My
wife and I recently returned from a cruise on the lower Mississippi River, aboard
a Viking river cruise ship.
Friday- before the cruise
We spent Friday night in Memphis and walked Beale Street. I would rather do that than Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Great music, safe ambience.
We
wanted to see the famous ducks at the Peabody Hotel (peabodymemphis.com). They
come down on the elevator and march to the lobby fountain at 11 a.m. then march
back to the elevator at 5:00. If you want to get a decent seat, try to arrive
around four or a little later. Bar seating provides a good view and really good
drinks.
Photos: Peabody
Ducks
.jpeg)
Day 1 (Saturday): Depart from Memphis, Tennessee
Passengers can board the ship in late
morning and have lunch on board. Room access is available at 3:00.
During
the night, we perceived no motion from the ship. It carries about 380 passengers
and is specially built for this location. There is a spacious living room
amidships with a large library, where evening entertainment is provided. The
ship has a resident trio, with local guest artists featured every night. The music
was great.
Unless
you are in the living room, there is no perceivable noise. It’s easy to sleep.
Rooms are comfortable, personnel exceptionally accommodating.
Big
Viking tour buses follow the ship along the route in order to provide transportation
to all the excursions.
Day 2 (Sunday):
Arrive in Greenville, Mississippi
The excursion was “Steve Azar’s
Mississippi.” He is a Nashville songwriter who has scaled down his activity
somewhat and moved back home. He and Viking partnered to create this stopover, providing
a major economic boost to the town. Local church ladies prepare a big Southern
dinner/lunch- pork barbecue, fried chicken- and Steve and his band perform. I
commented to my wife that this could be the highlight of the trip, the music
was so good. But there was plenty more that was just as enjoyable.
Day 3 (Monday):
Arrive in Vicksburg, Mississippi
We skipped the military park tour.
Others who took it were very complimentary.
We went on the guided “Vicksburg by
Foot” tour. There is an attractive historic district with numerous antebellum
homes. We were fascinated by how residents dug caves in order to shelter from
the constant bombardment from the river by Union forces during the Civil War.
We left with a sense of melancholy.
The predominant impression we received was pervasive poverty.
Day 4 (Tuesday): Arrive in Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez, on the other hand, is
prosperous and really attractive. We walked
“The Best of
Natchez” and found the historic homes so enjoyable, we talked about a trip just
for a homes tour.
Day 5
(Wednesday): Arrive in St. Francisville, Louisiana
Two plantation tours, both
fascinating.
Frogmore
Plantation (frogmoreplantation.com) is a working cotton plantation that shows a
19th century cotton gin and a modern gin. The owner is deeply
immersed in local history- she’s a former teacher- and she conducts the tour
herself.
Rosedown
Plantation (lastateparks.com/historic-sites/rosedown-plantation-state-historic-site)
is a state historic site.
There
is a lot more information on the website links than I can provide in a blog
post.
Photo-
Rosedown Plantation
Day 6 (Thursday):
Arrive in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
We
took a bus tour of Baton Rouge, which was interesting, with an emphasis on Louisiana
State University, plus the state history museum. The museum is excellent, with
lots of exhibits about Louisiana history and culture.
Day 7 (Friday):
Arrive in Darrow, Louisiana.
This is located in a crescent, where a
lot of plantations are located, most still occupied and functioning. We toured Houmas
House & Gardens (houmashouse.com) and Laura Plantation (lauraplantation.com),
the latter especially known for its Creole history.
Great
experiences.
Day 8 (Saturday):
Arrive and disembark in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Viking buses take you from the ship to
the airport. Very convenient.
Reflections:
This trip took us to a number of
places we have wanted to visit but never seemed to get there. The tours are
interesting, the guides well-informed and entertaining (except for one who just
did not know how to stop talking). A tour each day is included in the basic
fare; additional excursions cost about $99 per person. Seems reasonable.
The food on board the ship is very
good. There is a full-service restaurant on deck one, with a self-service
buffet on deck five. I think Viking has made a mistake in their restaurant
concept. The selections in the full-service restaurant are also offered on the buffet,
but upstairs, there are a lot more to choose from. We ate in the restaurant
twice, but we saw no reason to go back again. While it’s true that your order is
prepared just before serving, and you have table service, we did not find it
any better than the buffet. And that buffet gives you dozens of choices that
aren’t available in the restaurant. We had small portions of multiple courses
every night. There is also a grill off the rear deck.
Viking says this cruise is all inclusive,
which I guess is technically true. But the wines that are included are a choice
of red or white, whatever they might be, and I would not have been happy if we
could not get anything else. We bought the Silver Spirits package, and I will
always do that on future Viking trips.
