Trying to Impress the Press

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By Timothy Rubacky, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Development

When we set out to reintroduce the American Queen to American river cruising, we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task. There was the financing, training, refurbishing and hard work by every member of the team, of course. But we also knew we had to make good on our promises to our future guests as well as those who were preparing to sail with us and had sailed aboard the American Queen in the past.

Only as we were assembling the guest lists for the first few voyages, did it occur to all of us that one of our toughest tests would come from the journalists we had invited aboard. Through the years, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know most of these folks personally and I have the utmost respect for what they do. It’s tough to encapsulate a review of something as multi-faceted as a cruise in just a few hundred words or during a quick stand-up on live television.

Travel journalists are also exceedingly well-traveled and know their stuff. There’s no pulling the wool over their eyes. They’ve been on luxury yachts and sailed on mass market weekend cruises. They’ve stayed in chateaus, castles, motels, hotels, inns and bed and breakfasts. They’ve sampled $1,000 bottles of wine and local bottles of beer. They’ve eaten everything from foie gras to frozen waffles. They’ve seen entertainment ranging from famous opera singers to a guy plucking a guitar in a neighborhood bar. They’ve pushed through crowds at Disneyland and been escorted on private tours of the Vatican.

It always strikes me how accurate and even-handed travel journalists can be when it comes time to put their thoughts into the written word. They’ve done it all, seen it all, heard it all and tasted it all. They know the difference between a minor service hiccup and a serious product delivery problem. They can tell when things are going downhill or when they’re improving.

Yes, I knew travel journalists would have their eyes and ears open on our early voyages. Like any start-up operation, we’ve had some fine-tuning take place as we get the experience we deliver in line with our vision. The reviews of the American Queen have been honest and comprehensive. I’m also pleased to say that they’ve been glowing as well.

John Deiner from Cruise Critic commented on our evening entertainment:
There’s nightlife on a paddlewheeler. There’s a good amount of entertainment onboard American Queen, much of it taking place in the Grand Saloon, modeled after Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. Much is also on the sedate side: This week’s performances include the Harry James Orchestra (special guests) and a Mark Twain impersonator. A Dixieland band performed during Sunday’s jazz brunch, and the calliope player tickles the ivories a couple of time each day on the top deck; I stood right behind him and was showered in mist from the steam forced through the organ’s pipes. Too cool. There are Victorian parlor rooms for cards and conversation and a cozy little theater with a big-screen TV.

But it’s not all bridge games and Twain. While the Calliope Bar is the most popular watering hole during the day (there’s always a nice breeze up there to boot), the Engine Room Bar has really been hopping after the sun goes down. Last night it closed at 1:30 a.m. with about a dozen people still toasting one another, the turning paddlewheel just outside the window a constant reminder that this is not your grandfather’s cruise.

Jayne Clark from USA Today interviewed a guest who had this to say recently:
"There's not a thing I could complain about," says Pam Hiltz of Los Angeles, who is traveling with five family members. "The staff is great. The food is wonderful. The boat is beautiful."

Paul Motter of Fox News provided his analysis of our crew so far:
Onboard, the great Harry James Orchestra swing band was inspiring. I can already see American Queen as a first-class cruise experience -- because the new owners won’t have it any other way -- but the real work has just begun. The newly hired workers could not be more eager to please. This is an American-flagged boat and per the agreement with Mayor Wharton, most workers hail from Memphis. I doubt that many of them have ever even been on a cruise, but what they lack in experience they more than make up in spirit. “Hire for attitude and train for skill” is the mantra here, and though not all will make the final cut, they all have the opportunity to become a part of something important.

Peter Knego of the website Maritime Matters dug deep to find the hidden stories:
In the early afternoon, we were led on a top-to-bottom tour hosted by Great American CEO Jeff Krida and President Christopher Kyte. Both candidly discussed the challenges in bringing the American Queen back into service and acknowledged that some work still had to be done. In the process, I learned the story of “Killer”, a wild boar that was scooped up by the Mississippi Queen’s paddlewheel and then cooked by the boat’s crew. His head is part the taxidermic lore in the Gentlemen’s Card Room on American Queen’s Cabin Deck.

Anne Kalosh of Seatrade Insider added her recap of the Great Steamboat race in Louisville a week ago:
The Belle of Louisville won, though it didn’t complete the full course. However, it did carry the local judges, who apparently decided—mid-race—to handicap American Queen since it was so fast. Supposedly the judges suspected American Queen of getting extra power from its Z-drives. In fact, it was all done by the paddlewheel.

The Belle of Louisville was allowed to turn back to the finish line before reaching the midpoint of the course. American Queen Capt. John Sutton was stoic.

‘When you come to a town with its own riverboat, you can expect to have the deck stacked against you,’ he told Seatrade Insider, adding that in his opinion, American Queen had executed a perfect turn in the two-hour race along the Ohio River.

Art Sbarsky from Travel Pulse described the joys of river cruising:
It didn’t take long for the boat to get up to its normal cruising speed of about eight miles per hour. But it took me a bit longer to get into the rhythm of American river cruising. Once I did, I found it to be a sublimely calm experience as I kicked back and enjoyed the ride. Scenery to the left, scenery to the right and twists in the river made the journey a scenic delight.

Trying to impress the press really doesn’t amount to anything more than doing your best and inviting journalists to take part. And it looks like the American Queen is a winner! Stay tuned because next week I’ll share some of our guests’ comments as well…

Don’t forget to visit the Great American Steamboat Company Facebook Page for the latest news, photos and lively discussions about the American Queen, Mississippi river cruising and our ports of call.