Royal Caribbean Canceled Four Cruises Following The Cdc’s Latest Warning Then Added More
to halt operationsSerenade of the SeasSymphony of the SeasJewel of the Seas Vision of the Seaslater added its Independence of the Seas
“We regret having to cancel our guests’ long-awaited vacations and appreciate their loyalty and understanding. Our top priority is always the well-being of our guests, our crew and the communities we visit,” the company wrote in a statement earlier this month. “Royal Caribbean noted that cancelations were “a result of the ongoing COVID-related circumstances around the world, and in an abundance of caution.”
Viking Takes Care Of All The Details
My second cruise to China was a bit more complicated. The logistics of booking a trip that included an extensive itinerary that Viking covers would have been impossible to do on my own. The language barriers are real and the country is vast. Viking took care of all the details. We saw all of the major sites, including the Great Wall, the Terra Cotta Warriors and a sail on the Yangtze to the Three Gorges Dam. For anyone who has China on their bucket list, Viking offers a great way to see many of the major sites in one trip.
Staterooms Thoughtfully Designed For Your Comfort
Rejuvenate in a king-size bed with a soft duvet and goose-down pillows. Indulge in complimentary programming on a flat-screen LCD TV with an easy-to-use remote. Generous closets, plentiful USB ports and US/EU outlets, plush robes and slippers add to your comfort. And our award-winning bathrooms feature large glass-enclosed showers with easy-to-see controls, premium Freyja® toiletries, anti-fog mirrors and heated floors.
Bathrooms are superb, even at the lowest category, with glassed-in showers, sleek styling, plenty of storage, Freyja toiletries andthe biggest indulgence of allheated tile floors and towel racks.- Cruise Critic
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Viking Plans A Robust 2021 2022 Cruise Season
Despite the canceled 2020 cruise season, Viking has high hopes for 2021 and beyond. In 2021, the cruise line plans to launch their seventh ocean ship, Viking Venus. Over in Southeast Asia, a new river ship, Viking Saigon, will cruise the Mekong.
Then in 2022, they expect the debut of two new expedition ships, Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris. Itineraries include voyages to the Antarctica, the Arctic and the Great Lakes in North America. There will be another and eighth ocean ship, Viking Mars. Closer to home, Viking plans to build and launch their first ship to cruise the Mississippi river, Viking Mississippi.
Viking Cruises Cancels 2022 Kiev And Black Sea Sailings
Viking Cruises has cancelled all 2022 departures on its Kiev, Black Sea & Bucharest itinerary in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.
The line said it was also evaluating 2022 itineraries that call in Russia with the view to modifying them where necessary.
Vikings move follows announcements from other cruise operators saying they are monitoring the situation, with Saga and Atlas voyages among those to have altered sailings.
Russia has banned UK airlines from its airspace in response to the UK doing the same for Russian carriers as part of a raft of sanctions slapped on Russia in response to its aggression in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, sporting events were moved from Russia. Uefa moved footballs Champions League final from St Petersburg to Paris and Formula One cancelled the Russian grand prix, which is reportedly potentially set to move to Turkey.
A Viking spokesperson said: The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our top priority.
Given recent events and the developing conflict in Ukraine, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all 2022 departures of our Kiev, Black Sea & Bucharest itinerary.
Guests and their travel agents on impacted departures have been notified directly by Viking Guest Services.
Our team is actively monitoring the situation and is in close contact with our field offices in the region.
The health and safety of all guests and crew at The Scenic Group continues to be at the forefront of all decisions, a spokesperson said.
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Which Sailing Itineraries Are Changing After Russian Invasion Of Ukraine
Norwegian Cruise Line is removing planned stops in St. Petersburg from its 2022 sailings “due to the escalated situation between Russia and Ukraine.”
Sister brand Regent Seven Seas Cruises plans to remove the Solovetsky Islands, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and St. Petersburg, Russia, from its 2022 sailings, along with Odesa, Ukraine.
Oceania Cruises, another Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings brand, said it too would remove Russian and Ukrainian ports from its 2022 sailings, according to an emailed statement.
All three companies said they are working to confirm replacement ports and will advise impacted guests and travel advisers “as soon as possible.”
Atlas Ocean Voyages, a luxe expedition cruise line based in Florida, is adjusting two of its late-summer Baltic itineraries. Calls to St. Petersburg will be replaced by destinations in Finland and Estonia.
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“With unrest in Eastern Europe, we have adjusted our voyages,” President Alberto Aliberti said in a statement. “Guests will enjoy these unique and rarely visited destinations and immersive shore excursions to take in the rich cultures and breathtaking vistas of the Baltic.”
Viking, which operates both ocean and river cruises, has canceled all 2022 departures from its Kyiv, Black Sea and Bucharest itinerary.
Passenger Shipping Pause 2020
Due to the Coronavirus crisis, Viking Cruises suspended passenger shipping operations fleetwide by canceling all voyages with pre-scheduled departures in the period March 12, 2020, through July 2021. Fleetwide operations were planned to resume on October 1, 2020. However, due to ongoing travel restrictions in Europe and the USA, as well as Canada’s and Australia’s ban on cruise shipping, Viking canceled the entire 2020 program in mid-August.
- VIKING OCEAN restarted operations on May 22, 2021, with Viking Venus .
- VIKING RIVER restarted in July 2021 , VIKING’s Egypt boat – in August.
- In March-April 2021, Viking OCEAN announced plans to restart operations with Viking Venus , Viking Orion and Viking Sky . All these voyages were open for booking to UK residents only. In May were added July-October departures for the ships Viking Sea and Viking Venus.
All affected bookings received a 125% refund in FCC with rebooking or 100% monetary refund. Fully refunded were also all prepurchased through Viking packages and services. The FCC is valid for 24 months , for any Viking cruise itinerary and fully transferable.
All bookings made by April 30, 2020, received Risk-Free Guarantee that allows penalty-free cruise cancellation up to 24 hours prior departure.
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Updates To Viking Health & Safety Program
On June 10, 2022, the U.S. announced it is eliminating the COVID testing requirement for air travelers to enter the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that such a measure is no longer necessary, citing that the pandemic has shifted to a new phase because of the effectiveness of vaccines, therapeutics and high rates of immunity at the population level in the U.S. The testing requirement lifted on June 12, 2022.
Therefore, Viking has discontinued all on board COVID testing fleetwide. However, we will continue to provide testing if a guest reports symptoms, requests a test, or if our Medical Team deems necessary. Our vaccine requirement for all guests and crew remains in placeand for the time being, our crew will keep testing as needed and will wear masks at all times.
Additionally, Viking highly recommends, but no longer requires, a pre-departure COVID-19 testunless one is required by the destination. As of June 10, 2022, select ocean voyages on the Viking Orion and expedition voyages on the Viking Octantis in the United States and Canada will continue to require a pre-departure COVID-19 test. Further details can be found here.
Please note that Viking is in the process of notifying guests about these changes to the Viking Health & Safety Program, as well as updating specific requirements for all voyages across documents channels, including on MyVikingJourney.com.
My Viking River Experiences
The first Viking River Cruise I took was the Rhine Christmas Market Cruise with my sister. We did the Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, Netherlands route with stops in Breisach, Heidelberg, Koblenz, Cologne , Strasbourg and Kinderdijk .
My second Viking Cruise was with my husband, Todd and we sailed on the 8-day Danube Waltz Cruise with stops in Passau , Linz, Melk, Vienna , Bratislava , and Budapest .
My third cruise was with my mom, Penny and we sailed on the 11 -day Passage to Eastern Europe Viking Danube Cruise. This cruise began in Budapest, Hungary and ended in Bucharest, Romania with visits to Veliko Tarnovo, Arbanasi, Vidin , Golubac, and Belgrade , Osijek , and Kalocsa .
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Viking Cruises And Other Lines Changes Plans Because Of Ukraine News
With Russias invasion of Ukraine creating an active war zone in the Baltic, Viking River Cruises, Atlas Ocean Voyages, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and Oceania Cruises all canceled port stops or full itineraries in the region.
Viking River CruisesOf the lines that have so far made changes, Vikings have been the most extensive, canceling its entire season of Kyiv, Black Sea & Bucharest itinerary.
The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our top priority, a Viking representative told Travel Market Report. Given recent developments and the developing conflict in Ukraine, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all 2022 departures of our Kyiv, Black Sea & Bucharest itinerary. Guests and their travel advisors on impacted departures have been notified directly by Viking customer relations.
Viking is monitoring the situation and evaluating other itineraries that call in Russia this year, which the line says will require modifications.
Atlas Ocean VoyagesVisits to St. Petersburg have been dropped from Atlas summer Baltic itineraries. On both the Hamburg-to-Kiel itinerary, departing August 26, and the Kiel-roundtrip sailing, departing September 7, World Navigator will call at Kotka and Mariehamn, Finland instead. Additionally, the August 26 voyage will include a transit of the Kiel Canal, while the September 7 sailing will add a stop in Saaremaa, Estonia.
The Lighting In The Corridors
Walking to my stateroom the first day, the corridor was so peaceful with the soft lighting and easy and attractive decor. I even took a picture at night showing the lighting from the ceiling. I had that same happy feeling till the last day of my cruise. Speaking of lighting, the bathroom lighting was spectacular.
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Why 2022 Will Be An Exciting Year For Viking Cruises
Viking continues to reinvent cruises and next year will be no different. 2022 will be an exciting year for the cruise line as they launch two new ventures with voyages on the Mississippi River and their incredible new expedition cruise ships.
Vikings expedition ships will have everything from zodiacs to two six person submarines . The ships will sail everywhere from Antarctica to the Great Lakes to Ireland and Norway. Viking Mississippi will be a brand new ship that is designed specifically to sail on the Mississippi River offering all of the great features their Longships have in Europe.
Can I Cancel My Cruise
If the Omicron variant is giving you enough anxiety that delaying your cruise, there is usually an opportunity to cancel your cruise thanks to more flexible policies from the cruise lines.
Most cruise lines have enacted extremely fair and lenient refund policies for the time being. In many cases, you can cancel on your own and get most, if not all, of your money back — but with caveats.
Learn what to expect if you decide to cancel your booked sailing, rather than waiting to see if your cruise line cancels it. Simply click on the name of your cruise line below to get the details.
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Future Cruise Vouchers Issued
If you were booked on any of the canceled Viking river or ocean cruises in 2020, you are entitled to a 125% Future Cruise Voucher for whatever amount you have paid.
Unlike some other cruise line FCCs, these are fully transferable so if you decide not to use it yourself, you can give it to someone else. Theres a 24 month window to apply it to any river, ocean or expedition cruise. Forgot to use it? Just return your expired voucher to Viking. Theyll refund the vouched amount to you.
But, if youd rather have a refund for your canceled cruise, you need to request it from Viking before August 24, 2020.
Itinerary Of Viking Cruises
Here you can compare all Viking cruise ships and their itineraries, destinations, and departures dates. CruiseMapper provides you with free of charge schedules with listed cheapest ticket prices per person per itinerary.
In 2013, the company launched its new brand “Viking Ocean Cruises”. Viking OCEAN’s product was introduced in May 2015 with the launch of its first vessel MV Viking Star.
In 2019 the parent company created the brand “Viking Expeditions”, with a newbuild fleet of two small-sized expedition vessels – Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris , plus 2 more same-designed units.
In 2023, celebrating the company’s 25th anniversary, Viking EXPEDITIONS offers “Longitudinal World Cruise I”. The 65-day itinerary visits 29 ports departs from Buenos Aires Argentina, visits the Antarctic Peninsula, continues northward around Cape Horn, along South America’s coast , passes through Panama Canal, then up to Mexico, Florida USA, NYC New York, Canada and via St Lawrence River to Ontario and via Detroit MI, ending in Milwaukee WI. Fares started from USD 45000 per person with double occupancy. On September 12, 2023, departs “Longitudinal World Cruise II” . The longer/71-day itinerary visits 33 ports .
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Reasons To Book Viking River Cruises 2022
With three Viking River Cruises under my belt, I thought it was high time to share why this is one of my favorite companies to travel with. To start the list, here are my favorite things about sailing with Viking which will be followed by top things my friends, family, and fellow travel writers love about a Viking Cruise.
Viking World Cruise 2021
In mid-July 2020, Viking Ocean announced the company’s “Viking World Cruise 2021-2022” planned for MS Viking Star. The 136-day itinerary visits 56 ports in 27 countries, with 11 port city overnights and 3x new for Viking cruise ports .
The voyage starts from Port Everglades on December 24, 2021, and ends in London City England. Signature destinations include Central America, Panama Canal transit, USA West Coast, Hawaii, Transpacific crossing to New Zealand and Australia, Asia, Middle East, Suez Canal transit to Europe and the UK.
Shorter itinerary segments are also available for booking, including the 119-day “Viking World Horizons 2022” that visits 49 ports in 22 countries.
Both packages are priced from USD 50000 per person . Bookings made by September 30, 2020, receive USD 2000 pp in “shore excursion credit” plus USD 1000 pp in OBC .
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Florida Woman Dies Travel Insurance Would Not Refund Cost Of Cruise Not Taken
Kristin Cason, Senior assignment editor
UPDATE: Harvey Wasserman tells News 6 he has accepted an offer from Viking to refund his wifes portion of the cruise. The company is also allowing him the option to transfer the cruise to someone else, according to Wasserman. Wasserman originally wanted to transfer the cruise to his step-daughter, but the company would not allow it, he said.
The Blankenships have accepted an offer that allows an extended sail by date.
You can read the original investigation below.
Harvey Wasserman and his wife Arleen have always loved to travel.
Since weve been together last 37 years weve done an enormous amount of traveling, Wasserman said.
The couple has pictures in Paris, Vienna and places around the world. So when they got a brochure to take a 15-day Viking cruise through the Panama Canal and Central America, Wasserman said his wife couldnt resist.
The very first cruise that Arleen and I did together was through the Panama Canal, Wasserman said. And we were really excited about going back and seeing it again.
According to Wasserman, they paid more than $12,000 for the cruise, including money for travel insurance. The travel insurance was purchased with Tripmate through Viking, Wasserman said.
They also invited their good friends Deborah and Alvi Blankenship.
We were kind of excited about going with them because were close friends, Alvie Blankenship said.
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Five Days Were Spent Cruising Along The Southern Edge Of England From The Cornish Coast Up To The Irish Sea
The itinerary was called Scenic British Isles. We had two ports of call, aka shore days, in Liverpool and Falmouth.
The scenic route was a gentle way to ease back into cruising. At anchor off Falmouth, I almost could have sworn I was in Bermuda due to the blue skies, calm waters, and sail boats bobbing in the bay.
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Viking World Cruises 2022
Viking Neptune itinerary program was announced by VIKING OCEAN in late-December 2020. The new ship is currently scheduled to start operations with a Viking World Cruise 2022-2023. The 138-day itinerary visits ports in 28 countries with overnights in 11 port cities.
Departing on December 22, 2022, from Port Everglades , Viking World Voyage 2022 visits ports in Central America, follows Panama Canal transit and sailing up North America’s West Coast. A 121-day segment allows travellers to join the cruise ship in Los Angeles CA, from where the itinerary continues to Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Asia and the Middle East, Europe ending in London-Greenwich, England UK.
Viking Neptune’s World Cruise itinerary offers overnights in 11 ports, including Auckland New Zealand, Sydney NSW Australia, Benoa Bali Indonesia, Saigon Vietnam, Singapore, Yangon Burma, Colombo Sri Lanka, Mumbai India, Haifa Israel, Istanbul Turkey and London-Greenwich . Note: For the itinerary’s all call ports see at the ship’s Wiki section here.
Curiously, in August 2021, Viking OCEAN announced a “double world cruise 2023-2024” with two ships sailing on an identical itinerary from Florida to the UK. While Viking Neptune departs on December 23 , Viking Sky departs earlier , sailing in parallel with Neptune.