NATCHEZ — The Miss-Lou will see a significant uptick in riverboat dockings this year.

An announcement in Baton Rouge this week likewise opens the possibility for even more dockings — and more luxury cruise tourist dollars — in the coming years.

The company that operates the Queen of the Mississippi — American Cruise Lines — has added a second boat, the American Eagle, into its inventory of Lower Mississippi River touring ships.

The Queen of the Mississippi has docked in both Natchez and Vidalia in recent years. The American Eagle is a paddlewheeler with 84 modern luxury staterooms.

The Eagle will make its maiden voyage April 11, and then will begin regular cruises on the Lower Mississippi River.

American Cruise Lines spokesperson Lauren Ellard said the addition of the American Eagle won’t split dockings in the Natchez area.

“It does mean there will be more dockings in Natchez,” she said in an email.

American Cruise Lines fleet boats will dock 66 times in the Natchez area in 2015, Ellard said.

The American Queen has added one extra stop in Natchez this year, said chef Regina Charboneau, the Natchez resident who serves as the American Queen’s culinary director.

The American Queen —owned by the American Queen Steamboat Company of Memphis — is the largest steamboat ever built and the only one in operation on the Mississippi River. The boat docked in Natchez starting in the 1990s but was docked for several years in the 2000s. She began return voyages to Natchez in 2012.

“The American Queen will be making 29 stops in Natchez in 2015,” Charboneau said. “They come here every chance they get in the schedule — we are on every schedule this leg of the river, coming and going to Memphis, which is the way it should be.”

Meanwhile, the State of Louisiana announced Tuesday that Viking River Cruises plans to locate its North American headquarters in the Port of New Orleans and built six ships at an investment rate of $100 million each. The state announcement said the company plans to launch cruises on the Mississippi River in late 2017.

While the company announced plans to have cruises with stops in East Baton Rouge and West Feliciana parishes and other locations such as Memphis, St. Louis and St. Paul, Minn., if the boats will eventually stop in Natchez has not yet been formally announced.

Viking River Cruises Spokesman Ian Jeffries said the company is planning its own announcement later in the year detailing where the boats will stop.

“At that time we will publicize specifics about the new itineraries, ship design and an official launch date,” Jeffries said in an email.