sleepybobo

8 minutes ago, What was that? said:

Good points. I did find the following in the Section 8, Exclusions section of the Seven Corners Liaison Travel Basic policy I was offered on the 7 Corners website:

(tt) Any claim in any way caused by or resulting from:
(i) Coronavirus disease (COVID-19);
(ii) Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2);
(iii) any mutation or variation of SARS-CoV-2; or
(iv) any fear or threat of i), ii) or iii) above.

If I read this right, this travel insurance will not cover any claims related to Covid (medical expenses, quarantine costs, etc.) 

I'm actually looking for a policy that covers exactly that.  

Given that some "Welcome Back to the World" cruises are booked at reduced capacity, do you think we have any chance to get free upgrade when we check in?

Viking really needs to be more transparent about the Malta entry requirements. Don’t assume everyone reads the fine print. In this case the fine print doesn’t even provide clear answers. 
 

58 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

I puzzled over only 6 in spa space at a time given the co-ed area is quite large.  I think it may be due to the size of the locker rooms.  I wonder if reservations are for 3 women and 3 men.  Six in the womens locker room would be a crowd.  Assume mens is identical.

Agreed.  We definitely can have more than six people in the spa common area and still maintain social distance.  From my own past experience, the spa was never crowded.  Most of the time I didn't need to go into the locker room.  My V1 stateroom on Deck 3 was just a short walk from the spa.  So I put on the bathrobe after I was done and returned to my room and showered.

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

Excursions for June 26, July 3 and July 10 on the Sky have been up for a couple of weeks.  Thats it.

Thanks.  Hopefully we'll be on the 9th sailing (July 31 - August 7).  Just wondering when I should start checking MVJ like a mad woman.  

How about the main pool?  Do we need to make reservation too?  I also enjoyed doing a few laps in late afternoon on days we don't go to the Wintergarden.  

So, as of today, excursions are posted to which sailing? First 3 or first 6?

I enjoy the spa a lot. The Snow Grotto is among my favorite. While 45 min is enough for me, I wonder how difficult it will be to reserve a spot.
 

1 hour ago, Dukefan said:

I am a member of Viking River & Ocean Cruises Friends on Facebook but haven't found it to be near as informative on our Iceland Cruise as cruise critic.  Same with the Facebook Travelers who love Viking Cruises Group.

I do feel we get more “balanced” views of Viking here. 

We live just 20 minutes away from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ. If we want to cruise to Bermuda, we’d book Celebrity that departs from Bayonne. This will save me airfare from Newark to Bermuda. 
 

If we choose to fly there, we’d rather do a land-based trip. It’s easy enough to book a resort and do day trips. 
 

I can understand why RC cancelled the Bermuda itineraries. It’s be more attractive if the ship sails from an US port. This way people don’t need to worry about the Bermuda entry covid test too. 

13 minutes ago, Donaghadee said:

I'm seeing up to 4% for sloppy technicians, 2.5% seems average.  I hope Viking beats the average.

Per the headline news on CC today, CDC updated the cruise guidance again.  Vaccinated passengers don't need to be tested during embarkation and disembarkation; unless they are showing COVID symptoms.  

Seems the restrictions are getting more relaxed.  May be vaccinated people may not need to be tested entering Iceland or coming back to the US next month.  May be.... 

Thanks @MarkTapley and @Donaghadee! Very informative posts.  Even after I booked Iceland, I still asked whether it's too early to travel internationally this summer.  But, as fully vaccinated individuals, the risk for us is closed to none.  I read that the vaccines are very effective against the variants too.  Definitely feel much more comfortable now.

2 hours ago, id4elizabeth said:

I spoke with a Viking rep this morning and she told me 928 passengers were aboard the Sky for our sailing on July 17.  That's not 75%, but FULL as in FULL capacity.  She said that early on there had been discussions about reduced capacity, but that they had decided that their Covid protocols were so excellent they could load up to the max.  I asked how that was going to work with social distancing in common areas like dining and she said they were extending restaurant hours to accommodate all passengers.   I guess that means some of us will be dining at 3:30 and others at 10:00.  Now, having been led astray by Viking reps recently on any number of issues, I'm not sure I believe what she told me, but there you are.

I’m wondering if it makes sense to have 100% capacity. First, the vaccines aren’t 100% effective. There will always be a chance that positive cases show up during the sailings. Assuming 95% efficacy rate, with 928 passengers, there could be 46 cases, if it’s so unfortunate that someone were infected during the sailing. Of course, with the low infection rate in Iceland and other safety protocols, I hope it’ll never happen to our cruises. Second, how can social distancing be enforced with 928 passengers? Yes, the ship always feels spacious. But it can be quite hectic during morning breakfast hours in the WC on port days. Third, with the delays in making excursions available, is Viking really confident that they can let all 928 passengers book the popular excursions? 

6 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

Not true. Viking HAS said that staff and crew will be vaccinated. You’ll have to search either here on Cruise Critic or the Viking website, or Tor’s interviews to find it. But it was announced.

Okay. Thanks. So the crew on Sky and Jupiter, not just Venus, are also vaccinated. Great news! I must have missed the announcement. 

55 minutes ago, vslparis said:

D

 

Yes, everyone ( including crew) on the Viking ship needs to be fully vaccinated ( this means that their last shot has to be 14 days or more before the cruise ) . More than likely , although not required, the majority of the people on the flight to Iceland ( talking about the segment that goes nonstop from someplace in the US to Iceland, not the connecting portion if you have to do that  ) will be vaccinated as there are still pretty stringent rules about pre trip testing and quarantine if you are not vaccinated .  

Regarding the crew being vaccinated part, I still haven’t seen any direct confirmation from Viking. So far, Viking just said the crew will be tested everyday.

I’d definitely feel more comfortable if the crew are also vaccinated. 

14 minutes ago, Balticsailor said:

This is our first Viking Cruise.  Does anyone know if "nice" jeans (not blue, rather dressy) are acceptable in the dining rooms in the evening?  

Yes.  You should not have any trouble going into the Restaurant wearing "nice" jeans.  In Venice in 2017, I came back to the ship rather late.  I didn't have time to go back to change.  The staff allowed me in.  Granted, I was casual, but not sloppy.  

16 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

Like TSA, the testing makes us feel comfortable about traveling again -- but will it actually protect us? That remains to be seen.

For me, vaccination requirement makes me feel safe about cruising. I hope Viking crew will be 100% vaccinated by July. 
 

I am a little concern about the rapid testing done at KEF. It’s not the most accurate. What happen if there’s false negative/positive?

8 hours ago, amyr said:

This is what I'm waiting to hear about.  I think the answer now is no, but if it changes to vaccinated arrivals from 'safe' spots don't have to test before flying back to the US, well that will change a lot for me.

 

We're flying back from Bermuda in July and Iceland in August, and I don't relish the thought of an asymptomatic case or even a false positive sidelining us outside the country for a couple of weeks.  Of course Bermuda and Iceland would have to become safe spots as well.

Getting stuck at a foreign country because of a false positive or an asymptomatic is my biggest worry now. I know the chance is minimal. But still, it keeps me thinking it is too soon to do international travel now. 
 

We book Iceland July 31. Hopefully Iceland will be on the safe country list. 

2 hours ago, FLGators#1 said:

When we signed up for this cruise we realized we would be in the Viking bubble for tours.  However what we did not realize is that we would not be able to get on certain popular Viking tours because they are ALL SOLD OUT. Basically we will be circumnavigating Iceland and going out to dinner on a cruise ship. Not happy cruisers here.  That there is only one time slot available for some tours is ridiculous. The ship is not operating at 100% capacity.Only about 725 guests.There is no information on whether they will be adding tours. We are ready to travel. We understand and are ready to comply with the Viking bubble but not having tours available by Viking for us to go on ...is penalizing us.We will cancel if tours do not open up, because what is the point? Does anyone have thoughts or suggestions? We are on the first sailing 26 June.

This doesn’t sound too encouraging. We are lowly V1 - so we are among the last eligible to book excursions. 
 

Please share what you found out from Viking. 

6 hours ago, deec said:

hope 3017 will be a great cabin...we will  hopefully be in it on the Jupiter for 50 days next year!

Great!!! We’ll be in it on the Orion in June 2022. Fingers crossed. 

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Broken windows - most susceptible cabins are the 2 fwd suites on deck 3 (3000 & 3001). Deck 4 fwd suites are more remote possibility, but Deck 5 suites should be safe. if the weather was that bad, the ship would have other issues.

 

Noise - Deck 3 fwd from the Theatre. Deck 3 fwd of the Atrium from Torshavn.

 

Potential Noise:

• Deck 4 - m'ships above the lifeboats
• Deck 6 - all cabins with open deck above
• Deck 8 - cabins with sports deck above  

Thanks.  I book V1 as the fare fits my budget. I stayed in 3022 twice and had no problem. There’s some noise from the theatre, but not unbearable. The noise usually stops at around 10pm anyway, which is earlier than my bedtime. 
 

I just rebooked my Alaska sailing to Jun 2022 and needed to change my stateroom from 3023 to 3017. I wonder if there’s any issue with 3017 that I should be aware of. Its location is even a bit closer to the theatre. So is the noise be louder? 

I remember seeing a list of staterooms to avoid (due to noise, potential broken windows, etc.) in this forum. Do you how I can find that list again?

Will ask my TA about extending the final payment date.


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

My TA is able to move my 2021 sailing to May 2022 and all the onboard booking and past guest discounts are carried over.

Bad news is final payment is due December of this year - 17 months before embarkation.



Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hope everyone is well and healthy!

My next Viking cruise will be in May 2021. Although it’s still a year away, I am not confident that a covid19 vaccine will be available then. I’m not sure if I feel safe enough to fly and get on a cruise before 2022.

I’m wondering if anyone has any luck in postponing to 24 months out? Will the OBC be forfeited?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums