has written about cruising for more than 25 years and for many years oversaw USA Todays award-winning cruise site. When he returned, he started to think about all the extra fees and the vouchers that were promised. Cruise Critic contacted other cruise lines which have ships scheduled to call in at Russia ports this summer and we received the following statements: Saga Cruises: The U.K.-based line canceled the Black Sea cruise port of Odessa on a forthcoming cruise onboard Spirit of Adventure: "We are now looking at the impact of the latest developments on our Baltic cruises later this year which were due to call in at St Peterburg," a spokesperson said. Buy some very good travel insurance to submit claims. Also lost out on the cruise vouchers. Guests and travel advisors with affected departures have been notified. As for my next trip in a few weeks? Most notable is The Hangar, an enclosed marina that allows passengers to transfer to two of each ships exploratory vessels while still in the protected interior of the ship. A short time later, passengers were informed that the cruise was canceled, Trovato said. Viking Ocean Cruises has cancelled all river and ocean cruises through May 31, 2021. 5.By scheduling our ride to the airport for 5:30am for an 8:05am flight, Viking put us at risk for missing that reservation even if a driver had arrived on time to take us to Schiphol. The 13-day trips focus heavily on the two gateway cities, with four days allotted for touring Moscow and four days reserved for visiting St. Petersburg. The Viking Mississippi isnt the only vessel facing problems on the United States premier river. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu. A Viking River ship sails in Budapest. While we waited for a response, we did a little looking around. Viking cancels all Russian river cruise itineraries - TTG More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, Karin Price Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. The line said it was also evaluating 2022 itineraries that call in Russia with the view to modifying them where necessary. Cruise Lines Remove Russia Stops Amid Ukraine Invasion - Insider Viking River Cruises Confirms Itinerary Changes Viking River Cruises has canceled all 2022 departures from Kyiv and Bucharest, Romania. Low water levels are impacting barge traffic on the Mississippi River during the harvest, a crucial time, NOAAs site said. Our flight to Frankfurt, LH1003 had been cancelled, but no one informed us. When no one came for us, I asked a driver who arrived at 6:00 to please take us so we didn't miss our flight. What are cruise dress codes? The cruise line said guests have been notified of the issue, though they did not provide details on how many passengers have been affected. Europe's Drought: Will It End River Cruises? - Out Traveler Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. What's the best way to see the ports on my cruise? Couple fights to get full cash refund on $15K Viking River Cruise That allows for unusual variations on the typical Baltic Sea or Norwegian fjords cruise. Members who are knowledgeable about this destination and volunteer their time to answer travelers' questions. As Hagen once told me, Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea are what the company considers Viking country a region where it wants to dominate. The latter adds travel on the Main and Danube rivers to days on the Rhine. Viking River Cruises Cancellation and Refund Policy In 2023, both Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris will spend their summers in the Great Lakes. Call us at 800-454-0927 to speak to a Cruise Concierge today. If anyone on our team wouldnt recommend it to a friend or a family member, we wouldnt recommend it on The Points Guy either. Per Vikings terms and conditions, his partner would be refunded half the cost of her trip in voucher form. Contact your Sales Agent or our Customer Service department online, via email, or by phone at 1-800-543-1915 and ask about potential opportunities for flexible cancellation policies, rebooking . The move of Viking follows announcements from other cruise lines saying they are monitoring the situation, with Saga Cruises and Atlas Voyages among those who altered sailings. Have a credit card with sufficient funds to buy last-minute tickets if needed. A few weeks ago I flew Scotland to Cairo via London. Viking River Cruises - Cancelation of cruises - ComplaintsBoard.com Breeze through security with CLEAR lanes available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues and get up to $189 back per calendar year on your membership when you use your Card. Almost 250 cruises were set to sail throughout the first month of 2022, but this ongoing rise in COVID-19 cases could continue to cause further cancellations. Atlas Ocean Voyages will skip St. Petersburg for alternative ports in Finland and Estonia this summer. Our team is actively monitoring the situation and is in close contact with our field offices in the region. Viking Neptune is a new ship that will join the fleet in 2022. For instance, a merciless heat wave baked Europe this past summer, and the continents fabled waterways fell to shockingly low levels. We mean extra charges, just for traveling as a single. The first 6 Longships were launched in 2012 and collectively won "Best New River Ship" award. Winner of Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2022, Cond Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards 2021, and Cond Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards 2022. Itineraries that will take you from Bergen to Iceland or even as far away as France, Portugal and Spain also are available. More-focused Mediterranean itineraries include the lines nine-night Empires of the Mediterranean voyages between Venice and Athens, which mostly concentrate on stops along the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea in Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro. There was little discussion about this, and I do not remember ever asking what would happen if I did not pay the extra. Recent updates have been made to cancellation schedules and refund guidelines for various cruise lines. Viking, which operates both ocean and river cruises, has canceled all 2022 departures from its Kyiv, Black Sea and Bucharest itinerary . They are for UK residents only. Some cruise lines will charge extra for flights not originating from a select number of airports on their list, which may mean either using an alternate airport or paying yet an additional fee over and above the Custom Air fee. ta.queueForLoad : function(f, g){document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', f);})(function(){ta.trackEventOnPage('postLinkInline', 'impression', 'postLinks-113577858', '');}, 'log_autolink_impression');cruise or something similar if they don't want to be bothered with paperwork, but you also sound like very naive travelers who expect everything to be perfect and have too much trust in the "system.". We had pre booked Premier Inn for an overnight stop as if the flight had been on time it would have been a bit tight and we were so glad. Viking River Cruises - Complaints Board My Trip - Updates on Current Sailings - Viking River Cruises Since we had already put in an hour waiting in the KLM Economy Class line, I asked the Viking agent if she could rebook us on a KLM flight. Very disappointed with Viking River Cruises - Fodor's Brand to Restart Cruising, Marella Cruises Reveals New 2021/22 Itineraries to the US, Caribbean and Asia, Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas Cruise Ship to be Based in Southampton in 2021, Popular Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship To Homeport From Barbados For First Time, MSC Cruises Extends Seasons of MSC Virtuosa Cruise Ship in the UK, MSC Bellissima in Dubai, The 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season is Here: What Cruisers Need to Know, Church of the Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg (Photo: Shutterstock). The cruise line said it was evaluating 2022 itineraries that visit Russia with the view to modifying them where necessary. Know the flight rules--nowadays I arrive three hours in advance for domestic and four for international--if all goes well, great, I can sit in the airport and read, but if not, I have ample time to make adjustments. The stops will vary, the company said, with five sailings that would have visited St. Petersburg instead calling on Baltic ports such as Riga, Latvia; Klaipeda, Lithuania; and Visby, Sweden. Viking Cruises cancelled all 2022 departures on its Kiev (Kyiv, Ukraine), Black Sea & Bucharest itinerary in response to Russia's conflict with Ukraine. "We are notifying our guests and travel partners of this decision and our new plans to visit additional Scandinavian ports in its place. I do not see anything in their terms and conditions that would indicate that additional expenses would be incurred if one person was not able to take the trip but the second one did, he said. Guests and travel agents on impacted departures are in the process of being notified. Dubbed Into the Midnight Sun, the one-way route between Bergen and London is unique because it combines calls in far-north Honningsvag and Tromso, Norway, with visits to Scotlands remote Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands. Viking officials indicated some ports don't want passengers exploring independently so an array of bubble excursions is being developed for those destinations. According to the latest annual list produced by Norwegian financial magazine Kapital, Hagen has seen his personal wealth drop from $6.28 billion down to an estimated $2.1 billion in the space of a . Many cruisers are also understandably worried about crewmembers. Its most current report said almost 53% of the lower 48 US states are in a drought. Applies primarily to to bookings with the following content. That gives them a smaller range of itineraries. The 766-mile Rhine is one of Europe's most important trade routes, with container ships plying their way around its looping bends. She verified that Viking had been notified that our 8:05am flight to Frankfurt had been cancelled. It's also a classic cruise itinerary. These are all the cruise vessels. A Viking Ocean ship sails in Croatia. If you have a covered. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Our points-obsessed staff uses a plethora of credit cards on a daily basis. Viking Ocean Cruises Is NOT All I Thought It Was Tips For Travellers 355K subscribers Join Subscribe 3.4K Share Save 144K views 9 months ago #VikingCruises #VikingOceanCruises Returning to. For information about your specific voyage, please log onto MyVikingJourney.com. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Given recent events and the developing conflict in Ukraine, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all 2022 departures of our Kiev, Black Sea & Bucharest itinerary. Learn more. It's a tough time to be flying, as anything can and may go wrong. (Dave Kettering/Telegraph Herald via AP). You were never going to make that flight as booked and if you did it would have been dumb luck. He he tried to take the trip solo, he was charged. He he tried to take the trip solo, he was charged another $10,000. Thus, Viking breached its contract to provide a flight home. The annual airline fee statement credit can be complicated to take advantage of compared to the broader travel credits offered by competing premium cards. Among ocean cruise destinations, Viking has a major presence in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, which it considers its home turf. Cruise lines scrap Russian, Ukrainian ports from 2022 itineraries A Warner Bros. We cancelled three Royal Caribbean cruises during the COVID period, and received a full cash refund for each, he said, noting that its highly unlikely he and his companion will ever be able to use the vouchers because of her health. Viking Ocean Ships Currently Sailing: Viking Jupiter Viking Orion Viking Mars Viking Neptune Viking Saturn Viking Sea Viking Sky Viking Star Viking Venus Vikings entire river fleet of over 75 ships is also actively sailing. This page contains the most up to date information on conditions that may affect your itinerary. Many, notably, use the relatively small but famously scenic Norwegian city of Bergen (population 286,000) as a gateway, something no other line is doing. Viking has a particularly large footprint when it comes to European river itineraries, with a wide range of sailings on nearly every European river of any note, from the Douro in Portugal to (until recently) the Volga in Russia.