Create memories that will last a lifetime with our unforgettable dining experience on Lake Conroe. Located just north of Houston, TX!
7035 Kingston Cove Lane
Willis, TX
77318
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Southern Empress posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Send a message to Southern Empress:
Let me take you back to a time when a dollar worked for was a dollar earned! The Southern Empress is synonymous with entrepreneurial vision, Integrity and hard working people with a tenacity and a pioneering spirit striving to always be the best! The people that work everyday to make our riverboat cruises spectacular for our customers and for the people that live, breathe, consume and experience our brand.
The 375 passenger Southern Empress, a 290-ton displacement sternwheel riverboat, measures 120 feet from bow to stern, has a 38-foot beam, and is 38 feet from her keel to the top of the pilothouse. This all-steel vessel was constructed by James K. Walker Marine, Inc. of Moss Point, Miss. It was built in modular sections that were then tack-welded together. After approval by the American Bureau of Shipping it was disassembled and shipped overland by truck to it's current site on Lake Conroe, where it was reassembled and permanently welded by Walker craftsmen.
The Southern Empress is distinguished from other Paddle wheeler's in Texas because she has an authentic riverboat structure, rather than a superstructure built on a barge. Her curvilinear design is dictated by the fore-and-aft sheer and the side-to-side camber of the decks, which is the mark of all true riverboats. The vessel was designed by naval architect William G. Preston. The Grand Salon on the Main Deck is enclosed, with year-round air conditioning. It seats 125 for dinner, features a stage for play's and musical entertainment, and has an antique-style bar. Five brass and cut glass chandeliers, 26 sconces, Encarnex marble, custom cut leaded and beveled doors and windows, antique-style floral carpets, and 80,000 linear feet of solid oak moldings and rift-cut raised oak paneling are blended in a rich setting of colors and textures.
The Boiler (second) Deck is covered and is for moonlight cocktail dance cruises and is also air conditioned. This floor has carved glass panels, antique-style bar, authentic tin ceilings, a stage for live music, and imported marble restrooms. The Hurricane Deck and the Texas Deck form the split-level third deck. The Texas Deck is the uppermost deck upon which the pilothouse sits. The Hurricane Deck wraps around these two Deck's and is the favorites for observation, as they are the highest public deck on the boat. Beneath the elegant Victorian facade, the Southern Empress is as modern as she is beautiful. The vessel is powered by two 18-foot diameter paddle wheels that are independently controlled and fully reversible for maximum maneuverability.
