The Delta Queen Steamboat Company (a
Delaware North Company) will celebrate the return of the American Queen in
2007 with several advance purchase offers. All three boats will steam from
their home port in New Orleans, beginning their season in the Spring of
2007. Following her charters to energy companies in support of disaster
relief efforts in the Gulf Coast area and an extended lay-up, the grand
American Queen, will join the National Historic Landmark Delta Queen, and
the magnificent Mississippi Queen to travel the lower Mississippi River in
the South.
"This will be the first time that the American Queen and her sisters, the
Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen have cruised out of New Orleans since
Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast area, and we are very excited about
the return of the steamboats to the New Orleans area so our passengers can
once again enjoy the unique culture, history and fine dining for which this
great city is known," said Bruce Nierenberg, president of Delta Queen.
The three steamboats will travel the
inland rivers of America, bringing
passengers to explore the history, lore and culture of this great country.
Many diverse itineraries will take passengers to explore the Old South from
New Orleans to Memphis, as far north as St. Paul, Minn. on the Mississippi
River, east to Pittsburgh, Pa. on the
Ohio River and along the Wilderness
Rivers-the Cumberland to Nashville, the Tennessee to Chattanooga and the
Black Warrior to Birmingham. Other itineraries include the Arkansas River
to Little Rock and the Tenn Tom to Mobile, Ala.
The American Queen opens the 2007 season on March 9 with a series of Spring
Pilgrimage cruises out of New Orleans during March and April, followed by 3-
and 4- night cruises through May, that are part of the popular New Orleans &
Riverboat Adventure Week land and cruise package, combining the best of New
Orleans with a riverboat cruise.
The Delta Queen begins her season on March 17 with several cruises between
New Orleans and Memphis in March and April, taking passengers to explore the
beauty and history of the Old South along the lower Mississippi River
The Mississippi Queen returns to New Orleans for her first cruise on April
15, heading upriver for the annual Quilting Conference in Paducah, Ky.,
followed by her return to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby Run for the
Roses, then to New Orleans in June for several cruises, including the annual
Great Steamboat Race with the Delta Queen.