Cancellations

[Rbbb]

Why has Viking River Cruises canceled all river cruises until August 31 while AMA has  canceled only until July 31, which means AMA August cruises will still sail.  What does Viking know that AMA does not ?  Scary 

[Daisi]

Viking doesn't know any more than the rest of us.  Each line is cancelling at different levels, and some are going by a couple of months, some by one month at a time.  It's like playing with the water levels which go almost a day at a time, you gamble as to when you can sail again.

 

See this thread for all the dates : 

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

I would tend to agree with Daisi that it is predicting the situation and assessing what is possible with each lines logistical set-up and customer base. Note that lines are already sailing again and more about to do so. If Viking had a firm continental European customer base they would likely sail soon, the same goes for AmaWaterways. Regulations in Europe now allow river cruising on many rivers and canals with more to follow in the next weeks. In fact, the AmaKristina and the AmaViola have been "lent" to a German online booking agent for cruises sailing from July.

 

notamermaid

 

[Rbbb]

Thank you for everyone’s response. I am just surprised that river cruises are not on the same schedule and concerned about the health of the passengers

[Rbbb]

We are scheduled for an August trip with AMA and I am scared to be on a plane and on the ship this early. Considering transferring to 2021.

[caradara]

Viking just sent me an email cancelling our Ukraine cruise for September.  

[Rbbb]

Is this a river cruise or ocean?

[caradara]

River cruise.  They cancelled Ukraine, Russia and China for all of 2020.  The offer is generous from them.  It's posted on their site now.

 

[Roz]

1 hour ago, Rbbb said:

Thank you for everyone’s response. I am just surprised that river cruises are not on the same schedule and concerned about the health of the passengers

 

I don't think it has to do with lack of concern about the health of passengers, but more with pacing the cancellations at a rate where they can handle the refunds.  

[Babcia7]

2 minutes ago, Roz said:

 

I don't think it has to do with lack of concern about the health of passengers, but more with pacing the cancellations at a rate where they can handle the refunds.  

That's a good point, Roz.  Our August 16th cruise to France with Uniworld hasn't been cancelled yet, but France is still not open for tourists and unless restrictions let up significantly, I can't believe that we'll be taking that cruise.  It makes sense that the company is staggering cancellations, but it sure leaves us wondering whether we'll have the option to cruise.

 

[Roz]

With so many cruise lines relying on American passengers, even if they do sail, if the passengers can't get there, what's the point?

[sharkster77]

We have a land tour scheduled for September that we are convinced will be cancelled--we have no interest in going, frankly, until next year.

 

Our tour company is cancelling trips 45 days out, I assume, to spread out the chore of handling refunds/rescheduling.

 

So we expect (and hope) to hear from them late next month.

 

If Viking or anyone else canceled an entire season all at once, handling all the cancellations/refunds/rescheduling would be a thankless task that would torque off a lot of people expecting instant service.

[franski]

3 hours ago, caradara said:

River cruise.  They cancelled Ukraine, Russia and China for all of 2020.  The offer is generous from them.  It's posted on their site now.

 

Interesting...  I get Russia & China - Russia is still impacted in a big way - and China is experiencing their 2nd wave at this time.  Not quite understanding the Ukraine - unless it is due to proximity to Russia??  I believe much of Eastern Europe is still quite locked down at this time, although Budapest has not cancelled their Marathon - booked for October 10/11 this year.  This does give me some hope that we may get to Hungary this year...

 

Fran