Will Viking ever end daily Covid testing?

[philw1776]

Please stop PCR testing healthy symptom free people. Temperature testing is OK as fever indicates not healthy whatever the cause, e.g. norovirus, flu, Covid flu variants, ebola.

[Squawkman]

3 hours ago, longterm said:

The daily tests that Viking does onboard are PCR tests, not antigen tests.

I’m well aware of that - my daughter went for an antigen test as she had a cold and wanted to be sure  - nothing to do with Viking.

[LindaS272]

15 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

On Orion now.  They called 7 or 8 people the first night while we were eating At Manfredis.  We were still docked in Fort Lauderdale.  (Wednesday). There are 760 on board so that’s about 1 in 11.

whether they are off the ship or in quarantine we don’t know

On the Sea (SJ TO BCN) since Monday. 631 on board—no announcements about any positive cases so I assume we’re home free. Masking a bit lax—especially in theater with many with snotty attitude about getting away with something despite frequent requests to mask fully. We’re diligently compliant (with no attitude!)

[uktog]

1 hour ago, LindaS272 said:

On the Sea (SJ TO BCN) since Monday. 631 on board—no announcements about any positive cases so I assume we’re home free. Masking a bit lax—especially in theater with many with snotty attitude about getting away with something despite frequent requests to mask fully. We’re diligently compliant (with no attitude!)

Don’t assume no cases.  Viking don’t openly share the information onboard unlike other lines. Not a good policy in my mind. 

[LindaS272]

Many cruisers on CC since May/June 2021 on Viking said they were informed of cases onboard and they posted them here. I don’t know what Viking’s policy on announcements of cases is, but I do know that they have made announcements in the last year.

[CILCIANRQTS]

19 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

On Orion now.  They called 7 or 8 people the first night while we were eating At Manfredis.  We were still docked in Fort Lauderdale.  (Wednesday). There are 760 on board so that’s about 1 in 11.

whether they are off the ship or in quarantine we don’t know

You might want to re-check your math on this…

[CCWineLover]

47 minutes ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

You might want to re-check your math on this…

Thx for being kind.  Slipped a decimal point!  Must be these relaxing days at sea - or gettin older 😉

[KBs mum]

On 3/25/2022 at 2:16 AM, voyager23 said:

The daily testing seems misaligned with the rest of the world. The fact that airlines and airports in Europe are starting to go mask free is such a contrast. I appreciate the prior caution, but Viking has got to be the only organization in the cruise industry that tests so frequently. Even most hospital or medical lab workers are only tested weekly. Also the fact saliva test aren't accepted at some destinations, makes the destination requirement not that valid of reason to continue. 

In the UK we are starting to phase out testing. With the vaccines and boosters most don't have anything worse than bad cold symptoms, so we are now dealing with covid in the same way as 'ordinary flu'. 

No mandatory quarantines, mask wearing or testing. 

 

Unless required by a country on the itinerary still to be visited it seems odd to have far stricter covid precautions on the ship than in hotels in the same ports

[Mich3554]

8 hours ago, uktog said:

Don’t assume no cases.  Viking don’t openly share the information onboard unlike other lines. Not a good policy in my mind. 

Actually, IME Viking did announce cases.  We were told there were no cases, and were told when there were cases.

[Jammy Bun]

On 3/26/2022 at 8:52 AM, uktog said:

Don’t assume no cases.  Viking don’t openly share the information onboard unlike other lines. Not a good policy in my mind. 

It may be the captain's choice.  We were on a Med cruise 21st Dec 2021 to 12th January 2022, and were never officially told how many cases were onboard - but we saw ambulances taking passengers away to quarantine hotels (guided by crew in full protective gear) at several ports.  It's persuaded us that we didn't want to cruise again in the near future, so we've cancelled our June '22 booking.

 

It'll be interesting to see how the UK cruises go... heard on the radio this morning that it's estimated that currently 1 in 16 of the population has Covid, and whilst it may be mild in ,most cases, it could still affect a cruise.   

[KBs mum]

4 minutes ago, Jammy Bun said:

 

 

It'll be interesting to see how the UK cruises go... heard on the radio this morning that it's estimated that currently 1 in 16 of the population has Covid, and whilst it may be mild in ,most cases, it could still affect a cruise.   

The interesting part is that there are no mandatory quarantines ashore, so will positives remain on board? If a person is offloaded they would be able to go out and about. 

Viking still seem to be in eradicate mode, when a lot of countries are now in 'with vaccinations and boosters infections don't matter so much and we can allmost go back to normal' mode

[uktog]

15 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

The interesting part is that there are no mandatory quarantines ashore, so will positives remain on board? If a person is offloaded they would be able to go out and about. 

Viking still seem to be in eradicate mode, when a lot of countries are now in 'with vaccinations and boosters infections don't matter so much and we can allmost go back to normal' mode

There are for the UK cruise in Scotland 

[KBs mum]

30 minutes ago, uktog said:

There are for the UK cruise in Scotland 

Scotland still got quarantines and masks? I've lost track a bit now

[uktog]

2 hours ago, KBs mum said:

Scotland still got quarantines and masks? I've lost track a bit now

Absolutely 

[KBs mum]

6 minutes ago, uktog said:

Absolutely 

Drat! Will have to try to remember where my masks are, for when we head north

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

Absolutely 

 

Hoping the masks are history by November, as we fly into Edinburgh about the middle of the month, heading to St Andrews for 3 weeks.

[uktog]

11 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Hoping the masks are history by November, as we fly into Edinburgh about the middle of the month, heading to St Andrews for 3 weeks.

oh I so hope so.......

[Twitchly]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Hoping the masks are history by November, as we fly into Edinburgh about the middle of the month, heading to St Andrews for 3 weeks.

Let’s go for masks and quarantines being history by September. That’s when we hit the UK. 

[Squawkman]

I know a couple on a TA cruise (not Viking) who just tested positive in England. They have to quarantine for at least 10 days. So I have no problem with testing for the time being.

[OnTheJourney]

We were just on a RCL cruise. The one day we couldn't get back to our room for awhile - staff members had our corridor blocked off on both ends for cleaning, etc. while someone with covid was transferred from their room to one on a lower deck for quarantine. It was a bit unsettling but that was the only instance I heard about. 

[jtwind]

No tiny piece of material can possibly have an effect on how much I enjoy my trip.  What's wrong with me?

[voyager23]

Some good news from the CDC, hopefully Viking takes this into account: 

 

CDC Drops Cruise Travel Health Notice

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27114-finally-cdc-drops-cruise-travel-health-notice.html

[OnTheJourney]

2 hours ago, voyager23 said:

hopefully Viking takes this into account: 

Yep...sounds like time to stop the daily PCR testing?  That would work for me. 

[OnTheJourney]

Speaking of all things covid-related, I have a question relative to this policy:  

 

Guests may take a COVID-19 antigen test (with a laboratory-certified proof of negative result) within 24 hours prior to boarding your first outbound flight from your home country.  

 

If I'm doing an international trip and have, for example, a 7 p.m. flight, I assume the testing protocol means that I can't take the test before 7 p.m. the day before...is that right?

Given that most local testing sites don't operate that late in the evening, this almost forces me to schedule a test the day of departure - which is really awkward given everything else that needs to be done that day - including transportation time to the airport.

 

I'm stressed even thinking about it. Our most recent experience with scheduling a pre-cruise covid (antigen) test did not go well in that they canceled our appointment around midnight before the following morning's scheduled test time. I had to scramble to schedule an alternative. It wasn't too much of a big deal given that I had to take the test no more than 2 days before the cruise. But this 24 hour timeframe I'm not digging too much. I have no interest whatsoever in trying to finagle a test at the airport. 

 

Further complicating the situation is that we're doing a 3-day extension before the cruise, so how does that work? I know Viking indicates they will provide specific info on MVJ but just trying to think ahead on how all this will play out. During the extension will they require another test pre-embarkation? 

Edited March 30, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[ebdb]

On 3/23/2022 at 3:23 AM, LisaDee said:

 

If we hadn’t left the cabin by 8:30am our stateroom attendant knocked on our door and asked for our samples (this was Feb 2022).  Some days I just feel like being lazy…sleeping in….or reading on the balcony…at the very least on my lazy mornings I’m in my PJs and don’t want to answer the door.  But I felt like we had to leave for breakfast every day by 8-ish or else track down the cabin attendant in the hallway to give them our vials.  If leaving the samples outside the cabin (for example, in a bag hanging on the door) had been an option, that would have been okay because I could have done that at night before bed but that option wasn’t offered.  Putting them on the floor outside the door seems unsanitary.  Maybe they could put collection baskets by the elevators or something so we can drop them off at the time that works for us?

I concur on every point you’ve made. In addition, there was the problem of no one available to answer the door/phone if DH was out of the stateroom while I was in the bathroom or vice versa. So I fashioned a PCR SAMPLES bag.

 

1) Using the opaque sanitary bag found in each stateroom bathroom, make a HORIZONTAL cut at/below the first fold, between the folded sections.

2) Indicate the sample vials are held within by writing on the bag itself (I always travel with a Sharpie pen) or by writing it on a piece of paper to hook onto the cut in the bag.