Miss. River Levels

[cruiseless]

The Army Corp of Engineers is planning to reduce river flow on the Missouri the end of this week. That is raising great concern about the viability barge traffic from St. Louis to Cairo Il. Are there any river experts out there who can weigh in on how this might affect the Am. Queen for trips on the lower river this spring. I have a trip booked for NO to Memphis in late March. Wondering what happens if the river gets too low for the Queen and we are after the deposit date.

[Calliope]

My suggestion is to visit a dot org website about "steamboats", and ask that question. There are licensed river pilots and atleast one of the AMERICAN QUEEN's licensed engineers whom read and post there. I'm not sure that you will get an accurate answer for such a technical question here.

[cruiseless]

Good suggestion Calliope. I really wonder if the drought can get bad enough to stop traffic on the lower Mississippi. Not too interested in taking bus rides to get to the stops. Curious about how the ASBC will communicate with potential passengers to either tell us to chill or address remedies. With all the governors weighing in on the impact to commerce, there must be some real concerns in play.

[Calliope]

The lowest water in recent memory was the summer of 1988. Navigation was never completely stopped, but it was certainly slowed way down. Like this past summer, stretches of river had to be closed for dredging to be done or boat groundings.

 

As far as next spring's lower Mississippi levels, alot depends on the snowfall that happens in the Rockies and the Midwest this winter.

[Responder]

Good suggestion Calliope. I really wonder if the drought can get bad enough to stop traffic on the lower Mississippi. Not too interested in taking bus rides to get to the stops. Curious about how the ASBC will communicate with potential passengers to either tell us to chill or address remedies. With all the governors weighing in on the impact to commerce, there must be some real concerns in play.

 

Your assessment is correct.

 

We were on the Aug 10 sailing that was to have begun in Vicksburg.

 

At the time of our booking, the only available starting place was New Orleans..necessitating a long drive to Vicksburg to board.

After we booked and secured our air, they came up with the option of starting in Vicksburg with the included hotel. Too late for us to change.

 

So, flew to New Orleans, bussed to Vicksburg only to find that the water was even too low for the boat to sail down, so they put us up for the night there and the next morning bussed us to Memphis to board.

 

I'm not blaming the Boat for the weather, but in reality, if we wanted to go on a bus tour, we would have booked one.

Couple that with the terribly high price for a much less than a luxury cruise, excuses for using American labor notwithstanding, this was a bad deal for us.

Perhaps we are not as much into nostalgia as others who were pleased.

As I read on, everyone seems to be making the same excuses about the service as they did when they began back in April. At these prices, when do the excuses stop?

[hondorner]

...I really wonder if the drought can get bad enough to stop traffic on the lower Mississippi...

Maybe not stop ALL traffic, as tugboat and barge traffic is carrying cargo that must be delivered to all locations on the river. However, this past Summer, river levels on the lower Mississippi were low enough that tug tows ran aground, traffic was backed up for days, extenisve dredging was required to keep even minimal traffic flowing, and the Coast Guard and Corps of Engineers strongly suggested that non-essential river traffic not attempt to navigate the lower river.

 

In the interests of passenger safety and preserving some semblance of a river cruise, The folks at American Queen wisely decided to not attempt to sail below Memphis. I think the river was clear down to Helena, Arkansas, but there are no adequate facilities there for a turn-around cruise debarkation of embarkation. They might have been able to squeeze their way to Vicksburg, but the danger of a tow running aground might have stranded the American Queen for days, if not weeks. Besides, it was reported that Vicksburg, itself, was completely silted in and not accessible.

 

No one enjoys changes in an itinerary, especially those that might involve busing instead of river cruising. But, the fact of the matter is that this is the nature of river cruising. Later this year, on the Upper Mississippi, the demolition of a bridge caused the Queen of the Mississippi to stop below St. Paul and bus their passengers. A few weeks later, the emergency closing of Lock 25 caused American Queen to again miss some ports of call. And, while dining with Captain Sutton on the American Queen, we heard the story of the time when he and the Delta Queen were stuck between two bridges on the Ohio, because of high water, for three weeks! Passengers were bused to the boat, which then spent the entire cruise time shuttling back and forth between the bridges until the water went down sufficiently to let it pass under.

 

If you're not prepared for the possibility of this type of adventure (it doesn't happen on every cruise), you probably should'nt consider booking a steamboat cruise.

 

In the case of the cruise mentioned by Responder, American Queen received very high marks from most of the passengers for the way in which they responded to the crisis, which was hardly something they created or desired. On our back-to-back cruises immediately after Responder, they were faced not only with the drought but by Hurricane Isaac! They added ports (including American Queen's first-ever voyage on the Cumberland River, created additional touring activities in Memphis, worked with passengers to reschedule flights, extended the courtesy of allowing an extra night free on the boat in Memphis for those whose flights could not be scheduled for the day the cruise wass supposed to end, and offered a significant savings for those who were flexible enough to stay aboard for the following cruise to Louisville.

 

They received great reviews and many compliments for the way they handled a bad situation.

[DebbieMH]

I lived in Cincinnati when (if I remember correctly, it was actually the American Queen stuck between the two bridges) - but at that time, it was run by the Delta Queen Steamboat Company. Anyway, several TV and newspaper articles with the passengers. Most were taking it in stride, and were having a good time. It actually cost the Delta Queen company quite a bit, and it wasnt their fault. They gave passengers free alcohol, day trips all around and helped with rescheduling flights to/from Cincinnati.

[Calliope]

That is correct. The AMERICAN QUEEN was stuck between Cincinnati's John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge and the Southgate-Taylor Bridge for three weeks during May 1996. It was a tight squeeze going under the Suspension Bridge in the morning. Infact the boat knocked the green navigation light marking the channel from the bridge. The AQ's home office wanted the boat to be at a safe landing that was easily accessable for passengers, crew, emergency providers, and supplies, and she was. All of the passengers that decided not to cancel their vacation were given a trip in like accommodations on any of the three steamboats. Also John Sutton might have stood a pilot's watch during that time, but her captain Captain John Davitt got off in Louisville two days before Cincinnati and Capt Lawrence Keaton releaved Davitt as master.

[cruiseless]

Maybe not stop ALL traffic, as tugboat and barge traffic is carrying cargo that must be delivered to all locations on the river. However, this past Summer, river levels on the lower Mississippi were low enough that tug tows ran aground, traffic was backed up for days, extenisve dredging was required to keep even minimal traffic flowing, and the Coast Guard and Corps of Engineers strongly suggested that non-essential river traffic not attempt to navigate the lower river.

 

In the interests of passenger safety and preserving some semblance of a river cruise, The folks at American Queen wisely decided to not attempt to sail below Memphis. I think the river was clear down to Helena, Arkansas, but there are no adequate facilities there for a turn-around cruise debarkation of embarkation. They might have been able to squeeze their way to Vicksburg, but the danger of a tow running aground might have stranded the American Queen for days, if not weeks. Besides, it was reported that Vicksburg, itself, was completely silted in and not accessible.

 

No one enjoys changes in an itinerary, especially those that might involve busing instead of river cruising. But, the fact of the matter is that this is the nature of river cruising. Later this year, on the Upper Mississippi, the demolition of a bridge caused the Queen of the Mississippi to stop below St. Paul and bus their passengers. A few weeks later, the emergency closing of Lock 25 caused American Queen to again miss some ports of call. And, while dining with Captain Sutton on the American Queen, we heard the story of the time when he and the Delta Queen were stuck between two bridges on the Ohio, because of high water, for three weeks! Passengers were bused to the boat, which then spent the entire cruise time shuttling back and forth between the bridges until the water went down sufficiently to let it pass under.

 

If you're not prepared for the possibility of this type of adventure (it doesn't happen on every cruise), you probably should'nt consider booking a steamboat cruise.

 

In the case of the cruise mentioned by Responder, American Queen received very high marks from most of the passengers for the way in which they responded to the crisis, which was hardly something they created or desired. On our back-to-back cruises immediately after Responder, they were faced not only with the drought but by Hurricane Isaac! They added ports (including American Queen's first-ever voyage on the Cumberland River, created additional touring activities in Memphis, worked with passengers to reschedule flights, extended the courtesy of allowing an extra night free on the boat in Memphis for those whose flights could not be scheduled for the day the cruise wass supposed to end, and offered a significant savings for those who were flexible enough to stay aboard for the following cruise to Louisville.

 

They received great reviews and many compliments for the way they handled a bad situation.

 

 

I really do appreciate the comments provided and I do understand how the laws of nature can and will affect a travel itinerary. Missing a port or two is not that big of a deal and I'm sure the ASBC will bend over backwards to provide an excellent experience. However, I'm not willing to risk the entire itinerary if the drought causes a substantial loss of navigation on the Mississippi. All I can do is weigh your valued comments on past experiences and watch the weather in the coming 30 days before my final payment is due.

[DebbieMH]

They Just started reducing the water level in the Missouri River reservoir. Fyi

[cruiseless]

I see that the Corp of Engineers reversed themselves and are now releasing a higher flow of water from reservoirs on the upper Missouri River. That should help out the barge traffic around St Louis.

 

I found an interesting tool from NOAA that provides current and estimated flow levels for the Mississippi at various cities. Just click on the cities you are interested in on the left side and click the "all" box in the right column to get a comprehensive set of reports. Then click the Make My River Page button near the bottom. Very cool to watch how the river levels can move rapidly up and down with local weather events.

 

Enjoy

 

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/glance.php?wfo=meg&gage=memt1&riverid=203833