Delta Queen’s crew plea to Congress
Here is how you can help saving the Delta Queen – immediately and without much effort! The crew of the Delta Queen has put together a dramatic Youtube video clip asking for help saving their jobs as well as a national historic treasure, the Delta Queen.
Please, go to Youtube, watch the video there and then vote for it and leave a comment(just “Save the Delta Queen!” is okay; we need a high count of comments!) and forward it to everyone you know asking them to do the same. Please, do it NOW; we need as much impact as possible within the first 24-48 hours of this video being online to be effective!
(if you’re not a member of Youtube, please don’t hesitate to register in order to make comments and vote for the video. The Youtube membership is free and without any obligations. Please, do this for the Delta Queen! ).
Here is the link to the video at Youtube:
This is what the DQ’s crew has to say:
Please help us, the crew of the Delta Queen, save both our jobs and a national treasure!
The Delta Queen is the last traditional steamboat carrying overnight passengers on our inland waterways, an example of a time when the rivers were our highways. The steamboat is one of the most significant inventions in the history of the world, and it is an American invention. Before the power of steam was harnessed to transportation, the fastest that people could travel was the speed of a galloping horse. The arrival of the steamboat meant that not only could people and goods travel faster, so could knowledge and information. That transforms society!
The people who work on this boat are some of the finest people you could possibly meet. Many of them lost everything they had in Hurricane Katrina; the stories passengers tell of those tragic days when many staff had no idea where their family members were, yet continued to provide exemplary service, are heart-rending. We are family on the boat—black, white, Hispanic, Asian, gay, straight—we look out for each other, and cannot bear the idea that after 81 years of service, our boat will end because of political greed!
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:47 am
This country needs to save and take pride in our history, not scuttle it and tear it down due to regulations taken out of context.
SAVE THE DELTA QUEEN!!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:43 am
Save the Delta Queen. The cruise was one of my families most memorable holidays. The next year we rode a river boat in Europe down the Danube. Delta Queen wins by a mile! Ambience, hospitality, character, history, etc, we loved it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:27 am
I experienced a trip of a lifetime with my Grandpa on the Delta Queen. At ages 33 and 91, we drew quite a lot of attention on this cruise and we made MANY memories. The crew and the boat were wonderful and I felt absolutely safe in their care. I look forward to the day that I travel again on the Delta Queen. Please save the Delta Queen.
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:38 pm
There is no experience like a trip on the Delta Queen — this is a national treasure, an historic piece of our heritage that should remain available to our children and their children. Please save the Delta Queen!
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:53 pm
My grandparents have enjoyed traveling the scenic waterways of our country for many years on the Delta Queen, and I was delighted to finally able to join them last year for a family trip. I certainly hope that those with the power to do so will save the Delta Queen–it is such a wonderful treasure for us all. I hope my first experience won’t be my last!
October 4th, 2008 at 2:20 am
Save this fabulous piece of history! We were just on a sternwheeler at Marietta for a wedding (not the Delta Queen), and were looking at a river vacation in the Delta Queen. It would be a shame to let her go, lose the jobs, and deny the public of a marvelous vessel.
October 4th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I had been planning (for about 15yrs) to coordinate my 30 yr HS reunion and a cruise on the DQ… I still have my reunion to go to but since no trips are being booked outside of 2008 this is nothing but a dream now. Thanks to our goverment for crushing my American dream
October 6th, 2008 at 3:15 am
I think it’s apalling that even senators have no regard for history. How can they let a beautiful boat like that be decommissioned. All it takes is a yes vote in the senate to help keep this boat alive and the people on it working.
The sight of this boat plying the rivers adds to the quality of life of thousands of people.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Perhaps when we get our money back from when DQSCo went into Bankruptcy in the early 2000’s, I’d have some sympathy.
Not now.
October 15th, 2008 at 5:25 am
greetings from Sacramento, home of the Delta King.
the Delta Queen should be a source of national pride, save her!
I would love to view America from her decks!
October 15th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Steve, it’s not about the company, it’s about the historic boat we all love and it’s about the ordinary crew members who have nothing to do with the bancruptcy of 2001 but are victims, too. The Delta Queen doesn’t deserve to go down because management made mistakes in the past and politicians are playing their dirty games on her. Let’s save her for the generations to come!
October 16th, 2008 at 4:11 am
God save the Queen, Or The Delta Queen. She is a majestic ship that would be a crime to dry dock her. She is a national Treasure everyone should enjoy.
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:38 pm
SAVE THE DELTA QUEEN. We went on the DQ in July. We left Cincinatti & arrived in Nashville. There were old ports we’d visited on the MQ & some great new ones for the first time. Entering the locks at Kentucky Dam was awesome. It was around midnight with stars in the sky. When we got to the top it was unbelievable! The stars were shining so we could see & it looked like we were in the ocean it was so large. If people don’t get a chance to experience this country by it’s rivers they are missing something big.I would never go on a large ship after going on steamboats.The crew & passenger make it like home.
October 24th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
I live in St. Paul, MN, where we have several “paddleboats” that do short cruises up & down the Mississippi, but only one is an authentic sternwheeler, and none are nearly the size and age and elegance of the Delta Queen. As another poster commented – it’s so nice to see these old boats on the river, and to be on them really takes you back to another age.
A truly majestic boat! I’d love to take a ride on her someday. Save the Delta Queen!
October 25th, 2008 at 2:07 am
I am a steamboat owner which makes me one in a million as there are roughly 3000 steamboat owners in the United States. Most people see the steamboat as a cute, whistle blowing toy but as an owner I know they are so much more. These machines built this country as we know it and to that we owe them our gratitude. Possibly destroying an historical icon is unfathomable. Unfortunately today’s spoiled, computer driven, me, me, me first generation has no sense of history. They are only concerned with themselves and could care less of those who went before them. The Minnesota Senator and the union who are causing this problem can all go to hell as far as I’m concerned. Oh, come to think of it they are already there as they have insured the collapse of the American economy with their selfish, greedy attitude. Do not worry however, cooler heads will prevail and the Queen will be saved by those who love her the most. She will once again travel the waters of the Mississippi with those who care. Those who don’t, be dammed. God save the Delta Queen.
October 30th, 2008 at 4:04 am
I traveled on the Delta Queen and enjoyed every moment. I never realized the beauty in the majestic river and beauty of the Delta Queen until I visited her and traveled up the Mississippi River. Let’s hope and pray the Senator will have a change of heart and keep histor alive in everyones heart!
November 5th, 2008 at 6:30 am
I live in Natchez, Ms. I am only 27 years old but I can remember, since I was a little girl the beautiful and majestic sights and sounds that the Delta Queen brought to my small river-side town. It’s a part of our history that should not be destroyed. It brings visitors to our community and helps boost our local economy. Natchez will truly be missing a part of it’s history if we loose her. Please save her, let people of my generation and generations to come have such fond memories of the glorious steamboat that everyone that has had the chance to encounter have come to love and cherish.
November 5th, 2008 at 6:45 am
I also live in Natchez Mississippi and I am very saddened to even have to think about typing this. If our beautiful steamboat could talk, she would be begging to be saved. If her wall’s could talk, I would love to hear the tales she would tell. Please don’t take away this part of our history, she is truly a part of our hearts and souls here in my small riverside community. I moved here in 1965 and every chance I get, I love to see her beautiful, glorious and graceful being… it never get’s old or familiar. I can hear the sounds of the calliope from my back porch as she departs up and down the river, it’s just a part of our everyday life here and in many other riverside communities that shouldn’t be needlessly taken away. Please save our beautiful queen, if not for our generations… but for the future generations that will only be able to read about her in books or look at a few pictures, that’s just not the same. Begging from not only the bottom of my heart, but also the hearts of our small towns that rely on her visits to help keep us afloat and on behalf of the grand Queen herself… PLEASE SAVE THE DELTA QUEEN!
November 23rd, 2008 at 1:17 am
I am employed as the Master on Steamship Sir Walter Scott on Loch Katrine in Scotland and I know exactly how the crew of Delta Queen feel.
We are fortunte in as much as we have been able to secure the backing of the Scottish Parliament to bring “our Grand Old Lady” up to current EU standards.
I suggest you petition Senator Obama and get his backing to help preserve your jobs and also part of the American Heritage.
Good luck
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
While I have never had the honor or privlidge of experiencing a trip on The Delta Queen, I have traveled many miles beside her along the Ohio River, seeing her beauty and grace, hearing her mighty voice as she rounded a bend in the river, and hearing her beautiful song from her caliope. That was 50 years ago and I can still remember it as if it were yesterday. The Delta Queen MUST be saved for our future generations to see life from a more graceful point of view.
April 10th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Please save the Delta Queen. She is an important piece of our history, and she needs to be allowed to sail on the rivers.
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:28 pm
PLEASE SAVE THE DELTA QUEEN. SHE IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY. WE HAVE SAILED ON HER MANY TIMES.
THIS ACTION WILL NOT COST THE GOVERNMENT ANY MONEY BUT WILL
PUT PEOPLE BACK TO WORK. IT WILL ALSO BRING BACK INCOME TO ALL THE SMALL TOWNS ON THE RIVERS. SHE TRULY IS THE QUEEN OF THE RIVERS AND SHOULD KEEP RUNNING! NOT ONLY THE INCOME FOR THE PEOPLE ON THE RIVERS BUT WHEN YOU SEE THE FACES OF ALL THE PEOPLE THAT JUST COME TO THE RIVER TO SEE HER PASS IT PUTS GLEE IN YOUR HEART.