The Stress Of Cruise Travel In 2022

We made it through the worst of the pandemic, or at least this pandemic, and have all been excited to get our cruising life back to normal. But, for those of us who love cruising, the journey back to normal is anything but smooth sailing.

Confusing Covid Regulations

The rules and regulations around “vaccines” and Covid testing and masks are more confusing than ever. On our upcoming Viking Ocean cruise in Scandinavia, we are not required to be tested prior to boarding, but on Viking sailings originating out of North America (and a few other countries), pre-cruise testing is still required. There is no longer any universal rule regarding pre-cruise testing. And, every cruise line has its own individual policy regarding “vaccines”, testing and masks.

The entire world has not yet accepted that Covid-19 in its current form is basically a flu virus. There is still a lot of fear about a virus that develops no symptoms at all in most of whom are infected. Nevertheless, if you test positive, false or otherwise, two days before your cruise, you will be denied boarding. Your vacation gone, perhaps with the money you spent on airfare and other travel expenses.

Airline Delays and Cancellations

Scandinavian Airlines has recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US and is in the middle of a pilot strike/walkout. Unfortunately, our air travel to our Viking cruise is booked on SAS. Our scheduled flight from Newark to Stockhom, as well as our return flight from Copenhagen to Chicago, has been cancelled every day for the past week and appears to be cancelled into the future. We are hopeful that Viking’s air department will sort this out and re-book us on other airlines, but SAS is not the only airline with problems. There is a worldwide shortage of pilots, flight attendants, ground crew, etc, so It is not uncommon to show up at an airport to find 50% or more of the flights cancelled or delayed.

We are 9 days away from our departure and this is the time where we would normally be filled with excitement and anticipation for the adventure that lies ahead. Instead, we are filled with stress and worry about whether or not we will even make it to Stockholm to board the ship. Of course, we planned to spend an extra day in Stockholm prior to embarkation. We have been taking that precaution on international travel for years. But now we wonder if one day was enough? Maybe we now have to plan a two or three-day advance stay prior to embarking a cruise?

Lost or Delayed Luggage

In April of this year alone, more than 220,000 checked bags were lost by the airlines. Airport storage facilities have turned into mountains of luggage. Our flight itinerary has us flying from DFW to Newark, then on to Stockhom, Sweden. Even on a good day, pre-pandemic, American Airlines would be late departing DFW which means a late arrival in Newark. The odds of us making our connection are questionable and the odds of our luggage getting transferred to the SAS flight are slim to none. Can you imagine spending 15 days in Europe with only the clothes on your back, or in your carry-on luggage?

We have been able to mitigate this stress by using Luggage Forward (https://luggageforward.com) to have our checked bags shipped ahead of time directly to the ship in Stockholm. It costs nearly $1,000 to ship both of our large duffel bags to the ship, one way, but at least we don’t have to worry about showing up with no clothes.

We are also now using Air Tags inside all of our luggage so that we can track where the bags are at any given time using our iPhones. We will be checking the bags with the airline on the return flights at the end of the cruise, so it will be nice to at least know where they end up!

Inflation

In case you had not noticed, everything is more expensive than it was just a year ago. The cost of travel has increased dramatically. The cost of air travel is insanely expensive, as is the cost for hotels, ground transportation and food. Unless you live in or near a cruise embarkation port, the cost to get to the ship could easily be more than the cruise itself.

The Impact On The Cruise Industry

I don’t think the impact of these negative forces have begun to show up on the bottom line of cruise companies just yet. But, they will eventually. If enough people realize that the cruise vacation is causing more stress than it is relieving, they will find other ways to spend their vacations. Cruise line executives need to recognize that their industry is largely dependent upon the airlines. And, in the United States at least, the airline industry is not a consumer-focused business. European carriers are only slightly better. An airline passenger is nothing more than freight to an airline, not a “customer”. It is the only business I can think of that can sell you a product at a very high price, completely fail to deliver the product, and you have no recourse. They can cancel your flight, hand you a worthless voucher for future travel credit to be applied to an airline ticket that will be twice the price of the voucher, and they can get away with it. So much for government consumer protection.

I debated whether or not to make this post part of our Viking Mars blog, but I think it reflects the state-of-mind going into this cruise. To be clear, none of this apprehension is the fault of Viking Cruises. It is just the state of the world in which we live right now.

*Disclaimer: Luggage Forward is a CruiseReport sponsor and has provided one-way shipping of luggage as compensation for sponsorship. For more information, click here.