Is anyone planning to change their plans for travel in China?

[Insanityx4]

Our flights and insurance are both through Viking.

[DaveSJ711]

I'm glad I visited Wuhan -- in 1983.  I wouldn't visit the city now or anywhere else in China.  The State Department's "Do Not Travel" advisory speaks for itself.  (The New York Times is leading with the advisory.)

Edited January 31, 2020 by DaveSJ711

[LeRenardrouge]

US State Department has elevated the travel advisory to the highest level:  DO NOT TRAVEL to China.

[DaveSJ711]

Delta Airlines is suspending all flights to China from February 6 through April 30.  American Airlines is also suspending flights.  https://news.delta.com/delta-temporarily-suspend-all-us-china-flying

[Haworth]

19 minutes ago, DaveSJ711 said:

Delta Airlines is suspending all flights to China from February 6 through April 30.  American Airlines is also suspending flights.  https://news.delta.com/delta-temporarily-suspend-all-us-china-flying

Interesting, thank you, a lot of European airlines are cancelling up to Feb 28th, this move by Delta may be the tipping point for Viking and the March departure of the Imperial Jewels of China.

[Heidi13]

We will be arriving in China in early March, about 5 weeks from now. Things can change significantly in that time, so aboard Viking Sun, we have no worries.

 

With the way the virus is spreading we have the potential of catching it in any of our ports of call, or even at home, if we were still there. I have no doubt Viking is monitoring the situation, is making contingency plans and will act accordingly, based on recommendations of the various regulatory bodies and health organisations.

 

Too busy having fun and visiting great ports to worry about something 5 weeks away. Will keep everyone posted of any changes on the World Cruise, but don't expect details until about mid/end of February.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, DaveSJ711 said:

Delta Airlines is suspending all flights to China from February 6 through April 30.  American Airlines is also suspending flights.  https://news.delta.com/delta-temporarily-suspend-all-us-china-flying

 

I followed the link because I wanted to know if flights to Hong Kong were included. I saw no mention on the Delta website; it only mentioned Beijing and Shanghai:

• Delta currently operates 42 weekly flights between the U.S. and China, including daily service connecting Beijing and Detroit and Seattle, and Shanghai and Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles and Seattle.

[DaveSJ711]

46 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I followed the link because I wanted to know if flights to Hong Kong were included. I saw no mention on the Delta website; it only mentioned Beijing and Shanghai:

• Delta currently operates 42 weekly flights between the U.S. and China, including daily service connecting Beijing and Detroit and Seattle, and Shanghai and Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles and Seattle.

 

The State Department's Do Not Travel advisory applies to China generally.  The advisory doesn't say anything about Hong Kong.  Similarly, the CDC has issued a warning against all nonessential travel to China.  The CDC warning doesn't mention Hong Kong, either.

[LeRenardrouge]

Viking appears to have made an update to their statement on current sailing status regarding itineraries impacted by the corona virus:

 

“The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our top priority. We are monitoring the Wuhan coronavirus situation closely and are aware of the travel advisories issued by the U.S. State Department on January 30th, in addition to updates issued by the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. Viking does not have any river sailings scheduled in China until March 2020, and given the current situation, modifications to those sailings will likely be necessary. We are evaluating options for our guests currently booked on Yangtze River itineraries, and in the week of February 3rd Viking Customer Relations will communicate directly with those impacted guests and their travel agents.”

[MarkTapley]

Yes, that’s about what Viking told our TA this afternoon.  Our tour starts on April 7, so it’s the fourth week of the season.

[Peregrina651]

5 hours ago, DaveSJ711 said:

 

The State Department's Do Not Travel advisory applies to China generally.  The advisory doesn't say anything about Hong Kong.  Similarly, the CDC has issued a warning against all nonessential travel to China.  The CDC warning doesn't mention Hong Kong, either.

 

Except that Hong Kong is part of China and so it can be confusing if one is not sure if DoS and CDC advisories are meant to include Hong Kong or not, especially if you are booked on a cruise that is calling Hong Kong.

 

[DaveSJ711]

4 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Except that Hong Kong is part of China and so it can be confusing if one is not sure if DoS and CDC advisories are meant to include Hong Kong or not, especially if you are booked on a cruise that is calling Hong Kong.

 

 

I don't disagree -- I know that Hong Kong is part of China.  (I've been there three times.)

[Haworth]

We are due to arrive on March 17th for the first tour of the year, this morning all our documents arrived from Viking, likelihood of being used, close to zero.

[Peregrina651]

Ouch!  They must have been in the pipeline already.

[Haworth]

Just now, Peregrina651 said:

Ouch!  They must have been in the pipeline already.

True, but in reality this has become an increasing likely outcome over the few days, what will be will be and no doubt Viking will do the right thing, it’s ironic that this was our chosen trip for the Viking Sky issue.

[deec]

Our trip is in October...We booked air on our own because we got a great deal on Premium Comfort seats.  In this case probably a mistake because we do NOT have cancel for any reason insurance. 

We will wait and see...if travel is re-instated China will be probably be devoid of crowds!!!

[Clay Clayton]

9 hours ago, deec said:

Our trip is in October...We booked air on our own because we got a great deal on Premium Comfort seats.  In this case probably a mistake because we do NOT have cancel for any reason insurance. 

We will wait and see...if travel is re-instated China will be probably be devoid of crowds!!!

Watch your dates-try not to be there during the National Day Holiday when all the Chinese head to the sights to celebrate the birthday of their country.  Luckily we were able to arrange our trip last October so we arrived earlier than initially planned so we were able to tour Xi’an and the Great Wall before the holiday started. Just to give you an idea of the size of the crowds, below is a picture I took of the crowd as we were leaving the Forbidden City on the third day of the seven day holiday. 

[deec]

We leave October 13...so should miss the Holiday by a week.  Thanks for the information. 

[shazzie1]

I spoke to Viking yesterday. We are booked on the Orion for a 2 week Southeast Asian cruise (Bangkok to Hong Kong) on April 14th. They said if Viking cancels the cruise (it’s a good chance they will if virus doesn’t get contained in time) they will allow us to book another cruise within a year. 

 

We have Viking’s insurance ($1800!) but they said they’d do that even if we didn’t have it. 

 

We sent off to get our Visa’s 3 weeks ago and that cost $750 so we’ll have to apply to get that cost back if we don’t get to go. 

[deec]

The Visas may be good for more than a year,  so you could use them in the future.

[1985rz1]

8 hours ago, shazzie1 said:

I spoke to Viking yesterday. We are booked on the Orion for a 2 week Southeast Asian cruise (Bangkok to Hong Kong) on April 14th. They said if Viking cancels the cruise (it’s a good chance they will if virus doesn’t get contained in time) they will allow us to book another cruise within a year. 

 

We have Viking’s insurance ($1800!) but they said they’d do that even if we didn’t have it. 

 

We sent off to get our Visa’s 3 weeks ago and that cost $750 so we’ll have to apply to get that cost back if we don’t get to go. 

 

2 hours ago, deec said:

The Visas may be good for more than a year,  so you could use them in the future.

 

 I doubt that insurance would pay the cost of your visa as you will get a valid visa, regardless of whether you go on this trip or not.  

 

If a Chinese visa is involved, I hope you requested the 10-year, multiple entry one.  When we got our 10-year visa it was the same price as a single entry visa that has a shelf life of 1 -year. 

[shazzie1]

Thank you!  

 

If we rebook I think we'll go to Australia/New Zeland. I've already put a deposit down for Jan 2021 in case.............. I'm a bit gun shy about going to SE Asia again. I booked this trip 2 years ago! However, we may end up going......Our Visa's are for Vietnam and Cambodia. We didn't have paperwork from Viking for Hong Kong..............they look to only be good for one month. I'll find out when we receive our passports back. :-) 

 

 

[1985rz1]

1 hour ago, shazzie1 said:

Thank you!  

 

If we rebook I think we'll go to Australia/New Zeland. I've already put a deposit down for Jan 2021 in case.............. I'm a bit gun shy about going to SE Asia again. I booked this trip 2 years ago! However, we may end up going......Our Visa's are for Vietnam and Cambodia. We didn't have paperwork from Viking for Hong Kong..............they look to only be good for one month. I'll find out when we receive our passports back. 🙂

 

 

We've never needed to get a visa in advance for Hong Kong.  They were issued routinely upon arrival at the airport.  I don't know if that is true for cruise ship arrivals,  but I wouldn't be surprised if it is the same.  

[shazzie1]

I'm guessing it's the same since Viking didn't send us any Visa papers to fill out--Good News!

 

We've never been. It will be interesting to see if we actually go on this trip!

 

[Heidi13]

12 hours ago, shazzie1 said:

I spoke to Viking yesterday. We are booked on the Orion for a 2 week Southeast Asian cruise (Bangkok to Hong Kong) on April 14th. They said if Viking cancels the cruise (it’s a good chance they will if virus doesn’t get contained in time) they will allow us to book another cruise within a year. 

 

We have Viking’s insurance ($1800!) but they said they’d do that even if we didn’t have it. 

 

We sent off to get our Visa’s 3 weeks ago and that cost $750 so we’ll have to apply to get that cost back if we don’t get to go. 

Check your passports, as our China Visa's are valid until just before the passport expires. With a new passport DW got 9 years.