We think that’s a great idea. We leave late Sept, and my husband plans to ask our shared PCP for timing advise for both of us (different ages) at his physical in early August. We have 4 covid vaccines so far but think we both could probably do another booster.
I received my last and fifth Covid booster 3 weeks before travel. Didn’t work for me. Last year, most cruise ships had some kind of Covid policies, Viking tested all passengers daily and booted off anyone Covid positive. Not anymore.
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When we cruised in November, Viking’s policy had changed.
No daily testing, the crew was in masks but that was the only concession to covid them.
As far as I know, there was no one booted off due to covid. There were many coughing and sneezing. Since it was late fall, I assumed that it was colds. Could have been covid.
Fortunately all of our regular table mates stayed healthy also.
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Yes, while we were pretty confident we could have gotten excellent medical care (if needed) in Japan, we figured being proactive would make our travel less stressful.
We also got our 6th covid shot (2nd bivalent booster) about 2 weeks before going to Japan. Timing of boosters is an open Q, but to us, we figured booster would provide most protection 2+ weeks out.
We also wore KF94 masks whenever we were in enclosed spaces with others and not eating or drinking. We also took Enovid antiviral spray every morning & evening.
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I returned Monday from a Viking ocean cruise around Iceland and tested positive for COVID that night. My cabin mate and our two other travel mates are negative, as is my husband who picked me up from the airport. I’ve had 6 shots, the last 2 weeks before my trip, but I am sick! Started Paxlovid Wednesday, feeling better, but exhausted. First bout with COVID.
We are doing that Viking ocean cruise around Iceland next year. Hope you feel better soon. … and would love to hear about your experience and your opinion of the trip.
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That’s awful that they don’t have a policy in place, and even worse that some who got sick acted like everything was fine. Irresponsible is the kindest word I could use!
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The cruise was great! First time with Viking, first without kids. Very quiet on the ship.
Bring more clothes for cold weather, less for warm. You have 2 or 3 stops above the Arctic Circle. One day it was 43 and winds at 17 mph. I had on a long sleeve tee, lightweight quarter zip, sweater fleece jacket, puffy packable coat, waterproof wind proof raincoat. Bottoms: hiking pants, wind proof waterproof pants, smart wool knee highs, hiking shoes. Plus hat and gloves. Wore most of this gear every day. Wished I had another sweater fleece along.
No one dresses much for dinner in the select restaurants. I brought too much. Dress pants and top were fine. Food was good, not spectacular. Fish in abundance—great for me, not so much for friends. Check both sides of cafe line: one has a sushi station, other cold salads (mostly fish), also end of cafe has specials like soup bar, desserts some nights. Took a few days to catch onto this.
We did 6 excursions: Golden Circle highly recommended, Isafjordur village, northern Iceland national treasures, skalanes nature and heritage center, djupibogur fjord, wildlife of Heimaey by boat recommend. Most of the guides were local and native, loved hearing their experiences. The other was from Germany, came to finish her masters, and stayed. None of the excursions were disappointing. I don’t think any choice would be wrong. We opted out of horses, zodiac, kayak, strenuous hikes. Iceland does not have the accessibility we are accustomed to: lack of handrails on many steps, very uneven terrain on our excursions. I had walking sticks, but could have used a sturdy walking collapsible pole.
We did not use the earpiece and box provided by Viking. Most of the guides use a microphone, and if you sit close enough to the front you can hear anyway. I don’t like things in my ear. We forgot the binoculars on the Heimaey tour, but close enough to see the birds without.
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Oh thank you! I will be our first time with Viking. Our mainstay has been Oceania.
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Thanks for the trip report. Glad you had fun!
We’ve been busy planning for our late Sept Viking Rhine Getaway river cruise (7 nights, Amsterdam to Basel). Just wanted to mention that I have learned so much from the related Facebook group - Viking Rhine River Cruises 2022 and beyond
We are self-planning our 2 nights prior in Amsterdam, so it’s been a great resource. The Anne Frank Museum is especially tight for tickets, and I knew to sign on early (2am Colorado) the Tues 6 weeks to get the tickets with info session that we wanted. (Honestly though the even better tip was to watch the Anne Frank mini-series “A Small Light” on Disney+)
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There is also an entire river cruise section on cruisecritic.com. I learned tons of stuff there before our cruise and continue to put my 2 cents in based on our experiences. Still getting info from it for our tulip cruise next spring.
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Thanks for the reminder. In case others interested, direct link to the River Cruising boards
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Had lunch with friends who did May Viking Rhine Getaway river cruise (the most common itinerary for first timers). Not too surprising, except the were on the exact same ship…. and there are dozens. They had a fabulous time! They did pre-cruise extension outside of Amsterdam and post-cruise to Lucern.
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Nice! I wonder what that would be like in October, in the shoulder season. Hmm……
We did the Rhine with Viking in early October. Weather was similar to October here in New England—cool, one day we had cold rain, the sunny days were glorious.
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I think it could be cool sometimes on our Rhine river cruise - late Sept. I will have my windbreaker and thin hooded jacket for layerering. I’m also contemplating to bring a hip length raincoat (with removable liner) that is good in cold rain. We hear Amsterdam can get rainy. May even wear my waterpoof low hiking boots. But… we take the train afterward to Florence where I think that first week of October ought to be rather pleasant.
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That all sounds quite lovely! We may be looking for a week long getaway in October, who knows where we’ll end up?
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I don’t know anything about the actual trips , but a friend was on a Viking cruise, had a fall (not on the ship) and ended up in the hospital for over a week. Luckily the friend had trip insurance (I don’t know thru who.)
Viking coordinated transportation to the airport, a first class flight home for friend and spouse, and transportation, to rehab clinic.
I don’t know all the details, but Viking sounded like a class act.
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Thanks for the feedback. We do have trip insurance (though through Allianz, not Viking - our trip continues on from Rhine adventure to a self-planned Florence adventure). Still worry about getting sick… but we’re not getting any younger - gonna Do It 
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