There were 101 riverboat cruise dockings in downtown Baton Rouge in 2019, a 13.5% increase from 2018.
Dockings are expected to grow by roughly another 80% over the next two years with more than 140 planned for this year and nearly 180 scheduled for 2021.
Daniel Stetson, executive director of the LSU Museum of Art at the Shaw Center for the Arts, says increased presence of riverboat passengers in Baton Rouge has resulted in positive gains for the institution. Stetson met with one cruise line last year about increasing dockings in the city, and talked with another that’s interested in creating themed excursions off the boats.
“We continue to see a growth in visitors at the museum and sales in our store,” Stetson says, adding that he’s met riverboat passengers from France and Scotland in the museum’s galleries. “At the end of the day, they’re buying LSU stuff, Baton Rouge stuff and original artworks out of there as mementos to take home. The boats have been a real positive impact on our city.”
After Congress did not extend a federal law waiver allowing certain wooden vessels from cruising in 2008, effectively halting the Delta Queen from sailing, riverboat cruises didn’t return to Baton Rouge until 2012.
Dockings have steadily grown over the last few years as riverboat cruise companies have expanded their fleets and developed additional cruise trips along the Mississippi River. Among the most prominent additions over the past decade include the American Song, a 180-passenger boat launched by American Cruise Lines’ at the end of 2018.
There were fewer than 30 scheduled dockings the first year riverboats returned to the Capital Region.
