Shelly and I are looking forward to our Viking river cruise up the Rhine River. It is clear that the coronavirus is impacting the cruise industry and Viking is being proactive regarding sailings in the 90 days.
Viking River Cruise Update As Of March 11, 2020
Viking is canceling all cruises departing from March 12th through April 30th. This affects both river and ocean cruises. See my updated post here.
The Email that I Received Today from Viking
Viking River Cruises is taking a proactive approach to ensure the safety and security of its passengers. This email is alerting passengers that they have implemented enhanced health screenings as a “precautionary measure”. They intend to accomplish this through the use of a health care questionnaire. The letter further goes on to state:
Additionally, any guests who have traveled from or through mainland China within 14 days of the beginning of their trip with us, will not be permitted to embark on the ship.
I was a little confused about this health care questionnaire since there was nothing attached to the email. I called Viking River Cruises and the representative informed me that the health care questionnaire will be completed upon embarkation in Amsterdam. I told the representative that it would have been nice if the poorly-worded email would have mentioned the modified boarding process.
My Take on This Email from Viking
I understand that the coronavirus outbreak is not close to containment. I appreciate the fact that Viking River Cruises is taking a proactive stance for my protection. It would have been better if Viking River Cruises constructed a better email that disclosed the actual deployment of the health care questionnaire. What happens to the passengers that travel around the world that fail the questionnaire upon embarkation? Will Viking reimburse the cost of the cruise along with the costs of travel to the port of embarkation? Stay tuned, I will update this situation as I learn more about it.
