American Cruise Lines has done something that has not happened in some time. It is getting a paddle wheeler from the group for the market of the River Mississippi.
The New Mississippi river paddle wheeler will start sailing in the month of August in the year 2012. The passenger ship will carry around 140 people and is not named yet. It is under construction at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury which is a shipyard that the American Cruise Lines works for with most of its ships.
This paddle wheeler will work on the River Cumberland, Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi. The company which is based on Guilford and Conn. The actual amount that is to be invested is not disclosed as yet. Everyone is wondering why there is a paddle wheeler in the 21st century. The company thinks it is a nice way of doing it. The market in Mississippi basically likes the idea of this kind of riverboat which has all the amenities.
The other boats are not efficient and they are not totally fuel efficient and also are efficiently maintained. It is very expensive to help to maintain those boats. American Cruise Lines is thus building this new kind of paddle wheeler which is very environmentally based and the components are all eco friendly and are inclusive of facilities for water treatment.
The Mississippi boats normally have a lot of impact environmentally per person. The environmental impact and the carbon footprint per person would be just one eight of what it was per person on other boats.
The shipyards are not in the practice of constructing paddle wheelers. The construction is not more complex than other ships that have been constructed. The ship will look like a traditional river boat but it has bigger cabins and also public areas than the normal vessels that have been seen sailing in the River Mississippi, like the American Queen and the Delta Queen. The American Cruise Line is faster than the other ships by around 3 or 4 mph. This makes a big difference in the entire route of the ship thus helping the ship to make greater stops at the ports.
The first cruise is programmed to leave in the year 2012 on August 11 from New Orleans and this would be a seven night cruise which would go to Memphis the ship would then start a line of such similar seven night cruise which would travel upto St Paul in Minn.
If at all it wouldn’t be ready then the shipyard would have a lot of backlog of orders This Mississippi sternwheeler is ahead of schedule and the hull is almost complete. The ship is around 260 feet in length and more than 52 feet in width. This has a seven foot draft There would be around 75 staterooms which would be inclusive of around 60 twin cabins and nine singles and six twin suites. The staterooms vary from 200 square feet to 480 square feet and would have private verandas There are twin size beds and flat screen and private bathrooms high speed internet access, and also closets
The interior decor is not as old and the riverboat is very traditional The structure has been made ultra Victorian and this is a modern kind of decoration.
There are public spaces is inclusive of an Internet Lounge , a sky lounge, a card room , a paddlewheel lounge and bar , a library a showroom and a chart room
Then there is a main dining room and a callilope with an upper deck recreational area, a sunbathing area, an exercise space and many elevators
There will be complimentary predinner cocktails and a lot of hors oeuvres every night. There are passengers who have the option to have breakfast which is served on the balcony.
In this manner the American Cruise Lines is a major ship that is being made ready for the passengers to sail.