It was recently our sad duty to report that the Mississippi Queen has been sold for scrap and that its venerable sister, the old Delta Queen, is still for sale.
In today's news pages, we report that Viking River Cruises is investing $250 million to enhance and enlarge its fleet, including building eight new ships.
The differences between the rivers of Europe and China and the rivers of the U.S. are many and obvious.
What remains a mystery to us is why nobody seems to be able to figure out how to make river cruising work in the U.S. as a sustainable business.
And so we wait.
This column appeared in the May 31 issue of Travel Weekly.