Keeping It Real

[HostDave]

We’ve all heard the phrase “keeping it real.” It seems as though it’s uttered more by a younger generation than by anyone else, and it has certainly come to be viewed as a throwaway phrase. But what, exactly, does it mean, and how does it apply to the American Queen Steamboat Company?

One definition says that it applies to someone who is ignoring pop culture and doing their own thing. Another definition is “staying true to yourself, your faith, your life and constantly seeking the truth.” Yet another definition is “being authentic in every way.”

We believe that all these definitions apply to keeping it real. And at the American Queen Steamboat Company, we are completely committed to doing just that.

If you’ve followed our blog, read our Facebook or Twitter posts, leafed through our brochures, available for free here, or just navigated through our website, you probably understand just how we’re keeping it real.

We are dedicated to providing a vacation that honors the tradition of yesterday’s riverboats with an architecturally traditional riverboat that has every possible modern amenity available at your convenience. That might seem easy, but finding the right balance can be challenging.

We have worked to create an experience that is elegant and offers attentive service, Southern cuisine with a contemporary twist and the finest entertainment on the river. Part of that elegance is evident in the design and décor of the American Queen herself.

She is, as our guests tell us frequently during each voyage, truly beautiful. She has an antebellum feel with ritzy wallpaper, period furnishings and rich fabrics that evoke the golden era of river travel. The American Queen was designed to stand apart from anything else afloat, and stand apart she does.

It’s not ground-breaking to design a ship or riverboat that has a likeness to a traditional riverboat profile, but it is something quite different to add all the details that make her seem authentic from dockside and not just from a distance. Our boat’s designers did just that, and the result is a boat that honors the elevated passenger decks like the boats of Mark Twain’s time where livestock and firewood for the furnaces was kept on the main deck just above the river. That’s also where cargo was stored, often consisting of thousands of bales of cotton. Of course, there is no livestock, firewood or cotton bales on the American Queen. Instead, you’ll find spacious cabins and romantic two-story public rooms like the J.M. White Dining Room or Grand Saloon theater. They could have filled every nook and cranny with cabins to maximize the number of revenue-producing guests. But to have done so would have eroded the very charm of river travel that was the very inspiration for the conception of this unique vessel.

When it came time to furnish the American Queen, a team of buyers fanned out across the country to purchase authentic antiques whenever possible. When an original chair or table wasn’t available, the exact designs were replicated. In short, the American Queen was created not simply to resemble an authentic riverboat, but to actually be an authentic riverboat in every way possible. That authenticity was then wrapped around modern safety systems, galleys, plumbing, electrical wiring and bathrooms far larger than what existed a century ago. In fact, most steamboats of the 1800s made do with chamber pots!

Today, river cruising in the United States is growing more and more popular, making it an attractive market for new operators or expanding operators. That’s part of the beauty of the diversity of a big country like ours: there’s room for everyone.

The world would be a pretty dull place if everyone did the same thing, everything looked the same, and all river journeys were the same. While these other companies are remaining true to who they are, we also remain true to who we are, to the vision of Mark Twain, to the legacy of the great river palaces that came before us and to the lifestyle that makes a voyage on the American Queen so distinctly different than any other type of American vacation today.

As river cruising expands here in the United States and gains even more attention, we’re proud to stay true to our roots and to “keeping it real.” Our management, our staff, our crew and, most importantly, our loyal guests, wouldn’t have it any other way.