Pushka

Not sure about experiences in the USA but if there's a Noro outbreak or Covid or 'flu' in any of our aged care homes, child care centres hospitals etc then they must notify health authorities and likely visitors are either refused entry or are masked and sometimes tested and the facility (child care) might close down for a couple of days. My grandson was due to have surgery in December last year. On the day of his arrival he was refused the surgery because they considered he may be infectious from whatever bug was going around at the time. The issue with cruises is that it involves a mass of people. Nursing homes are a controlled space. Australia was introduced to covid en masse by a cruise ship, (not Celebrity) where 900 cases occurred and 22 deaths, just in Australia alone from this one cruise. We'd had very few cases prior but this changed everything. So cruise ships aren't seen amongst the general population as being a wonderful thing and the authorities screen them. We only stopped testing passengers for Covid a few months ago. We've been on two cruises post covid. We are fine but we completely understand why in Australia anyway, authorities act as they do. And cruise ships aren't the only ones impacted if there's an outbreak here. We just don't hear about aged care homes etc unless we are personally impacted. So Australia goes nuts in general, for any outbreak and not just to cruise ships. We have intense biosecurity arrangements at all airports and ports and sniffer dogs meet pretty much every plane and ship.

It is also why cruises get a rotten reputation amongst the local population. Similar experience just before Christmas in Australia where a ship known to have both a Covid and Noro outbreak - they got all passengers off the ship and into the next port so they could clean the ship. No consideration whatsoever for the locals.

We all need to thank you! So Thankyou. 😁

I randomly priced one today. Single was $10,000 approx aud and the double - $7200 aud (this was the total price not pp) for exactly the same cabin, same cruise, same inclusions. Its being discussed on an Australian Travel forum and has been noticed.

I'd give very basic info only.

Phew. Seems like I'm sorted then to eat non sushi items and a takeaway on a few days as well. It's a shame they removed the sushi from the buffet. Watching them prepare from the wonderful fish supplies was a fav past time of hubby.

So, weird question. I don't like seafood. At all. We used to love the buffet serving sushi around 5pm. I'd have the curry, husband the sushi. So, is it possible to have sushi on five provide the food in a takeaway pack? Otherwise we will be eating separately 😂

Yes and much earlier than ocean cruises.

In Australia so before final payment. Simply clicking on Change Cabin brings up a whole different range of inclusions. So I rang and that was what I was told. They consider it a change of booking.

We were told even if we changed cabin location - exactly the same level, even just a door away, then the original booking conditions disappear and new ones apply relevant to the changed cabin.

We didn't even make it to the final port though (Basel) and Breisach was an arrival at 2am and we were dispatched at 7.30 am in the dark. Several had to disembark at 2.30am for the longer drive to Basel airport. Is it reasonable to say that on the 10 December that the floods upstream were going to continue, or worsen, especially as early as December 1 ships were already prevented from berthing in Breisach? Was this the kind of information that was readily available at the time? I fully understand that berths were simply unusable. At the point of our departure in Koblenz, after which it became a cobble bus trip, then I'd have been happy to have been given the option to leave. I understand many did, likely at their own cost.

You cannot be serious. Thats simply offensive. Another adoptive parent for a mixed race child.

Their communications have been poor this month. And there were little things they could have done to make it better. Like Shuttle buses. The Strasbourg markets. The last shuttle was 4.30pm even though we were not moving for the next three nights. So another night market missed (Speyer, Rudesheim also). We were on a Viking branded bus on a day trip to Colmar and Riquehar. We had to ride from Strasbourg as Breisach was flooded. So much longer drive. Even the guide wasn't happy as she lived in Breisach. The crows were significant but as there was no water on the Viking bus we had to queue for ages to use the bathroom there. That took us 25 minutes in Riquehar when we only had just over an hour at these markets. Because we had to be back onboard at 4pm.

I have. Two weeks ago. Have had no response.

Rafting yes. Not day and night. Depressing.

Then with respect as many cruises were significantly impacted,( no cruising for four nights but stuck in an industrial port next to another boat so no escaping on the balcony, and multiple ports lost) then I don't think a comment made about 'grumbling' is in any way fair. I have researched issues in spring and summer (flood and low water) but not once did I read anything about flooding at this time of the year. I travelled from Australia at significant cost for something that we would never want to do again.

I'd have been happy with just missing one port. Didn't seem to bad at all compared with most impacted ones.

There were some things that were under Vikings control that were not handled well at all.

We just completed Amsterdam to Basel but can't recommend it. We were caught by the floods. Upstream and downstream. We ended up swapping ships then not moving again for 3 nights plus permanently berthed to another ship so our balcony was unusable for over half the trip. Missed multiple ports and markets. One of those we did see were cut short and rushed. Long bus trips. I'd not have risked travelling from Australia and outlaying such money if I'd know this was a potential risk.

How long did it take for a response? We missed five river ports and four Christmas markets.

Almost the same. We were on the cruise before a special charter. So much work was done on our cruise in preparation and supplies were short.

Not ocean but river cruise. Christmas on the Rhine. We missed five ports, had to ship swap (not uncommon) but that ship then did not move for three nights. Have heard nothing from Viking. It's been a week. It was a known event before our cruise started.

There's no comparison. We were always able to find a quiet spot on the Ocean ship but less on the the river ship.

In your documents two weeks prior you will be given three sites for Amsterdam. This month we were at the middle site which is next to the Movenpick. The ships number will be on the documents and they will tell you which one they are at.

Ours last week were changed every port and we had to skip several due to flood.