Ambassadors International May Have New Owner

Anschutz other holdings..

Philip Anschutz has lots of transportation related holdings. He USED to own the Ski Train (ran on the former DRGW line Denver to Winter Park), which he sold. He supposedly wanted to buy some railroad cars to fill in for a luxury train that is now defunct, but those cars are now sold. He used to own both SP and DRGW railroads, then sold them to the Union Pacific. His holding company owns the Grand Canyon RR which serves, guess what, the Grand Canyon. He seems to be a bit nostolgic, but when it comes to profit, his record is to sell it if he can make a buck. Should be interesting if the DQ is part of the deal. Most likely, based on past performance, if he can't figure out how to make it turn a profit it will be sold to the highest bidder, without heed to what they will do with it. Could be a new start for the DQ, but don't count on it yet.

Frank X. Prudent;25985 wrote: Billionaire Philip Anschutz may be the new owner of most of the assets of Ambassadors International. Anschutz's TAC Cruises bid $39 million in cash for Ambassadors' assets. These include Windstar Cruises' deluxe sailing vessels. The sale still must be ratified by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. It is unclear if the DELTA QUEEN was part of the sale.

Whether Philip Anschutz is related to the artist Thomas P. Anshutz is unknown. S&D's collection includes a painting of the Str. EXPRESS on display at the Ohio River Museum. Also from the artist's family were several Ohio River steamboaters, one being Captain Phil Anshutz. The spelling of their last names are different though.

If that's the case

If what you say about Phil Anschutz is true, then perhaps the Save the DQ Foundation needs to continue the fundraising effort to purchase the DQ (if it's part of the package) to buy out Anschutz if/when it fails.

Richard Reiff;26014 wrote: Most likely, based on past performance, if he can't figure out how to make it turn a profit it will be sold to the highest bidder

Who and why would anyone continue to operate any business that doesn't create a profit?

News say that ALL assets of Ambassadors International are being sold to TAC Cruise LLC, which is an affiliate of Xanterra Holding Corporation, Greenwood Village, Colorado, which is a company Anschutz bought in 2008.

It's very obvious that Anschutz is interested in the Windstar Cruises business and I suppose he doesn't have any intention to make something with the DQ except from selling her. As the news read "ALL assets" I suppose this includes the Delta Queen.

Franz

Times are questionable but they are promising. With his history for old things I feel he would enjoy the Queen. At least there is going to be a resolution to something Ambassadors cared nothing for.

Ambassadors assets sold

Looks like the assets of Ambassadors have a new owner! Lets all keep a positive outlook for the DELTA QUEEN and her brethren as they transits to new owners and hopefully more sympathetic hands for our cause!

There is a new day coming on the river...the DELTA QUEEN has waited her turn. Perhaps now it has come!

Ambassadors sells Delta Queen, other assets - WorkBoat.com

I'm going to stay positive and have my fingers crossed that something good comes out of this. I do believe it's the DELTA QUEEN's turn for a new day, as you say!

Actually there´s nothing new in this article. The closure of the sale is still pending and we have to wait for this.

Carmen

DQ's New Owner

Great news.

The Delta Queen has a new owner. Xanterra, a privately-held company owned by multi-billionaire Philip Anschutz, has purchased the assets of Ambassadors International in a bankruptcy auction. Included in those assets are Windstar Cruises (operator of three sail-driven cruise ships) plus the Delta Queen steamboat and the Columbia Queen riverboat. Xanterra, the largest concessionaire for the National Park Service, operates the historic lodges at Zion, Glacier, Yellowstone, Crater Lake, Grand Canyon and Death Valley. A press release states that Xanterra purchased Windstar Cruises as a long-term investment.

It would surprise me if Xanterra's bid did not include a valuation for the Delta Queen.

It is interesting to note that another of Xanterra's holdings is the Grand Canyon Railway, which had announced the retirement of its steam-powered locomotives BEFORE Anschutz purchased Xanterra and reversed that decision. Today Xanterra is rebuilding a steam locomotive that's twenty years older than the Delta Queen. Is it possible Anschutz's purchase of Xanterra was partially motivated by a personal desire to preserve steam-powered trains to the Grand Canyon? is it possible that Windstar's purchase will preserve overnight steamboating?

While Anschutz undoubtedly based his $39 million bid on the value of Windstar Cruises (which Carnival sold to Ambassadors for $100 million just over three years ago), he can certainly afford to restore the DQ to overnight cruising if he desires to do so. Xanterra is but one of Anschutz's 130 companies. According to Forbes the new owner of the Delta Queen is richer than Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump combined.

Before you write off my speculation that the Delta Queen has found a savior, please note that the Delta Queen's new owner not only has the funds, he also has a company that has just purchased an upper-end cruise line and already operates historic hotels. Better yet, Philip Anschutz's personal interests include American heritage, luxury travel, nostalgic journeys and steam-powered antiques. Finally, this is the far-sighted individual that launched and sustained US professional soccer through a dark decade when everyone else predicted its failure.

As for getting Congress to pass a bill that will re-permit the Delta Queen's overnight cruises (which will necessarily include instructions for Coast Guard recertification), Anschutz is no stranger to the workings of our national government. Besides his relationship with the National Park Service Anschutz also owns the Washington Examiner --- a DC newspaper that serves as a counterweight to the Washington Post.

I hope that ALL posters to this forum will PLEASE voluntarily refrain from making judgements as to why Philip Anschutz can't or shouldn't make an attempt to get the Delta Queen back into overnight cruising. Anschutz personally bought the American Orient Express train after the failure of Grande Luxe and spent a ton of money rehabilitating this classic 20-car consist for classic overnight rail voyages. A possible reason his multi-million dollar project was canceled is that a few railfans had filled the internet chat rooms with senseless postings about how the service would be too expensive to survive. The posters' real gripe was that the train would be too expensive for them to buy a ticket. Once these loud-mouths got the "too expensive" story rolling, the travel industry writers found and echoed their "expert" opinions in their pre-startup reviews --- which dissuaded travel agents from recommending these necessarily-expensive rail cruises to their clients. Eventually, the slow rate of advance bookings plus the high costs of working with Amtrak (the train did not have its own locomotives or engineers) and the freight railroads (who own the tracks), combined to kill this project on the eve of its launch.

Fortunately, the Delta Queen is self-powered, and can operate on public waterways instead of private rails.

Can the posters to Steamboats.org be smarter than those self-appointed experts on the rail forums?

Bill McCready

PS: With today's Google-powered research, anyone who thinks of returning the Delta Queen to cruising will find this forum within the first 15 minutes of due diligence. If you really want the Delta Queen to return to the rivers, please think twice before writing anything which might dissuade Xanterra's owner or managers from tackling this worthwhile project.

Thoughts on Purchase

Hello all,

I found this thread after submitting a related post to the "Save the Delta Queen" board. Since that really is a better place for Delta Queen posts, I hope Franz will figure a way to redirect this thread.

Bill McCready

Hi All,

The news of DQ now being a Xanterra property is interesting. Xanterra is well-run, and while they may not fulfill our dreams, I don't believe they will do anything stupid or mean either. The steam decision at Grand Canyon is well documented over in the rail media, and I can share a summary here. Also, I stayed at a state park resort a few years ago operated by Xanterra and found the most interesting reading in their annual report which was supplied in my room.

Xanterra is a professional organization with a long-term vision, but you have to realize that they really mean business when it comes to designing operations for environmental sustainability. Their various facilities all demonstrate sincere commitments to this objective.

So: about steam at Grand Canyon. We have discussed this at length in the rail preservation forum. Generally, the dominant opinion is that customer preferences have changed, and very few customers differentiate between steam and diesel hauled trains. This conclusion has been proven elsewhere, such as with the dieselization of the Mount Washington Cog Railway.

Further, both Grand Canyon and Mount Washington are commercial operations and the cost of maintaining steam is a significant drain on profits, given that the customers show little preference. Finally, both locations draw attendees that are uncomfortable with the smoke and energy consumption of steam power. In the case of the Grand Canyon, there is the added challenge that water is scarce at the canyon rim and the steam locomotive consumes a great deal of water (which I believe they are forced to transport by tank car).

Grand Canyon has scheduled some limited steam operation on select weekends, but it is not a return to the prior service. Steam weekends consist of short hour rides out and back that do not go to the canyon. Only one trip to the canyon is scheduled each season. These trips exist because they have a fully overhauled steam locomotive already on hand. The overhaul of their last acquisition was canceled years ago, and it remains to be seen what Xanterra will do when 4960 is due for its 15 year boiler certificate.

What does this mean for the DQ? Will customers differentiate between a steam powered boat and a diesel boat? Environmental factors are not as physically challenging for DQ as they are for Grand Canyon or Mount Washington.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for your most well timed and thoughtful posting. I will stay positive and when she runs again I will be one of the first to book a trip!

Voluntary muzzling

Bill, while you haven't posted an epistle in quite a while, I presume you still have been lurking. And while your message is thought provoking, your choice of words is degrading to the members of this forum. We aren't dogs and don't need to be 'muzzled'. You certainly aren't going to find people posting reasons we wouldn't want the DQ running again. This is the SAVE the Delta Queen category and there are posters and lurkers who have worked feverishly to that end. A sad fact is that fares could be beyond the reach of some of us, but that doesn't mean there wouldn't be a market at those rates just because some posters couldn't afford it. If a comment or two on Steamboats.org were to sink this possible venture, then I would submit the commitment to such a venture was too tenuous to begin with. For those of us who have been with the DELTA QUEEN over the long haul, the message has been, is, and will be: LONG LIVE THE DELTA QUEEN!

Steven Harrod;26112 wrote:
What does this mean for the DQ? Will customers differentiate between a steam powered boat and a diesel boat? Environmental factors are not as physically challenging for DQ as they are for Grand Canyon or Mount Washington.

Other than the members on our forum here, and a collection of others, I don't see passengers aboard the DQ ever noticing or giving much thought if the paddlewheel is being turned by steam, hydraulic, electric, etc. I am by no means saying that a vessel could ever be built to replace or compare to the DQ, I am talking strictly about the DQ's wheel. Polished brass gauges, big levers, and moving parts is what a passenger takes away when they see an engine room. Steam power is a novelty, and it does fit in perfectly for excursion businesses that sell the experience of that steam "physical power in motion" sales pitch. But when you start getting into overnight passenger vessels, the fact of how a vessel is powered diminishes (aside from sailing of course), it's not one of the "key" reasons someone is going to book a cruise vacation like it is when taking a "unique" couple hour excursion. Although when you have a vessel as rich in history and loved as the Delta Queen, keeping her as intact and original as possible should always be the number one priority because once it's gone, it's gone forever, and thats one less piece of our history lost for future generations to enjoy.

I would love nothing more in the world than to see the DQ operate as a sternwheeler steamer again, and I have no doubt that she could successfully if properly managed! But I would give up the steam part if it meant thats what it took to be able to ever have the experience of riding her and not loosing her to the history books.

As Jo Ann said, I, too will book a trip on the DQ if but only if she STEAMS again. If she's diesel powered, I'll pass.

The smoke, steam drifting from various places fore and aft, the open-for-visits engine room, the calliope and the that deep chime whistle are the essence of the DQ experience. These are the things that make her unique. Without them her originality would be largely lost.

What if the Belle of Louisville or the Natchez were converted to diesel? What would you have to advertise without the term "Steamer" before their names? Yes, they would be excursion boats or river boats but that would change their status from something historically accurate or unique to something much more mundane. Can you imagine the Belle's deep, throaty whistle blown on air? The entire character of it would change.

As for the Grand Canyon RR, I did a two hour DVD on their operation which we shot in October, 1996. We shot their last day of steam that year (Sept, 30), their first day of diesel operation that year (Oct. 1) and their annual Railfan Weekend with two steam locomotives double headed. Back then, the steam engines powered all of the summer trains and diesels powered the winter trains. Wouldn't even think of going back there now as they no longer can replicate those events. Since then, they dismantled their steam shop and sold one of the engines. This was before Xanterra bought the company, I think. A 52 minute version of our video shows occasionally on RFD-TV.

-Jim Herron

It remains to be seen what the new owners will do with the vessel. At this point only semi-educated guesses can be made as to how they will approach their ownership of the DELTA QUEEN. We can continue to hope for the best for the boat. However, I don't think we are making any headway with the new owners by prognosticating the future of the DELTA QUEEN on this forum by comparing her to their past and current operations. As a matter of fact, some of what I am reading here sounds like "if they don't do it my way, the hell with them". Please people...lets give these people a chance to make a decision before we judge them!

Remember, they are buying a National Historic Landmark. There are certain incentives to the continued operation of such a property that are different than just buying a boat. I don't think this is the time to make comments about what they could do or might do.

Yes, past owners have done things less than appreciated with the operation. Yes, this owner is in a similar business as a past owner. However, EVERY zebra has his own unique stripes. Lets not prosecute before a crime is committed. Because there may not be a crime committed!

We have to understand to save the DELTA QUEEN may mean compromises to what we have known or do know. Just as things changed for her as she left California, was sold by the Greene family, changed owners in the last 10 years....etc. In my lifetime I have seen myriad of changes to the operation, look, and product offered by the vessel. I am very happy to have been a part of every operation in my lifetime and I am glad to see the contribution each owner has made in their own way to her continued operation and colorful history. Some have been better than others...but, the end result is the boat still exists (unlike many from her era), we are still able to walk aboard her decks, and we haven't lost her to the history books.

My point being...before we make condemning statements about a company who just bought something....lets see if they do something bad first!

Travis C. Vasconcelos

To steam or not to steam...

Think of this, there are no more examples of overnight steamboats (100%). The Delta Queen is the last complete vessel to fit this discription. I have to say I find the idea of converting the Queen to some other for of power is the final nail in her coffin. She would be better to remain in Chattanooga as a floating hotel complete but unable to move. If we take her steam away why not go and add diesel to the Delta King and have both of them running again. I only hope this person will understand and care enough to keep her intact. Any other form will send her on the road of the Admiral, once you change one thing all other things become parts. I say steam for go or not le her go anymore. We will soon see and I think our opinions and comments will be weightless when the decisions come down.