Hendersonians who bemoaned the loss of paddlewheerlers docking at the downtown riverfront when the American Queen Voyages shut down its business in February may feel reinvigorated by a surprise Tuesday docking from a different company—“even if it’s just a one-time thing,” said Henderson Tourist Commission Executive Director Abby Dixon.
Dixon said Viking River Cruises, which has tours that go up and down the Mississippi River, will dock its ship, Viking Mississippi, at 7 a.m. Tuesday. It will depart at 4 p.m. later that day.
She said the captain of the Viking Mississippi contacted Henderson City Manager Buzzy Newman Sunday afternoon asking about the possibility of docking here. The ship has been docked in Paducah for the past two days, Dixon said Monday morning.
The company doesn’t run tours on the Ohio River, but flooding on the upper Mississippi has caused it to turn off onto the Ohio, Dixon said.
She said travelers on the boat have been expecting to land at an upstream Mississippi River location. To give those tourists a fun time—and to show off Henderson—Dixon said tourist employees have been calling those tour guides who once led tours for guests of paddlewheel boats that docked here.
“We are calling them back to duty,” Dixon said.
There will be a need for nine guides total—six motor coaches are ready to zip passengers to sites around town and three more will offer premium excursions, Dixon said.
Dixon said the passenger count currently of the Viking Mississippi is 270, which is more than what the American Duchess and American Countess could bring to town but a bit less than the American Queen.
But those 270 passengers outnumber what any of the three brought to town since COVID-19 pandemic, when any boat’s total for a day was always less than 200, Dixon said.
According to the cruise line’s website, the Viking Mississippi has a maximum capacity of 386 passengers. The river ship, built in 2022, is 450 feet long and carries 147 crew members.
Zeb and Mark Hargis of King’s Highway will provide entertainment Tuesday morning as the passengers move from the ship to the motor coaches, Dixon said.
Though Viking doesn’t offer cruises up and down the Ohio, Dixon said you never know what could come from one docking in Henderson.
“I’m seeing this as an audition,” she said, noting that local tourist employees Monday were all hands-on deck for the ship’s arrival. “We’re going to put our best foot forward. We want to make them feel like we’ve been planning this for months.”