FLASH NEWS! VIKING STAR DEC 21st CRUISE - STOPOVER IN TUNISIA & ALGIERS CANCELLED.

FLASH NEWS !!!!

Just received information from travel agent that there's been some changes to the cruise schedule for Viking Star cruise Dec 21st. - both stops in Tunisia and Algeria have been cancelled. However, this cruise will now stopover in Naples and Palma de Mallorca.

The schedule is as follows: Civitavecchia -> Naples, ->Tripani-> Cagliari-> Palma de Mallorca->Valencia-> Barcelona. That means you arrive in Tripani one day later than originally scheduled.

Those going on the B2B cruise from Barcelona back to Civitavecchia, that sector seems to be unchanged.

Please contact Viking, or your travel agent, for up-to-date information and to confirm details.

[emoji37] Was they any reason given? We booked the Star in January specifically to see these ports (I know, I know - they can change the itinerary for any reason at any time). It’ll be disappointing.

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[emoji37] Was they any reason given? We booked the Star in January specifically to see these ports (I know, I know - they can change the itinerary for any reason at any time).

Checked MVJ and we’re still scheduled for those two ports. It’ll be disappointing if it changes.

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FYI There are demonstration occurring across the Middle East in response to Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He lit a fuse.

FYI There are demonstration occurring across the Middle East in response to Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He lit a fuse.

Another factor to add to the current mix :

This particular sailing is also during Christmas season...

I am sure Viking monitors the safety of any of their ships, their passengers and various ports of call.

I’m really disappointed that I have to find out about this change on this forum instead of via an email from Viking. The changes have been made to My Viking Journey, so I guess they are confirmed.

Those two ports were one of the reasons we picked this specific cruise. I wonder why the changes were made?

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I’m really disappointed that I have to find out about this change on this forum instead of via an email from Viking. The changes have been made to My Viking Journey, so I guess they are confirmed.

 

Those two ports were one of the reasons we picked this specific cruise. I wonder why the changes were made?

 

 

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Did you look at the News link at the top of your MVJ? Check it out and see if there is a notice of the change.

I am on a Transatlantic in late March. On NOV 30 they changed one port of call from Casablanca to Tangiers, Morocco. There is a notice under the NEWS link on my MVK. It also includes phone numbers for various customer service depts, depending of your which country you booked your cruise.

I’m really disappointed that I have to find out about this change on this forum instead of via an email from Viking. The changes have been made to My Viking Journey, so I guess they are confirmed.

 

Those two ports were one of the reasons we picked this specific cruise. I wonder why the changes were made?

 

 

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There are a couple of reasons why Viking would make changes at the last minute and they usually have to do with the health and safety of the passengers. As OneSixtyToOne pointed out, there are demonstrations going on across the Middle East. If Viking has the least inkling that a port will be unsafe for its passengers, you can rest assured that Viking will err on the side of caution.

They did not call in Tripani last week because of high winds making it unsafe to enter the port. It was a last minute decision made by the captain. There was no time to substitute another port and passengers had an unexpected sea day. At least for December 21 there is enough time that the entire itinerary could be changed.

Personally, I could live without Naples or Palma de Mallorca but they are ports with large tourism infrastructure where last minute plans to provide tours for 900+ can more easily be accomplished. So, just in case we are diverted to Naples, I'm off to figure out how to visit Pompeii.

There are a couple of reasons why Viking would make changes at the last minute and they usually have to do with the health and safety of the passengers. As OneSixtyToOne pointed out, there are demonstrations going on across the Middle East. If Viking has the least inkling that a port will be unsafe for its passengers, you can rest assured that Viking will err on the side of caution.

 

 

 

They did not call in Tripani last week because of high winds making it unsafe to enter the port. It was a last minute decision made by the captain. There was no time to substitute another port and passengers had an unexpected sea day. At least for December 21 there is enough time that the entire itinerary could be changed.

 

 

 

Personally, I could live without Naples or Palma de Mallorca but they are ports with large tourism infrastructure where last minute plans to provide tours for 900+ can more easily be accomplished. So, just in case we are diverted to Naples, I'm off to figure out how to visit Pompeii.

Whilst I realize that the changes have probably been hastily made and are likely based on the anti-US protests in both countries (neither of which to my knowledge are in the Middle East)...my issue isn’t the changed ports (I would rather be safe)...but the fact that Viking has as of now not sent an email advising of the change.

Peregrina...do you know if Viking has any cruise itineraries that include the two new ports? I would love to do some research on what shore excursions may be possible. A visit to Pompeii would be lovely.

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Did you look at the News link at the top of your MVJ? Check it out and see if there is a notice of the change.

I am on a Transatlantic in late March. On NOV 30 they changed one port of call from Casablanca to Tangiers, Morocco. There is a notice under the NEWS link on my MVK. It also includes phone numbers for various customer service depts, depending of your which country you booked your cruise.

When you go to the Viking updates on current sailing, it appears as

" Updated Itineraries

All Viking itineraries are currently sailing on schedule."

Unless we missed it, we could not find any news there to say that the Dec 21st cruise has cancelled stops in Algeria and in Tunisia.

However, when we logged in into "My Viking Journey", it showed that the schedule has indeed changed, and NOT identical to the original schedule. So how can they say that all itineraries are currently sailing on schedule?

It seems like the webmaster on the Viking website needs to improve the information.

This is not the first time where the information there is somewhat confusing.

In the FAQ on gratuities and tips, it indicates and give the impression that gratuities on board are not included for everybody. What they did not say is that for most/all (?) customers who are UK residents, gratuities are included in the fares, but for US residents , they are not included. Why did they not just be more clear about that? Now does that not lead to more confusion?

However, we did call Viking directly and spoke to their rep. and were informed that the two stops has indeed been cancelled.

Gnoeij,

I cannot tell if you are from the US, UK or Australia/new Zealand.

I am from the US and booked through a US Travel agent.

Again on my MVK there is a link at top of page to NEWS:

This has the change of ports for my sailing. It took a few days for it to show up on my MJV of my itinerary.

We did also recieve an email from Viking, but our sialing is four mouths out.

A teh end of the News posting form Viking it states:

We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause; however, we are confident you will find the alternative arrangements enjoyable.

Should you have any questions before your departure, please call:

US and Canadian guests: 1-877-523-0579, Monday through Friday, 6:00 am to 8:00 pm, and Saturday to Sunday, 7:30 am to 4:00 pm, PST.

Australian and New Zealand guests: 138 747 (AU) or 0800 447 913 (NZ), Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm (AEST) or email CustomerRelationsAU@vikingcruises.com

United Kingdom guests: 0208 780 7900, option 1, Monday through Friday 9:00am to 7:00pm, Saturday 9:00am to 5:00pm, Sunday 10:00 am to 4:00pm, or email Customerservices@vikingcruises.com

I know that there are differences between UK and US bookings for all cruise lines, and gratuties included are one of them for UK along with insurance and even air included for their bookings.

After learning about the change from your TA, you can call one of the numbers above and get more information.

I am totally satisfied with the MVJ adn their webs site.

It is light years better than Celebrity"s which had always been a hot mess over the years.:eek:

Very disappointed to see this development, particularly for those impacted by the very last minute change. We are also booked on this itinerary early next year, and as others have expressed, these ports were a major reason that we booked this sailing.

I don't see any recent news about issues in either Tunis or Algiers, and there are no updates on the US Dept of State website. Will be interesting to "hopefully" hear from VO as to why they have made this decision for this particular sailing.

Also, on MVJ, I don't see a "News" header. Perhaps this only appears if an itinerary change has been made on one's particular sailing.

Very disappointed to see this development, particularly for those impacted by the very last minute change. We are also booked on this itinerary early next year, and as others have expressed, these ports were a major reason that we booked this sailing.

Yes, we are quite disappointed about the cancellations especially with only one week to go. As for one of the "replacement" stops, Palma de Mallorca, been there earlier this year, seen and done what we wanted to do there, and are not that keen to visit it again so soon. It would have been better if the replacement stop was a port in Corsica, or even Ibiza.

Also, on MVJ, I don't see a "News" header. Perhaps this only appears if an itinerary change has been made on one's particular sailing.

We logged into MVJ, seen the itinerary changed but still could not find the "News" Header. Did anyone else manage to find it?

A friendly constructive criticism perhaps is that Viking could improve their communications with their clients, would you not think that is reasonable comment?

As to the comments in their FAQ giving the information about tips and gratuities not being included - the Viking webmaster could just add an asterisk (*) to note that certain fares in certain regions of the world already include gratuities, so the above information would not include these guests. Simples. Why did s/he not just do that?

Very disappointed to see this development, particularly for those impacted by the very last minute change. We are also booked on this itinerary early next year, and as others have expressed, these ports were a major reason that we booked this sailing.

 

I don't see any recent news about issues in either Tunis or Algiers, and there are no updates on the US Dept of State website. Will be interesting to "hopefully" hear from VO as to why they have made this decision for this particular sailing.

 

Also, on MVJ, I don't see a "News" header. Perhaps this only appears if an itinerary change has been made on one's particular sailing.

From Reuters

Thousands of Tunisians protest against Trump's Jerusalem decision

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-israel-tunisia/thousands-of-tunisians-protest-against-trumps-jerusalem-decision-idUSKBN1E1300

Gnoeij,

LOL, we must have different first pages on our MVJ.

Anyone for the UK have a different front page?

After I enter the site with my password, this is what I see on the front page of MY Viking Journey:

Menu(upper left had corner) My Calendar News Shopping Cart Welcome Patricia ( with arrow)

 

Peregrina...do you know if Viking has any cruise itineraries that include the two new ports? I would love to do some research on what shore excursions may be possible. A visit to Pompeii would be lovely.

 

 

 

 

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Naples: https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/western-mediterranean/mediterranean-odyssey/index.html#itineraryday/7

Palma de Mallorca: On a quick look, I didn't see any.

Naples: https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/western-mediterranean/mediterranean-odyssey/index.html#itineraryday/7

 

Palma de Mallorca: On a quick look, I didn't see any.

Viking use to sail to Mallorca a few years ago. Their site still contains an old web page about the destination but currently it isn't linked to any cruises. Years ago I had friends who lived there and I almost took a cruise there. I wish Viking would permanently make this a destination.

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/destinations/palma-de-mallorca/about.html

Gnoeij,

LOL, we must have different first pages on our MVJ.

Anyone for the UK have a different front page?

 

After I enter the site with my password, this is what I see on the front page of MY Viking Journey:

Menu(upper left had corner) My Calendar News Shopping Cart Welcome Patricia ( with arrow)

You are probably right, we must have different first pages on our MVJ.

However, on the top bar on top of the main Viking Ocean

homepage (for UK) and if you click the "Why Viking" header, there is a drop down menu with "News" on it.

OR Just follow this link:

https://www.vikingcruises.co.uk/oceans/why-viking/news/index.html ,

We clicked "News" but the latest "news" was September 2nd, 2017, and not December 15th, 2017. And nothing mentioned about the cancellation of the two stops for the December 21st cruise. Not exactly that very up-to-date news there, is it?

There are a couple of reasons why Viking would make changes at the last minute and they usually have to do with the health and safety of the passengers.

Dear Peregrina651, we see from the Viking Star roll call you are joining the ship in Barcelona on December 28, and taking the B2B cruise, returning back to Barcelona two weeks later.

That means, you are scheduled to visit Tunis and Algiers, two weeks after our cancelled scheduled stops at these two cities.

You might like to check with Viking to see what the situation is for your Southern Med part of the cruise . As you are probably one of the most informative (and helpful) Viking cruisers on CruiseCritic, no doubt you would know exactly what to do. ( If you don't , no one else would ! )

Hopefully, you will have more luck than we have and your stopovers at these two places will not be cancelled, they will turn out to be enjoyable visits.

FYI There are demonstration occurring across the Middle East in response to Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He lit a fuse.

Having worked for the better part of a decade in Saudi Arabia, and having visited at least nine other countries with similar, um, ‘values’, this quote from Roseanna Roseanadana comes to mind:

“It’s always something. If it isn’t one thing it’s another! It’s always something”.

I’m really disappointed that I have to find out about this change on this forum instead of via an email from Viking. The changes have been made to My Viking Journey, so I guess they are confirmed.

 

Those two ports were one of the reasons we picked this specific cruise. I wonder why the changes were made?

 

 

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I can understand your disappointment even if the change is warranted. This itinerary was tricky from the start so was a risk. Still disappointing but it will be a great time anyway I'm sure.

I too would expect notification of port changes made in advance. Impossible to plan otherwise. Is your booking with a TA? If it is then they should receive notice from the CL and then notify you.

Not arguing the validity of the change as a CL will not put their pax or ship at risk. It is good that they did make the decision now and pax not find out through a note in their stateroom. Once the decision was made an email should have been sent to their pax or TA.

Dear Peregrina651, we see from the Viking Star roll call you are joining the ship in Barcelona on December 28, and taking the B2B cruise, returning back to Barcelona two weeks later.

 

That means, you are scheduled to visit Tunis and Algiers, two weeks after our cancelled scheduled stops at these two cities.

 

You might like to check with Viking to see what the situation is for your Southern Med part of the cruise . As you are probably one of the most informative (and helpful) Viking cruisers on CruiseCritic, no doubt you would know exactly what to do. ( If you don't , no one else would ! )

 

Hopefully, you will have more luck than we have and your stopovers at these two places will not be cancelled, they will turn out to be enjoyable visits.

As soon as I saw this thread I sent an e-mail to my go-to contact in the "TellUs" department to ask about the January 4th cruise. Turns out she is on maternity leave and so I have contacted the address she gave in her out of office reply and am awaiting an answer. I don't expect to hear until at least Monday because I am assuming that the primary focus this weekend will be the people on the 12/21 cruise. But, it will be what it will be--and Viking will never let us sail the western Med with them again because we are bad luck. We tried this cruise last year and the ship suffered a critical failure in the propulsion system forcing our return to Barcelona before we even got to the first port of call. This year it is political protests.

I was telling my husband of the possible changes (and really I think probable is more the operative; it was years before the cruise ships returned to Tunis after the Arab Spring uprisings). His reaction was completely laid back; he is going where the ship is going and he really doesn't care where it takes him. I know my mother will be thrilled if we are not going to either Algiers or Tunis. Me. I will be disappointed but I know that Viking puts the safety of its guests first and that they will err on the side of caution.

I have to tell you that it really was very disappointing last year when the Captain announced that we had turned around and were headed back to Barcelona for repairs. And I will admit that it took a few hours to get used to the idea that this was not going to be the vacation that we had planned, that we had to change gears and that we had to make the best of the changed circumstances or we would be miserable. We now refer to our stay in Barcelona as "Our Best Worst Cruise Ever."

 

Personally, I could live without Naples or Palma de Mallorca but they are ports with large tourism infrastructure where last minute plans to provide tours for 900+ can more easily be accomplished. So, just in case we are diverted to Naples, I'm off to figure out how to visit Pompeii.

We visited Herculaneum instead of Pompeii. The former has almost a complete town excavated, including many 2 storey buildings. The only downside was the Guide's opening comments - 'You could easily spend 7-8 hours here and still have buildings left to see. We gather at the bus to return to the ship in 3.5 hours ....' :confused:

I have to tell you that it really was very disappointing last year when the Captain announced that we had turned around and were headed back to Barcelona for repairs. And I will admit that it took a few hours to get used to the idea that this was not going to be the vacation that we had planned, that we had to change gears and that we had to make the best of the changed circumstances or we would be miserable. We now refer to our stay in Barcelona as "Our Best Worst Cruise Ever."

Peregrina,

I love your spirit! You are my travel inspiration.

Joanne

We visited Herculaneum instead of Pompeii. The former has almost a complete town excavated, including many 2 storey buildings. The only downside was the Guide's opening comments - 'You could easily spend 7-8 hours here and still have buildings left to see. We gather at the bus to return to the ship in 3.5 hours ....' :confused:

We have visited both Pompeii and Herculaneum. We visited both with private guides. Both are incredible.

From a logistics standpoint, Herculaneum offers easier access due to being right outside of Naples.....we spent almost an entire day at n Pompeii because we had the time to do so on that land trip. We spent several hours at Herculaneum on one of our stops via ship in Naples.....then went to the National Archeological Museum. Whatever you choose, you won’t regret the time spent visiting either.