Viking Announced Resumption!

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

The host on the Azamara board is reporting that Viking picked up 80 crew members from Bodrum on its recent stop there.

That seems to be the case but based on this article, it appears a few more than 80. 
https://www.dailysabah.com/business/tourism/turkeys-bodrum-welcomes-1st-cruise-ship-of-season

[TayanaLorna]

5 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

That seems to be the case but based on this article, it appears a few more than 80. 
https://www.dailysabah.com/business/tourism/turkeys-bodrum-welcomes-1st-cruise-ship-of-season

I was thinking it might be the Sea as they have been in Cyprus the last couple of days.. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 3/17/2021 at 9:43 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

In the UK market, Saga announced back in January that vaccinations will be mandatory and I suspect Cunard won't be far behind P&O.  Before too long, Viking could be the only cruise line accommodating anti-vaxxers.

 I certainly hope vax proof is required. However, at least Viking has capacity and plans to test a lot, so if someone does get exposed, things can be handled better than if they had no vax OR testing requirement. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 3/19/2021 at 7:36 PM, CCWineLover said:

Wow - thanks, Andy.

Seeing this in a list really hits home.  And shows where Viking stands.  Most of these are direct competition to Viking.

Oceania and Regent still aren't saying if they'll require vax proof or not.  

[Jim Avery]

testing says what you used to be.  Vaccination is, supposedly, long term.

[Heidi13]

14 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

testing says what you used to be.  Vaccination is, supposedly, long term.

 

Yep, we all know how effective the testing was on the Seadream cruise.

[friendlyfifer]

At the moment there is no vaccine passport or proof of vaccination in the UK. We do know the percentage of adults, by age, who have had the vaccine. Update is very high. Based on the average age of Viking passengers it is unlikely that people will be unvaccinated.

The three cruises in May/June will be in British waters and any problems would be handled by our NHS. Viking are right to test their procedures in the UK. Testing should be effective if passengers have no individual freedom to roam when they are off the ship.

[Sailor Sam 407]

We received notification that "Shore Excursions are now open for booking" for our June 14 Into the Midnight Sun cruise. However, when you go to review there is nothing showing. I suspect a sign of things to come.

[shank63]

4 hours ago, Sailor Sam 407 said:

We received notification that "Shore Excursions are now open for booking" for our June 14 Into the Midnight Sun cruise. However, when you go to review there is nothing showing. I suspect a sign of things to come.

We are also booked on that cruise but can’t see it happening since Norway is basically closed to nonresidents.  Shore excursions are not too exciting when restricted to the ship.

[jtwind]

What will it take for these cruises to be shut down again?  Will a single case on board be too much?  Will cruise lines shut themselves down as they have done in the past, or will they wait for an agency or government to shut them down?

[TayanaLorna]

3 hours ago, jtwind said:

What will it take for these cruises to be shut down again?  Will a single case on board be too much?  Will cruise lines shut themselves down as they have done in the past, or will they wait for an agency or government to shut them down?

I don't know the answer to your question.  I believe the Viking policy last published said a positive case will be quarantined and then moved to a shore side medical facility when able.  It does not say the cruise will continue or end.

 

Just this morning on the AP wire i read an article about the MSC cruise ship that is sailing out of Italy while the country is in another lockdown for Easter.  It talked about how they were doing it, protocols etc.  But what caught my attention in the article was the statement that out of the 350,000 cruise ship passengers in the world since July 2020, there have been 23 cases of Covid19 which they said was 0.006%.

 

I know about the Hurtigruten cruises in Norway, the Sea Dream in Barbados and a summer start up in Italy (maybe MSC) that had cases and the lines voluntarily shut down, but thats it.  These cruises were before pre cruise and on board testing was done, Sea Dream did not require masks until someone tested positive, and all was before anyone was vaccinated.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

I don't know the answer to your question.  I believe the Viking policy last published said a positive case will be quarantined and then moved to a shore side medical facility when able.  It does not say the cruise will continue or end.

 

Just this morning on the AP wire i read an article about the MSC cruise ship that is sailing out of Italy while the country is in another lockdown for Easter.  It talked about how they were doing it, protocols etc.  But what caught my attention in the article was the statement that out of the 350,000 cruise ship passengers in the world since July 2020, there have been 23 cases of Covid19 which they said was 0.006%.

 

I know about the Hurtigruten cruises in Norway, the Sea Dream in Barbados and a summer start up in Italy (maybe MSC) that had cases and the lines voluntarily shut down, but thats it.  These cruises were before pre cruise and on board testing was done, Sea Dream did not require masks until someone tested positive, and all was before anyone was vaccinated.

 

Costa had some cases on a cruise back in late summer/early Autumn and RCI's Quantum shut down after 3 days in Singapore, at the end of last year.

[kcpvwill]

The July 21 tab on Find a cruise has been greyed out and the only cruise showing for June 21 is England’s scenic shores.  Looks like more cancellations about to be announced or modified.  This will be our second year of Midnight Sun being cancelled.  

[Sailor Sam 407]

June and July cruises have been removed from Viking's website here in Canada. No doubt a sign of things to come.

[Jammy Bun]

Maybe they'll add some more 'England's Scenic Shores' cruises in the summer months for any Brits who are brave enough.  

[Liz Masterson]

It looks like you can not book an ocean cruise before August 2021 on the Viking website. 
 

I suspect my July 2021 (June 2020) Cruise is cancelled. 
 

😔

[Liz Masterson]

It looks like you can not book an ocean cruise before August 2021 on the Viking website. 
 

I suspect my July 2021 (June 2020) Cruise is cancelled. 
 

😔

[Heidi13]

On 3/16/2021 at 9:21 AM, Heidi13 said:

Interesting that in the website announcement, Viking have made no mention of a vaccination being required. The Health & Safety Plan is good, but it omits another level of risk mitigation - vaccinations.

 

We can all remember what happened on the Seadream cruise back in November, which also had pre-boarding and daily testing - 7 confirmed cases.

 

Sorry Viking, but returning to cruising without requiring vaccinations, in our opinion is a major failure.

 

Just watched an interesting story on our news regarding the local hockey team.

 

I don't follow hockey, but apparently they are tested daily and only play within Canada. The team has experienced a COVID exposure and they now have 16 of 22 first team players affected. Total number is over 20, when including the coaching staff. Infections have also already spread to family members, so the number is even higher.

 

Further proof that relying on daily testing is not sufficient to ensure passenger safety.

[Cienfuegos]

I'm sure Viking is trying to find a legal way to determine the vax status of prospective passengers.  There are numerous legal hurdles, of course.

 

Florida's Gov Ron DeSantis issued an order last week forbidding merchants and vendors from making vax status a condition of receiving service. That may apply to cruise lines.

[Liz Masterson]

I can’t imagine that holding up in court. 
Kids need vaccines for school. 
Various countries require vaccines to enter them. 
We shall see. 

[vslparis]

On 4/2/2021 at 5:13 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

Costa had some cases on a cruise back in late summer/early Autumn and RCI's Quantum shut down after 3 days in Singapore, at the end of last year.

Royal’s Quantum may have shut down in the beginning, but those Singapore sailings have been so successful that they have extended their season to October 2021. The few cases on Costa and MSC prove that you can have cases show up and still handle things well enough to continue sailing.  

[Pushka]

We have had several cruises in Australia. But only Covid negative people and only with Australians onboard. And many planned for a few months time through WA and NT.