Paddle wheel cruise ships cease Columbia River cruises

Published 4:00 pm Saturday, January 31, 2009

The 17th Street docks by the Columbia River Maritime Museum used to be the place where the paddle wheel cruise ships docked, owned by Majestic America Line.

Ships with names like the Queen of the West and the Empress of the North were often in Astoria, carrying passengers on Columbia River cruise excursions.

Now the company is up for sale and that means no more cruises under its existing ownership.

Vanessa Bloy, public relations rep for Majestic, said parent company Ambassadors International placed Majestic America up for sale last spring.

“We have several offers to buy the company,” she said. “Because of that we said we would complete the 2008 cruise season but not offer cruises in 2009.”

Majestic owns a fleet of river cruise ships that operate on the Columbia and Mississippi Rivers, including the historic paddle wheeler Delta Queen, currently docked in New Orleans.

With an average capacity of about 173 passengers per ship, and with three ships

working on the Columbia River during a tourism season, Majestic brought an influx of visitors to the area.

One local business that will be affected by the loss of the paddle wheel cruise business is Astoria Cleaners.

Owner Karen Shinabery said that in a good season, at least one river cruise ship per week called on Astoria. That could translate into $300-$800 in additional weekly income for her business, when the cruise line had staff uniforms and bedding cleaned.

Shinabery said Majestic’s business was a big boost for Astoria Cleaners.

“It was good money,” she said. “I had to hire four more staff members to handle the work flow.”

Now that revenue is gone, at least for the foreseeable future. She said she had inklings that Majestic was in trouble, as the way they paid their bills slowly began to change.

“They started out paying cash, then by check,” she said.

Soon the company was having her bill offices in Portland and elsewhere. She hopes to eventually get paid for all the services she provided to Majestic in 2008.

Shinabery said the loss of business made a big difference at the end of the year.

“It was a big hurt for a little company like us,” she said. “We couldn’t do a Christmas party, and no bonuses. That was our extra right there.”

Shinabery said she’ll regroup in 2009, but won’t be able to hire the extra employees. “We’ll get through this; we’ll tighten our belts.”

She said the river cruise line brought considerable business to Astoria, as visitors

were bused around to area attractions, and crew members purchased necessities in town.

In recent years Majestic America has made the news, as the company endured a series of mishaps involving its vessels, including groundings of its ship Empress of the North in Alaska and on the Columbia River, and bouts of passenger illness.

According to a company press release, Ambassadors International voluntarily returned the Empress to the United States Maritime Administration, which is in the process of foreclosing on the vessel’s mortgage. The company wrote off $34.2 million in net assets and $37.3 million in net liabilities, and recorded in other income a $3.1 million gain on disposal for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2008.