Viking Sea West Indies Explorer cruise Oct 29-Nov 10, 2025 has been cancelled

[Azulann]

Got a email today from Viking .Due to  changes globally, The Viking Sea cruise I had booked for $25.00 with payment May 2025 is now cancelled.

Oh well, back to the  drawing board and now I can think about different Viking cruise for 2025. 

[SantaFe1]

And our cruise on Viking Sea for the Pacific Coast Explorer is also canceled, April 2025.  We will also get our $50 refund.  HOWEVER, just two weeks ago we purchased our first class airfare to LA and back from Vancouver.  Now what.  I’m recalled mad at Viking!,

[kctwinmommy]

Same! And ALL Caribbean cruises on Viking are gone from their website, except a Panama Canal one. We already have a Royal one booked for February, and my husband started a new job, so we really can't take one in the springtime. I just wanted to do a Viking one in warm weather. I'm so disappointed!

[kctwinmommy]

@SantaFe1 - Ugh! I'm sorry! I'm pissed because we booked this on the ship, with all the discounts, so I'm assuming none of that will apply even if we could find one we wanted. But you're in a worse situation. They canceled the entire 2025 season it appears.

[Azulann]

1 minute ago, SantaFe1 said:

And our cruise on Viking Sea for the Pacific Coast Explorer is also canceled, April 2025.  We will also get our $50 refund.  HOWEVER, just two weeks ago we purchased our first class airfare to LA and back from Vancouver.  Now what.  I’m recalled mad at Viking!,

Can you get your airfare back? Did you book air on your own or through Viking air?

 We just had our deposit which we will get back or put toward another cruise. We do have a Cruise on Viking booked for April 2026 so we should e able to get the current promotion for past cruiser if we want or maybe do a last minute cruise when they have a sale to fill the ship...

 

[SantaFe1]

They said the ship was being re-deployed because of world tensions, etc.  but we bought our own air.

Since we are from LA and haven’t been back for a visit in awhile, we have, in the last hour, decided to just spend the nine days of this cruise in LA using the first flight to LAX.  But a ticket on Alaska from Vancouver we have no use for.  We were just there last year and don’t want to go again.  I think we can change it, maybe fly home from LAX on Alaska.  As I said, we have our TA working on it.  

Edited July 11 by SantaFe1

[kctwinmommy]

Their reasoning is actually a little vague, IMO... Considering our cruise is 16 months away!

 

"Our nautical team regularly evaluates our itineraries while also monitoring global events for any potential impact to our guests. Due to ongoing global issues and their cascading effect, we have made the difficult decision to reposition some of our vessels to other regions."

[millybess]

So is this just Viking Sea?  

[SantaFe1]

6 minutes ago, kctwinmommy said:

Their reasoning is actually a little vague, IMO... Considering our cruise is 16 months away!

 

"Our nautical team regularly evaluates our itineraries while also monitoring global events for any potential impact to our guests. Due to ongoing global issues and their cascading effect, we have made the difficult decision to reposition some of our vessels to other regions."

In my opinion, Viking makes a lot more money on European cruises and sells out the ships.  Not so much with the N. America cruises, so they reposition the ship.  Oddly, the next cruise I was planning to book was the West Indies cruise in March of 2026 over my birthday.  I guess that’s out?

Edited July 11 by SantaFe1

[harbourside]

World tensions in the West Indies and West Coast of America???  I thought the only cruises Viking would be cancelling would be in the Middle East.

[SantaFe1]

Just now, harbourside said:

World tensions in the West Indies and West Coast of America???  I thought the only cruises Viking would be cancelling would be in the Middle East.

Exactly!  So take the ship out of N America and create new cruises in Europe etc.  to take up the slack of those that are canceled due to problems in the Middle East.  At least that’s the only take I can find on this.

[stretchcruz]

My Viking Sea May 17 2026 was canceled as well.

[Azulann]

We need Char here to do her magic with the spreadsheet and give us a state of play with Viking Sea and/or N. America ports of call for Ocean ships.

[kctwinmommy]

7 minutes ago, stretchcruz said:

My Viking Sea May 17 2026 was canceled as well.

Oh wow!! That's crazy!

[SantaFe1]

So they are cancelling for two years out?  That is crazy. 

[Hanoj]

I wonder if there has been an up tick in guests canceling West Indies Explorer cruises due to impacts (both real and perceived) from Beryl. Many of the islands hadn’t fully recovered from the shutdowns and excursion resources have been limited since the resumption of cruising. Recovering from this storm will stretch resources. Although not all the islands this itinerary calls on were affected, I suspect Viking decided it was not worth the effort to make changes, especially for undersold sailings.

[SantaFe1]

Still doesn’t explain all the West Coast Explorer cruises canceled.  This is about the ship, the Sea, being re-deployed, not a particular region, I don’t think.  

[Azulann]

Has the Viking Sea even been in dry dock ? It is one of the older ships. Very curious, but time will tell...

I agree with Santa Fe1, it is about the ship Viking Sea.

[Jim Avery]

Being given to the Chinese?

And hurricane season comes around every year.😳

[SantaFe1]

I just ran a check searching for cruises touching somewhere in N America for all sailing dates. No Wedt Indies cruises. No Pacific Coast Explorer cruises. 

[juhacorno410]

1 hour ago, SantaFe1 said:

And our cruise on Viking Sea for the Pacific Coast Explorer is also canceled, April 2025.  We will also get our $50 refund.  HOWEVER, just two weeks ago we purchased our first class airfare to LA and back from Vancouver.  Now what.  I’m recalled mad at Viking!,

Our daughter also got the same e-mail this afternoon.  Will not give a refund because it was mostly booked with vouchers.  Most of the

other cruises they looked at are very expensive..  They cancelled on them, not vise versa.  I know they have the right to do so, but they were really looking forward to this  itinerary.

[rmalbers]

Ok, here's my guess:  They are going to permanently redeploy it to Japan after a drydock.  That might be trend.  People are getting more used to long haul flights.  I think cruise lines will start doing more of this, keeping ships in a given region, long term.

[kctwinmommy]

Someone on social media group had their Bay of Bengal cruise cancelled as well with the same excuse. And yes, hurricanes come every year. Plus these islands don't appear to have been hit by Beryl this year.

[SantaFe1]

3 minutes ago, rmalbers said:

Ok, here's my guess:  They are going to permanently redeploy it to Japan after a drydock.  That might be trend.  People are getting more used to long haul flights.  I think cruise lines will start doing more of this, keeping ships in a given region, long term.

I think Orion does this route now for several years. 

[rmalbers]

1 minute ago, SantaFe1 said:

I think Orion does this route now for several years. 

Really, I need to look into that.  So much for my guess, lol!