American Encore Marks Idaho’s First Riverboat Christening
Former United States Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers served as godmother and performed the bottle break after the ship began a nine-day Columbia and Snake rivers cruise from Stevenson.
American Cruise Lines christened American Encore in Lewiston, Idaho, on May 12, with former U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers serving as godmother for the line’s newest riverboat. The 180-passenger vessel became the first riverboat christened in Idaho after beginning its inaugural nine-day Columbia & Snake Rivers cruise from Stevenson, Washington, on May 6.
American Cruise Lines accounts for six of the seven cruise ships set to sail the Columbia and Snake river system this year. Lindblad Expeditions’ National Geographic Sea Lion is also operating in the region.
Lewiston ceremony follows inaugural sailing
Guests began the inaugural trip with an included hotel stay in Portland, Oregon, on May 5 before boarding American Encore in Stevenson the next day. McMorris Rodgers, who represented Eastern Washington and the Snake River in Congress for 20 years, performed the ceremonial bottle break during the Lewiston event.
Passengers, travel advisors, American Cruise Lines executives, crew members and local officials from Lewiston and Clarkston, Washington, attended the ceremony. Remarks were delivered by American Encore Capt. Andrea Mickelson; Charles B. Robertson, president and CEO of American Cruise Lines; Kristin Meira, the line’s director of government affairs; Port of Lewiston Commissioner Joe Anderson; Lewiston Mayor Dan Johnson; and Steven McGee, president of Chesapeake Shipbuilding.
“This is our sixth ship on the river and the flagship of our aggressive posture to up the game globally,” Robertson said during the event.
New dock adds capacity at Lewiston
The christening took place at Lewiston’s new cruise dock, built through a partnership between American Cruise Lines and the Port of Lewiston. The facility gives the line more berth capacity in the region and allows American riverboats to call at Lewiston and nearby Clarkston at the same time.
The dock also improves cruise guest access to shore excursions and gives the local community year-round waterfront access. Lewiston is Idaho’s only seaport, about 465 miles from the Pacific Ocean on the Columbia-Snake River system, and its Confluence Riverfront facility is Idaho’s only cruise boat dock.
American Encore joins Columbia and Snake fleet
American Encore is a 269-foot by 56-foot U.S. riverboat built in 2026 with five passenger decks, capacity for 180 guests and a crew of 43. The vessel has all-balcony accommodations, a four-story glass atrium, dining venues, lounges, a top-deck walking track, a gym, guest laundry and elevators serving all passenger decks.
American Cruise Lines says the boat offers more space per passenger than any other riverboat worldwide. The line also says American Encore’s 1,500-square-foot Signature Suite is the largest riverboat suite, with a wraparound balcony, separate living and sleeping areas, panoramic views and a bathroom with a soaking tub and heated floors.
Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, Maryland, built American Encore. The vessel passed sea trials in early March and left the yard later that month for its delivery route down the U.S. East Coast, through the Panama Canal, up the Pacific Coast and into the Columbia River near Astoria, Oregon.
American Encore is the eighth riverboat American Cruise Lines has built for the Columbia and Snake rivers. The company has introduced 20 vessels over the past decade and operates 28 small ships on U.S. itineraries.
“Our river cruises in the region just keep getting more and more popular,” said Alexa Paolella, American Cruise Lines’ public relations manager. She said growth on the Columbia and Snake rivers has been “tremendous and continuous,” and added that the line’s next three new riverboats are assigned to cruises in the region.
The boat is scheduled to keep that itinerary pattern until early November. American Anthem is due to join the fleet in 2027, followed by American Grace in 2028.
