travel42 Cruise Line Overview: American Cruise Lines

travel42 Professional Cruise Line Review

A U.S.-flag coastal cruise company based in Guilford, Connecticut, American Cruise Lines got its start in 1974 with a little vessel named the American Eagle, followed by the Independence, then America, all built in the company's own yard in Salisbury, Maryland. In the mid-1980s, the owner sold the company, which then went bankrupt. Revived by the original owner in 2000, the line—the dominant carrier in its market—has a fleet of thirteen shallow-draft coastal ships. It operates destination-oriented itineraries along the U.S. East Coast from Maine to Florida, along the Mississippi River, and in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest along the Columbia and Snake rivers.