Viking Mississippi Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Overall, we enjoyed the cruise. We very much liked all of the different stops along the way and the excursions and Viking does a very good job of making sure everyone is well taken care of on them with golf carts taking folks to the buses (which are all super nice and comfortable) and definitely accommodating the elderly crowd. The boat itself is super nice, clean, modern and just nice to be on. The river is something to look at as well. Most importantly, the staff is amazing. They really make the cruise so much better. We cannot say enough good things about the service and the staff. All them. Yes, every one of them.

This is typical Viking, good itinerary. Too many people for capacity. Free excursions are poor, always 40 plus guests too many

You would think a cruise in that geographic area would have information on slavery. The closest it came was the Civil Rights Museum.

This cruise clearly had technology issues. There were technology issues at embarkation and every day when scanning our cards to leave or return to the ship. About half the time, the crew member scanning the cards gave up and just started writing the names and room numbers for the people leaving or returning to the ship.

Excellent staff and service. Viking can never do enough for you on any cruise

Big disappointment was the housekeeping service. The food was good but choices limited. Service in the dining areas was hit and miss. The atmosphere aboard was good and we met a variety of interesting people.

Great cruise and tours. Needs some fine tuning to iron out the glitches. We had a late-offered stop at Greenville, MS where we were royally feted by Steve Azar and the entire community. This was was undoubtedly our most enjoyable port excursion.

Very new boat and crew, servers still practicing but are positive minded, and there are still growing pains.

There were so many things wrong. I can’t list them all.

We have been trying to make this trip happen for 1 1/2 years. Sharman made this one happen when our original cruise line went bankrupt. This was 4 siblings and spouces and we had a great time.

This was our first Viking cruise, and it exceeded all expectations -- definitely worth the extra price given everything that is included (and the optional drink package was great value). Some of our friends made fun of us for picking this itinerary, but we loved it. Although the crowds were very old (average age late 60's or early 70's with some guests in their 90's), but we loved not having any children or teens on board (we are in our 50's). The trip includes 2 nights in hotels in each of New Orleans and Memphis. We had a fantastic time and will definitely be cruising Viking again because of its great service and logistics.

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.