By Peter Lynch, Editor in Chief
On board Viking Polaris in Antarctica
We’re aboard Viking Polaris in Antarctica along with some 300 passenger and 200 crew. Apart from spectacular scenery and amazing service, there is a daily ritual which quietly takes place: each morning at 9am my room attendant Felix collects a plastic tube of saliva.
It’s taken to a PCR lab on board and tested for Covid.
It’s a streamlined process- and Felix, in his polite but forthright way, is vigilant and insistent. As he should be. Because this simple act means everyone can be as assured as possible that the pandemic is not on board.
And if it is – it will be quickly and efficiently detected and contained.
How much better this is than wearing a mask on board – as Carnival has mandated for Australian cruisers, a move which will undoubtedly cause many to reconsider a cruise holiday.
Of course, Viking Polaris is not the Majestic Princess. She has only 189 state rooms and 378 passengers.
But Viking made the same system work on their ocean ships, which carry just over 900 guests. So how can so many tests be carried out so quickly, efficiently and in a matter of hours?
The answer is in the system used in Viking’s PCR lab on board. The samples are tested in matches of eight. If one of a batch is suspect, then each individual sample is tested again. That’s how the numbers become manageable. And it may be the number in each batch could be increased.
The Viking Health & Safety Program was developed in partnership with an international team of medical advisors, including Raquel C. Bono, Viking’s Chief Health Officer. Dr. Bono in 2020, led Washington State’s medical and healthcare systems response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Viking’s chairman Torstein Hagen maintains his approach is the only “science based” one in cruise.
Viking still requires all guests and crew to be vaccinated, and staff wear masks. For guests, masks are a matter of personal choice – and most express their faith in the fact that Viking is the only line with full-scale PCR laboratories installed on board by not wearing them.
Says Mr Hagen: “No other travel company has implemented the same science-led approach that includes a vaccination requirement for all guests, plus frequent non-invasive saliva PCR testing among all guests and crew. Therefore, we believe there will be no safer way to travel the world than on a Viking voyage.”
We understand case numbers are rising in Australia. But today, we are so much better equipped to deal with Covid than in the dark days of 2020.
So how much better would it be if cruise lines found a similar solution to Viking’s – testing passengers in a non-invasive way so everyone is certain they are sailing safely.
It certainly beats masks!
The current wave season is just getting underway, and while Carnival’s new policy is understandable, it is nonetheless retrograde and will harm cruise’s return.
Of course, the big cruise operators will scoff and say the Viking system cannot be scaled. But it should be investigated – along with a return to mandatory vaccination for all passengers.
It should certainly give the major cruise operators something to think. Travel agents are already concerned about cancellations as guests question if they really want to go back to the days of wearing masks on their holiday.
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We are booked on a Viking cruise in May and find this article reassuring as we both caught COViD on a recent Coral Expeditions cruise. On that cruise everyone did a supervised RAT on the morning of boarding and everyone passed. We came down with COVID on Day 9 which suggests we caught it on board from someone who was still incubating it at the time of the test. In all 6 passengers out of 100 self reported having COViD and isolated but judging from the number of people coughing the actual number of asymptomatic or mild cases hiding their symptoms to avoid having to isolate was much greater. We were all told to wear masks moving about the ship but most did not comply and of course at meal times people sat in close proximity for an hour or more unmasked. A temperature check on entering the dining room as we had on another previous cruise might have helped but daily PCR tests seem the way to go in quickly getting onto cases.
We are currently aboard the Pacific Encounter. Masks are mandatory, however, I would estimate that at least 25% of passengers are ignoring the rule. Sadly, as a society, we have learnt nothing from our past experiences with COVID-19.
We also acquired Covid on the 4th. day of our cruise and were isolated in our cabin until the end of the journey. Just waiting to see if the purported refund will materialise. So far double jeopardy for us on Princess cruises as this last cruise was a credit for the first one that was canceled almost 3 years ago! Losing faith and trust in cruiselines and their protocols!
Just recently disembarked a Viking cruise, daily test were required along with the initial RAT before boarding. At first I thought wow if I had known this I would not have booked, but as my journey continued it was comforting to know everyone I came in contact with had also been tested that morning. All staff continued to wear masks and the ship was sanitised each night using state of the art equipment. I say well done Viking in ensuring the continued safety of your passengers.
Sounds good, but what are the reprecusions? Confinement for 5 days, off-boarding to the nearest port? I also did a cruise recently where we caught COVID. Most of the passengers (Americans) were sick also and not wearing masks. Many said they kept delaying their cruise until masks were no longer mandatory.
I’ve done 4 cruises overseas since borders opened, and the requirement for all of them Nov21-Jun22 was to obtain a medically supervised RAT within 24 hours of boarding, or test at the pier. The ‘honesty system’ Australia adopted was just dumb. People could test their dog and take a photo, and clearly many have. Vaccination doesn’t stop it, so that mandate should be scrapped, but if we really want to keep it off cruise ships, RATs need to be supervised. It’s not rocket science.
Think the Viking way is great. However, not sure about the writers anti mask wearing attitude. Why not wear a mask at times when you are in groups? It is proven to work and really isn’t a problem.
“Viking still requires all guests and crew to be vaccinated, and staff wear masks. For guests, masks are a matter of personal choice – and most express their faith in the fact that Viking is the only line with full-scale PCR laboratories installed on board by not wearing them.”
That’s not really the reason. Since the same ‘reason’ would apply to every other cruise without a lab or testing as “masks are a matter of personal choice – and most express their faith in the fact that their line doesn’t test everyone by not wearing them.”
What a great idea! I’ve just returned from a Paul Gauguin cruise in French Polynesia where Covid protocols were pretty much ignored by crew and passengers. I took all precautions, but still managed to catch Covid onboard. I was charged $121 USD for the doctor to visit me to test me for the virus (something I’d already confirmed with a test brought from home). She said that she suspected most people onboard weren’t reporting their symptoms. As we were getting off the ship in less than 48hours, I never heard from her again, despite having an underlying health condition. Not even a quick phone call to check if anything had changed. Disgraceful treatment from a supposedly 5 Star cruise line.