CCWineLover

That would be my understanding. However, please do not make your decision based on CruiseCritic people's responses. It is also my understanding that you need to notify Viking (or have your Travel Agent do so) in writing by the required date. I would read the fine print of the Risk-Free Guarantee process carefully. Please continue to try to get hold of Viking via phone and chat. They are swamped right now since they just announced the cessation of daily COVID testing and people are rushing to book. You might also send an urgent email letter about your intent and how you can't reaching anyone at Viking via phone to: tellus@VikingCruises.com

Thnx! This is wonderful news! We had to test last month in Bergen at checking just before getting on gangway. Then at dinner tests we’re back and people were removed from dinner wh tested positive. Just ugly. No more!!!!

What port are you boarding? Was your test a spit test just before you get on gangway? Is that the negative proof? Or is the negative proof the test done 72 hours (or 24 hours antigen) done before the first Viking event?

Excellent! It must be that in December they were more worried about COVID and getting everyone off so they could clean before people came on. And so that departing passengers didn't mingle with newly arriving (and possibly COVID carrying) passengers. I guess that is not a concern now. You are better off staying on the ship. The room at the Sheraton was nice, but it was a bit crowded and no windows or anything. Just glad though to have something at the time.

It might be just a ship by ship decision. Versus Viking worldwide.

Agree! I think even more people will cancel/bail on Viking this summer because of their testing policies. It is interesting that people who proclaim to be for testing say they like that Viking "keeps them safe", yet that now would be so far from the truth. Even Viking effectively enables the passing of COVID by not enforcing masking onboard, by allowing people to gather together at bars and eating, by allowing people to go maskless on excursions, and by allowing people to wander around on their own in ports and mingle with locals. Not sure how Viking is keeping people "safe" then. Kind of duplicitous in my opinion. But their ship, their rules. We'll just have to see how they respond since the majority of their passengers are from USA.

You’ve got a point. Vikings investment in testing equipment, now in heavy use for a year, is really just a sunk cost. now at least, people shouldn’t be under the illusion that Viking is keeping them safe - unless they make everyone eat alone, take Viking excursions only, and no socializing allowed.

Joe note the correct email. My mistake. also, my relatives are all from Keosauqua. Phil Stong who wrote State Fair is from there was was my Dads cousin. My cousins now are in Fairfield and Cedar Rapids. kent Stong

Thx! Darn auto fill!!

You beat me to it. Just saw this also. Helps those on post cruises, but still have to get on the ship, and stay on.

Helps those on post cruises but still have the dreaded Viking walk the plank problems. We will see what Vikings responses are. Most likely nothing will change. They spent too much on testing equipment (ocean)

When we arrived in San Juan last December, the ship got in around 2 or 3 am. They had us out of our rooms at 8 AM I believe. Then off the ship at 9 AM. Those who had later Viking Air flights were shown across the street where Viking had a hospitality room at the Sheraton. People waited there (with snacks, drinks, etc) until their Viking Air transportation time to the airport. Note - this did not apply to those who did not have Viking Air - they left at 9 AM and were on their own. You might contact tellus@viking.com and ask if this is still going to be the case, and/or what will be the process for your specific cruise.

We too. We've often tried the standard and the premium to compare. Sometimes, the standard offering is more to what we were in the mood for than the premium, for a given course, even though they were both good. They are not always the same varietal or style. i.e. one could be a red Bordeaux blend and the other a zinfandel. One could be a port and the other a different style desert wine. We liked the chance to mix and match and compare. Viking was always more than happy to fulfill our requests. Just ask. Oh - and if there was a particular wine that was fabulous, they didn't mind giving another pour, including one "for the road" ! We enjoy both Chef's Table AND Manfredi's. Our recent cruise, we went to all 5 Chef's Table menus (some in our opinion were better than others. Irony is - for us California menu was the worst and we are from California).

Michelle - I am wondering if it is up to the ship's captains as to whether they announce any Covid positives. I've seen it both ways. Just recently we were on an Ocean and River Cruise back to back. Both captains did not announce. When asking people on the ship with Viking, they declined to comment. So, sometimes it is hush hush, and sometimes they do say. Seems I've heard less that actually announce the positives. I would expect Viking to want to keep it quiet, since from various media sources, the numbers of quarantines, and in river cases, the numbers of those walking the plank, have skyrocketed to the point that Viking is definitely having a harder time with limited staff, managing and coordinating all their passengers in various hotels, rearranging flights, and more. Likely several full time jobs to do all this. Don't think they were expecting such a huge number of positives on their ships, given you had to have a negative test to board. Maybe this shows how easy it is to get it on flights and airlines, as well as when mingling, wandering around foreign towns, and the close quarters at meals and happy hour times especially on the river ships.

OK - next piece of data: What is the cruise line and what is the itinerary? i.e. what specifically are the ports? And any other data that might help people answer your question.

Hello Christine and Charlie - we are also on the July 15th Venus Midnight Sun out of Greenwich. If you recently had COVID and recovered (between 14 and 90 days of sailing) you can get a note from your doctor that says you recovered and then you are exempt from having the have negative Covid tests. Lots of discussion on this. Kent and Pam Also - we have a Roll Call Specifically for this July 15 cruise:

I would concur! Fabulous tours. We've taken about 4 of the London Walks tours and have had excellent guides for each. They must have about 15 different ones, not always done every day. Check out their website for sure! We are going in early July ahead of Midnight Sun cruise and plan to take another 4 of them. Looking at the Hampstead Heath walk for something different! Staying in London a week and then Greenwich a night ahead of the ship. Easy walk from the Doubletree Greenwich down to the tender.

We've been on excursion buses where masks were supposed to used, but many refused to use them and it was not enforced. We faced just what you say (sitting across from unmasked people or in front or in back, who are either talking constantly or coughing or both). We've been fortunate to be able to move seats to a better place. Sometimes though, it was difficult to find a seat away from unmasked people on the buses. Guess you just have to hope they don't have the big C.

Yes you can pay with checking. And get 3.3 pct off. To speed things up have the checking account info pre- loaded. on another note, if you have Viking vouchers that need to be used, Viking will try to make you use that. finally, if you have a TA and get onboard credits, Vikings system now tries to use those on excursions you already paid for and send you the cash or credit back to you before the cruise, whether you want that or not. New change.

There seems to be a misconception about River Boats from Viking. They do not all follow the same testing days and don't all follow the same mask enforcements. We experienced and talked with others on their experiences in the past month - and the policies definitely vary from ship to ship. Some don't test after boarding until the day before the end. Some test 1 or 2 days in and then not again, some 3 or 4 days in, some every day - and this is current. Some ships don't do any enforcement of masking and of course passengers if they can get away with it, don't do it. Other ships are more stern, (like ours), and frankly, with some few exceptions, people seemed fine with that. But let's not say Viking River ships don't test every day. That may be true in some circumstances but certainly not a policy or pervasive. What would be interesting is to learn who at Viking makes the various decision as the ship/itinerary level (Captain? HQ?) and what the parameters they use are (# of positives so far? Countries they are in?)

Garry - now that you are nearing the end of an amazing adventure, I'd like to thank you for your dedication and allowing so many of us to live vicariously! Were you a writer or photographer in a past life? Especially enjoyed the so many pictures of statues/sculptures. You should put them all together into a slide show video. Did you ever try to calculate how many hours/days you expended in your blogging over these many days? It would have taken me forever!! Your efforts much appreciated! Safe travels. Kent

If on a Viking post-extension, Viking will arrange to have it done free for you the day before you fly out. Ours was done at the hotel in the morning before we flew home, likely because there were a decent number of people on the post-extension. Again - no cost. If on your own, you are responsible. Many are doing the eMed proctored tests. We just bought a 6 pack of them for $150 and our insurance (BlueS) reimbursed us in total - so essentially they are free. Likely depends on insurance. I had called them ahead to ask if they covered the proctored tests. Our next cruise we will be doing post cruise trip on our own so need them there.

We had a better experience on a post extension. The results were printed, put in an envelope with our names and given to the Viking post extension guests, with a smile (meaning we were negative). I guess we lucked out. Quite a smooth process.

Yes - best answer is to do your homework first and read the FAQ's about Viking Ocean ships. However, short answer: There is a free laundry room (4 washers/4 dryers) on every VIking Ocean ship roughly midships on Port Side of decks 3, 4, 5, 6. You can see location on the VIking Ocean Ships deck plans. Lots of information you can find by reading the Viking web site. I suggest doing so.

Everyone. Just because CVS (or others) are free in your state, does not mean that is true for other states. Everyone must look at their own specific situation. These days it is getting difficult to find places to test, since demand has plummeted with the return to 2019 in many places. About the only people who need tests are those who truly have symptoms and likely have COVID, or those who are traveling on an international cruise (most typically Viking). The proctored tests can be a good alternative for those who don't live in large metro areas.