Welcome to a new installment from my little corner of the blog-verse! This journey helped Dad cross off another destination from his bucket list. We traveled for 12 days total traversing from St. Louis, Missouri to St. Paul, Minnesota on an itinerary called America's Heartland. At the time of our booking, the only option for this itinerary was one that included two nights of hotel stays at each end. Now, if you look up the itinerary on Viking's website, it only comes up with an itinerary that solely mentions the eight days on the ship and calls it The Heartland of America itinerary. I'm taking this change as a sign that Viking listened to the multiple passengers on our sailing that told us they would have rather booked this without the hotel portions. A few passengers even shared that they were planning to forfeit the money paid for the hotel stay in St. Paul just so they could leave after our last port stop. Given our poor pre-cruise experience before the Viking Octantis cruise, we had our trepidations about booking an itinerary that included so much time in hotels but at the time this was the only option to book such an itinerary.
Time for the legalese disclaimer as we start this new saga: While Viking was generous enough to give us a partial voucher to make up for the Georgian Bay experience, the bulk of this trip was paid for by us. As always, what follows will be my personal thoughts and honest opinions.
The Viking Mississippi is a fairly new vessel having been built in 2022. It holds 386 guests and 147 crew members. In order to sail solely within USA borders, this is the only Viking vessel to display a US flag and is required to hire a mostly American crew. Our British Cruise Director Tim joked on day one that he was only allowed to be hired because he married an American. To check out more facts about this ship including a deck plan, visit the official page for the Viking Mississippi here.
To kick things off, here's this voyage's cabin tour. There are two types of highest level cabins onboard known as Explorer Suites. Explorer Suites classified as ES1 are located at the front of the ship and look like 95% of the pictures featured under this cabin category on Viking's website. The Explorer Suites in the aft of the ship are classified as ES2. Due to their location, they are more compact and reminded me of trying to move between pods on a connected ferris wheel. By voyage end we had perfected the side shimmy and the turn taking since you had to wait for someone to move through the connecting hallway to get to your next pod.
On the plus side, our aft location made for a quick climb up a couple flights of stairs to reach the Aquavit Terrace and main area of the River Cafe.
Here is the list of perks one gets if they book this cabin category (source: Viking.com's official page for the Viking Mississippi). Not listed below now but one I remember seeing when we booked was the inclusion of room service for breakfast.
Our breakfast room service door hanger:
Explorer Suite (ES)
- Stateroom size: 657–1,024 sq ft (includes private veranda)
- River-view suite with private wraparound balcony, private veranda and well-appointed living room & dining area
- Wheelchair Accessible (#300 only)
- 11 AM Embarkation
- 3 PM stateroom access
- King-size Viking Explorer Bed (optional twin-bed configuration) with luxury linens & pillows
- Free Wi-Fi (connection speed may vary)
- 42" flat-screen LCD TV with intuitive remote & complimentary Movies On Demand
- Additional 42" flat-screen interactive LCD TVs in sitting area
- 110/120 volt US-standard outlets & USB ports
- Large private bathroom with spacious glass-enclosed shower, bathtub, double-sink vanity, heated floor, anti-fog mirror & hair dryer
- Premium Freyja® toiletries
- Plush robes & slippers
- Telephone, safe, refrigerator
- Individual climate control
- Purified water refilled daily
- Welcome bottle of champagne
- Mini-bar with alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, water & snacks (replenished once daily)
- Binoculars
- Traditional Norwegian Marius-weave blanket
- Personal coffee machine with premium coffee & tea selections
- Stateroom steward & twice-daily housekeeping
- Complimentary laundry & shoe shine services
- Silver Spirits beverage package included
- Under-bed suitcase storage space
- Roomy wardrobe with wooden hangers
11AM Embarkation & 3PM Stateroom Access: Since the entire ship's worth of passengers were transported in a caravan of buses from the St. Louis, MO hotel to the Alton, IL dock arriving at the same time, the single check in line was also 386 people long. The check in desk, while staffed full with 4-5 port employees, could barely keep up with demand. Thankfully it was just a matter of matching name given to the envelope in the alphabetized stack in front of them that held our ship cards. The line wrapped from the tables set up by the makeshift onboard Viking branded merchandise shop, past the Guest Services desk, outside onto the promenade deck and almost up the gangway. A couple senior crew members were chatting up the passengers in line as we looped around. The couple in front of us asked one of them about a priority check in for those in suites. They were told everyone had to stay in the same line and to just keep waiting. As one might expect on a river cruise, the passenger's average age skewed older with several having visible mobility challenges. It surprised me that no Viking crew member bothered to help them in any way such as moving them ahead, finding them a chair, or simply retrieving their cards for them. We were also all made to wait once we cleared the check in line until the announcement that all cabins were ready had been made. At least by then we were able to find seats in a lounge to wait.
Complimentary Laundry was the best perk on this trip. After having two days in a hotel, we were ready to put our first bag of laundry in. Our steward Arjay collected the bag when he came in for evening turndown and had the items cleaned and returned to our cabin by the time we were back to the cabin after evening activities. We were merely expecting a return by the next evening and were so amazed at the continued prompt service throughout that we submitted a note of appreciation to management as well as a monetary tip directly to Arjay.
Now let me take you on a walkthrough tour of our cabin:
Electronic keycard access through the chip imbedded in your card is needed to enter from the outside. Once inside this narrow entryway, you can lock the door via deadbolt. There is a peephole for security and all of the important muster information on the back of the door. To the right of the door is a slot for placing a card in to keep your lights working in your cabin. Our steward, Arjay, placed a "dummy" card (as he called it) in the slot and told us to never take it out or try and use our personal cards.
The red side of the door hanger says Do Not Disturb while the grey flip side says Stateroom is Available for Cleaning.
The main living room and bedroom spaces had separate thermostats but it always seemed like the living room was colder than the bedroom.
Looking back at the entryway - we had two large Viking branded umbrellas for our own personal use in port. One thing I didn't find in the cabin unlike on the Octantis was a price list for anything you may feel compelled to take back home. Something tells me though if we came back home with a couple extra umbrellas, Viking would find a way to charge us.
That framed art on the wall made me smile each time I passed by it. One side is a beautiful professional photo of a landmark and the right side is a small adorable drawing of the landmark done by a young Girl Scout.
Looking back toward the living room space with my back up against the umbrellas:
And now standing at the start of the living room space:
Note: that coffee table normally sits right in front of the couch but I kept it pushed against the dining table so we could move past the couch to the balcony doors. I often ended up sitting on the floor using the coffee table as a desk when I was filling out the Viking provided surveys. Those blue chairs next to the small dining table were not Italian booty friendly. The dining table often became a catch all for items we used all the time as well as the multiple papers left in our cabin.
Immediately to my right as I stood at the entrance to the living space is the cupboard that contains the mini bar as well as a small supply of dishes one might need when preparing coffee. There was a phone here and one in the bedroom. This is also where we had a coffee maker and our refillable carafes of water. At one point, we asked Arjay about ice as we couldn't find an ice bucket. Unfortunately, the carafes of water were rarely cold unless you got to it right after they were refilled. He explained that they don't offer ice unless you ask for it. He did offer to get some for us but we declined.
We drank a lot of water from this carafe. We also filled the occasional glass straight from the bathroom sink when this carafe got low. Arjay would refill this pitcher during the two times daily he cleaned the cabin.
We aren't really coffee drinkers so we never used this machine. In case you are, here's the options of coffee pods and non refrigerated containers of half and half. Anything used here would have been replenished daily as well.
There were several coffee/tea/hot chocolate self serve machines as well as juice and water dispensers located in the Living Room and at the entrance to the River Cafe. If you time it right, you might also find some pastries or cookies left on the shelves near the cups. Their version of a sugar cookie was soft and fluffy like cake batter. Pair one of those with some vanilla or cookies & cream ice cream from The River Cafe - oh so good. One option from those machines I fell in love with oddly enough is to fill a cup with the Swiss Miss powdered hot chocolate mix and then have hot milk dispensed from the machine. For some reason the hot milk was never really hot but the combination tasted like a hot chocolate with a room temperature Yoohoo chocolate drink identity complex. If I was feeling fancy, I added a couple dashes of ground cinnamon on top.
The cabinet on the right opened sideways to the right and was open storage so we stored our carry on bag in there. The middle drawers were shallow storage.
The cabinet on the left pulls out like a drawer and is how Viking does their mini bars. A built in cool drawer that held two cans of various Coke products. The two bottles in the center with red tops was a type of ginger beer and the single plastic water bottle was one we brought back to the cabin. Viking will give out to all passengers the single serve plastic water bottles as you leave the ship for your port day. Sometimes if there's been a lot of passengers leaving at the same time, the recently replenished bottles in the cooler won't yet be cold. Take one anyway and the bus driver for your tour will happily swap it for one that they've had in their less popular cooler getting nice and cold. Dad missed having the chocolate squares and mixed nuts that were in our fridge on Octantis as this time the only snack offered was two bags of kettle chips. If you find yourself missing the chocolate too while on this itinerary, check out the Nordic gifts shop in Red Wing.
Standing in the hallway doorway looking back at the living room space.
A better representation of the amount of walking space between the furniture in this living room area:
Moving on to the rest of the cabin space. This doorway is the start of a narrow hallway where you can either turn left to go into the bedroom or turn right where you'll get the choice of either the walk in closet/wardrobe area or the bathroom. A lot of having to duck into one of the actual room spaces so the other person can traverse the hallway.
There is a sliding wooden door in case you like to stay up later or get up earlier than your cabinmate. Or they can shut the door from the bedroom side after kicking you out to the couch for snoring too loud.
Note the glowing light at the bottom of this recessed artwork in the hallway. That serves as a low level nightlight for seeing your way from bedroom to bathroom in the middle of the night.
The view to your right when you step into the hallway. Note the separate thermostat and new set of light switch roulette.
If you head forward from here and turn right, you've entered the walk in closet. Here you will find a few more drawers, varied hanging space, your life jackets, and your robes and slippers for use on board.
Originally our robes were one regular size and one that could have only fit a toothpick under 5 feet tall or this was going to be Viking's new X-rated loungewear line. A quick mention to Arjay and we had two matching normal sized robes by the first evening.
There is a full length mirror back here and our lack of short clothing items made for some extra counter space to stow items we only needed once in a while. What isn't obvious until you go exploring is that the single looking drawer tucked into the corner of this wardrobe space is where you'll find your cabin's keypad safe.
Looking back toward the bedroom and living room space from the walk in closet:
Looking into the bathroom from the wardrobe area:
This was also a sliding door but with a locking option. I was surprised to see that drain grate right in front of the door. (Picture is taken from inside the bathroom.) Made for a bit of a surprise when you're half asleep heading to the bathroom in the middle of the night in bare feet and forget it's there.
Because the door is a sliding door, the only hanging hooks are these two right beside the door. Packing tip that I've recently loved - packing my own twisting hair towel! It can be rolled, folded, or balled up taking barely any room in your suitcase. It makes such a difference when you're fresh out of the shower and don't have to balance a bulky random sized hotel or cruise cabin towel on top of your head.
Storage in this bathroom can take a bit of finagling. Especially if your traveling companion is of the empty out half his travel kit to sit loose on the mirror ledge and sink top while using the limited hooks to hang the kit itself kind of traveler. Also on this ledge was the assortment of Viking provided Freyja toiletries including shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, body wash, shower cap, and "cotton buds" makeup removers.
The two drawers directly under the sink had cut outs to fit the sink piping so it limited the size and shape of items one could stow away. I kept most of my things in my travel kit balancing it on the edge of the tub while using and then stowing away on the shelf below the counter.
The hairdryer was unattached and stored in a bag in a drawer under the sink on the right. I didn't bother to use it but Dad said it worked well for him.
Plug options on the wall by the bathtub and the controller for the heated floor temperature. Two Viking cruises in and we have yet to notice the floor feeling heated. Or maybe it's that you would only notice if it's not working? Either way it wasn't much on our minds while traveling on the Mississippi in late August.
The typical Viking matching bathroom set of reusable items to help keep things "green." These items are also on that "if you decide to take us home with you, here's the amount we'll be adding to your account" list. Seems surprising that people would take such things home but then there wouldn't be a list if they weren't doing just that.
Decent size soaking bathtub with a wand spray nozzle. Would have liked to see some grab bars or safety features though.
And just in case having a big tub wasn't bougie enough, you can get your soak on while watching a show on the TV built into the mirror on the wall. However, it displayed the best when the bathroom overhead lights were off. Another little surprise when you stumble in to use the bathroom half asleep.
The shower is nice and large with a glass door and sits catty corner with the bathtub so you could still watch that mirror TV. The shower has a small ledge perfect for propping up one's leg to shave or to stow the set of Freyja toiletries you're currently using. There is also a handheld shower wand and a single grab bar for safety. An extendable clothesline is mounted by the showerhead. The door swings out so no sucking in to get the door to swing past you once inside the shower. Unfortunately, we found that the shower door was slightly misaligned with the shape of the shower itself leading to water spilling out onto the bathroom floor. We'd often plan our showers so that no one else still needed to use a towel. We'd need all four of the single towel set (two large and two hand towels) provided to mop up the floor so it would be safe to walk on again. We did report it and nothing ever changed other than Arjay's routine cleaning of the bathroom and providing fresh towels each visit.
The thicker white tile in the middle of this picture is supposed to be under the shower door. Instead the door sits hovering above the main tile floor of the bathroom versus serving as a barrier to keep the shower water inside the shower.
Classic cruise ship toilet with mostly ample leg room. Heated towel rack for the two large towels but I don't think we ever used it. This trash can by the toilet was the only other one in the cabin besides by the mini fridge. It was nice to see a grab bar for safety by the toilet as well.
The bathroom itself had nightlights installed in the open shelves that held the rest of the towel set. This photo was taken during the day so the light on the floor is coming from outside the bathroom. At night, I would use the dim shelf light to see my way into the bathroom, shut the door, and then turn on the regular light. I didn't feel comfortable relying solely on the nightlights while I was on the opposite side of the bathroom.
Now let's move on to what soon became our biggest frustration with this cabin. Especially when it's the space we naturally spent 75% of our time in the cabin. The limited space that results when you combine a narrow hallway/door opening, beds that are separated into twins, a shelf mounted to the wall, and a vanity desk that doesn't even appear on the cabin layout diagram.
Follow me as we make this transition. Careful now and watch your step as we sideways shimmy shake our way into this bedroom. Oh oops, hold on a second, we have to step out of the way and let the other person out into the hallway first.
The camera makes it seem like that floating shelf is well into the room but I could easily sit at the top of my bed and reach for something on that shelf.
Standing in line with the head of my bed.
Looking back down the hallway:
Looking over at our two twin sized beds with a nightstand in between and one on the far side of Dad's bed. The lamps on each nightstand could be independently controlled and we each had an embedded reading light in the headboard. For about half the trip, I thought only Dad's side of the bed had wall switches for all of the cabin lights. Then one day I rearranged my pillows to lay flat and discovered that I too had a set of switches by my bed.
A look further into the bedroom from the doorway - there used to be a dining/desk chair in that corner by the TV but we asked Arjay to remove it. It was clear that the chair was placed there because it was meant to be used sitting at the vanity. However, there was no space for it between the vanity and the twin bed. With it sitting in the corner though, we wouldn't have been able to stand straight in front of the balcony doors and would have had to climb over the beds to get into the far one. That vertical stripe of white to the right of the TV is the shade covering a narrow window that looked out onto the wraparound corner of our balcony. The shade was put down during turndown service on the first night and never opened again.
The vanity portion of the desk opened up to reveal a lighted makeup mirror and storage:
Inside the vanity we found a pair of small binoculars to use while onboard.
Nice branded pad and paper as well as another phone at the desk. Seems that not only did we have two invisible doppelgangers sharing our cabin according to our TV home screen but apparently also a totally different person stowing away. Our phone's caller ID screen displayed the name of a Mr. Michele Underwood as the occupant of this cabin until about two days before the end of the trip.
Our two Vox Boxes and their charging stand for listening to a guide on tours. A good bit of miscommunication with the tour tickets and excursion summaries as some that said it was needed never used it.
Some plugs available for use by the desk and some on the back of the nightstands.
There were a few drawers on the side of the desk but you couldn't have any open and still walk between the desk and bed.
Looking back toward the bedroom entrance while standing in front of the balcony doors
The removed chair took up the entire width of the TV above where it originally sat. The blue carpeted section underneath the beds was sunken in so I often turned an ankle trying to walk sideways on two different floor heights. I was glad to see how securely mounted that TV is because Dad couldn't help but bump it each time he got out on the far side of his bed.
Side rant about the cabin TV's on this ship. One of the things we loved doing on Viking Octantis was using the cabin TV's interactive system. Not only was there popular shows and movies to watch on demand for free but you could also pull up Viking TV's produced programming. It was also an option to watch a recording or live feed of the lectures given by the expedition team from the theater. Each night's daily briefing rundown about the next day in port livestreamed from the theater was appointment viewing for us in the cabin as we got ready for dinner. This was also the convenient way to view excursion options and reserve them. Lastly, every time Viking generated a survey about an activity onboard or an excursion you did in port, it could be viewed and completed on the TV or in your app.
Our cabin TV system had several flaws. For some reason, both of our names appeared on the home screen twice like there were four passengers staying in this cabin. Due to this, a survey designed for every passenger to answer about safety and health precautions onboard was loaded onto our TV four times. I tried answering the survey to clear it off the list and it was full of questions asking how we felt having to abide by the masking policy, pre-cruise COVID testing, and the restrictions on board. Restrictions and practices that had long since stopped being required before this ship ever entered service.
There was never any of the port or themed talks by our onboard lecturer Gabbi uploaded to the TV. The daily briefing done by Cruise Director Tim and some performances by the onboard trio of musicians were attempted to be livestreamed only because they took place in The Living Room. However, when you watched the feed on your cabin TV, it would be 75% pixelated and/or lag so bad it became a game to guess where a passenger walking through would appear next on your screen. Often it would trade off and have picture work but not sound or vice versa.
When it came to looking up your scheduled excursions, a habit that helps me prepare for the next day's plan, it would tell me that I had no excursions booked. I would have to go to the shore excursion section like I wanted to book something new and scroll through the choices until I found the one that had a little notation saying "booked" at the top of the picture. There I could read the brief description and see whether there was a morning or afternoon session but not the time we'd booked. Thankfully there was a welcome sheet in the cabin on Day 1 that listed each person's booked tours schedule for the voyage.
Another source of frustration with the interactive TV excursion system is that several tour options didn't appear until that day we were visiting the corresponding port. We would have chosen many of them if they had been options pre-cruise. When we asked about joining the newly displayed tour at Guest Services, they claimed that it "was their belief" that the tours were showing as options all along and they cancelled them when no one signed up. Dad asked about options such as a shuttle or calling for a car service to take anyone to visit those places on their own and they refused. Dad ended up calling an Uber to take him to one of the museums and chatted with the manager while there. The manager revealed that they've been offering tours for weeks and Viking keeps reporting that no one signed up.
And our last stop on this cabin tour is what is usually my most favorite part of a cruise cabin, the balcony. There is a bit of a hump to step out and over to get onto the balcony from either the bedroom or living room space.
Looking to the right as you step out from the bedroom. The one lounger never had any cushion. We reported it but nothing was ever replaced. The second lounger did have a cushion but it and much of the railing and door frames were covered with bugs.
Our balcony looked out onto the aft smoking area. I didn't spend enough time on this balcony to tell whether I could smell the smoke wafting up. Getting to watch the culinary team have a menu meeting back there one day was cool to "sit in on."
A bit of a tight squeeze to get around to the one cushioned lounger
The head of this lounger was in line with the narrow bedroom side window
Looking back toward the left side of the balcony where the living room doors open onto
Thanks for tagging along on this tour of our Explorer's Suite on the Viking Mississippi. Feel free to take a seat and stick around for the rest of my trip review. Plenty of extra seats to choose from!
