Wondering why Viking is not cancelling South America cruises like other lines are doing?

[Insanityx4]

We have an upcoming cruise with Viking in March (Southern Atlantic Crossing). Due to port closures right now only two ports out of 8 on our itinerary are accepting ships. With the Omicron variant things are definitely getting worse for port closures in SA. I have read horror stories on Cruise Critic threads from people who were removed from the Jupiter In SA who tested positive and taken to very undesirable accommodations, i.e.Youth Hostels. Pax saying more like a prison with horrible food are not even allowed coffee. Oceania has cancelled all cruises to South America through March as well as other lines. It is quite concerning since Viking is usually amazing when it comes to safety and making sure their passengers are well cared for. I realize it is up to the host country to decide what passengers can and cannot do and where they can and cannot stay. I just don't understand why Viking is putting pax in these precarious situations on their SA itineraries..  

Edited January 7, 2022 by Insanityx4

[millybess]

Looking at your posts, it's obvious that you're hoping Viking cancels your cruise.  Viking has posted their protocols up to March.  From your posts, I see that your Viking cruise is for March 17, is that correct?  So "Oceania has cancelled all cruises to South America through March as well as other lines."  Why?  Have people cancelled and it's no longer financially viable for them to cruise?  Or do you just not want to cruise with the possible restrictions at that time?  Educate yourself on the Omicron variant.  If something worse comes along, you might get your wish and they will cancel.  JMO.

[Insanityx4]

Just wondering why! We have  their "risk free cancellation" so not worried about losing our money  I am not as concerned about catching Covid with all of their protocols as much as being forced to leave the ship because of being in close proximity to someone who tests positive. Being in a foreign country with questionable accommodations and questionable medical facilities, not speaking the language, and with no help or communication from Viking is a bit scary. Just surprised Viking would put their pax in this situation. Also, the passengers on board the Jupiter now who disembark on Saturday were on an 18 day cruise and only allowed off the ship twice. It is my understanding other lines have cancelled because of port closures.

[millybess]

I understand that you have drawn attention to the Jupiter situation and it is well deserved attention. Some would find that scary.  Some would say, what are the chances.  If you feel that you are in the former category, you should take advantage of your 'risk free cancellation'.  There is a reason why there is a risk free guarantee.  I obviously don't know anything about your personal situation, but I think it might be prudent for you to take advantage of that.  Everyone has to weigh their risks.

Edited January 7, 2022 by millybess
edited

[SJD117]

30 minutes ago, millybess said:

I understand that you have drawn attention to the Jupiter situation and it is well deserved attention. Some would find that scary.  Some would say, what are the chances.  If you feel that you are in the former category, you should take advantage of your 'risk free cancellation'.  There is a reason why there is a risk free guarantee.  I obviously don't know anything about your personal situation, but I think it might be prudent for you to take advantage of that.  Everyone has to weigh their risks.

Insanity asks a legitimate question in light of cancellations by other lines. I thought of the question myself.

 

To me, the issue isn't "scary" or "what are the chances." That's a passenger perspective, with each passenger having to do his or her risk-benefit analysis given the situation in SA right now. What I'm curious about is the markedly different decision-making by Oceania vs. Viking -- in other words, the corporate perspective. We may never know the answer, but it's still an interesting question to ponder. 

[millybess]

I agree with you SJD.  Which is why I brought up the possible financial considerations.  Keep in mind, that Viking asks for PIF much further out than other lines.

[Insanityx4]

We were on the Sun in Feb. 2020 on our way from Sydney, through Indonesia, to China when Covid happened. For almost two weeks we were turned away from port after port, being denied docking even for provisions and fuel. Everyone on the ship was healthy, passengers and crew, but that made no difference to countries that did not want our ship to dock at any of their ports. Getting home was a huge problem, Viking rebooking us 4 times. 35 hours to get home, flying time. So I know the frustrations involved in traveling during this pandemic. I don't know what will happen in the next two months but will wait and see. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Insanityx4

[SJD117]

1 hour ago, Insanityx4 said:

We were on the Sun in Feb. 2020 on our way from Sydney, through Indonesia, to China when Covid happened. For almost two weeks we were turned away from port after port, being denied docking even for provisions and fuel. Everyone on the ship was healthy, passengers and crew, but that made no difference to countries that did not want our ship to dock at any of their ports. Getting home was a huge problem, Viking rebooking us 4 times. 35 hours to get home, flying time. So I know the frustrations involved in traveling during this pandemic. I don't know what will happen in the next two months but will wait and see. 

We were on the Jupiter in Feb. and March 2020, cruising the same Valparaiso to Buenos Aires itinerary. Covid slammed us toward the end of the trip, but not in terms of active cases. In quick succession, Viking suspended worldwide operations and BA announced it was closing its airport to outbound travel. Like you, we went through multiple flight rebookings. Our final route took us from BA to Miami to Charlotte to the Northwest -- well over a day in transit. But at least we made it out.

 

I've been fortunate to visit South America five times now -- including four land-based trips on my own -- and have seen just about every must-see sight on that continent. With the pandemic at full throttle, I'm content to wait for more stability before I visit again.  

[slewis7]

My wife and I are booked on a Viking South America cruise in late February and we will not be going.  We just got off a Viking cruise to Mexico which had just a few reported cases and we missed 3 of our 5 ports.  I do not want to risk this again or worse, being quarantined in SA.  The conditions of travel have deteriorated since we booked with now being restricted to Viking excursions.

 

Of course we would prefer a full refund rather then future cruise credit, so with Viking’s generous no risk guarantee we have incentive to wait and see if Viking will cancel before we do.

Edited January 7, 2022 by slewis7

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, Insanityx4 said:

We were on the Sun in Feb. 2020 on our way from Sydney, through Indonesia, to China when Covid happened. For almost two weeks we were turned away from port after port, being denied docking even for provisions and fuel. Everyone on the ship was healthy, passengers and crew, but that made no difference to countries that did not want our ship to dock at any of their ports. Getting home was a huge problem, Viking rebooking us 4 times. 35 hours to get home, flying time. So I know the frustrations involved in traveling during this pandemic. I don't know what will happen in the next two months but will wait and see. 

 

I was also aboard Viking Sun and if my memory is correct, you were booked on the 2nd segment from Sydney to Hong Kong, probably boarding 11th Feb. My recollection of the events is significantly different. Although the itinerary changed, we were only turned away from 1 port, although they did eventually let us dock for stores.

 

Prior to you boarding, on 8th Feb we received an update itinerary, changing the 2nd segment TAR port from HK to Singapore. The reason - China & HK had closed their ports to ALL ships, not just Viking Sun.

 

Just prior to departure Brisbane on 14th Feb, we received another revised itinerary. Due to COVID developments in SE Asia, Viking decided to eliminate all ports except Indonesia. The new itinerary included - Noumea, Cairns, Airlie Beach, Townsville, Thursday Is, Darwin, Komodo Is, Semarang, Surabaya & Bali. We followed the revised itinerary for over 2 weeks, until arrival Semarang, getting into every port and having normal tours/shore leave, except Airlie Beach. We missed Airlie Beach due to heavy weather, nothing to do with COVID.

 

In Komodo Island the local authorities required we wear masks ashore, with lots of photos posted. A past pax saw one of the photos and posted to social media that we had COVID on board. This was quickly picked up by local Indonesia media outlets. By the time we arrived in Semarang (5 Mar) the local authorities (not Indonsia Govt) had banned the ship from docking. We anchored all day, eventually docking for stores in the early evening.

 

The next port was cancelled, so we had an extra day in Bali, before flights. On arrival Bali, we were initially banned, but negotiations enabled us to dock and spend 2 normal days in Bali - normal tours and shore leave.

 

Not sure how you consider we were turned away from port after port for almost 2-weeks. You didn't get to the ports on the original itinerary, but the ship followed most of the revised itinerary, with Semarang being the only port we were turned away from.

[Cienfuegos]

The number of variables in a multi-stop cruise is considerable. Issues of personal safety, ship safety, decisions made by local and national governments, etc. From a personal standpoint, there are a lot of things that could affect the voyage.

 

The decision of a local port to remove and confine "plague" patients in a hostel or hospital ward would be terrifying to me. Don't speak the language, limited communication with the outside, and so on.

 

 

[Insanityx4]

Not trying to argue with you Andy, but the itinerary we signed up for was definitely not the itinerary we had on the Sun. We have cruised enough to know itineraries are always subject to change and we have always gone with the flow. We also knew when we left home that there was an emerging virus and we would not be going to China and possibly other Asian ports but decided to go anyway and see what we would get. Turned away or redirected is a matter of semantics. The five days we spent going to Nouma, New Caledonia and back I believe were because of ports beginning to close and it allowed Viking time to readjust our itinerary. We liked our time in Noumea but it was a fourth of our one month trip. Our leg of the World Cruise was only a small part of yours, but it was what we had planned for for months. We are definitely glad we took the cruise and had a great time. Viking did their very best with transparency and letting us know what was happening with port rescheduling and changes as soon as they knew, so no complaints there. We felt we were treated exceptionally well by Viking with FCC as well. I guess the point I am trying to make is on the Sun, Viking had no idea what was ahead of them on our "Magical Mystery Cruise". It is my opinion that they must have a much clearer picture now as to what is happening in different countries and port closures.. I have been following different threads from people who are on the Jupiter or plan to be, for the last few months and became concerned about what may lie ahead for future SA cruisers.  My best to you and Judy! 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Insanityx4

[Insanityx4]

Didn't mean a fourth or our cruise but a large portion. Sorry!

Edited January 7, 2022 by Insanityx4

[kawh]

I think that Viking should be offering full cash refunds at this point. I am waiting to see if they do the right thing. The SA trip just prior to ours has a revised itinerary with 5 or 6 straight days of sailing. We book our cruises mostly based on port stops so this is a huge negative for us. Super disappointed in their lack of respect for their guests. 

[Mich3554]

33 minutes ago, kawh said:

I think that Viking should be offering full cash refunds at this point. I am waiting to see if they do the right thing. The SA trip just prior to ours has a revised itinerary with 5 or 6 straight days of sailing. We book our cruises mostly based on port stops so this is a huge negative for us. Super disappointed in their lack of respect for their guests. 

Viking has absolutely NO control of how countries respond to a case of covid.  I was on the 12/7-22 SA cruise and Argentina acted differently with us (we had a case of covid who got off in Montevideo) than they did on the subsequent cruise.  We lost Puerto Madryn due to the trans Atlantic needing 14 days to enter Argentina from Africa (I was on this cruise too, with 9 consecutive sea days and no covid) so it was a time issue, not getting into the country.  We had 2 days in Ushuaia instead (which is still Argentina).  We still had normal stops in Chile, despite the single case removed in Uruguay.

The SA cruise has a lot of sea days normally, there are only 8 ports (if you include Valparaíso and BA) in an 18 day cruise.  Just missing the Falklands is going to result in 4-5 consecutive sea days, and odds are only about 50% of getting into this port due to weather.

When we got on the Jupiter on 10/31, we knew that it was very likely it would not be the cruise we planned.  That was ok.  But I in no way blame Viking for stupid bureaucracy in the multiple countries they needed to deal with.  

[Insanityx4]

Just read the Jupiter will not be allowed to dock in BA tomorrow. One person has tested positive. It is being redirected to Montevideo for debarkation. Bad news for the people already in BA waiting to start their cruise tomorrow. Ouch!

[kawh]

4 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

Viking has absolutely NO control of how countries respond to a case of covid.  I was on the 12/7-22 SA cruise and Argentina acted differently with us (we had a case of covid who got off in Montevideo) than they did on the subsequent cruise.  We lost Puerto Madryn due to the trans Atlantic needing 14 days to enter Argentina from Africa (I was on this cruise too, with 9 consecutive sea days and no covid) so it was a time issue, not getting into the country.  We had 2 days in Ushuaia instead (which is still Argentina).  We still had normal stops in Chile, despite the single case removed in Uruguay.

The SA cruise has a lot of sea days normally, there are only 8 ports (if you include Valparaíso and BA) in an 18 day cruise.  Just missing the Falklands is going to result in 4-5 consecutive sea days, and odds are only about 50% of getting into this port due to weather.

When we got on the Jupiter on 10/31, we knew that it was very likely it would not be the cruise we planned.  That was ok.  But I in no way blame Viking for stupid bureaucracy in the multiple countries they needed to deal with.  

not blaming viking... but withing they would do the right thing and offer full refunds.  someone posted the new schedule for  jan. 8 departure and it's nothing anyone would sign up for, imo.  

[slewis7]

I am concerned for anyone still booked on the imminent Viking Jupiter sailing.  If things continue to go sideways, it seems highly likely that subsequent Jupiter sailings will get cancelled; at least, I hope so.

[osterzone]

Anyone have an update on this? Seems like a tough situation down there. 

[uktog]

Even before we had heard of Covid, South America was a nightmare for the cruise lines.  Supplies would be held up, pilots would go awol, port assignments would get changed.  As a result, some cruise lines pulled out of sailing there as they were not prepared to pay the "additional used notes" fees to get what they had contracted for.  So whilst the current situation is not entirely as a result of that culture, it was inevitable in my mind.  We had booked on Jupiter but cancelled some time back, not because we were not ready to cruise, but because we felt Viking were taking far to high a risk in going to a part of the world where covid numbers were high and there was such a history in "messing cruise ships around".

 

I am so sorry for those who carried on but really feel there was an inevitability in this outcome and I hope Viking pull the plug, look after those currently there and then relocate their vessel elsewhere

[KBs mum]

We'd love to sail around Cape Horn, with diversions to look at the coastal scenery. We have little interest in most of the port stops on the usual itinerary, the cruise that has just ended in Montevideo would be better for us. 

In the UK, If the itinerary differs notably from that which was given at the time of cruise purchase there is a right to cancel and refund, or a pro rata refund. 

Viking won't cancel, they will just change the route/ports. We haven't booked anything in South America because of some of the countries being 'unreliable' at the best of times

[Insanityx4]

If anyone is interest in the latest updates on the Jupiter I suggest you look at the boards for the Jan. 8th sailing which was supposed to leave BA yesterday, however the ship was not allowed to dock in BA so went to Montevideo instead. The 300 passengers due to disembark yesterday are still on the ship, Viking has retained a private jet to fly them to Miami leaving on the 10th. The 200 pax who were supposed to leave from BA 1/8 had to be transported by catamaran to Montevideo to board the ship last night.. Today a few of the new pax tested positive so all are confined to their cabins. Excursions in Montevideo have been cancelled. Hopefully the 300 who are supposed to leave the ship tomorrow will be allowed to disembark. The saga continues....

Edited January 9, 2022 by Insanityx4

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, uktog said:

Even before we had heard of Covid, South America was a nightmare for the cruise lines.  Supplies would be held up, pilots would go awol, port assignments would get changed.  As a result, some cruise lines pulled out of sailing there as they were not prepared to pay the "additional used notes" fees to get what they had contracted for.  So whilst the current situation is not entirely as a result of that culture, it was inevitable in my mind.  We had booked on Jupiter but cancelled some time back, not because we were not ready to cruise, but because we felt Viking were taking far to high a risk in going to a part of the world where covid numbers were high and there was such a history in "messing cruise ships around".

 

I am so sorry for those who carried on but really feel there was an inevitability in this outcome and I hope Viking pull the plug, look after those currently there and then relocate their vessel elsewhere

 

So true, and it didn't only apply to cruise ships, as these issues were fairly common with all shipping. South America is just one of those regions of the World where you have to be prepared for changes, even before factoring COVID into the equation.

[CannotSwim]

The 11 February South America & the Chilean Fjords cruse was supposed to be four countries, with the changes announced today it will only be Chile and some scenic cruising.

[Insanityx4]

Chile is not a country you want to be quarantined in if testing positive for COVID-19. Passengers are removed from the ship and put into government run hostels. Couples are separated, not allowed coffee, alcohol, salt, pepper, and many other things. Their quarantine lasts 16 days and the food is said to be inedible.

Viking has no control over what happens in Chile. You couldn't pay me to take that cruise. For more information on the hostel conditions follow the December 22 thread. It's scary for sure with no communication from Viking and no one speaking English at the hostel. Someone posted the changer itinerary today.

Edited January 20, 2022 by Insanityx4