American Cruise Lines Readies Newbuild for 2012

American Cruise Lines Readies Newbuild for 2012
By Michelle Baran

American Cruise Lines is doing something that hasn't been done in awhile: It's building a paddlewheeler from the ground up for the Mississippi River market.

"I don't think it's possible to take one of the older vessels, like the American Queen ... and construct it into what people want today," said Charles Robertson, CEO of American Cruise Lines, adding that the cost of renovating such a vessel "would be a little bit more" than the cost of building a ship from the ground up.

The new Mississippi River paddlewheeler will set sail in August 2012. The 140-passenger ship, which is still unnamed, is under construction at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, Md., a shipyard that American Cruise Lines works with for many of its ships.

The paddlewheeler will operate on the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. The Guilford, Conn.-based company would not disclose how much it is investing in the vessel.

The ship will have the look of a traditional river ship but will have larger cabins and public areas than the vessels that were known for plying the Mississippi River, such as the Delta Queen and American Queen. It will also be faster than those ships by about 3 or 4 mph, according to Robertson, who added that that makes a "huge difference in itinerary," enabling the ship to make longer stops at ports.

The first cruise is a scheduled to depart Aug. 11, 2012, from New Orleans on a seven-night cruise to Memphis. The ship will then begin a series of seven-night cruises traveling as far north as St. Paul, Minn.

The ship will be 260 feet long and 52 feet wide with a seven-foot draft. It will have 75 staterooms, including 60 twin cabins, six twin suites and nine singles. The staterooms will range from 200 square feet to 480 square feet and will have private verandas; twin or king-size beds; private bathrooms; flat-screen, satellite TVs; high-speed Internet access; and closets.