Posted on 02/27/2015 4:37:13 AM PST by iowamark
Viking Cruises will establish its first North American beachhead, a homeport in New Orleans, starting in 2017.
Viking Cruises will establish its first North American beachhead, a homeport in New Orleans, and will offer cruises up the Mississippi River starting in 2017, the company and Louisiana officials announced.
The move is seen as an effort to capitalize on rapidly growing interest in river cruises, which involve much smaller vessels than most ocean liners.
The company — whose boats ply the rivers of Europe, Russia, China, Southeast Asia and Egypt — will begin cruising the Mississippi with two boats in late 2017, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The cruise line plans to expand its fleet on the river to six by 2019, it said.
Depending on the season, the cruises will go as far north as Memphis, Tennessee; St. Louis, Missouri, or St. Paul, Minnesota, the company said.
Currently, the cruise market on the United States’ biggest river is limited, Mike Driscoll, editor of the trade publication Cruise Week said in a telephone interview.
“The view is that Viking is going to create that market,” Driscoll said.
“We are excited about the prospect of bringing modern river cruising to the Mississippi,” Viking Cruises Chairman Torstein Hagen said in the statement issued by Viking and Louisiana Bobby Jindal’s office.
Each boat will carry up to 300 passengers, about a tenth of the capacity of most oceangoing cruise ships, the company said. The vessels are expected to dock near New Orleans’ historic French Quarter...
(Excerpt) Read more at fortune.com ...
How about a float down the Erie Canal ?
Went on several Rhine cruises when I was stationed in Germany, you will enjoy them. I wouldn’t be too worried about security, especially in Germany. German authorities don’t screw around. Germany was one country I always felt safe in.
Duluth-Superior is doing pretty well.
Exactly. It will be like driving on the interstate. This is one of the reasons why passenger trains don't work here in the States.
I’d walk up the levee to see that!
The Iowa National Guard will hopefully stop this threat.
What is this going to do with the already existing stern-wheeler cruises that launch off the river from downtown New Orleans?
I was stationed in Germany ‘86-’87. I agree. Felt totally safe...except for the feral hogs hanging around the dumpsters, LOL!
But - we’re living in a whole ‘nother world these days.
Beau wants to go on a cruise - I HATE open water. This is our compromise. :)
The “Gold Coast” of Buffalo, are brownfields now. Same with Cleveland, and Toledo, and all the smaller port cities on Lake Ontario.
The eastern Great Lakes is a shambles of failed cities, and dead businesses. I live in one of them. Went to Marquette MI and it was like I was looking at Oswego, NY. Deja Vu all over again.
Was 79-83 at Zweibrucken and 84-88 in Berlin. Many good memories, lots of great friends, opportunities to sightsee, plus two kids. Can’t beat that!
How about Great Lakes, Erie Canal, Intracoastal Waterway! The best deals are when everybody gets what he wants!
That’s a major shipping port and there are a lot fewer of them due to simple market forces. Rather than shipping out of 5 or 6 different ports on the south shore of Lake Superior they ship in and out of about 2. Its the same reason there used to be some 1200 smaller ore carriers on the lakes and there are only a couple dozen large carriers now.
The great lakes cruises go to smaller quieter towns because they seem to be geared very much to older people. Middle age to elderly people who just want to put their feet up, relax and watch the shorelines go by.
I was GM of a marine fueling business based in Superior for a couple of decades. We also had fueling terminals at Two Harbors, Silver Bay and Taconite Harbor.
The Duluth-Superior harbor with a half dozen iron ore and grain loading facilities was served by our 8,000 bbl lighter vessel.
Good times. Good people.
The Great Lakes cruise does look good. But the price per day is significantly higher than for an ocean cruise. I wonder why?
“Our only goal will be the western shore.”
I’ve taken the USS Badger along the shoreline a few times from Manitowoc, WI and back again; they like to work out the kinks in the spring.
When I was a kid, we took it across Lake Michigan on our way to Sault Sante Marie, MI. That was fun!
“The Great Lakes cruise does look good. But the price per day is significantly higher than for an ocean cruise. I wonder why?”
On a big ship one server per lots of people. On a small ship much more personalized service and lower economies of scale.
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