American Cruise Lines to build four riverboats for US cruising

American Cruise Lines plans to launch four river ships for the U.S. market between 2015 and 2017.

American Cruise Lines told Travel Weekly last month that it had plans to introduce four U.S. newbuilds, but didn’t specify whether the new vessels would all be river cruisers, or if some would be coastal cruisers.

The company said that construction has begun on two of the four vessels, with the first slated to begin cruising in the spring of 2015. Each of the two new river ships will carry between 150 and 200 guests and will cruise the Mississippi River system and the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest.

At least one of the four new ships will operate cruises along the Columbia and Snake rivers from the Pacific Coast to the Idaho border, more than 500 miles inland.

Last year, American Cruise Lines launched the new 150-passenger paddlewheeler Queen of the Mississippi. When it set sail in August 2012, the Queen of the Mississippi was the first paddlewheeler built in the U.S. since the American Queen in 1995.(The 436-passenger American Queen is currently owned by American Queen Steamboat Co.)

The new vessels are being built at the Chesapeake Shipbuilding yard in Salisbury, Md. They will have many of the same features and amenities as the Queen of the Mississippi, including staterooms with sliding glass doors and room service.

Guilford, Conn.-based American Cruise Lines operates more than 35 itineraries on rivers and waterways in 28 states.

The company said it has recorded 25% passenger growth each year for the past three years.