Mississippi River Cruise: America's River Queen

By Matt Hannafin

The Mississippi River has been a bit slow these past few years, at least from the perspective of "walking freight," the old riverboat slang for passengers. Though riverboats were once the gold standard for travel in the American heartland, and though cruising riverboats were an everyday sight on the Mississippi River system throughout the entire 20th century, all it took was one poorly conceived consolidation scheme and one global financial crisis to completely kill riverboat cruising on the Mississippi for nearly four solid years.

That's what happened after 2008, when Majestic America Line (which had earlier bought up the legendary Delta Queen Steamboat Company and several other river ventures) collapsed like a rickety deck chair. A new venture, the Great American Steamboat Company, has revived the tradition, bringing Delta Queen's amazing American Queen out of mothballs and basically taking up where the other companies left off -- albeit in a smaller, more focused, and (they hope) more stable and long-lasting way.

Photo Caption: Steamboat American Queen in Henderson, KY, on her inaugural voyage, April 30, 2012

The draw of Great American Steamboat Company is threefold: There's American Queen herself, the physical realities of the Mississippi River system, and the nostalgic appeal of "steamboating," a verb that seems to encompass the whole of Mississippi River history, culture, and mythology.

American Queen's part in all this is central. The largest sternwheeler ever built, she's a grand sight on the river, a tiered wedding cake of filigree and curlicues crowned with two huge fluted smokestacks. Ornamentation and decoration are everywhere, framing an assortment of antiques, vintage photos, and period knickknacks. She looks so beautiful and authentic that it's hard to imagine she was built relatively recently, in 1995 (when she was christened for the first time using the world's largest bottle of Tabasco Sauce).

When Majestic America Line went under in 2008, she was taken over by the US Maritime Administration (MARAD), which had been one of Majestic's major creditors. MARAD hermetically sealed her at a dock in Beaumont, Texas, and time essentially stopped for the vessel until Great American Steamboat Company bought her in August 2011. About $6 million in renovations later (most of them mechanical), she looks and feels as if she never left service, though a profusion of little scuffs, scrapes, and dings in her paint still need to be smoothed out -- something the new company's management is promising will soon be completed. Can't blame them too much for rushing her back into service, especially when they'd already booked their very own American queen, Priscilla Presley, to christen her.

Photo Caption: Godmother Priscilla Presley christens American Queen at an April 27 ceremony in Memphis, TN

Though American Queen is a relatively modern vessel, her primary propulsion comes via a 30-foot, fire-engine-red paddlewheel driven by vintage steam engines rescued in the early 1990s from the 1932 Army Corps of Engineers dredge Kennedy. The engineers who worked on that salvage and restoration are now aboard the ship again, tending the old engines with loving care. Unlike aboard the vast majority of cruise vessels, passengers can climb the metal stairs down into the engine room to watch the engines in action and chat with the crew. Alternatively, you can watch the paddlewheel through a series of large porthole windows in the stern-facing Engine Room Bar, the liveliest spot onboard after dinner.

More trivia: That big red paddlewheel is able to propel American Queen at her usual pace of between 6 and 11 mph -- at least when sailing downriver. When sailing against the current, the paddlewheel is assisted by two Z Drives, essentially large outboard propellers. American Queen also has a bow thruster to help her maneuver.

Photo Caption: American Queen's 30-foot paddlewheel pushes the 418-foot vessel along at a slow but steady clip that's just right for the Mississippi.

American Queen's period look doesn't end when you step inside. If anything, it gets more pronounced. Her most beautiful room is probably the J. M. White Dining Room, which was designed to resemble the dining room aboard the late 19th-century steamboat J. M. White, known as the most luxurious riverboat that ever sailed these waters. At port and starboard, the room is two decks high, its white, wooden-ribbed ceilings supporting globe-light chandeliers and its walls hung with colorful tapestries and huge, gilded antique mirrors. Potted palms add to the Victorian look, and tall windows provide one of the best views you'll ever find from a cruise vessel's dining room.

The room's central section is lower to accommodate a separate room on the upper level, the beautiful Mark Twain Gallery. A veritable Victorian museum, it's decorated with high-backed parlor chairs, couches with ornate woodwork, Tiffany lamps, peacock feathers in Chinese vases, an ornate wooden birdcage, a detailed scale model of the old Delta Queen steamboat, and the ubiquitous potted palms, plus knickknacks aplenty. To either side, large windows provide views down into the J. M. White Dining Room and out to the river beyond. Incongruously, this 19th-century room is also currently the best place on board to get Wi-Fi reception, though the company's upgrade plans include expanding Wi-Fi to all staterooms in the coming months.

For a relatively small vessel (she carries only 436 passengers), American Queen offers a nice mix of dining choices. In addition to the dining room, which serves all three meals, there's also the River Grill, a shaded, open-air bar/restaurant in the stern on Deck 5 that offers casual lunches and dinners. There's also the Front Porch of America, which lives up to its name with rocking chairs and hanging swings looking out over the bow, while inside (through screen doors, of course) there's a casual snacking spot done in white wicker chairs and couches. Completely casual, it's open 24 hours for hot dogs, sandwiches, soft ice cream, popcorn, chips, fresh-baked cookies, and coffee, tea, soft drinks, and juices.

Photo Caption: American Queen's J. M. White Dining Room is a double-wide copy of the dining room aboard the late-19th-century steamboat J. M. White, known as the most luxurious steamboat that ever sailed.

Entertainment helps drive the steamboating experience home. During the day, and particularly on sailing days, the focus is history, with an onboard historian (aka "Riverlorian") offering daily talks about river history and culture in the Grand Saloon theater. At other times, the Riverlorian might be found in the Chart Room, a bow-facing lounge/library decked out like an imitation bridge, with a large ship's wheel at its center. Have a question? Just drop by and ask.

Other entertainment throughout the week might include performances by a Mark Twain impersonator (the talented Lewis Hankins on a recent voyage), calliope performances back at the River Grill, a jazz brunch, big band concerts (such as by the Harry James Orchestra, conducted by Fred Radke), light piano or banjo music in the main deck lounge, and small-scale song-and-dance revues featuring four young singer-dancers backed by the ship's jazz band.

Photo Caption: The Grand Saloon was modeled after a typical 19th-century theater, complete with wooden floors, ornate opera boxes, and a lovely balcony.

Sitting in the Chart Room one afternoon, a group of passengers talked among themselves: "This is only my fourth trip," said one, "so I'm not a member of the club yet." It was a strange statement, considering we were sailing on Great American Steamboat Company's inaugural cruise, but it shouldn't have been a surprise.

For decades, Delta Queen Steamboat Company filled the berths of three riverboats with some of the cruise industry's most loyal passengers, who might sail annually or even several times a year. With steamboating back courtesy of GASC, those travelers are more than happy to sign on. "I don't even know exactly where we're going," said another passenger. "We just wanted to go on a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi. We didn't care where or when."

Photo Caption: Betty and Bob weren't the only familiar faces on American Queen. Even on her inaugural journey with Great American Steamboat Co., the boat was already full of old Delta Queen passengers.

You know how you sometimes feel you need a vacation to recover from your vacation? Not so on American Queen, which averages about 6 to 8 mph, both in its actual speed and its onboard vibe. And that's just dandy for its target market: Like Delta Queen and Majestic America before them, Great American Steamboat Company is clearly mining an older passenger demographic, with most guests in their 70s and up. Almost exclusively American, they're a friendly, social crowd that's happy with American Queen's leisurely pace, southern cuisine (overseen by noted chef and food writer Regina Charboneau of Natchez, Mississippi), and all-American itineraries and staff. Though low-key activities are programmed throughout each day -- lectures, bingo, participatory game shows -- the main activity aboard seems to be sitting, with reading, socializing, napping, or gazing at the passing landscape as options.

Photo Caption: American Queen's laid-back onboard vibe is the perfect reason to dive into a book while the river breezes blow by.

The Mississippi River system is destination, theme, and raison d'être for these cruises. Comprising some 50 rivers, tributaries, and distributaries in total (seven of which -- the Atchafalaya, Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, Missouri, and Illinois -- are navigable for considerable distances), it's an absolutely massive system, with a watershed that covers an area of nearly 1.25 million square miles -- more than 40% of the contiguous United States, including all or part of 31 of those states and two Canadian provinces. See why it was odd that no one was offering cruises here for the past four years?

Between its source at Minnesota's Lake Itasca and the Gulf of Mexico, the river drops from a height of 1,475 feet all the way down to sea level. To accommodate these large changes in elevation and to maintain a navigable channel along the whole river, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built and maintains a series of locks and dams that effectively segment the river into navigational "pools," each at a different elevation. Locks are used to raise or lower boats from one of these pools to another. Boats sail into the lock chamber, the doors swing shut behind them, and water floods in (to raise a boat to an upstream pool) or floods out (to lower into a downstream pool). When the boat has achieved the right elevation, the gates at the lock's far end open, and out she sails. Depending on which stretch of river you're sailing, your boat might pass through up to four locks a day.

Photo Caption: American Queen enters old Lock 52 on the Ohio River, near Brookport, Illinois. Built in 1929, the lock still uses its original mechanisms.

Like the Delta Queen vessels that preceded her, American Queen is offering cruises on three distinct sections of the Mississippi system: the Lower Mississippi, the Upper Mississippi, and the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers.

The Lower Mississippi is defined as the 954 miles between the mouth of the river (just in from the Gulf of Mexico) and its junction with the Ohio River. New Orleans has historically been the principal embarkation port and terminus for most Lower Mississippi River cruises, but American Queen also homeports frequently in Memphis, the company's headquarters city. The landscape along this stretch of the river is flat and rural, and the main draw is remnants of the antebellum South, including restored plantations.

The Ohio River runs from its juncture with the Mississippi northeast to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers. Some river aficionados consider the Ohio to be the most interesting Midwestern waterway because of its varied landscape, which include high bluffs, agricultural lands, small towns, and many graceful bridges; to pass under, American Queen must usually lower her two massive smokestacks.

The Upper Mississippi begins at its convergence point with the Ohio River and ends 839 miles to the north at Lake Itaska, in northern Minnesota. An attractive stretch, the Upper Mississippi offers high flanking bluffs, pleasant farmlands, small Victorian-era towns, fantastic fall foliage, and a profusion of navigational locks.

Photo Caption: One of American Queen's massive funnels lowered to pass under a bridge.

In the old riverboat days, as in the old Atlantic steamship days, and in Victorian and Edwardian life in general, gentlemen and ladies spent much of their time apart, socializing with their own gender. How quaint!

Today, though gender membership isn't enforced for entry, American Queen maintains the tradition of offering separate clubhouses for men and women, right across the hall from each other in the bow on Cabin Deck.

The Ladies' Parlor welcomes anyone to lounge on the swooning couch that faces a fireplace. End tables adorned with black-and-white "ancestral" photographs, floor lamps with linen shades, silver tea sets, floral wallpaper, and a gently laid-out pair of long white gloves all add to the period ambience. French doors lead out to a cozy balcony where ladies (and their gentlemen guests) can take in the sights.

Across the hall, the Gentlemen's Card Room has everything a Victorian gentleman could want in terms of décor: a large Oriental rug on the floor, high-backed leather chairs and couches, a heavy wooden table for card games, an old coin-operated peep show machine, a cuspidor, Tiffany lamps, a huge taxidermied fish, and the stuffed and mounted head of "Killer," a wild boar who was allegedly caught and killed by former fleetmate Mississippi Queen's paddlewheel, then cooked and eaten by the crew.

Photo Caption: American Queen's über-Victorian Ladies' Parlour sits right across the hall from the Gentlemen's Card Room

American Queen carries off her 19th-century style so well that it's sometimes hard to remember that she's not yet 20 years old. To remind us of that fact, she offers a few well-chosen modern amenities. Up on the top deck, in a sunken area that can't be seen by people along the riverbanks, a small pool offers soaking and sunning opportunities for a handful of guests at a time.

Just forward of the pool, through a glass wall, is a tiny fitness center comprising two treadmills, an elliptical trainer, and a very trendy Kinesis weight machine For those who want to take their exercise outdoors, the encircling decks make for a good walk -- just don't trip over any of the passengers sitting out there reading.

Photo Caption: American Queen isn't all 19th century. Among her modern amenities is a small pool and fitness room.

American Queen's cabins and suites are just plain adorable, decorated with period details and Victorian B&B-style charm. Most are accessed via the ship's outside decks via French doors, an arrangement that creates a neighborly feel -- many people just leave their doors open when they're "home," sitting out on the deck as if it's their front porch.

Inside, both cabins and suites offer comfortable wicker chairs, plus cushiony couches in the larger digs; antique-look dressers and writing tables; black-and-white tiled bathrooms, most with tubs; period artwork; high, comfortable beds; a small stained-glass transom window above the door to let in fresh air; and, incongruously but conveniently, small flat-panel TVs. Accommodations on Cabin Deck are accessed from an inside hallway and have large bay windows for views of the river, while half the cabins on Texas Deck offer private balconies. All the way forward on Promenade Deck, a pair of suites offer forward views that rival that from the pilothouse just above.

Photo Caption: Most of American Queen's outside staterooms open onto the outside decks, which act as social and distinctly un-private balconies.

American Queen sails weekly from ports all along the Upper and Lower Mississippi and the Ohio River: Memphis, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Nashville, St. Louis, Louisville, St. Paul, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga. Most cruises are 7 nights, interspersed with some 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 8-, and 10-nighters. Every cruise includes a pre-cruise hotel stay in the embarkation city, assuring a calm and easy embarkation day.

Fares start around $1,400 per person for 7-night cruises, with outside deck-access cabins starting around $2,300 per person. All fares include free bottled water and soft drinks, coffee and cappuccino, wine and beer with dinner, a pre-cruise hotel stay, and complimentary shore excursions.

Photo Caption: American Queen on the river -- where she'll be every week, from now on.