Little Monty

I've had good experiences with Scenic but am aware things don't always go to plan. I do feel for you and your fellow passengers. The whole experience sounds dreadful. I'm not sure if you are aware of this case below ... which took more than 10 years to resolve ; Scenic forced to pay $26 million in settlement - Cruise Passenger This is a summary of the actual court case; High Court uncaps damages for disappointment and distress in cruise ship class action | Australia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright As best I understand, the complainants in the court case were all Australians protected by Australian consumer legislation. I note in one of the attached reviews the word 'bankruptcy' is used. There is no suggestion that I am aware of that the Australian operations have faced such a situation and Scenic continues to advertise and operate as normal - so I assume this may be a reference to a UK based subsidiary or something similar. Best wishes. LM

From memory .. we did have some free time after the excursion and we did have a look around some shops. So yes you should be able to buy that magnet.

Booked through Viking. Not difficult. There was one time we walked from the top of the hill down to a small village ... but there was the option to stay on the bus and ride down if you didn't want to walk. The walk to the church with the red roof was easy. From memory the walk to the waterfall may have been a little more difficult, but the guide explains what's involved so you know what you are getting in to. But it was really worth it. Good luck with the planning and enjoy your trip. LM

We did 'The Island of Vagar' excursion in 2019. It was excellent. I hope you get into port, it's a great place to visit.

ah .. ok, understood. Thank you

Well done to you for a good attitude and a positive outlook. Is on-board testing still happening or did you test yourself ? Does everyone have to test before they board ? We board in Barcelona in June and Viking haven't sent us any information about testing (not as yet anyway). Best wishes, LM

Done, complaint lodged - I've also asked if any dogs have been given approval to board our cruise in June. I'll come back if / when I get a reply.

.. I've just realised I wrote that we rarely drink in the cabin, but we take a drink back to the cabin every night. I meant we rarely drink anything from the fridge .. hopefully the poster I was replying to gets my point. Cheers, LM

What you get in your fridge and what the Silver Spirits package provides are two separate issues. This is from the SS info in the website .. "Upgrade and enjoy unlimited beverages in all dining venues and bars throughout the duration of your cruise". The SS Package is meant to be used in dining rooms and bars etc and is not designed as a top up for the fridge. So the answer to your specific question is no. However, when you have the SS package can you pick up a drink from the bar at any time and take it back to your cabin. And you can ask room service to bring a drink to your cabin 1,2, 3 ... 5 times a day if you want. No problems. We have access to wine / beer / spirits etc in our cabin fridge and the fridge gets topped up every day - in theory. The reality is we rarely take anything from the fridge cos we rarely drink in our cabin and prefer to sit in one of the bars / lounge areas and enjoy the atmosphere. But we do take a drink from the bar back to our cabin almost every evening as a nightcap. So my suggestion is don't stress about what's in the fridge (or not in the fridge) - there are plenty of opportunities to make the most of the SS Package. Enjoy your cruise.

FYI Flooded Auckland braces for more rain after wettest 24 hours recorded, state of emergency declared (9news.com.au)

In Australia we have a rule for every situation, and an exception to every rule. I read about this issue every second day and I'm still confused (insert smile here). Pushka is correct - it all goes back to the Ruby Princess situation, which was literally a disaster in every sense. As time passed and international flights were allowed to start bringing in passengers again cruise ships were still banned (the stigma of Ruby Princess wouldn't go away). So the cruise line industry and government authorities agreed if cruise ships went over-and-above what airlines were doing they might be allowed to start cruising again. Over time these cruise line protocols were written into a document known as the Eastern Seaboard and Western Australian Cruise Protocols. Under the Eastern Seaboard and Western Australian Cruise Protocols, cruise vessels must report COVID-19 cases 12-24 hrs prior to arrival at a NSW port. Once reports are received from cruise vessels, their tier level is published below. I can't get the link to work .. but if you are interested just search for Eastern Seaboard and Western Australian Cruise Protocols I can't find any reference to this document being superseded so I assume it is still in effect. We are dealing with 3 scenarios; 1 passengers on a cruise ship in international waters heading for an Australian port. Basically if passengers show symptoms the cruise line is responsible for testing them. Positive numbers have to be advised to local authorities prior to arrival. 2 passengers who are about to disembark. If nobody showed symptoms prior to arrival and there was no need to test (perhaps your situation) everybody is free to disembark. This assumes people who showed symptoms advised medical staff on board, and assumes medical staff on board did the test correctly, and assumes any relevant information was passed on to authorities. Of course there may have been other people on board your cruise who did test positive - but of course this information is not shared by the cruise staff so you would not know. 3 passengers who are embarking on a cruise from an Australian port. The need for testing is driven by the desire of cruise lines to prevent COVID positive people from boarding. Interestingly I am flying to New Zealand on Saturday and I don't have to test before I depart nor when I arrive. If however I was boarding a cruise ship to NZ I have no doubt I would need to be tested and negative. This is of course all unrelated to the Wellington cancellation issue, but thought it might be useful. Cheers, LM

Cyclones are typically tropical but the weather systems which result from them do occasionally go far enough south to impact NZ. The weather in Wellington today was fine and 22 degrees (celsius). I assume there is more at play than the weather, and hopefully OP will provide an update over coming days.

What will they do with the 2 spare days (any ports added ? stay overnight somewhere ?). They might be still working on a Plan B. There might be more information to come. We did Auckland - Sydney in 2019 and missed Christchurch and Hobart and were offered compensation. However that was pre COVID and the T's and C's for such things might be different these days. Stay calm, enjoy the ship, and hope for more information shortly. Please come back and let us know what happens. Oh, and please take good care of the ship. We board Mars in Barcelona in June. Cheers, LM

Depends who you ask and whether you are flying or cruising. Seriously, they make it so complicated. There is no need for any person arriving into Australia by air to be tested or vaccinated. However there are different rules for cruise ships. There is a requirement that cruise ships notify authorities if they have COVID cases on board prior to arrival in Australia .... Update on cruise vessel COVID-19 status Under the Eastern Seaboard and Western Australian Cruise Protocols, cruise vessels must report COVID-19 cases 12-24 hrs prior to arrival at a NSW port. Once reports are received from cruise vessels, their tier level is published below. The tier classification is from the Critical outbreak thresholds for COVID-19 reporting purposes. For more information please also see the CDNA National Guidelines for Cruising in Australialaunch. So I guess this means if you are in Australia and departing on a cruise ship you don't need to be tested or be reported to authorities if COVID positive. Of course the cruise lines have their own rules. Friends of ours did a 7 day out and back from Brisbane pre-Christmas and were required by the cruise line (P & O I think?) to undertake RAT test and show results 24 hours prior to departure. There is nothing that I can find which suggests either the Federal or NSW government require you to be tested prior to departure. So it would only be something Viking would require - but as previous post by katlew indicated - they were not asked to test. But to be sure, it might be worth a phone call or an online chat with Viking head office in Sydney. Enjoy the cruise.

From the Viking Aust website ... CRUISE DETAILS TRAVEL DATES Jan 10 - Jan 24, 2023 Itinerary Viking Mars