New modern riverboat joins American Cruise Lines fleet

American Cruise Lines has been growing its modern riverboat flleet.

Guilford, Conn., headquartered American Cruise Lines reports that it has accepted delivery of its latest modern riverboat, American Melody, from Chesapeake Shipbuilding.

Despite the challenges, the Maryland shipyard continued building through the pandemic and delivered American Melody as promised and on schedule.

Immediately after completing sea trials, the vessel headed to New Orleans to ready for its inaugural eight day cruise along the Mississippi River. The sold-out cruise departs from Port of New Orleans on August 27.

In addition, American Cruise Lines also announced today the names of the fifth and sixth modern riverboats—American Symphony and American Serenade. Both are under construction at Chesapeake Shipbuilding, where all of the line’s modern riverboats and small cruise ships are built, and are slated for delivery next year.

American first introduced its modern riverboat series in 2018, with the groundbreaking American Song. Since then, the line has rapidly expanded the popular series, introducing six of the new ships in just four years.

American Melody, American Symphony, and American Serenade bring American’s overall domestic U.S. fleet to 15 small ships: ten riverboats and five cruise ships.

Despite the rapid growth in its fleet numbers, American has also maintained a strong commitment to keeping the size of each individual ship small—every one of the 15 ships in the fleet accommodates fewer than 200 passengers.