The renovation was executed with a high level of traditional craftsmanship, but it included many modern details. During the time of COVID, lunch, brunch and dinner options are limited. In another nod to riverboat tradition, there is a calliope on the aft upper deck.Ĭity of New Orleans features four decks, including a rooftop viewing deck, and it is outfitted with a full bar, ADA-compliant elevator, live band and full galley. “ City is the perfect vessel to supplement the operations of Natchez, not only due to her size, layout and amount of indoor space, but also because she is a true paddlewheel-driven vessel with the accoutrements of an old Western Rivers-style sternwheel steamboat,” Dow said. As the company looked to grow, it sought a companion to Natchez that reflected the operator’s tradition and market, but with a level of hospitality suited to moderately sized private parties. Bates helped design Casino Rock Island,” said Matthew Dow, project manager for the restoration of City of New Orleans.ĭow follows in the riverboat footsteps of grandfather Wilbur and father Bill, who founded New Orleans Steamboat in 1972.

“So vicariously, through his work on Spirit, Capt. For Casino Rock Island, Rodney Lay of Lay, Pitman and Associates designed an enlarged version of Spirit of Peoria, with more indoor room for gaming machines. The Jumers also ordered and operated Spirit of Peoria, designed by Capt.

A three-year renovation of the vessel was completed in 2020. After leaving the dock, the pilot pointed the paddlewheeler downstream toward the big bend cupping Algiers Point on the Mississippi River.Ĭity of New Orleans began life as the casino boat Casino Rock Island, built by Leevac Shipyards of Jennings, La., for the Jumer family of Peoria, Ill., in 1991. Charles Ladner, armed with a megaphone, walked to the port bridge wing and proceeded to call out speed and direction commands to Delaney. With all of the passengers aboard, pilot Troy Delaney blasted the ship’s horn. The 189-foot, diesel-electric paddlewheeler is the second vessel in the New Orleans Steamboat Company fleet, joining the 265-foot steamboat Natchez in September. N otwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of masked passengers lined the gangway of City of New Orleans on a clear January afternoon. The newly renovated paddlewheeler began life as a casino boat 30 years ago. City of New Orleans returns to the dock following a harbor tour in January.

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