Cruise New Orleans

River cruising poised to return to the Mississippi

Mark Twain, long considered one of America’s greatest writers, was most at home on the greatest American river.

Born Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), he stayed for years in many places, but the Mississippi River was where he truly lived. His pseudonym even comes from his days as a river pilot; it’s a term that means the waters are a safe depth to navigate.

“With any great author, their best work will always center around the place they were most at home,” says Cindy Lovell, director of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, Mo. “And with Mark Twain that place will always be the Mississippi River.”

Fans of the author might be pleased to learn that river cruising in America is poised to undergo a new renaissance. The newly formed Great American Steamboat Co. announced Monday that the American Queen, known as the largest steamboat in the world but docked since 2008, will resume passenger service on the Mississippi River as early as next spring. And American Cruise Lines is expanding its operations with the Queen of the Mississippi, the first new paddlewheeler built for the river in more than 15 years. Its maiden voyage, set for Aug. 11, 2012, is already sold out.

Both vessels will travel the Mississippi River and its tributaries, routes formerly covered by the Delta Queen, which ended its passenger steamboat service in 2008.

“People enjoy the history of the boat,” says hotel spokesperson Julie Dodson. “It’s very relaxing and unique. We’ve been here since 2009 and it’s been great. But ideally, we’d love to keep her here part of the month and take her out on the river. It’s where she’s meant to be.”

Yes, no matter how novel and splendid the accommodations, there is something unnatural about boats built for rolling on the river being leashed to land.

That’s why the stakes — and potential rewards for both passengers and owners — are so high for the American Queen and the Queen of the Mississippi.

Riding the river

“Each room will have a private balcony. It will be very modern and very quiet. There won’t be gambling and there won’t be 3,000 strangers,” Robertson said of the new 140-passenger sternwheeler. “It’ll be the difference between going to a country club and a disco. This will be a whole different cruise experience.”

Unlike behemoth ocean liners, which are increasingly becoming more like floating cities that entertain thousands of passengers, river cruises are smaller and more intimate, with the ever-changing scenery a central focus of the voyage.

Norwegian Spirit staying year-round ... - New Orleans CityBusiness

The Port of New Orleans saw a 46.8 percent jump in cruise ship passengers in the second quarter compared with the same time a year ago, according to figures the port released Wednesday.

There were 164,536 passengers in the second quarter compared with 112,118 during the same time in 2010. That’s up 3.4 percent over the 159,133 during the first quarter.

The port is also running 20.7 percent ahead through the first six months of the year with 323,699 passengers through June 30 compared with 268,224 in the first half of 2010.

The increase is attributed to Norwegian Cruise Line’s decision last year to keep its Spirit ship docked in the city year-round starting last November. Norwegian previously docked the Spirit in New Orleans here between November and May.

There were also more cruises from New Orleans in the second quarter, 31 up from 20 a year ago. For the year, 62 cruises have departed from New Orleans compared with 50 during the first half of last year.

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