We are presently isolating in a hotel in Germany after having caught covid whilst cruising on the Danube despite being fully immunised, and are now feeling completely abandoned by Viking.
Prior to the cruise we had pondered long and hard over whether to postpone it for another year, due to the extremely infectious nature of the latest covid variant sweeping across Europe. To help us understand the risk we would be taking on, we asked Viking what would happen if we caught covid whilst on a cruise. We were told that we would be taken off the boat and placed in a hotel to isolate and would be regularly tested, and if these proved negative we’d potentially be able to return to complete the remainder of our holiday. We were also told that they would deal direct with our insurance company to sort out the financial fall-out to avoid the related stress falling on our shoulders. It was particularly this last aspect that convinced us to go ahead with the cruise.
Part way into our cruise I developed a sore throat and thought it best to have a lateral flow test, which regrettably proved positive. I dutifully informed the onboard staff who asked my wife and me to stay in our cabin, and to start packing in anticipation of being taken off the boat and placed in a hotel. As it turned out we were not taken off the boat until the next day, when we had arrived in Passau, Germany. My 1st criticism of Viking is that they did not keep us informed of what was happening during this period of wait, and the onus fell on us to enquire. Unfortunately, the usual response was “We are awaiting instructions from the Head Office” , a rather surprising response given the likelihood of this having happened many times before.
Response from VikingS, Community Team