Sailing on the American Countess' "shakedown" cruise on the Mississippi River this past week, Travel Agent sat down with John Waggoner, founder and CEO of American Queen Steamboat Company (AQSC), and talked about the newly christened riverboat, potential fleet expansion, COVID-19 vaccines, the river restart and what's happening with Victory Cruise Lines, the company's small-ship, oceangoing brand.
Here are some highlights of that discussion:
River Ports Want the Lines Back: Travel Agent asked Waggoner if ports were "balking" at the return of the small river line vessels. "Not on the Mississippi River," he said, noting that both American Countess and American Duchess are now back sailing.
Waggoner also pointed out that Mayor Dan Gibson of the City of Natchez was sailing on the preview cruise. Travel Agent also spoke to Gibson who said this about the year-long absence of river cruises: "We've missed it. We've missed it," he told us. "These cruise ships are so important to our local economy—many of our tour houses, our tour attractions, our tour guides and also our shops, our restaurants. They really depend on this extra [revenue] every week."
Waggoner also indicated that a recent phone call with ports on the Columbia and Snake Rivers shows that they, too, want the ships back: "We've just had a call with them. The ports were all for it," he said. But sailings can't resume until state government health officials allow river sailings to restart.
"To say it’s been devastating for the small cities, is an understatement," Waggoner stressed. "The ports are asking us to come back and they look at our protocols and they know we’re being safe."
Giving an example of how the line is keeping people—both guests and the people ashore—safe on land, he added that "we need to keep people in a bubble." So, on the preview cruise, during which all guests tested negative for COVID-19 prior to boarding, the line still opted to not do a multi-faceted tour but instead took guests ashore in Natchez at one locale, The Towers, for a house tour and dinner.
AQSC motorcoaches transported guests there and the only interaction with people ashore was with a few servers at dinner; owners Ginger Hyland and her husband, James, as well as the bus drivers who had been previously tested. "It worked out well," Waggoner believes.
The Vaccine Is a "Game-Changer:" From Waggoner's perspective, "I used to spend three weeks a month on the road," and having been hunkered down at home for some time, he said both he and his wife Claudette share the view of many guests who are eager to get out and about again. “I think getting the vaccine is a game-changer," he added. Note: American Queen Steamboat Company will require all guests and crew to be vaccinated for sailings July 1 and thereafter.
"I think people are starting to feel more comfortable with vaccinations," he noted, adding that "right now we are the demographic" eligible for vaccines in most places. (The AQSC demographic average is 72 years of age plus or minus 10 years. So, most guests are between 62 and 82 years of age.)
How have loyal past guests reacted to the recent vaccination requirement announcement? Travel Agent asked Waggoner about the pros and cons. "It's all pro," he noted. Many people on the preview cruise had already been vaccinated, AQSC officials said. By the time July 1 rolls around, Waggoner believes most clients will already be vaccinated prior to booking. They'll require that proof of vaccination to board.
On the Columbia and Snake Rivers in Oregon and Washington, the line's demographic is slightly younger. It's currently 65 years of age, plus or minus 10 years. That said, vaccines are now available in many states to people 55 years of age or older (or even younger).
Four AQSC Ships, Any Fleet Expansion?: When asked if advisors can expect to see a further expansion of AQSC's four-ship fleet anytime soon, Waggoner said, "Right now, I just need to get the American Queen up and running, the American Empress up and running, [as well as] Victory I, Victory II, Ocean Victory and Ocean Discoverer. So, before we buy any new boats, we need to get the boats that we have up and going."
His Favorite Spot on American Countess: For Waggoner, it's the vessels' Library. He's always looking for a space to work onboard, and it's a nice, quiet space. "But it's always interesting for me when other guests come in and they don’t know who I am," he said. That often means he hears honest "intel" about the cruise experience. "I just love hearing their conversations and the comments about the boat, because I’m just some schmuck working on a computer," he quipped.
He also likes to look outside, to watch the river go by and watch people on the outside deck.
Not Cookie Cutter Riverboats: In describing American Countess and how it compares with the line's other vessels, he said, he'd call the newly christened ship "contemporary," but he and David William Kelly, the line's EVP, "talked about that a lot."
Waggoner told us he personally felt this about American Duchess: "I thought it was too contemporary. I think—just my term and not anybody else’s—things were just too sparkly."
So, he said, for American Countess, the executive team wanted "to dial it down and change things a little bit. And I think the mix came out perfectly, because when you look at the exterior, it looks like a historic paddlewheel boat but brand-new—but when you come on [and see] the interior, though, everybody I talk to is just surprised and overwhelmed about how gorgeous it is, what it looks like. I think it’s a perfect mix."
AQSC isn't a brand that offers voyages on cookie-cutter "sister ships." Instead, Waggoner stressed that the river line's vessels are all completely different. "The American Queen is really the grand lady and she’s got a real steam engine and I think 11 different categories of staterooms."
In contrast he mentioned American Duchess has the Loft Suites and big Owner Suites. But on American Countess, "it's really four categories of staterooms but the vessel and the amenities and the public spaces are just stunning."
It Was a "Shakedown" Cruise: Our five-night preview cruise ended on Friday, while the first seven-night revenue cruise set sail on Sunday from Memphis to New Orleans. The line purposely left a few days in between for tweaking.
"Anytime we do a 'shakedown' cruise, we know we’re going to find a couple of things, so let’s give the boat two days to fix anything and then get ready for new, paying passengers," Waggoner said before guests boarded the vessel on Sunday night.
Waggoner told us that the Mississippi River restart on American Duchess and American Countess has meant approximately 240 more jobs related to the river restart. That doesn't count any shoreside office employees that may have been rehired. Crew were seen coming up to Waggoner on the preview cruise and thanking him. Even when the crew were not working for AQSC in spring and summer 2020, the line retained and paid for their medical, dental and vision benefits for as long as the law would permit—up to seven months in many cases.
Alaska is Uncertain, Mexico Welcoming: Just before coming on this trip, Waggoner was on a phone call with other lines and several U.S. congressional offices about the situation in Alaska. While several American-flagged, small-ship lines will restart Alaska cruises this year, his company's foreign-flagged Victory Cruise Lines cannot start up in Alaska without some policy change or exemption in the law.
To sail in Alaska this season, the line would need either an exemption made to U.S. law to allow foreign-flagged ships to sail between U.S. ports without a foreign port call or a loosening of the Canadian cruise ship ban to allow technical calls in Canadian ports. Waggoner said the line also would have to get the new Ocean Victory ready and up to the Pacific Northwest by April 15, "so, we're running out of time."
On another front, "we're excited about Mexico," he added. "One of the things we’ve been chatting about is that if we can’t start operating the Victory I and Victory II on the Great Lakes is that maybe we could start running those Mexico itineraries as early as this spring."
Waggoner summed up the current state of the cruise industry this way: "For us, everything is in such a state of flux. Just last week we were on again, off again, on again" for American Countess. "You try it, it works [or] it doesn’t work, you move on," he said, while keeping a positive attitude and being thankful that AQSC is back sailing on the "Big Muddy" once again with two vessels.
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