American Cruise Lines is setting sail on its 2024 Mississippi River season, which the company said will be its largest season ever across the country.
The Guilford, Connecticut-based cruise line announced that the season opened Tuesday, Feb. 20, as the first guests began arriving in New Orleans. Over the next few weeks, all five of the company’s Mississippi riverboats will begin cruising on the Lower Mississippi.
As part of American’s continued expansion, the company’s new riverboats will sail more than 16 itineraries throughout the region this year, also exploring Mississippi tributaries, the Tennessee, Ohio, and Cumberland Rivers.
In 2024, American will operate 19 ships, each accommodating just 90-180 passengers, which cruise more than 50 domestic itineraries.
American kicks off its 2024 season just as a competitor, American Queen Voyages (AQV), has ceased operations. In an announcement on its Facebook page on Tuesday, Feb. 20, AQV company officials blamed ongoing challenges spurred by the pandemic for the closure.
American began making stops in Davenport in 2021 and had planned 28 dockings in the Quad Cities during several Mississippi River cruises in 2022. The Upper Mississippi treks made their inaugural voyages in the summer and fall of 2021.
In September 2022, American Cruise Lines boats made Quad Cities history as two riverboats – the American Symphony and American Melody – docked at the same time at the then new River Heritage Park on Davenport’s riverfront. The boats brought a total of about 350 passengers to the Quad Cities as part of their river cruises.
The largest small ship and river cruise operator in the U.S., American Cruise Lines offers luxury experiences in 35 states that explore the nation’s history, spirit, and culture.
Over the past five years, American Cruise Lines has nearly tripled its U.S. fleet while also introducing brand new riverboats – including the American Serenade in 2023 – on the Mississippi every year since 2018. The company recently announced it has five more ships, including new riverboats, under construction at American’s affiliated shipyard, Chesapeake Shipbuilding, in Salisbury, Maryland.
While American continues expansion plans along U.S. coastal waterways, the cruise line is also stepping up production along U.S. rivers, especially the Mississippi, where its increased presence is contributing millions of tourism dollars annually to a growing number of U.S. ports and river communities such as the Quad Cities.
In May, American will begin operating several new Mississippi River experiences, including the first Great Smoky Mountains National Parks cruises, a 12-day itinerary from Knoxville to Nashville, Tennessee, that will cruise the Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers.
In August, American will sail a historic 61-day Great United States cruise – the longest river cruise in U.S. history – that explores the entire Mississippi River, 20 states, three national parks, four rivers, and also sails the East Coast and Hudson River. There it will visit storied ports from New York City, to Boston, Massachusetts, to Bar Harbor, Maine.
