Vikings Cancels All River and Ocean Sailings through 2020

Viking Cruises has canceled all of its operations, including river and ocean sailings, through the end of the year as the line continues to deal with the impact of COVID-19.

Viking chair Torstein Hagen made the announcement in a video message posted on the Viking website this week, explaining that after five months since its initial suspension on March 11, “present circumstances and events” have still not improved enough to resume sailings.

Hagen said that with the trajectory of how things are improving both in Europe and in the U.S., “I’m quite hopeful that as we turn into 2021, all conditions will be in order.”

“We are seeing clear signs and improvements of conditions for cruising,” he said, noting that the prevalence of COVID-19 in Europe has dropped and life is slowly returning to normal. Those improvements include some European countries opening up for cruising and a return to sailing for some cruise lines, and positive developments on both therapeutics and a vaccine.

Viking is offering all impacted guests a FCC worth 125% of all monies paid to Viking. The FCC is fully transferable to another guest and can be applied to any river, ocean, or expedition itinerary within the next two years.

Viking is also offering guests the chance to opt for a refund of all monies paid to Viking.