cntraveler.com
30.01.2025
From the Mississippi to the Seine, River Cruising Is Booming
I'm sitting on the 360-degree promenade deck aboard a Viking river cruise, with a glass of wine and a paperback, taking in the silver maples in the high afternoon sun on a bright August day. The water, blue-green and more beautiful than I had expected, hums with steamboats and pontoons. Staff members flit about, delivering cocktails and greeting guests like old friends. With its plentiful blond woods, the stylish ship has the kind of opulence you'd expect on the world's great waterways, from the Nile to the Seine. But I'm on board the 386-passenger Viking Mississippi, custom-built to traverse America's most famous river. Interest in sailing along it has been on the rise since the pandemic, but Viking is the first major luxury liner to offer a trip.