If Viking can do it, Celebrity can too…. No more mandatory Pre-departure Covid testing !

[VitaminSea53]

Viking Ocean is leading the way in dropping required Covid testing Pre-Departure (unless destination countries require it).   I hope Celebrity follows suit.

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/why-viking/health-and-safety/health-and-safety-program.html

Edited June 12, 2022 by VitaminSea53
Clarification

[itsanita]

Interesting, that would take some of the stress off of us.  Wondering if all the planning etc will go to waste if one member of party ends up positive 2 days before cruise.   

 

[jelayne]

12 minutes ago, itsanita said:

Interesting, that would take some of the stress off of us.  Wondering if all the planning etc will go to waste if one member of party ends up positive 2 days before cruise.   

 

That would be better than not testing, getting on the ship and ending up quarantined for the cruise. 

[gerelmx]

One destination country that still requires the test it's Canada

[Baron Barracuda]

This is a major turnaround for Viking which until yesterday was testing guests for covid daily.  Those who tested positive on their ocean cruises were quarantined aboard ship but those on River Cruises were put ashore at the next port and sent to hotels until it was deemed safe for them to return home.  A cc poster yesterday reported that on one river boat 50 of 150 passengers had tested positive and been disembarked.   We're doing a river cruise with them in three weeks and are ecstatic not to have that testing risk hanging over our heads.

[Schmoe38]

31 minutes ago, gerelmx said:

One destination country that still requires the test it's Canada

Not sure what you are referencing. We live in Canada and, if you are vaccinated we do not need a test to fly domestically, or return home from international travel. We previously needed a test to fly from a Canadian airport to a US destination but that has now been eliminated. If you are talking about random testing of vaccinated travellers, that has been temporarily suspended for the period of June 11-30/22 and is expected to re-instated July 1/22 for vaccinated travellers.

Edited June 12, 2022 by Schmoe38

[cruisemom42]

49 minutes ago, itsanita said:

Interesting, that would take some of the stress off of us.  Wondering if all the planning etc will go to waste if one member of party ends up positive 2 days before cruise.   

 

 

So what are you saying? That if someone in your party tested positive you'd still go on the cruise?

[gerelmx]

9 minutes ago, Schmoe38 said:

Not sure what you are referencing. We live in Canada and, if you are vaccinated we do not need a test to fly domestically, or return home from international travel. We previously needed a test to fly from a Canadian airport to a US destination but that has now been eliminated.

 

To board a cruise ship that will dock in Canada you need  the pre boarding negative test

 

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by gerelmx

[Ken the cruiser]

I guess the USA is one of those "destination countries requiring it". I wonder what other European, Asian, African and/or Australian "cruise embarkation port" countries still require it? Smart move on Viking's part. If the country doesn't require it, why should they?

 

Testing of Embarking and Disembarking Passengers for Cruise Ship Operators Choosing to Opt into CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships

Screening Testing of All Embarking and Disembarking Passengers

	Passengers with Documentation of Recovery from COVID-19	Passengers Who Are Not Fully Vaccinated	Passengers Who Are Fully Vaccinated	Passengers Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines
Pre-embarkation Day Testing	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)[*] no more than 3 days before boarding; NAAT is preferred	Viral (NAAT or antigen test) no more than 2 days before boarding [†] OR Viral test on embarkation day	Viral (NAAT or antigen test) no more than 3 days before boarding† OR Viral test on embarkation day
Embarkation Day Testing	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)[*]; NAAT is preferred
Disembarkation Testing [^]	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Back-to-Back Sailing[¥] Testing	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)	Recommended Viral (NAAT or antigen test)	Recommended Viral (NAAT or antigen test)

[*] Either the pre-embarkation day test or the embarkation day test must be NAAT.

[†] Fully vaccinated passengers or passengers who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines may use a self-test (sometimes referred to as home test)—see specifications in section below.

[^] Disembarkation testing is only required for voyages of more than 4 nights.

[¥] Back-to-back sailing refers to passengers who stay on board for two or more voyages.

 

Operations Manual for CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships Operating in U.S. Waters | Quarantine | CDC

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Denny01]

I’m on a Mississippi Viking cruise and it appears pre-testing is still required for Viking itineraries departing from Canada or US ports. 

 

den

[deliver42]

Any cruise departing from the U.S. still has to pre test, unless there  is less than 250 ship capacity.

[Mark_K]

4 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

I’m on a Mississippi Viking cruise and it appears pre-testing is still required for Viking itineraries departing from Canada or US ports. 

 

den

Yes, it is, but the new policy didn’t go into effect until today, anyway.

[Honolulu Blue]

Thanks for sharing, OP.  Much more interesting to me, IMHO, than the fact that Viking is eliminating pre-boarding testing is the fact that they're eliminating testing entirely onboard, except as needed.  They were the one cruise line that installed labs on all their ocean-going ships (not sure about the riverboats) and tested everyone, every day.  I wish them well.

[itsanita]

47 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

So what are you saying? That if someone in your party tested positive you'd still go on the cruise?

 

Sadly no, we would all cancel and stay home.   

[Denny01]

40 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

Yes, it is, but the new policy didn’t go into effect until today, anyway.

I didn’t mean I’m currently on a Viking cruise, I meant yes, Viking is cancelling onboard daily and pre-board testing, but from the statement it appears Viking isn’t cancelling pre-testing for US departures. Since I’m on a Mississippi cruise in Aug, I was told we’d need pretexts unless further changes were made. 
 

den

[Redtravel]

I had ultimate confidence in Viking because they tested daily. It made me feel safe. Now that they no longer test, I may not be so quick to book on Viking.

[the penguins]

4 hours ago, VitaminSea53 said:

Viking Ocean is leading the way in dropping required Covid testing Pre-Departure (unless destination countries require it).   I hope Celebrity follows suit.

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/why-viking/health-and-safety/health-and-safety-program.html

A great headline but the caveat is there and of course Viking can now blame whatever country has the requirement and that changes all the time. This piecemeal approach just causes more confusion. Better for testing to stay until every country and cruise line is ready to adopt the same rules. 

[prmssk]

1 minute ago, the penguins said:

A great headline but the caveat is there and of course Viking can now blame whatever country has the requirement and that changes all the time. This piecemeal approach just causes more confusion. Better for testing to stay until every country and cruise line is ready to adopt the same rules. 

That depends on how many countries in a region have a testing requirement. I know that the US and Canada still have this requirement so it isn't hard to have different requirements for North American countries.  Are there other countries?  I believe Greece was one of the strictest in Europe but I understand they are dropping a lot (maybe all) of their protocols in a couple days.  Protocols are disappearing fast.  Are there other countries that still require testing?

[VitaminSea53]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

A great headline but the caveat is there and of course Viking can now blame whatever country has the requirement and that changes all the time. This piecemeal approach just causes more confusion. Better for testing to stay until every country and cruise line is ready to adopt the same rules. 

At least it is up to the country, if they want the tourism dollar then skip the futile testing requirement.  The passengers will respond and the economy will help to rebound.

[tallnthensome]

4 hours ago, Redtravel said:

I had ultimate confidence in Viking because they tested daily. It made me feel safe. Now that they no longer test, I may not be so quick to book on Viking.

I think the majority would be much quicker TO book if it's gone as you'd be the minority liking any of that daily testing nonsense. 

[VitaminSea53]

This is from the Viking website: “Jun 1, 2022 — Italy does not have a testing requirement. You must meet Viking's requirement prior to joining your Viking journey.”. 

 

Does the news from Viking on June 10th now mean that Viking won’t require testing for boarding in Rome?

[Ken the cruiser]

Then there are the EU pre-cruise testing requirements listed at paragraph 7.4 in the EU Health Gateways Operational Guidelines. Would these be considered similar to CDC guidelines, but applicable to all EU countries?

 

7.4. Testing of passengers on the day of embarkation

All passengers (except children under the age of 12 years) should hold proof of a negative:

 NAAT performed within 72 hours before embarkation, OR
 RADT performed within 48 hours before embarkation

 

https://www.healthygateways.eu/Portals/0/plcdocs/EUHG_Operational_guidelines_CoV_June2022.pdf?ver=2022-06-10-140149-413#page26

[schittenden]

I’m really confused about what is so exciting about being able to get onboard a ship infected with a highly contagious virus. 

[canderson]

4 minutes ago, schittenden said:

I’m really confused about what is so exciting about being able to get onboard a ship infected with a highly contagious virus. 

I gather you weren't excited when you were finally able to go to a restaurant 'infected with a highly contagious virus', either.  Some of us simply have a different risk tolerance.  We've been eating out ever since it became possible again.  Some people still haven't returned to restaurants.

[schittenden]

1 minute ago, canderson said:

I gather you weren't excited when you were finally able to go to a restaurant 'infected with a highly contagious virus', either.  Some of us simply have a different risk tolerance.  We've been eating out ever since it became possible again.  Some people still haven't returned to restaurants.

I’ve had some long restaurant meals, but I don’t think any of them have quite made it to 7+ days yet.