Guilford, CT—November 1, 2024—American Cruise Lines is pleased to announce that it has signed contracts with Chesapeake Shipbuilding for 4 more new ships, bringing the Line’s total orderbook with Chesapeake to 10 ships over the next 3 years. All the newbuilds are expressly for the U.S. cruise market; the fastest growing segment of the river cruise industry. American Cruise Lines has been a trailblazer in that market for more than 50 years and will operate 21 small ships around the country next year. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s talk about American Cruise Lines. There are so many things I want to share about this company I barely know where to begin.

Briefly, it is an American operator of cruises on great rivers across the country, and on coastal waters. The coastal cruises hug the coastline, never out of sight of land. They are operated essentially like river cruises.

There’s much more to get back to about this company, but first, a quick look at the headlines:

On August 15, the company will have two big events, spread across the USA. Read the rest of this entry »

American Cruise Lines continues to provide US river cruising with a look at their 2024 cruise season. With a total of 125 US ports of call and nine new itineraries, ACL has big announcements out.

Leading the announcement is two new 100-passenger ships, Coastal Cats, American Liberty and American Legend. These are the 3^rd and 4^th ships of the American series which will include 12 total. The first two coastal cats already in operation are American Eagle and  American Glory. Slated to sail New England, Chesapeake Bay, Hudson River and Florida, the American Liberty is set to cruise in June 2024 while American Legend is set for October 2024.

Adding to the 19 ships they will have in operation by October of next year are new itineraries. Including longer cruises like the 60-day itinerary exploring 20 states (August 16^th to October 14^th) and the 35-day Civil War Battlefields cruise exploring 20 Civil War battlefields (May 3^rd to June 6^th).

They’ve also announced new 2024 cruises at National Parks. Including Denali Fjords and Glacier Bay National Parks in Alaska, and Smoky Mountains National Park. Also available is the multi-national park cruise of Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton along the Colombia and Snake Rivers.

With new departures, new ships, more itineraries than featured here, and a maximum range of 90-180 guests per cruise, American Cruise Lines looks to be growing into the booming interest in cruises.

It’s warmer than Europe and closer to home—and now only time will tell if cruisers will buy Natchez as a Christmas market destination.

American Queen Voyages is giving it a go, partnering with the city of Natchez, MS, to recreate a traditional Christmas market for cruisers on select itineraries during the 2023 and 2024 holiday seasons.

AQV president Cindy D’Aoust called Natchez “the quintessential Christmas town,” perfect for fusing “European yuletide nostalgia and authentic Southern charm.”

Stopping in Natchez will be:
• American Countess – Memphis to New Orleans, November 27 sailing
• American Queen – New Orleans to Memphis, December 3 sailing
• American Countess – New Orleans to Memphis, December 4 sailing
• American Queen – Memphis to New Orleans, December 10 sailing
• American Countess – Memphis to New Orleans, December 11 sailing
• American Queen – Roundtrip New Orleans to Memphis, December 17 sailing
• American Countess – Roundtrip New Orleans to Memphis, December 18 sailing
• American Queen – Roundtrip New Orleans to Memphis, December 23 sailing
• American Countess – Roundtrip New Orleans to Memphis, December 25 sailing

AQV also will offer special “Holidays on the River” experiences for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, all of which are now available for booking.

The cruise line in June announced that despite solid bookings, it was pulling out of the Great Lakes to focus on its river and Alaska itineraries.