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Viking River Cruises Plans Trips on the Mighty Mississippi

Michelle O'Neill
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WVIK News

A company known for river cruises in Europe, Asia, Egypt, and Russia plans to start offering trips on the Upper Mississippi River. This morning, the Senior Vice President of Finance for Viking River Cruises visited Davenport, toured the Figge Art Museum, and listened to the mayor and others talk about what the Quad Cities has to offer passengers.

Milton Hugh, Senior Vice President of Finance says Viking plans to offer eight-day cruises between Saint Louis and Saint Paul on six ships built for 338 passengers.
Hugh says, "Davenport fits the bill," but the company has not worked out all the details yet. For example, how to design and build a dock for Viking River Cruise ships so they can stop during droughts and floods.

Hugh22.mp3
It's challenging to accommodate different water levels, but passengers must be able to get on and off safely & efficiently.

Credit http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/ / Viking River Cruises
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Viking River Cruises
Viking River Cruise logo

  He says Viking River Cruises has only a had brief, preliminary discussion about its plans with the Corps of Engineers. 

Other stops on the Mississippi River cruise may include Dubuque, La Crosse, Wisconsin, Red Wing, Minnesota, Hannibal, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee. And the home of the blues is where Hugh and a consultant headed after leaving Davenport.

A few companies already offer trips on the upper Mississippi between Saint Paul and Saint Louis on the American Queen, American Eagle, and the Queen of the Mississippi.   

Officially, Michelle's title for 28 years was WVIK News Editor. She did everything there is to do in the newsroom and whatever was needed around the radio station. She also served as Acting News Director from September 2023 - January 2024.