American Queen Voyages Shut Down Operations

by Ted Scull, Karl Zimmermann, Anne Kalosh & Heidi Sarna

Update March 22, 2024 — Bids close March 25 for American Queen Voyages’ vessels. More details from Anne Kalosh’s Seatrade Cruise News reporting HERE.

A deep-felt bundle of sadness hits at the heart and heartland of America as we report that American Queen Voyages shut down operations Feb 20, 2024, including its river boats, the American Queen, American Empress, American Countess and American Duchess (which bowed out last fall), as well as the line’s pair of coastal ships, Ocean Voyager and Ocean Navigator, which also haven’t operated since last fall.

The bottom line is that the company never recovered from the COVID period, and sources tell us the American Queen was the only member of the fleet that turned a profit. We hope that the American Queen is put back into service soon with a new owner.

Equally sad is the Delta Queen’s plight, abandoned outside in the elements in some southern backwater.

The only remnant that is still active is the Delta Queen’s former running mate, Delta King, serving as a hotel, restaurant, and museum on the Sacramento River, not far from the state capitol. Her present location is the exact spot from where she operated as an overnight ferry between Sacramento and San Francisco in the 1920s and early 1930s.

A History of Layups

The American Queen herself, the saddest casualty of the American Queen Voyages bankruptcy, has been in extremis before. A phoenix rising from the ashes of its funeral pyre and a cat with nine lives are two animal clichés that come to mind. In the case of the latter, steamboat aficionados hope that the boat has one left. In any case, the current layup is not the vessel’s first.

Perhaps it was inauspicious than, even before she had made a single revenue sailing, the American Queen was grounded on the Ohio River on a pre-inaugural press trip when the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers unexpectedly dropped the river level.

Built by Delta Queen Steamboat Company, the vessel subsequently passed through various corporate ownerships, including American West Steamboat Company to, in 2006, Majestic America Line, which in November 2008 shut down.

The boat then went into layup as part of the reserve fleet, first in Violet, Louisiana, and later in Beaumont, Texas. The U.S. Maritime Administration took ownership by virtue of the $30 million mortgage it held, then on August 2, 2009, sold it to HMS Global Maritime, to be operated by the newly establish American Queen Steamboat Company.

Anne Kalosh Reports On The Shut Down

Read more about the the demise of American Queen Voyages in reporting QuirkyCruise Contributor Anne Kalosh has done for Seatrade Cruise Review.

Feb 20, 2024: American Queen Voyages Ceases Operations.

Feb 21, 2024: American Queen Voyages for Sale as Parent Hornblower Gets New Majority Owner.

In tribute, we’d like to share a handful of our past reviews and stories about the 1995-built steamboat American Queen.

The steamboat era was an exciting period of American history and until this latest unfortunate development, modern-day travelers could experience the old-time thrill, watching the American Queen sternwheeler ease up to the landing to then take them on a river adventure along the storied Mississippi and its scenic tributaries, the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Illinois Rivers or in the Pacific Northwest along the Columbia and Snake Rivers.

The American Queen is simply the best replica steamboat out there and we hope very much she is able to resume service with a new operator.

The American Queen awaits, at Maysville, Kentucky. * Photo: Ted Scull

American Queen Review — Aboard the Queen of the “Western Rivers,” by Karl Zimmermann

“The American Queen is indisputably the matriarch of the Mississippi, and the monarch too — the largest steamboat ever to ply what were once known as the “Western Rivers,” the Mississippi and its many tributaries.

Launched in 1995, she is the sole overnight ”true” steamboat on those waters, now that her one-time fleetmates have been scrapped (the 1976-built Mississippi Queen) or idled but intact (the lovely Delta Queen, launched in 1927 along with consort Delta King for packet service on the Sacramento River Delta and essential to the American Queen’s origin story).

My wife Laurel and I boarded the American Queen in New Orleans on February 27 (2023) for a seven-night, 640-mile paddle up the Mississippi to Memphis…”

American Queen’s Musical Acts Strike a Nostalgic Chord, by Heidi Sarna

There are so many reasons to love and cherish the American Queen, its special repertoire of entertainment is one of them.

An excerpt from Heidi’s Travel Weekly story:

“I first tuned into just how musically robust the American Queen was when we first boarded our seven-night Tennessee River cruise in Chattanooga and headed to the portion of the deck at the bow called the Front Porch. Here we were greeted with a glass of bubbly and bags of freshly popped popcorn as the boat’s lively six-piece band, the Steamboat Syncopators, played Dixieland tunes to get us all in the mood for the nostalgic week ahead.

My friend and I clinked glasses, grinning in delight. We tapped our toes and rapped our hands on the arms of the classic rocking chairs we occupied as the band played on, jamming with their bass, keyboards, drums, clarinet, trumpet and saxophone.

We’d hear lots of the band over the course of the week, mostly in the frilly Grand Saloon show lounge, a lovely retro space that traces its origins to Ford’s Theatre in Washington and includes several boxes on the mezzanine level…”

The Debut of The American Queen in 1995 – A Game Changer, by Ted Scull

“Standing atop the high buffs above the Monongahela River, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, my wife and I look down upon a richly-ornate sternwheel steamboat. It sure looks impressive from afar, but will she impress once aboard?

We are anticipating our five-night Ohio River cruise downriver to Cincinnati.

First, Let’s Talk About The Pioneering Delta Queen & Delta King

The Delta Queen, the principal driver for restarting cruises on midwestern rivers dates back to 1926 when she and her running mate Delta King established an overnight link along the Sacramento River between Sacramento, California’s state capital, and San Francisco. The initial operation was more transportation than a cruise.

The pair were designed to be workhorses carrying freight, the mail, automobiles and their owners back in the days when many western highways were still fairly primitive. They had sleeping cabins, spare by today’s standards, outfitted with upper and lower bunks and a washbasin, and hooks to hang your clothes and roomier twin-bedded accommodations with private shower facilities. Many cabins opened onto a wide promenade deck that encircled the vessel.

The dominant structural feature were the variety of woods — seen in the superstructure, decks, paneling and decorative features — charming but hardly lavish. However, the pair were genuine steamboats and a worthy continuation of a long tradition when hundreds of such vessels plied America’s rivers…”