American Serenade. This four-deck American Cruise Line boat is in a recently built fleet of smaller vessels for river tourism.
Post-bankruptcy: Can more boats be floated soon?
WINONA, Minn. – Amid turmoil in the Mississippi River cruise industry and the bankuptcy of a major cruise line, only three boats have been committed to Winona visits this summer – compared to the usual 20 to 30. The three boats signed up for Winona dockings are operated by American Cruise Lines. Each will make multiple stops goig uprive and downrjver. If every passenger every docking debarks, the Winona tourism industry will have roughy 1,800 visitors this summer – a mere fraction of thousands of passengers in recent tourist seasons. The 2024 line-up:
> American Melody (175 guests), built 2021.
> American Serenede (180 guests), 2023.
> American Symphony (180 guests), 2022.
None are traditional paddle-wheelers, and none as mammoth as the largest ever built — 436-passengers. Unknown is whether American Cruise Line can have any of the boats it acquired in a bankruptcy auction last month from a rival company can be refitted and floated for the 2024 season. Those ships, which made Winona calls in 2023:
> American Queen: (417 guests).
> American Countess (245).
> American Empress (223).
> American Duchess (166).
Earlier: Cruise line adds boats from bankruptcy auction