ExpertCruiser.com

Ambassadors International announced today that they have chartered the historic Delta Queen to Harry Phillips, owner of Chattanooga Water Taxi and Fat Cat Ferry in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to act as caretaker. Ambassadors said the paddlewheeler will operate as a boutique hotel and will be preserved in its current state. Read for more details…

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It looks like another cruise queen is about to become a floating hotel. Ambassadors International, owner of the Delta Queen, said it is in talks to lease the vessel for use as a hotel. But there’s a catch, the lease would be subject to a sale to operate the vessel as an overnight cruise passenger vessel and that would require a congressional exemption. Read for more…

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Cruising America’s rivers is losing yet another cruise company. After 10 years, RiverBarge Excursion Lines is ceasing all operations for 2009. The company said rising costs and soft bookings led to the decision to cease operations for 2009. Read for more details…

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Joe Ueberroth, chairman and CEO of Ambassadors International the parent company of Windstar Cruises and the now defunct steamboat operator Majestic America Line, has voluntarily given up his compensation for the year. Find out what he gets paid instead…

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At this time of year, just about everyone devotes a column to predictions for the year ahead. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I can tell you the shape of things to come on the high seas in 2009: no fuel supplements (for now), massive tonnage, new luxury, greener ships, ship makeovers, and — would you believe? — zip-lining and a carousel.

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The Delta Queen is the last remaining example of the thousands of paddle-wheel steamboats that once traveled America’s waterways and it’s about to be put out to pasture because of politics. Find out why and how we must save this great American treasure.

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