Riverboat Tours Make Wheeling a Port of Call

WHEELING -- People out venturing into downtown Wheeling and enjoying the pleasant weather this week may have caught a glimpse of the massive American Countess at Heritage Port.

The newest paddlewheeler in the American Queen Voyages fleet is a four-deck vessel that was christened in 2020. With 123 staterooms and a crew of just under 100, the majestic boat inevitably causes heads to turn and prompts people to grab their cellphones to snap pictures of the spectacular sight each time it passes down the river or pulls into ports.

Now that warm weather has arrived and is expected to stay, the riverboats have made their way to northern routes. This past week, the American Countess stopped in Wheeling on its way to Pittsburgh on Monday and on its way from the Steel City on another voyage on Wednesday.

American Queen Voyages Tour Manager Judy LaMance of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was helping visitors find points of interest in the Friendly City Wednesday.

Although Wheeling is not always a regular stop on the river tours that pass through the Upper Ohio Valley, it's one of the prime options for boats on trips that begin or end in Pittsburgh.

"We come here usually in late spring and early fall - two to three times per year," LaMance said, noting that the tours basically migrate through the seasons by following the pleasant weather. "We do the lower Mississippi until late April, and then we do it again from October until the end of the year. In between we do the Ohio, Illinois and Tennessee, and then we'll go all the way up to Red Wing, Minnesota, on the Mississippi."

The specific stops depend on each different river cruise's itinerary. The ports of call on a typical week-long or nine-day river cruise in this neck of the woods between Pittsburgh and Louisville, Kentucky, may hit Marietta, Ohio; Huntington; Augusta, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Ohio; and Madison, Indiana, with occasionally stops in cities such as Wheeling; Maysville, Kentucky and Point Pleasant.

"We'll be here for a couple of weeks now and a couple of weeks in August," LaMance said of the American Countess' current tours that include the Upper Ohio Valley.

For cruises like the one that stopped in the area this week, a fleet of three tour buses follow the boat - or in many cases, the boat actually follows the buses since the land-based vehicles usually arrive at the destination first, LaMance noted. During stops in Wheeling, the paddle boat docks at Heritage Port, and guests can go ashore, hop on a bus and check out various points of interest in town.

"We go to the Artisan Center, to West Virginia Independence Hall, the Capitol Theatre and Centre Market on our hop-on, hop-off buses," LaMance said. "And we have a premium tour that goes to the Oglebay museums."

While riverboat cruising is similar to ocean liner cruising in many ways, the riverboats obviously carry only a couple hundred passengers as opposed to thousands that can be loaded onto today's mega-ships.

"This is pretty laid back," LaMance said of the American Countess. "It holds 245."

Because of the limited size of the river boats, the shore excursions are a primary highlight of river cruising - and most excursions are included in the overall price of the cruise.

"We're in ports most days," LaMance said, noting that while cruising onboard, guests can enjoy a number of group activities, visit public areas and check out the ever-changing scenery. They have game shows, trivia contests, bingo, a library, a card room, a coffee shop room, a number of bars (with most drinks included) and on-shore tours every day. "There's not food 24 hours a day like you see on the big ships."

But there is plenty of great dining, she noted, as well as on-board entertainment, which is also included. This week, they have a mentalist performing and a show featuring a Mark Twain impersonator. There are also house entertainers and musicians on board.

Vessels in the American Queen Voyages fleet have the classic, historic look of riverboats of the past, but boast modern amenities. They may look old, but most were built in or around the 1990s.

"We have four paddlewheelers that do the rivers - three of them do the Mississippi and the tributaries, and then one does the Columbia and Snake rivers out of Portland, Oregon," LaMance said. "We also have two boats that do the Great Lakes and coastal tours, and then we have an Alaskan expedition boat."

The American Countess has some scheduled trips that will pass by the area in the future, but the next scheduled stop in Wheeling is not until August.

For more information about river boat cruises by American Queen Voyages, visit www.aqvoyages.com.