Precruise COVID testing

[GT38]

  Viking states you need a covid-19 antigen test within 24 hours to boarding your first international flight.  Does that mean that the time you board a domestic flight you have to take to connect with the international flight can not be used in determining when you need to take the test?  When other cruise lines require a test 24 hours prior to departure, it means any time the day before.

[shadowlover]

you are probably going to get multiple answers to this depending on who you ask.   Even if you call viking you may receive conflicting information depending on who answers the phone.  Do your best, take a test and when you get to the ship looks like they test you again anyway.  Keep in mind that antigen tests are not as sensitive as pcr.  Viking does pcr.  Right now I tested negative with antigen twice and then positive same day with pcr.  I plan on doing a pcr prior to travel so I can cancel if positive.

[CILCIANRQTS]

I believe they just changed the wording to first international flight from first flight.

We have been getting a rapid PCR test, because:

1. You have 72 hours prior to schedule the test

2. Laboratory antigen tests are getting much harder to find, since everyone now has free antigen tests from the government, and

3. Since we’re old, we don’t want to deal with the log-on requirements of a proctored antigen test.

YMMV.

 

[CILCIANRQTS]

1 hour ago, shadowlover said:

you are probably going to get multiple answers to this depending on who you ask.   Even if you call viking you may receive conflicting information depending on who answers the phone.  Do your best, take a test and when you get to the ship looks like they test you again anyway.  Keep in mind that antigen tests are not as sensitive as pcr.  Viking does pcr.  Right now I tested negative with antigen twice and then positive same day with pcr.  I plan on doing a pcr prior to travel so I can cancel if positive.

If you had a positive PCR test more than 10 days before boarding, you can get a “recovery letter” from your doctor that Viking will accept.

In effect, it says you are no longer contagious even though you currently test positive on a PCR, since positive results can show for months after recovery.

Our  adult daughter was in that situation and is cruising with us now.

Edited June 8, 2022 by CILCIANRQTS

[jasardeax]

I believe that Viking states

72 hour PCR or 24 hour

Anti-Gen before first international flight, OR before

first Viking activity if traveling independently 

[shadowlover]

2 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

If you had a positive PCR test more than 10 days before boarding, you can get a “recovery letter” from your doctor that Viking will accept.

In effect, it says you are no longer contagious even though you currently test positive on a PCR, since positive results can show for months after recovery.

Our  adult daughter was in that situation and is cruising with us now.

Yes I believe the letter is good for 90 days.  I’m not traveling until December.  I think the point of the test is to make sure you don’t travel with covid (obviously) but I also think some of us have a false sense of security with an antigen test.  I’ve just proven to myself that the PCR becomes positive even before symptoms while the antigen remind negative.   I was exposed to my grand daughter and am showing minimal symptoms.     I wonder how many disappointed travelers show up and their Viking test is positive after the home test was negative.   There is no easy answer with this covid virus.  It’s hard to navigate.  

[Kamfish642]

Is NAAT considered a PCR or rapid antigen test?

[Twitchly]

3 hours ago, Kamfish642 said:

Is NAAT considered a PCR or rapid antigen test?

PCR is a type of NAAT test. 

[Kamfish642]

Thanks for the feedback.  I was just confused whether NAAT test fell into PCR or rapid antigen caegory.

[Haqdeluxe]

There was a time, as recent as March of this year,  that Viking would NOT accept a Rapid PCR test but would accept a proctored Antigen test.  A Rapid PCR was the ones like CVS and Walgreens does in hours. The RT-PCR test are the gold standard and typically take 24-72 hours to get your results when administered thru most labs.

This may have changed. 

[bbtondo]

37 minutes ago, Haqdeluxe said:

There was a time, as recent as March of this year,  that Viking would NOT accept a Rapid PCR test but would accept a proctored Antigen test.  A Rapid PCR was the ones like CVS and Walgreens does in hours. The RT-PCR test are the gold standard and typically take 24-72 hours to get your results when administered thru most labs.

This may have changed. 

Viking accepted our Rapid PCR test last November and not a Antigen Test. I'm a little confused with what information you have written?

[BigBee51]

38 minutes ago, Haqdeluxe said:

There was a time, as recent as March of this year,  that Viking would NOT accept a Rapid PCR test but would accept a proctored Antigen test.  A Rapid PCR was the ones like CVS and Walgreens does in hours. The RT-PCR test are the gold standard and typically take 24-72 hours to get your results when administered thru most labs.

This may have changed. 

We are taking a XpresCheck administered PCR test (nasal swab) for big bucks at BOS with results returned usually within 60 minutes (lab on site).  I sure hope this is acceptable to Viking

[BigBee51]

Having re-read the Viking pre-cruise requirements for the zillionth time, all it says is "Proof of negative COVID-19 Test (laboratory-certified)... PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to boarding first international flight". As long as the paperwork received with the test results says something about PCR blah blah blah, I don't see how they can reject it. If it needs to be some specific PCR test they should provide more specific guidance. That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

[CurlerRob]

This will either help a bit, or add to the confusion 😈

 

A PCR test is simply one form of a NAAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Test). All PCR tests are NAATs - not all NAATs are PCR. There are multiple other testing methods under the NAAT umbrella - from the CDC:

 

NAATs can use many different methods to amplify nucleic acids and detect the virus, including but not limited to:

 

Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
Isothermal amplification including:
   Nicking endonuclease amplification reaction (NEAR)
   Transcription mediated amplification (TMA)
   Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)
   Helicase-dependent amplification (HDA)
   Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)
   Strand displacement amplification (SDA)

 

Some of the non-PCR NAATs can be done more quickly and with less equipment. This sometimes leads suppliers to call them "rapid NAATs". The 2 hour test offered by Walgreens does not state what type of NAAT it is - but they do note that it is not necessarily good for all travel, which suggests to me that it is not a PCR test, but rather one of the other NAAT flavours.

 

A PCR test can be turned around very quickly if the tester had immediate access to the testing equipment. Most of the 24-48 hour windows have to do with transporting the sample and waiting in a queue for testing. As an example, with their onboard labs, Viking is essentially doing "rapid" PCR testing - results are back in well under 24 hours.

 

Best answer in our shifting world - ensure you know what tests are acceptable to the country / cruise line / etc. and confirm the type of test offered by the supplier. 🍺🥌