Does Viking take care of doing anything with the EU Digital Passenger Locator Form prior to a trip?

[OnTheJourney]

I'm starting to look at the various requirements for an upcoming trip. This form is not exactly a piece of cake, being that it asks (in the case of a cruise) all arrival and departure times for intermediate ports between embarkation and disembarkation. 

 

Another issue is covid testing. My airline requirements specify testing done no more than 24 hours prior to arrival (for Italy). If the flight is scheduled to arrive at 8 a.m., does that mean I have to do a test prior to 8 a.m. on the morning of the outbound flight?  Talk about hectic scheduling right before a trip!! 

 

Finally, anyone know if KF94 masks are acceptable for flying instead of N95s?  

[OnTheJourney]

Here's one tricky aspect of the DPL form in that it asks every mode of transportation being used within the country. 

 

Hopefully Viking assists with providing the necessary info (?(  

 

 

 

[Selion]

The 24-hour requirement usually refers to the antigen tests.  For PCR tests the accepted time frame can be 48- to 72-hour prior to departure.  Check the fine prints.  We are doing a PCR test 2.5 days before departure.

 

As for the PLF, are you flying into Italy?  If so, your transportation type will be aircraft.  You'll need to enter each flight segment if you are on connecting flights.  Our flights are 1-stop at FRA, so we had to enter both the US-FRA segment and the FRA-VCE segment.

[OnTheJourney]

9 minutes ago, Selion said:

As for the PLF, are you flying into Italy? 

Yes, but as part of a cruise that arranged the flights for us and also with pre and post extensions, so is all that on me to take care of? Or will the cruise line supply the necessary info?  As an example, if using busses during excursions / extensions, I have no access to the necessary info. It's not like this is any sort of independent, DIY travel. 

Edited March 4, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[Selion]

As far as my understanding of the EU dPLF, we only need to report our transportation into the destination country.  We don't need to report domestic travels within the destination country.

[OnTheJourney]

1 minute ago, Selion said:

We don't need to report domestic travels within the destination country.

That'd surely be nice, because otherwise it can get complicated - trains, car, bus info, etc. 

[trtog7]

I did a cruise with Viking in January. They got the EU Digital Certificate for us. I never saw a EU dPLF or heard of it until it was mentioned here. I presume that Viking took care of it.

Also for our form to land in England they gave us information with most of the answer to fill out that form.

[OnTheJourney]

11 minutes ago, trtog7 said:

They got the EU Digital Certificate for us.

 That would be fine with me. I only came across it by checking out what the airline requires, which links to the EU locator form (as an entry requirement for Italy). Perhaps varies by country?  Where did your January cruise start? So then you did complete one prior to arrival in the UK though. 

Edited March 4, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[cruiseforward9]

AnyWayIsGood,

 

You also have to take into account the time difference.  For us arriving in Athens at 10:10am, that means we would have to get a rapid antigen test after 1:10am here in Denver and our flight leaves at 10:02am - so the rapid test option is impossible for us, we need to be at airport by 7am and there is no place to get a rapid test in the wee hours of the morning.  No rapid antigen testing at DEN airport either - only rapid PCR for $250!

[Eggtuary]

1 hour ago, cruiseforward9 said:

AnyWayIsGood,

 

You also have to take into account the time difference.  For us arriving in Athens at 10:10am, that means we would have to get a rapid antigen test after 1:10am here in Denver and our flight leaves at 10:02am - so the rapid test option is impossible for us, we need to be at airport by 7am and there is no place to get a rapid test in the wee hours of the morning.  No rapid antigen testing at DEN airport either - only rapid PCR for $250!

Do you have the option of the non-rapid PCR?  My doc says she gets those results back in 48 hours, and they are usually covered by insurance. So we are taking ours a little more than 48 hours before our first outbound flight. 

[OnTheJourney]

4 hours ago, cruiseforward9 said:

You also have to take into account the time difference. 

Luckily the pre-covid testing has been removed for travel into Italy. So now all I'll have to worry about is what Viking requires before the cruise. 

 

3 hours ago, Eggtuary said:

Do you have the option of the non-rapid PCR?

Yep...antigen is also accepted for Viking's purposes. Just have to make sure of the proper timeframe. With 2.5 months to go yet before my trip, hopefully requirements will further relax. 

Edited March 5, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[OnTheJourney]

4 hours ago, cruiseforward9 said:

You also have to take into account the time difference. 

This is the part that drives me crazy - hopefully, unless things get worse again, I won't have to worry about it. Works for me!!!  I wouldn't be doing any international trips at all had this recent chairman's cruise offering not come along.