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CRUISE LOG
Queen of the Mississippi

Coming in 2015: A 22-day cruise down the Mississippi

Gene Sloan
USA TODAY
American Cruise Lines recently announced it will build four more river boats destined for U.S. waterways. The line's first vessel, the Queen of the Mississippi, launched just 17 months ago.

Call it the ultimate cruise for American riverboat fans.

Fast-growing American Cruise Lines has announced plans for a 22-day Mississippi River sailing in 2015 that takes in nearly the entire length of the waterway from the Gulf of Mexico to Minnesota.

The Complete Mississippi Cruise, as it's being called, will kick off on Aug. 8, 2015 in New Orleans and include 16 stops before ending in St. Paul, Minnesota. The voyage will take place on the line's 150-passenger American Eagle, a new vessel that will debut in 2015.

The American Eagle is one of four new riverboats that American Cruise Lines is building for America's waterways in what amounts to a major bet on American river cruising.

American Cruise Lines helped revive river cruising on the Mississippi in 2012 with the debut of the 150-passenger Queen of the Mississippi. The vessel was the first paddle wheeler designed for overnight trips on the river in nearly two decades and arrived the same year that start-up American Queen Steamboat Co. brought the 436-passenger American Queen out of mothballs to sail on the Mississippi and its tributaries. Before that, there hadn't been a vessel operating overnight trips on the river since 2008. See photos of the American Queen's cabins, public areas.

American Cruise Lines operates six ships in all, four of which are coastal cruisers that sail along the coast of New England, in the Chesapeake Bay, in Alaska's Inside Passage and other coastal areas.

Like the Queen of the Mississippi, the new American Eagle will feature larger cabins than other riverboats sailing in North America as well as private balconies with cabins and more lounges and more spacious dining areas than other riverboats.

For a deck-by-deck tour of the Queen of the Mississippi, click through the carousel below.

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