Denied boarding

[Candlesmith]

On 7/25/2021 at 6:37 AM, mightycruisequeen said:

On 7/25/2021 at 6:37 AM, mightycruisequeen said:

would not be surprising if the industry has decided it can’t risk having passengers onboard that have a higher chance of a medical incident.

 

It isn’t “the cruise industry”, at least not at this point.  A frantic phone call to my TA after reading this thread produced the reliable information that Viking has no such restriction on passengers who travel with a POC. (Whew!). Hopefully that will remain their policy through the fall when we are booked on their Amsterdam to Budapest River Cruise…..and beyond as we have three more cruises in the hopper.  (There was no problem on our recent Micato Safari through Kenya, Tanzania & Zimbabwe & that actually required dragging my POC along for internal flights.)

 

And, in defense of those who use a POC for flying; in my own case, I have absolutely no physical condition making me any more susceptible to a medical problem on a cruise than anyone else (& I have been exhaustively tested).  I am merely altitude intolerant, possibly as a result of having lived at 7,500’ for over a decade & skied at high elevations since college.

Edited July 30, 2021 by Candlesmith
Disclaimer added.

[Roz]

@Candlesmith, Amsterdam to Budapest is a wonderful itinerary.  You'll enjoy it.

 

Keep in mind that a European river cruise is a different experience that an ocean cruise.  On a river cruise, it's a lot easier to get someone to the nearest hospital by ambulance, as opposed to having to be airlifted by helicopter.  You're never more than a hour or two from a major city with full scale medical facilities.  

[mightycruisequeen]

5 hours ago, Candlesmith said:

It isn’t “the cruise industry”, at least not at this point.  A frantic phone call to my TA after reading this thread produced the reliable information that Viking has no such restriction on passengers who travel with a POC. (Whew!). Hopefully that will remain their policy through the fall when we are booked on their Amsterdam to Budapest River Cruise…..and beyond as we have three more cruises in the hopper.  (There was no problem on our recent Micato Safari through Kenya, Tanzania & Zimbabwe & that actually required dragging my POC along for internal flights.)

 

And, in defense of those who use a POC for flying; in my own case, I have absolutely no physical condition making me any more susceptible to a medical problem on a cruise than anyone else (& I have been exhaustively tested).  I am merely altitude intolerant, possibly as a result of having lived at 7,500’ for over a decade & skied at high elevations since college.

The post you quoted wasn't mine; it was from another poster that I quoted.

[Candlesmith]

I’m So Sorry, MightyCruiseQueen,

I didn’t think there was anything objectionable in the quote in the first place, or anything rude or particularly argumentative in my response.  I actually didn’t check the thread closely because it was late, I was tired, & I posted with one foot in bed because my travel advisor asked me to Please dispel any inaccurate notions about this policy before rumors spread like wildfire.  Doing so was my only goal;  It is not the policy of Viking Cruises  (Ocean or River) to deny POC users access to their cruises at this time.  Thus it is not “industry-wide”.

I do apologize for any offense!

[Candlesmith]

7 hours ago, Roz said:

@Candlesmith, Amsterdam to Budapest is a wonderful itinerary.  You'll enjoy it.

 

Keep in mind that a European river cruise is a different experience that an ocean cruise.  On a river cruise, it's a lot easier to get someone to the nearest hospital by ambulance, as opposed to having to be airlifted by helicopter.  You're never more than a hour or two from a major city with full scale medical facilities.  

Thank you for that, Roz!  I haven’t found a soul who is on our cruise and only a few others who have taken it, several years ago.   We’re excited about going, apprehensive about whether it actually will, and curious about how the two experiences compare.

I can imagine the difference in logistics between handling a medical emergency from a river as opposed to the middle of, even not very far out in, the sea!  And I can appreciate the caution the industry might feel toward an oxygen-dependent passenger.  But we’re discussing altitude intolerant people who need O2 to fly, have no underlying pulmonary (or cardiac) disease and want to stash their unneeded O2 while aboard!

As is so widely and often obvious where Covid is concerned, somebody at the top needs  to read the s-c-i-e-n-c-e!

[mightycruisequeen]

44 minutes ago, Candlesmith said:

I’m So Sorry, MightyCruiseQueen,

I didn’t think there was anything objectionable in the quote in the first place, or anything rude or particularly argumentative in my response.  I actually didn’t check the thread closely because it was late, I was tired, & I posted with one foot in bed because my travel advisor asked me to Please dispel any inaccurate notions about this policy before rumors spread like wildfire.  Doing so was my only goal;  It is not the policy of Viking Cruises  (Ocean or River) to deny POC users access to their cruises at this time.  Thus it is not “industry-wide”.

I do apologize for any offense!

No offense taken at all, Candlesmith. 😊

[darstamp]

On 7/27/2021 at 10:17 AM, AncientWanderer said:

 

You know, Helen, I hate to step into this because it's so disappointing to many, but somewhere in my wanderings on HAL's website I did run into this information early on in this COVID restart process, so they did post it.  I was somehow made aware.  I'd have to agree, though, that the red flag should be more prominently displayed.  Perhaps so many cancellations will prompt an update on the website.

 

I hope those who had to cancel can make other plans that will take away the sting somewhat.

It's another bruising from this awful COVID.

 

They may have posted it but it was very well hidden.  I just spent quite a bit of time trying to find it.  A couple of months ago I heard from a HAL employee that they were not going to let anyone on board with a pre-existing condition. As I had a deadline to book our flights for our cruise next April I wrote to HAL and asked them if my use of an oxygen concentrator was going to be a problem?  They were certainly aware of it because I filled out their forms when I booked.  They never answered me, now I know why.  I think that is a shitty way to treat customers, quite frankly.  

[sail7seas]

OP   said  her name and  reservations have beee n tagged  . H ow will she be ab le to get it from the hotel    and bring it on the ship?