JDincalif

We were in 6090 on the Viking Sky and never noticed noise from the cafe above. 

We enjoyed staying at the Radisson Blu. It's right in Bryggen, within easy walking distance of ships, sightseeing and good food. The design of our upgraded room echoed the historic architecture surrounding us. Breakfast was first rate (as is often true in Norwegian hotels - they really do compete for the title of "Best Breakfast in Norway"). We hope to stay there again when we return to Bergen.

11 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Two years ago today!!! 

 

Please see my recent update here on the new tunnel being built. Wish it had been there back on 3/23/19

 🤞🏼

 

Here's to us all - long may we thrive and soon may we travel!🤞🏼

Azamara and Viking. Both were excellent.

When we used it a year ago, the official frequency was about every 45 minutes, but due to traffic or other undisclosed issues it was usually an hour.

Viking Sky, 23 March 2019, Hustadvika, Norway. 

Impulse buy. Had been intrigued by the Renaissance Cruise Line reputation for appealing casual ambience (and strict non-smoking policy, uncommon at the time). Late in 2000 saw a newpaper ad for a 15 day Renaissance cruise between Istanbul and Barcelona with stops in Greece, Malta, Italy and France, starting at $499/pp, departing about two months hence, and booked it immediately.  The weather was good, sites like the Vatican, the Parthenon and the Uffizi uncrowded, and the ship was the best hotel/mode of travel I'd ever experienced. 

Another thing to consider is that, with any cruise, weather or other conditions may result in a port being skipped, so there's no guarantee that a cruise including Key West will actually get to stop there. Agree with those who suggest visiting Key West for several days to fully savor the pleasures of the place. Hope that you'll be able to make both dreams come true - yours and your mother's.

Thanks everyone for the info on the RFI and the tips regarding how to write good responses. We will take a look at the questions and try to give coherent answers.

Hello all and to our buddy, On The Journey, or OTJ as we call him on the Viking Sky disaster forum.

Janet and I were on the Viking Sky when it hit the bomb cyclone - or rather, the cyclone hit us on March 23, 2019.

We were in our cabin when the mayday was called. The ship seemed to have tilted over 45 degrees and I was thrown out of the bed on on to the floor. The walk down to our station was nearly impossible as the ship was tilting very violently. After we arrived at our muster station in the main dining room the ship rocked backward (to us), toward starboard I believe - correct me anytime OTJ - water poured in through a broken window on the other side of an interior wall that was just behind where we were sitting. The wave that came in was 4-5 feet deep and of course came in with tremendous intensity. Fortunately the thin interior wall was enough to break the force of the wave and we, on the other side of the wall, had about 2 feet of water to deal with. One lady who was on the wave side of the ship was swept  under water and pinned under some furniture. She was found and rescued  by other passengers including her husband. We were then evacuated from that muster station and moved to the atrium where we were to stay on the wet carpeted floor in our life jackets for more than 24 hours until we were towed to Molde. We were among approximately half the passengers who who were not air lifted off of the Sky. When we reached the port of Molde half of the city turned out to welcome us and many were waving signs and home made banners welcoming us and assuring us that we were safe now. The crew did their best to clean the cabins and when we were allowed back to our cabin we saw that several pieces of furniture were completely broken as was the closet door. The staff picked up what clothing they could from off of the floor and placed it on the bed. A room service supper was prepared and if I recall it consisted if a cut up frankfurter, a few french fries, some lettuce and maybe a couple of cookies for desert. We got in touch with our TA who was up most of the night tracking our situation and learning when we were to disembark the ship and what travel arrangements Viking had made for our return back to California.

We are so grateful to the crew and staff of the Viking Sky for taking care of us. They were so encouraging and calming. We could see once in a while during their private moments how scared they were as well. They were and are our heroes.

The owner and CEO of Viking, Torstein Hagen, flew to Molde to meet with the passengers and at a communal gathering that evening he announced that Viking was going to provide a free cruise to all passengers as well as an all expense paid cruise on the initial voyage of the Viking Venus from Rome to Barcelona in January 2021. With Covid 19 happening now we don't know the status of the initial voyage nor if we want to subject ourselves to the dangers of the disease. So we will just have to wait and see.

We returned to Norway in September last year and traveled by land and, yes, by sea. We took a Hurtigruten ferry for three days around the fjords and a bit out to the sea where our Viking experience took place. We walked a few miles from where the Sky nearly crashed into the rocks and where a small freighter that tried to come to our rescue did crash and 14 sailors had to be air lifted from the ocean to safety - all survived. We saw the world from a different perspective and we have learned to hug our lives and to hug all those lives who mean so much to us.

We took an Oceania cruise that included  Greenland, with two stops scheduled in Tasiilaq and Qaqortoq and one day transiting Prince Christian Sound. Fog can be a real concern, responsible for cancelling the Tasiilaq visit, and the Sound transit was iffy almost up to the last minute until the fog lifted. We enjoyed the stark beauty of the sound. In Qaqortoq we hiked and explored the town on our own, enjoying firsthand experience of the local people and culture. There were tours available for exploration, fishing, and other sports if one has specialized interests or a higher need for excitement.

That same cruise included the Iceland ports of Reykjavik and Akureyri. Absolutely astonishing scenery throughout and only wish we'd had more time to go further afield. Highly recommended.

211 or 321 or 415... Original 2021 plan followed by 2020 bookings that had to be postponed.

9 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

 

Might as well post this here as well...  https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23079-viking-venus-floated-out-at-fincantieri.html   

 

(Andy...or Cheng perhaps...can you speak to how long it might take to do the interior work on the Venus?)

Thanks OTJ.

Next comes the carpets and drapes!

Please keep us posted about what you learn, either here or on the chairman's cruise roll call. We remain on the fence as to whether we'll feel comfortable cruising in January 2021, and any information you receive will help us to keep our options open. Thanks. 

46 minutes ago, workstocruise said:

I was just wondering if I will get the $1500 deposit first followed by the balance later.

That's basically how it worked out for us, with the full amount refunded in pieces over the course of a week or so. Others' experience may have varied from this.

11 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Which Oceania June 2020 cruise was cancelled by them. I thought that they have only cancelled cruises up to May 10.

It was the Tokyo-SF segment of the Insignia ATW voyage that had commenced in January.

3 hours ago, Verokaren said:

 I thought Oceania would reimburse us for the airfare cancellation fees that we still have not been able to recoup, but no communication from them regarding that. 

We had arranged our own airfare for a June 2020

cruise cancelled by Oceania. When we cancelled our airline tickets and requested reimbursement from Oceania for the airline $300/pp cancellation fee, we were informed that Oceania would reimburse only airline change fees, not airline cancellation fees.

21 hours ago, DaveSJ711 said:

 

Speaking of reports:  Does anybody know when the Norwegian authorities will release their final report on the Sky? 

Individuals can sign up for email notifications on the Accident Investigation Board Norway website. That's how we learned about the interim report release.

2 hours ago, johneb2 said:

Does anyone know what became of our captain?  He was fantastic, as was everyone involved.  Never heard any further mention of him later on.

Shortly after the incident, we set up a Google Alert with the captain's name to monitor any news coverage. There were a few stories in the first month, but nothing after that.

On this first anniversary of the Viking Sky emergency, we hope that all of you and all those who responded to our plight remain safe and healthy. 

We finally received our refund, although it arrived in 'pieces' over several days: first a small amount representing our initial deposit, then a smaller amount for a deposit transferred from a cancelled cruise, then yesterday, at last, refund of the remaining total cruise payment.

On 2/28/2020 at 3:36 PM, PaulMCO said:

 

Today my TA got the "official" cancellation from Oceania.  I received my TA's invoice showing the full refund. 

 

So looks like they are holding to the schedule you stated.  We will see how long it takes to post to the credit card. Also how long it takes to get the shore excursion money back...

Has anyone yet seen the full refund on your credit card statement?

We also just received the inaugural voyage booking notice.  Since we're considering some independent travel before and/or after the cruise, our TA was in contact with Viking today. She was told that information regarding such requests as flight date changes or flight upgrades is expected to be available on April 15. 

Although it was a little more than two weeks ago, we left Miami on the Insignia on Jan. 8, and almost immediately were into strong winds and high waves. The Jan. 9 Key West and Jan. 12 Santa Marta port calls were also cancelled due to the adverse conditions.

J and D incalif have received and accepted the Chairman's invitation. Looking forward  to working out the details with the help of all the good information shared here.