Covid test on board?

[Jabbo1]

We are traveling on Sky from Venice to Athens in a few weeks. We arrive Saturday morning and will board Wind Star in Athens that afternoon for cruise to Greek islands. Even though Viking does not require pre board Covid test, Wind Star does!  We are looking for a test sire near the port in Piraeus but also wondered if Covid test can be done on board Sky before departure within test window for Windstar.  Does anyone know if Viking can do such a test while on board?

[CDNPolar]

Don't quote me on this and I cannot find the Viking information now, but Viking Ocean ships have the PCR labs onboard.  They are still testing crew and they will test guests on request or if crew recommend testing.

 

They have always been willing to provide a PCR test for disembarkation for your return home.

 

I would email tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask a very specific question about this.  Reference your booking number and ensure that you have your contact information including phone number.

 

We have had great luck with tellus@vikingcruises.com and generally get a phone call back from someone within 48 hours to give the response.  Then ask for the response in writing.

 

Although great advice comes from the responders here, because situations change with Covid all the time, get this response from Viking directly, or you will have to find another method.

 

There are video type tests that you can do that are sometimes acceptable.  You should also find out directly from Windstar what they will accept in tests.

Edited July 19, 2022 by CDNPolar
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[Jabbo1]

Thank you for the advice. Just shot them an email. 
btw, Windstar will not accept a home test even with video telemedicine verification.  
Lets see how Viking responds. 

[Jabbo1]

Just got the call back from Viking after I sent email to tellus@vikingcruises.com. Good news is they do indeed have Covid testing lab on Viking Ocean ships and can do the test when requested and provide documentation we can use on our next cruise. Btw, as info they told me that they do not have Covid testing labs on most of the Viking River boats. 
thanks again to CDNPolar for recommendations and info on tellus email. Very helpful. They were prompt, professional, and I was impressed to get a direct phone call from a human with the info!  Great service!
I don’t think I got the email address for tellus in any of my info from Viking. Such a great service should be advertised more!
 

[Flgreg]

I'm wondering what happens if you are boarding in Athens and don't have your test result (required by Greece) due to malfunctioning/lost phone or tablet or lab error in reporting to you on time. Does anyone know if Viking will test prior to boarding and still let you on the ship?

 

Thanks.

[Sleep7]

Hello!

I actually know the answer to this question as we just boarded the Sky a few weeks ago (June 25th)  in Athens.  We didn't get tested before we left the USA since Viking didn't require it. We had no idea that Greece did and when we got to the pier and got off the Viking bus transfer there was a rep (not sure if it was Viking or somebody local) who asked us if we had been tested within the last 24 to 72 hours.  We said no and so they quickly and pleasantly whisked us to a testing area a few yards away where we were swabbed, and then sat comfortably, while we waited around 10 minutes for the results.  No charge and no issue at all.  We were happily negative and then were free to go to the check in area.

[Flgreg]

Thank you Sleep7.

[OnTheJourney]

23 hours ago, Sleep7 said:

when we got to the pier and got off the Viking bus transfer there was a rep (not sure if it was Viking or somebody local) who asked us if we had been tested within the last 24 to 72 hours.  We said no and so they quickly and pleasantly whisked us to a testing area a few yards away where we were swabbed, and then sat comfortably, while we waited around 10 minutes for the results.  No charge and no issue at all. 

Great that they were so on top of things. As much as our post-cruise extension hotel check-in was a true fiasco, the covid test before leaving the hotel went smoothly. Let's just hope that all this at some point is a thing of the past. 

[Sleep7]

19 minutes ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

Great that they were so on top of things. As much as our post-cruise extension hotel check-in was a true fiasco, the covid test before leaving the hotel went smoothly. Let's just hope that all this at some point is a thing of the past. 

So glad that the COVID test situation went smoothly.. one less thing to fret about.

And yes! Let's hope this is all in the rear view mirror very soon.😃

[OnTheJourney]

34 minutes ago, Sleep7 said:

one less thing to fret about.

Well, wouldn't go quite that far. There were some glitches. Some people had their reports printed out from Viking, others didn't. The Viking guide, instead of having copies of the website to hand out that we needed to visit to locate our results, had it written on a piece of paper and told us to take pictures of it (really?)  Some had trouble logging into the site, etc. So I guess I was a bit too positive on how it all went. The relief was that we were negative, as well as the entire time on the ship with the spit-in-a-tube tests.