Montenegro goes RED. Silver shadow 8/9/21

[eastwoodboy]

So what now? This means UK pax would have to be imprisoned for 10 days upon return to UK.

Hopefully SS will reschedule this one day or face a number of cancellations.

[les37b]

I have the same dilemma with a Viking Sea cruise booked for 19 September which has 5 Croatia stops and 1 Montenegro (Kotor, the same as for Shadow)

 

I have a feeling Viking will simply replace it with a sea day rather than lose half the ships passengers, because its not just the quarantine - you also wont have travel insurance. Or maybe hurriedly schedule a new port if they can. Not beyond the bounds of possibility. 

 

Shame - the next UK update will be the day we are due to arrive, so its remove or cant go. No hoping for the best for this one.

 

I expect that the US has similar updates, so I wonder what the process is and date of reviews? It wouldn't shock me if the US followed suit and also made red. Any details on the review process appreciated.

 

The prospect of paying approx £4000 to be imprisoned for 10 days is 100% not going to happen - but its a worry when on a cruise things can change and you get caught out with this. Makes you wonder what the point is. Its meant to help de-stress!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by les37b

[les37b]

Further to the above post, Viking are indeed already on the case to arrange an alternative and notified guests of their intentions and acknowledge the problem which will affect Montenegro from yesterdays announcement. I'm pretty impressed with their speed of communication. Looking at "Whats in port", I can see a few other lines affected. Luckily for us all, Montenegro only has one booked stop, had it been Croatia, it would have been a hugely more complicated problem.

 

 

Dear Viking Guest

 

We hope you are looking forward to your cruise.

 

As you may be aware the UK Government has changed the status of Montenegro, and this will move to Red from 4AM on the 30th August.

 

Your cruise is scheduled to visit Kotor, Montenegro. Please be assured that we are looking at alternative options for your itinerary.

 

There is no need to contact us at this time, our Guest Services team will be in touch with further information once arrangements have been made.

 

Thank you for your patience.

 

 

I expect SS will so something similar once these current problems with phones and my.silversea are resolved, though I think not being able to use the cruise terminal in Venice is a bigger obstacle, but sure I saw somewhere nearer to the airport was going to be used? It never used to be so complicated!!

Edited August 27, 2021 by les37b

[eastwoodboy]

Excellent service from Viking. Any idea the percentage of U.K. pax on a Viking cruise? I suspect it is much higher than SS.

 

The situation is not helped by SS being out of reach at the moment although this would only have been news to them yesterday evening.

I do wonder if they may take the view that there are so few U.K. pax on board and do nothing.
Another option is just to make it a sea day as I can not see another port that would fit and we already have an extra day in Corfu having lost our visit to Albania.

The Fusina terminal in Venice is no problem at all although not the most scenic. An easy 25 minute run from the airport but not quite so easy from Venice central.

[Fletcher]

In the old days you booked a holiday and spent your time relaxed and in a state of anticipation. And when you were there you just relaxed.  Now you worry your holiday might be cancelled and when you are there you worry that you might have to get out within a day's notice or that you might have to spend ten days in jail after your return. It's just a stress event.  I haven't booked anything abroad yet.  I find that so relaxing.

Edited August 27, 2021 by Fletcher

[Silver Spectre]

Relaxing is watching the Headingly Test from Provence with friends and a nice glass of local 🍷

[cruiseej]

1 hour ago, Fletcher said:

It's just a stress event.  I haven't booked anything abroad yet.

 

Yes, but perhaps only to some extent. As we've read all the reports from people cruising on the Moon around Greece this past month, I haven't read any comments saying they wish they had just skipped it and stayed home; to the contrary, everyone has been over-the-top ecstatic about the joy of returning to travel, to Silversea pampering, and to the areas of travel. 

 

Of course, everyone has their own level of risk tolerance and travel anxieties, so what's fine for one person is perhaps not night for someone else, and we should each do what we're personally comfortable with.

 

P.S. Ask me if I still feel the same in a month after my planed Seabourn Caribbean cruise!

[Philandher]

22 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

 

P.S. Ask me if I still feel the same in a month after my planed Seabourn Caribbean cruise!

Unfortunately it looks like a similar problem with the Caribbean, Gov.UK has issued an advisory note against all but essential travel to Guadeloupe and Martinique.