Red Sea Transit 2024

[Bob Bruce]

Re: Please read the attached file if you’re interested and concerned about Viking Sky 2024 Red Sea transit plans. Nearly every day, ships are being targeted by Houthi missiles and drones. Some ships have been hit and several have been substantially damaged. Yet, Viking continues to tell current passengers as well as those that will join the cruise in Singapore that the itinerary is unchanged. While I don’t believe that Viking will actually attempt the Red Sea transit; I do have strong feelings about the fact that they continue to tell passengers that they will. Most, if not all of the other major cruise lines, have informed passengers that their itinerary will be changed and they are offering options. So far, Viking has declined to do that. It is very disconcerting to say the least. I do hope that Viking will be transparent about their revised itinerary very soon. It goes without saying that no responsible cruise line company will attempt to transit the Red Sea under the current conditions which show no sign of abating and are actually escalating. Passengers and crew deserve transparency regarding this very significant situation sooner rather than later. 

[Hanoj]

And Viking is still offering staterooms on Sky's sailing March 13, 2024 from Singapore to Greenwich, with unaltered itinerary showing transit by way of the Red Sea. Granted, not many stateroom are available per Price & Build (most categories show sold out). But still.

Edited February 22 by Hanoj

[Bob Bruce]

I know that Viking continues to offer the cruise with the original itinerary with the exception of Haifa, Israel and the addition of a port in Greece. It’s false advertising in my opinion. As of yesterday, there were no cruise ships in the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Common sense would dictate that it’s not somewhere that you want to sail a slow big target with a thousand or more passengers and crew on board. And I circle back to the insurance providers who are charging a very large premium increase for commercial ships that choose to enter the Red Sea. I presume that the premium that Viking will have to pay would be more than what insurance companies are charging cargo ships. It is not economically sound for a cruise company to pay the huge premium. It would wipe out any profit that they hoped to make on the voyage. Cruising is a crapshoot in the best of conditions. This Red Sea situation warrants a radically changed itinerary or a cancellation in Mumbai. We will see what they do. I still expect/expected a notification about this from Viking which they have failed to do thus far even though their competitors have done this weeks ago in most cases. Passengers on one cruise line have been asked to vote on two revised itineraries and been offered refunds if neither alternative itinerary is to their liking. That is forward thinking customer service.

[Heidi13]

Welcome to Cruise Critic, this subject matter has been discussed extensively on the live threads on the Viking Board and in a number of other boards.

 

In addition to insurance syndicates and P&I Clubs charging war zone premiums, many crew contracts also include premiums for sailing within a war zone.

[Jim Avery]

With Viking bering the only line with scheduled transits to not avoid the Red Sea I feel Viking is closing in on negligence.  It is past time for Viking to give two shiploads of passengers information on this not insignificant problem.

[millybess]

26 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

With Viking bering the only line with scheduled transits to not avoid the Red Sea I feel Viking is closing in on negligence.  It is past time for Viking to give two shiploads of passengers information on this not insignificant problem.

We absolutely agree with you Jim and this is very disappointing.  Many of us are watching and waiting.  

[Bob Bruce]

I didn’t mean to not include the Viking Neptune as the other ship that has an itinerary that includes the Red Sea transit. Thank you for pointing that out! It is completely appalling that Viking is not being more forthright with their customers and employees. Also, there are not a lot of places in Africa that can take a cruise ship and support the logistics necessary for provisioning (fuel, food, etc.). Since Viking’s competitors have identified the problem early; they probably have lined up the best options. That leaves Viking with limited choices. None of that will make for an interesting lengthy journey.

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

With Viking bering the only line with scheduled transits to not avoid the Red Sea I feel Viking is closing in on negligence.  It is past time for Viking to give two shiploads of passengers information on this not insignificant problem.

 

Well said Jim, I totally agree.

 

Sadly, Viking have gone from leaders in pax service, as per our experience on the 2020 WC, to rock bottom. OMG!! even Carnival & RCI have beat Viking.

[Bob Bruce]

Heidi, my wife Gigi and I were on the 2020 WC. I believe that I remember you. You are correct about how Viking treated us then. We were kept abreast of the rapidly evolving Pandemic situation and given options including refunds and trip credits. I left the ship in Darwin. Gigi stayed on until they canceled the remainder of the cruise in Dubai. How they handled that situation compared to how they’re handling things now is light and day different. The Red Sea situation has been going downhill for over three months and they’re pretending like everything is hunky dory. They must think that we’re stupid. Had they been open and honest with us, their customers would not be upset. Maybe they just don’t care. I heard that they’re selling the company or taking it public. I’m not sure if either of those things are factual. However, it’s possible that the transaction, if happening, is somehow driving their current decision making. I can’t fathom how alienating repeat customers helps with that though. 

[Heidi13]

22 minutes ago, Bob Bruce said:

Heidi, my wife Gigi and I were on the 2020 WC. I believe that I remember you. You are correct about how Viking treated us then. We were kept abreast of the rapidly evolving Pandemic situation and given options including refunds and trip credits. I left the ship in Darwin. Gigi stayed on until they canceled the remainder of the cruise in Dubai. How they handled that situation compared to how they’re handling things now is light and day different. The Red Sea situation has been going downhill for over three months and they’re pretending like everything is hunky dory. They must think that we’re stupid. Had they been open and honest with us, their customers would not be upset. Maybe they just don’t care. I heard that they’re selling the company or taking it public. I’m not sure if either of those things are factual. However, it’s possible that the transaction, if happening, is somehow driving their current decision making. I can’t fathom how alienating repeat customers helps with that though. 

 

We were 2 of the 8 pax that eventually disembarked in Gibraltar, as they couldn't get us flights from Dubai.

 

Based on reports I read, Viking are investigating floating about a $500 Million IPO in the US. At present, they already have 2 large investors, with one being the Canadian Pension Plan Fund. In addition, I believe they received Chinese investments for building Viking Sun.

 

They already lost us as pax, based on our multiple negative experiences with the L/A office management ranks. While I would have considered booking through UK, their procrastination on the current World Cruise itinerary has completely soured me on the Viking brand.

 

Real pity, since the onboard experience was excellent.

[Bob Bruce]

Heidi, that’s incredible that you were on all the way to Gibraltar. You had the entire ship to yourselves I guess. I do recall learning that a few people had to go on the nearly empty ship. I presume that you couldn’t stop anywhere from Dubai to Gibraltar. That’s a pretty long slog. I suppose that you ate at the Captain’s Table often. Lots of memories from that WC for all of us.

[SantaFe1]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

We were 2 of the 8 pax that eventually disembarked in Gibraltar, as they couldn't get us flights from Dubai.

 

Based on reports I read, Viking are investigating floating about a $500 Million IPO in the US. At present, they already have 2 large investors, with one being the Canadian Pension Plan Fund. In addition, I believe they received Chinese investments for building Viking Sun.

 

They already lost us as pax, based on our multiple negative experiences with the L/A office management ranks. While I would have considered booking through UK, their procrastination on the current World Cruise itinerary has completely soured me on the Viking brand.

 

Real pity, since the onboard experience was excellent.

Oh, I hate to hear this, from both of you.

[Bob Bruce]

For those of you who have been following this thread; I have been told by Viking Customer Service that we will receive an email from Viking this Monday that addresses the Red Sea situation, itinerary change, trip credits and other pertinent information. Better late than never or too late. I am hopeful about this news! Have a good day wherever you are.

[Jim Avery]

That is good news!  Thanks.  Hope we sailors lost at sea get our emails..🍸

[Jim Avery]

News break.  Our Captain just came on the PA even in the cabins.  That's usually never good.  But, this time he announced a live tv stream at 10:am (its 9/04am now) which will concern upcoming changes to our itinerary.  Guess Mr. Hagen is telling us directly.  Will report back after the video.

[Bob Bruce]

Please do for those of us not on the cruise yet. Thank you Jim!

[Clay Clayton]

Like always, #NeptuneGetsEverything, Sky wasn’t told about the 10am video at 9:15am 😂

 

stay tuned-

[millybess]

10 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Like always, #NeptuneGetsEverything, Sky wasn’t told about the 10am video at 9:15am 😂

 

stay tuned-

Wow.  And you all are leading the way!!  No?🙂

Edited February 24 by millybess

[Clay Clayton]

So apparently it’s. Live stream and it’s breaking up a lot.  All we know so far is diverting in Phuket.  Look forward to getting it in writing momentarily soon 

[SJD117]

For those who are geographically challenged, Phuket is a Thai island and resort area on the Indian Ocean side of the Malay Peninsula.

[Bob Bruce]

Interesting. Diverting where is the big question for me. That location is only 6 days into our portion of the cruise. I had assumed that they would go as far as Mumbai on the original itinerary.

[Bob Bruce]

Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius and so on would be nice. Also South Africa, Namibia, Madeira and Canary Islands would be nice. Cape Verde isn’t much based on going there last year. 
 

However, of more interest to me is whether the Mediterranean ports can still be accomplished. I’m guessing not very many since there will not be enough days left before needing to be in England.

 

More to come from all y’all soon I hope. Thanks for keeping us apprised!

[Clay Clayton]

Hopefully Neptune is getting to hear everything-we are getting every twentth word so really no idea of what we are doing. 

[Jim Avery]

Sorry Clay.  Mr Hagen and his team were very well prepared and it was a professional show.  I want to thank Viking for finally letting us know what's up.  It really looks like a good itinerary and they seem to be upping the level of included tours as promising all onboard a "safari trip".  The option to leave was briefly discussed and will be given credits case by case.  They offered to help as much as possible to assist flight arrangements and made mention of Luggage Forward coming onboard in Singapore to assist with baggage.  We are on for the duration and looking forward to the several stops that will be new to us.  Glad the Sky is a couple of days ahead as it the pirates get yall in Senegal we can make other plans.  #Neptunegetsitall...... Again thanks to Viking.  I willl post more about this as we get the printed info and will post future installments on the Viking Neptune WC thread..🍸

[Clay Clayton]

Glad to hear Neptune didn’t have the technical glitches we did-turns out it wasn’t a live stream but a video. But Sky’s wifi bandwidth couldn’t handle everyone watching the same channel on their stateroom televisions.  The video was fine in the theatre and pool screen I’m told. 
 

I have to disagree with Jim-Viking isn’t prepared (much to my chagrin). I’ve been their cheerleader onboard telling everyone one who was complaining about not know what we were doing, that once Viking announced I knew they would tell us everything.  Wrong.  Not sure what they have been doing since January but now we’ve been told it will be another four or five days before we learn about the excursions?

 

And while I hope Jim is right about them mentioning safari for all passengers but I will be very surprise if that is more than a day trip to a game preserve-not really a safari in my mind.  I am hopeful that there will be a real two or three night safari offered and have space for us since it appears we will have about $3000 of credits to use up after all is refunded. 
 

I will be over my initial disappointment in missing India (unless Chase Sapphire doesn’t come through with a refund) in a day I suspect but I really hate that my previous confidence and pride in Viking has been so damaged. Maybe they will surprise me and step it up when we get to Africa 🤞