ST PAUL, Minn. — There's been a lot of fanfare surrounding America's Great River cruise operated by Viking Cruises. The 13-city cruise was supposed to take passengers between St. Paul and New Orleans, but it has run into some problems due to low water levels,
Tom and Trish Trovato said the cruise was on their calendar for two years now.
"I kind of jumped on that, in fact, I was one of the last ones to jump on it, and I had to take a little bit of a more expensive cabin because all the other ones had already been sold out," Tom said.
Trovato said signing on, he was aware of the delays leading up to the launch of the line.
Then last Saturday, when the Trovatos were boarding, they learned of another issue.
"We learned they had a staffing situation," he said. "So as a result, the ship ultimately sailed on Saturday with about 100 fewer guests."
Trovato also said the ship had docking issues in New Orleans, and needed to have its passengers board in Baton Rouge. He said Viking provided hotel stays and transportation for everyone.
However, only a few days into the trip, it became clear that the ship would probably not see its St. Paul destination.
"The river was essentially drying up, and the lower Mississippi especially," he said. "I've read a lot since then, the lower Mississippi was almost impassable."
Trovato also described a nearly 24-hour delay after they learned a barge had run aground up the stream.
By Friday, all the passengers were off the boat and on their way home.
The Travatos said they're disappointed that their trip was cut short, but for the most part, Viking has made it right by offering refunds and taking care of passengers through the change of plans.
"We looked forward to it, and we'll probably wait for the river to get a little higher before we go again," Trish said.
Viking released this statement in response:
"Unusually low water levels along the Mississippi River have caused sections of the river to be closed, impacting all northbound and southbound shipping traffic. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working to deepen the shipping canal in some sections, but the closures have caused delays that will prevent the Viking Mississippi from completing the sailing underway and from reaching St. Paul for her next scheduled departure on October 15.
All impacted guests and their Travel Advisors, if necessary, have been notified directly. At this time, we expect to operate all future departures of the Viking Mississippi as scheduled."
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