LeRenardrouge

29 minutes ago, LewiLewi said:

We will be on Neptune in two weeks. Is Norovirus still prevalent, or are things back to normal?

I am on the Neptune and everything is back to normal as far as norovirus is concerned.  Hand washing or sanitizer is encouraged entering all eating venues but not as heavily monitored as it was to start with.

A lot of people on FB are asking if our cruise is being affected by smoke from the forest fires.  We have had a lot of fog and some haze but no obvious smoke.  

34 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

Has anyone been to Rome with Viking lately? We’re taking the Antiquities & Holy Land cruise in mid-January, which starts in Rome. After a long wait, we were finally able to book excursions in Rome this week — but only 3 are offered. Nothing in Vatican City. No Sistine Chapel. Just an included “panoramic” bus tour and a couple ($200) mixed tours of mostly ancient sites. 
 

When I talked with a Viking staff person a couple of weeks ago about another issue, she said Rome had “some travel challenges” or words to that effect.
 

Anyone have experience with traveling in Rome with Viking lately? Were you able to get into the Sistine chapel or the Vatican? This is our first visit and we’re really hoping to see these. 

Are you in Rome on a Sunday?  We were on the Mediterranean Odyssey in 2018 and all excursions involving the Vatican were closed.  

22 hours ago, JeriGail said:

Yes, Bermuda DID quarantine everyone on a specific flight, but that occurred from an October 27th, 2020 flight. 

There is a disconnect though.  The story says the couple was fully vaccinated.  In my recollection, the vaccine had not even been given emergency authorization by Oct 27, 2020.  
 

But why can’t anyone find a current news report of this event if it has indeed just happened?  I would think if an entire plane full of passengers were quarantined just as the cruise industry was trying to restart, the story would be all over the legitimate news.

Sounds a bit like typical rumors that get changed each time it is retold.  I am dubious about this one at least as recounted. 
 

2 hours ago, Azulann said:

Was it a private excursion organized by Viking for the occupants of the owner suite, a mini van with four folks.?

Or an  Viking  excursion in a bus that that others took this week? 

It was a Viking excursion. 

I deleted the images. 
 

4 minutes ago, Hockeyump said:I recall a river cruise where 90% of guests were part of a school reunion organised by said person. If I had been one of the other 10% I wouldn't have been happy. Apparently they sang their school song before dinner each evening. Sorry, not what I want on holiday.

I recall seeing the postings from that cruise and I agree with you.  It would have been very disappointed.  Viking should have essentially chartered it for that group only IMHO.  

3 hours ago, molymoo said:

Mover and shaker aside, if giving him “what he wants” means deviating from the safety protocols you have put in place to protect your passengers (all of them, not just his minions) then that’s not okay.  I’m surprised he (supposedly such a supporter of Viking … ahem) would ask them to do so.  Come on … two max in an elevator, four in a pool, and six in the spa … twenty in a stateroom is simply over the top not okay.

Sadly, a precedent has been set.  In the last 22 hours, two different people in the same big FB group have announced they are setting up Meet and Mingle type events on upcoming Welcome Back cruises.  

“June 26 sailing friends! Please plan to stop by the bar on deck 1 on Saturday, June 26, Day 1, 7:00 to whenever you need to leave, before or after dinner—whenever! Let’s connect, say hello, and celebrate the link we’ve made on this FB site and our return to cruising. Come when you can. Leave when you must. Sign up if you like on the events tab with my name attached.” He had asked Steve how to go about arranging it yesterday. 

And a post by another member this afternoon:

“If you will be on the Viking Ocean Iceland cruise on July 3 and would like to join a get together ( maybe cocktail party or dinner), would you please send me your first and last names? Trying to get a count and know how many name tags to bring!!”

On 6/7/2020 at 10:15 AM, Arizona340 said:

Looking into 2021 Sky cruise only cabins available are dv4 cabins 4080 & 4082. Please, are their any obstructions or problems with this deck 4 location, aft port side?

4080 and 4082 are apt to be directly over the tenders.  Looks like this has already been answered.  I did not scroll far enough down.

We have been in 4092 which was about 4 or 5 cabins back of the tender and in 5024 which was great.

12 hours ago, CharTrav said:

What app are you using? VesselFinder has its current status re destination and ETA but not its current location. That is still 8 days old. Thanks!

Marinetraffic.com has been quicker to show the updated position.  Vessel finder yesterday still had not shown her movement but as Andy said, she is entering the Bali Sea.

1 hour ago, CharTrav said:

Thanks for the update .. I keep checking too.  Last update from Orion was April 19 presumably cuz it's in the open sea but according to its track on that date, she was certainly heading north towards Indonesia. I'll be very happy when her location data is more recent.

The Orion has been essentially stationary in the same location for weeks.  I had just checked to see if the notation  “For Orders”for destination had changed since last night and indeed it now shows destination as Singapore with ETA April 30 at 04:00.  However speed is still essentially stationary.

Maybe something is happening.

7 hours ago, CharTrav said:

About 2:30 EDT, April 16, Vessel Finder is showing Viking Sun still docked at Portsmouth but now shows destination 4/20 as KristiansAnd.  

Viking Sea is docked at KristiansUnd. 

Viking Sky is docked at Portsmouth having arrived early this morning.  At this point destination is still showing destination as Portsmouth.  

22 minutes ago, jebbs said:

Could someone who knows the 8 Canadians find out, did they in fact leave London Heathrow?  As I look at British Airways flights for today, Saturday, April 11, flight to Vancouver was cancelled, as were the two daily flights to Toronto.  Were they flying by commercial flights or were they on charters? Really hope they aren’t stuck at the airport.

Here’s  hope I’m wrong!!!!!

They were flying on Air Canada from LHR to Vancouver.  The flight from Gibraltar to LHR was on BA.

Just for fun, three screen shots on my iPad of the Panomax on the Viking Sun as she arrives and docks in Lisbon this morning. 

13 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

I suppose it depends on which medical website ones info comes from.  As with all it is subject to the rules they apply.  Either way, my point is malaria kills far more than Covid 19 seems on track to do.  A mere 405,000 a year, every year and not one closure or postponement.  I wonder if anyone has ever been on a cruise ship with malaria?  Just curious.  Have never heard that.  

Malaria is not transmitted person to person.  Huge difference.

Viking has just updated the current sailings information.

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/my-trip/current-sailings/index.html

Good move.

Oops.  Someone else was posting as I was.

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

.... I'll be doing one of those "boring" Meddy cruises next year - have never been there and so looking forward to it (courtesy of Viking I might add... 🙂)

OnTheJourney:

I can assure you the The Mediterranean Odyssey cruise with Viking was anything but “a boring Meddy Cruise!”  If it is offered on the cruise you are doing, I highly recommend the pre- or post- Ultimate Italy: Tuscany extension.  It is jam packed with included excursions and meals.  

We were in 4092 on Sky and we were probably 5 or 6 staterooms beyond the tenders.  Heard absolutely no noise and the tenders were barely visible if looking over the railing.  

We have also been in 5024 and it was great.  Closer to forward elevators but no noise at all.

Viking appears to have made an update to their statement on current sailing status regarding itineraries impacted by the corona virus:

“The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our top priority. We are monitoring the Wuhan coronavirus situation closely and are aware of the travel advisories issued by the U.S. State Department on January 30th, in addition to updates issued by the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. Viking does not have any river sailings scheduled in China until March 2020, and given the current situation, modifications to those sailings will likely be necessary. We are evaluating options for our guests currently booked on Yangtze River itineraries, and in the week of February 3rd Viking Customer Relations will communicate directly with those impacted guests and their travel agents.”

US State Department has elevated the travel advisory to the highest level:  DO NOT TRAVEL to China.

We scheduled a small group tour in the Lofoten Islands with two other couples we met on the CC roll call for our cruise with a company Lofoten Lights.  A few pictures of some of what we saw.

This was the itinerary for the cruise July 1, 2017 with embarkation at Greenwich.  

We had very good weather and did not miss any ports.  We did have rain for our day in Edinburgh; crossing  the North Sea was a little choppy but definitely not a problem.  The morning in Geiranger was quite cloudy but by afternoon it was mostly sunny.  We did the kayaking excursion in Geiranger fjord.  

Port times also will vary depending on the direction you are doing, i.e. London to Bergen or Bergen to London.  In addition. Viking has tweaked this particular cruise over the years it has been doing it.  Those changes seem to be based on experience and possibly feedback from cruisers.

We did it going London (Greenwich Pier) to Bergen on July 1, 2017.  I will see if I can find my invoice which had the port times but I know it is not now identical to what we did.  On ours, they even did a change in days we were doing the Shetlands and Orkney Islands after we booked.  Not a big issue and seemingly to keep two ships being in port the same day.  

If you go to Viking’s main website and find the cruise, then look at each day’s itinerary, you will be able to see a description of each day and some of the possible tour options that may be offered.  

I’ll try to take a picture of the port times tomorrow for our cruise just to give you an idea.

It was a great cruise with gorgeous scenery.  There are many more younger couples on the Ocean cruises than on the river cruises and more active excursions possible (optional and extra cost).  I think one of their Ocean cruises would be much better for a honeymoon than their river cruises.  

7 hours ago, 2oldishcoots said:

Is anyone else having a problem with the Panomax? I’ve tried refreshing & re-entering the site 3 times & am stuck on Saturday! Thanks

I have tried several times today and it is stuck on Saturday, Nov 9 for me also.  I have tried all the things that have worked before but no luck.  

22 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

We rented a Twizy on our last visit to Bermuda.  I wonder if it’s the same kind of car. The ones in Bermuda are very tiny with tandem seating and no windows.  The last could be a problem in Norway 😆

Kath,

This is one of the Twizy cars in Geiranger.  No windows.  Reviews indicate a bit of a challenge getting in the back.  

8 minutes ago, Hoyaheel said:

That's not necessarily true, as one of the first google results is the posting on CC with the pdf from a few weeks back, so, you know...

 

If Viking still has old/bad information on their website, that's their problem and you should complain to them. That doesn't negate the fact it is EASIER to search and find results on google than on the viking rivers website.

Whose complaining? I use google all the time and what they show as the top result is not necessarily the most recent. 

I never said Viking has wrong information on their website.  Only that a google search could be for old information.

I said clearly “apt” which is true.  

22 minutes ago, Hoyaheel said:

I find I have better luck searching on google than almost any company website. I hate that, but when you're searching, you do what you need to do.....

The problem with searching google for this particular issue is that you are apt to come up with old information regarding curling irons.  

Until recently, Viking and many posting’s regarding whether they were allowed or not  will lead you to believe they are prohibited.  They recently changed their policy and documents.  They are now allowed as peregrina651 has shown.