Protocol for Covid Positive once on board

[deec]

Does anyone know Viking Policy for someone who tests positive while onboard?  Can we quarantine on the ship or will we have to disembark to quarantine in a hotel?  Starting to be concerned if I get sick in Brazil?  I could not find the information on Viking website but perhaps I missed it.

[Heidi13]

1 minute ago, deec said:

Does anyone know Viking Policy for someone who tests positive while onboard?  Can we quarantine on the ship or will we have to disembark to quarantine in a hotel?  Starting to be concerned if I get sick in Brazil?  I could not find the information on Viking website but perhaps I missed it.

 

Dee - it is in the FAQ under Viking Health & Safety Program

What happens if a guest tests positive for COVID-19 while on their Viking cruise?

Guests with a positive COVID-19 test will be isolated on board and then disembarked at the first opportunity for quarantine at an appropriate facility ashore. A second test will be performed to validate the first test. If the second test confirms COVID-19, we will arrange for the guest to recover ashore before returning home once their recovery is complete. Upon their return home, Viking Customer Relations will contact the guest and their travel advisor directly regarding any necessary refunding or rescheduling.

[BQEC]

Yes, as you may already know,  your travel insurance will likely require a medical doctor's diagnosis in order to consider your claim for trip interruption according to the specifics of your insurance policy. Trip cancellation claims usually have a specified number of hours/days in which to file your claim - which is defined in the policy.Trip interruption may also have similar provisions. I would also look into your policy for medical evacuation coverage. 

[deec]

6 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2021 by deec

[deec]

so I wonder what is considered an appropriate facility if I am in central or South America!!!

 

and then disembarked at the first opportunity for quarantine at an appropriate facility ashore. A second test will be performed to validate the first test. If the second test confirms COVID-19, we will arrange for the guest to recover ashore before returning home once their recovery is complete.

 

I may be getting cold feet about these scheduled cruises!

I am not usually cavalier about planning but part of me wants to just take a leap of faith...everything will be OK!

[rbslos18]

Given the infrequency of reported ship COVID cases the past two months, the risk seems pretty low. Most countries we will be visiting have a greater percent of vaccinations and lower percent of COVID cases than the US, for sure. This of course may be a rationalization. An Infectious Disease consultant who had us cancel two cruises, gave me his blessings to do a Viking Mediterranean cruise in December. He was very impressed with the Viking protocol.

[deec]

Heidi 13  if you are comfortable posting here great..otherwise I get not wanting your opinions out there for all to read.

 

We are seasoned travelers who are 71 years old and in good health.  Vaccinated and have had boosters.

 

Your were on the Magical Mystery Tour which in all reality I probably would have enjoyed.

 

BUT I do not want to be cavalier or stupid!

 

Are YOU ready to start cruising again knowing what you know about VIKING and your many years of experience on cruise ships.

 

We have a short panama cruise scheduled in November.

 

We then have a 62 day cruise starting in Santiago, Chile....and a TA to Barcelona, onto  Bergen and back to AMS.....the SA and TA will truly complete our WORLD CRUISE aboard a Viking ship!!!   only Antarctica will be high on the BUCKET LIST!

 

Are we succumbing to Covid fatigue or making well thought out travel decisions!

 

 

 

 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, deec said:

Heidi 13  if you are comfortable posting here great..otherwise I get not wanting your opinions out there for all to read.

 

We are seasoned travelers who are 71 years old and in good health.  Vaccinated and have had boosters.

 

Your were on the Magical Mystery Tour which in all reality I probably would have enjoyed.

 

BUT I do not want to be cavalier or stupid!

 

Are YOU ready to start cruising again knowing what you know about VIKING and your many years of experience on cruise ships.

 

We have a short panama cruise scheduled in November.

 

We then have a 62 day cruise starting in Santiago, Chile....and a TA to Barcelona, onto  Bergen and back to AMS.....the SA and TA will truly complete our WORLD CRUISE aboard a Viking ship!!!   only Antarctica will be high on the BUCKET LIST!

 

Are we succumbing to Covid fatigue or making well thought out travel decisions!

 

 

Hi Dee,

 

Not a problem, I have no problem discussing our risk tolerances. As a ship's Master, I was trained extensively in Human Factors and Risk Analysis, so even in retirement, I continue using those skills. We are a little younger, but both have moderate risk from COVID complications, so must be careful. 

 

In August, when Viking cancelled Orion's Southern Hemisphere schedule and issued a number of North America departures, we were definitely interested. In Vancouver, I consider the winters are cold, but most from Central/East Coast laugh and disagree. We also don't get much snow, but for 6 months our sky is grey and it rains most days. In retirement, we both want to escape the rain during winter.

 

The 4/12/21 sailing from L/A was really interesting, as it would have provided 2 weeks of sunshine, returning home just before Christmas. I researched extensively:

• US CDC requirements for cruise ships - for us this organisation was the biggest risk
• Viking's vaccination requirements. I received written confirmation they accept mixed vaccines
• US Federal requirements to arrive by air. At that time a negative test is all that was req'd
• California State Public Health requirements. We had options, as we could fly to other states and hire a car to drive to L/A, if CA required specific vaccinations.
• Viking Health & Safety Policy - reviewed extensively.
• Viking insurance policy - fine print
• Viking Ocean Terms & Conditions - fine print
• Hawaii entrance requirements
• US vaccination rates
• US infection rates
• US Federal/State digital vaccine records, as paper copies easily forged.

With the RFG, we booked the 4/12/21 departure, as at that time we could enter the US and provided we could get into the US, Viking would welcome us aboard. Other significant risks remained, but I consider Viking's Health & Safety Policy very effective in managing the risks, once on board. Other than the daily testing, the life on board a Viking ship is similar to what we experience at home. We have no problem providing a saliva sample daily, wearing a contract tracing device and a mask when moving about. On board the cruise, we would have had no problem dining and meeting with friends, who we trust. No different to our life at home, although we do have exceptional vaccination rates. The RFG also mitigated the remaining risks.

 

The consequences of testing positive and being caught in contract tracing are no different to what we have at home. On the Hawaii cruise, we were comfortable, if we were sent ashore for quarantine. However, at present there are many parts of the World where I would not cruise, if this was in place. 

 

We did cancel the Hawaii cruise when the US inplemented vaccination requirements. That and the other US risk factors surpassed our risk tolerance, so we took the FCV's. Our cancelling had nothing to do with Viking's policy for that cruise, and if Viking had a R/T from Vancouver tomorrow, we would be booked.

 

At present we have 3 cruises booked for a total of about 165 days, with the first one in Dec 22, so have no issues cruising with Viking.

 

With respect to your cruises, without completing a thorough risk assessment, I really can't say if we would continue with the bookings at this time. One definite issue - in the unlikely event of testing positive, you visit a number of ports that I would not wish to be sent ashore to quarantine. While Viking can take the standards ashore into consideration, the local authorities may make the decision and demand you are disembarked.

 

Hope this helps.

[fudgbug]

23 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Dee - it is in the FAQ under Viking Health & Safety Program

What happens if a guest tests positive for COVID-19 while on their Viking cruise?

Guests with a positive COVID-19 test will be isolated on board and then disembarked at the first opportunity for quarantine at an appropriate facility ashore. A second test will be performed to validate the first test. If the second test confirms COVID-19, we will arrange for the guest to recover ashore before returning home once their recovery is complete. Upon their return home, Viking Customer Relations will contact the guest and their travel advisor directly regarding any necessary refunding or rescheduling.

Take it from someone that had to disembark what you read in this thread is exactly as happens.  Where you are quarantined is determined by the country and availability.  Fortunately for us we were in Germany.  We were tested at the hotel, then taken to our room, tested again in 5 days, then another 5 days until we tested negative twice and received a letter from the Public Health department that allowed us to leave.

 

Depending on where you are, Viking may not have much choice on where you are quarantined.

 

A Viking host kept in touch with us by phone throughout the quarantine and Customer Relations did contact us directly when we arrived home.

 

We couldn't have asked for anything more from Viking.  Everyone was respectful, courteous and helpful all along the way.

Edited October 24, 2021 by fudgbug
added where, availability, depending

[CCWineLover]

fudgbug - if I may ask - where were you taken off the ship, and what city were you quarantined in?   And how much added expense to your cruise (that you don't get to do) do you estimate it cost you?

[fudgbug]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

fudgbug - if I may ask - where were you taken off the ship, and what city were you quarantined in?   And how much added expense to your cruise (that you don't get to do) do you estimate it cost you?

We were taken off of the ship in Miltenberg, Germany and taken to the hotel in Frankfort where Viking paid for the room, meals including anything we wanted to drink (wine), testing and a doctor visit.  We didn't have insurance and Viking would have sent us home on their nickel, but we preferred to make our own flight arrangements and paid for that ourselves (non stop, business class on a Saturday $11K).  If we had wanted to wait another day, the airfare would have been half the price.

 

 

 

 

[deec]

Thanks for sharing your real life experience !

[bbtondo]

On 10/24/2021 at 11:47 AM, fudgbug said:

Take it from someone that had to disembark what you read in this thread is exactly as happens.  Where you are quarantined is determined by the country and availability.  Fortunately for us we were in Germany.  We were tested at the hotel, then taken to our room, tested again in 5 days, then another 5 days until we tested negative twice and received a letter from the Public Health department that allowed us to leave.

 

Depending on where you are, Viking may not have much choice on where you are quarantined.

 

A Viking host kept in touch with us by phone throughout the quarantine and Customer Relations did contact us directly when we arrived home.

 

We couldn't have asked for anything more from Viking.  Everyone was respectful, courteous and helpful all along the way.

Thank you for sharing your experience.  I was wondering if you ever got sick?  Any symptoms?

[fudgbug]

5 minutes ago, bbtondo said:

Thank you for sharing your experience.  I was wondering if you ever got sick?  Any symptoms?

My husband had headaches, tiredness and a bad cough.  I had headaches, diarrhea, and congestion.  After almost 5 weeks of the cough and congestion those effects are now mostly gone.  The other symptoms were gone in about 10 days.

 

 

[SM77]

Thank you so much for sharing what happened to you.  Were you ever able to figure out where you might have been exposed to COVID?  Sounds like you were quarantined for ten days before going home?  Any particular reason for choosing the more expensive flight?  Were you feeling poorly enough that you wanted a direct flight in business?  This thread has certainly made me think twice about booking any travel to ports where I would be hesitate to quarantine.  Glad to hear that you are better and hope that you don't have any lasting effects from COVID.  And it is good to hear that Viking was helpful throughout but I'm sure that it was very stressful. 

[uktog]

Yes we cancelled the trip that stopped in Brazil this month for several reasons including the prevalence of the virus there, therefore the risk of catching ashore was beyond our tolerance level. (We do our risk assessment of travel based on what really bothers us personally).
 

We also could not get any definitive answers on what would happen and how exactly aka where we would be looked after from the cruise line. We were very happy with their explanation about how they did things in Europe but it was clear they were still working out South America and we did not want to be in the experiment class. 

We appreciate the challenges in keeping on cruising and have already done three since things opened up (not on Viking) but were somewhat surprised Viking was prepared to risk a transatlantic with stops in Africa and Brazil and be unable to give us more information. 
 

Each to their own risk choices just make sure you know your own real not misrepresented risks and don’t cloud your decision for the wrong reasons whatever you decide. 
 

Our fingers are now firmly crossed for the Norway replacement 

[fudgbug]

5 hours ago, SM77 said:

Thank you so much for sharing what happened to you.  Were you ever able to figure out where you might have been exposed to COVID?  Sounds like you were quarantined for ten days before going home?  Any particular reason for choosing the more expensive flight?  Were you feeling poorly enough that you wanted a direct flight in business?  This thread has certainly made me think twice about booking any travel to ports where I would be hesitate to quarantine.  Glad to hear that you are better and hope that you don't have any lasting effects from COVID.  And it is good to hear that Viking was helpful throughout but I'm sure that it was very stressful. 

Exposed?  Yes!  At the place where we went to have our Covid pre departure test.  After 13 days in the hotel, we didn't want to stay even one more day then deal with changing planes or transferring through another airport.  🙂 Our preference in general is to fly Business and non stop.

[SM77]

1 hour ago, fudgbug said:

Exposed?  Yes!  At the place where we went to have our Covid pre departure test.  After 13 days in the hotel, we didn't want to stay even one more day then deal with changing planes or transferring through another airport.  🙂 Our preference in general is to fly Business and non stop.

Yikes! I have finally read your earlier posts on other threads about your experience so you have filled in the details for me.  Understand perfectly about wanting to get home after being stuck for 13 days in a hotel.  So unfortunate that you & your husband had this happen to you and I really appreciate your honesty  and willingness to share the details with us.  It is reassuring to know that Viking was helpful and supportive but I'm sure it was disappointing.  This is all food for thought regarding international travel with COVID.  Please continue to get better and stay well!

[Insanityx4]

The people taken off of the Jupiter in Chile were taken to a youth hostel. Couples were separated and food disgusting. No help at all from Viking according to those quarantined. You can follow the December 22 Chilean Fjords boards for further discussions. Very scary the way they are being treated. Not even allowed coffee.

[deec]

Hoping Viking can learn from the BAD experience of these folks but as has been reported sometimes Viking also is at the mercy of government rulings!