Last week, Victory Cruise Lines opened sales for its new 2025 season on the Great Lakes with the 190-passenger Victory I and Victory II. So, Travel Agent caught up late last week with John Waggoner. He purchased both former American Queen Voyages (AQV) small oceangoing ships for less than $1 million each (per court records) at a Chapter 11 bankruptcy court-ordered sale of Hornblower Group’s AQV assets in May 2024.
Originally launched in 2001 as Cape May Light and Cape Cod Light, these two Bahamas-flagged small ships were purpose-built in Jacksonville, FL, to cruise on all five Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and to the French-Canadian Maritimes. Since then, they’ve sailed for several different owners. In fact, Waggoner and Terry MacRae, his business partner, previously owned and operated them as Victory Cruise Lines ocean ships, starting in 2019 and continuing for a few years. The vessels most recently sailed for Hornblower as Ocean Voyager and Ocean Navigator.
All Five Great Lakes
Now in a new era for ownership, the relaunched Victory Cruise Lines will set sail in 2025 on 36 Great Lakes cruises. Some 33 of those will sail on all five lakes. So, Travel Agent asked Waggoner about how it feels to be back and what’s ahead for the brand.
“It actually feels great,” he told us, adding that he never really wanted to retire. But when he owned Victory and American Queen Voyages, Waggoner says his business partner was eager to move toward retirement. Since the need for private equity involvement could take some time to secure, Waggoner agreed to move forward along that path. Eventually, Waggoner did retire, and later Hornblower fully took over the operation.
After that, though, “I just had way too much time on my hands,” Waggoner acknowledges. "I find that I like being in control. I also just missed our whole team and the family environment.” So, he’s invigorated at being back.
In 2025, the Victory ships will sail from Chicago to either Toronto or Montreal, and in reverse, or round-trip from Chicago. So, over the past few months, Waggoner has been “on the road” to meet with officials in many port destinations along Victory’s itinerary routes. Those officials have told him they’re happy to have the small ships back for the tourism and economic benefits.
Where Are They Now?
So, where are the two Victory ships right now, and what, if any, renovations will be completed prior to the start of service in 2025?
“Interestingly, right now one Victory ship is in the Bahamas and the other is in Portland, ME,” Waggoner explains. “When we bought the two ships, we had a bunch of inquiries about whether there would be a chance we’d be willing to charter them.” So, within a week of owning them once again, Waggoner’s group awarded a contract for chartering them as hotel facilities for workers handling construction projects in those destinations.
That’s brought in revenue and also allowed Victory time to check out the vessels. Mechanically speaking, “we rebuilt the engines, went through the powerplant, got them all certified and tested all the systems,” Waggoner says. He adds that serving those charter guests is helping Victory finetune the onboard processes and service prior to cruise guests embarking next spring.
Both vessels were fully revitalized just a few years back. At that time, the Grill restaurant was added and the stern enclosed, so not that much renovation work is needed, Waggoner says. But right now, “we’re replacing some carpeting, some wallpaper and some curtains, and we’ve added new stemware and china.”
Forming the Victory Team
Victory now employs 35 or so people in the office, he says, plus an additional 85 people on each boat. “I’m just glad to be back to be chatting with people and really creating jobs for people and economic benefits for local communities," Waggoner tells Travel Agent.
In forming his corporate team, Waggoner hired back David Kelly as Victory’s chief operating officer. Kelly is well-known to advisors from his former service with American Queen Voyages and Victory Cruise Lines. “As always with David, there are going to be changes to enhance the product,” stresses Waggoner.
“The big change is that upstairs in the Grill for dinner, we’re going to a hot rocks program,” Waggoner explains. “So, twice a week each guest can enjoy this unique new Grills experience with guests cooking their meat and vegetables right at the table,” he tells us.
Cruise industry veteran Kari Tarnowski is also back as the line’s vice president of marketing. Bob Salmon is Victory’s vice president of sales and Eric Long is heading up reservations. “So, these are people that many advisors are quite familiar with,” Waggoner says. Bill Annand has also returned to Waggoner’s team as vice president of marine operations, while Shelly Hartfield has returned as head of product development. Waggoner says Hartfield is already creating some enticing new shore experiences.
What, if anything, does Victory plan on the dining side with guest chefs or culinary expert involvement? For instance, During Waggoner’s AQV era and that of Hornblower as well, Chef Regina Charboneau was tapped to host culinary cruises and enhance the onboard gastronomy. He says that “we’re still trying to have people like Regina come aboard as a guest chef.” But no further details are yet available on that front.
As for Victory’s clients, the demographics and psychographics are “similar to what we had” in the past with American Queen Voyages, says Waggoner. “We’ll still cater to many Baby Boomers, but we’re trying to be a little more active for those who want to book hiking tours, bicycle tours, and running, in addition to the walking tours.”
Competition on the Great Lakes
In the past few years, the Great Lakes have been gaining more small-ship cruise competition. Among the players are Pearl Seas Cruises, a sister brand to American Cruise Lines; boutique luxury Ponant; Viking, which will operate its two new 378-passenger expedition ships in the region next year; and others.
So, Travel Agent asked Waggoner how Victory’s older ships, originally built in 2001, can compete with those newer products. In terms of competition, “number-one is our ship size and where we fit,” Waggoner says. He explains that some other vessels aren’t able to come into the Mackinac Island pier, for example. Guests must take tenders to shore, which can be less convenient.
Perhaps the biggest differentiating factor, though, is that “we operate the only ships that can dock at the Navy Pier in downtown Chicago,” he stresses. That provides “such great exposure to the city center for guests. The line’s ships also embark/disembark guests from that spot. So, it's convenient for guests who want to come in pre- cruise and explore the city and then embark from a downtown pier. And post-cruise, again, guests are right in downtown Chicago if they wish to stay a few days on land.
Another point of differentiation from Waggoner’s perspective is what he calls “the heart of our company," the team. "We hand pick all of managers and all of crew members.” Another plus is that Victory’s fares include a pre-hotel stay and all transfers
Great Lakes: Close Yet Underappreciated
Straddling the border between the U.S. and Canada, the Great Lakes—Lake Erie, Ontario, Huron, Michigan and Superior—represent 21 percent of all the world’s fresh water. The lakes in area are roughly the size of the United Kingdom, and their shores are home to a mix of cities, small towns, vacation resorts, historic sites and eco-attractions.
While the Great Lakes region is certainly close to home for many American and Canadian travelers, “I do believe the Great Lakes are underappreciated,” Waggoner stresses. For example, many North American travelers who’ve explored other parts of the continent on past vacations may venture for their next vacation to more far-flung spots across the globe.
Two nights prior to our interview, Waggoner and Annand did a road trip, visiting with destinations along the route and meeting with Steve Barnett, executive director of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition. He looked at some of the shore trips offered along a Great Lakes itinerary, and “I was just amazed at the content," he says.
Among the highlights? Waggoner cites the Pictured Rock National Lakeshore in Michigan, a protected place of eco-beauty with sandstone cliffs, beaches, waterfalls, sand dunes, inland lakes, deep forest and wild shorelines. Divers can also head into clear waters to view shipwrecks. He also mentions the Soo Locks (or Sault Locks) on the St. Marys River, which enable ships to sail between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. Those locks played a vital role in transporting raw materials to manufacturing facilities during the 19th-century Industrial Revolution; their value in that regard continues today. Waggoner also suggests history buffs tour the excellent National Maritime Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, OH.
To get guests excited about the itineraries, destinations and attractions that await, Waggoner says Victory is already sending out mailers for next year’s Great Lakes season. One plus? Past guests who were “Diamond” in status on American Queen Voyages will be able to bring that status to Victory for its relaunch.
Inaugural Season and Christenings
Victory Cruise Lines will mark the inaugural season with a 10-night "New England & Canada 2025 Reunion Cruise" from Portland, ME, to Toronto, Ottawa departing April 16, 2025. Hosted by Waggoner and his wife Claudette, this cruise will travel through the St. Lawrence Seaway and also include calls within the Canadian Maritime provinces.
The special relaunch cruise will also reunite loyal past guests with past guest entertainers, such as Phil Westbrook and Greg and Lindy Pendzick. Following that cruise, look for christening celebrations of Victory I in Toronto on April 27 and Victory II at Chicago’s Navy Pier on May 12.
Why He Didn’t Buy AQV's River Boats?
While Waggoner successfully bid on the Victory ships, American Cruise Lines was the high bidder for the American Queen Voyages’ four river vessels. Calling developments that led up to the auction as “interesting,” Waggoner tells us that he’d been closely working with two investment groups to buy the river boats, but “right at the end, both dropped out, claiming there was too much brand damage.”
He says that their assessment came from recent maintenance issues and other situations. For instance, several large consortia/agency groups bowed out of their preferred supplier relationships in late 2023. That caused investment group doubts. “They just felt it too iffy,” says Waggoner.
While it was disappointing, Waggoner was still seriously itching to get back into small-ship cruising. So, he told his wife (to ease her monetary concerns): “I don’t want to be poor, though, so we’ll only use XYZ amount to buy the two Victory ships.” She replied that she wanted him to be happy, noting that “you are kind of happy playing with the cars but not the way you are with ships.”
So, Waggoner leaped into the bidding and now he's again the owner of Victory Cruise Lines. From his perspective, “I was too young to retire, so this was a great business decision. We bought the line at a very reasonable price point. And now we’re putting ‘the band’ back together, hand-picking everyone, and I’m always excited about the Great Lakes.”
Reservations opened on July 23, 2024. For more information, visit www.victorycruiselines.com.
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