Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted April 4 #101 Share Posted April 4 56 minutes ago, DaveinCharlotte said: I tend to doubt it. ACL already has five -- count 'm five -- ships operating there, two of which are paddlewheelers. Those (Pride, West) however are kind of long in the tooth, so maybe ACL would be keen to replace them/ By West do you mean the old Queen of the West? Or as we called it, Queen of the Worst. We sailed on that ship 10 years ago and thought it was in bad shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globalfish Posted April 4 #102 Share Posted April 4 The sale of the four AQV riverboats to ACL was just approved by the Bankruptcy Court in Houston. The sale of the Ocean Voyager and Ocean Navigator to a different buyer is still pending. https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/finance-legal-regulatory/19m-winning-bid-aqv-coastals-court-oks-6m-sale-river-vessels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare steamboats Posted April 5 #103 Share Posted April 5 The Ocean Victory is an expedition ship built for polar regions. It was not really the right ship for Alaska but for the Med???? steamboats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveinCharlotte Posted April 5 #104 Share Posted April 5 23 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said: By West do you mean the old Queen of the West? Or as we called it, Queen of the Worst. We sailed on that ship 10 years ago and thought it was in bad shape. I don't know; can't find anything on wikipedia. ACL just calls it "American West, 110 passengers, Inaugurated 1995." That's pretty old, so you're probably right. https://www.americancruiselines.com/usa-riverboat-cruise-ships/paddlewheeler-cruise-ships/american-west Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globalfish Posted April 5 #105 Share Posted April 5 Everyone’s happy: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/American-Queen-Voyages-ships-find-new-life 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare steamboats Posted April 6 #106 Share Posted April 6 16 hours ago, DaveinCharlotte said: I don't know; can't find anything on wikipedia. ACL just calls it "American West, 110 passengers, Inaugurated 1995." That's pretty old, so you're probably right. Yes, it´s the former Queen of the West. steamboats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Host Jazzbeau Posted April 7 #107 Share Posted April 7 On 4/5/2024 at 2:20 AM, steamboats said: The Ocean Victory is an expedition ship built for polar regions. It was not really the right ship for Alaska but for the Med???? steamboats Well, the Med it is. But you have to speak Spanish: Alma Cruceros to Operate Ocean Victory in Med in 2025 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare steamboats Posted April 8 #108 Share Posted April 8 Not the first company which tries to operate on the Spanish speaking market. So far they all failed. And this ship is not suited for warm weather destinations. steamboats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted April 20 #109 Share Posted April 20 I keep getting multiple duplicate letters with the bankruptcy information...but nothing that helps any of us out with actual refunds yet. Anyone have any luck yet? They owe me over 15K for paid in full B2B river cruise. Ouch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted April 20 #110 Share Posted April 20 Yet another one of those form letters again today. Sheezz...they are spending a lot of postage just to send us a massive amount of the same letter that does us no good. 🤬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare steamboats Posted May 3 #111 Share Posted May 3 Unfortunately rumors are that all three Mississippi river boats will be scrapped - American Duchess, American Countess and American Queen. steamboats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted May 3 #112 Share Posted May 3 2 hours ago, steamboats said: Unfortunately rumors are that all three Mississippi river boats will be scrapped - American Duchess, American Countess and American Queen. steamboats Just shy of $4 million to eliminate a competitor, about what I expected. Wonder if the Empress will follow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare steamboats Posted May 3 #113 Share Posted May 3 2 minutes ago, chengkp75 said: Wonder if the Empress will follow. No definite answer to that yet, seems like she´s heading to a shipyard and might go into service again. American Countess and Duchess are already in the Houma area for being scrapped. The American Queen is still sitting in New Orleans. steamboats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob brown Posted May 8 #114 Share Posted May 8 If the AQ isn’t saved, that would be sad. Glad I had my chance to sail on her from Red Wing to New Orleans, and Alton to Pittsburgh… 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westerdam Posted May 8 #115 Share Posted May 8 On 5/3/2024 at 2:07 AM, steamboats said: No definite answer to that yet, seems like she´s heading to a shipyard and might go into service again. American Countess and Duchess are already in the Houma area for being scrapped. The American Queen is still sitting in New Orleans. steamboats Just wondering is there actually anything wrong with all 3 that they just couldn't be incorporated into American Cruise Line? I know the American Queen is getting on in years but the other 2 were recently rebuilt and if I recall correctly one was even lengthened. The only thing I can come up with is that they don't fit their business model. It really will be sad to see the American Queen go if it does come down to it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare steamboats Posted May 8 #116 Share Posted May 8 11 minutes ago, westerdam said: The only thing I can come up with is that they don't fit their business model. It really will be sad to see the American Queen go if it does come down to it. Besides of getting rid of a competitor you pretty much nailed it down. All 3 don't fit into ACL's business model. Duchess and Countess are new boats but way too luxury. The AQ is twice as big as their boats and it needs more money to operate her. steamboats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westerdam Posted May 9 #117 Share Posted May 9 22 hours ago, steamboats said: Besides of getting rid of a competitor you pretty much nailed it down. All 3 don't fit into ACL's business model. Duchess and Countess are new boats but way too luxury. The AQ is twice as big as their boats and it needs more money to operate her. steamboats At the end of the day it will be a shame if they are all dismantled. I could see the smallest of them going due to the limited capacity but at the minimum perhaps the AQ as their river flagship (then again maybe not due to her having steam power) and the Countess with some tweaking brought back but it is most likely wishful thinking! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted May 9 #118 Share Posted May 9 (edited) 6 hours ago, westerdam said: (then again maybe not due to her having steam power There is almost no maritime power system less efficient than a steam plant. And that is due to simple physics, not any design flaws or things that can be designed out. That's why the world shifted from steamships to motor ships (diesel) after WW2, because fuel was expensive. But, in the US, fuel was always far cheaper than the rest of the world, so we retained steamships into the 1970's. Edited May 9 by chengkp75 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westerdam Posted May 10 #119 Share Posted May 10 15 hours ago, chengkp75 said: There is almost no maritime power system less efficient than a steam plant. And that is due to simple physics, not any design flaws or things that can be designed out. That's why the world shifted from steamships to motor ships (diesel) after WW2, because fuel was expensive. But, in the US, fuel was always far cheaper than the rest of the world, so we retained steamships into the 1970's. I don't debate that in the least. I was stationed aboard the USS Shreveport in the late 90's and the early 2000's she was steam turbine driven. There were times on deployment we spent more time in port due to the expense of having us go in circles or cross cross the Med for no reason. On my final deployment the longest time at sea was the Atlantic Crossing in both directions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CruiserFromMaine Posted May 10 #120 Share Posted May 10 (edited) Yes, I understand the economics but it’s a shame to see them go. We had two great cruises on the Countess, which had beautiful public areas and nice large staterooms. Oh, well… Edited May 10 by CruiserFromMaine 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted May 10 #121 Share Posted May 10 Got another (different this time) form letter from American Queen...telling me I have not submitted my claim forms yet. Ummm...have done it many times now already, both online and in the mail. The usual run around...no results of course. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob brown Posted May 12 #122 Share Posted May 12 The American Queen, due to her relatively large size (for a riverboat), besides offering a classic heritage paddlewheel steamboat experience, also can offer more on board variety of venues and activities that a smaller boat can’t. As far as size goes, the modern design Viking Mississippi is pretty close, and is far more luxurious, so apparently there is a market for that… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailaway5 Posted May 14 #123 Share Posted May 14 i recently received a letter from American Cruise Lines to welcome past guests of AQV and offerring a discount. They stated they have acquired the riverboats previously operated by American Queen and now have a fleet of 20+ ships across America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted May 14 #124 Share Posted May 14 Not counting the AQV boats, they already had 25 ships in service, and another 4 scheduled for this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare steamboats Posted May 15 #125 Share Posted May 15 ACL has now confirmed that the Duchess and Countess are going to be scrapped. Obviously there´s no final decision for the American Queen yet. But it doesn´t sound that she will be back in service as an overnight river cruise ship. So at least there is a bit of a hope for the AQ. BTW no word about the Empress. steamboats 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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