Is Testing Being Conducted Every Morning ?

[morpheusofthesea]

Do guests still have to spit into a vial every morning while on a Viking Cruise ? Are masks required on board ? 

[Famsw]

Yes and Yes.  We were on the Viking Venus recently (Ocean) and both were followed.  My "kids" (20's) were woken up at 9ish to do the spit test.  Masks were required on the busses and as they said, "everywhere that you have a roof over your head".  So sitting by the pool or walking the upper deck a few did not wear a mask, but lots still did.  

[CCWineLover]

20 hours ago, Famsw said:

they said, "everywhere that you have a roof over your head". 

That's a good one!   We never heard that.  We always were hearing them say, masks on unless you are eating or drinking something or swimming in the pools.

[dcsam]

is Viking the only ocean cruiseline conducting daily tests?

[les37b]

1 hour ago, dcsam said:

is Viking the only ocean cruiseline conducting daily tests?

 

AFAIK, they are the only line with an onboard PCR testing facility.

 

Big thumbs up to Viking from me.

 

[Jim Avery]

12 hours ago, dcsam said:

is Viking the only ocean cruiseline conducting daily tests?

Seems to be.  Others, including our other fave line SeaDream Yacht Club, through the mass lines on to the new Virgin Cruises require pre boarding tests.  Then, for fully vaxxed passengers on a fully vaccinated ship are free to go about their business unmasked and with no further testing unless showing symptoms or needing testing to return home.  Treating vaccinated passengers as such, not like some infected monkey recently escaped from a Wuhan lab.   Possibly it is lawyer and CYA motivated or even doing it because Viking has the lab, lets use it.  Whatever reason,  other lines seem to be moving toward more normal life onboard while Viking is actually appearing to head in the other direction.  We all have choices on how we spend our travel money but I choose to avoid the restrictions currently in place.  For example, we recently returned from a 5,000 mile road trip.  We crossed all or parts of AZ., NM. TX. LA. MS. AL, and Florida.  Six nights in hotels, other nights with friends and family.  Numerous gas stations and dozens of restaurants.  Not once, repeat, not once were we required to mask up.  In most places the staff were unmasked or few wearing them.   And guess what?  Ta Daa!  We are still here.  I will never mock someone for wearing a mask if that gives them comfort but I require they don't scorn me for being vaxxed and expecting to not mask.  Hopefully Viking will soon be back to Viking.  

[drb]

On 10/22/2021 at 5:03 PM, Famsw said:

Yes and Yes.  We were on the Viking Venus recently (Ocean) and both were followed.  My "kids" (20's) were woken up at 9ish to do the spit test.  Masks were required on the busses and as they said, "everywhere that you have a roof over your head".  So sitting by the pool or walking the upper deck a few did not wear a mask, but lots still did.  

Does Viking offer any alternatives to spit- testing?  It is impossible, no not difficult but impossible, for me to provide a sufficient saliva sample due to medications for chronic conditions. 

[CCWineLover]

14 minutes ago, drb said:

Does Viking offer any alternatives to spit- testing?  It is impossible, no not difficult but impossible, for me to provide a sufficient saliva sample due to medications for chronic conditions. 

I would make a query to tellus@viking.com   and plead your case.

I had not heard that one before, but I'm sure it is possible.  We had issues trying to get saliva for similar reasons, but were given some techniques by the stewards (pinching the cheeks, pushing the tongue down behind the front teeth, and some more.  Might even google how to get saliva.

[whitbob]

Once one provides the saliva in the morning tube, are we free to move on and start the day?  Do we have to wait for a negative result to head out of the room?  Do we get a confirmation of the result each day?

[SantaFe1]

You just leave the vials on the dresser for the steward and go about your day.  On our Iceland trip we never heard a thing or got any results until the last day, when they printed out the result to take to the airport to give to the airlines so you can return to the US.

[drb]

Thanks for the reply CCWineLover

[vslparis]

Trying to be pragmatic about it but,  really not looking forward to doing a spit test for 119 days in a row on the World Horizons cruise starting in January 🤥

[rizello]

10 minutes ago, vslparis said:

Trying to be pragmatic about it but,  really not looking forward to doing a spit test for 119 days in a row on the World Horizons cruise starting in January 🤥

Hopefully by then, things are more relaxed.  I saw a post that on a River cruise they only tested every other day 

[vslparis]

9 minutes ago, rizello said:

Hopefully by then, things are more relaxed.  I saw a post that on a River cruise they only tested every other day 

It would be nice, but it is something  we have no control over.  I just keep thinking that is  119 ways to test positive .

[SantaFe1]

19 minutes ago, vslparis said:

Trying to be pragmatic about it but,  really not looking forward to doing a spit test for 119 days in a row on the World Horizons cruise starting in January 🤥

Honestly, I couldn’t do a WC this year.  In Iceland I just found this so repulsive for 7 days.  It made me dread getting out of bed.  I have signed on for 18 days, doing the first leg  of the WC  from FLL, but I dread it!!!

[vslparis]

6 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Honestly, I couldn’t do a WC this year.  In Iceland I just found this so repulsive for 7 days.  It made me dread getting out of bed.  I have signed on for 18 days, doing the first leg  of the WC  from FLL, but I dread it!!!

I understand your concerns and even sometimes I have them too . However, then I realize that many people before us have been thru things much like this pandemic and even worse like the depravation of WWII for 5 years, and I hit myself upside my head and think we need to move forward, even if it is with uncertainty. Everyone needs to be comfortable with what they do with their lives and it is never my place to make that decision for them. 

As you know, I am in the travel industry and have been thru so many crises that perhaps I tend to look at opportunities to travel as a step to return to the joy  of travel. We went to Iceland on the same cruise as you and felt the welcome of those in Iceland to see tourist come back and felt very safe . We spent a month in France doing 3 river cruises and land stays,   just sitting in a café and watching people going about their lives . Honestly  if we didn't have to show our Vaccination card 2 or 3 times and wear a mask on board the boat on occasion , I would have forgotten about Covid restrictions altogether. 

On many trips there are medical crises that have been handled and even now, they will be too. The alternative is to stay home and I don't think I can do that . 

[SantaFe1]

Oh my, I can’t either.  So we are traveling.  We are getting a booster shot next week.  I was able, on your interpretation and Viking’s written interpretation, to schedule a covid test two days before embarkation, on Dec. 22.  At our age, travel is the last frontier.  We love it and will do anything to do it.  Viking fits us perfectly.  So, off we go.  I will spit and gag into a tube.  It is not “non-invasive.”  But we will do it.  I will wave in your general direction when we get off in LA and wish you an incredible journey!  There is nothing better than a WC!

[MarkBearSF]

A couple of points:

 

- To the question about spit alternatives for those with "salivary issues" - Yes. They offer an alternative; you may need a doctor's note or known medical condition to qualify. I don't recall the details, but there was a poster who had that problem and was able to use an alternative.

- A tip to make the collection less onerous. If you're over 50, you probably are like me and need to get up once or twice in the middle of night to pee. Before you go to bed, leave the tubes in the bathroom. It's easy to get half way to 2ml, lessening the amount to spit the next morning. MUUUUUCH easier! 

[Peregrina651]

8 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

I would make a query to tellus@viking.com   and plead your case.

I had not heard that one before, but I'm sure it is possible.  We had issues trying to get saliva for similar reasons, but were given some techniques by the stewards (pinching the cheeks, pushing the tongue down behind the front teeth, and some more.  Might even google how to get saliva.

 

Ditto. Do not rely on answers given here; we don't make the rules. Contact Viking. It is their protocol and only they can tell if there are exceptions to their requirements. Don't go through the call center but use the e-mail address given here. They can tell you what alternatives might be available and what you need to do to qualify.

 

 

2 hours ago, rizello said:

Hopefully by then, things are more relaxed.  I saw a post that on a River cruise they only tested every other day 

 

The river cruises rely on land based labs, therefore there may only be certain itineraries that do not test daily, not necessarily all river cruises.

 

 

 

[les37b]

12 hours ago, whitbob said:

Once one provides the saliva in the morning tube, are we free to move on and start the day?  Do we have to wait for a negative result to head out of the room?  Do we get a confirmation of the result each day?

 

I did wonder this also - especially on boarding.

 

However, you just leave the tube outside your cabin each day (or get a 9am knock on the door!)...... There is no wait - you are free to go. It's a case of "no news is good news" and you can move about the ship freely unless you get any bad news. In that unlikely event, I expect the tracker will locate you and escort you to isolate and do a retest.

[anaco_angler]

2 hours ago, les37b said:

 

I did wonder this also - especially on boarding.

 

However, you just leave the tube outside your cabin each day (or get a 9am knock on the door!)...... There is no wait - you are free to go. It's a case of "no news is good news" and you can move about the ship freely unless you get any bad news. In that unlikely event, I expect the tracker will locate you and escort you to isolate and do a retest.

Just to clarify, the tubes to be filled will be left in a tray when the cabin steward does the turn-down service in the evening. You leave the filled tubes in the tray, not outside your cabin, when you head off to breakfast or a shore excursion. Or if you're having a later morning, the cabin steward will knock on your door around 8:30 and collect the samples. 

And I second MarkBearSF's suggestion about getting a head-start on your sampling during middle-of-the-night bathroom calls. It worked for me.

[les37b]

2 hours ago, anaco_angler said:

Just to clarify, You leave the filled tubes in the tray, not outside your cabin, when you head off to breakfast or a shore excursion. Or if you're having a later morning, the cabin steward will knock on your door around 8:30 and collect the samples. 

 

That wasn't my experience, and there were always samples I saw left outside doors. (I tended to leave the room early to watch a port arrival before returning a bit later.) That instruction to do this was by the cabin steward and no mention of the tray - but definitely to leave outside the door. If if hadn't been done by 9, that's when the knock happened because you'd not left outside.

 

Only stating it as my experience, as your clarification was not as per our instruction 3 weeks ago. Maybe that's been changed from then.

 

 

[anaco_angler]

17 minutes ago, les37b said:

 

That wasn't my experience, and there were always samples I saw left outside doors. (I tended to leave the room early to watch a port arrival before returning a bit later.) That instruction to do this was by the cabin steward and no mention of the tray - but definitely to leave outside the door. If if hadn't been done by 9, that's when the knock happened because you'd not left outside.

 

Only stating it as my experience, as your clarification was not as per our instruction 3 weeks ago. Maybe that's been changed from then.

 

 

Our experience was from three weeks ago as well on Jupiter. From your response it's clear that procedures vary from ship to ship. We never saw a sample left outside a door but no matter, one way or another they will be collected. Good reminder just to go with the flow, or go with what your cabin steward says.

[les37b]

20 hours ago, anaco_angler said:

Our experience was from three weeks ago as well on Jupiter. From your response it's clear that procedures vary from ship to ship. We never saw a sample left outside a door but no matter, one way or another they will be collected. Good reminder just to go with the flow, or go with what your cabin steward says.

 

Well its certainly tidier to have them collected from inside the room, but I'm guessing if they are disturbing you at 8.30 to gain access, either way has its plusses and minuses. Mine was on Viking Sea. As you say, its whatever they've said and its not a problem.

 

 

[Mich3554]

I can easily see someone leaving their tubes outside their cabin doors if they did not want to be disturbed.  It is comparable to putting out the ‘do not disturb’ sign.