Viking European River Cruises restricting passengers from independent shore exploration???

[Selfish Cook]

I have recently booked a 15 day Viking France's Finest river cruise that will begin in early October 2021.  Viking Covid protocols require all guests to be vaccinated and have routine temperature checks and Covid testing during the cruise.  No problem.  We are happy to comply with all safety precautions.  But then I heard a few stories that passengers are only allowed to be off the boat during Viking-approved excursions. And passengers must stay with the group and return with the group or risk being denied boarding again.  So it seems that unless one is willing to pay for multiple additional excursions you will be confined to the boat for 20-plus hours/day.   No independent strolling through Paris or any other city/town on the route.  This is NOT what we thought we signed up for!  We are definitely considering cancelling.  Anybody else have any recent experiences with this policy?

[Psoque]

2 hours ago, Selfish Cook said:

I have recently booked a 15 day Viking France's Finest river cruise that will begin in early October 2021.  Viking Covid protocols require all guests to be vaccinated and have routine temperature checks and Covid testing during the cruise.  No problem.  We are happy to comply with all safety precautions.  But then I heard a few stories that passengers are only allowed to be off the boat during Viking-approved excursions. And passengers must stay with the group and return with the group or risk being denied boarding again.  So it seems that unless one is willing to pay for multiple additional excursions you will be confined to the boat for 20-plus hours/day.   No independent strolling through Paris or any other city/town on the route.  This is NOT what we thought we signed up for!  We are definitely considering cancelling.  Anybody else have any recent experiences with this policy?

I would actually contact Viking or have your travel agent contact Viking to confirm this.  Not everything posted here are always accurate, unfortunately.

[travelingman]

I did read on a post somewhere that the passengers were being given some free time to wondering around town after the included walking tour.

However, this could have changed again due to the EU recommendation on restrictions on US citizens due to the high number of COVID cases in the US.

[sharkster77]

Those who have recently returned from river cruises, at least in Germany and France, have reported being allowed to wander on their own.   As restrictions change, this may change as well.