Celebration River Cruises History

   Celebration River Cruises is a family owned and operated business. The Schadler family is involved in every aspect of the boat's day to day operations from cooking the food fresh daily to helping serve their guests to keeping the engines running smooth. Joe Schadler started the excursion boat business in Davenport, IA in 1984 with the Queen of Hearts, a three deck 400 passenger boat. Mr Schadler had the boat made to order at Tucker Marine in Cincinnati, OH.

   As word got around and the passengers began coming from miles around, Joe saw a need for more space. So in 1986, he purchased river front property in Moline and moved the operation to Moline.

   A few years later in 1993 after spending much of his boyhood watching and helping his father on the boat, Joe's son, Scott became a full partner in the business. With Scott's business sense and Joe's knowledge of the industry, the business began to flourish.

   As the business grew, the need for a larger vessel became apparent. In 1998, the Schadler's purchased the Celebration Belle, the largest luxury excursion river boat in the Upper Mississippi River. The 800 passenger Celebration Belle was built in 1986 by Patti Shipbuilding of Pensacola, FL. The larger boat also made way for new and exciting cruises. One such cruise that has become popular is the 100 Mile Day Long Cruise from the Quad Cities to Dubuque, IA. This cruise overwhelms it's passengers with three homemade meals, afternoon snacks, and live entertainment.

   With the popularity of the 100 Mile Day Long Cruise and other cruises such as the Big Band Cruises and Prime Rib Dinner Cruises along with it's privately chartered cruises, the Celebration Belle has significantly boosted tourism along the river. The boat has brought in many out of town visitors to the area and some as far as 1000 miles away. The Schadler's hosted the King and Queen of Sweden aboard their vessel as well as many international groups.

   In recent years, the state of Illinois named the Celebration Belle as one of it's top forty attractions. In over the nearly 25 years of business, the Schadlers have been involved in the Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois economy as restaurateurs and boat operators. They have demonstrated that their love of the river equals entrepreneurial success. Their pioneering spirit has been instrumental in making the Mississippi River a major national tourism attraction.

Captain Joe Schadler                Captain Scott Schadler