Norway and Americans

[zalusky]

We have the Midnight Sun cruise next summer.  I am wondering how that will play out.  They don't say how long it was extended or is it indefinitely until cases drop.

 

[cruz_happy]

Is it just me or has Viking been painfully silent about the trips scheduled to Norway & where they stand on this?  This is our first Viking cruise (Northern Lights) and I admit that I am extremely disappointed in Viking thus far.  Their silence is deafening!  What are they doing?  Excursions were supposed to be available for lots of folks already & nothing.   Give us some information------are they working with the Norwegian government (questionable), are they considering a change in itinerary to get to the Northern Lights but not through Norway, what is going on?  I understand that they don't want to cancel & have to refund $$$, but let us know what they are doing rather than all this silence.  Is this typical of how Viking operates?  (I know COVID times are not typical but I've heard from other scheduled cruises and airlines; so is some communication too much to ask for?)

 

[vaitape]

cruz_happy,

We share your concerns and thoughts re this cruise.

 

Our travel agent spoke to Viking on Friday and they said the cruises will depart as scheduled. Well, that leaves all US pax off of the ship so what to do?

 

We are meant to sail from Tilbury on 12 January. We were going to fly to London on Jan 7 to see the sites and then meet up with our UK friends who are joining us on this cruise.

 

I've spent copious hours researching the situation with Norway and entry requirements. Norway WILL NOT accept the CDC paper cards for our vaccines....seems that is the biggest barrier.

 

We're in a quandary about air....still haven't booked it yet but really don't want to wait much longer. 

[trtog7]

I would expect Viking knows as much about our ability to go to Norway in Jan. as we do.

Viking probably has their fingers crossed so they do not have to return all that money

[vaitape]

Didn't realize Canadians were excluded from entry as well.

 

[uktog]

I see from a Viking response to a query sent in from a January 2022 cruiser on their roll call they are starting sadly to flag up possible itinerary changes re Norway but no details 🥲🥲🥲

[vaitape]

uktog, I can't even find Venus's roll call....do you have a link?

Itinerary changes are ok....one of our friends suggested maybe Viking would move the cruises to an Iceland itinerary. 

We just need to know if the ship is going to sail with an itinerary allowing Americans and Canadians.

We need to book our air or cancel hotels!

[SoBaycruiser]

5 hours ago, vaitape said:

uktog, I can't even find Venus's roll call....do you have a link?

Itinerary changes are ok....one of our friends suggested maybe Viking would move the cruises to an Iceland itinerary. 

We just need to know if the ship is going to sail with an itinerary allowing Americans and Canadians.

We need to book our air or cancel hotels!

Try this one.

[vaitape]

SoBayCruiser,

Thank you for the link....don't know why I didn't see it on my own.

 

WELL....doubt very strongly we will leave England on 12 January given the current situation with only 2 months before departure. Not happy with Viking given their lack of communication.

 

Bummed to say the least.

 

[vaitape]

meant VERY STRONGLY DOUBT

[uktog]

A positive sign, the shore excursions for Norway are indeed now loaded with those eligible being able to start booking.  It’s a couple of weeks before we become eligible for our March trip, but it’s nice to see nevertheless. 

[janetcbl]

5 hours ago, uktog said:

A positive sign, the shore excursions for Norway are indeed now loaded with those eligible being able to start booking.  It’s a couple of weeks before we become eligible for our March trip, but it’s nice to see nevertheless. 

You are arriving from Scotland? It may be different for those arriving from the US/Canada.

[uktog]

5 minutes ago, janetcbl said:

You are arriving from Scotland? It may be different for those arriving from the US/Canada.

Appreciate that but as there was previously talk about the whole cruise being cancelled, it is a confirmation that is not the case.  What you do not yet know is whether Viking being a Norwegian company has brought some influence to a development re border rules for January 2022

[vaitape]

hmmm....that would be great. Just wish Viking would let us know.

Edited November 13, 2021 by vaitape

[elizpeace]

6 hours ago, vaitape said:

hmmm....that would be great. Just wish Viking would let us know.

 

Agreed! I am not willing to pay for excursions that currently I know I cannot access due to the restrictions in Norway, so I am just hanging tight for now.

[Doc who loves to travel]

Are there any general roll calls for this itinerary?  My specific roll call doesn’t have a lot of activity. I like to see ideas that I don’t think of! 

[tsakishuman]

We are also supposed to depart on Jan. 12 NL. We are also doing a three day pre-extension in Iceland. Who knows what will happen? Our excursions opened on Saturday and it seemed weird to book excursions for a cruise that will probably not happen but we did. We only booked three optional excursions and the cost was over $1,000 per person. They all seemed quite expensive. There was a wolf experience that we had thought about doing until we saw it was $750 pp. Yikes! We still don't even have air booked yet. We have over $24,000 in vouchers locked into this deal so it would be nice to know if and when this cruise will cancel so we can figure out how to use these vouchers later in some hopefully less covid restricted situation. 

[Peregrina651]

On 11/14/2021 at 8:35 AM, Doc who loves to travel said:

Are there any general roll calls for this itinerary?  My specific roll call doesn’t have a lot of activity. I like to see ideas that I don’t think of! 

 

As to the roll calls, you can lead a horse to water... Never did understand why people join a roll call if they aren't interested in actually taking part in the conversation.  

 

If it is ideas you are after, see what the other roll calls have to say.  

[elizpeace]

10 hours ago, tsakishuman said:

We are also supposed to depart on Jan. 12 NL. We are also doing a three day pre-extension in Iceland. Who knows what will happen? Our excursions opened on Saturday and it seemed weird to book excursions for a cruise that will probably not happen but we did. We only booked three optional excursions and the cost was over $1,000 per person. They all seemed quite expensive. There was a wolf experience that we had thought about doing until we saw it was $750 pp. Yikes! We still don't even have air booked yet. We have over $24,000 in vouchers locked into this deal so it would be nice to know if and when this cruise will cancel so we can figure out how to use these vouchers later in some hopefully less covid restricted situation. 

 

I'm still holding tight, but I have bookmarked the excursions we are most interested in. If they are still available, and something changes so we are allowed to go, then I think it was meant to be! 🙂

 

I also was surprised at the cost of the increase. I completely expected a 10% increase, but not 20% for some.

[seaquay]

Forbes are reporting that Norway has announcing that from November 26, all arrivals to Norway will be required to register online, to better enable authorities to follow-up in the case of an infection outbreak. This requirement applies to everyone, including citizens and residents of Norway.  
 
They are also reporting that the government stopped short of a new national mandate for the use of face masks. However, they have allowed municipalities who wish to do so the option to introduce Covid certificate requirements in public places such as restaurants on a local basis. Some cities including Tromsø have been calling for the use of Covid certificates for several weeks, while other remain skeptical
 
As far as I can tell there has been no relaxing of the restriction of passengers from the USA and Canada entering Norway so have to again question if Viking will run the cruises with these passengers not being able to travel to Norway.

[Kitekat]

On 11/13/2021 at 8:52 AM, uktog said:

A positive sign, the shore excursions for Norway are indeed now loaded with those eligible being able to start booking.  It’s a couple of weeks before we become eligible for our March trip, but it’s nice to see nevertheless. 

We are on 17 Feb with access on 13 Dec. Which sailing are you on? We might get to meet!

[Daisymabel]

We are also booked on the Feb 17th sailing from Bergen to London. We’re Canadian and have no clue if we will be able to board. Canada has digital vaccination certificates. Viking are still taking bookings from US and Canadian travellers. 

27 minutes ago, Kitekat said:

We are on 17 Feb with access on 13 Dec. Which sailing are you on? We might get to meet!

 

[uktog]

10 hours ago, Kitekat said:

We are on 17 Feb with access on 13 Dec. Which sailing are you on? We might get to meet!

We hope to be on 13th March, fingers very much crossed 

[crusinbanjo]

11 hours ago, uktog said:

We hope to be on 13th March, fingers very much crossed 

Mrs Banjo and I were booked on that cruise as well, but decided to cancel over all of the uncertainty and restrictions.  I do hope it sails and you enjoy it.  We are hoping normal will return in 2023

[anaco_angler]

Nothing from Viking but I found this information on regjeringen.no in regards to the report that Norway will allow all visitors beginning November 26:

 

We are working on solutions to expand this system to include people who have been vaccinated using vaccines approved in the UK, the USA, and by WHO. At present this means vaccination with Covishield (the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in India), Sinopharm, and Sinovac. It must be possible to check people’s COVID-19 certificates using a QR code that is accepted by the EU Digital COVID certificate (EUDCC) gateway. It will take some time before the system for these people is in place.