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Editor’s note: This announcement has been edited to include new information. Please see the copy in blue below.

The accolades keep coming: The No. 1 thing to do in Chicago. The #1 boat tour in North America. Readers’ choice awards. How are we going to keep up with the visitor demand for our wonderful River Cruise? Here are our plans for the 2022 and 2023 RC seasons.

The good news is that the River Cruise is so popular, Chicago’s First Lady anticipates adding departures to the schedule. The bad news is that we don’t have enough docents to fill the slots. The 2022 River Cruise season is projected to be hugely challenging as we face more departures than 2019 but with fewer docents to give cruises:

Our policy of recruiting and training River Docents from the corps of certified docents is already stretched thin and will not support future needs. This year has been particularly difficult. There were so many departures and not enough docents, causing Caroline to scramble and/or docents on the schedule to double up.

For 2022 River Cruise training, we have been pulling out all the stops to secure more river docents. We had good attendance at our RC information sessions last month. And we have opened the door to docents from the Class of 2020-21. We are optimistic that these measures should help fill the docent gap.

But even with these efforts, and the fact that there will be no new docent class in 2022 due to uncertainties around the virus, there will be little “fresh blood” to train in 2023.

For the docent class of 2023, we will recruit and train new docents directly for the river. Interview procedures will be adapted to focus on distinct skills of river docents. Fundamentals of Architecture will also be adapted to be relevant to the River Cruise. After Fundamentals, candidates will immediately join the traditional River Cruise training class. Those “Direct-to-River” trainees who successfully certify will have full docent status, similar to new docents who certify for a walking tour.

This decision should manage the tradeoff between having enough river docents to meet demand – and maintaining the quality of our river tour.

In 2023, we will continue to recruit and train docents for walking tours.  River Cruise training is just one of the options for docent trainees who are interested in that initial direction. Our walking tours continue to be the foundation of our tour offerings.  We know the River Cruise is important for CAC and a popular tourist attraction, but walking tours, and the docents who prefer to focus on them, are a valued part of the CAC experience.

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