American Cruise Line cancels sailings to enhance customer experience

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

American Queen Voyages has recently made the announcement that it will be cancelling several of its February sailings, attributing this decision to the necessity of prolonging their layup period. This extension is aimed at implementing enhancements to the customer experience.

The cancellations specifically affect the February 26 sailing of the American Queen and the February 22 and 25 voyages on the American Countess. Currently, the company is in the midst of communicating with passengers who are impacted by these changes, providing them with information regarding refunds and future travel arrangements.

The cancellations by American Queen Voyages are likely to have a significant impact on local tourism, especially for destinations that were part of the affected February itineraries. The absence of these sailings means a reduction in the number of tourists visiting these locales, potentially affecting local businesses reliant on tourism. Furthermore, the ongoing service concerns and the suspension of sales by major travel networks could dampen the overall attractiveness of river cruising in these areas, at least in the short term.

Pleasant Holidays, which had ceased its sales for the river cruise line last November, has reported that seven of its bookings have been impacted by these recent cancellations. This situation arises in the wake of American Queen Voyages’ sales suspension by Signature Travel Network, a measure taken due to concerns over service quality. This action has been mirrored by several other organisations, including AAA Travel, Virtuoso, and Travelsavers, throughout the previous year.

In an attempt to address these service concerns, American Queen Voyages extended an apology in January, committing to take prompt measures to rectify the issues at hand. Despite these commitments, Pleasant Holidays, which had been hopeful of resuming sales by the end of January, had yet to see a notable improvement in the situation as of February 2, according to CEO Jack Richards.

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