On Thursday, the first of 84 scheduled Mississippi riverboat cruises will dock at Baton Rouge, bringing hundreds of tourists to the city and marking the start of what local tourism officials say will be a record year for cruiseline dockings.
“What makes it so promising and exciting for us is that you’ve got in excess of 10,000 passengers who will coming to Baton Rouge this year on these cruises,” says Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Paul Arrigo.
The 84 dockings by American Cruise Lines—parent company of the American Eagle, Queen of the Mississippi and American Eagle riverboats, all of which will dock here—represents a 47% increase over the 57 dockings in 2014. There were 51 dockings in 2013 and 26 in 2012, the year riverboat cruises returned to the city after the last of a number of operators stopped offering the trips in 2008.
Philipa Blair, Visit Baton Rouge director of destination services, calls 2015 a “monumental year” for riverboat tourism in the city.
“We will see the most dockings we have ever seen from the riverboats,” she says. “It’s an incredible amount of progress in the three short years we have had the riverboats back.”
Two of the three riverboats that will dock in Baton Rouge through the year accommodate up to 150 passengers, and the third can carry as many as 400. When docked in Baton Rouge, travelers usually have about a day to take in the city and surrounding areas.
“And you’re talking about well-seasoned travelers on these cruises,” says Arrigo. “It’s not cheap to take these cruises, and those who do are going to go home and talk to their friends and families about Louisiana and Baton Rouge and what a wonderful time they had here. So, not only are they likely to come back if we show them a good time, but you’ve got 10,000 ambassadors for Baton Rouge.”
—Steve Sanoski
