JazenW

No, I don't know when it came out of drydock.

Our 8 day NOLA-to-NOLA "Southern Charms" cruise aboard Viking Mississippi ended on 3/2/24. As already noted on this forum, US laws mandated that Viking Mississippi be US-built and its crew be US citizens. Low water levels often altered itineraries, especially north of Vicksburg. Whether because of all this, or in spite of it, early Viking Mississippi reviews and experiences reported on this and other forums were mixed at best. So we were a bit worried. Happily, however, our experience was very much on par with the Viking Ocean, Expedition, and European river ship experiences we have enjoyed before. What changed? Our crew said our cruise was the first since the ship had come out of drydock. (On one early voyage the ship was damaged by floating debris. Each day we watched large tree trunks float past). The only post-drydock physical change we noticed was that the Explorer's Lounge Upper Level was converted into auditorium space (appointed like auditoriums on the Ocean and Expedition ships, but much smaller) for Port talks and enrichment lectures. Many of the crew were brand-new to Viking and fresh from (presumably improved) training. Dining: Food and service in River Cafe (buffet) and in both bars was enthusiastic, competent, and as pleasant as a customer could hope for. We only tried The Restaurant (table service) once, because items arrived slow and piewcemeal even though the place was 75% empty. Maybe the reason it was empty is because other guests also preferred the River Cafe. Another downside of The Restaurant's emptiness was that the River Cafe got pretty busy during peak intervals. Shore excursions and enrichment: Viking now has its own immaculate 8 bus fleet that shadows the ship up and down the river. Therefore, organization, execution, and guides were on par with the European river experience. Shore Excursions can only be as good as what's on shore. We chose mostly Included Excursions, so for us Antebellum Mansion Fatigue set in by our third house tour. OTOH other Included Excursions exceeded our expectations and were well-matched to onboard talks. For example, the Baton Rouge Included Excursion stopped at the Louisiana State Capitol and passed through the corridor in which larger-than-life Governor Huey "The Kingfish" Long was assasinated in 1935. That afternoon's enrichment was an informative, witty talk about The Kingfish and Louisiana culture by LSU professor and Long biographer Richard White. Entertainment: Evening entertainment (7-ish, repeated 9-ish) was in the ship's Living Room, by uniformly polished and professional local performers. Music was themed to the respective destinations. For example, the daytime excursion to the (excellent) National World War II Museum in New Orleans was followed that evening by the Victory Belles, a female vocal trio associated with the Museum, who performed 'forties music. Shows were surprisingly underatttended (maybe 50 per show out of 386 guests), so no problem finding a good seat and interacting with performers. A resident musical trio also played at various times and usually accompanied the local performers. Staterooms: The Deluxe Veranda we chose was very similar in design, finishes, and square footage to a Viking Ocean Deluxe Veranda, meaning quite nice. It was competently serviced twice daily (Evening service included turndown).

And in the parts of Chile and Argentina we just visited.