Malta Cruises

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Could someone please explain to me what's currently happening to Viking's Malta cruises?  I'm not looking for any political comment, just a brief summary of what's happening.  Are certain cruisers (vaccinated or unvaccinated) having their cruises cancelled because they live in areas identified by Malta as "red" for Covid, or is Viking currently cancelling entire Malta cruises, or what?  

[LindaS272]

28 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Could someone please explain to me what's currently happening to Viking's Malta cruises?  I'm not looking for any political comment, just a brief summary of what's happening.  Are certain cruisers (vaccinated or unvaccinated) having their cruises cancelled because they live in areas identified by Malta as "red" for Covid, or is Viking currently cancelling entire Malta cruises, or what?  

You can read the general discussion thread, and the roll calls for Venus and Sea and find out.

Edited July 7, 2021 by LindaS272

[rudychance]

Well, we're currently booked and paid in full for Venus 9/2/21;  Greek Isles.  We moved from the Sea sailing 8/20/21 since it seemed to be so close and our flights there were horrendous through Frankford.  Our PCR test will be challenging and expensive since we don't have a guaranteed turnaround lab nearby.

Today, we booked and paid for our excursions (after spending $800 on 8/20 cruise,  which apparently take 21 days to be credited back?) It was disconcerting to see both the Croatia itinerary excursions and the Greek for sale.

So, sadly, we currently don't know and can't explain what is happening on Malta cruises. Cheers, IWANTTOLIVEOVERTHESEA 🤔

 

[rudychance]

2 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Could someone please explain to me what's currently happening to Viking's Malta cruises?  I'm not looking for any political comment, just a brief summary of what's happening.  Are certain cruisers (vaccinated or unvaccinated) having their cruises cancelled because they live in areas identified by Malta as "red" for Covid, or is Viking currently cancelling entire Malta cruises, or what?  

 

[TayanaLorna]

What I understand from a NYT article is that Malta has designated a few US states as red and those residents cannot travel to Malta under any circumstance.  A larger group of states and territories are yellow which means they can travel if vaccinated and present a negative PCR test.  If you live in a yellow state you cannot have a connection or layover in a red state on your itinerary.  Viking Air is able to change your flights to avoid flying through a red state.  The people who live in a red state must cancel their cruise.  It is unclear what covid infection rate and/or vaccination rate Malta is using.  But apparently they are watching the numbers in the US and changing their red/yellow state designations accordingly.

[LindaS272]

15 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

 A larger group of states and territories are yellow which means they can travel if vaccinated and present a negative PCR test.

That’s not how Malta designates it. They don’t have a way to verify your vaccination status if from the U.S. That’s why they require a PCR test. For Maltese residents, UK & EU with (largely) digital vaccination certs, there is no test requirement.

 

The vaccination requirement as of now is for Viking.

[TayanaLorna]

31 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

That’s not how Malta designates it. They don’t have a way to verify your vaccination status if from the U.S. That’s why they require a PCR test. For Maltese residents, UK & EU with (largely) digital vaccination certs, there is no test requirement.

 

The vaccination requirement as of now is for Viking.

Thx

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

46 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

That’s not how Malta designates it. They don’t have a way to verify your vaccination status if from the U.S. That’s why they require a PCR test. For Maltese residents, UK & EU with (largely) digital vaccination certs, there is no test requirement.

 

The vaccination requirement as of now is for Viking.

But when you say "That's why they require a PCR test" I'm a little confused. I just looked at the red section briefly and it sounded like nobody in those 13 U.S. states could enter unless they had been vaccinated in the EU or Malta 14 days pre-entry. So can you take a test and get permission to come in? I'm not on a Malta cruise, but I'm trying to understand the requirements and what's happening. So most or all of the people who are getting notified of cruise canncellation are from Malta "red" states, right? And it doesn't matter if they were vaccinated in their own "red" state, right?

[LindaS272]

3 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

But when you say "That's why they require a PCR test" I'm a little confused. I just looked at the red section briefly and it sounded like nobody in those 13 U.S. states could enter unless they had been vaccinated in the EU or Malta 14 days pre-entry. So can you take a test and get permission to come in? I'm not on a Malta cruise, but I'm trying to understand the requirements and what's happening. So most or all of the people who are getting notified of cruise canncellation are from Malta "red" states, right? And it doesn't matter if they were vaccinated in their own "red" state, right?

If your in one of the US states on the Red list, you can’t come in PERIOD. Viking has been canceling cruises for some of those pax. There is no exception of “unless they had been vaccinated in the EU or Malta 14 days pre-entry.”

 

The other US states are on the Amber list. Malta is not recognizing vaccination certs from US residents as of now. But if you’re on the Amber list, you must get a negative PCR test within 72 hours of entry, and then you can come in.

 

The vaccination requirement right now is from Viking. MALTA DOESN'T CARE IF YOU'RE A US RESIDENT WHO IS VACCINATED BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT RECOGNIZING OUR CDC CERTS RIGHT NOW.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

OK.  I see it's a bit more complicated than what Iceland's doing now, but you've explained it well.  Thank you!

[cruisezr1]

Just told our Malta Western Med cruise for Sept 5th was cancel due to some issues they wouldn't really say what but looks like it was because of Italy not Malta.