Recently did Viking River cruise in France and testing done first day and repeated day before disembarking. Program director advised first evening that wearing masks onboard has proved to dramatically reduced Covid outbursts onboard. Ships that relaxed masking requirements had much higher number of passengers affected with Covid. Another crew member mentioned that there were thermometer scans hidden in different area of ship that could identify if passenger/crew had elevated temperatures that would alert staff to do further health screening/testing if needed. Also typical tourist spots extremely crowded and very few wearing masks. Masking in crowded places and social distancing helps lower your risk of testing positive. Totally agree testing should be done on symptomatic passengers and not daily basis. Although masking not mandatory on all ships think it is personal choice if it lowers my risk of getting infected. Would be helpful to have an information site to monitor # of Covid cases occurring on each ship. High numbers may just reflect regional increase and can allow passengers make informed decision. Taking ocean cruise in fall and hope daily testing ends by then.
