Mississippi Viking cruises delayed by supply chain issues; additional tour guides needed in Burlington
The maiden voyage of a five-deck, 193-room Mississippi River cruise ship has been delayed by supply chain issues, resulting in two fewer dockings in Burlington this year.
Luxury river cruise ship Viking Mississippi had been set to dock twice in Burlington next month, once on July 18 after departing from New Orleans and again on July 28 on its way back down river from St. Paul, Minnesota, but the city now will not welcome its first Viking guests until Aug. 15.
"But of course, that could change," said Chris Gram, program director of the Greater Burlington Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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A spokesperson for Viking Cruises referred questions about the delay to an update posted to the company's website.
"Due to circumstances beyond our control, construction of the Viking Mississippi has been slightly delayed," Viking said in the update. "Therefore, select early departures of Viking Mississippi’s first season have been cancelled. Guests on affected sailings and their Travel Advisors have been notified directly by Viking Customer Relations."
The spokesperson did not respond to a subsequent request for comment.
Gram, who has been working closely with Viking representatives to coordinate tours that will be available to passengers in Burlington, said construction of the ship is largely finished.
"It's actually just the supply chain issues on the amenities, so the boat is done and it's beautiful," Gram said. "It's literally just the little doodads that have to go into the boat to make it luxurious before they can do the sea trial to make it river-worthy."
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Burlington is among 14 cities in which the ship will dock along its 2,350-mile America's Great River cruise from New Orleans to St. Paul, Minnesota, and among seven stops along its 2,340-mile America's Heartland cruise from St. Paul to St. Louis.
At each of those stops, guests will be offered excursions.
In Burlington, they will be able to choose from among six:
Historic Burlington consists of a 3.5-hour motor coach tour whose visits will include Mosquito Park, the Garrett-Phelps House Museum and Snake Alley;
Art Around Burlington, a 3.5-hour excursion featuring Cecile Houel's art studio and the Art Center of Burlington;
Flavors of the Midwest, a 5.5-hour excursion whose stops will include Parkside Brewing Co., Lindon Wines, Wildlife Lakes Elk Farm and The Drake;
Old Fort Madison, a 2.5-hour excursion that will take passengers to the upper Mississippi River Valley's oldest military garrison in Fort Madison as well as a cemetery where 22 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians are buried;
Hinterland Dairy, a 3.5-hour excursion to a family-owned and -operated dairy farm in Donnellson; and
Historic Nauvoo, a three-hour, 45-minute excursion to Nauvoo, Illinois, where Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints founder Joseph Smith and his followers settled in 1839.
Leading those excursions will be tour guides, but more are needed.
"Right now, I believe I have just enough, which is scary, because not everybody's going to be available every single night and day and things happen," Gram said, explaining he hopes to hire an additional seven or eight guides.
Tour guides are paid $15 per hour and should expect to work from 7:30 a.m. to anywhere between 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. on docking days.
"I understand folks might be a little bit weary," Gram said of the shortage of tour guides, explaining he believes some people may think they don't know enough about the area. "I wish I could talk to those folks because one, for the excursions for which we need a tour guide, we provide the script. We've got everything you need, and there are several excursions where we don't even need a tour guide. They just need an escort. We need somebody who goes on the motor coach and travels to the art center and really does nothing other than introduce themselves and answer questions."
Viking guests will not be limited to the areas included in the excursion packages and may opt instead to wander around the downtown area or check out other Greater Burlington area attractions.
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Once off the ship, Viking guests will be greeted by volunteers at the Port of Burlington Welcome Center.
Additional volunteers will be stationed throughout the downtown area to answer questions, and "Two Rivers Bank and Trust has very graciously agreed to allow their employees to volunteer at an informational table kind of right as they push downtown right at their office there," Gram said.
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Gram said he believes he has enough volunteers signed on to accommodate Viking's visitors, though operations will be reviewed after each docking.
"Everything that Viking does is guest-driven, meaning the planning that we're doing really is only for the first docking," Gram said. "Once they get here and experience what we've got to offer, the guest is going to give Viking feedback, and then Viking and us will coordinate on making it even better for the second docking and then the third docking (and so on)."
Due to the delay, Viking is expected to make a total of eight stops in Burlington this year, the last of which will be in October, as opposed to the 10 stops that had initially been planned.
Those interested in becoming a tour guide may contact Gram by phone at (319) 752-8731 or by email at cgram@greaterburlington.com.
Michaele Niehaus covers business, development, environment and agriculture for The Hawk Eye. She can be reached at mniehaus@thehawkeye.com.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Burlington to see 2 fewer Viking Mississippi dockings in 2022
