American Queen Ceases Operations

[CruiseCriticAaron]

Hi all,

 

We've regretfully learned and verified that American Queen Voyages has ceased all operations as of Tuesday night, February 20. Our story, which we're updating is below. Details are still scarce at this time. https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/american-queen-voyages-ceases-operations

 

[br111]

This is really too bad. I was ready to book with them earlier this month until I saw the news about the travel agency suspensions etc. At least as of Feb. 10, they said they actually couldn't take any payments because they were "updating" the payment system and said there would be an update by today. So at least the weren't taking people's money as the end was approaching.

 

Although they were definitely less than forthcoming about the reason for cancelling the February cruises when they attributed the issue to delays coming out of layup.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

29 minutes ago, br111 said:

Although they were definitely less than forthcoming about the reason for cancelling the February cruises when they attributed the issue to delays coming out of layup.

Their recent communications were nothing but obfuscation.  'Updating the payment system' when the truth apparently was that they were locked out of it by the credit card networks?  February cruises suspended because they "encountered an occurrence" – when the truth apparently was that they didn't have any money to buy gas?  This looked exactly like the slow spiral around the drain that Vantage went through last year, and here we are.

[Gretchendz]

https://www.travelmarketreport.com/Cruise/articles/American-Queen-Voyages-Ceases-All-Operations

[Coral]

American Queen ceases operations

 

American Queen Voyages ceased operations and canceled all future voyages, Seatrade Cruise News confirmed. 

 

Click on link above for more info.

Edited February 21 by Coral

[ericosmith]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Their recent communications were nothing but obfuscation.  'Updating the payment system' when the truth apparently was that they were locked out of it by the credit card networks?  February cruises suspended because they "encountered an occurrence" – when the truth apparently was that they didn't have any money to buy gas?  This looked exactly like the slow spiral around the drain that Vantage went through last year, and here we are.

I think there's a big difference here.  AQV is is not a family company but is owned by Hornblower.  That's a company that's been expanding rapidly throughout the world.  By their own numbers they own over 252 vessels 130 private rail cars and a bunch of other travel related assets including a recent big entry into Australian market. Once they took over the day to day management of AQV they obviously decided it wasn't important to their long term goals.

[Host Jazzbeau]

12 minutes ago, ericosmith said:

I think there's a big difference here.  AQV is is not a family company but is owned by Hornblower.  That's a company that's been expanding rapidly throughout the world.  By their own numbers they own over 252 vessels 130 private rail cars and a bunch of other travel related assets including a recent big entry into Australian market. Once they took over the day to day management of AQV they obviously decided it wasn't important to their long term goals.

 

The really big difference is that AQV was essentially a US cruise company, required to post surety to refund passengers – therefore the customers should be protected in a way that Vantage's customers weren't.

 

More here:

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/finance/american-queen-voyages-ceases-operations

[Globalfish]

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Their recent communications were nothing but obfuscation.  'Updating the payment system' when the truth apparently was that they were locked out of it by the credit card networks?  February cruises suspended because they "encountered an occurrence" – when the truth apparently was that they didn't have any money to buy gas?  This looked exactly like the slow spiral around the drain that Vantage went through last year, and here we are.

They’ve been “obfuscating” the truth for almost a year, if not more.  In Aug. 2022 I put down a deposit on a 14-night Great Lakes cruise on the Ocean Voyager starting Aug 10, 2024 beginning and ending in Chicago.  On March 28, 2023 I was informed by AQV that my cruise had been cancelled because they are temporarily taking the Ocean Voyager and Ocean Navigator out of service next year because they are revamping their Great Lakes itineraries.  We know where they wound up…

Edited February 21 by Globalfish

[chengkp75]

8 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

The really big difference is that AQV was essentially a US cruise company, required to post surety to refund passengers – therefore the customers should be protected in a way that Vantage's customers weren't.

 

More here:

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/finance/american-queen-voyages-ceases-operations

Haven't read up on the Vantage bankruptcy, but the FMC surety bond applies to every cruise operation operating out of the US, regardless of what flag the ships are flying, or where it is incorporated.  It is just much harder for the smaller lines to hold that much in reserve, out of operating capital.

 

Okay, took a quick look at the Vantage bankruptcy threads, and what I see is that Vantage owed passengers about $110 million.  The FMC surety bond is capped at $32 million, even for huge cruise lines like RCI or Carnival.  Not sure how much AQV owes to customers, but anything more than $32 million would have to be involved in the bankruptcy courts, and would need to compete with maritime liens, which tend to have top priority on assets.

Edited February 21 by chengkp75

[Globalfish]

9 hours ago, ericosmith said:

I think there's a big difference here.  AQV is is not a family company but is owned by Hornblower.  That's a company that's been expanding rapidly throughout the world.  By their own numbers they own over 252 vessels 130 private rail cars and a bunch of other travel related assets including a recent big entry into Australian market. Once they took over the day to day management of AQV they obviously decided it wasn't important to their long term goals.

Apparently Hornblower’s pure unbridled greed has done itself in.  Alas, the Hornblower Group itself has just filed for bankruptcy:

 

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-law/hornblower-group-files-for-chapter-11-to-be-acquired-by-svp

 

and more to the matter at hand:

 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hornblower-group-to-be-acquired-and-receive-significant-new-equity-investment-302067034.html

 

Edited February 21 by Globalfish

[chengkp75]

I will add to my previous post, that in addition to the $32 million cap on the FMC surety bond, it is further limited to 110% of the "unearned passenger revenue" (i.e. future cruise deposits) for the last two fiscal years, so the bond could be lower or significantly lower than $32 million, depending on how much future cruise deposits AQV has had over the last two years.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I just looked at their site. It looks normal. I didn't explore too much, but I did a search for cruises and then clicked "book now."  Any "book now" took me to this.

 

[TinCan782]

Found this link on a post by AQV on Linkedin:  

"American Queen Voyages has made the difficult decision to shut down."

https://www.aqvinfo.com/

AQV Customer Claims Portal

https://www.aqvrefunds.com/capture/upload

Edited February 21 by TinCan782

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, TinCan782 said:

Found this link on a post by AQV on Linkedin:  

"American Queen Voyages has made the difficult decision to shut down."

https://www.aqvinfo.com/

AQV Customer Claims Portal

https://www.aqvrefunds.com/capture/upload

 

They explain the process pretty well, but I wonder how long it will take for people to get their refunds. I would send the request as hard copy, FedEx or some other service that gives you confirmation of delivery. Request a signature. Something to establish when your request was received (when you got in line for your claim).

 

I feel bad for people who have lost their cruises and will have to go through this process and wait for their money. Perhaps the legal rules for bankruptcy will make payments happen faster than we've seen in the past. 

[CruiseCriticAaron]

We've updated our article on Cruise Critic with all the latest information, including links that are also found here to AQV's refund/claims process.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/american-queen-voyages-ceases-operations

 

If anyone here is actively submitting a refund claim, can you let us know how it goes and whether the process works? I can be contacted via email at asaunders@cruisecritic.com.

[chengkp75]

12 minutes ago, CruiseCriticAaron said:

We've updated our article on Cruise Critic with all the latest information, including links that are also found here to AQV's refund/claims process.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/american-queen-voyages-ceases-operations

 

If anyone here is actively submitting a refund claim, can you let us know how it goes and whether the process works? I can be contacted via email at asaunders@cruisecritic.com.

Your article says that Argo Surety has insured "all trips".  I believe that Argo is the surety bond holder required by the FMC, and as I've stated, they may or may not fully insure all cruises, unless the company itself has said otherwise.

[CruiseCriticAaron]

1 minute ago, chengkp75 said:

Your article says that Argo Surety has insured "all trips".  I believe that Argo is the surety bond holder required by the FMC, and as I've stated, they may or may not fully insure all cruises, unless the company itself has said otherwise.

An excellent point. We are, at this point, going on the information AQV has provided to us. That's part of the reason I'm interested in following this refund process.

[notamermaid]

ceases operations: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/americans-queen-voyages-ceases-operations

 

notamermaid

 

[mfs2k]

5 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

I feel bad for people who have lost their cruises

Not to mention the people who have lost their jobs. 

[CruiserFromMaine]

There are still two of their ships tied up in Portland, Maine. The Ocean Voyager and Ocean Navigator. 
 

Too bad to hear of their downward spiral and now demise. We had two nice cruises on them. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Updates:

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/02/hornblower-group-to-be-acquired-new-equity-investment/

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/02/american-queen-voyages-files-chapter-11-auction-asset-date-proposed/

[3rdGenCunarder]

26 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Updates:

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/02/hornblower-group-to-be-acquired-new-equity-investment/

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/02/american-queen-voyages-files-chapter-11-auction-asset-date-proposed/

 

Thanks for posting the links. How does the auction work? Do they auction one ship at a time? I can't believe anyone will bid on Navigator and Voyager for anything more than scrap, given the problems they've had. 

[Woofbite]

Had a great cruise on the brand new Countess in 2021.  Sorry to see them fail but I'm sure their financials looked bad and with Viking for competition they knew things would only get worse.  I wonder if American Cruise Line will acquire some of their boats.

 

[chengkp75]

15 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Thanks for posting the links. How does the auction work? Do they auction one ship at a time? I can't believe anyone will bid on Navigator and Voyager for anything more than scrap, given the problems they've had. 

Bidders can bid on one ship or several as a package.  Bids, with a deposit are submitted to the bankruptcy manager, and at the closing bell of the auction, highest bidder gets what he wants.

 

While the ships are moderately old, the big draw is that they are US bottoms, and so give any owner a leg up over the PVSA, and can qualify for some government loan guarantees.  That was the reason NCL bought the Constitution and Independence from Hawaiian American Line, even though they were definitely only worth scrapping, because you could literally strip the ship down to the keel, and rebuild it, and have a US flag vessel.  NCL ended up scrapping them (one sank on the way to the scrapper), but it kept other lines from obtaining a US bottom.

Edited February 21 by chengkp75

[br111]

I wonder what will happen the AQV river ships which certainly seem to be in good shape. The press release says they'll try to sell the business...

 

"In connection with the agreement, Hornblower's overnight cruising business American Queen Voyages ("AQV") will be sold or, if a sale cannot be achieved, its operations will be wound down. Hornblower is taking this action because of the underperformance of AQV, which has not rebounded from the pandemic."

 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hornblower-group-to-be-acquired-and-receive-significant-new-equity-investment-302067034.html