River cruise cancellations in light of current events

[notamermaid]

Viking river cruises and others: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/viking-cruises-cancels-2022-kiev-and-black-sea-sailings

 

notamermaid

 

[lorif]

Thanks, it is definitely an evolving situation that needs to be watched for many reasons.

 

[PhD-iva]

I have 2 river cruises booked for July; Rhine/Moselle & Danube Prague to Budapest. Am hoping the conflict does not escalate into NATO countries…..

I am shocked at Putin’s actions! Others have called me naive, and I guess that’s true. 😟

[Chris_Texas]

Does anybody else have imminent cruises on the Danube that go as far east as Budapest?  It feels a little heart=breaking to be thinking about vacation impact while the Ukrainians are going through what they are, but we do need to make decisions.  Our tour leaves Apr 10th, my wife and I plus another couple, and we haven't seriously entertained any thoughts about whether we would cancel...yet.  We still have 7 weeks, and a lot can happen in that time. I'm just curious how others who are traveling in the next couple of months to eastern Europe are thinking about this situation.

[Canal archive]

If you get a chance read ‘Putin’s People’. So very interesting you’ll realise just what he’s like. Sorry if it’s advertising but it’s an eyesight into the workings of his mind.

[KTRaveller]

23 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

I have 2 river cruises booked for July; Rhine/Moselle & Danube Prague to Budapest. Am hoping the conflict does not escalate into NATO countries…..

I am shocked at Putin’s actions! Others have called me naive, and I guess that’s true. 😟

Optimism sometimes looks naive, but I'd rather be around optimistic people than cynics.  In the end, your intelligence will allow you to make realistic choices for yourself.  Good luck!  We are booked for a cruise beginning in Prague/Budapest in October, so will be watching carefully, too.

[sk99]

7 hours ago, Chris_Texas said:

I'm just curious how others who are traveling in the next couple of months to eastern Europe are thinking about this situation.

We have Bucharest to Budapest starting on April 5th, we have 2 more weeks to monitor and decide, but considering canceling if situation is not resolved, which is unlikely. 

[Geosez]

We are booked with Viking on the Danube ending in Budapest April 10.  I wasn’t overly concerned until Putin played the nuke card.  Usual consensus is to let Viking cancel.   We’re just watching and waiting right now but might be relieved if our trip is cancelled. At this point, what do any of us really know?

[Cattyp]

I’m scheduled for Eastern Europe down the Danube…leaving 3/13. I’m still going to go. I can’t picture Viking or any cruise line putting passengers in danger.  But that’s just my opinion. I’m prepared for increased security in countries as well as people fleeing the Ukraine. Who knows if and when it will get better.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 minutes ago, Cattyp said:

I’m scheduled for Eastern Europe down the Danube…leaving 3/13. I’m still going to go. I can’t picture Viking or any cruise line putting passengers in danger.  But that’s just my opinion. I’m prepared for increased security in countries as well as people fleeing the Ukraine. Who knows if and when it will get better.  

I admire your spirit, and I think I would do the same.  Why should one megalomaniac's misdeeds harm the economies of other innocent countries?

 

OTOH we are scheduled for a Baltic cruise this summer with 3 nights in St. Petersburg – THAT I will not do.  Luckily it's on a British cruise line, and if UK keeps Russia bright Red on its do not sail map, there's no way my cruise can go there.

[Cattyp]

1 minute ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I admire your spirit, and I think I would do the same.  Why should one megalomaniac's misdeeds harm the economies of other innocent countries?

 

OTOH we are scheduled for a Baltic cruise this summer with 3 nights in St. Petersburg – THAT I will not do.  Luckily it's on a British cruise line, and if UK keeps Russia bright Red on its do not sail map, there's no way my cruise can go there.

I don’t think any cruise lines will be making stops in Russia this year. Just my opinion. I was in St. Petersburg in 2018 Ans loved it. I’m scheduled for a cruise in Russia next year but I’m already planning for changing that…just waiting to see what happens at the year progresses! 

[sharkster77]

It's too bad--years ago I was first exposed to St. Petersburg watching the Amazing Race and was wowed by the city!  A former colleague visited the gardens at Peterhof (sp?) and again the photos blew me away. 

 

Maybe someday a Baltic cruise will be possible again.  Being a fan of NOT broiling in the heat/sun, that would appeal to me.

[Second seating]

28 minutes ago, sharkster77 said:

It's too bad--years ago I was first exposed to St. Petersburg watching the Amazing Race and was wowed by the city!  A former colleague visited the gardens at Peterhof (sp?) and again the photos blew me away. 

 

Maybe someday a Baltic cruise will be possible again.  Being a fan of NOT broiling in the heat/sun, that would appeal to me.

 

The Catherine Palace in July 2018, glad we went then!

Second seating

[OurDogCisco]

On 2/28/2022 at 4:43 PM, Geosez said:

We are booked with Viking on the Danube ending in Budapest April 10.  I wasn’t overly concerned until Putin played the nuke card.  Usual consensus is to let Viking cancel.   We’re just watching and waiting right now but might be relieved if our trip is cancelled. At this point, what do any of us really know?

I'm with you.  I have an Eastern Europe Rick Steve's tour planned for August but the way Putin is acting I wouldn't put anything past him.  Our trip travels from Berlin to Prague to Vienna.  I don't think these countries are in danger, but I don't want to take unnecessary risks.

[Canal archive]

Would you believe that picture apart from the right hand corner looks like a view at Portmerion!

[AnhaltER1960]

19 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

 

Maybe someday a Baltic cruise will be possible again.  Being a fan of NOT broiling in the heat/sun, that would appeal to me.

 

Baltic cruises will take place. They just will not be calling at St. Petersburg. Yesterday there was news in Germany that Aida, TUI, MSC, NCL and some more German tour operators will skip StP. Others are likely to follow.

 

Article in German: https://www.spiegel.de/reise/ukraine-krieg-abgesagte-russland-reisen-und-kreuzfahrten-nach-sankt-petersburg-a-07bed8af-0d98-48a6-abd9-64cc653c6c0a

[sharkster77]

3 hours ago, AnhaltER1960 said:

 

Baltic cruises will take place. They just will not be calling at St. Petersburg. Yesterday there was news in Germany that Aida, TUI, MSC, NCL and some more German tour operators will skip StP. Others are likely to follow.

 

Article in German: https://www.spiegel.de/reise/ukraine-krieg-abgesagte-russland-reisen-und-kreuzfahrten-nach-sankt-petersburg-a-07bed8af-0d98-48a6-abd9-64cc653c6c0a

Oh I have no doubt Baltic cruises will occur--just without me, for now!  Skipping St. Petersburg removes perhaps the highlight of the cruise.

[bethellen71]

On 2/28/2022 at 7:43 PM, Geosez said:

We are booked with Viking on the Danube ending in Budapest April 10.  I wasn’t overly concerned until Putin played the nuke card.  Usual consensus is to let Viking cancel.   We’re just watching and waiting right now but might be relieved if our trip is cancelled. At this point, what do any of us really know?

What is the advantage if Viking cancels?  

We are booked for the romantic Danube Apr 15; and purchased the tripmate insurance.

Thank you.

[sharkster77]

1 hour ago, bethellen71 said:

What is the advantage if Viking cancels?  

We are booked for the romantic Danube Apr 15; and purchased the tripmate insurance.

Thank you.

During COVID cancellations, passenger received much more credit for future cruises (110-125% back) or full refunds if Viking did the cancelling.  If you cancel on your own you are subject to the conditions you agreed to when making final payment.

 

I would imagine the same or something similar would apply to cancellations due to the sad situation in Ukraine.

[tysmomm]

My husband and I are also booked on the Romantic Danube that departs Regensberg on April 10th and concludes in Budapest.  We are going for it!  🙂  We also booked the pre extension packet, so we actually begin in Prague.  Should be interesting with all that is going on in Europe!

[bethellen71]

So if we decide to cancel we would get a voucher for a future viking cruise is my understanding via the Viking "cancel for any reason" guarantee.

 

And we would not be eligible for a refund because under the additional insurance offered that we paid for:

 

Insurance benefits are not payable for any loss due to:

14. declared or undeclared war, or any act of war

 

Does that sound correct?

[slidergirl]

If any cruise company decided to go to St. Petersburg in the foreseeable future, I won't be doing that cruise or any others offered by that company.  

 

I have the feeling that you won't get your money due to #14.  You could always try "I have a moral and ethical duty to stay out of Russia."  

[funkyfaces]

We have booked a Viking River cruise with another couple to do the Moselle River and an extension in Switzerland starting April 22. We still don't know what we should do. Part of me wants to take this once in a lifetime trip and the other part doesn't want to be anywhere close if Putin starts bombing nuclear reactors or if the fighting spreads to other nations. The other couple has had this cruise canceled once due to covid so I don't know if they would want to postpone again. This is so a minor problem compared to what Ukraine is going through.

[MikeBR]

We are booked with Movenpick's going upstream on the Nile, Cairo to Luxor on 21st March (We have already done Luxor to Lake Nassar on a number of other cruises)  and we are not really bothered that things will escalate in that direction, But the news coming out of Ukraine is not putting us in 'Holiday Mood'. We have done the Danube a number of times with a variety of lines including Viking and it is one of the best rivers to explore for first time river cruisers and I can understand the reticence many are feeling worrying what Putin will do next. We did the St Petersburg to Moscow cruise with Viking back in 2018 and we found it very eye opening as well as enjoyable traveling during the 'May Day' celebrations and it makes us sad because the normal Russians that we met when we were out on our own very openly did not like Putin calling him a dictator even back then and what surprised us most was that away from the two main city's the poor standard of living the ordinary Russians have. We met a retired School teacher singing in the streets  for penny's because her state pension could not keep her and her disabled husband. So we feel very sorry for the average Russians because they do not want war and you can see that in the broadcast's that the likes of the BBC have been showing of the protests by amazingly brave  Russian people against Putin and what he is doing to Ukraine. I'm normally a pacifist, but I would dearly love to see the people of Russia behave in the same way as the Italians treated Mussolini .🙏

Edited March 5, 2022 by MikeBR
miss spelling.

[notamermaid]

Something a bit more positive. business as usual on the Danube in Hungary: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/sailing-on-danube-is-safe-despite-ukraine-conflict-says-amawaterways-boss

 

notamermaid