 1995, is back on the river.
In August, the new 150-passenger Queen of the Mississippi will enter these newly competitive waters. That boat will have lower density, larger cabins (most with private balconies), and, at an average $640 a day per person, a steeper price point.
Not that the American Queen, with average per diems of $500 per person, ranks as a budget vacation.
Reclaimed and repaired
The boat spent the past few years in a U.S. government repo compound in Texas after its former owner, Majestic America Line, went belly-up in 2008. One sister vessel was sold for scrap. Another, the Delta Queen, is now a floating hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Great American Steamboat Co. bought the American Queen for $15 million, sunk another $6 million of improvements into it and considered it a bargain. Cost of building a similar boat today would be $100 million.
Despite the steep fares, sales have been brisk, in part because of pent-up demand.
"For 3½ years we haven't had any riverboats," says Phyllis Dale of Great Escapes Travel, which specializes in river cruises. "I have customers who've gone into withdrawal."
Count the Martinezes among them. Suzanne still tears up when she talks about the demise of the Queen's sister boats. The couple have traveled with the old Delta Steamboat Co. (the American Queen's original owner) 22 times since 1995 and are on board for both the first and second sailings of the relaunched vessel.
They've got nothing on Jack Steinmetz of Oakland, however. He has cruised on this boat or its sisters 35 or 40 times. "It's calm. The shore is nearby. The small towns are always welcoming," he says. "When they get the kinks out of it, it'll be fine."
Indeed, there are more than a few kinks on its first outings: temperamental plumbing and musty-smelling carpet in some cabins; uneven food quality; and staffers who display more enthusiasm than polish. By the time the boat pulls into Memphis at the end of its second cruise, the chef and general manager have been replaced. And passengers have received promises of "substantial changes" to dining and service, along with a 50% discount on a future cruise.
Carla Raushenbush, who at age 50 is one of the younger passengers, finds the boat too confining for someone as active as herself. (On Day 6, she's still waiting for the small swimming pool to open.) But the yoga studio owner from Madison, Wis., adds that her father, whom she's accompanying, is enjoying the cruise, and that makes the trip enjoyable for her.
Caters to an older crowd
Riverboat travelers skew older than ocean cruisers. (Witness the heavy demand on the American Queen for the 5:15 p.m. dinner seating.) The average age of the line's passengers is mid-60s, and the entertainment and activities reflect that demographic. The Henry James Orchestra boards in Memphis. Other upcoming headliners: the Glenn Miller Orchestra, a Rat Pack show and B.J. Thomas.
The vessel cruises at a leisurely 8 mph or less upriver. The Queen of the Mississippi will be about twice as fast, enabling the boat to linger longer in port towns, says American Cruise Lines president Charles Robertson.
But some riverboat denizens prefer the slower pace. "When you're going 6 to 8 miles per hour, it forces you to slow down," says Mary Charlton, who used to work on the boat and is back as a part-time "riverlorian" interpreting the history and culture of the river.
"I see people coming on who are tense. Then they sit on the deck in a rocking chair with a drink in their hand, and you see them start to relax. After a day or so, they arerelaxed."
Some patrons while away lazy afternoons on the river playing cards and board games in the Victorian parlors. Others settle into armchairs with a book in the Mark Twain Gallery. There's plenty of opportunity to indulge in between-meal grazing — from ice cream and hot dogs on the rocking-chair-lined "Front Porch" to sweets and savories at afternoon tea in the Captain's Bar.
Likewise, the pace is slow in the small riverside burgs where the boat calls. In towns such as Natchez and Vicksburg, Miss., and even in cities like Memphis, locals come out to witness the long-anticipated return of the American Queen.
"This is a big deal," says Marsha Colson, a tour operator in Natchez who has arrived at the dock wearing a 19th-century-style hoop skirt. "I can look at my (profit and loss) statements and know when the Queens were here."
Economic benefits notwithstanding, historic-preservation considerations also account for the glee over the return of this boat. Lewis Hankins, who will be on board periodically doing his dead-on impersonation of Mark Twain, sees it this way: "This keeps a part of America's history — the steamboat — alive. I just hope it can go on and on."
So do some first-timers with no nostalgic attachment to the steamboats.
"There's not a thing I could complain about," says Pam Hiltz of Los Angeles, who is traveling with five family members. "The staff is great. The food is wonderful. The boat is beautiful."
Suzanne Martinez is ecstatic, of course. "Some of us are so happy this boat is on the river, if nothing were right, we'd still be happy."
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