Alaska cruise canceled today

[moatenote]

As expected, our Alaska cruise scheduled for June 8-18, 2021 was canceled today and Viking is offering a refund or a 125% future cruise voucher.  The unexpected part is that the voucher must be used for a cruise in 2021 or 2022.  We recently booked a South America and Chilean Fjords cruise for January 2023.  We want to do this cruise in Jan. or Feb., but 2022 seems premature for South America, considering their problems with Covid.  Darn!

[nanabeth]

Our 2020 Alaska cruise scheduled last July was cancelled last year at the end of May. We used the voucher to reschedule for July 2021. When it was cancelled this week we rescheduled for the Amazon cruise in January 2022. This is our first ever cruise and it was supposed to be for a major celebration. We're not getting any younger and wanted to go as early next year as possible. Keeping my fingers crossed! If it gets cancelled we'll probably ask for refund.

[LindaS272]

We’ve been watching horrendous COVID spread in So. America with the deadly Brazilian variant. I don’t think Pfizer and Moderna protect very well against this one. Sure doesn’t look like So.America will be safe to travel in anytime soon.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/brazil-has-become-south-americas-superspreader-event/

[Jim Avery]

27 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

We’ve been watching horrendous COVID spread in So. America with the deadly Brazilian variant. I don’t think Pfizer and Moderna protect very well against this one. Sure doesn’t look like So.America will be safe to travel in anytime soon.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/brazil-has-become-south-americas-superspreader-event/

When you get right down to it most of SA is not safe to travel in the best of times.  On the first leg of the Ultimate WC, every port talk emphasized not straying off from groups, leave all valuables, including watches in the safe and be very careful about going out at night.  Still crew and a fellow passenger suffered robberies on the streets.  Add this new covid strain and I agree with  you, might not be any voyages down there any time soon.

[Heidi13]

17 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

When you get right down to it most of SA is not safe to travel in the best of times.  On the first leg of the Ultimate WC, every port talk emphasized not straying off from groups, leave all valuables, including watches in the safe and be very careful about going out at night.  Still crew and a fellow passenger suffered robberies on the streets.  Add this new covid strain and I agree with  you, might not be any voyages down there any time soon.

 

So true Jim.

 

Still remember Colon, which was my first port of call. Group of us were leaving the port gate when we spotted a couple of chaps on a balcony across the street. They were staring at us, with one playing with a revolver and the other sharpening a knife.

 

Did a 180 and back to the ship.

[Jjg34219]

Canada announced long ago that there would no cruising this year so Im not sure why Viking waited so long to cancel. We had used a voucher for an August Alaska cruise and we decided months ago to reschedule it to 2022 and we did it early enough to be able to get extensions. Im hoping the US will be generous with the vaccine supply to help our neighbors!

[old biddy]

They still haven't cancelled Eastern Seaboard Explorer in September. We are due to join Star in Montreal and cruise to New York. Plainly this isn't going to happen.

[Cienfuegos]

12 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

So true Jim.

 

Still remember Colon, which was my first port of call. Group of us were leaving the port gate when we spotted a couple of chaps on a balcony across the street. They were staring at us, with one playing with a revolver and the other sharpening a knife.

 

Did a 180 and back to the ship.

 

Colon is the terminus for trips on the popular Panama Canal Railroad tours.  After our bus to the railroad had loaded, we were given "the talk".  Don't leave the group, don't walk back to the ship following the rail trip, stay close, don't take pictures, etc.

 

When we returned to the ship, the buses pulled inside a fenced area for drop off. 

 

[Azulann]

13 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

So true Jim.

 

Still remember Colon, which was my first port of call. Group of us were leaving the port gate when we spotted a couple of chaps on a balcony across the street. They were staring at us, with one playing with a revolver and the other sharpening a knife.

 

Did a 180 and back to the ship.

I organized two private tours by a local guide, Roberto, from Colon, when I was on a Celebrity full transit Pamana Canal Cruise  a number of years ago. Roberto took one group to Pamana City for the day. Our group went to Portobello . iI  wanted to see  the last port of Christopher Columbus's final voyage . It was also ramsacked by Francis Drake. Lots of history in this little bay.

Our guide, first drove us around the outskirts of Colon showing us the  neighborhood where she lived. There were the homes of former US workers before we gave the canal back to Panama.

In Portobello, we walked the small village, saw the Black Christ in the local church, bought molas from indigenous  women, visited the small AC museum, and ate  a wonderful lunch at  local restaraunt  noted for their empanadas! It was one of the best tours on that cruise. 

 indeed, the port area is all fenced in with  the typical  vendor booths selling tourist trinkets. but the wi fi was free and the crew from ship  were out in force doing email on their phone and tablets.

The next day , Christmas Eve ,we did the full transit of the canal.

[Heidi13]

37 minutes ago, Azulann said:

I organized two private tours by a local guide, Roberto, from Colon, when I was on a Celebrity full transit Pamana Canal Cruise  a number of years ago. Roberto took one group to Pamana City for the day. Our group went to Portobello . iI  wanted to see  the last port of Christopher Columbus's final voyage . It was also ramsacked by Francis Drake. Lots of history in this little bay.

Our guide, first drove us around the outskirts of Colon showing us the  neighborhood where she lived. There were the homes of former US workers before we gave the canal back to Panama.

In Portobello, we walked the small village, saw the Black Christ in the local church, bought molas from indigenous  women, visited the small AC museum, and ate  a wonderful lunch at  local restaraunt  noted for their empanadas! It was one of the best tours on that cruise. 

 indeed, the port area is all fenced in with  the typical  vendor booths selling tourist trinkets. but the wi fi was free and the crew from ship  were out in force doing email on their phone and tablets.

The next day , Christmas Eve ,we did the full transit of the canal.

 

Affirmative, remaining within the confines of the port is safe, however, venturing outside the port complex and into the adjoining town, all bets are off.

 

When we docked, it was recommended we don't leave the port complex in groups of less than 6. Walking outiside the port complex, the ship's agents recommended using the streets, avoiding sidewalks and shadows.

 

By the end of the night, we still had at least a 1/2 dozen that were mugged, returning with various degrees of injuries and devoid of any valuables they took ashore.

[duquephart]

2 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

 

Colon is the terminus for trips on the popular Panama Canal Railroad tours.  After our bus to the railroad had loaded, we were given "the talk".  Don't leave the group, don't walk back to the ship following the rail trip, stay close, don't take pictures, etc.

 

When we returned to the ship, the buses pulled inside a fenced area for drop off. 

 

 

Why would anyone subject themselves to this?

[Cienfuegos]

Some places on cruise itineraries are grittier than others.  Colon is a very tough looking place, and security officers carried pretty impressive weapons.  Panama City, on the Pacific Coast, looked like a very nice, modern city, with fine neighborhoods. Same country, different places.

 

Guayaquil, Ecuador is another place that has its neighborhoods.  Our hotel made it very clear to us that they would summon a car, and that car would wait for us at the crafts market, etc.  They were very nice about it, but firm.  Do not accept rides from what look like taxi services, etc.