Another cruise company's restart plans

[caribill]

Viking, which has both ocean cruises and river cruises has announced much of the protocols that will be in place when they resume operations.

 

Some of the things that are not covered or are not obvious in the slides below are:

 

o They will start with reduced capacity at first

o There will be no buffet. All meals will be served in a dining room

o Entertainment times may be split to allow smaller attendance

o There will be no seating at bars

o They will hire more shore-side tour guides to allow smaller tour groups

o The ability to be on shore without a ship's tour (if allowed at all) may depend on local restrictions.

o Since the cruise fare includes an excursion in every port, there will be at least one "bubble" ship excursion at no additional cost in each port along with some "bubble" excursions offered that do have a fee.

o The onboard PCR testing will allow for the currently required to fly home for some countries

o If a pre-embarkation PCR test at check-in shows a positive result, there will be a second test made in case the first test was a false positive

o There are no current plans to require Covid-19 vaccinations for crew or passengers. If required for passengers, it will be also required for crew. Regulations for countries visited may determine if Covid-19 vaccinations are required.

o They currently have cancelled all itineraries through the end of March and "holding out hope" they can resume operations soon after. However they do not expect cruising to resume until international tourist travel is again possible.

o Cruising when it first resumes will be a different experience than it will be several months later

 

 

 

[Grego]

3 hours ago, caribill said:

Viking, which has both ocean cruises and river cruises has announced much of the protocols that will be in place when they resume operations.

 

Some of the things that are not covered or are not obvious in the slides below are:

 

o They will start with reduced capacity at first

o There will be no buffet. All meals will be served in a dining room

o Entertainment times may be split to allow smaller attendance

o There will be no seating at bars

o They will hire more shore-side tour guides to allow smaller tour groups

o The ability to be on shore without a ship's tour (if allowed at all) may depend on local restrictions.

o Since the cruise fare includes an excursion in every port, there will be at least one "bubble" ship excursion at no additional cost in each port along with some "bubble" excursions offered that do have a fee.

o The onboard PCR testing will allow for the currently required to fly home for some countries

o If a pre-embarkation PCR test at check-in shows a positive result, there will be a second test made in case the first test was a false positive

o There are no current plans to require Covid-19 vaccinations for crew or passengers. If required for passengers, it will be also required for crew. Regulations for countries visited may determine if Covid-19 vaccinations are required.

o They currently have cancelled all itineraries through the end of March and "holding out hope" they can resume operations soon after. However they do not expect cruising to resume until international tourist travel is again possible.

o Cruising when it first resumes will be a different experience than it will be several months later

 

 

 

 

Thanks for posting a bullet version of their plan going forward.  They seem to have covered all the essential and practical protocols necessary to provide a safe environment while providing a nice experience aboard and ashore.  I would hope that all cruise lines adopt similar plans so we can move ahead safely.

 

[azbirdmom]

It will be interesting to see how they accomplish physical distancing on their longships (used for river cruises).  They didn't say that they will have more than one dining time and that's all they have now.  There isn't much room between tables.  There's no assigned tables either so you can find yourself dining with different people during every meal.  If one person on the ship has the virus suffice to say that it will spread to many if not all.  Daily testing will help this somewhat but there's still a chance that someone may spread the disease before they test positive.

 

Ditto the "entertainment" venue on the longships which doubles as the bar.  And that's where they do the nightly updates on what the next day's activities will be.  It can get quite packed in there so I imagine that they will have to get creative about how to work with such a small space in the age of Covid.  Other than the top open deck, they don't have much space to work with.

 

I applaud the steps they are taking but having been on one of their river cruises, it is going to be a challenge.

[san diego sue]

Doesn't sound like a fun experience. I know being safe is a priority and I applaud their efforts.However, for me I don't think I would enjoy it. When cruising resumes with Princess I will see how safe we feel, how many cruises come back not being a sick ship, and then I will sail on one.I want to have fun, be able to sit in the theatre, play trivia, go on private tours, etc  . I won't fly to Europe with many restrictions on a ship.

[voljeep]

16 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

It will be interesting to see how they accomplish physical distancing on their longships (used for river cruises).  They didn't say that they will have more than one dining time and that's all they have now.  There isn't much room between tables.  There's no assigned tables either so you can find yourself dining with different people during every meal.  If one person on the ship has the virus suffice to say that it will spread to many if not all.  Daily testing will help this somewhat but there's still a chance that someone may spread the disease before they test positive.

 

Ditto the "entertainment" venue on the longships which doubles as the bar.  And that's where they do the nightly updates on what the next day's activities will be.  It can get quite packed in there so I imagine that they will have to get creative about how to work with such a small space in the age of Covid.  Other than the top open deck, they don't have much space to work with.

 

I applaud the steps they are taking but having been on one of their river cruises, it is going to be a challenge.

Hence ...

 

o They will start with reduced capacity at first

o There will be no buffet. All meals will be served in a dining room

o Entertainment times may be split to allow smaller attendance

[azbirdmom]

2 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Hence ...

 

o They will start with reduced capacity at first

o There will be no buffet. All meals will be served in a dining room

o Entertainment times may be split to allow smaller attendance

 

I saw those bullets before making my comments.  It's a compact environment and even with 50% occupancy it will be a challenge.

[voljeep]

10 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

I saw those bullets before making my comments.  It's a compact environment and even with 50% occupancy it will be a challenge.

would 25-30% work for you ?

[jennybenny]

It’s a good sign to see this! It means things are moving forward with plans to restart cruising, at least for Viking. Others will hopefully follow soon

[MustangGT]

Thanks for the info!  We had our first river cruise set for April 2021.  In August, we moved it to April 2022.  Hoping the world has a better handle in this virus by then.

[azbirdmom]

5 hours ago, voljeep said:

would 25-30% work for you ?

 

Um.... I'm not the one it needs to work for.  But I somehow doubt that they would sail with 48 - 57 passengers.

[NeilP57]

Great initial post to this thread. Just what these forums are for. 
 

I would suggest that Viking have made a great start in publishing their plans so far and that some of the gaps, so well articulated in the initial post, will be dealt with once Viking announce a resumption of sailing. Others will naturally evolve over the first month or two and I am sure this forum will be awash with comments about what is working, what is not and what has changed. 
 

I am keen to see how things develop as we are booked on Viking Star in August 2021 for the Viking Homelands cruise, which visits 8 different countries and possibly 8 different local restrictions. 
 

We take some comfort from Viking’s flexibility about rebooking but like many others, we are very keen to get back to a ‘new normal’ and start travelling again.

 

Lets all hope that vaccine development and deployment continues apace and its ability to defeat dangerous variants is successful. We all hope (and pray) for better times ahead. 
 

 

[eylarson]

What isn't said is the action taken if you fail the test.  If you pass and your cabin mate does not.  

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Scratch all this stuff.  We just got our first covid vaccine shot via the new “65+” eligibility rule (in California), at one of our county’s big vax centers.  Got an appointment two weeks after registering

 

And it looks like ALL Americans can be vaccinated by June/July:

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/29/there-will-be-enough-covid-vaccines-for-the-entire-us-adult-population-by-june-doctor-says.html

I bet the cruiselines will wrangle vax for their crews by then also, perhaps a non-US vax (which are also proving effective).

 

FREEEEEDOM!

[Jim Avery]

12 hours ago, Ragnar Danneskjold said:

Scratch all this stuff.  We just got our first covid vaccine shot via the new “65+” eligibility rule (in California), at one of our county’s big vax centers.  Got an appointment two weeks after registering

 

And it looks like ALL Americans can be vaccinated by June/July:

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/29/there-will-be-enough-covid-vaccines-for-the-entire-us-adult-population-by-june-doctor-says.html

I bet the cruiselines will wrangle vax for their crews by then also, perhaps a non-US vax (which are also proving effective).

 

FREEEEEDOM!

California Lock-Down Fever.  Ragnar tests positive.  No known cure.....  Except sitting on a beach with an umbrella drink.   And not a Cali beach...🧉

[Cienfuegos]

I mentioned on another thread that limiting or closing the World Cafe / Buffet will create some spill over issues.  In my Viking cruises, The Restaurant filled up between 6 pm and about 8 pm. Reservations were readily available after 8 pm.  Same with Manfredi's and Chef's Table.

 

My observation suggests about 300 people may use the World Cafe / Buffet on a given night for dinner. Moving those 300 people, or some significant fraction,  to The Restaurant, where table spacing has been increased, will cause some displacement.  

[Jim Avery]

4 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

I mentioned on another thread that limiting or closing the World Cafe / Buffet will create some spill over issues.  In my Viking cruises, The Restaurant filled up between 6 pm and about 8 pm. Reservations were readily available after 8 pm.  Same with Manfredi's and Chef's Table.

 

My observation suggests about 300 people may use the World Cafe / Buffet on a given night for dinner. Moving those 300 people, or some significant fraction,  to The Restaurant, where table spacing has been increased, will cause some displacement.  

Yes it will.  Unless total capacity is reduced to, say, 500.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

California Lock-Down Fever.  Ragnar tests positive.  No known cure.....  Except sitting on a beach with an umbrella drink.   And not a Cali beach...🧉

Well, I do test positive, for attitude 🙂

[austinetc]

I think the key issue for us will be excursions.  It these are curtailed or limited in scope, we'll have to postpone.  I travel to Travel, not sit in a stateroom.  Kudos to Viking for all their efforts, which seem to vastly exceed other cruise lines, but the virus is calling the shots.

[Heidi13]

19 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

I mentioned on another thread that limiting or closing the World Cafe / Buffet will create some spill over issues.  In my Viking cruises, The Restaurant filled up between 6 pm and about 8 pm. Reservations were readily available after 8 pm.  Same with Manfredi's and Chef's Table.

 

My observation suggests about 300 people may use the World Cafe / Buffet on a given night for dinner. Moving those 300 people, or some significant fraction,  to The Restaurant, where table spacing has been increased, will cause some displacement.  

 

If the World Cafe closed it would certainly limit the number of pax on board, or else they will have to increase dining hours significantly.

 

Reading the Health & Safety Plan, I believe the World Cafe will remain open, but with reduced seating and one of 2 options:

• Maintain the buffet set up with crew serving the food, similar to Noro red status. I suggest this option is unlikely, as managing social distancing is virtually impossible.
• Transform the World Cafe into a full service restaurant, similar to MDR. May even have a different themed menu??

Per MVJ, I expect reservations will be required for both MDR & World Cafe. To account for reduction in tables, they mentioned having additional service at bars and lounges. I also expect the entire MDR will open at breakfast and lunch, as on our cruise only 1/2 was open. 

 

Will definitely be interesting to see how the first cruises turn out, once they resume operations.

[JM0115]

On 1/28/2021 at 12:06 AM, caribill said:

Viking, which has both ocean cruises and river cruises has announced much of the protocols that will be in place when they resume operations.

 

Some of the things that are not covered or are not obvious in the slides below are:

 

o They will start with reduced capacity at first

o There will be no buffet. All meals will be served in a dining room

o Entertainment times may be split to allow smaller attendance

o There will be no seating at bars

o They will hire more shore-side tour guides to allow smaller tour groups

o The ability to be on shore without a ship's tour (if allowed at all) may depend on local restrictions.

o Since the cruise fare includes an excursion in every port, there will be at least one "bubble" ship excursion at no additional cost in each port along with some "bubble" excursions offered that do have a fee.

o The onboard PCR testing will allow for the currently required to fly home for some countries

o If a pre-embarkation PCR test at check-in shows a positive result, there will be a second test made in case the first test was a false positive

o There are no current plans to require Covid-19 vaccinations for crew or passengers. If required for passengers, it will be also required for crew. Regulations for countries visited may determine if Covid-19 vaccinations are required.

o They currently have cancelled all itineraries through the end of March and "holding out hope" they can resume operations soon after. However they do not expect cruising to resume until international tourist travel is again possible.

o Cruising when it first resumes will be a different experience than it will be several months later

 

 

 

It doesn't seem possible that Viking will reduce capacity for the World Cruise(s)?  Does it?

[Jim Avery]

5 minutes ago, JM0115 said:

It doesn't seem possible that Viking will reduce capacity for the World Cruise(s)?  Does it?

Haha, I always said it would be perfect with about 500 passengers. 🍸

[austinetc]

At a time like this, it's best to listen to Sidney Freedman of Mash: "Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice: Pull down your pants and slide on the ice." 

 

On a plus side, I suspect the grumpy people of the world will continue to stay home. Only optimists will risk a cruise.

[rbslos18]

12 hours ago, austinetc said:

Only optimists will risk a cruise.

How about only optimists who have been vaccinated will risk a cruise with others who have been vaccinated?!

[deec]

If they make the 2023  WC non segments with 500 passengers we will be off the fence!!! 

[Heidi13]

33 minutes ago, deec said:

If they make the 2023  WC non segments with 500 passengers we will be off the fence!!! 

As it stands right now, the 22/23 WC should have no segments, as it sold out last week.😀