As part of her maiden voyage, the 450-ft-long Viking Mississippi cruise ship arrived at La Crosse’s Riverside Park (Wisconsin) in the early hours of Labor Day (September 5) and stayed until early afternoon, before heading south down the river toward Dubuque (Iowa).
The 5-deck boat can accommodate a total of 386 passengers (plus 150 crew) in 193 staterooms.
The 8-day “Heartland Tour” from Saint Paul (Minnesota) to Saint Louis (Missouri) fares start at US$4,500. The 15-day trip from Saint Paul to New Orleans (Louisiana) has been going for US$13,000+.
4 more calls in La Crosse are scheduled yet this season, with the next one on September 15.
Although the boat passed the port city on her way upriver to Saint Paul on Friday, this was the first time that a Viking cruise ship had docked at La Crosse. Previously scheduled stops for the summer were called off, as the line’s schedule changed.
The luxury cruise line, popular for tours of large European rivers, announced a few years ago that it would start sailing on the Mississippi River, but the COVID crisis caused the first sailings to be delayed for 2 years.
Many guests on the new Viking ship came ashore to explore the city, mainly on 2-hour bus tours stopping atop Grandad Bluff.