tallfir

Viking Air Plus booked our return flight from Santiago, Chile on 1/26/2024 to make a change of planes in Sao Paulo, Brazil then to ATL and then to PDX. No visa is/was required if you were changing planes and remaining in the terminal. Has anyone seen documentation that this will be the case after the new visa requirements go into effect? The Viking Jupiter does not stop in Brazil on the 1/9-1/26 itinerary. We will be technically arriving in Brazil by air and leaving by air a few hours later. Viking did send us the email and I called Air Plus and they said they didn't know the answer.

For what it's worth - Day 6 is back to Cartagena, Columbia as it was when the cruise was booked. I did not receive any communication from Viking to explain the change. Did anyone else receive anything from Viking?

Just returned home from Seattle after departing Ovation this morning. No reservations required for shows except the Cabaret in Two70. Easy to make reservations on app. The show played 3 different days. This was my 62nd cruise (32 on RCCL) and by far this Spectra's Cabaret show was hands down the WORST onboard entertainment that I have ever witnessed. Given that art and beauty are in the eyes of the beholder, be sure to pack some extra sound deadening earplugs. It's BRUTAL!

lindajpe -- Did Viking ever get back to you regarding the report filed on June 11th?

This discussion of the American PVSA just adds to the absolute stupidity of these laws. Hundreds of foreign flagged ships leave West coast ports every year from San Diego, LA, SF and Seattle and the government allows them to use Ensenada and Victoria as "distant foreign ports" or whatever loophole or exception they can dream up. The only thing more stupid is Viking not explaining why the potential unattainable itinerary has been posted on MVJ. None of this frustration would be necessary if Viking just left the itinerary on its original schedule. They could wait until the last minute after the cruise departed from Florida and then inform the passengers of the change. They give themselves the right to do that for almost any reason in the cruise contract. What could the paying passengers do? 

lindajpe - Thanks for the additional information. I also called Viking Customer Service and spoke to a rep. and her supervisor. Both were absolutely clueless! I look forward to seeing what kind of response you receive. 

I have been to Cartagena several times over the last 25 years. My first visit to Cartagena was in 1998 and there were armed military soldiers on almost every street corner. As a newbie cruiser from rural Oregon, I was really shocked! My last visit in March of this year, things were crowded but no military with guns. Cartagena is a large modern cosmopolitan city with a very long history. I chuckled to myself upon hearing the local tour guide lamenting the problems caused by all the illegal immigrants flooding Columbia. LOL.

Just checked the itinerary for the Viking Star -  FLL to LA on 10/24/2023 and there is something really strange. My printed itinerary, which I received when booked, and the itinerary on the Viking Ocean Website shows Day 6 is in Cartegena, Columbia but on "My Viking Journey" it shows Cozumel, Mexico. Day 3 is also in Cozumel. If MVJ is correct, the ship stops in Cozumel on Day 3, then wanders aimlessly for TWO days in the Caribbean and then comes back to Cozumel. Then miraculously sails at warp speed to Colon, Panama overnight. I am not a sea captain or for that matter a STAR SHIP captain, but I think it is physically impossible to make it from Cozumel, Mexico to Colon, Panama overnight on a cruise ship.

What do you seasoned sailors think?

PS - According to a website called "BednBlue" at 15 knots it will take 2 days, 4 hours and 20 minutes to make the 785 nautical miles.

Would it be too harsh to say that Celebrity is guilty of FALSE ADVERTISING and out and out FRAUD? Celebrity's own website and travel agents that use online booking search engines are representing itineraries that claim to be offering Grand Cayman and Key West as destinations when they know for certain that those two destinations will not be visited. I guess you could always say; "buyer beware", but Celebrity has an obligation to make factual and truthful representations in advertising cruises for sale to the public. It is unacceptable to hide behind "politics, COVID protocals, and IT department backlogs" for not providing up to date information for their website and prospective customers.

We also had a "cancel for any reason" Travel Insured policy -----

My MIL fell and broke her hip requiring surgery on 3/2/2020. This had nothing to do with COVID and was a covered occurrence on almost any policy. MIL lives next door and we are her care givers (she is 86). We cancelled our cruise on 3/7/2020 (sail date 3/15/2020). Filed claim with Travel Insured on 4/6/2020. Have not heard one thing from TI and now it's 9/25/2020. We have placed multiple phone calls, numerous emails and even the online TI website inquiry. Fortunately, Celebrity refunded 100% of the amount paid. Celebrity never contacted us either. The only way I knew they had done it was there were 4 line items as credits on my VISA card that added up to 100% of what had been paid. These credits mysteriously appeared on my August statement. All along Celebrity said that I would only receive FCC since I cancelled the cruise before they did. No one has ever contacted us from Celebrity, Travel Insured or the big box TA. (Delta refunded 100% within 7 days of 3/7/2020, no hassles at all).

Needless to say, I will never purchase any kind of policy from Travel Insured ever again. They won't refund the insurance premium either so I have lost those dollars forever, unless I can rebook something within 3 years of the initial payment. But why would I do that? Travel Insured probably wouldn't pay a claim then either, if they even survive. They actually deserve to go out of business for such terrible non-customer service.

FWIW - In the past I had two claims with Travel Insured. One in 2014 and one in 2015 (Our DIL died of breast cancer at age 34). Both times I had to hire a local attorney to get the claim processed and settled. I had to pay the attorney out of my pocket but at least TI eventually paid the claims. I thought that by showing good faith and loyalty to TI that I would receive better treatment on future claims. Live and learn! Never again!

final update ---

after waiting for 73 days, we finally received a credit on visa statement today (5/19/2020) for the shore excursions paid for last December and the taxes and fees also paid when final payment was made in December. 

We're done!

update from prior post ---

70 days and counting. NOT A SINGLE PENNY refunded for anything. NO taxes and fees refunded. NO shore excursion refunded, NO nothing.

Now TA is saying 60-90 days and ignoring all the hollow promises Celebrity/RCCL has made in the last 70 days.

Pathetic!!!!!

Update to earlier post ---

Now 60 days and counting. Cancelled cruise on March 7th. No refund of shore excursions, no refund of taxes or port charges, No FCC, no emails, no communication whatsoever.

Big box TA in Kirkland, WA is worthless. Celebrity NO customer service is worthless.

Changing "Cruise with Confidence" to "Never Cruise with Confidence Again" with Celebrity.

Only good thing that has come of this is we did receive 100% refund of our airfare from Delta. They got the taxpayer paid bailout. 

Cancelled cruise on March 7th. Celebrity cancelled the cruise on March 13th. Originally scheduled to depart on March 15th.

No refund of shore excursions, No FCC, No refund of taxes and fees, No emails, NO NOTHING! Absolutely NOT ONE PENNY!

Celebrity has definitely disappointed me. Would just an email explaining when I would receive the refunds be too much to ask for? Apparently it is.

Big Box TA in Kirkland, WA is no help either.

Update to former post ---

Cruise cancelled on 3/7/2020 - now 50 days and counting - no refund of shore excursions, No FCC, no emails, no nothing. Big box TA is worthless. Celebrity no customer service is worthless.

Contemplating filing travel insurance claim based on cruise line being insolvent. Not optimistic.

At this point, will probably never book a cruise again. 

I am only 66 and not currently required to get the doctor's note. However, I have dealt with minor respiratory health issues all my life. It is a simple decision for me. I will never take a cruise again unless an approved and successful vaccine is developed and I get the vaccine. That assumes that I will be alive when the vaccine becomes available.

Celebrity has already cancelled two of our cruises. We have not received one penny refunded on either cruise. We have bookings and deposits for December 2020 and February 2021. We will cancel both of them before final payment. We will not cruise again until there is an approved and effective vaccine and we have received the vaccine. If no vaccine, then no more cruising. Don't care whether the deposits are refundable or not. It's better to be at home near family than to be stranded on a cruise ship with sick and dying passengers and crew and no country will let you get off the ship.

I have had two cruises cancelled by Celebrity: March 15th - Silhouette and May 11th - Solstice. As of today, April 10th, I have received exactly zero refunds. Both cruises had shore excursions which have not been refunded. Both cruises were cancelled by Celebrity and I requested 100% refunds, but nothing yet. I have received only 1 communication from Celebrity: that being an email stating that the shore excursions on the March 15th cruise would be refunded within "two billing cycles" or 60 days. Even with the unprecedented virus pandemic, this is UNACCEPTABLE. Just in case Celebrity declares bankruptcy, I have prepared claims for both cruises with my travel insurance company. Even though my wife and I have taken nearly 40 cruises on RCCL/Celebrity over the last 22 years, I think we are done with RCCL/Celebrity. Maybe done cruising forever.

I cancelled our March 15th cruise before it was cancelled by Celebrity. When cancelling, the TA said that the shore excursions that I had purchased and paid for on December 11, 2019 would automatically be credited back to credit card. I received an email confirmation from Celebrity on March 10th stating that the shore excursion refund would be credited "WITHIN TWO BILLING CYCLES". Really? They have had my money since December and now they are holding it for TWO BILLING CYCLES! Unacceptable! As of today, NO REFUND.

We were on Eclipse and flew out of Barcelona on 10/5/2018 on the Delta flight to Atlanta at 10:30 am. We got up early and we were the 2nd and 3rd couple in line for express walk off. We were in the second taxi leaving the port and arrived at the airport with very little traffic. The Delta check-in counter was not open so we had a long wait for them to get going but were again the 2nd and 3rd couple through and on our way to security. There were no lines and customs and immigration were deserted and we went right through. I think that we were at the gate by 8:00 am. Maybe even a little before. The gate area was also deserted. We checked and double checked to make sure we were at the right place. There were no gate changes and we boarded and departed on time. We are experienced travelers with no mobility issues so it worked for us. Others have recommended against this type of departure and that would also be good advice to remove stress.

My wife and I took the tour in November 2016. We were not on a cruise and booked it online during our Maui vacation. We have been on six cruises to Hawaii but did not take this tour while on a cruise. You can check out their website for additional information. We did the tour the day before flying back home so we could take the fresh pineapple home with us on the plane. Not an option if on a cruise.

The pineapple business in Hawaii is virtually gone. My first tour of the Maui Pineapple plantation was about 25 years ago when I was an executive for a large grocery company that purchased tons of Maui pineapple every year. The current operation is just a shadow of what it was back then.

The tour stops at several fields in different stages of production. When you get to the fields that are ready for harvest, everyone gets off the bus and you can sample fresh picked ripe pineapple. Fresh ripe pineapple is the BEST! I think you will enjoy the tour and they give you one pineapple per person in a shipping box when you finish the tour. You can also purchase more if you want. Do it before this last holdout vanishes, too. We would do it again.

A couple of tips --- If on a cruise, the plantation is quite a distance from Lahaina, not so far from Kahului. If you have to rent a car, give yourself plenty of time to get the car, travel there, take the tour, travel back and return the car and get back to the ship. There is no dock in Lahaina so you have to tender (long lines) and there is only one road that can be a traffic nightmare. If it rains or is raining, the tour travels on red dirt agricultural roads so the ride is rough and you are going to get muddy. If it is clear and sunny, the ride is still rough but the views are fantastic.

Hope this helps,

tallfir

The best advice that i can offer you is for you to take all of the cruise and insurance documentation that you have to a qualified attorney that specializes in insurance claims. The attorney can then advise you how to proceed. I have had two medical related cruise cancellations in the last 5 years and recovered 100% of the money spent on both of them. Both times I was told by the insurance company claims department that i did not qualify for repayment. I hired a qualified attorney and miraculously the doors were opened. Granted, i did have to pay the attorney for her services but it was well worth it. It was stressful and it took several months but patience and tenacity are required to get through the process. A qualified attorney can help you get through it all. (I am not an attorney but I appreciate the services that they provide).

I totally agree with Cruisemore1. I have been checking every week for the last two months. I was calling the D+ desk weekly but they are clueless. There is something lurking in the shadows that they are not sharing.

Not working for us either. Have tried every couple of days for the last 4 weeks, but no success. I call the D+ desk on the 800 number every Monday morning and complain.They don't know anything and just say that IT is working on it. I just tell them to put my complaint on the list and hang up.

We definitely select =X= because of the tight no smoking policy. We have pretty much stopped cruising on any other lines in favor of X. We will pay extra to get the cleaner air inside and out. Definitely report any violations directly to guest services and security the sooner the better. Rules are rules and NO SMOKING MEANS NO SMOKING!

Thank you for the Southampton hotel info. I booked the Grand Harbour for three nights. What are the options to get from LHR to the hotel?