New Year Baby!
Brand new year, brand new attitude, and a brand new boat! Well, kind of true. The Southern Belle Riverboat has been in operation for 32 years and the last offseason we repainted everything on the interior to make it look a bit more modern. It was a maroon color, which was a good looking color back when it was built in 1985. Our guests these days are used to rooms feeling a bit more open, so we painted it a very light khaki color and man did it do wonders! We didn’t get a single complaint about the boat looking outdated in 2016! Speaking of 2016, We had a phenomenal year in all departments and all aspects!
Ever since I took over day to day operations I really wanted to focus on the customer experience as a whole. From the moment that guests steps through our doors, we are guides on their fantastic river journey on The TN River! They get to experience Chattanooga in a way no other attraction can give them. If the guest is happy then our crew is happy.
The Southern Belle Riverboat has the best crew that we have ever had and the positivity of each crew member astounds me every day. I am a pretty happy go lucky guy and it is hard to keep up with their enthusiasm for not only the boat but the customer experience on The riverboat and also the city of Chattanooga. We truly do see ourselves as ambassadors of the entire city of Chattanooga!
This year we actually painted our dockside bar and grille, the 3rd Deck Burger Bar, to lighten it up and give a more playful feel! We have upgraded some of the systems and features of The Southern Belle Riverboat and are thinking about going to a fine dining plate instead of the buffet that has become famous with The Southern Belle Riverboat over the last 32 years.
Fingers crossed our plate landscaping trials go well!