We have family on a Viking river cruise right now

[sharkster77]

We have family who are on a Viking cruise in France right now, as we "speak".  Not sure which cruise exactly,  they are on a wine-intensive itinerary that has visited Bordeaux and Sauternes thus far.  Here is what they have to say about COVID protocols (via their Facebook post):

 

"1. Masks are worn every where and there are fines for not wearing one. On the boat and on the tours, Viking employees are the "mask" police with reminders and extra masks. We are allowed to not wear our masks in our state room and while eating and drinking. This applies to employees also."

"2. Every one on board passenger and employees must provide proof of vaccination before boarding the boat."

"3. Daily PCR i.e. spit tests are done daily for passengers and crew."

 

"We feel very safe and yes sometimes it is a little annoying, especially the spit tests, but we understand the necessity and are glad Viking and France are taking these precautions."

 

I'll post again if they share more info that relates to COVID protocols.

 

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by sharkster77

[Roz]

Doesn't seem like a whole lot of fun. ☹

[Coral]

I think that is what it takes to be safe with Delta. Thanks for the report!

[greydog]

Thanks for feedback on 'current' onboard conditions.  Seems everyone is trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation.

[Wings55]

I appreciate the efforts to stay safe as opposed to getting sick. Better too cautious rather than not cautious enough. 🤷‍♂️

[mlbcruiser]

Sharkster, did your relatives indicate whether or not they were allowed to get off the ship and do things on their own in port or whether they had to stay with a Viking excursion group on land? Just curious because we were scheduled on one of their cruises in a few days. At  one point I was told by a Viking rep that that rule could change,  but at the time we had to stick with a tour. That happened around the end of June for an Aug. cruise.  Someone else said that it depended upon the rules in the port town. Just curious.

 

We ended up canceling our cruise at the last minute within the cancellation window (of 2 werks prior), but other things unrelated to covid factored in. So we now have a future cruise credit to use. Just the same, like some on this thread, I was having a lot of anxiety in the last couple of weeks over the constantly changing Covid situation and requirements. I also read of some people being quite disappointed because Viking had switched them from their original ship to a different one due to so many cancellations. Viking is not the only nor the first line to do this. However. some people have been moved to other ships not departing on the same date. Some were cruises months away. You can imagine how that affected independently booked flights, arrangements, etc. . Because the clients’cruises were not cancelled exactly, these were not considered situations whereby the cruise line canceled the cruise. So no $ is being refunded. Some people posting this information have said the fine print in the cruising contract is worded in such a way that it benefits the cruise line. It’s understandable that it is tough on the cruise lines but also tough on the customers.

 

Good luck to all of you who are still planning to take your cruise and hope you report back,  which will be a help to many.

[sharkster77]

2 hours ago, mlbcruiser said:

Sharkster, did your relatives indicate whether or not they were allowed to get off the ship and do things on their own in port or whether they had to stay with a Viking excursion group on land? Just curious because we were scheduled on one of their cruises in a few days. At  one point I was told by a Viking rep that that rule could change,  but at the time we had to stick with a tour. That happened around the end of June for an Aug. cruise.  Someone else said that it depended upon the rules in the port town. Just curious.

 

We ended up canceling our cruise at the last minute within the cancellation window (of 2 werks prior), but other things unrelated to covid factored in. So we now have a future cruise credit to use. Just the same, like some on this thread, I was having a lot of anxiety in the last couple of weeks over the constantly changing Covid situation and requirements. I also read of some people being quite disappointed because Viking had switched them from their original ship to a different one due to so many cancellations. Viking is not the only nor the first line to do this. However. some people have been moved to other ships not departing on the same date. Some were cruises months away. You can imagine how that affected independently booked flights, arrangements, etc. . Because the clients’cruises were not cancelled exactly, these were not considered situations whereby the cruise line canceled the cruise. So no $ is being refunded. Some people posting this information have said the fine print in the cruising contract is worded in such a way that it benefits the cruise line. It’s understandable that it is tough on the cruise lines but also tough on the customers.

 

Good luck to all of you who are still planning to take your cruise and hope you report back,  which will be a help to many.

If they post any more info on Facebook that this board would find interest in I will be sure to pass it along.  They have only posted once so far.

[mlbcruiser]

👍  Not surprising since I’m sure they have better things to do, lol! Thanks for the report though.

[NavyCruiser]

Thanks for the info.

Ques:

Did they have to get tested before getting on flight from US to France?

Get tested again upon arrival in France airport, again before boarding ship?

How will/do Viking handle testing on last (few) days at end of cruise, before board plane back to the US?

Thanks,

[CPT Trips]

Assuming they can go off the ship and out on their own, no big deal. Mask when out in public in a group, and spit in a tube once a day is really no different than our lives are now in civil society.

[mlbcruiser]

 Avy Cruiser, I think it was the day after we canceled last week that I received an email from Viking. They very highly recommended getting a test for Covid within 72 hours of leaving the US simply because requirements keep changing quickly. Otherwise no, you don’t need a test when leaving the US. You do need one returning to the US, however. Viking requires a saliva test each day you are on their ship.If you are planning to stay on land for a few days after your cruise, since Viking will supply a Covid test to disembark, you must be sure to depart within three calendar days of disembarking. Otherwise you will need to get your own test to fly back to the US. I don’t know if Viking charges for those tests or not. I do know that when we were in Mexico in April, our resort provided a test for free. Perhaps someone else knows that answer or you can call Viking or ask your TA to find out. 

[angela miller]

Thank you for posting. We leave in 15 days for Paris to Normandy on Viking.  Got an email from Viking last night strongly suggesting the PCR test 72 hrs before flight. Also wondering about the France pass that is needed to enter all public venues. May be that our daily negative  PcR test on board will be used.

[NavyCruiser]

Just had dinner with a group of friends who've just came back from a week-long ocean cruise in Greece last week.  Out of group of 16,  2 couples (4 people) didn't take their test until they arrived in Greece, then tested positive at the cruise terminal.  12 went on cruise, 4 stayed behind in hotel room for entire week  of cruise + another few days afterwards before tested negative to fly back to US.  Worse, One lady broke her ankle, so suffered by herself in one hotel room, while her hubby was in another room, with absolutely no contact for almost 2 weeks.

So lesson learned:  Take your test BEFORE getting on flight overseas, if negative, then great, you're 99%+ good to cruise, but if you're positive, then you're confined in the comforts of your home instead to hotel jail in a foreign country...

[SuiteTraveler]

1 hour ago, NavyCruiser said:

Just had dinner with a group of friends who've just came back from a week-long ocean cruise in Greece last week.  Out of group of 16,  2 couples (4 people) didn't take their test until they arrived in Greece, then tested positive at the cruise terminal.  12 went on cruise, 4 stayed behind in hotel room for entire week  of cruise + another few days afterwards before tested negative to fly back to US.  Worse, One lady broke her ankle, so suffered by herself in one hotel room, while her hubby was in another room, with absolutely no contact for almost 2 weeks.

So lesson learned:  Take your test BEFORE getting on flight overseas, if negative, then great, you're 99%+ good to cruise, but if you're positive, then you're confined in the comforts of your home instead to hotel jail in a foreign country...

So sorry for the lady who broke her ankle and her husband and the other two who were stuck in a hotel room for a week+.  

[DrD]

On 8/13/2021 at 12:13 PM, mlbcruiser said:

 Avy Cruiser, I think it was the day after we canceled last week that I received an email from Viking. They very highly recommended getting a test for Covid within 72 hours of leaving the US simply because requirements keep changing quickly. Otherwise no, you don’t need a test when leaving the US. You do need one returning to the US, however. Viking requires a saliva test each day you are on their ship.If you are planning to stay on land for a few days after your cruise, since Viking will supply a Covid test to disembark, you must be sure to depart within three calendar days of disembarking. Otherwise you will need to get your own test to fly back to the US. I don’t know if Viking charges for those tests or not. I do know that when we were in Mexico in April, our resort provided a test for free. Perhaps someone else knows that answer or you can call Viking or ask your TA to find out. 

 

Thinking about the logistics here, it seems difficult to get the results in time.  Example I'm leaving Friday and arriving Saturday, so the soonest I could get tested would be Wednesday, which means a 48 hour turn around to have results before I fly.  Most testing centers advertise 2-4 days turn around time.  

 

What are people doing?

[angela miller]

I am on the Aug 29th Viking Paris to Normandy and I got the email recommendation to get the PCR. We have returned from Jamaica in the last month and we were required to have the PCR 72 hrs before travel. We made an appointment with CVS, went to drive thru for test and had it back n 24 hours. No problem at all. We plan on doing the same for Viking.  Hopefully the same results.

[F19810]

If you do z google search, you my find  a place that does 1-4 hr testing.  Like you, I am afraid to go to someplace that takes 2-4 days to get the results back.  I'm going to the airport a few days before vacation and doing the 4 hr PCR test.  It cost more but I will have my results quickly.  The only problem is that the result is texted to you.  I may be able to get them from a pt portal, but am not sure.  I figure I can screenshot the text and print it out.