American Maverick christened on maiden New England Islands cruise

American Maverick [Photo: American Cruise Lines]

American Cruise Lines christened American Maverick in Newport, Rhode Island last week during the ship’s inaugural 9-day New England Islands cruise, sailing roundtrip from Providence, Rhode Island. The celebration took place on board with guests, crew, community partners, and many employees from the line’s headquarters in Connecticut.

The 130-passenger Patriot class American Maverick is the newest small cruise ship in the country and the latest in the company’s growing fleet of ships exclusively designed for cruising the U.S.A., featuring many amenities surpassing those of the finest riverboats in the world. American Maverick will be followed by the deliveries of American Ranger, American Mariner, and American Navigator over the next year. American Cruise Lines also just launched the newest riverboat in the country, American Encore, in May.

American Maverick’s christening festivities took place on a glorious sunny day overlooking Newport Harbor with many people close to the company, including more than 50 employees from the line’s home office in Guilford, Conn. Charles B. Robertson, American’s president & CEO, gave remarks as did the ship’s godmother,hip Susan Renner, American’s board chair and treasurer. All christening attendeses gathered on the vessel’s top deck for the official blessing and ceremonial bottle smash, followed by a traditional New England lobsterbake at Fort Adams State Park just steps from where the ship was docked.

“We set the bar high for ourselves with American Maverick and were surprised to see that we set the bar for the rest of the river cruise industry in the process,” said Robertson. “The American Maverick is the new standard by which others should follow and with eight more ships under construction, shows that the U.S. river cruise market will lead the way.”