We just returned from the May 5th Mississippi River cruise on the Viking Mississippi, sailing from Memphis (not really) to New Orleans. Overall, we think the negative aspects of the trip outweighed the good parts.
We are in our 60s, retired for a few years and active. We thought the average age of the other passengers was around 75, with several much older than that. We felt that Viking tailored the trip for this age group.
For the good parts, overall the food was good, especially in the main dining room. The menu each night featured three entrees, plus salmon, chicken and steak were available to order each night. The same dinner menu was also available as a buffet in the River Cafe, along with grilled seafood or steak. For breakfast and lunch, both restaurants offered the same buffet menu, however breakfast and lunch were much less crowded in the main dining area.
Viking includes a shore excursion in each port. Many of the included tours were tours of old mansions or plantations. Additionally, optional excursions were offered in most ports. In Greenville, MS, the Steve Azar's Mississippi was excellent. The Vicksburg National Military Park tour was very good. The state capitol and state museum tours in Baton Rouge were interesting. The Atchafalaya Swamp by Boat and Airboat tours were enjoyable. The Whitney Plantation tour, which showcased how the enslaved people lived, was sobering.
The downsides began with the embarkation process. Since the ship no longer travels north to Memphis, we flew into Memphis and Viking provided a complimentary one-night pre-cruise extension. Some, including us, were fortunate to be booked into the Peabody, while others stayed at a Sheraton. The first day included a tour of Graceland in Memphis, followed by at least a three hour bus ride to meet the ship in Rosedale, Mississippi. The bus ride included a totally unnecessary one hour stop in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The stated purpose of the stop was to pass out our cabin keys, but this could have easily been handled at the hotels in Memphis or onboard the ship.
Another downside was where the ship docked along the Mississippi. We expected the Mississippi itinerary to be similar to European River cruises, where the ship is docked in the center of a city or town and we could walk off of the ship into the city. However, other than a couple of exceptions, the stops on this trip were remote locations, oftentimes just along a levee at the end of a gravel road. Other than the Viking sponsored excursions, there was literally nothing else to see or do where the ship docked.
The service onboard was subpar. The staff seemed disinterested and were often standing around talking with each other, rather than clearing tables and resetting them for the next group of diners. This was especially true in the buffet restaurant, where we had to make multiple requests for drinks or to have a table cleaned.
Due to the layout of the main dining room, it was very noisy at dinner time. The open-air kitchen is in the center of the dining room and the noise from the kitchen, plus a low ceiling height lead to high noise levels.
The entertainment onboard was very mellow and non-existent after 10:00 pm. A few of the outside "Destination Performance" artists were very good (Classic Memphis Soul with Keia Johnson; Cajun Celebration with Bruce Daigrepont; and A Tribute to Louis Armstrong with Wendell Brunious), but the house jazz trio
was uninspiring.
We had also booked the two-night post-cruise extension in New Orleans. The Westin hotel was used and is situated beside the Mississippi River. After leaving the ship, we boarded a bus for a "Panoramic Tour" of New Orleans. This was a waste of time. One enjoyable stop was a cemetery tour. After this, we stopped for an hour at the New Orleans Modern Art museum. However, the museum did not have any guides available for the tour and the group stood around in the lobby for at least 30 minutes. Once guides were located, we were only in the museum for a very brief time. When leaving the museum, the bus drove through a few areas of the city. We did not get to see any of the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, including Lake Pontchartrain or the 9th Ward.
The following morning was an included three-hour walking tour of the French Quarter. We met the guide at 8:30 am and began the tour. It was a warm day, but nothing unusual for New Orleans in May. The guide did not appear to be up to the task as she kept asking the group if we needed to stop, needed water or shade. After about 90 minutes, we noticed we were headed back towards the hotel and had not yet even reached Bourbon Street. I asked if we were not going to see Bourbon Street and she indicated that "she forgot" to go there. We turned around, walked on Bourbon Street for one block and returned to the hotel. Our three-hour tour was over in less than two hours.
This was our fifth overall Viking cruise, including two European River cruises. We cannot recommend this trip, due to the poor value received for the high costs and the level of service provided.
