Themes

Baseball Legends

Hosts Dan Schlossberg and Bruce Campbell each represent a wealth of knowledge in baseball history. Dan is a former Associated Press newsman and author of 35 books on baseball. Bruce is a dealer in baseball memorabilia and is renowned for his expertise on baseball players, games and statistics throughout the history of the sport. The two have collaborated in organizing baseball-themed events for over 20 ...

President's Cruise

Join American Queen Steamboat Company's President and other members of our team for a voyage full of special gifts, parties and surprises. Learn how the American Queen was saved, what goes on behind the scenes in our Memphis headquarters and have the chance to share your thoughts and ideas with everyone who makes it happen. We can’t wait to meet all of you!

Southern Culture

Immerse yourself in the literature, music and culture of the South, as well as its traditions, history and cooking. Our Southern Culture Vacations carry you deep into the worlds of William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Tennessee Williams and Harper Lee. You’ll visit the towns that inspired literary and musical greatness. Along the way, you’ll experience the sounds of the Delta blues and sample ...

Gardens of the River

A Southern garden is a thing of beauty so prepare to be amazed as you visit the finest along the Mississippi. Marvel at Rosedown in St. Francisville, Stanton Hall and Rosalie in Natchez, Dixon Gardens in Memphis and Long Vue House and Gardens in New Orleans. On board will be gardening experts and horticulturists who will share how you can bring a little bit of ...

Great Steamboat Era

They were the most magnificent, most anticipated and most colorful forms of transportation on earth. Wedding cake superstructures and mighty paddlewheels churning, the steamboats of the 1800s marked the high point of river travel in America. Join us as we once again bring alive the sights, sounds and history of Mark Twain, fearless captains and the races, wrecks and romance of the Great Steamboat Era.

Good Old Summertime

Straw hats, suspenders, cool pitchers of lemonade, brass bands, picnics, ice cream socials and porch swings were part of the fabric of summer in American not all that long ago. Be transported to a simpler time when summer was about fun, freedom, friends and food. Fly kites off the top deck, enjoy apple pies and cherry cobbler and immerse yourself in the music and stories ...

Music of the Rivers

The paddlewheel has its own rhythm but so does the music of the rivers as we float through the myriad melodies of blues, gospel, folk, rockabilly, ragtime, Dixieland jazz and zydeco. Sway to the music of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton and try your hand at that quintessential river instrument, the calliope. You’ll quickly discover that the river has a rhythm all its ...

Lewis & Clark / Route 66

Set your sights on America’s wilderness and our iconic roadside gems as historians and musicians take you on a journey beyond the rivers. The dynamic duo of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark forged into the wilds to reach the Pacific while 150 years later to the south, fabled Route 66 became known as the Main Street of America. Get your kicks from the era ...

American Hootenanny

A hootenanny is an old Appalachian term that has come to mean a folk-music party and boy do we have a party planned for you! A line-up of American folk legends takes the stage in the American Queen’s Grand Saloon to bring the finest folk music front and center. Relive the best of the 1960s when a new generation was born and reached out ...

Fall Foliage

It’s the only time of year that the river is even more colorful than the American Queen’s bright red paddlewheel. A blanket of reds, oranges and golds covers the landscape. Leaves blow across the brick-paved streets of small towns like Red Wing, Minnesota and Hannibal, Missouri. Warm apple cider and spied pumpkin pie bring autumn’s wonders right to your table as wildlife ...

High Society

From elegant art deco skyscrapers to the fastest transatlantic ocean liners this was the era of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and RKO Pictures. Streamlined Duesenbergs owned the road, sleek Pullman train cars ruled the rails and luxurious flying boats spanned the oceans. Join renowned historian Bill Miller as he transports you back to a time of divas and doyennes.

Old Fashioned Holidays

Step aboard the American Queen, her halls decked in Victorian holiday finery. Sip a glass of eggnog with a Southern twist, join in carols and watch the riverbanks for the Cajun bonfires lit to guide Papa Noel on his way. Amid the glitter and elegance of a Steamboating holiday is the camaraderie of new friends, the joy of family and the satisfaction of knowing this ...

Thanksgiving

Turkey with all the trimmings is just part of what makes Thanksgiving special aboard the American Queen. Famed Southern chef Regina Charboneau presents a cornucopia of traditional treats while you enjoy a fabulous feast and then settle into a rocking chair on the Front Porch of America for an after-dinner nap. Surrounded by Victorian décor and new friends with the river rolling by, you ...

DQSC and PSSOA Reunion

The legendary Delta Queen Steamboat Company was the steward of the finest and most historic fleet of steamboats on the river. Join us as we pay tribute to the immortal Delta Queen in this gathering of guests from their zenith. The Paddlewheel Steamboatin’ Society of America was a loyal group who kept the dream alive for decades and on this very special voyage, parties, memories ...

The Age of Steam

There was a time when steam powered a nation and we invite you to travel back with us on the American Queen, the only steam-powered overnight paddlewheeler left on America’s rivers. Experts will bring alive the days of the mighty Iron Horse as railroads expanded America’s reach and as frail steam engines propelled equally frail ships around the world. It was a time ...

Manifest Destiny

America was built on not just the promise of Westward expansion, but the unwavering belief that it was the new nation’s destiny. Come relive the days when explorers reached for the Pacific, settlers abandoned everything familiar to head toward a new life, great wagon trains roamed the prairie and cowboys drove herds of cattle across the plains.

New Year's Eve

Start the New Year just like Mark Twain might have 150 years ago with this special voyage on the American Queen. Imagine celebrating the arrival of Baby New Year in the Grand Saloon, surrounded by Victorian details, confetti, champagne and newfound friends. Ring in 2014 the old-fashioned way and be one of the select few who can claim to have celebrated New Year’s Eve ...

Civil War

Never has there been a Civil War experience quite so immersive as this. Delve into the strategies, military and political, that shaped the events of the American Civil War. Tribute artists will bring key figures to life — witness a press conference with Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, portrayed by Barry Meadows and Al Stone, respectively.

The sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln himself, will ...