Not Happy with Viking

[Gatorzzzz]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

If the phone rep flagged your file, that may not be your choice...

I already thought of that. Didn’t give any personal information, date, or direction of travel. He asked for my reservation number, though. 

[Gatorzzzz]

1 hour ago, KathyK13 said:

If your doctor has said that you shouldn't get the booster, ask if you could get a letter from the doctor stating this.  Perhaps Viking would accept the letter along with a negative PCR test in place of the booster shot.

That was my first question; i.e., what are the exceptions to getting the booster. “Robert” says no exceptions. 

[Cat8]

We are scheduled to cruise next month- our third try on a voucher from a 2020 cruise. Had a chance yesterday to read their recent announcement that we are only allowed off the boat on escorted tours - independent travel is not allowed. I’m really upset - wandering on our own is a big point for us and I feel like this restriction is absolutely not what we paid for. Has anyone else experienced and/or challenged this?

[Host Jazzbeau]

46 minutes ago, Cat8 said:

We are scheduled to cruise next month- our third try on a voucher from a 2020 cruise. Had a chance yesterday to read their recent announcement that we are only allowed off the boat on escorted tours - independent travel is not allowed. I’m really upset - wandering on our own is a big point for us and I feel like this restriction is absolutely not what we paid for. Has anyone else experienced and/or challenged this?

Welcome to river cruising.  With all excursions included in your fare, and the ship often moving from one port to another while you are off touring, independent travel is never a big part of river cruising.  Sometimes there is a bit of free time in the afternoon, but not always; usually the ship sails during dinner.  So this is actually less of the change for a river cruise than it would be for an ocean cruise.  And this is the world we are in at the moment – this rule may have been forced on Viking by the countries you will be visiting.

[Cat8]

Hi - thanks for your response.  We took a viking cruise a few year ago and found that we often had the opportunity to go our own way - either skipping a tour or departing part way if we found something more interesting (always letting our tour guide know, of course).  And I don’t see that restricted travel is a condition of any of our countries (Hungary, Germany, Austria).  What makes me upset is that after all this time it seems like the experience we are getting is not what we paid and waited for.

[sharkster77]

1 hour ago, Cat8 said:

Hi - thanks for your response.  We took a viking cruise a few year ago and found that we often had the opportunity to go our own way - either skipping a tour or departing part way if we found something more interesting (always letting our tour guide know, of course).  And I don’t see that restricted travel is a condition of any of our countries (Hungary, Germany, Austria).  What makes me upset is that after all this time it seems like the experience we are getting is not what we paid and waited for.

If my memory serves me, folks who cruised (at least the Rhine and Seine, I believe) last summer/fall  reported that they were allowed to wander on their own.

[KathyK13]

18 hours ago, Gatorzzzz said:

That was my first question; i.e., what are the exceptions to getting the booster. “Robert” says no exceptions. 

Where are you going?  Some countries are requiring the booster if your original series of vaccines were more than 6 months ago.    

[Host Jazzbeau]

Government Covid regulations don't always follow what you might consider 'common sense.'  We took an ocean cruise in the Med last September.  Italy was strictly enforcing bubbles for cruise passengers – even though land tourists in Italy had no such restrictions and we had been tested and retested several times during the cruise while land tourists had no testing requirements.  [PS – we still had a great time.]

[Cat8]

Hi - thanks to everyone for your advice.  We’’re on the Danube Waltze

[sk99]

• Independent Exploration: At this time, we expect to allow independent exploration ashore for departures beginning March 1, 2022 or later. However, please note that Viking's medical team continues to monitor conditions in all destinations to which we operate and may adjust this policy as necessary at the time of travel.

[Cat8]

Hi - thanks to everyone for your advice.  Fingers crossed!

[Gatorzzzz]

On 2/8/2022 at 2:20 PM, KathyK13 said:

Where are you going?  Some countries are requiring the booster if your original series of vaccines were more than 6 months ago.    

I’d already checked the countries’ requirements and my last dose is within their requirements. Regardless, my question to “Robert” was exceptions to the Viking rule which was met with a quick and absolute  “no,” and not any comment of national or EU rules. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Welcome to the River Cruising forum, @GasPowered  CC community guidelines apply:  you are welcome to vent, but you cannot name your Travel Agent, and you cannot use prohibited language.  Please post again after editing.

[Foamer]

We're going in June/July on one of the Oberammergau cruises with Viking (our first river cruise) and since I was stationed for 5 years in Southern Germany, we're going over a week early to do some running around to places I visited while stationed there (long before I met my wife). 

 

So I've been researching a bit - in Germany at least, to go anywhere interesting it appears you need to be "fully vaccinated," which means 2 + booster, OR a negative PCR test within the previous 48 hours. I'm good, my wife will be good by then. Masks of a certain quality level are also required currently. 

 

Viking may simply be going with CDC guidance because it meets or exceeds that of the countries you'll be visiting and it's easier to use it with tourists from the US than try to mix and match all of Europe. And perhaps they expect a US citizen to respond better to "CDC" than "Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (BMG)" or "De Rijksoverheid."

 

As for flights - Viking is likely as frustrated as you are of that. The airlines seem to be juggling their schedules on a daily basis. I had a trip across the US at the end of January, where I'd reserved air tickets through Orbitz several months in advance. When I went to check in the day prior to flying, I discovered that American Airlines, without notifying me, or apparently even notifying Orbitz - which still had the original information - had changed my own itinerary, with my flight departing later, changing planes in DFW instead of ORD, and arriving way later. My return was also changed, moving everything up about 6 hours. Some of that has to be COVID related, but I wonder how much is also a result of the 737Max planes being grounded screwing up anticipated schedules? 

Edited February 23, 2022 by Foamer

[Heartfelttraveler]

I am doing all the paperwork for our upcoming Rhine River cruise in March.  To fly into Basel we have to have the booster based on when our last vaccine was.  I believe that many of the countries (France, Germany) are also requiring tourists to have the booster.

 

Up until the end of January I was advised against getting the booster (Moderna or any other) due to my still in recovery from Guillian-Barre Syndrome that was brought on by a vaccine.  (Shingles and/or pneumonia.)  I was not sure what I would be able to do about our cruise.  Fortunately for us, I was able to get the booster and did not have any adverse effects or setbacks.