Not to mention two sets of airline tickets and couple of night in hotel in Panama City--Refundable recovery unknown.

Per Viking--$1020 insurance -- non-refundable

PP 120 days in advance $100 pp

Total $1200

Today is 122 days before cruise.

By your theory--why did they remind us at all.

Funny how they "remind" you just days after the final payment is due.

7 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

There is an old saying that some people know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

Boy you take things personal--and then again, who asked you? If you don't like factual info--don't read the Boards and enjoy the surprises. I'll buy you a drink on the ship. 

26 minutes ago, MikeyB said:

My Panama Canal and Central America cruise does Honduras before Panama.  And I still have my Colon "attached" to the cruise.

Some pretty boys have all the luck!

 

In case you have never been in Roatan, you are missing nothing by not going ashore.

 

However, I feel Viking should have made you aware of this yellow fever vaccine requirement the moment you spoke to a Viking agent about booking this cruise!

We may just stay on the ship at Roatan. Not much there than jungle. But that eliminates 3 ports on a 10 night cruise. Not what we bought in to. Colon was removed a month or two ago, but Key West was cancelled two days before final payment was due and two days after I paid. Until then only had two $50 deposits at stake. Not happy with Viking.

3 minutes ago, Iloveketo said:

We are on the Panama Canal and Central America cruise, so we should be ok. We are only in Mexico and Belize before Roatan. 
This is what I had found regarding Honduras requirements. Not from Viking:

Vaccines

If you’re traveling from Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago or Venezuela, you must first get vaccinated against yellow fever. 
Also if you’re coming from Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabón, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, Sudán, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe or Togo.

So no stop in Panama city or Colon? Ours Classic Panama Cruise starts in Panama City (thus the email from Viking) --Colon was cancelled by Viking. great for you. Looks like yellow fever vaccinations run between $300-400 per person---at least in LA. Means $700 to get off in Roatan for us.

Squakman--I also initially didn't count Amawaterways cruises---where they give you multiple choice of included excursions--not just the city tour.

5 minutes ago, Iloveketo said:

Yellow fever vaccination needed for anyone to get off the ship in Roatan, Honduras? I thought it was only if you were traveling from a country where it is prevalent. So everyone traveling from the US is now required to have a yellow fever vaccination?

According to Viking the yf vaccination is required for anyone traveling from Panama--which is all of us according to Viking email on 10/7 even if you are only in Panama for day. I only know what is stated in the Viking email, don't have any independent knowledge of such.

And further Squakman, I said 20 plus on Celebrity and Oceana--I have also cruised on Princess, Holland America, and Carnaval (carnaval once and probably never again--just not the right demographic).

Just now, Hubby1 said:

Squawkman,

20 vs 30. I went back through my records. When I assumed 20 plus in my mind I did not count combined cruises. For instance, I was on two back to back Celebrity Caribbean cruises (which I think about as one) ("continuing cruiser" as it is called) in January of this year. And we were upgraded to a small suite for the second cruise.

Funnier yet--the the last port for both cruises, before disembarking in Fort Lauderdale, was Nassau. Nassau. On cruise one Nassau turned into a seaday because Nassau decided not to allow cruise ship to enter THE NIGHT BEFORE due to Omicron. We woke up in the morning and could see Nassau and did for most of the morning.--- Celebrity only had 8 hours notice--Not four months to respond to "operational reasons." However on the second cruise (7 days later) we pulled into Nassau with ships from Disney, Virgin, Carnaval and one other. 

And by the way, Viking sometimes that they don't have as many amenities as their cruises are port intensive--not this one now. Also, not Vikings fault, but they notified us yesterday that we will need a yellow fever vaccination to get off the ship in Roatan. 

Squawkman,

20 vs 30. I went back through my records. When I assumed 20 plus in my mind I did not count combined cruises. For instance, I was on two back to back Celebrity Caribbean cruises (which I think about as one) ("continuing cruiser" as it is called) in January of this year. And we were upgraded to a small suite for the second cruise.

Funnier yet--the the last port for both cruises, before disembarking in Fort Lauderdale, was Nassau. Nassau. On cruise one Nassau turned into a seaday because Nassau decided not to allow cruise ship to enter THE NIGHT BEFORE due to Omicron. We woke up in the morning and could see Nassau and did for most of the morning.--- Celebrity only had 8 hours notice--Not four months to respond to "operational reasons." However on the second cruise (7 days later) we pulled into Nassau with ships from Disney, Virgin, Carnaval and one other. 

On 10/1/2022 at 9:38 AM, Squawkman said:

You really are assuming a lot, aren’t you? What’s your experience operating cruise ships? Sorry about your missed port (happened to us a few times during different cruises), but Viking isn’t that petty to do r suggesting. And unlike the big 3, Viking IMHO is more customer focused as there are no shareholders.

Only been on 30 plus cruises. Missed a few ports along the way, but usually given a reason and OBC.

They were on the spot cancellations, mostly for weather or vaccine restrictions. Never had ports cancelled months in advance or two on on 10 night cruise. We have not been given a plausible reason for the cancellation of Colon or Key West. I do know from aviation that airlines often state "operational reasons" when the cancel flights and that often, not always (like lack of crew), means they don't have enough passengers to make the flight profitable--remember the "shuttle" days. Otherwise they say weather or mechanical reasons. 

On 9/28/2022 at 5:46 PM, Mimiya11 said:

That is terrible   When was Colon eliminated?    Hope that is not the case for our March cruise as that would be very disappointing.    

Having said that, this is our first Viking cruise so we are happy to go regardless.      

Received email from Viking on 8/11/22 substituting an extra day in Panama City for the day in Colon. I wouldn't have minded the trade but have fixed plans to be in Panama City for several days before boarding the ship.

On 9/28/2022 at 5:26 PM, CCWineLover said:

Sorry you are bitter and feel that way.  Perhaps time to go back to what you feel comfortable with (Celebrity and Oceania).  I'm only sorry that you didn't at least give Viking one chance.  The only consolation is that there will be one less customer to compete with for popular Viking cruises for those of us who do like Viking (and don't like casinos).

Your right, already have 35 planned on Oceana in 2023-24. All on Insignia--a sub 1000 customer ship.  Because of costs in changing arrangements I will be on the Viking Star Panama cruise--but doubt they can make-up for what they have taken away.

• •  12
• June 27, 2017

I too have been to Key West--but was looking forward and paid for going again. Bigbee, you forgot to mention the Truman and Hemingway historical aspects.

I am aware of Carnival and Holland America--which is owned by Carnival-- having issues but they use large larger cruise ships (2,000-3,000) passengers. The Viking Star is under 1,000 passengers.

Also , Viking could at least substitute another port (bimini and Nassau come to mind) but that would cost them additional $$ in port fees and taxes. Another Seaday means a greater profit (booz/spa) for Viking 

• •  10
• June 27, 2017

We have been had by Viking--the Viking Star can dock in Key West. A 2020 referendum prohibiting cruise ships was immediately overturned by the Florida State Legislature. In March there was a key west city attempt to limit cruise ships with over 1500 passengers. Nothing indicates this was ever put into effect. Either way the Viking Star is a less than 1000 passenger ship. SEE BELOW from a March 22 except from a Key West paper. Has anyone heard anything about the Port Fees and Taxes Viking is saving by skipping Colon an Key West? Looks like we have been had--because they can.

At a meeting last week, the Key West City Council read out its compromise measure which will be presented and finalized at the next meeting scheduled for April 5. At issue was the November 2020 referendum in which residents voted to limit the size of cruise ships based on passenger capacity, restrict the number of people coming ashore each day from cruise ships, and favor cruise ships with the best environmental records. While the residents voted overwhelmingly in support of the three restrictions, Florida’s legislature and governor overrode the limitations in a retroactive law passed last summer.

Key West has three piers, two of which are controlled by the city and a third that is leased in perpetuity to a private operator. Since the beginning of the action, opponents and lawyers have argued that the City Council had no legal authority to restrict operations at the private pier and could face lawsuits if it attempted to impose the restrictions. 

The new ordinance which is nearly completed restricts most cruise ships to the single privately operated Pier B facility. It imposes restrictions on the city-run downtown Mallory Square Pier as well as the outer Mole Pier, which is owned by the U.S. Navy. The city piers will only accept smaller cruise ships that accommodate less than 1,300 passengers and they will only be available when the privately-run Pier B is not in use. 

Viking bait and switch

Received notice less than an hour ago that Key West had been eliminated from the Feb. 11 Classic Panama cruise. This is the second port eliminated from the trip--Colon was the first. And of course I receive notice of the cancellation less than 48 hours after i made the final payment. Thinking hard about cancelling and defaulting to a Princess Cruise. Since I bought the Travel Insurance through Viking they told be I could cancel with only a $100 per person ($200) penalty and the $1000 plus it cost for the insurance --approx $1200 loss. This would have been my first time on Viking (have 20+ cruises on Oceania and Celebrity). If I go,  it will definitely be my last. Obviously you can't trust Viking. No OBC or anything -- spa credit to kill two sea days in a row (on a ship without a casino) has been offered.