JDincalif

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.

John - Do you book directly with Viking, or do you use a TA? Just wondering if we should check with our TA to see if she's received similar information.

 We are leaving tomorrow for Miami where we will board the Oceania Insignia and travel through the Caribbean and on through the Panama Canal. This journey will end for us at our "home town", San Francisco in about 18 days. This is our first major cruise since our Viking Sky adventure and our first journey through this part of the world. We did take a 3 day journey last September on Hurtigruten back at the fjords. We are hoping for a very boring journey this time. We have learned to pay very close attention at the muster drills.

Catch you all again in a few weeks. Keep up with the informative posts.

Stay Dry!😄

Will be trying another cruise since the Viking Sky incident. Leaving tomorrow for Miami and a trip through the Caribbean and Panama Canal. Our first major trip since the Viking sky cruise last March. This time the only way I want to get wet this time is to swim in the pool.

11 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Merry Christmas and wishes for a happy, healthy and safe New Year to our family of "Sky Survivors"!  

 

DGHOC - thanks for the litigation update...will be interesting to see the eventual outcome. 

Couldn't have said it better ourselves! Wishing you all merry, happy and bright holidays and a wonderful 2020.

On 12/6/2019 at 8:03 AM, DaveSJ711 said:

The settlement agreement won't be limited to the named plaintiffs (the Freudmanns).  The Notice calls for the plaintiffs to file a motion to certify a class.  Like the settlement itself, the motion is due on or before December 20.  How broad or how narrow the class will be isn't specified.  (I assume the class will include all Sky passengers.)  Once the judge certifies the class and approves the settlement, Sky passengers will receive some sort of notice as to their rights under the settlement.

DaveSJ711: Have you seen any additional information about this matter? Appreciate all that you've provided to date.

Heidi 13, as usual your comments and knowledge are so very informative. Thank you for this insight.

Oops! I sent the above quote from On The Journey before writing my piece and connecting my piece to that quote. Sorry about that.

What I want to say in support of On The Journey's comments is that we have learned that other shipping lines were well aware of the bomb cyclone that was about to hit the Norwegian Sea well before the bad weather hit. In September of this year we traveled back to Norway - this time much by land and a little at sea. We talked to a couple people who were involved in the rescue operations and we took a three day journey aboard a Hurtigruten ferry. We learned that Hurtigruten had ordered all their vessels in the area to be in port during the storm and that the vessel we were on was docked in port from Friday, March 22 to Tuesday, March 26. We also learned from crew members aboard the Hurtigruten ferry that satellite photos identified the possibility and probability of such a storm many hours before the tempest hit. Decisions were made by Viking to travel on and with the low oil levels a tragedy occurred. 

We are impressed with how Viking is handling the fall out from this situation and we look forward to traveling with the cruise line in the future. We do look forward to reconnecting with all of our fellow survivors who will be on the new ship's inaugural voyage in January 2021. That voyage will be an emotional but well needed event and will be part of the healing process.

On 12/6/2019 at 1:21 PM, OnTheJourney said:

Dave...very well explained. It all makes sense. Thanks so much for this. I'm sure many here on CC appreciate the updated info. As a pure layman in terms of having so little knowledge of such matters, I must admit to agreeing completely that the interim report pretty much seals the deal as to presenting a degree of culpability (especially with regards to the oil levels). However, much has been said here on CC relative to all this. While the oil levels were indeed low, I seem to recall info presented here indicating that, were it not for sailing into such adverse conditions which directly caused the blackout due to the excessive degree of ship motion, it's conceivable that there was enough oil to continue and perhaps even complete the voyage. Much remains unanswered in the report. I have to wonder if there was a plan to replenish the oil supply at some point. Then, of course, it would seem an even larger issue is the decision to stick to the intended course given the forecast. It seems many of the unanswered questions - at least relative to the lawsuit - are almost moot if indeed a settlement is already underway. 

10 hours ago, clo said:

Where does one get these? I've seen the quart and gallon ones 🙂

Our local Ace Hardware stocks conventional ZipLoc bags in sizes up to 10 gallons.

On 11/19/2019 at 9:50 PM, crystalspin said:

weatherspark.com has some very interesting historical averages including ranges of "comfort level". From dry-comfortable-humid-muggy-oppressive-to-miserable. You can compare where you are going to where you've been, by looking back and forth.

Excellent resource. Thanks.

1 hour ago, Haworth said:

See you in there, we enjoy the pool, steam room and snow room cycle.

And don't forget the cold bucket shower. Actually, one yank of that chain was enough for this lifetime.😅 Looking forward to all the other spa pleasures.

We've explored the Norwegian coast on the Azamara Quest (ship is the same as Oceania R class ships), the Viking Sky,  and the Hurtigruten Polarlys. Hurtigruten makes many more stops (often quite brief) so it may stay within sight of land more of the time than larger traditional cruise ships. But you'll have splendid scenery either way.

28 minutes ago, kittycrews said:

Does anyone know if the captain is still a Viking employee?

We've done the occasional news search, but have found nothing posted about the captain since early April or so. Hope that someone else may have current information.

16 minutes ago, DGHOC said:

Hope you're both well. Have you taken your complementary cruise yet? We're off to the Baltic in May, on the Sky with the same cabin!

Always a pleasure to 'hear' from you, DGHOC! Hope that your Baltic cruise is a complete delight with smooth sailing all the way. Our complimentary cruise will be in spring 2021 - a combined ocean-river itinerary from Bergen to Budapest. We're looking forward to our return to Viking and especially to catching up with our fellow 'survivors' on the Venus.