[Travelandtourism] Cruise West bringing back Mississippi River cruising

[cheryl echevarria]

Cruise West bringing back Mississippi River cruising
By: Michelle Baran
June 16, 2010

Cruise West is resuscitating the dormant Mississippi River cruise business 
with two new itineraries on the
Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers, starting in March 2011.

Cruise West will use the 102-passenger Spirit of America, formerly the 
Spirit of Glacier Bay.

"This market has been underserved since 2008 with the departure of Majestic 
[America] Line,"
Cruise West CEO Dietmar Wertanzl said in a statement.

Indeed, no cruise line or operator has attempted to re-enter the Mississippi 
River market since Majestic America
Line ceased operations under Ambassadors International at the end of 2008.

Majestic's demise took three Mississippi ships - the 176-passenger Delta 
Queen, 436-passenger American Queen
and 412-passenger Mississippi Queen - out of service.

"Many of our loyal customers asked us to bring the Cruise West small-ship 
experience to the Mississippi and
other heartland rivers," Dick West, Cruise West's chairman and managing 
director, said in a statement.
"My family is extremely proud to offer guests the opportunity to sail an 
American-flagged ship on one of the most
iconic American rivers."

Unlike the three large paddlewheelers Majestic operated on the Mississippi, 
which ranged in length from 285 feet
to 418 feet, the Spirit of America is 207 feet in length with four decks, 
including an upper sun deck and
three lower decks with 51 cabins.

Originally named the Spirit of Nantucket and built in 1984, the ship was 
acquired by Cruise West in 2006 and
renamed the Spirit of Glacier Bay in 2008, when it was repositioned by 
Cruise West from the East Coast to Alaska.

In its new location, the newly named Spirit of America will sail two 
seven-night itineraries, one along the
 Mississippi River from New Orleans to Memphis and the other along the 
Mississippi, Ohio Tennessee and
 Cumberland rivers from Memphis to Nashville.

There will be eight departures in 2011, with prices starting at $3,499 per 
person. The New Orleans-Memphis cruise
departs March 19 and April 16, the reverse itinerary April 9 and May 7. The 
Memphis-Nashville departures are
March 26 and April 23, the reverse itinerary April 2 and 30.

Majestic also had three vessels that sailed in the Pacific Northwest along 
the Columbia and Snake rivers
 - the 223-passenger Empress of the North, 142-passenger Queen of the West 
and 150-passenger Columbia Queen.

After the demise of Majestic, Cruise West remained one of the only cruise 
lines with operations on America's
inland waterways, continuing its itineraries along the Columbia and Snake 
rivers on the 96-passenger Spirit of
'98 and 84-passenger Spirit of Discovery.

In 2009, American Safari Cruises joined Cruise West in the region with a 
nine-day river cruise from Lewiston, Idaho,
to Astoria, Ore., aboard the 36-passenger yacht Safari Explorer.
Cheryl Echevarria
Independent Travel Consultant
C10-10646

http://Echevarriatravel.com
1-866-580-5574

http://blog.echevarriatravel.com
Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10