anyone back from the AQ

Sally,

Here are three photos of the AQ by Pat Carr who was on the DQ. You can see the blue parts next to the name and also the blue painted ginger bread.

Carmen

Thanks Carmen She still looks pretty impressive to me. But, hey I'm just a little prejudiced. Can't wait to get back on the boat again.

The AQ - flagship of Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Line!

Somebody better tell MAL that to paint a steamboat blue is bad luck. Just as naming a boat with the thirteenth letter of the alphabet is bad luck!

she could be pink with purple polka dots and I would still ride on her

Sally,
I just sent you a private message. please e-mail me when you get a chance.

Bruno

Ah, but Frank, she's not a steamboat - she's a boutique ship. Junk that historical **** - that's not MAL's thing.

Frank,

Blue paint doesn't seem to be hurting the River Barge any...? Is it just a steamboat thing, or is it ANY boat on the river?

more pictures

Herer are some more pictures, showing the new color scheme of the AQ, the MAL logo on the Delta Queen's pilot house and the American Queen and Delta Queen at Natchez-under-the-Hill.

Thanks very much to John Mullen for the pictures. John, you may recognize that I matched two AQ pictures together in one, now showing the whole boat in a very wide angle 😉

Franz

And some more pics by Pat Carr showing more details of the new color scheme of the AQ.

Carmen

Scary blue paint

You are right. RiverBarge is doing fine. But, the AQ with a deep blue is scary looking. It will take some time, if I ever get used to it. I don't believe I've ever seen decorative deck arches in blue before. Trim is usually in a light color. I guess if people don't like it, they'll make the AQ sit out for another year to work on it.

Since the boat was launched in 1995, and sat out for a number of seasons, does this year make it the 10th cruising season for the AQ? I'm still a fan of the AQ and would probably ride it again, but the blue highlights are scary.

DQ pilothouse looks tacky

The sign on the DQ pilot house is extremely tacky. For one, it isn't even the real Majestic America logo, and secondly, it looks like a 4th grade class art project. It lacks color and is just plain ugly. I'd take the eagle or the old Delta Queen signboard over this.

MAL claims that the old eagle sign does not reflect its new image, but the new one must then! I guess it's a swan, and its song is cheap, cheap....cheap,cheap...

Totally tasteless, both the AQ and especially the DQ pilot house.

pat traynor

That's a real laugh, Frank! My sentiments exactly! Guess it's not too unexpected though when you consider the source - a company that wants to become the river "ship" leader of the world.

River lore has long decreed that BLUE paint on steamboats brings forth BAD luck! The BECKY THATCHER (former Str. MISSISSIPPI) was painted with dark blue trim at St. Louis in 1973 -- the year of a BIG flood on the Mississippi that hung on many days and caused financial hardship for the boats along the levee. Shortly thereafter, the BECKY was foreclosed upon, with police officers coming aboard to seize the boat, forcing customers and crew to leave and then padlocking the gangplank. After being aground on the levee and having to be pulled back out into the river by a towboat, the old sternwheeler was ultimately sold at public auction -- and after numerous problems and lawsuits -- went to Marietta, Ohio in 1975, where the blue paint remained and the boat had numerous financial problems -- and later sank! Raised and renovated, the blue paint disappeared after an article was published in The Marietta Times about the hoodoo of blue paint! Just one account of blue paint on a steamboat and of the trials and tribulations suffered! P.S. The River Barge is just that - a barge -- so perhaps the blue paint hex does not apply as it does to steamboats!