American Cruise Lines will rename the 150-passenger
paddlewheeler currently known as the Queen of the Mississippi as the American Pride.
The riverboat will be deployed in the Pacific Northwest for 2016. The 3-year-old vessel is joining the company’s 120-passenger
Queen of the West on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
The vessel will sail seven- and 10-day cruises beginning
this spring.
The American Pride will be replaced on the Mississippi River
by the 185-passenger America in 2016. That ship is under construction at
Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, Md.
The company said the moves will allow it to accommodate high
demand for U.S. river cruising in both regions.
The American Pride’s schedule has been announced
and the company is taking bookings for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.