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| Paddlewheel Lounge on Queen of the Mississippi |
Travel Agent was out and about at Cruise Shipping Miami and spoke briefly to the heads of two American-flagged river lines, American Queen Steamboat Company and American Cruise Lines.
John Waggoner, chairman of American Queen Steamboat Company (www.americanqueensteamboatcompany.com) said guest feedback is showing the line has worked out the launch kinks of last spring and is doing well in terms of guest satisfaction. He said last spring’s feedback was 4-5 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best. But, he added that the ratings improved sizably over the late summer and fall season. Now the line is routinely getting 8-10 from its guests.
Waggoner said the line's focus during its first year had to be on launching the American river product and establishing the American Queen Steamboat brand. Now, his team has turned to running the operation efficiently and enhancing onboard comfort for guests with a recent interior renovation, but also improving revenues and also enlarging the pool of potential guests.
Christopher Kyte remains an owner, but is no longer running the day-to-day operations. Ted Sykes is now the president and COO, handling all day-to-day operations including sales, marketing, finance and vessel operations. Jeff Drew, a cruise industry sales veteran, continues to handle sales efforts with agents.
Waggoner said pre-launch investment to American Queen involved mostly mechanical upgrades. Then, earlier this year, the river line tackled updates to the interior soft goods, decor and features. View www.travelagentcentral.com/river-cruises/renovated-american-queen-sails-second-season-river-voyages-39321.
What else is new? Look for American Queen to offer two unique themed cruises in 2014. Both are Waggoner’s idea.
He believes these new types of themed cruises can help bring in new faces, and specifically younger cruisers. That’s increasingly important as the line’s clientele ages; some current guests began sailing with Delta Queen Steamboat Company decades ago.
The first new themed offering in 2014 will be a “Marathon Cruise,” giving your fitness-minded clients a chance to race in the annual St. Jude Memphis Marathon. Guests will lightly train ashore during pre-race port calls. and benefit from onboard health, wellness and fitness lectures.
Most importantly, guests who so choose will actually race in the marathon. Waggoner, a fitness enthusiast, says the cruise line will provide registration, packet pick-up, transportation to the running event and other themed perks as part of the cruise fare.
Those guests who participate will obviously compete for glory in the official marathon, but after that event concludes, Waggoner says they'll also be treated to their own shipboard award ceremony - based on order of finish for cruise guests.
American West Steamboat Company also plans a NASCAR-themed voyage in 2014. Carnival Cruise Lines has offered a Rusty Wallace cruise in the Caribbean in past years, but Waggoner says a river ship plying waters in America’s heartland can actually deliver guests to an actual NASCAR race.
The cruise fare will include race day tickets to the Kentucky Speedway track for a NASCAR race in 2014, motorcoach transportation to the race and more. More details on both new themed cruises will be coming soon.
Travel Agent also caught up briefly at Cruise Shipping Miami with Charles Robertson, the chairman and CEO of American Cruise Lines (www.americancruiselines.com).
He said the new Queen of the Mississippi has done quite well sailing on Mississippi and heartland rivers in 2012, its first year of operations; a new virtual tour of that vessel is on the line's website for agents to peruse.
Agents can expect Webinars and more individual sales support moving forward, he said. The line will launch a second paddlewheeler in 2014 but there is no word yet on that ship’s schedule.
Appearance-wise, though, “the second vessel will be very similar to the first,” Robertson stressed. Except for some new décor elements, the new ship won’t change much from the Queen of the Mississippi.
American Cruise Lines operates numerous American flagged vessels, so where might it expand? Any new regions on the horizon? Robertson said his firm is looking at the the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes as well as a few other areas for possible expansion.