Viking Mississippi service has an American touch.
Days into my press trip on Viking's first U.S. river cruise ship, the Viking Mississippi, I noticed something different about being here versus on a European river cruise: There was something very familiar about the crew, from the cities and towns where they grew up to the things we chatted about.
The crew was entirely American, something I had never encountered on a river cruise, and that connection brought an instant sense of a shared experience.
Service on river and ocean cruise ships around the world is often lauded. But U.S. cruise providers, who must hire domestically, over the years have cited adjustment periods for its staff from the U.S., where working on cruise ships is still a relatively new career path.
On this sailing, no service issues were apparent to me. In fact, service onboard the Viking Mississippi, which launched in August 2022, didn't feel all that different than what I've experienced on river cruises in Europe: The crew was friendly, polite and accommodating and ready to provide knowledgeable answers to guest questions or quick to find someone who could if they didn't have the answer themselves.
The crew was also experienced. Everyone appeared to have worked in the hospitality industry, and for many this sailing was not their first rodeo on a cruise ship. Some of the staff had even worked on the now-defunct American Queen Voyages, whose mention typically prompted pleasant reactions of surprise before lamentations of what went wrong at the brand.
I met a guest services manager from Los Angeles, my hometown. She was from Compton, while I'm from the Valley, but both of us longed for the drier heat back home as we commiserated over the intensity of Midwestern humidity that defined much of our time on this upper Mississippi sailing.
A waiter in the ship's main restaurant, told me about the differences between crew lifestyles aboard the ocean ships he's worked on out of Florida and Hawaii, and his experience on Viking, his first river cruise ship. He said working on this ship was thankfully a little more relaxed than the hustle and bustle of an ocean ship, especially given the older, more laid-back clientele here.
One of the motorcoach drivers traveling with us for the duration of the cruise, stood out for his comedic, no-nonsense approach to outlining the rules of his coach and the warning he had for new guests coming aboard: While he didn't discourage anyone from using the little bathroom at the back of the bus, he did caution that "whatever you do in there is with us until we get to St. Paul." Guests were happy to let him direct those in need of relief to the nearest restroom off the bus.
Service onboard the Viking Mississippi mirrored much of the kind of hospitality anyone might experience while traversing America's heartland or the South: casual but genuine, polite but not haughty, attentive but mindful of space.
An all-American crew may not be the norm in river cruising in general, which has a bigger market, history and presence in Europe, but it sure seemed like a selling point on this ship.
While the American crew gives the Viking Mississippi a unique feel compared to the line's ships in Europe, Viking fans will find that the vessel is exactly what they would expect from the Norwegian brand, from its signature Scandinavian themes and decor to what it calls an intuitive design layout.
But this is the Mississippi River, and Viking made sure that some of the interior design choices reflect that.
The wall of the main staircase, which extends from the Living Room on Deck 1 all the way to Deck 5, features huge renderings of excerpts from chapters in Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," complete with illustrations. That provided a sense of place for the ship and where it's sailing. The same can be said of similar illustrations of maps of the lower Mississippi on the walls of other staircases throughout the ship.
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A water shortage has driven the National Park Service (NPS) to temporarily close hotel accommodations on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park starting Thursday afternoon (8/28), at the beginning of the Labor Day holiday weekend.
The shortage is caused by breaks in the waterline that supplies fresh water from the Colorado River at the base of the canyon for use in the park’s visitor facilities. The NPS notes that no water is currently being pumped to either rim of the canyon using the Transcanyon Waterline, which was first built in the 1960s to provide water for the fast-growing number of visitors.
Xanterra, which has the contract to operate the park’s concessions, has indicated that it will be unable to accommodate overnight guests from August 29 through September 4 while emergency repairs are made to the water pipes. While overnight accommodations are closed to guests, the park remains open for day use, and the visitor center, clinic, post office, and dining facilities remain open. Hotels, grocery stores, and services outside the park in the towns of Tusayan and Williams will also remain open, and the Grand Canyon Railway will continue services between Williams and the South Rim of the canyon, but guests traveling on packages that include overnights in the South Rim may need to rebook or amend their packages to move their lodging to the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel in Williams.
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Port Tampa Bay usually serves contemporary cruise ships, but in 2026 it will host premium line Oceania Cruises for the first time.
Oceania's Insignia will sail the Caribbean and Panama Canal from Tampa throughout March 2026, taking a month off from sailing out of Miami.
Oceania said it would be the first ultra-premium cruise line to sail from the port. It will offer seven- to 20-night itineraries in the Caribbean with calls that include St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Tortola, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Belize City. The ship will transit the Panama Canal and overnight in Panama City.
"This is a natural expansion for our brand, as Tampa echoes the cosmopolitan essence of our beloved hometown of Miami with its diverse mix of international influences and cultures," said Frank A. Del Rio, president of Oceania Cruises.
The 670-guest Insignia's deployment marks a significant milestone for boosting Tampa's status.
Itineraries include a nine-day cruise from Barbados to Tampa on Feb. 22 with calls including Aruba, Montego Bay, Costa Maya and Cozumel.
Other itineraries include a 15-day round trip voyage via the Leeward Isles, including calls at St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua and Dominica; a seven-day roundtrip Western Caribbean itinerary; a 10-day open-jaw cruise to Panama City; and a 20-day voyage from Tampa to Miami.
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