The Delta Queen Steamboat
A 1920s steamboat, a Landmark, and still waiting for her next voyage.
Ask About Riverboat CruisesThe Delta Queen: A Steamboat Waiting
The Delta Queen is the most famous surviving overnight steamboat in America. Built in the 1920s for service on California’s Sacramento River, she was later towed through the Panama Canal to the Mississippi system, where she carried overnight passengers for six decades and became a National Historic Landmark.
President Jimmy Carter spent a week aboard in 1979, and generations of travelers took their first river cruise aboard. Her wooden cabins and brass fittings made her a living museum, and that same wood is the reason she has been idle.
Why She Is Not Sailing
Federal safety law bars overnight passenger vessels with largely wooden superstructures. The Delta Queen operated for decades under special exemptions from Congress. When the last one ended in 2008, she left service and spent years as a floating hotel and then in layup.
In 2018 Congress passed a law allowing her to return to overnight service through 2028, provided she is repaired. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed her among America’s most endangered historic places. As of late 2026 she remains in Houma, Louisiana, with no confirmed restart.
Where to Feel That Era Today
- Take a day cruise on the Belle of Louisville, which is even older than the Delta Queen.
- Ride the Natchez in New Orleans, with a steam engine from 1925.
- Choose a classic-style paddlewheeler for a multi-night Mississippi cruise.
- Visit river museums in Dubuque, Hannibal and other ports on an Upper Mississippi voyage; see Upper Mississippi Riverboat Cruising.
A Boat With Two Careers
The Delta Queen and her twin, the Delta King, were built for overnight service between San Francisco and Sacramento, with steel hulls fabricated in Scotland and wooden superstructures built in California. During World War II both served the U.S. Navy on San Francisco Bay. Afterward the Delta Queen was sold, boarded up and towed down the Pacific coast and through the Panama Canal to begin a second life on the Mississippi and Ohio. The Delta King stayed in California and is now a hotel in Old Sacramento.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cruise on the Delta Queen?
Not at present. The boat has not carried overnight passengers since 2008 and is laid up in Louisiana awaiting restoration. No return date has been announced.
Why did the Delta Queen stop sailing?
Her wooden superstructure did not meet federal fire-safety rules for overnight passenger vessels. Congress granted repeated exemptions until 2008, when the last one lapsed. A 2018 law restored the exemption through 2028, but repairs and funding have not been completed.
Sail the Delta Queen’s River
Our cruise advisors at Mister Cruise will quote today’s riverboat cruises on the same waters, with a steamboat day trip if you like.
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