With the virus spreading throughout SE Asia, Viking made a bold decision to completely by-pass the entire area. A few days ago, we received the amended itinerary for the current segment that ends March 9th, but they were still finalising segment 3, from Bali to Bombay.
During the Noon announcement, the Captain advised the itinerary revisions are complete and a notice is being delivered to the cabins.
The revised itinerary is:
Date Orig Itinerary Revised Itinerary
09th March HK/Singapore Bali
10th March HK/Singapore Bali
11th March At Sea Lombok, Indonesia
12th March At Sea At Sea
13th March Saigon At Sea
14th March Saigon Semarang, Java
15th March Saigon At Sea
16th March At Sea At Sea
17th March Cambodia At Sea
18th March Bangkok At Sea
19th March Bangkok At Sea
20th March Koh Samui Galle, Sri Lanka
21st March At Sea Colombo
22nd March Singapore Colombo
23rd March KL At Sea
24th March Georgetown Maldives
25th March Phuket Maldives
26th March At Sea At Sea
27th March At Sea Cochin, India
28th March Chennai (Madras) Cochin, India
29th March At Sea Mangalore, India
30th March At Sea Goa, India
31st March Cochin Goa, India
1st April At Sea At Sea
2nd April Goa Mumbai (Bombay)
3rd April Bombay Mumbai (Bombay)
Although the reasons for the itinerary changes are completely outside Viking’s control, the Captain’s letter also advises the compensation being provided.
As we will miss 14 of 53 ports, Viking are providing us with Future Cruise Vouchers to the value of 30% of the cruise fare. OMG !!! we did not expect anything, this is incredible customer service. They must be used within 1 year of our return home.
Andy & Judi's Worldwide Travels 
I love your continued great attitude
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Wow, what a bummer on the change of itinerary, but still a great cruise regardless. I feel Viking is being extremely generous in their compensation. We have been looking at Viking Ocean for various cruises and you will sure be able to go back and do something great with that credit likely at no charge.
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Viking is not only extremely generous in providing us compensation, when none was due or expected, the standards on the ship are amazing. If considering Viking, we highly recommend them.
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Well, obviously this is not the ideal itinerary as that is what many choose their cruise based on, but as you said, it is out of Viking’s control. You and Judi are well traveled so not as big a deal to you folks, but I feel sorry for others on the ship who now may never get to many of these places the ship is bypassing. That’s the way it goes though and I guess they should be grateful they were not on the Diamond Princess!
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Tamera – We book a cruise primarily on cruise line and then itinerary. Yes, we are fairly well travelled, but some of the ports missed were ones I have not visited before. However, we believe our health and safety is paramount and Viking is taking steps to ensure we do not end up like Diamond Princess.
Last night we were expecting another cultural performance from a local group; however, one of them presented with a fever. As a result, the entire group was denied boarding, so the show was cancelled.
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Andy, if you weren’t scheduled for Lombok somewhere along the line and haven’t researched it, I recommend Rinjani transport for a private tour. We had a nice van for 2 of us and had a good tour of beaches, a native village, a little show, rice fields, etc. It was $25 I think. They have a website. The folks on the ships tours weren’t happy. Traffic there is crazy. I think that the ship’s tour just dropped them at a beach and picked them up but that could have changed since last year. Keep enjoying! Love your adventures!
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Andy, if you weren’t scheduled for Lombok somewhere along the line and haven’t researched it, I recommend Rinjani transport for a private tour. We had a nice van for 2 of us and had a good tour of beaches, a native village, a little show, rice fields, etc. It was $25 I think. They have a website. The folks on the ships tours weren’t happy. Traffic there is crazy.
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Brilliant, thanks for the suggestion, will definitely check them out
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Make sure that you ask for a driver that speaks good English. Ours was just learning, but we tag teamed with the van in front of us. That driver spoke great English. It was a really enjoyable day. They met us right outside the pier area and everyone there knew who they were. From what I know about you, you will enjoy!
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Hate that ya’ll will miss some ports but some of the new ones sound great.
With that incredible goodwill gesture, I’m starting to regret we didn’t raid the penny bank and figure out a way to join some or all of the WC. Have you figured out how far that 30% voucher will drive down your per day cost? 😊
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Hi Clay – it must be used within a year, so we are considering:
– Orion – HK to Vancouver
– Jupiter – Valparaiso to B/A, then B/A to Barcelona
First option has better flights, but is really heavy in Japan. Second option has lots of sea days, which we like, but 2 long flights.
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Having just been in Japan and having been pining for the BA to BCN cruise, looks like two great options!
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