BASEL, Switzerland – Viking Cruises announced its inaugural cruises the length of the Mississippi River starting in July, with upper river stops in LaCrosse and Red Wing – but not Winona. The brand new ship Viking Mississippi already has three sold-out fall voyages. The vessel can carry 386 guests, all in outside staterooms. Fares rage from $10,000 to $27,500 for 14 days. The Vikings Mississippi voyages:
> July 9, from New Orleans.
> July 23, from St. Paul.
> August 6, from New Orleans.
> August 17, from St. Paul (sold out).
> October 1, from New Orleans (sold out).
> October 15, from St. Paul (sold out).
Viking Mississippi. Fresh from construction at a Louisiana shipyard, the ship is the newest to be cruising the Mississippi.
Ports of call. New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Natchez, Vicksburg, Memphis, St. Louis, Hannibal, Burlington, Davenport, Dubuque, LaCrosse, Red Wing, St. Paul.
Viking Cruises profile
The company was established by Harvard-educated Norwegian billionaire Torstein Hagen in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1997. As a cruise line consultant, Hagen had helped the Holland America line survive the 1973 oil crisis. Later he became chief executive of the Royal Viking line. In 1997 Hagen helped Russian oligarchs buy a shipping company. In exchange, they sold him four river cruise ships cheaply. These ships became the founding fleet of Viking River Cruises. The company, now Swiss-based, operates 76 river cruise ships in Europe, including up and down the Rhine, Danube and Volga rivers; in Asia, including the Yangtze and Mekong rivers; in Africa, including the Nile; and now in the United States. The company also has six ocean cruise ships. Annual revenue: $3 billion.
Hagen. Grew up Norwegian. Wheeled and dealed into a cruise line magnate.
