GUILFORD, Conn. – Two paddle-wheelers that made Winona port calls with thousands of tourists are in the scrapyard and a third, her majesty the American Queen, may meet the same fate. Connecticut-based American. Cruise Lines confirmed the permanent retirement of:
>American Queen, 417 passengers. Launched in 1995. The largest cruise boat on the Mississippi.
> American Countess, 245 passengers. Launched in 1995. Originally the Kanesville Queen, a Harrah’s casino boat at Council Bluffs. Was cut in half, extended 60 feet, and back in the water in 2021 as the American Countess.
> American Duchess, 155 passengers Launched in 1995 as the Bettendorf Capri, a gambling boat. Was gutted n 2016 and the 1,000-slot-machine casino converted into passenger cabins
In response to petitions from 1,000-plus travelers nostalgic with memories of the American Queen, the company said it might donate the six-story paddle-wheeler if someone, perhaps a river town, might take it on as perhaps a museu. Winona, are you listening? The three vessels were acquired from a river cruise company in a bankruptcy auction last year. A fourth acquired vessel, the 223-guest American Empress, is being refitted for 2025 cruises and perhaps will be renamed. Its history has been mostly Alaska and Columbia River cruises.
Where do old paddle-wheelers go to die? American Queen’s Mississippi cruise era is over. There remains a possibility for a second life. Read on.
ACL profile
American Cruise Lines is the largest U.S. river and small-ship cruise line. Its vesssels operate on the Eastern Seaboard, the Mississippi, Alaska’s Inland passage, Puget Sound and the Columbia River. The company has been building a new vessel a year to its fleet.