American Cruise Lines is pleased to announce that the first modern riverboat in U.S. history is nearly complete.

Last week, American Song, under its own power, moved from the East Outfitting Basin at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury to the yard’s outfitting bulkhead for the final outfitting touches.

Anticipation is growing as American Song is set to make its historic inaugural cruise Oct. 6 on the Mississippi River from New Orleans — during that city’s Tri-centennial year.

American Song’s sister ship, American Harmony, the second modern riverboat in the series, is currently five weeks ahead of schedule and will be launched later this fall.

American Harmony will go into service in spring 2019 on the Mississippi River, where it will join two of American’s Victorian-style paddlewheelers, Queen of the Mississippi and America.

When it debuts this October, American Song will cruise the Line’s Lower Mississippi River itineraries for the remainder of the year (including American’s holiday-themed cruises throughout December) and reposition to the West Coast on the Columbia & Snake Rivers in 2019.

American Song and American Harmony are both designed and built by Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury.

American operates the largest and newest fleet of authentic paddlewheelers, coastal cruise ships, and the first modern riverboats in U.S. history.

With more than 35 itineraries visiting 25 states, American cruises along the rivers, as well as the coastal and inland waterways of New England, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the Mississippi River system and the Southeast.