Anerican Queen hit a rock

[Harley Rdr]

Boarded American Queen1 hour late yesterday in Nashville. Boat was delayed by a bridge not opening up far enough for the boat to pass. Then they hit a rock and knocked a hole in the rear starboard hull. People worked on the patch all night. Hole is now fixed and Coast Guard is aboard to give clearance to leave. Hope to depart Nashville at 3:00 pm today. Rough start. A port will have to be skipped but no decision on which one yet.

[Editor Colleen]

Hello,

We received a statement from the company this morning and thought I'd share here:

 

"The American Queen departed Nashville today at 3pm after grazing a rock yesterday morning. Guests for the next cruise boarded on time while minor repairs were made.

She was cleared by the Coast Guard to sail to Chattanooga as scheduled."

 

Colleen

[Harley Rdr]

Interesting spin from AQ. I guess the "as scheduled sailing time" was changed from Saturday to Sunday. We left Nashville 24 hours late. Since then we have skipped 2 stops, Dover and Paducah. We were able to get off the boat for the first time since Saturday from noon to 4:30 today at Savannah, Tenn. Two men who paid for the deluxe tour of Shiloh reported their wives did the Hop On Hop Off and didn't like it but they liked it better than that husbands liked the Shiloh tour. The repeat customers were invited to a Captain's champagne reception at 4:30. We were told a valve is broken in some locks further down river. AQ has been turned around and we are headed back to Nashville. Tomorrow will be our 3rd "river boating" day. We are now supposed to stop at Dover and Clarkston (?). We will be bussed 2 hours from Nashville to Chattanooga to catch our flights home. If we change our flights to Nashville we have to pay for a cab to the airport. All Chattanooga tours are cancelled. The next cruise has been changed to a Nashville to Memphis route. We can stay on the boat for another week for free (except for taxes and tips) in one of the 50 unsold cabins, we can book another trip while onboard and get a $1500 credit/per person toward the next trip, we can book another trip after we get off the boat and get a $1000 credit/per person. There are open bars for the rest of the trip. Maybe this is jinxed since it's over Halloween but we probably won't be giving AQ any more money to book another trip with them.

[LDVinNC]

I'm sorry to hear about this. What a disappointment for you and your fellow travelers.

[Calliope]

Interesting spin from AQ. I guess the "as scheduled sailing time" was changed from Saturday to Sunday. We left Nashville 24 hours late. Since then we have skipped 2 stops, Dover and Paducah. We were able to get off the boat for the first time since Saturday from noon to 4:30 today at Savannah, Tenn. Two men who paid for the deluxe tour of Shiloh reported their wives did the Hop On Hop Off and didn't like it but they liked it better than that husbands liked the Shiloh tour. The repeat customers were invited to a Captain's champagne reception at 4:30. We were told a valve is broken in some locks further down river. AQ has been turned around and we are headed back to Nashville. Tomorrow will be our 3rd "river boating" day. We are now supposed to stop at Dover and Clarkston (?). We will be bussed 2 hours from Nashville to Chattanooga to catch our flights home. If we change our flights to Nashville we have to pay for a cab to the airport. All Chattanooga tours are cancelled. The next cruise has been changed to a Nashville to Memphis route. We can stay on the boat for another week for free (except for taxes and tips) in one of the 50 unsold cabins, we can book another trip while onboard and get a $1500 credit/per person toward the next trip, we can book another trip after we get off the boat and get a $1000 credit/per person. There are open bars for the rest of the trip. Maybe this is jinxed since it's over Halloween but we probably won't be giving AQ any more money to book another trip with them.

 

Hmmm...I don't think that the AQ is being very forthcoming; something doesn't make sense here. I wonder what the real reason is.

 

I checked the TVA web-site and none of the locks below Chattanooga are listed as being closed. The lock above Chattanooga is closed for repairs though, but that shouldn't effect the AQ being able to reach Chattanooga. Also on http://www.Steamboats.org there is more discussion about the AQ's current situation.

[Calliope]

It was reported on http://www.Steamboats.org after I posted the above that there is a problem at Wheeler L&D which would impact the AQ being able to reach Chattanooga. Like all but Wilson L&D, Wheeler L&D has only one lock chamber, so when it's down there's no getting around it!

[Harley Rdr]

This trip just gets better. We are docked in Clarksville, Tenn. There is a wind storm coming so we cannot leave dock nor make it to Nashville. We were supposed to leave at 6:15 tomorrow morning to be bussed to Chattanooga. Then a Chattanooga tour followed by a drop off at the airport. Now we have to be on a 5:45 bus. This has to be a Halloween jinxed trip.

[Calliope]

We're supposed to get the wind in Cincy too later today. After that the weather person is talking about snow here. Thankfully, it won't stick to the ground as it is still warm from the upper 70 temps of earlier this week.

 

When you get back home, hopefully, you will give a review of all the good, bad , and ugly of your trip, and how the company handled it.

[Harley Rdr]

We are on the bus to the Chattanooga airport now. In all honesty most of the problems (lock and wind) were not the ship's fault. Rumor had it the front of the boat ran aground. The back end then swung around and hit the rock on the port side (not starboard). I don't know if this is accurate or not but sounds like an error was made by the pilot. Food was good. I'm not a huge fan of the onboard entertainers other than the musicians. My biased opinion is the entertainment was adequate. I heard several people grumble that the open bar was of no significance to them so it was an empty gesture. A lot of people had drinks but I didn't see anyone abusing the bar priviledges. If you could stay on the boat another week the offer was probably a good deal. I didn't hear the number of people able to do this. There were 50 staterooms available. Future cruise credits are ok if you are willing to try again. They are good through the end of 2015 and apply to either the Queen or Empress. I would have preferred a partial refund for the trip that was messed up. We book trips for the stops not the boat. I know what the passage contract has in it but still feel like we did not get what we bought. The captain had manditory town hall meetings to annouce the bad news each time. I have to give him credit for facing the crowd and answering questions. Probably the largest challenge was trip end transportation and logistics. First we were told there would not be a Chattanooga tour, then there would be then as an afterthought we were told there would not be. They were going to get us to Chattanooga by 9:00 but after many complaints they changed it to 10:30. The shore excursion office was probably the weakest link in all the changes.

[Harley Rdr]

We were told by a member of the crew that AQ will not return to Dover, Tn. We docked at about 10:30 pm. Two black crew members walked up the hill to go to a convenience store. When we got off the boat at 8:30 we were chatting with a sheriff dispatcher who said a deputy gave 2 crew members a ride back to the boat and got a tour at about midnight. The crew member we talked to said the 2 crew members were told the convenience store was not open (even though it clearly was). They were told to return to the boat and followed back. A boat tour would not be given to anyone at midnight. The captain was told what happened. Since he selects the stops he has decided he will not return to Dover. I don't know which side of this story is correct.

[Calliope]

Rumor had it the front of the boat ran aground. The back end then swung around and hit the rock on the port side (not starboard). I don't know if this is accurate or not but sounds like an error was made by the pilot.

 

Thanks for your observations. This has been a rough year for the boat. I hope she makes it till New Year!

 

My guess is that the channel is so narrow up there and rock bric a brack lining both of the banks, I really doubt that the head of the boat grounded. My guess is that the pilot was steering a bend and that the stern slid right into the shore in the bend as her head came around the point.

[DDBINK1]

Sounds like all the problems with stops and even the accident, were not completely the fault of the ship/company. Maybe the river was not deep enough for the boat when it hit a rock ??

 

I think the story is about the communication with the passengers. Disappointment after the changed route changed again. Sort of got your hopes up and then dashed them.

 

Not too sure I could add another week on a vacation but that deal of a discount for a future cruise was not bad.

[biker1972]

I do think that the company is aware of the disappointment that schedule and itinerary changes cause for guests. And I am impressed that the Thanksgiving cruise that was supposed to stop in Baton Rouge on that Thursday has been changed so that we are stopping there on Friday when all buildings and sites will be open. Thursday will be spent at Nottoway Plantation and we cruise back upriver for the Friday stop. Someone got something right.

[Calliope]

Sounds like all the problems with stops and even the accident, were not completely the fault of the ship/company. Maybe the river was not deep enough for the boat when it hit a rock ??

 

The US Army Corps of Engineers guarantees a nine foot channel on the Cumberland River. Of course with government cut backs it's more and more difficult for the channel to be maintained. Nevertheless the AQ draws less than nine feet.