Covid Positive aboard Viking Sky 7/14/22

[ValarieDennis]

Travel right now requires patience and flexibility.

 

[TayanaLorna]

33 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

I thought the 3rd WB is not at full capacity yet.  

Ah ha!  I missed the < !

[Dukefan]

9 minutes ago, Donaghadee said:

We have negative tests in hand right now and aren't allowed ashore.

I do not know for sure but believe it is likely that after we received the approvals to go on shore today that some folks in the little town of Djupivogur ( pop about 400) complained about the risk of letting cruise ship passengers in their town.  The town today and the town yesterday (pop less than 700) are both very small and relatively isolated.  They may have had no cases of Covid in their communities and as you might expect are concerned what might happen.  I believe if we were visiting larger communities with the situation that now exists aboard  the Viking Sky there would be less concern and a different outcome.

[hutch1994]

37 minutes ago, librarylady19 said:

He runs a Viking fan page on “zuckerberg’s invention” very popular among some……

More like a "cult" following.

[TayanaLorna]

26 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Agreed. Or sail around until the Icelandic government is convinced we are all well.
 

Luckily I’m retired so I can deal with spending as long aboard as they will let me stay. 

But but but what about the 700-800 of us boarding on Saturday?

[izmackar]

15 minutes ago, librarylady19 said:

Well, maybe Viking needs to change its marketing campaign to “welcome back….maybe” …

TOO funny!

[CatefromNH]

Wow! I guess I should have known we were taking our chances with this cruise but hadn’t anticipated that one positive result would impact the everyone in such a dramatic way. I can’t help but wonder what would happen if the positive occurred in Isafjordur. Would passengers be stuck on the ship for the remainder of the trip? We’re too close to cancel (8 days out) but my husband isn’t too happy with me right now. (Although this trip was his idea.) I hope Viking will be able to work out a reasonable solution/plan with the Icelandic government ASAP. Sigh…

[Retired2016Cruiser]

35 minutes ago, librarylady19 said:

What a shame Clay, so sorry to hear this. I was concerned about what would happen if we tested positive (ie spending 2 weeks in an expensive hotel in Iceland( but didn’t foresee that a positive would result in all cruisers missing out. I understand why, but that makes cruising in Iceland quite expensive (unless you are only going for the ship exoerience0. 

Agree.  So sorry to hear this.  But thank you Clay for keeping us informed!  Hope the passenger that tested positive continues to be asymptomatic and recovers quickly and that there are no additinal positives.  

I wonder how much it would cost in the event of a required 14 day isolation in Iceland.  Does anyone have any ideas? (Can you select your own place? - eg - I saw an air bnb cabin that offered grocery delivery in the event of quarantine, but I thought I also read somewhere that isolation would be in an Iceland govt selected facility but didn't see the cost).  Most likely none of us would need this info, but curious.

[ValarieDennis]

We fly on Monday, hopefully, and are planning to pack our patience and flexibility. We did know that we would be guinea pigs of a sort when we signed up. We are cautious by nature, but we feel safe in going, even if this isn't the exact trip we had hoped for. If you're on the July 20th sailing of the Jupiter, hope to "see" you on board.

[Snit13]

3 minutes ago, Retired2016Cruiser said:

Agree.  So sorry to hear this.  But thank you Clay for keeping us informed!  Hope the passenger that tested positive continues to be asymptomatic and recovers quickly and that there are no additinal positives.  

I wonder how much it would cost in the event of a required 14 day isolation in Iceland.  Does anyone have any ideas? (Can you select your own place? - eg - I saw an air bnb cabin that offered grocery delivery in the event of quarantine, but I thought I also read somewhere that isolation would be in an Iceland govt selected facility but didn't see the cost).  Most likely none of us would need this info, but curious.

Hoping and praying no other cruiser has the need for quarantine.  We don't sail until August 31 on Jupiter and I am reading all posts on 3 sites now and so sorry for those on current trip.  Hope he/she has trip insurance for possible assistance in paying for quarantine.

[cfgrandma]

8 minutes ago, ValarieDennis said:

We fly on Monday, hopefully, and are planning to pack our patience and flexibility. We did know that we would be guinea pigs of a sort when we signed up. We are cautious by nature, but we feel safe in going, even if this isn't the exact trip we had hoped for. If you're on the July 20th sailing of the Jupiter, hope to "see" you on board.

Great statement!  We are on Icelandair from Seattle arriving 6:15 am the 20th.  See you onboard!

 

[JourneyDC]

We are on the July 17th Sky upcoming cruise and are in transit boarding Icelandair tonight.  I called Viking and they said - sorry if you cancel no refunds/credits - 100% penalty.  They explained each sailing is treated independent regarding Covid status and expect the next sailing to operate normally.  When I mentioned that the current sailing was denied port clearances since 1 positive reporting - they basically bs’d and repeated that our sailing will be normal.  To someones recent point - the last 3 ports are remote and tiny with very little infrastructure - we have been to all of them.  It sounds like local authorities are calling the shots.  It is very surprising and concerning that Viking would not have anticipated this scenario and pre-arranged agreements on clearance.  Very concerned about our cruise and all the others.  I feel we are trapped now with the financial commitment to go and deal with unknown.  Worse case - board ship and have a 7 day no  port clearance sailing. It will be very interesting to see what happens with current sailing.  Most importantly if it will be allowed to disembark in Reykjavik or sit there Princess-style for 14 days.  I need a drink!

[austinetc]

We have been on a Viking River Cruise where things did not work out due to low water.  Viking gave everyone a 50% credit, which I frankly thought was more than we deserved. I had a great time in spite of the inconveniences. I'll be curious what Viking will do for Sky's Passengers.

[duquephart]

37 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

 

I don’t know that fewer passengers would have stopped this from happening. 
 

I hope (and based on conversations aboard) I think those agreements were in place. But as others have reported, Iceland has seen an increase in positive cases since they stopped their border testing and perhaps they are changing the rules. This is sorta similar to the moving target for those who hope to be going to Malta. 
 

I’m not happy that we have missed some of the things we hoped to see while in Iceland but we knew that we had to be flexible when we booked the cruise. To date, from my perspective, Viking has done everything they can to give us a memorable experience. 

 

Of course they are. That's a given. But you aren't getting the "real" experience you planned on and rationalizing isn't going to change that.

[eldercruser1]

8 minutes ago, JourneyDC said:

We are on the July 17th Sky upcoming cruise and are in transit boarding Icelandair tonight.  I called Viking and they said - sorry if you cancel no refunds/credits - 100% penalty.  They explained each sailing is treated independent regarding Covid status and expect the next sailing to operate normally.  When I mentioned that the current sailing was denied port clearances since 1 positive reporting - they basically bs’d and repeated that our sailing will be normal.  To someones recent point - the last 3 ports are remote and tiny with very little infrastructure - we have been to all of them.  It sounds like local authorities are calling the shots.  It is very surprising and concerning that Viking would not have anticipated this scenario and pre-arranged agreements on clearance.  Very concerned about our cruise and all the others.  I feel we are trapped now with the financial commitment to go and deal with unknown.  Worse case - board ship and have a 7 day no  port clearance sailing. It will be very interesting to see what happens with current sailing.  Most importantly if it will be allowed to disembark in Reykjavik or sit there Princess-style for 14 days.  I need a drink!

Well, we will be right behind you tomorrow night if Viking doesn't call this whole thing off.  How can Iceland let all the passengers disembark on Saturday if they are letting no one off yesterday and today?

[syesmar]

50 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

...But as others have reported, Iceland has seen an increase in positive cases since they stopped their border testing and perhaps they are changing the rules. This is sorta similar to the moving target for those who hope to be going to Malta. ..

So sorry this has happened. Praying the infected will remain asymptomatic. 

Was there any information distributed in advance about Iceland’s protocols? Any indication that a single positive would cause this? Or have the rules quickly changed when the real scenario happened? This has been my concern about booking (i.e., “what happens to a sailing if there is a single case onboard?”), and I can’t quite get a solid answer for from various lines. I know much depends on local governments. It seems like over the last couple weeks, with Disney, ACL, Genting and now this, a single or small number of cases has indeed impacted sailings, unlike some in June when sailings continued.

Best wishes to all!

Edited July 15, 2021 by syesmar

[JourneyDC]

Here is one possible scenario.  The current July 10th sailing could be mandated for 14 day quarantine due to Icelands strict exposure rules.  If so - if guests are allowed to disembark Reykjavik - they may be subject to remainder of 14 day quarantine on land (own expense}.  Or will be required to stay on ship to complete (this could be govt mandated or Viking controlled).  If on ship then the July 17th and 25th sailings would be cancelled.  Stay tuned.....

[saratogian127]

9 minutes ago, austinetc said:

We have been on a Viking River Cruise where things did not work out due to low water.  Viking gave everyone a 50% credit, which I frankly thought was more than we deserved. I had a great time in spite of the inconveniences. I'll be curious what Viking will do for Sky's Passengers.

I was also on a cruise where things didn't go... as planned to say the least... and Viking stepped up to the plate to make sure people were happy.

 

For me, Viking has always seemed to do the right thing. I'm more worried about United cancelling my flights (again)!

 

[photogranny]

23 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Presuming that the local authorities didn’t want to put their 600 citizens at risk. 
 

No other word other than what I’ve shared. Haven’t heard of anyone else being in isolation. 🤞 

Thank you Clay for responding to me!  I was here yesterday, but could not find it again. We are on the August 3 cruise.  I liked the idea of isolating 10 days before trip.  Thank you for all your sharing!

 

[dcl999]

Perhaps we should all also be super conscientious about properly masking with kn95 or double masks when in airports, on planes and when Viking requires. 

[Clay Clayton]

41 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Of course they are. That's a given. But you aren't getting the "real" experience you planned on and rationalizing isn't going to change that.

Given the circumstances when we booked I didn’t plan on getting anything other than a lovely time onboard. I hoped we would have a full Icelandic experience. (Which we did until yesterday) but was mentally prepared if we did not. I don’t think I’m rationalizing…we took this cruise for a number of reasons one of which was to determine if we enjoyed cruising under the current protocols and to learn how they might impact our future travels. I am still gathering my thoughts on that but currently, I hope we get to go ashore tomorrow and to disembark on Saturday. If not, we will cross that bridge when we get there. In the meantime, it’s an unexpected sea day. 

[Envelope21]

1 hour ago, JourneyDC said:

We are on the July 17th Sky upcoming cruise and are in transit boarding Icelandair tonight.  I

We are also on the July 17th sailing and will be heading to the Orlando airport in about an hour. From there we change planes in Boston and arrive in Reykjavik tomorrow morning on Delta. Probably around the same time as you. I guess we shall see what happens!

[kleibo]

1 hour ago, JourneyDC said:

We are on the July 17th Sky upcoming cruise and are in transit boarding Icelandair tonight.  I called Viking and they said - sorry if you cancel no refunds/credits - 100% penalty.  They explained each sailing is treated independent regarding Covid status and expect the next sailing to operate normally.  When I mentioned that the current sailing was denied port clearances since 1 positive reporting - they basically bs’d and repeated that our sailing will be normal.  To someones recent point - the last 3 ports are remote and tiny with very little infrastructure - we have been to all of them.  It sounds like local authorities are calling the shots.  It is very surprising and concerning that Viking would not have anticipated this scenario and pre-arranged agreements on clearance.  Very concerned about our cruise and all the others.  I feel we are trapped now with the financial commitment to go and deal with unknown.  Worse case - board ship and have a 7 day no  port clearance sailing. It will be very interesting to see what happens with current sailing.  Most importantly if it will be allowed to disembark in Reykjavik or sit there Princess-style for 14 days.  I need a drink!

 

Cruise insurance?  I know at least one cruise line offers - "cancel for any reason" and get 75% back in future cruise credit  - that's an option with AARP insurance as well.  I have 3 cruises booked on three lines with the first one in October - I think insurance is definitely needed for any cruise now. 

I hope your cruise goes smoothly.

[Heidi13]

50 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Given the circumstances when we booked I didn’t plan on getting anything other than a lovely time onboard. I hoped we would have a full Icelandic experience. (Which we did until yesterday) but was mentally prepared if we did not. I don’t think I’m rationalizing…we took this cruise for a number of reasons one of which was to determine if we enjoyed cruising under the current protocols and to learn how they might impact our future travels. I am still gathering my thoughts on that but currently, I hope we get to go ashore tomorrow and to disembark on Saturday. If not, we will cross that bridge when we get there. In the meantime, it’s an unexpected sea day. 

 

Clay - brilliant attitude and so refreshing to read. Hoping all goes well. 

 

Wish we could join you for a beverage😁🍺

[Clay Clayton]

5pm

Captain just made an announcement that the Coastguard requires us to return directly to Reykjavik. He said shore excursions would be refunded and Viking was determining how to compensate us for the disruption. He stopped abruptly and said thank you. And there was not a follow on by Jenna. It ran through my head that he stopped so quickly as the phone rang with either Mr Hagen or the Iceland government with more information.   Stay tuned.