Night Travel News

Newly built and completed, American Cruise Lines' Queen of the Mississippi docked at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, MD, before leaving for New Orleans. American Cruise Lines announce that its brand new authentic paddlewheeler, Queen of the Mississippi, has received its Coast Guard certificates and six weeks ahead of schedule has left Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, Maryland and is en route to New Orleans, from where her first cruises beginning in early August will depart. The Queen of the Mississippi carries 150 guests in spacious staterooms.

American Cruise Lines announced that, on March 18, the Queen of the Mississippi left the pier at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, Maryland, for its first sea trial. The vessel performed perfectly, as the huge paddlewheel churned the water and onlookers lined the riverbanks to watch. “The Queen of the Mississippi sets a new standard in river cruising and raises the bar for grand travel on the Mississippi River,” said Charles A. Robertson, President of American Cruise Lines. Robertson also revealed that the new riverboat is slightly faster than expected and is now nine weeks ahead of schedule. The Queen of the Mississippi will be completed in May with its inaugural cruise scheduled for August 11, 2012, from New Orleans to Memphis.