Reservations are open for the first of American Cruise Lines'
modern riverboats, a vessel that has not yet been named.
The 200-passenger boat is slated to launch in fall 2018 on the
Lower Mississippi.
The vessels will not be paddlewheelers and will be more in
line with the style of riverboat that is more common in European river
cruising. ACL plans to build five of these modern riverboats.
Construction is currently underway on a 345-foot riverboat at
Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, Md.
There will be no inside cabins, and all cabins will be
comparatively larger than other riverboats. They will be outward facing and feature
private balconies, according to the company. The riverboats will also feature a
four-story atrium in the center of the ship.
American Cruise Lines said it plans to launch modern-style
riverboats on the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest in 2019.
To date, ACL has built three Mississippi paddlewheelers from
the ground up, the most recent of which was the 185-passenger America, which
launched last year. ACL also owns and operates the refurbished Columbia River
paddlewheeler Queen of the West, as well as three yacht-style coastal cruisers:
the Independence, American Star and American Spirit.
In addition to the new class of modern riverboats, ACL is in
the process of building two coastal cruisers: the 170-passenger American
Constellation, scheduled to begin cruising this May, and a sister ship that will
begin cruising in 2018.