American Cruise Lines' 2024 has new ships, homeports, national parks routes

The company's growing fleet will cruise in 35 states on more than 50 itineraries, highlighting new explorations in national parks along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, the Columbia and Snake rivers, and in Alaska.

American will field 19 small ships and riverboats visiting 125 US ports, including new ports from Sag Harbor, New York, to Washington, DC, to St. Petersburg and Key West, Florida.

Two new ships

Two more 100-passenger Coastal Cats, American Liberty and American Legend, which begin cruising in June and October next year, are the third and fourth in a planned 12-ship series. They're scheduled to sail a variety of itineraries in New England, Chesapeake Bay, the Hudson River and Florida.

National parks cruises

Among the national parks trips is an 18-day 'Grand Alaska' program pairing an 11-day cruise with seven days of guided exploration in Denali and Kenai Fjords national parks and cruising in Glacier Bay National Park, the Inside Passage and Frederick Sound. The itinerary stretches from Fairbanks to Juneau.

A 15-day 'Alaska National Parks' itinerary bundles an eight-day Alaska cruise with seven days of guided exploration in Denali and Kenai Fjords and cruising in Glacier Bay. This also operates Fairbanks to Juneau.

An 11-day 'Great Smoky Mountains National Park' program includes a cruise on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers and two days of guided explorations in Great Smoky National Park. The trip is available from Knoxville and Nashville.

And a 15-day 'National Parks & Legendary Rivers' itinerary pairs an eight-day cruise on the Columbia and Snake rivers with seven days of guided exploration in Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The trip is offered from Jackson, Wyoming, and Portland, Oregon.

In addition, other cruises visit national parks. The new eight-day 'Florida Gulf Coast & Keys' itinerary includes excursions in Dry Tortugas National Park and Everglades National Park, Puget Sound cruises offer excursions in Olympic National Park and Hurricane Ridge and three different New England cruises provide access to Acadia National Park.

Further new routes

American is offering two new itineraries in the Northeast US in addition to its existing New England cruises. New are an eight-day 'Downeast Maine' cruise round-trip from Bangor and an eight-day 'Yankee Seaports' cruise between Boston and New York City.

And, in the Southeast, the line added a new Sunshine State route, the eight-day 'Florida Gulf Coast & Keys' cruise round-trip from St. Petersburg that visits the Dry Tortugas and Everglades.

American is also introducing a new 15-day 'Grand Ohio River' cruise between Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

The line will operate 11 itineraries from the Upper to the Lower Mississippi, including new cruises exploring tributaries, the Tennessee, Ohio and Cumberland rivers.These range from eight-day 'Tennessee Rivers' cruises between Chattanooga and Nashville to eight-day 'Music Cities' cruises between Memphis and Nashville.

60-day and 35-day adventures        

American is also rolling out two long voyages: the 60-day 'Great United States' and the 35-day 'Civil War Battlefields.' Each includes exploration aboard three or more small ships and riverboats. The 60-day itinerary, Aug. 16 to Oct. 14, spans 20 states, while the 35-day itinerary, May 3 to June 6, explores 20 Civil War battlefields.

New departure ports

American is adding to its 22 departure ports in 2024 by offering the 11-day 'American Revolution Cruises' on Chesapeake Bay round-trip from Washington, DC. The line will also begin offering its 15-day 'Grand New England,' 11-day 'New England Explorer' and eight-day 'Cape Codder' cruises all round-trip Boston.