Fall cruises to Japan

[wineglass]

We are less than two months from departing on a cruise to Japan. Japan has changed their visa requirements in that ALL visitors to Japan must obtain a guided tour visa to enter the country. A certificate is required from the cruise line to apply. We have heard nothing from Viking about this, MVJ says It is in process. With the difficulty of getting or changing flight arrangements now, we need to know sooner, not later, if this cruise is still going to sail. Has anyone on the cruise Vancouver to Hong Kong received any information about this? Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and even Hong Kong are still not letting visitors enter as of right now or are requiring quarantine. 

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, wineglass said:

We are less than two months from departing on a cruise to Japan. Japan has changed their visa requirements in that ALL visitors to Japan must obtain a guided tour visa to enter the country. A certificate is required from the cruise line to apply. We have heard nothing from Viking about this, MVJ says It is in process. With the difficulty of getting or changing flight arrangements now, we need to know sooner, not later, if this cruise is still going to sail. Has anyone on the cruise Vancouver to Hong Kong received any information about this? Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and even Hong Kong are still not letting visitors enter as of right now or are requiring quarantine. 

If you are not monitoring the various Roll Calls for the Grand Pacific Explorer (of which the Far East and Alaska and North Pacific Passage cruises are a subset), you may wish to do so.

 

I don't follow them all, but as an example, the continuation leaving Tokyo on Oct 13 (below) has a number of discussions and frustrations regarding Hong Kong and Vietnam, as well as some indications that Viking has woken up to the visa headaches.

 

It appears to be a work in progress ... you are not alone in your concern and frustrations! 🍺🥌

 

 

[Twitchly]

For what it’s worth, last winter Viking waited until two weeks before our departure date to tell us the Israel portion of our Holy Land cruise was canceled. I imagine they waited until as late as possible in hopes Israel would change its policies in time. I believe they did something similar with their Hawaii cruise, which turned into a Mexican voyage as I recall.

[Clay Clayton]

As one of the folks on one of these cruises, I’d suggest you might want to be proactive as others on the rollcalls have been and email TellUs@VikingCruises.com as well as your travel agent if you have one and express your concerns. I’m of the hope that if enough of us notify Viking that perhaps they won’t wait until two weeks prior to address the issues. 

[Clay Clayton]

On 8/4/2022 at 10:03 PM, CurlerRob said:

If you are not monitoring the various Roll Calls for the Grand Pacific Explorer (of which the Far East and Alaska and North Pacific Passage cruises are a subset), you may wish to do so.

 

I don't follow them all, but as an example, the continuation leaving Tokyo on Oct 13 (below) has a number of discussions and frustrations regarding Hong Kong and Vietnam, as well as some indications that Viking has woken up to the visa headaches.

 

It appears to be a work in progress ... you are not alone in your concern and frustrations! 🍺🥌

 

 

Rob

Is there a rollcall for the entire cruise? I was only able to find rollcalls for the segments. 

[CurlerRob]

3 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Rob

Is there a rollcall for the entire cruise? I was only able to find rollcalls for the segments. 

 

Not that I'm aware of, Clay. There is one for the September 2023 version (that we are booked on - hence my interest in the 2022 discussions). Other than that, I think there are only some of the segments, as you saw.

 

Hope your circus resolves satisfactorily and that you get to do the fall trip! Cheers ... 🍺🥌

Edited August 7, 2022 by CurlerRob
Typo

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

 

Not that I'm aware of, Clay. There is one for the September 2023 version (that we are booked on - hence my interest in the 2022 discussions). Other than that, I think there are only some of the segments, as you saw.

 

Hope your circus resolves satisfactorily and that you get to do the fall trip! Cheers ... 🍺🥌

Thanks!   Wish we were gonna meet somewhere along the way, unfortunately we booked the July 19th Iceland to Bergen cruise rather than the earlier one you’re taking. 

[CurlerRob]

2 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Thanks!   Wish we were gonna meet somewhere along the way, unfortunately we booked the July 19th Iceland to Bergen cruise rather than the earlier one you’re taking. 

 

Unfortunate. Hope there will come a time - certainly if Viking does the 2-cape WC we both keep agitating for! 🍺🥌

[Clay Clayton]

It appears the long discussed itinerary   change maybe underway….all Orion’s Asian cruises prior to the Nov 10, 2022 embarkation in Bangkok disappeared from the website overnight and MVJ is locked for updates. 🤔

[Haqdeluxe]

7 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

It appears the long discussed itinerary   change maybe underway….all Orion’s Asian cruises prior to the Nov 10, 2022 embarkation in Bangkok disappeared from the website overnight and MVJ is locked for updates. 🤔

After getting cancelled due to COVID-19, we are booked again for the Far East & Alaska in 2024 (April). We are hoping this is far enough out that all involved destinations (talking to you Japan!) are open again. 

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, Haqdeluxe said:

After getting cancelled due to COVID-19, we are booked again for the Far East & Alaska in 2024 (April). We are hoping this is far enough out that all involved destinations (talking to you Japan!) are open again. 

From your lips or in this case fingertips!😂