New 1 April Viking Mask, etc. Rules Changes

[philw1776]

Dear Viking Guest,

When I last wrote to you in January, I promised to keep you updated as we continue to assess our COVID-19 protocols and make adjustments. Since then, conditions around the world have improved dramatically—case counts are falling, and countries are lifting travel requirements.

With these developments in mind, I am pleased to let you know that we are relaxing some of our protocols beginning April 1, 2022. Please be assured that the safety and wellbeing of all those on board our ships will always be our top priority. The updates to the Viking Health & Safety Program outlined below are simply a reflection of how we are evolving our operations as a result of lower prevalence rates and eased local restrictions in many of the destinations to which we sail.

Effective for voyages departing April 1, 2022 and until further notice:

Face masks are no longer required for guests while traveling with Viking.

Once you have submitted your first COVID-19 test sample, you may explore the ship while wearing a mask. Upon receipt of negative test results of your embarkation test, you may remove your mask.

While on board, face masks are optional for the duration of your voyage.

While ashore, we recommend that you wear a face mask, and masks may be required in some countries to comply with local regulations.

Note: Our staff and crew will continue to wear masks, as will local guides and motorcoach drivers.

COVID-19 booster dose is not required – but is strongly recommended for all guests when eligible.

To travel with Viking, all guests must be "fully vaccinated" at least 14 days prior to traveling.

As an added layer of protection, Viking recommends that, when eligible, guests receive a booster dose prior to traveling.

Note: While Viking does not require a booster for guests, many countries do require a booster (for entry and to visit attractions, dining facilities and event venues) and the details will vary. We will continue to keep you informed of the specific requirements for your itinerary by e-mail, in MyVikingJourney.com and on our website—in the Pre-Cruise Requirements found at the resources tab of your itinerary.

Additionally, as a reminder, all guests can now explore independently while ashore in most countries—complementing their Viking-hosted shore excursions. Please note that restrictions in some cities and countries may change before or during your visit.

As the world emerges from the pandemic, we expect that travel safety guidelines will keep evolving—and we will continue to make adjustments as necessary. We firmly believe there are very few places one can go that are as safe as a Viking ship—where every person is fully vaccinated and is tested up to daily.

On behalf of the entire Viking family, we look forward to welcoming you on board.

Sincerely,

Vice Admiral Raquel C. Bono, M.D.

Viking Chief Health Officer

[Jim Avery]

Very good news. Thanks 

[millybess]

We just received this also.  Hopefully the "tested up to daily" will disappear.  At least we'll be able to wander around the ship after our first test as opposed to staying in our cabin.  That will be nice.

[Jammy Bun]

Good news, thanks for posting.  I'd still like a definitive answer from Viking about what happens if you test positive.  I could accept being quarantined onboard (in the same way that would happen if you had norovirus) but wouldn't want to be taken to a hotel.  Hope they offer some clarification before June, when we are supposed to be onboard. 

[sabrefan]

I wonder if Viking will still perform covid testing everyday while you are on a cruise since they are removing two major things that would help prevent covid from spreading to begin with. The logic would not make too much sense if they continue to test everyday. I will be on an Alaska cruise in June, will still choose to wear a mask in crowded areas since the virus has not been eliminated from our planet.

[SJD117]

We aren't affected by this revised policy. Our TA leaves San Juan next Monday the 21st, or 11 days before the policy takes effect. And the policy doesn't apply to sailings en route as of April 1; instead, it applies only to sailings that depart on or after that day.

 

That said, It will be interesting to see how much the TA passengers grumble at having to mask up. And it will be interesting to see how vigorously Viking enforces masking, given that the requirement is set to expire in just a few days.

[SailorPaulH]

3 hours ago, philw1776 said:

Dear Viking Guest,

When I last wrote to you in January, I promised to keep you updated as we continue to assess our COVID-19 protocols and make adjustments. Since then, conditions around the world have improved dramatically—case counts are falling, and countries are lifting travel requirements.

With these developments in mind, I am pleased to let you know that we are relaxing some of our protocols beginning April 1, 2022. Please be assured that the safety and wellbeing of all those on board our ships will always be our top priority. The updates to the Viking Health & Safety Program outlined below are simply a reflection of how we are evolving our operations as a result of lower prevalence rates and eased local restrictions in many of the destinations to which we sail.

Effective for voyages departing April 1, 2022 and until further notice:

Face masks are no longer required for guests while traveling with Viking.

Once you have submitted your first COVID-19 test sample, you may explore the ship while wearing a mask. Upon receipt of negative test results of your embarkation test, you may remove your mask.

While on board, face masks are optional for the duration of your voyage.

While ashore, we recommend that you wear a face mask, and masks may be required in some countries to comply with local regulations.

Note: Our staff and crew will continue to wear masks, as will local guides and motorcoach drivers.

COVID-19 booster dose is not required – but is strongly recommended for all guests when eligible.

To travel with Viking, all guests must be "fully vaccinated" at least 14 days prior to traveling.

As an added layer of protection, Viking recommends that, when eligible, guests receive a booster dose prior to traveling.

Note: While Viking does not require a booster for guests, many countries do require a booster (for entry and to visit attractions, dining facilities and event venues) and the details will vary. We will continue to keep you informed of the specific requirements for your itinerary by e-mail, in MyVikingJourney.com and on our website—in the Pre-Cruise Requirements found at the resources tab of your itinerary.

Additionally, as a reminder, all guests can now explore independently while ashore in most countries—complementing their Viking-hosted shore excursions. Please note that restrictions in some cities and countries may change before or during your visit.

As the world emerges from the pandemic, we expect that travel safety guidelines will keep evolving—and we will continue to make adjustments as necessary. We firmly believe there are very few places one can go that are as safe as a Viking ship—where every person is fully vaccinated and is tested up to daily.

On behalf of the entire Viking family, we look forward to welcoming you on board.

Sincerely,

Vice Admiral Raquel C. Bono, M.D.

Viking Chief Health Officer

Great news and thank you for posting! If I may ask - where did you see this? I looked in my MVJ account and I don't see it - please give me a pointer.

 

Now if they would just drop the daily tests and the pre-flight tests 🙂

[millybess]

50 minutes ago, SailorPaulH said:

Great news and thank you for posting! If I may ask - where did you see this? I looked in my MVJ account and I don't see it - please give me a pointer.

It was sent via email. 

[miami mama]

I also received in my email and not on MVJ.

 

Glad to be able to walk around the ship as we wait for the testing results. However, I was looking forward to having wine and food waiting for me in the cabin first thing.

 

I will keep wearing the masks in the public areas as cases are going up with the newest "variant of the variant" spreading as mask requirements are being dropped. Hope the daily testing remains in place, and yes, I hope people quarantine in place should they test positive.  

[oceancruiser20]

 

1 hour ago, SailorPaulH said:

Great news and thank you for posting! If I may ask - where did you see this? I looked in my MVJ account and I don't see it - please give me a pointer.

 

Now if they would just drop the daily tests and the pre-flight tests 🙂

 

This only came in email, and my guess won't be posted in the Health & Safety section until after April 1st so not to confuse people sailing prior to then.

 

But this is great news, glad is Viking is adapting with the times and balancing safety and practicality. The removal of the embarkation quarantine is probably the best news. Never made a lot of sense to begin with, and why Viking didn't just switch to rapid test for embarkation so people could go ahead and start their vacation. But this new policy is a good compromise.

 

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by oceancruiser20

[Twitchly]

Great news. I do find it weird, though, that the people who serve us will still have to wear masks. That feels very … awkward.

[Mich3554]

59 minutes ago, oceancruiser20 said:

 

 

This only came in email, and my guess won't be posted in the Health & Safety section until after April 1st so not to confuse people sailing prior to then.

 

But this is great news, glad is Viking is adapting with the times and balancing safety and practicality. The removal of the embarkation quarantine is probably the best news. Never made a lot of sense to begin with, and why Viking didn't just switch to rapid test for embarkation so people could go ahead and start their vacation. But this new policy is a good compromise.

 

 

Actually, it did make sense.  Last Dec, 30 people got snagged as ‘close contacts’ as they were on a tour bus with a Covid positive case.  They didn’t find out he was positive because he just got on the ship, was antigen tested to get off in Uruguay and was negative.  His PCR came back positive after he returned.  So your suggestion clearly didn’t work.

Uruguay requested that he, along with his contacts be quarantined.  Viking gets trumped by the country’s rules, so the captain had to release these passengers.  
So the antigen test was not sufficient to protect 30 other people.  Had his PCR been available (this group of passengers got on the evening before), he’d have been isolated before dragging 30 others off the ship with him.  

Edited March 17, 2022 by Mich3554

[miami mama]

I have grateful that the crew will still continue to wear masks since they are in close contact with so many different people. This just might be one cruise where we don't come home with a horrible cold, much less Covid. On one cruise we were on, it seemed like every staff member was congested, coughing and sneezing, and these were the people serving the food and cleaning our rooms. They are stuck being exposed to whatever illness each group of people bring on the ship. It makes sense to keep them protected, and therefore, us.

[TayanaLorna]

11 hours ago, Twitchly said:

Great news. I do find it weird, though, that the people who serve us will still have to wear masks. That feels very … awkward.

I think that is to protect themselves rather then us.  It is the passengers who are free to wander on shore and potentially contract Covid.

[longterm]

Good news for sure; of course it came too late to affect us, but I haven't been that bothered by mask-wearing or daily tests. We're ending our cruise in 2 days, seem to be healthy and Covid-free, and thankful to be that way.

We've been speculating on whether daily saliva tests will still be required, and tend to believe that they will in the near term, because hundreds of guests are going about the world in lots of cities, among lots of crowds, and it at least lets the ship know that all passengers are still Covid-free.

 

At any rate, saliva tests are such a minor requirement that it's never bothered us to have to spend 3 minutes with them each morning. Our next cruise will be in 2024, so I feel *fairly* confident that it'll be a non-issue by then. 

I surely hope so!

[philw1776]

No problem taking daily saliva tests. I do have a possibly irrational fear of a false positive and a more substantial fear of contract tracing booting us off the ship. That said, took 2 Viking cruises 2021 with no such problems.
Our PCR test results came thru too late but fortunately nobody asked us for them. Go figure. 

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by philw1776

[Twitchly]

Hm. I dunno. Whenever you’ve got requirements for one group to wear masks but not the other, it feels like we’re setting up a two-tier society. Seems very un-Viking. Either we’re all protecting each other or we’re not. Anything else sounds like a rationalization to me.

[CILCIANRQTS]

38 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

Hm. I dunno. Whenever you’ve got requirements for one group to wear masks but not the other, it feels like we’re setting up a two-tier society. Seems very un-Viking. Either we’re all protecting each other or we’re not. Anything else sounds like a rationalization to me.

Agree.

The term “unwashed masses” comes to mind…☹️🤭

[miami mama]

I agree TayanaLara that it is to protect the crew. However, we reap the benefits. I got on one cruise where every crew member we encountered was already sick. By the end of the cruise, it sounded like all of the passengers were now sick. I will apprecitate having crew members in my room or serving me food that will be wearing a mask. Except when eating, I will also be wearing one to protect myself as well as others. 

 

I know many people don't like to wear a mask, who does, and they appreciate the change in policy for the public. I am not one of those people.

[voyager23]

So does this only apply to departures after April 1? What about the world cruise, and others still sailing past the April 1 date?