American Queen Voyages, which made stops in Cleveland during Great Lakes cruises, ends operations

CLEVELAND — American Queen Voyages, one of the companies that has been offering Great Lakes cruises with stops in Cleveland, is closing down its operations.

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"We are saddened to share that American Queen Voyages (AQV) has made the difficult decision to shut down," the company wrote on its Facebook page. "The overnight cruise industry was especially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and related changes in travel preferences. Despite great efforts by our team, Crew and partners, demand has not recovered, and AQV has become financially unsustainable."

All future AQV cruises have been canceled. The company says guests should expect to have their cruise deposits refunded in full. You can click here for more details about refunds. 

The shutting down of AQV comes as Cleveland has emerged as an important stop for Great Lakes cruises. 

Last year, the Viking cruise ship Polaris made a stop at the Port of Cleveland as part of its maiden voyage. The city was also visited by ships from Pearl Seas Cruises and Tauck (Ponant).

AQV made 28 stops in Cleveland last year, including visits by the Ocean Navigator, which provided passengers an all-inclusive, nine-day cruise from Toronto to Chicago. One passenger told 3News that he spent $20,000 on the cruise for him and his wife.

3News has reached out to the Port of Cleveland for reaction to AQV's announcement. Here is a statement from Chief Commercial Officer Dave Gutheil:

"This cruising season will be a reset for the Great Lakes with the shutdown of the American Queen line. While our number of cruise stops will be impacted by this news, we are still optimistic our season will be a healthy one. This year, we will have more larger ships coming in that have a higher passenger count, including Viking and Ponant which started Cleveland calls last year, and both will have even more stops here this year. We will see again the Pearl Seas and Hamberg lines, which are also larger ships. The economic impact of these ships is based on the number of tourists coming in to spend their money here, rather than the number of vessels." 

Previous Reporting:

• Tauck cruise ship to arrive in Cleveland on Saturday as part of 'Cruising the Great Lakes' voyage
• New Viking Great Lakes cruise ship arrives in Cleveland
• Pearl Mist cruise ship makes stop in Cleveland as part of Great Lakes excursion
• Cruise season begins in Cleveland, expected to bring 10,000 passengers downtown in 2023

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