Fresh Water - Cruising Future?

A couple of weeks ago I touched on an article about a cruise ship that is on its last few trips before leaving the Great Lakes for the open ocean. An interesting point is that the ship had been doing the Chicago to Toronto tour for 10 years but I never heard of it until it was to late. Since that article, there has been rumblings from Canada, and a few of the State side ports on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River about the subject. Could this be a future of cruising? Well the answer is yes and no. It is a definite possibility to be in the future, but we wont be seeing the large ocean liners going anywhere. But with many "seasoned" cruisers having 20+ voyages under their belt, they may be looking for something new, and fresh water cruises, whether in the Great Lakes, or one of the many other fresh water locals around the world are starting to look like a possibility. Fresh water cruising has been around for a while, but just not advertised on a large scale, but look for that to change. Another thing to look for in the future is the major Ocean going lines to buy out or back the little companies that work the rivers and byways. Just an opinion, and only time will tell.