LIVE from "Iceland's Natural Beauty" -- All Sailings, 2021

[C-sea]

1 minute ago, BQEC said:

Ok. No excursions involving bus transportation. Still leaves Viking contact tracking devices as a potential source of “contact”. Daily Covid testing another source for quarantine. 

but you have more control to distance yourself on the ship and on walking tours

[KarNog]

2 hours ago, BarbRN said:

This is not just another cruise for us.  It’s the biggest outlay we’ve saved for our 50th Anniversary and has been nothing but daily stress already for weeks. 

I'm sorry this is such a tough time for you. I hope when we get on board, things will calm down a bit. I'm really looking forward to meeting you!  

[BQEC]

8 minutes ago, C-sea said:

but you have more control to distance yourself on the ship and on walking tours

True. 

[DaveSJ711]

12 minutes ago, BQEC said:

It doesn’t. However, the fat lady has yet to sing. Hopefully we will hear that our 26 intrepid souls were able to complete their trips home uneventfully. 
Now if you are up for some enlightening reading and you have not already done so, go to Iceland’s official website. Several items of note 1) each situation is handled on a case by case with respect to contacts and 2) daily testing is not recommended!

Also great reading is Viking’s Passenger Ticket contract with respect to Covid. (Found on Viking website)
 

What "official website" are you talking about? Do you have a link?

[BarbRN]

3 hours ago, gramfrog said:

This was to be our 50th Anniversary trip, also..... right now just glad we sprang for the small bit of extra square footage in our stateroom in case we are quarantined..... or there might not be a 51st Anniversary haha

I read page 6 Covid policies. I think they put you in assigned cabins for isolation quarantine and the larger cabins we sprung for wouldn’t prevail. Just assuming. 

[BarbRN]

53 minutes ago, sprshop said:

Happy 50th Anniversary.  Sorry there is all this stress attached to such an auspicious milestone.  Wishing you some stress free celebrations🥂🍾🎉

Arent you sweet. Thank you

[BQEC]

9 minutes ago, DaveSJ711 said:

What "official website" are you talking about? Do you have a link?

Type Covid.is in your browser. Select English. It’s all there. 

[LindaS272]

5 minutes ago, BQEC said:

Type Covid.is in your browser. Select English. It’s all there. 

I just perused Covid.is and did not see anything about “daily testing is not recommended” nor that quarantine is handled on a case-by-case basis.

[jtwind]

9 hours ago, Jimmcdaniel said:

Jim here..still on the Jupiter. My wife made an appointment to speak with the ship’s General Manager this morning to get clarification. Here is what we understand:

* The policy is an Iceland policy not a Viking policy.

* The policy applies to tours on buses not tenders or boat tours

* The policy also applies to tours not related to cruise ships (we are doing some private touring after the cruise so this was important to us).

* The policy is that if a guest on a tour bus tests positive everyone on the bus is deemed have been in contact with that person and must be quarantined. 
* For quarantined cruise passengers you have two options:

     1) Stay on the ship in quarantine. At the end of the cruise, if you test negative ,  you are free to go and do what ever you want. 

     2) Leave the ship. In this case you have to leave the country immediately if you test negative. 
* The GM stated that it has been their experience that in almost all the cases so far these breakthrough infections are detected by day 3 or 4 (Thursday or Friday in our case) and no one who was exposed subsequently tested positive. 

Then the Viking policies for quarantined passengers is much softer than Iceland's quarantine policy for locals and other travelers.  The Viking quarantine policies would seem to endanger others in Iceland, and I wouldn't want to be on a flight with someone who was cleared that easily.

[Heartgrove]

One test determination that has not been mentioned is the third test result with using the saliva sample. It occurs more often with the genetic variants (i.e. Delta variant) and is the "Inconclusive" or "Indeterminate" test result. It indicates that only one of the two genes being tested for  are present.The normal protocol is to use the remainder of the original sample a second time. That is why it is important to provide the minimum 2 ml sample. The manufacturer actually suggests a 5 ml sample be given, and in the presence of a healthcare worker. If inconclusive a second time, what would Viking do then? The saliva test takes 3-1/2 to 4 hours to run.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

1 hour ago, jtwind said:

Then the Viking policies for quarantined passengers is much softer than Iceland's quarantine policy for locals and other travelers.  The Viking quarantine policies would seem to endanger others in Iceland, and I wouldn't want to be on a flight with someone who was cleared that easily.

Not looking for an argument, but I AM curious why you think Viking's policies seem to endanger others in Iceland.  If you test positive, and are retested/confirmed positive, you and traveling companions are quarantined on the ship.  Viking doesn't (and can't) fly you home, and Viking doesn't let you continue to go out into the community (ship or ports).  The people who flew home were not positive. 

[bluesea777]

I read somewhere that the second test after the positive saliva test is the PCR nasal swab one.

 

FYI, the method of the saliva sample test taken on board Viking is genesig SARS-COV2-RT-PCR (CE-IVD).

 

This is an acceptable in Bermuda Travel Authorization covid test list.

 

The nasal swab test that we had in Bermuda before the cruise was SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR.

 

 

[Rappersmom]

7 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

His name is Steve Rhodes and the group is “Viking River and Ocean Cruises Friends”. I am getting ready to remove Mike from the group as it really has become even more a cheer leader than some of us on here for Viking as well as a personal photo album for the moderator.  LOL.  (Says the fellow that may post too many pictures on here and for sure does on Instagram!😂)

Steve Rhodes is an admin on Travelers Who Love Viking Cruises. That facebook page has become, as you said, a personal photo book for Michael Zelhof. I've seen people criticized on that for saying something uncomplimentary about Viking. ("This is supposed to be a site to share our good experiences with Viking.")

[Bookworm114]

We are on the Aug 24 sailing and luckily are coming in several days early. We have booked two bus tours before we go into the Viking bubble. Does anyone know the Icelandic protocol and testing for public bus tours? How do they contact trace you and test on  tours through agencies like Reykjavik Excursions and the like? Would they contact us several days later when we are on the ship? We are trying to maximize our “free” time. 

[LindaS272]

42 minutes ago, Bookworm114 said:

We are on the Aug 24 sailing and luckily are coming in several days early. We have booked two bus tours before we go into the Viking bubble. Does anyone know the Icelandic protocol and testing for public bus tours? How do they contact trace you and test on  tours through agencies like Reykjavik Excursions and the like? Would they contact us several days later when we are on the ship? We are trying to maximize our “free” time. 

Ask your tour operators, but doubtless the protocol will be what it was when we did our driving tour in Iceland in mid-June—a venue, including restaurants, will take your contact information to notify you if someone near you ends up testing positive. They’re not going to test you on a bus tour if you don’t have symptoms. They might take your temperature and ask questions about any symptoms and perhaps have you sign a form attesting to no symptoms.

 

There’s also the Rakning app for Iceland which is a contact tracing app. We downloaded it after doing our Icelandic entry registration three days before arrival. I think Iceland is still asking folks to use this.

[jtwind]

2 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Not looking for an argument, but I AM curious why you think Viking's policies seem to endanger others in Iceland.  If you test positive, and are retested/confirmed positive, you and traveling companions are quarantined on the ship.  Viking doesn't (and can't) fly you home, and Viking doesn't let you continue to go out into the community (ship or ports).  The people who flew home were not positive. 

Folks supposedly wouldn't test positive for a few days.  That's why Iceland requires the longer quarantine period.  Every country that does contact tracing does the same, as far as I know, for the same reason.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

4 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

I just perused Covid.is and did not see anything about “daily testing is not recommended” nor that quarantine is handled on a case-by-case basis.

I don't think either statement is in there.

[snoopy2001]

13 hours ago, geologyrx said:

This is a question for Readsalot....  I am on the 8/28 sailing also.  How did you cancel if you are within 14 days?

If you booked directly with Viking, call Viking.  If you booked with a TA, call your TA.

[BarbRN]

2 minutes ago, DaveSJ711 said:

The Iceland Review reports that 7% of Icelanders age 16 and over remain unvaccinated.

That’s not bad. 

[kate7047]

Points Guy reports 27 cases on Carnival Vista ship based out of Galveston. All had been vaccinated. They report Carnival downplaying it (duh) but Belizean authorities reporting. Suspect this is the tip of iceberg there since they only do random testing. Viking's methods have kept things down to single cases, although with "collateral damage" of exposed passengers being removed from ship. I think the policy for how to define "contact" and then what to do about it needs a re-think.

[Snit13]

9 hours ago, snoopy2001 said:

If you booked directly with Viking, call Viking.  If you booked with a TA, call your TA.

You may be to late to cancel without penalty.  I canceled yesterday for our 8/31 cruise and was told tomorrow 1/16 was the last day to cancel.  Call now and check.

[TayanaLorna]

3 hours ago, kate7047 said:

Points Guy reports 27 cases on Carnival Vista ship based out of Galveston. All had been vaccinated. They report Carnival downplaying it (duh) but Belizean authorities reporting. Suspect this is the tip of iceberg there since they only do random testing. Viking's methods have kept things down to single cases, although with "collateral damage" of exposed passengers being removed from ship. I think the policy for how to define "contact" and then what to do about it needs a re-think.

Twenty-six of those cases are crew members and 1 is a passenger.  It was in the news at least 3 days ago.

[BarbRN]

3 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Twenty-six of those cases are crew members and 1 is a passenger.  It was in the news at least 3 days ago.

Which brings to mind. Are Vikings crew members all vaccinated now?

[rbslos18]

10 hours ago, DaveSJ711 said:

The Iceland Review reports that 7% of Icelanders age 16 and over remain unvaccinated.

That is amazing. If only the rest of us could say that about our countries!! Now if they would only get the quarantine right!

[Tanumveien]

If only 7% of Americans were unvaccinated! It will probably never happen.

that’s too sane…

I cancelled yesterday, and will get back most of what I paid with the travel insurance on a future cruise voucher. Time to plan yet another trip…