Norway and Americans

[debrap]

On 10/26/2021 at 9:32 AM, Haworth said:

Afternoon, I assume you are doing the Northern Lights cruise, we did it in March 2019 (yes that one) it was a brilliant trip with several excellent sightings of the lights, I am sure you will have a brilliant time.

Hi, I'm scheduled on the March 1, 2022 cruise (if we go!) and wondered if you were able to see the Northern Lights from the ship while docked or in transit, or do you have to take an excursion to see them?  I'm a hobbyist photographer and trying to make plans for my gear and clothes, etc.  Thanks!

[Jammy Bun]

17 minutes ago, debrap said:

wondered if you were able to see the Northern Lights from the ship while docked or in transit, or do you have to take an excursion to see them?  I'm a hobbyist photographer and trying to make plans for my gear and clothes, etc.  Thanks!

We did a Northern Lights cruise on a Fred Olsen ship, sailing from Liverpool, in February 2012.  We took an excursion to the Finnish border 'Chasing the Lights', but it was a pretty cloudy evening/night and despite the best efforts of our guides we only saw the faintest glimpses of the Aurora.  We were out for about 7 hours!  

A couple of days later, whilst sailing the Inside Passage, we experienced the most memorable, magical and dazzling display from the top decks of the ship.  We were so lucky. 

I guess light pollution might be an issue if you wanted to photograph them whilst the ship was docked.  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

14 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

For us Canadians it should only require our Govt to request EU approval for our National digital vaccine passport, with QR Code. Similar to UK & EU countries, it is based on our NHS database.

Yes, and Andy, wouldn't we like to know when they're going to do that, eh?

[Haworth]

7 hours ago, debrap said:

Hi, I'm scheduled on the March 1, 2022 cruise (if we go!) and wondered if you were able to see the Northern Lights from the ship while docked or in transit, or do you have to take an excursion to see them?  I'm a hobbyist photographer and trying to make plans for my gear and clothes, etc.  Thanks!

We got several sightings, both from the ship and a private land tour, it is a matter of luck but we did see them, the land tours were cold but with decent clothes, especially socks and shoes we were fine.

[Heidi13]

9 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Yes, and Andy, wouldn't we like to know when they're going to do that, eh?

 

Haha, our lovely PM would need to stop shovelling money off the back of trucks. He got shamed into providing the passport/QR Code, so hopefully it will happen again getting it approved worldwide.🙂

[safeman]

8 hours ago, Haworth said:

We got several sightings, both from the ship and a private land tour, it is a matter of luck but we did see them, the land tours were cold but with decent clothes, especially socks and shoes we were fine.

We took a Hurtigruten cruise from Bergen to Kirkenes roundtrip in September of 2018. We were very fortunate in being able to see the Northern Lights going in both directions. Very Beautiful! No guarantees for sighting. Yes you must dress for the weather since it was very windy on the deck and on shore and being September the air temperature starts to go down. We were dressed with the proper layers and were fine. 

[OnTheJourney]

21 hours ago, Haworth said:

it is a matter of luck

Agreed. We did get lucky with several sightings on that ship. The best luck of all, of course, was not getting dashed against the rocks. Close call. 

[Haworth]

18 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Agreed. We did get lucky with several sightings on that ship. The best luck of all, of course, was not getting dashed against the rocks. Close call. 

Funnily enough that trip came up in conversation this week

[OnTheJourney]

4 hours ago, Haworth said:

Funnily enough that trip came up in conversation this week

I saw...as part of a northern lights discussion. Check out that report I posted. Pretty interesting. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 12/14/2021 at 9:21 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

Haha, our lovely PM would need to stop shovelling money off the back of trucks. He got shamed into providing the passport/QR Code, so hopefully it will happen again getting it approved worldwide.🙂

Unlikely to happen any time soon I'm guessing, with the travel advisory raised to Level 3 again just yesterday.  Won't get into the political blame game.

[uktog]

As a new cruiser to Viking (and I do recognise my particular Norwegian cruise is not until March) I think its poor that there is still no official communication from Viking as to how they will handle entry to Norway for guests who cannot obtain the stated digital vaccination certificates.  There are lots of theories on various roll calls on how its might be got round, most also overlooking the strict UK requirements which will apply to everyone at either the start or end of their cruise.  All the hypothetical ideas are probably not moving anyone on in a meaningful way.

Other cruise lines I have had reservations with over the last two years have been really good at coming forward with decisions and taking these early.  There are people starting out on journeys connected to the Norwegian cruises affected in the next week and still they do not know what is happening.

Viking seem to want to avoid cancelling even though there are insurmountable barriers in place for almost all cruisers so its very much now a who blinks first game in the refund/cancellation game.

For my part, certainly not the best first impressions just now 

[bbtondo]

15 minutes ago, uktog said:

As a new cruiser to Viking (and I do recognise my particular Norwegian cruise is not until March) I think its poor that there is still no official communication from Viking as to how they will handle entry to Norway for guests who cannot obtain the stated digital vaccination certificates.  There are lots of theories on various roll calls on how its might be got round, most also overlooking the strict UK requirements which will apply to everyone at either the start or end of their cruise.  All the hypothetical ideas are probably not moving anyone on in a meaningful way.

Other cruise lines I have had reservations with over the last two years have been really good at coming forward with decisions and taking these early.  There are people starting out on journeys connected to the Norwegian cruises affected in the next week and still they do not know what is happening.

Viking seem to want to avoid cancelling even though there are insurmountable barriers in place for almost all cruisers so its very much now a who blinks first game in the refund/cancellation game.

For my part, certainly not the best first impressions just now 

I wonder if Viking waits until the last minute due to financial concerns.

[Twitchly]

1 hour ago, bbtondo said:

I wonder if Viking waits until the last minute due to financial concerns.

That’s my guess — a combination of financial concerns and an attempt to keep options open for customers in a rapidly changing situation.

We’re supposed to cruise to Israel in less than a month. I can’t see it happening, especially since Italy (where the cruise begins) just said they will start requiring boosters early next month. (Israel already requires them — and is shut down.) At this point, I wish Viking would just pull the plug so we could make other plans. But if their current track record is any indication, we won’t know until the last minute. 

[vaitape]

Well shut my mouth wide open! We are free to travel to Norway.....just received an email. For those on the Jan 12th cruise, 

[Ballerina Sweetie Pie]

Vaitape, Details please

[SoBaycruiser]

3 hours ago, Ballerina Sweetie Pie said:

Vaitape, Details please

See a copy of the email they got HERE.

[Ballerina Sweetie Pie]

7 hours ago, SoBaycruiser said:

See a copy of the email they got HERE.

Thank you- what wonderful new!! I’m ecstatic that Viking is making this happen!!

[OnTheJourney]

On 12/21/2021 at 9:29 AM, Twitchly said:

At this point, I wish Viking would just pull the plug so we could make other plans. But if their current track record is any indication, we won’t know until the last minute. 

Agreed. I expressed a similar concern over the past few months about the "Invitational" cruise that was promised the Viking Sky guests from the March '19 Northern Lights trip that ran into the severe storm off the coast of Norway.

 

I totally understand that the original Jan. '21 plan (which would have been a great itinerary) needed to be canceled, but now that they've resumed cruising to whatever extent, I think it would be nice if they'd let those who were on that '19 cruise know as to whether or not there are still plans to reschedule it or not so as to plan accordingly. March '22 will be 3 years following the unfortunate incident, so I do have to wonder how many passengers even expect anything to happen at this point, or would even be interested. I, for one, no longer feel there is a dire need for it due to the level of compensation we already received, but it'd be nice to know either way especially with so many folks rebooking previously canceled and postponed trips. 

 

In your case, with not knowing only a month out, that's nerve-wracking. Hope you find something out soon. I saw that several people here have canceled that cruise. We're scheduled to go to Isreal (on the Cities of Antiquities itinerary) in Jan. '23. 

Edited December 22, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[SoBaycruiser]

1 minute ago, OnTheJourney said:

Agreed. I expressed a similar concern over the past few months about the "Invitational" cruise that was promised the Viking Sky guests from the March '19 Northern Lights trip that ran into the severe storm off the coast of Norway.

 

I totally understand that the original Jan. '21 plan (which would have been a great itinerary) needed to be canceled, but now that they've resumed cruising to whatever extent, I think it would be nice if they'd let those who were on that '19 cruise know as to whether or not there are still plans to reschedule it or not so as to plan accordingly. March '22 will be 3 years following the unfortunate incident, so I do have to wonder how many passengers even expect anything to happen at this point, or would even be interested. I, for one, no longer feel there is a dire need for it due to the level of compensation we already received, but it'd be nice to know either way especially with so many folks rebooking previously canceled and postponed trips. 

See the link above in post #142.

[OnTheJourney]

2 minutes ago, SoBaycruiser said:

See the link above in post #142.

Most interesting, and thanks, but that has no bearing on the cruise I referred to. The Invitational cruise was not intended to do a repeat of any of the original Northern Lights itinerary. It was Rome to Barcelona, and what was really cool was that we had added the Iberian Explorer as a B2B right after it, so would have gotten a 2nd chance to arrive in and spend some time in London. Nice to see, though, that they added Bruge to the itinerary - lovely place to visit. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

13 hours ago, SoBaycruiser said:

See a copy of the email they got HERE.

Very nice!  Maybe some other cruiselines will follow suit.  I can live in hope.