DAILY COVID TESTING

[Insanityx4]

I have been following the roll calls of a few cruises where pax have mentioned they have gone back to daily Covid testing or pax being contacted by Viking saying their upcoming cruise will be doing daily testing, especially on cruises in the Southern Hemisphere. Are there any updates on which ships, which itineraries, and which countries are requiring daily testing?

[katlew]

We are doing NZ to Aus and have been told via email & on the MVJ travel requirements that there may be frequent testing on the ship. If you are booked on a cruise, you can see the special travel requirements for different countries.

[Insanityx4]

When is your cruise? Ours isn't until April 1 and nothing is mentioned yet on MVJ. We have a way to go before our cruise and of course, things can always change by then but curious as to what is happening now. Thanks for posting.

[katlew]

1 hour ago, Insanityx4 said:

When is your cruise? Ours isn't until April 1 and nothing is mentioned yet on MVJ. We have a way to go before our cruise and of course, things can always change by then but curious as to what is happening now. Thanks for posting.

Ours is Dec 22nd. Australia has set some stricter testing rules for cruise ships. They also just had a Princess Ship there with 800 Covid cases on it. None were seriously ill thankfully. If you are sailing to Australia, I can post the links to the rules & also where they track the cases on boats coming in.

[Insanityx4]

16 minutes ago, katlew said:

18 minutes ago, katlew said:

Ours is Dec 22nd. Australia has set some stricter testing rules for cruise ships. They also just had a Princess Ship there with 800 Covid cases on it. None were seriously ill thankfully. If you are sailing to Australia, I can post the links to the rules & also where they track the cases on boats coming in.

We will be in South America. The Polaris and Octantis are there right now and they are requiring daily testing. I had read about the Princess ship with 800 positive cases, yikes!  We were in Australia and Indonesia in 2020 on the Viking Sun when Covid hit. We ended flying out of Bali and it took us about 50 hours to get home (through Dubai to San Francisco). I believe Australia has just recently opened to cruise ships. They have been very cautious.

[katlew]

39 minutes ago, Insanityx4 said:

 

Yes, they are super cautious in Australia with cruiser. Luckily, other than that one ship, all the other ships coming in are no higher than tier one, <30 per thousand people.

[WNcruiser]

This link is continuously updated (including today)with the latest requirements: 

 

https://docs.vikingcruises.com/pdf/14-PreCruiseRequirement-All-US_CAN_UK_AU_NZ.pdf

 

 

[Grettiegoo]

We are on the Barcelona to Buenos Aires repositioning cruise (Jupiter) and are doing daily testing. We were not allowed to get off at Casa Blanca because covid rates were greater than 1%.  Senegal had already been scraped so no Africa.  We did go to Mediera and Cape Verde Islands instead. Hopefully South America will let us stop.

Edited November 19, 2022 by Grettiegoo

[TayanaLorna]

4 hours ago, Grettiegoo said:

We are on the Barcelona to Buenos Aires repositioning cruise (Jupiter) and are doing daily testing. We were not allowed to get off at Casa Blanca because covid rates were greater than 1%.  Senegal had already been scraped so no Africa.  We did go to Mediera and Cape Verde Islands instead. Hopefully South America will let us stop.

Thanks for the info.  We are on a cruise to the Brazil Amazon and our documents indicate testing may be required.  Was wondering when it would begin and if it was daily.  Does your TA stop in Brazil in Rio?

[Insanityx4]

5 hours ago, Grettiegoo said:

We are on the Barcelona to Buenos Aires repositioning cruise (Jupiter) and are doing daily testing. We were not allowed to get off at Casa Blanca because covid rates were greater than 1%.  Senegal had already been scraped so no Africa.  We did go to Mediera and Cape Verde Islands instead. Hopefully South America will let us stop.

I am wondering if the 1% Covid rate was on the ship or in Casablanca?

[Symmes99]

Was on the ship (I am on this cruise). Present rate is below 1% - only 4 pax and 2 crew out of about 1,350 total onboard. 

[powderhorn]

Was the requirement do do daily testing mandated by some of the countries?....or something Viking decided to do as part of their internal safety protocol? Our TA is scheduled to stop in Casablanca Dec 7th...no mention of a daily testing requirement last time I looked....

[Symmes99]

I was told that Morocco said our vax cards must indicate lot or batch number for each dose of vaccine. Viking told Morocco they couldn’t produce that for all passengers, so Morocco then wanted Viking to submit  test results as part of a health assessment. The tests exceeded the 1% positivity rate supposedly needed for entry. Not sure how much higher than 1% was found, but it didn’t seem rampant (just 14 cases would give 1%). Now it’s less than 0.5% and falling. I’m not convinced this is the real story. Other ships visit Morocco and they don’t do daily PCR tests and I doubt all vax cards are in order. But that’s the way it was explained to me. 

[Symmes99]

Also, none of the countries on this itinerary require testing of vaccinated cruise ship passengers. Viking seems to have done this on its own. The Travel Requirements on MVJ changed as the cruise approached, from no testing requirements, to daily testing will be required, to frequent testing will be required, to frequent testing may be required, to “you’ll get an email 14 days before your cruise if testing is required.”  No email came. So I was surprised to see spit tubes in my cabin when I boarded, along with a letter explaining that daily testing is required. Many unhappy passengers! My wife and I were expecting a test-free cruise, like the Viking Danube cruise we did in September.  Oh well. 

[TayanaLorna]

I hope the "many unhappy passengers" are not taking it out on the crew or guest services who cannot do anything about it and are also testing daily.  We were on a TA where we spit tested daily.  Then prior to arrival in San Juan, Puerto Rico decided they wanted a nasal swab PCR not a spit test PCR so we all got our appointments to appear in the Star Theatre for our tests.  Boy you should have seen the crowd of angry upset passengers at Guest Services complaining and refusing to be subjected to a nasal swab!

Our Passenger Ticket Contracts basically say we gotta do whatever the Master says we gotta do even if it changes mid cruise and whether or not we like it.  Oh well is right.

[powderhorn]

Thank You for the explanation....it seems fishy to me why Viking are doing this...unless they felt an outbreak was eminent....even so it seems they were up for diverting the cruise to Madiera and Cape Verde Islands. Here is what is on the Sherpa website for restrictions travelling from Spain to Casablanca....says no testing required......why was Senegal scratched?

  

[TayanaLorna]

5 minutes ago, powderhorn said:

Thank You for the explanation....it seems fishy to me why Viking are doing this...unless they felt an outbreak was eminent....even so it seems they were up for diverting the cruise to Madiera and Cape Verde Islands. Here is what is on the Sherpa website for restrictions travelling from Spain to Casablanca....says no testing required......why was Senegal scratched?

  

Countries often give different rules for cruise ships from those that other arrivals have.  Last year every site on line i could find giving rules for entry to Morocco allowed visitors via air and ferry entry if they were vaccinnated.  Except cruise ships were not allowed no matter what.  So we missed Casablanca. Their country, their rules.  Viking's ship, their rules.

[Symmes99]

Senegal was scratched well before the cruise, something about issues at the port. Apparently this happens often. Nothing to do with Covid. 
 

Passengers are over their unhappiness with daily testing, they’re  just doing it as required and enjoying the cruise. I showed the General Manager the pre-cruise documentation I had which seemed to indicate no testing would be required. He was surprised and unaware that shoreside operations were telling passengers this, while at the same time telling the ship to do testing. He and the crew were caught in the middle. But as I said, displeasure passed quickly, gone after the first few drinks. 

[powderhorn]

Is the crew masked?

[Symmes99]

Just now, powderhorn said:

Is the crew masked?

More or less. They do wear masks but some pull them down when speaking with you or for a photo. And many noses are uncovered. It’s good to see faces again! 

[Jim Avery]

Viking is doing this when and where they want because they can.  No other ships have the onboard lab so they are not subjecting their passengers to such basically useless stuff.

[basenji56]

13 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Viking is doing this when and where they want because they can.  No other ships have the onboard lab so they are not subjecting their passengers to such basically useless stuff.

True.  I recently got off a transatlantic.  3400 passengers.  No mask requirement.  We were told that the cruise had ten covid cases.  

[CCWineLover]

From Australia Cruise News . . .

https://cruisepassenger.com.au/news/worried-about-covid-on-ships-heres-how-the-experts-say-you-should-handle-it/

 

https://cruisepassenger.com.au/news/all-carnival-brands-reinstate-mask-policy-amid-covid-mayhem/

 

 

[Heidi13]

8 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

 

Our Passenger Ticket Contracts basically say we gotta do whatever the Master says we gotta do even if it changes mid cruise and whether or not we like it.  Oh well is right.

 

You are one of the few who clearly understand the hierarchy aboard ship. Even these days, it's still a benevolent dictatorship.

 

Article 5.2 of the ISM Code, provides the Master overriding authority to make decisions for safety or pollution prevention, and s/he can request Company assistance. Therefore, the Master can make any decision, even those contrary to Corporate policy, if deemed necessary for safety or pollution prevention. Upon request, the company must assist.

 

 

[booksfan]

On 11/20/2022 at 1:39 PM, basenji56 said:

True.  I recently got off a transatlantic.  3400 passengers.  No mask requirement.  We were told that the cruise had ten covid cases.  

You are fortunate it was so low. We were on a 12-day cruise in August, just over 2100 passengers, and we had well over 100 cases! They started masking in casino and theater after about a week when cases started mounting, then when they exploded a day or two later, masks were required everywhere.