Symmes99

Senegal was scratched well before the cruise, something about issues at the port. Apparently this happens often. Nothing to do with Covid. Passengers are over their unhappiness with daily testing, they’re just doing it as required and enjoying the cruise. I showed the General Manager the pre-cruise documentation I had which seemed to indicate no testing would be required. He was surprised and unaware that shoreside operations were telling passengers this, while at the same time telling the ship to do testing. He and the crew were caught in the middle. But as I said, displeasure passed quickly, gone after the first few drinks.

Also, none of the countries on this itinerary require testing of vaccinated cruise ship passengers. Viking seems to have done this on its own. The Travel Requirements on MVJ changed as the cruise approached, from no testing requirements, to daily testing will be required, to frequent testing will be required, to frequent testing may be required, to “you’ll get an email 14 days before your cruise if testing is required.” No email came. So I was surprised to see spit tubes in my cabin when I boarded, along with a letter explaining that daily testing is required. Many unhappy passengers! My wife and I were expecting a test-free cruise, like the Viking Danube cruise we did in September. Oh well.

I was told that Morocco said our vax cards must indicate lot or batch number for each dose of vaccine. Viking told Morocco they couldn’t produce that for all passengers, so Morocco then wanted Viking to submit test results as part of a health assessment. The tests exceeded the 1% positivity rate supposedly needed for entry. Not sure how much higher than 1% was found, but it didn’t seem rampant (just 14 cases would give 1%). Now it’s less than 0.5% and falling. I’m not convinced this is the real story. Other ships visit Morocco and they don’t do daily PCR tests and I doubt all vax cards are in order. But that’s the way it was explained to me.

Was on the ship (I am on this cruise). Present rate is below 1% - only 4 pax and 2 crew out of about 1,350 total onboard.

Wow, your Madrid extension seemed so disorganized. I hope they’ve learned from that and improved the product. Thanks for sharing. I’ll lower my expectations just a bit.

I will be on the Madrid pre-cruise extension in three days for our Viking Jupiter Barcelona-to Buenos Aries crossing. I received an email from Viking on October 11th with details. Here is what it said about the itinerary: Your Extension Itinerary Day 1: Your Viking representative will meet you at the airport and transfer you to your first-class hotel for check-in. Enjoy the rest of the day exploring Madrid at your leisure. Your Viking host will be available to help you plan your time in Madrid so you can make the most of your visit. Day 2: After breakfast, embark on your comprehensive Madrid Tour. During a panoramic drive, see the lush Botanical Garden and the Royal Palace of Madrid. Later, disembark from your motor coach to enjoy a walking tour through the Madrid of the Hapsburgs and visit the Prado Museum. In the evening, enjoy dinner on your own, or opt to enjoy an evening of traditional tapas. Contact your Viking host for further details. Day 3: After breakfast, check out of the hotel and transfer by high-speed train to Barcelona to embark on your cruise. Your Viking host will provide you with your reserved train tickets and accompany you on the train. The train ride from Madrid to Barcelona leaves at 10:30 AM and arrives in Barcelona at approximately 1:15 PM (approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes). Your luggage will be sent separately and will be delivered to your stateroom on board. (Train times are subject to change at any time without notice) Upon arrival in Barcelona, you will be transferred to the pier for embarkation. We’re looking forward to this trip!

My wife and I just completed a Viking River cruise that included a 5-day/4-night pre-cruise extension. The guidance for tipping was $2/day/person for the Tour Director and $1/day/person for the bus driver. That amounts to $20 for the TD and $10 for the bus driver. I don't remember if that guidance came from Viking or elsewhere, but we used that as a starting point. The Tour Director helped us make arrangements for a cabin upgrade on the ship, so we gave her extra. Hope this helps.

Just renewed a passport last month. Used expedited, got new passport back 3 weeks from when I sent the old one. Old passport came a few weeks later by regular mail - only a concern if that passport has a visa that is still valid (mine had 4 years left on India visa). So 7 weeks should be enough time. But it’t too close for my comfort - my passport had 9 months left and I had a long summer window between trips so I did it early.

I’ve done overnights off ship 3 times on other cruise lines (in Alexandria, Safaga, and Haifa). It was not a problem. I didn't arrange this before the cruise; once on board, I simply let reception know our plan and they said fine (pretty sure I called the cruise lines in advance of the cruise and was told to do it this way). We also let our cabin attendant and usual dining room waiters know that we’d be off ship for the night. All we took was an overnight bag. Worked out well, although it hurt a bit having an unused cabin and meals left behind.

Sorry for the late reply, and now that Viking has dropped daily testing it is too late to be helpful. But we did do the daily PCR tests and on day 6 my wife’s test was positive, she was asked to wait in the cabin until she heard from the doctor, after maybe an hour the doctor called and said bring the recovery docs to medical. When she did that, she was told she was cleared to enjoy the rest of the cruise. Happy that we’ll not face this on our September cruise.

Viking says test guests who have recovered from Covid may cruise with them; per the FAQs: “If you have recovered from a previous COVID-19 infection during the past 10–90 days and you have either a physician certificate of recovery or a positive PCR test result from within the time window, you will be permitted to travel with Viking. We ask that you bring your letter of recovery with you during your travels.” Not clear if that exempts the recovered traveler from embarkation testing or daily testing while on board. Has anyone been through this? Thanks.