Bob Bruce

I agree with you 100%. We took the cancellation option and a refund. We can now plan another excursion. You can find a website that shows the ships currently in the Red Sea by location and type. There are no cruise ships in those waters nor have there been any there for many weeks. I’m happy that Viking made the right (only) decision. I would have preferred that they had done it a month sooner. I’m sad that the trip that we had planned fell apart. We were really looking forward to it as a way to complete the WC that we started in 2020. Maybe we can do it in the future.

The primary reason was that it paralyzed us in trying to decide what to do. We are considering another shorter trip on Viking in May (British Isles cruise that starts in Bergen). We really had no idea how they were going to handle the situation which kept us from making alternative plans. Therefore, the reason for the angst was not knowing what was going to happen so we would be freed up to make decisions (take the cruise with the changed itinerary or do another more desirable cruise). My criticism relates to them waiting so long to make what you and I think was an obvious change when other companies made the change multiple weeks ago. We were in limbo for a lot longer than should have been the case.

Well, Viking came through finally. They gave us options including full refund(s) for the Grand Passage Asia to Europe Cruise. The original itinerary was what we wanted to do. The major change revised itinerary was not of interest to us. I only wish that they would have done this a month ago. Much hand wringing and angst for the time that we waited for confirmation of a change that was inevitable. I never thought that they would enter and transit the Red Sea given what is occurring there. That situation was beyond their control. What was in their control was letting current and prospective customers know what was going to be changed. As mentioned before, most of their competitors were a month or more ahead of Viking in letting us know what the changed itinerary was going to look like or even letting us know that there would be a change. I hope that they learned a business lesson from this.

I certainly hope that they offer more than an option board $250 ship credit. This change is huge. The whole Mediterranean portion is gone. It was the primary reason that we booked the Grand Passage Cruise in the first place. Some of Southeast Asia was eliminated too. I hope they offer significant trip credits, refunds, etc.

I wondered about that too. Senegal has been unstable for at least a year. Cape Verde isn’t much in my opinion. We diverted there last year when Dakar was determined to not be safe.

Thanks Huskies fan!

Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius and so on would be nice. Also South Africa, Namibia, Madeira and Canary Islands would be nice. Cape Verde isn’t much based on going there last year. However, of more interest to me is whether the Mediterranean ports can still be accomplished. I’m guessing not very many since there will not be enough days left before needing to be in England. More to come from all y’all soon I hope. Thanks for keeping us apprised!

Interesting. Diverting where is the big question for me. That location is only 6 days into our portion of the cruise. I had assumed that they would go as far as Mumbai on the original itinerary.

Please do for those of us not on the cruise yet. Thank you Jim!

For those of you who have been following this thread; I have been told by Viking Customer Service that we will receive an email from Viking this Monday that addresses the Red Sea situation, itinerary change, trip credits and other pertinent information. Better late than never or too late. I am hopeful about this news! Have a good day wherever you are.

Heidi, that’s incredible that you were on all the way to Gibraltar. You had the entire ship to yourselves I guess. I do recall learning that a few people had to go on the nearly empty ship. I presume that you couldn’t stop anywhere from Dubai to Gibraltar. That’s a pretty long slog. I suppose that you ate at the Captain’s Table often. Lots of memories from that WC for all of us.

Heidi, my wife Gigi and I were on the 2020 WC. I believe that I remember you. You are correct about how Viking treated us then. We were kept abreast of the rapidly evolving Pandemic situation and given options including refunds and trip credits. I left the ship in Darwin. Gigi stayed on until they canceled the remainder of the cruise in Dubai. How they handled that situation compared to how they’re handling things now is light and day different. The Red Sea situation has been going downhill for over three months and they’re pretending like everything is hunky dory. They must think that we’re stupid. Had they been open and honest with us, their customers would not be upset. Maybe they just don’t care. I heard that they’re selling the company or taking it public. I’m not sure if either of those things are factual. However, it’s possible that the transaction, if happening, is somehow driving their current decision making. I can’t fathom how alienating repeat customers helps with that though.

I didn’t mean to not include the Viking Neptune as the other ship that has an itinerary that includes the Red Sea transit. Thank you for pointing that out! It is completely appalling that Viking is not being more forthright with their customers and employees. Also, there are not a lot of places in Africa that can take a cruise ship and support the logistics necessary for provisioning (fuel, food, etc.). Since Viking’s competitors have identified the problem early; they probably have lined up the best options. That leaves Viking with limited choices. None of that will make for an interesting lengthy journey.

I know that Viking continues to offer the cruise with the original itinerary with the exception of Haifa, Israel and the addition of a port in Greece. It’s false advertising in my opinion. As of yesterday, there were no cruise ships in the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Common sense would dictate that it’s not somewhere that you want to sail a slow big target with a thousand or more passengers and crew on board. And I circle back to the insurance providers who are charging a very large premium increase for commercial ships that choose to enter the Red Sea. I presume that the premium that Viking will have to pay would be more than what insurance companies are charging cargo ships. It is not economically sound for a cruise company to pay the huge premium. It would wipe out any profit that they hoped to make on the voyage. Cruising is a crapshoot in the best of conditions. This Red Sea situation warrants a radically changed itinerary or a cancellation in Mumbai. We will see what they do. I still expect/expected a notification about this from Viking which they have failed to do thus far even though their competitors have done this weeks ago in most cases. Passengers on one cruise line have been asked to vote on two revised itineraries and been offered refunds if neither alternative itinerary is to their liking. That is forward thinking customer service.

Re: Please read the attached file if you’re interested and concerned about Viking Sky 2024 Red Sea transit plans. Nearly every day, ships are being targeted by Houthi missiles and drones. Some ships have been hit and several have been substantially damaged. Yet, Viking continues to tell current passengers as well as those that will join the cruise in Singapore that the itinerary is unchanged. While I don’t believe that Viking will actually attempt the Red Sea transit; I do have strong feelings about the fact that they continue to tell passengers that they will. Most, if not all of the other major cruise lines, have informed passengers that their itinerary will be changed and they are offering options. So far, Viking has declined to do that. It is very disconcerting to say the least. I do hope that Viking will be transparent about their revised itinerary very soon. It goes without saying that no responsible cruise line company will attempt to transit the Red Sea under the current conditions which show no sign of abating and are actually escalating. Passengers and crew deserve transparency regarding this very significant situation sooner rather than later.