RV river barge cruises

This has come up a few times over the last 10 years or so. Nothing current. Apparently there was a company that used to do it, but they have been out of business for decades. Sorry.

There are one or two companies that do paddlewheel/steamship cruises on the Mississippi, Columbia and other U.S. rivers and inland waterways, but not with RVs on barges.

This was discussed on the forum awhile ago. I believe someone said the cruises are no longer available.
But, don't quote me on it. :)

I think those have been discontinued. Saw them a few years ago. But last time I looked I could no longer find them. Looked interesting.

In the early 90s there was Conrad's R.V. River Chaters in New Orleans.

I too was curious about this and did some deep digging. The Coast Guard changed the regulation that made it impossible to be economically practical for the barge operators to make a profit. It had to do with escape measures, fire fighting ability and lighting mainly at night which would have added a large expense. These things had to be done each night, so any place a stop over was planned, you had to have a lot of equipment. The rising fuel prices didn't help much either.

Originally, basically the barge had to stop for the night, but only needed to put out a walkway to land at each end of the barge. This was very easy to do any place they wanted to stop.

Like a lot of fun and interesting things from years ago, your government has decided that they need to protect you from doing things (with some minimal risk) that you might enjoy.

YES - the Mississippi River did have a barge operator that took rigs with folks to interesting places (including the Intracoastal Waterway), with stops along the way. (We really enjoyed our adventure on the barge!)

BUT...the US Coast Guard decided that the 'rules' under which they operated did not sufficiently 'protect' the occupants - thus the new rules that have simply put that type of operation out of business.

Welcome to 2000! Our Brave New World!!

Sounds a little silly to me, why not just take a cruise on a boat on the river or rent a boat.

timmac wrote:
Sounds a little silly to me, why not just take a cruise on a boat on the river or rent a boat.

I agree but...

Perhaps not having to go back and get the RV where it was left behind is somewhat convenient, assuming the cruise is one way?

Perhaps people are crazy about their rig and can't stand to leave it and all of their personal stuff behind?

Who the heck knows. Doesn't surprise me that such a business went out of business with or without strict government regulations.

The RV train trips seem to have vanished too

I stayed at a CG right on the Mississippi for a week. Watching all the numerous commercial barges navigating that river 24 7's?.......

Nope, I don't think I would want my MH and me on a barge going down the Mississippi. I think the gov had it right this time about the safety of it. :B