Covid Policy

[dairyf]

  We have a West Indies cruise in February, not at all sure what to do. We are fully vaccinated and boosted. Not so much afraid of catching covid , but very much nervous about testing positive and being made to leave the ship. If we could stay on while being quarantined it would make our decision to go ahead with the cruise easier. Maybe Viking will change their policy by February. I do personally believe all people should be required to be fully vaccinated and boosted.

 

 

[money007penny]

27 minutes ago, dairyf said:

  We have a West Indies cruise in February, not at all sure what to do. We are fully vaccinated and boosted. Not so much afraid of catching covid , but very much nervous about testing positive and being made to leave the ship. If we could stay on while being quarantined it would make our decision to go ahead with the cruise easier. Maybe Viking will change their policy by February. I do personally believe all people should be required to be fully vaccinated and boosted.

 

 

Currently on the Viking Sea.  Captain said some folks have tested positive and are in isolation on board.  I suspect it's because some of the islands are not able to take passengers to quarantine hotels, or are refusing to for other reasons. I do believe earlier on in the trip there were people taken off the ship, especially San Juan on day 1 & 2.  We have also been concerned about testing positive and being removed so the concern is valid.  We've been extra careful with masks and sanitizing etc. Other passengers seem to be more lax, which is disappointing, even though the captain reminds everyone of the policies quite regularly. 

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, money007penny said:

Currently on the Viking Sea.  Captain said some folks have tested positive and are in isolation on board.  I suspect it's because some of the islands are not able to take passengers to quarantine hotels, or are refusing to for other reasons. I do believe earlier on in the trip there were people taken off the ship, especially San Juan on day 1 & 2.  We have also been concerned about testing positive and being removed so the concern is valid.  We've been extra careful with masks and sanitizing etc. Other passengers seem to be more lax, which is disappointing, even though the captain reminds everyone of the policies quite regularly. 

Sadly, the lax passengers will probably do fine, and with bad luck, those who are very diligent will wind up testing positive and be ostracized!  Life isn't fair.

 

This is why at this particular time (Dec/Jan) cruising just seems to be a crapshoot.

[Heidi13]

14 hours ago, dairyf said:

  We have a West Indies cruise in February, not at all sure what to do. We are fully vaccinated and boosted. Not so much afraid of catching covid , but very much nervous about testing positive and being made to leave the ship. If we could stay on while being quarantined it would make our decision to go ahead with the cruise easier. Maybe Viking will change their policy by February. I do personally believe all people should be required to be fully vaccinated and boosted.

 

 

 

Even if Viking relax their quarantine policy, the final decision rests with the local authorities of the ports you visit.

[YYC F/A]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Even if Viking relax their quarantine policy, the final decision rests with the local authorities of the ports you visit.

The ports of call have no over riding right to demand that the line offloads those with a suspected positive test.

 

Certainly the ports / local jurisdictions have the right to refuse the vessel visitation or allow anyone off, but they don’t have a right to demand people get offloaded (nor I think would they really want to!).

 

As other lines such as Silversea are doing on their longer itineraries and world cruise, there is the option for the line to isolate onboard and retest later, and only offload those to accepting ports/medical facilities ashore that have more severe symptoms / illness rather than those asymptomatic or mild cold symptoms. 

Edited December 30, 2021 by YYC F/A

[Twitchly]

1 hour ago, YYC F/A said:

The ports of call have no over riding right to demand that the line offloads those with a suspected positive test.

 

Certainly the ports / local jurisdictions have the right to refuse the vessel visitation or allow anyone off, but they don’t have a right to demand people get offloaded (nor I think would they really want to!).

 

As other lines such as Silversea are doing on their longer itineraries and world cruise, there is the option for the line to isolate onboard and retest later, and only offload those to accepting ports/medical facilities ashore that have more severe symptoms / illness rather than those asymptomatic or mild cold symptoms. 

Interesting. Maybe Silversea has more confidence in their air filtration systems? Or a designated quarantine area that’s well sealed off from other cabins? Or maybe just more faith that their passengers will stay put in their rooms? In any case, I wish Viking offered this.

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, YYC F/A said:

The ports of call have no over riding right to demand that the line offloads those with a suspected positive test.

 

Certainly the ports / local jurisdictions have the right to refuse the vessel visitation or allow anyone off, but they don’t have a right to demand people get offloaded (nor I think would they really want to!).

 

As other lines such as Silversea are doing on their longer itineraries and world cruise, there is the option for the line to isolate onboard and retest later, and only offload those to accepting ports/medical facilities ashore that have more severe symptoms / illness rather than those asymptomatic or mild cold symptoms. 

They may not have the right, but it certainly appears that they are indeed demanding Viking to offload positive passengers to the hotels or hostels.  I don’t believe Viking is the initiator.   

Edited December 30, 2021 by CCWineLover

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, YYC F/A said:

The ports of call have no over riding right to demand that the line offloads those with a suspected positive test.

 

Certainly the ports / local jurisdictions have the right to refuse the vessel visitation or allow anyone off, but they don’t have a right to demand people get offloaded (nor I think would they really want to!).

 

As other lines such as Silversea are doing on their longer itineraries and world cruise, there is the option for the line to isolate onboard and retest later, and only offload those to accepting ports/medical facilities ashore that have more severe symptoms / illness rather than those asymptomatic or mild cold symptoms. 

 

The ship's Safety Management System will have a generic statement that the Master must comply with all Company, International, National and Local Regulations. Where local regulation are in conflict, or are at a higher standard than the company policy, the Master must comply with those local standards. So yes, the Master has a requirement to comply with any requirement enacted by the local authorities, or refuse to take the ship into port.

 

When requesting Free Pratique, the Master must report any infectious diseases onboard the ship and must comply with the requirements of the local authorities. Last summer, in Iceland and Bermuda the local authorities were dictating to the ship's Master how infected and close contacts were quarantined. This required some pax being sent ashore, when not required by Viking, so Viking Masters have already experienced this requirement. This was discussed extensively in other threads.

 

While I have never experienced this requirement, during my years at sea, I have experienced a few strange requirements from local authorities, when requesting Free Pratique. Recall 1 port, when we reported an infectious disease and the local authorities demanded every crew member provide a blood sample. These are strange times and they will continue for many months and I expect local authorities will continue changing requirements on a frequent basis, many of which do not seen logical.

[Jim Avery]

The CDC has once again come forth with a pronouncement that is bad for the cruise industry.  Avoid cruises regardless of vaccination status.  How much more can cruise lines take?  Unless Mr. Hagen has a money print shop in his basement even he will run out at some point.  No other industry has been required to do near what the cruise industry is saddled with since the start of this mess.  I would say it is not fair to not also treat hotels, airlines, resorts the same but then we all know nothing is "fair" in this world.

[Steve Q]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/30/us-cdc-says-people-should-avoid-cruise-travel-regardless-of-vaccination-status.html

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

The CDC has once again come forth with a pronouncement that is bad for the cruise industry.  Avoid cruises regardless of vaccination status.  How much more can cruise lines take?  Unless Mr. Hagen has a money print shop in his basement even he will run out at some point.  No other industry has been required to do near what the cruise industry is saddled with since the start of this mess.  I would say it is not fair to not also treat hotels, airlines, resorts the same but then we all know nothing is "fair" in this world.

 

Jim - yet again I shake my head at the US CDC decisions. Surely based on US infection rates and those on the many ships sailing, the data would indicate you are safer on a cruise ship, especially a Viking ship.

[CCWineLover]

30 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Jim - yet again I shake my head at the US CDC decisions. Surely based on US infection rates and those on the many ships sailing, the data would indicate you are safer on a cruise ship, especially a Viking ship.

Andy - I agree.  Sadly, the cruising industry again gets all the flak.

Panic in the streets from the CDC (or should I say, panic in the seas?)  Again, a massive over-reaction!

 

We just got back from our Viking cruise and definitely felt safer on that ship than being home and going to the grocery or hardware stores!

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Andy - I agree.  Sadly, the cruising industry again gets all the flak.

Panic in the streets from the CDC (or should I say, panic in the seas?)  Again, a massive over-reaction!

 

We just got back from our Viking cruise and definitely felt safer on that ship than being home and going to the grocery or hardware stores!

 

Makes you wonder what data the US CDC has to take this position against cruise ships, but not paraffin pigeons.

 

I would like to see data on how many cruise passengers were potentially infected while flying to the embarkation port. We will never get substantiated data, but for those Viking pax testing positive on day 3, 4 or 5, the probability is high that they were infected at the airport, or on a flight. The cruise ships are assigned the infection stat and the airlines get off scot-free.

 

With respect to transmission on board a Viking ship, it probably isn't zero, since cruising resumed, but I am reasonably confident it is a negligible percentage.

 

Viking invested heavily in Health & Safety, but none of the other cruise lines have matched Viking's capital investment, operational costs and safety standards. Unfortunately, as is usual in the cruise industry, when 1 cruise line has a serious issue, all ships are affected.

 

This would be a great time for Viking to promote their standards and how they are significantly higher than the competition, and provide some data on their best guess of how low on board transmission has been.

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, YYC F/A said:

The ports of call have no over riding right to demand that the line offloads those with a suspected positive test.

 

 

I have a further example of how wrong you are, and it was well before COVID.

 

In 2008, we were on Diamond Princess for a B2B SE Asia cruise. The ship had a serious Noro outbreak, with many infected pax taking the tours. DW was infected on a bus tour, then I caught it from her. At the turnaround port, the Captain received notice from the local authorities that they wanted DW & I disembarked to quarantine ashore. We were given 1/2 hr to pack and disembark.

 

Spent a night in a Chinese quarantine hotel and as I was clear of quarantine early the next morning, we called our son & Safety Officer on the ship, who arranged a car from the agent to return us to the ship.

 

So yes, we have personal experience of being disembarked by local authorities for quarantine ashore.

[HHI Cruiser1]

Per the ongoing World Cruise CC Roll Call and linked blog, there are several (greater than 10)  passengers in quarantine and have not be required to disembark while in port.  So these required disembarkments are not a Viking policy, but a local government policy at each port.  In fact, it appears that World Cruise CC Roll Call and linked blog expects quarantined passengers to be returned to onboard 'general population' when their quarantine period is completed.

[KBs mum]

13 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

The CDC has once again come forth with a pronouncement that is bad for the cruise industry.  Avoid cruises regardless of vaccination status.  How much more can cruise lines take?  Unless Mr. Hagen has a money print shop in his basement even he will run out at some point.  No other industry has been required to do near what the cruise industry is saddled with since the start of this mess.  I would say it is not fair to not also treat hotels, airlines, resorts the same but then we all know nothing is "fair" in this world.

Viking have lots of adverts for the ocean ships on TV in the UK, something we haven't seen before. They've also increased the number of river cruise adverts. 

UK government haven't mentioned cruises. Perhaps CDC advice is based on the megaships that work out of Florida? 

 

[albertamom]

15 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Makes you wonder what data the US CDC has to take this position against cruise ships, but not paraffin pigeons.

 

I would like to see data on how many cruise passengers were potentially infected while flying to the embarkation port. We will never get substantiated data, but for those Viking pax testing positive on day 3, 4 or 5, the probability is high that they were infected at the airport, or on a flight. The cruise ships are assigned the infection stat and the airlines get off scot-free.

 

With respect to transmission on board a Viking ship, it probably isn't zero, since cruising resumed, but I am reasonably confident it is a negligible percentage.

 

Viking invested heavily in Health & Safety, but none of the other cruise lines have matched Viking's capital investment, operational costs and safety standards. Unfortunately, as is usual in the cruise industry, when 1 cruise line has a serious issue, all ships are affected.

 

This would be a great time for Viking to promote their standards and how they are significantly higher than the competition, and provide some data on their best guess of how low on board transmission has been.

I couldn't agree more!  I have repeated exactly this to everyone who asks.  👍

[Shoalwater]

17 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Makes you wonder what data the US CDC has to take this position against cruise ships, but not paraffin pigeons.

 

I would like to see data on how many cruise passengers were potentially infected while flying to the embarkation port. We will never get substantiated data, but for those Viking pax testing positive on day 3, 4 or 5, the probability is high that they were infected at the airport, or on a flight. The cruise ships are assigned the infection stat and the airlines get off scot-free.

 

With respect to transmission on board a Viking ship, it probably isn't zero, since cruising resumed, but I am reasonably confident it is a negligible percentage.

 

Viking invested heavily in Health & Safety, but none of the other cruise lines have matched Viking's capital investment, operational costs and safety standards. Unfortunately, as is usual in the cruise industry, when 1 cruise line has a serious issue, all ships are affected.

 

This would be a great time for Viking to promote their standards and how they are significantly higher than the competition, and provide some data on their best guess of how low on board transmission has been.

To quote a US Congressman running for reelection in the 1960's "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up!".

[Cadodge]

This is a pretty sobering account from someone on the Viking Sky. Fully vaxxed and asymptomatic. She is now being quarantined in Turkey. Husband allowed to stay in country with her, but separated during quarintine.  https://www.*****/1702986059759310. It is on the facebook Viking Cruise Travelers group

Edited January 4, 2022 by Cadodge
Correct the link.

[Cadodge]

3 minutes ago, Cadodge said:

This is a pretty sobering account from someone on the Viking Sky. Fully vaxxed and asymptomatic. She is now being quarantined in Turkey. Husband allowed to stay in country with her, but separated during quarintine.  https://www.*****/1702986059759310/user/100000852340531/

Try this link https://www.*****/1702986059759310

Edited January 4, 2022 by Cadodge
bad link

[Twitchly]

Yeah, I saw that. A bunch of people have been posting over there about their quarantine experiences. One thing I hadn’t considered: Viking doesn’t necessarily have much say about what hotel you end up in. The country decides which hotels will handle Covid quarantines, and — unsurprisingly — they don’t tend to be the ritziest places. That Turkish hotel she’s in sounds pretty dreadful. (Very fortunately, she has no symptoms.)

 

As we ponder where to use our voucher, we’re now thinking we need to consider what countries we would be willing to quarantine in if it came to it. 

[broker1217]

Read up on the Jupiter pax offloaded in Punta Arenas and put into a local hostel.

Make sure you bring converters/transformers on your trip that work in any country you could visit. If you are offloaded you will need to be able to charge your devices to maintain contact. Folks who were offloaded did not have chargers as they depended on using the USB ports in the cabins on Jupiter.

 

And remember, just because you are personally careful and don't test positive, you could be identified as a close contact and offloaded at any point.

 

Think carefully about what countries you are visiting. Are you comfortable being offloaded and quarantining in each one at a hotel/hostel not of your choosing? If not, choose a different itinerary or delay cruising.

[Cadodge]

All good points to ponder. It does appear on some of the ships now people are being quarantined on board. Whether it is because none of the ports will take them or because of a change in policy it is hard to know. The written policy appears to be still for off loading if continuing to test positive, even if no symptoms.

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, Cadodge said:

This is a pretty sobering account from someone on the Viking Sky. Fully vaxxed and asymptomatic. She is now being quarantined in Turkey. Husband allowed to stay in country with her, but separated during quarintine.  https://www.*****/1702986059759310. It is on the facebook Viking Cruise Travelers group

 

As I have posted many times, the ship's Master must report any infectious diseases onboard when arriving at a port and requesting Pratique. The Master must also follow the requirements of the local authorities as to whether COVID pax can remain onboard, or must be landed ashore.

 

These standards have always been in effect, they are just more common due to COVID. In 2008, DW and I were forced off the ship in China because of Noro, so nothing new. We were placed in a Govt hotel, with armed guards on each floor.

[KBs mum]

Quarantines, entry restrictions, lock downs, testing, mask wearing and social distancing have been affecting international travel for two years now. Surely it is not news to anybody that the policies of individual countries and their likely future actions (given what they've done in the past) should be taken into account at the planning stage.