Viking Cancelations

[id4elizabeth]

id4elizabeth

General question - if Viking decides to cancel a cruise (not in an emergency, but just generally, let's say they don't get enough bookings, or they find they are unable to put together shore excursions) how soon ahead of sail date do they usually cancel?  Asking those who've had cruises canceled by Viking in the past?  Thanks!

 

[Heidi13]

Not aware that Viking has cancelled cruises for any of the reasons you mentioned, or from receiving a better offer to charter the ship. Pre-COVID, many Viking cruises were sold out a year ahead of departure.

 

From memory, Viking Star experienced a mechanical issue in 2015, which resulted in the remainder of the current cruise being cancelled. The next cruise lost a couple of days, but wasn't cancelled. Viking Sky cancelled a cruise after the incident off the Norway Coast.

 

Peregrina can possibly think of more.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

Not aware that Viking has cancelled cruises for any of the reasons you mentioned, or from receiving a better offer to charter the ship. Pre-COVID, many Viking cruises were sold out a year ahead of departure.

 

From memory, Viking Star experienced a mechanical issue in 2015, which resulted in the remainder of the current cruise being cancelled. The next cruise lost a couple of days, but wasn't cancelled. Viking Sky cancelled a cruise after the incident off the Norway Coast.

 

Peregrina can possibly think of more.

 

There have been cancellations of other sailings but I am not aware of any that took place for the resaons mentioned above.

 

[id4elizabeth]

The reasons are actually not what I was after - I'm more interested in how soon Viking would cancel before sailing, assuming it wasn't an emergency that happened at the last moment.  

[Peregrina651]

Depends on the reason for the cancellation. I have had two cancel because corporate planning changed because of the pandemic; they were canceled months and months in advance. The rest of the pandemic cancellations have been at least 6 weeks in advance of sailing.

 

 

[id4elizabeth]

Thanks Peregrina651! 

[SM77]

Our 2021 September Ukraine river cruise was canceled by Viking in early April.  Part of the reason was COVID but also a great deal of Russian military buildup along the Ukraine border.  Viking had canceled all their Russian river cruises then as well - I think the reason for those cancelations were due to non-issuance of visas to US citizens.

[Heidi13]

New update on current sailings posted on the Viking website this morning. Viking are cancelling additional cruises on Viking Star that call at North American ports.

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

New update on current sailings posted on the Viking website this morning. Viking are cancelling additional cruises on Viking Star that call at North American ports.

 

Not surprising.

[Heidi13]

16 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Not surprising.

 

Totally agree.

 

CharTrav can probably confirm, but I believe she has no regular sailings scheduled, until starting Trans-Canal in early November. Then heading out for the WC in late December.

 

I suspect we may see an announcement that she will resume ops based in Gibraltar, Malta or Turkey/Cyprus.

[SoccerMom#3]

Our September 2021 Empire of the Mediterranean cruise was cancelled earlier this month (May 2021)

[cadburysmom]

Viking novice here and considering an upcoming Bermuda cruise in July. 

I like that they're offering passengers a "two week prior to cruise cancel policy" and would be fine receiving a voucher in that case but what if VIKING cancels due to rise in Covid levels, whether it be on ship or in Bermuda? 

....hopefully not, but trying to plan ahead.  Would cruise passengers be offered full refund or would we get a voucher instead?

[Dukefan]

29 minutes ago, cadburysmom said:

Viking novice here and considering an upcoming Bermuda cruise in July. 

I like that they're offering passengers a "two week prior to cruise cancel policy" and would be fine receiving a voucher in that case but what if VIKING cancels due to rise in Covid levels, whether it be on ship or in Bermuda? 

....hopefully not, but trying to plan ahead.  Would cruise passengers be offered full refund or would we get a voucher instead?

During this Covid period, whenever Viking cancels a cruise they have been offering passengers an option of getting a future cruise credit of 125% of what they have spent for the canceled cruise or a full cash refund of the monies they spent with Viking.

[cadburysmom]

17 minutes ago, Dukefan said:

During this Covid period, whenever Viking cancels a cruise they have been offering passengers an option of getting a future cruise credit of 125% of what they have spent for the canceled cruise or a full cash refund of the monies they spent with Viking.

Good to know...thanks!

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

We had our September Empires of the Mediterranean cruise canceled a little more than four months prior to the cruise even though this cruise was just about sold out. The only reason for the cancellation was that Viking wanted to run a different itinerary out of Malta. It was very disappointing, but we did get the 125% credit. Since a change like this doesn’t happen overnight, it appears that Viking waited until they received everyone’s final payment before canceling. 

[Peregrina651]

22 minutes ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

The only reason for the cancellation was that Viking wanted to run a different itinerary out of Malta.

 

Or could it be that they can't get into Venice?

[Cienfuegos]

I'm sorry that your cruise was canceled. The optics do not reflect well on Viking, that's for sure.

 

But, I wondered how they could pull off that cruise. The port of Venice is closed to cruise ships, and no clear alternative has been selected. At least as far as I know. I agree VOC seems to have waited far longer than they should have.

[Heidi13]

32 minutes ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

We had our September Empires of the Mediterranean cruise canceled a little more than four months prior to the cruise even though this cruise was just about sold out. The only reason for the cancellation was that Viking wanted to run a different itinerary out of Malta. 

 

I can think of a few reasons for cancelling this cruise. In addition to Peregrina's point that Venice is closed to cruise ships, the Italian authorities were NOT permitting crew changes, except in emergencies.

 

Last time I reviewed the European standards for crew changes, for TAR ports, Viking are using countries that are working with shipowners to facilitate this essential service.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

19 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

I'm sorry that your cruise was canceled. The optics do not reflect well on Viking, that's for sure.

 

But, I wondered how they could pull off that cruise. The port of Venice is closed to cruise ships, and no clear alternative has been selected. At least as far as I know. I agree VOC seems to have waited far longer than they should have.

However, we rebooked another cruise for September 22 that spends two nights in Venice. 

[Cienfuegos]

1 hour ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

However, we rebooked another cruise for September 22 that spends two nights in Venice. 

Perhaps the Italian government will have adopted a plan B by then