• Paddle wheel boats are the most traditional form of cruise on the Mississippi river.Riverboat paddle wheel image by itsallgood from Fotolia.com
  
  While river barge and paddlewheel cruises used to be a mainstay on the Mississippi river, rising costs and a slow economy have contributed to many a vessel's demise. Currently there are several paddle-wheel cruises offering overnights in hotels on land and in 2011 small ship cruise company USA River cruises will begin to offer sleep-on-the-boat excursions on the Mississippi once again.
  
  

Spirit of Peoria

• An authentic paddlewheel boat, guests can imagine themselves in antebellum times on this boat as they enjoy the scenery, listen to storytellers and songs played on the banjo and piano and feast on hearty buffet-style meals. Lodging is on land, in a beautiful 1930s-era stone lodge or a log-cabin style lodge among the woods of Starved Rock State Park. The company currently offers trips from Peoria to Starved Rock State Park or Peoria to St. Louis as well as the charming town of Florence, Illinois.
  
  

The Twilight Riverboat

• Offering an overnight trip on the upper Mississippi river, the traditional "wedding cake" Twilight Riverboat makes its journey from Le Claire, Iowa, boyhood home of Buffalo Bill, to Dubuque, Iowa and back. The boat offers traditional dining salons, wide decks with lounge chairs for enjoying the news, and a musical entertainment program. Overnight accommodation is offered in the riverside Grand Harbor resort.
  
  

USA River Cruises

• Departing from either Memphis or New Orleans, USA River Cruises will begin offering small ship service in Spring 2011. The eight-day/seven-night cruise will traverse a Memphis to Nashville or a New Orleans to Memphis route. In 2012, the company will debut its beautiful new paddlewheels with spacious staterooms and luxury gathering spaces allowing travelers to once again sleep on the "floating palaces" Mark Twain wrote about in the late nineteenth century.