http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/euro ... s-29194281

Viking River Cruises ( famous for their European river cruises) are planning a Mississippi River cruise starting in New Orleans, with stops in Memphis, St. Louis & St. Paul. Hopefully, with the new Arch grounds, the STL stop will be the highlight of the tour. Hopefully, they tap into a St. Louisian's expertise, to give tours of St. Louis, if the cruisers get off of the boat and hit the streets of STL.

Very cool!

They will charter buses to take tourists around the city. Hopefully this brings in some good tourist money. Hopefully they moor the cruise ship right in front of the arch.

Coaches
Motor coaches used for transportation during shore excursions
are rarely more than a few years old, and Viking requires all of
them to have working restrooms for your convenience. Distance
drives are rarely more than one hour to two hours, while most
driving is interrupted by frequent stops, as is usual on
sightseeing tours.

This cruise could bring a lot of people from all over the world, through St. Louis. The riverfront needs to be cleaned up, not just near the Arch grounds, but also north of downtown and the Eastside. The City needs to be aware of this. I would imagine that a lot of customers for this will come from Europe, considering Viking is very well known all over Europe. We cannot have a bunch a vacant, burned out buildings welcoming people to our City. As of now, our only hope is that that Arch will distract them. The rehab of these areas will not happen overnight. Maybe East STL can have the Gateway Geyer on full blast, to block the view of their fine business district.

I get brochures from these guys all the time, and I noticed that they have river cruises in China and other contents and was just telling someone that I would think they'll be here soon. Will those really long boats fit in the locks? I guess so. The plan is to go all the way to St. Paul, Min.

They won't start until 2017, so our Arch grounds, Museum, and Kiener plaza should be done by then, right?, and the new stadium construction well underway. Those boats could bring some really rich folks from China and Europe. I would hope we could play up the things about our area they know about internationally, such as Mark Twain (Hannibal), Route 66, Rock and Roll (Chuck Berry), Native Americans (Cahokia Mounds), Blues and Jazz, although they may get a lot of that in New Orleans and Memphis also.

I would love for somebody someday to rebuild the Cosmo Club in East St. Louis -- the place where many folks think Chuck Berry and Johnny Johnson first merged popular white "hillbilly" music to blues and ballads to create "black hillbilly", which caught on with whites and became Rock and Roll. Chuck is already recognized as the father of rock and roll -- he had to father it somewhere.

My guess is a lot of them will be taking trips out to the wineries and solely the wineries.

^No offense to our winery scene (it makes for a great day trip as a St Louisian) but Europeans will not appreciate the wine being made in Missouri. I would guess/hope this is not a top excursion option. Although in the fall it could make for a very scenic trip.

Ideally there would be a beer excursion highlighting our macro-brew history and burgeoning Microbrew scene. Because of their locations, this tour would highlight some of the great architecture and neighborhoods in our city.

I remember seeing the Queen of Mississippi cruise boat at the river front few years ago...the boat was about 10-15 feet from the cobble stones and the walkway was extended to shore...nothing special to dock to.

American Cruise Lines already goes up and down the mighty Mississippi
http://www.americancruiselines.com/smal ... ississippi




Feb 21, 2015 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Feb 28, 2015 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Mar 7, 2015 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Mar 14, 2015 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Mar 21, 2015 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Mar 28, 2015 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Apr 4, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Apr 11, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
Apr 18, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Apr 25, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
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Jun 27, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
Jul 4, 2015 14 Heartland Celebration New Orleans, LA
Jul 11, 2015 7 Memphis - St. Louis Memphis, TN
Jul 18, 2015 7 St. Louis - Cincinnati Cruise St. Louis, MO
Jul 25, 2015 7 St. Louis - Cincinnati Cruise Cincinnati, OH
Aug 1, 2015 7 St. Louis - St. Paul Cruise St. Louis, MO
Aug 8, 2015 7 St. Louis - St. Paul Cruise St. Paul, MN
Aug 15, 2015 7 St. Louis - New Orleans St. Louis, MO
Aug 22, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Aug 29, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
Sep 5, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Sep 12, 2015 7 Memphis - Nashville Memphis, TN
Sep 19, 2015 7 Nashville - St Louis cruise Nashville, TN
Sep 26, 2015 7 St. Louis - St. Paul Cruise St. Louis, MO
Oct 3, 2015 7 St. Louis - St. Paul Cruise St. Paul, MN
Oct 10, 2015 7 St. Louis - St. Paul Cruise St. Louis, MO
Oct 17, 2015 7 St. Louis - St. Paul Cruise St. Paul, MN
Oct 24, 2015 7 St. Louis - New Orleans St. Louis, MO
Oct 31, 2015 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Nov 7, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Nov 14, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
Nov 21, 2015 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
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Dec 5, 2015 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
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Mar 12, 2016 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
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Mar 26, 2016 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Apr 2, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Apr 9, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
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Apr 30, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
May 7, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
May 14, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
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May 28, 2016 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
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Jun 11, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
Jun 18, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Jun 25, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
Jul 2, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Jul 9, 2016 7 Memphis - St. Louis Memphis, TN
Jul 16, 2016 7 St. Louis - Cincinnati Cruise St. Louis, MO
Jul 23, 2016 7 St. Louis - Cincinnati Cruise Cincinnati, OH
Jul 30, 2016 7 St. Louis - St. Paul Cruise St. Louis, MO
Aug 6, 2016 14 Grand Heartland Cruise St. Paul, MN
Aug 20, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Aug 27, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
Sep 10, 2016 7 Memphis - Nashville Memphis, TN
Sep 17, 2016 7 Nashville - St Louis cruise Nashville, TN
Sep 24, 2016 7 St. Louis - St. Paul Cruise St. Louis, MO
Oct 1, 2016 7 St. Louis - St. Paul Cruise St. Paul, MN
Oct 8, 2016 7 St. Louis - St. Paul Cruise St. Louis, MO
Oct 15, 2016 14 Grand Heartland Cruise St. Paul, MN
Oct 29, 2016 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Nov 5, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Nov 12, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
Nov 19, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis New Orleans, LA
Nov 26, 2016 7 New Orleans - Memphis Memphis, TN
Dec 3, 2016 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Dec 10, 2016 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Dec 21, 2016 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA
Dec 28, 2016 7 New Orleans - New Orleans New Orleans, LA

Hasn't there been at times discussions on improving access for riverboats in or near downtown? Also isn't the Geospatial Agency moving also allow an opportunity to create more riverfront access in the city? Tourism is an economic sector that would do well to improve at this time for economic and PR reasons.

I am curious if there would be at some point some of the cruises also go up the Missouri River as well.

The winery aspect would work well if it went up the Missouri River and stopped somewhere in that area.

I bet the Arch, AB Brewery, zoo & Forest Park will be the focus. Typical tourist destinations. Let's hope that the cruise keeps everyone secure, so we have no victims of crime from these cruises. That would be a huge black eye on the city.

^^ I don't think the relocation of NGA will provide direct access to the riverfront on its own as there are separate riverfront operations across the rail line, but it would allow for more opportunity to have public access to the historic complex. I think ideally other government jobs would move in while also having public access/torus to some of the historic buildings and a bit of greening up and tie-in with Lyon Park across the street. If the feds completely cleared out and sold, perhaps a unique mixed-use project could come in but that would be a major undertaking.

^ I was wondering about the docking issue, where would a good spot for a dedicated docking space be? Wasn't the stadium proposals had dock facilities as part of it? Maybe something in that area would work since if this is over the summer it would be outside football season.

The likely day trip would be Arch grounds, brewery tour, MoBot, finishing up with dinner on the hill with some scenic touring in between stops.

That sounds reasonable. When I visit a city, I want to feel like I saw the major attractions there. Otherwise I don't feel that I know the place.