American Cruise Lines announces 35-day Civil War tour
American Cruise Lines has unveiled the ultimate 2024 event for Civil War buffs: the 35-day Civil War Battlefields Cruise.
According to a May 22 press release, the cruise will cross 13 states to visit “nearly every major battlefield of the Civil War.” The cruise will start with an overnight stay in New Orleans on May 3, 2024 and will end at Gettysburg on June 6, 2024.
Traveling by river, land, and sea, passengers will explore the Western Theater and the Eastern Theater. Three ACL ships will carry passengers along the Mississippi River, the Tennessee River, the East Coast Intracoastal Waterway, the Potomac River, and Chesapeake Bay. Tour buses will transport passengers where the cruise ships cannot go.
According to American Cruise Lines, “the onboard experience will be curated to bring context to each day’s exploration and provide a larger understanding of the War as a whole. Dedicated onboard Civil War experts will join guests for the entirety of the experience to discuss the motives, strategies, and personalities that drove each side of the war.”
The cruise will be led by Bertram Hayes-Davis, a great-great grandson of Jefferson Davis. “A unique scholar of Civil War history,” Hayes-Davis will “offer both his extensive knowledge and rare personal perspective on the events and battles that divided our country,” ACL indicated.
From New Orleans, the cruise ship American Harmony will steam up the Mississippi to visit Baton Rouge, Port Hudson, Natchez (involving the battle of Port Gibson), Vicksburg, and Memphis. Passengers will then travel across country to Nashville and visit Murfreesboro and Fort Donelson. After boarding the American Symphony at Paducah, Kentucky, passengers will sail up the Tennessee River to visit Savannah in Tennessee (and tour Shiloh), Florence in Alabama, and Chattanooga.
From there passengers will travel by motorcoach to Atlanta, partially follow the March to the Sea, and then learn about the battle of Olustee before meeting the American Eagle in Jacksonville, Florida. The cruise ship will steam north along the East Coast, with stops scheduled at Savannah, Hilton Head, Charleston, and elsewhere.
The cruise’s final leg will begin with exploring the CSS Virginia-USS Monitor fight at Norfolk, followed by a day’s exploration of the Peninsula Campaign. The cruise will stop at Washington, D.C. so passengers can visit Fredericksburg and Alexandria. The American Eagle will then continue to Baltimore. Passengers will disembark there to visit Antietam and Gettysburg.
The fare starts at $24,700 per passengers, depending upon the selected stateroom, and includes meals, beverages, daily excursions, “hotels and transportation between cruise segments,” entertainment, and related charges.
Visit Civil War Battlefields Cruise to learn more about the unique opportunity.
This sounds like a unique way to see the war. Except for Charleston SC, I’ve not seen many war sites from the waterline. I hope they have success with it, and the guide sounds like no slouch either. Good luck to all.